HE SAID NO.
EPISODE 23
“Ahn Ahn, see who we have here!” Mrs. Roberts remarked, she had just finished attending to a customer who came to buy some foodstuffs and she was doing recording her sales when Mrs. Balogun walked into her store.
Her shop was a fairly big one with bags of different food items ranging from rice, beans, Semovita and others, neatly stacked upon each other with little spaces in between.
“My friend that has abandoned me,” Mrs. Balogun teased.
“Ah, it’s not like that, I have been seriously busy for a while now, I barely have time for myself even,” Mrs. Robert said as she drew her closer for a hug.
“No problem, if Moses refuses to go the mountain, the mountain itself would come and meet Moses,” she said as they both laughed.
“You are just glowing anyhow, how have you been, my friend?” Mrs. Robert said, dragging an extra chair from a corner of the shop for her to sit. A table was placed at the center of the shop and apart from the one directly in front of the table, a number of plastic chairs were at different points.
“Is this what you call glow?” she asked looking down at herself, while sitting directly in front of her.
“My dear, if this is not what it means to glow, I don’t know what is,” Mrs. Robert teased as they both laughed.
“I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you, “she smiled, “You are not looking bad either,” she complimented.
“Thank you, my friend, what do I offer you?”
“Don’t stress yourself, I’m okay, ”
“No now, or are you leaving soon?” Mrs. Robert asked.
“I actually came to make some orders from one of our distributors close by, so I decided to seize the opportunity to say hi, I’ll be here for a while, let’s say…” She paused for a while to glance at the time on her phone, it was 14 minutes past 2 ” 4 pm, ” she concluded.
“Then let me get you some light refreshment, ” Mrs. Robert said before she dashed out of the shop, she got back some minutes later with a pack of cold 5 alive fruit juice and some expensive cookies which she tabled before her friend alongside a neat glass cup.
“How is Daddy Amifel? it’s been ages since I saw him, ” Mrs. Balogun asked as she gulped down her juice.
“My husband is fine, he was home last weekend but as usual he has traveled again, ”
“Nawa! Mr. Roberts and traveling are 5 and 6! You are trying oh, ”
“My sister, what would I do now, I am used to it, ”
“It is well, how far with Amifel?”
“My daughter is fine too, ” she said.
“Any update?”
“Update?”
“Ehn, she and her prince charming, when are we wrapping this thing up?”
Mrs. Robert was slightly irritated by her constant naggings and unsolicited counsels, ”
“Very soon, ” she said as she tried to change the topic, “so how are your daughter and her family?”
“They are fine oh, only that a small accident happened but we thank God they are getting over it,”
“An accident? When? Hope it wasn’t serious?”
“Ehn… Not really, she had a miscarriage, ”
“Eiiiiiii! Ah, how come na that pregnancy was far gone, ”
“My sister, she slipped in the bathroom while bathing oh, that was all, ” Mrs. Baloghn clapped as she explained.
“Ah! That must be a great fall! Hope she’s fine now?” She said with a note of sarcasm.
“She is much better, we bless God, the devil is a liar, they will give birth to another one, egg does not finish in the belly of a fertile woman… At least, she is married, that is why I am shouting that you should do fast with Amifel,” she dragged, Women don’t have too much time, ” she said while widening the cookie pack for her to take more cookies.
“At least it is better to be single than getting married to a man beater, ” Mrs. Robert said, her friend was taken aback by her response but Mrs. Robert wasn’t done yet, “It is better to stay unmarried than have a man flog out children from your belly, some people rushed in and now, they have left their husband’s houses, please let Amifel take her time, ‘dem no dey do first to finish for marriage’ ” she defended bluntly.
“Ah, ‘shey na fight?’ I was just being concerned, ” Mrs. Balogun said, the cookies felt tasteless all of a sudden.
“I appreciate your concern but I won’t like to risk mortgaging my daughter’s life all in the name of marriage, I know some mothers do it, oh but I am not one of them, ”
“It is well, ” Mrs. Balogun said, she was short of words as she wondered if her friend knew about her daughter’s problems and that made her feel uneasy.
“Amen oh!”
Mrs. Balogun grunted as she took a sip of the juice while standing up to her feet, “I think I would be on my way now, ”
“Ahn Ahn, this is some minutes to three, I thought you said you would be here till 4?”
“Yes, ” she said as she adjusted her headgear, “Actually, I just remembered that the man said that I should try to come before 4,”
“Ehn ehn, okay, maybe when you are coming back then, ”
“I don’t know when I would be leaving so that I won’t waste your time, ” Mrs. Balogun said, she had started walking towards the door.
“I thought you said the man would be going out by four, ”
“Oh, yes, yes, I’ll be seeing someone else afterward, I’ll call you however way it is, ” Mrs. Balogun hurried out.
Mrs. Robert laughed hysterically after she left, she knew that her comment made her uncomfortable and she did it on purpose. Amifel already told her about Grace and she just pretended like she knew nothing.
“At least, this will silence her for a while, ” she said with a light hiss as she packed the remaining juice and cookies aside before sitting down.
To be continued…
Written by Sodamade Olamide Tolulope.
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