“When is your daddy coming home?” Femi
wondered aloud, usually the good doctor was
back home before 5, especially on Saturdays and it was almost 6 already.
“I dunno” Amanda replied without looking up from the colouring book she was painting on.
“Does he have an emergency?” Femi urged,
knowing that an emergency at the hospital was
the other thing that kept him out late.
“Dunno” Amanda kept colouring, her tongue
between her teeth, deep in concentration.
“Errrgh!” Femi groaned. She took Amanda four
times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. She had a real hankering to see Fiyin, the last time she had seen him had been during the class on Wednesday. She hadn’t seen him when she had come yesterday and when she had asked where he went, Amanda had only just stared at her.
She looked at the time, 5:51pm. Come on Dr,
where are you, she asked herself.
Then she heard the gate opening and his car
driving in, her heart lifted and she started smiling.
“Why you smiling?” Amanda suddenly asked when she looked up to see the dreamy look in her Teacher’s eyes.
“Your daddy is back” Femi said without thinking.
“Daddy! Yaaaaay!” The little girl screamed as she jumped out of her chair and ran into the sitting room and into her father’s arms.
“Hey, small stuff, how are you?” Fiyin asked,
rising with his daughter snuggled in his arms.
“Daddy, I’m very fine, I drewed a nice picture
today. Lemme show you!” She wriggled out of his arms and went to get her drawing from the study.
Femi followed her out.
“Good evening sir” Femi smiled in greeting but
was overshadowed by Amanda’s screaming of her picture. Nonetheless, she thought she had seen Fiyin smile at her, she couldn’t be sure though, the man hardly ever smiled at her.
“See what I drewed! See it, Daddy!”
“What is it?” Fiyin asked, kneeling beside Amanda to look at her drawing. It was a funny caricature of a very tall man, a tiny girl stretching out her hands to the tall man and at a distance, was another stick figure holding a book and waving.
All their faces were painted orange and their
bodies green. He waved the picture at Femi, who was laughing with her back against the wall.
“This is me…” Amanda said needlessly, pointing
at the tiny figure, “….this is you…” she pointed at
the really tall drawing “…and this is Miss Femi”
she concluded.
“Wow, it’s pretty, I like it.” Fiyin said, tongue in
cheek, it was safe to say Amanda would never
make a career as an artist. “This is beautiful….”
he told his beaming daughter, “I owe you ice
cream for this.”
“Yes!! Now, now?” Amanda cried, excited.
“Yes, now.” Fiyin answered, smiling at the way
laughter made Femi’s eyes shine. She had really nice eyes, he told himself. Big and white and twinkling.
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