“Wow….” Femi intoned, speechless. “You must be a really big man”, she said then closed her mouth, she must sound really stupid to a man like Fiyin but she had never been particularly intelligent.
“Saint Havers is big, but my father is the big man, not me” Fiyin smiled. Surprised he was having a conversation with Femi and enjoying it.
“Saint Havers, Saint Havers, it sounds really
familiar.” She said, racking her brain.
“It should, I must have mentioned it before or you have seen the letter headed papers lying about at home.”
“Maybe, you’re right sir.”
“Daddy, today, when you came, Miss Femi was
really happy and smiling” Amanda said between her spoonfuls of ice-cream.
“Amanda!” Femi screamed, her big eyes goggling.
What was the child trying to do? Give her heart
attacks?
“Really?” Fiyin asked Femi, his eyes twinkling.
“Nooooo!” Femi denied hotly, “It’s just
that…..erm….David called me and apologised.”
She lied, since David had not called her since he had once again insulted her on Thursday.
“Oh, David?” Fiyin asked, surprised at the
disappointment he felt.
“Yes, my boyfriend” Femi said, glad for the
diversion. “We are having some issues.”
“Oh, really, because you’re fat?”
“I’m not fat…” Femi said shamefaced. “I’m thick,
that’s what everybody else says, even my aunty.”
“What would your aunty say?” Fiyin asked
derisively, a bit hurt that it was her boyfriend
apologising that made her smile, not his coming home. “Have you seen yourself? Your clothes are too big, you look like a bag lady, you wear that awful orange lipstick that makes you look garish and………”
Femi and Amanda were staring at him. One set of big eyes, deeply hurt, the other smaller one,
deeply confused.
“I should be going home…” Femi choked out,
lifting her bag and standing up at the same time.
“Femi…..” Fiyin grabbed her hand that was still on the table, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any of that,
I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Femi said, quickly swiping away the
tears that had formed, “thank you very much sir, goodnight Amanda.” She turned and left the
Creamery.
Amanda still had her spoon in her mouth and was staring at her father, “Daddy, you’re so mean.
Now, you’ve sent Miss Femi away and she didn’t even finish her ice-cream. You’re just like her boyfriend!” Amanda concluded.
“I am, aren’t I?” Fiyin asked, very ashamed of
himself. And the problem was, he couldn’t even
explain what had come over him.
****************
Femi was almost home when she remembered
where she had heard of Saint Havers. Tiwa! Tiwa works there. Did she know that evil, insulting, ugly, big-headed Doctor Arowolo? She would now, they were two of a kind. Well, if those were the kind of doctors they had in that hospital, she wouldn’t be surprised when they went down.
She would never talk to him again, she promised herself. He insulted her today because he bought her one filthy cup of ice-cream, and she didn’t even finish it! She couldn’t even blame him, she had caused it by smiling at him too much, she would never, ever smile at him again, she told herself, never!
She remembered now why she had been waiting for him, she was supposed to tell him about the Teachers Conference she was due to attend the following week in Abuja, now he had made her forget but she wasn’t going to call him. Never again.
Question: Hmmmmm, seems Amanda is trying to connect her father and Femi unconsciously, abi its just my imagination?
Was Dr Fiyin right to have attacked Femi in that manner?
###############
Click 14 below to read episode 7
