THE EXCHANGE
Episode 18
My brothers were all at home as if it had been planned; Segun, my immediate elder brother had come home to get some money for his final year project. They were really confused at what was going on because they all knew Tunji so this was a shocking surprise for everyone. Our parlour was too small to contain everyone since we were not expecting them, we had not made provision for rented chairs so some of them sat in their cars, while brother Bayo, who had met Baba T once & Segun invited Baba T to a corner to find out what was up but brother Dipo excused himself and went into his room.
Baba T’s mum was already talking to my mum about ‘the wedding’ & what they were expected to do because engagement and traditional marriage differ from one family to another but she pleaded with my mum that she would want to make it memorable, seeing that Baba T is her only child. My mum was as dumbfounded as I was, at what was happening. She had to tell Baba T’s mum that she didn’t have much to say in the matter & she would have to contact my dad’s relatives to
set something up.
“No problem ma, just let us know what you want us to do & when you want us to come…tí ise ò bá pe ni, A ò kí npe ise (We are ready whenever you are)” she said in response to what my mum said.
My mum promised to get in touch with members of my dad’s family & she would send me to Baba T’s mum once something concrete was agreed on. My mum offered them food & to my surprise, they stayed & ate. I went with my mum to prepare the food…she didn’t say anything but I could tell she had lots of questions.
When it was time for our visitors to leave, Baba T said the new car was for me as a token of his gratitude that I accepted him & he wanted me to be comfortable.. he did not want me walking around or stand at bus stops in the scorching sun. I reminded him that I once told him I couldn’t drive…he asked me to get a driver in Abeokuta & he would pay the salary because it wouldn’t be sensible getting a driver from Lagos. He promised to come back in a few days to see me, so we could arrange how to go about the ante-natal care. I was really startled, I couldn’t say much, everything was happening too fast.
The moment I got back inside the house, it was a torrent of questions. My mum wanted to know what was happening. She said it looked like someone already planned everything out & she was just a puppet in the whole show, who was merely following the scripts. She was upset because she thought we planned it the last time Laide & BabaT were here. It took a while to convince her that my story was true & the pregnancy was a result of one reckless night. I told her that Baba T was an only child & that his parents almost lost him some years back. I also told her what Laide told me about how Baba T’s parents could not wait for him to get married so they could have grandchildren.
At the end, my mum’s only response was “Okay o, if you say so…Olorun òní je a kábàmo(I pray God will not let us regret this) because marriage to a man you don’t have any knowledge about can be disastrous.”
Brother Dipo yelled as he stepped out of his room that I was going to regret it & no amount of prayer can stop it.
Apparently, he had been listening to our conversation & had been trying to make sense of what was happening since the visitors came.
“I reject it in Jesus’ name…none of my children will regret in life” my mum fired back.
It became a heated argument between them…Brother Dipo was never the sentimental type. He said things the way he saw them without caring how the other person felt, his conclusion to every discussion is that the truth has to be told. My mum told him that the role of family was to support one other especially when options were few. “That’s sentiment Maami, what if Tunji was your son…would you have said the same thing? You don’t do that to people…Karma has a way of coming back to get you” “Nítorí owó? (Because of money?) I knew this was going to happen…I said it when the ‘Father Christmas’ era started” My brother was really angry & said we should count him out because he was not going to be part of it in any way. He even threatened not to attend any ceremony or gathering for the cause; my other two brothers could not understand why he was taking it so personal & they tried to prevail on this but he brushed them aside & left the house in anger…
Even though my mum was not happy by the turn of events, she kept encouraging me that everything would be alright. My mum left the house to talk to some elder members of our family (both paternal & maternal). She said there was no point wasting time as we needed to come to a conclusion & reach out to Baba T’s family with definite answers & dates. I couldn’t go to work because I knew everyone in the area must have heard. I was also avoiding Aunty Betty (Tunji’s aunt who trained me as a beautician)… the morning sickness had gotten worse; I would throw up till there was nothing left in me.
Brother Dipo was not talking to me, he would just walk by, when he saw me throwing up. My mum said he would come round & I should not make a fuss about it.
It’s been almost two weeks since Tunji left for Ibadan & had still not returned (since he said he would be back in about a week) but deep down I was hoping he would just walk away so that I wouldn’t have to face him with this problem. My thoughts were running riots & at that moment, I could wish for anything so that I would not have to face him & explain myself.
That weekend, all my brothers including brother Kola came home. After being brought up to speed, Brother kola couldn’t hide his excitement… It was obvious he was on Baba T’s side(can you blame him?) my other 2 brothers had some questions but still showed their support. However, Brother Dipo would not budge. He lambasted everyone for supporting an evil plot & reminded them that my dad would never have supported something like this if he was alive. “But what would dad have done in this situation?” Bro Kola challenged Dipo…
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