For some reasons, I couldn’t pinpoint why I stomped down the stairs today. On a second thought, I should be glad to have escaped being jolted out of the sweet dreams I had overnight. That’s because on a normal day, she would have been to my room with a cup of cold water to pour on me and inform me that it’s day break.

“Good morning mum”

“Don’t think I didn’t see you yesternight at the only place you could have been around 8pm. By the time I’m done here, I’d be back for you. By the way, good morning to you. How was your night’s rest?”

“How’s my night’s rest?”

My mum had just sounded like one of those witch mothers in a Nollywood movie who appeared to their daughter in the city through a wall.

Exactly! That was the reason I stomped down the stairs. My spirit like a satellite had picked the signal of an encroaching attack of anxiety. Little did I know my mum had seen me at the park with Lam.

********

“Lam, promise me you’d deliver this to Mel. Tell her to hide it under her pillow. Her mother must not see it.”

 “Don’t worry. I’d tell her all you’ve said. But on a condition.”

“What’s it?”

Lam moved closer to me.

No, not my lips. Not my forehead to plant a kiss. Not my… Oh! My ears

He moved closer to whisper his condition.

“No, Lam! I can’t do that.”

Of course, this is not the first time he’d make such a request. But he is the only one who can get across to Mel; they live in the same compound. My message also, has to get across to Mel as soon as possible.

******

“Jane! Jane!! I’m done. Come downstairs now!”

By this time, my mum was done washing the clothes.

“So what was the intimate hug you shared with him, yesternight?” she asked with her lips parting slightly and her head tilting forward to hear what I have to say.”

But wait. Mum could have asked me this yesternight. Why this morning? Oh! She doesn’t have the stamina to narrate how she felt when I was in the womb. Then, how she had taken me to the supermarket when I was 2. In fact, how she has managed to bring me up to this day.

I was still lost in my thoughts when a hot slap landed on my face. 

“My friend, will you answer me?” 

“Mum, it’s not what you’re thinking”, I said sobbing.

“Make me think right then.”

After narrating all that happened, including how Lam had whispered “hug me”, then like I had thought, my mum began narrating her experience with bringing me into this world. Trust me, the time suddenly ticked slower than expected. 

“Mum…” I said when she was done, “…it’s still not what you’re thinking.”

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