Page 109 of Cursed Daughters
“I really wanted to, Eni. You just never gave me a chance.”
—
When he left, Grandma East gathered her into her arms. It had always felt safe in Grandma East’s arms, and warm. Eniiyi felt free to weep; to soak her grandmother’s cotton wear in salt-heavy tears. She was, after all, a girl of the sea, the woman who drowned and then came back to life.
“Hush, hush, my baby.”
But she didn’t hush. She cried for the woman who had lost her love, lost her baby and lost the will to live; she wept for the man who had opened her heart, only to discover that their love had been doomed from the start; and she shed tears for herself, the girl who had spent her entire life trying not to be a ghost.
XII
They weren’t expecting anyone, least of all Golden Boy. They were going through Grandma West’s things. Aunt Ashley and Uncle Tolu had showed up. She thought of how much pain her uncle must be in, having lost his sister and now his mother.
The room was dim, and they sorted through her things in silence, until Grandma East picked up her sister’s snuff box and said, “I hope God has tobacco in heaven.” It wasn’t that funny. But she said it with such gravitas that Ebun and Tolu began to guffaw, and then they were all laughing.
They were interrupted by a car horn. Her uncle offered to answer the summons, and returned to announce that Kalu was at the Falodun house. They all stopped speaking and looked at each other in surprise.
“What does he want?” asked Ebun.
“You’ll have to ask him. Come on.”
—
Zubby’s father was red-eyed and smelt of alcohol. He greeted them all; and then focused on Eniiyi.
“Hello, Eniiyi.”
Ebun stepped between them.
“What do you want, Kalu?”
Golden Boy sighed. “I mean her no harm. I am here to make amends.”
“Mum, please, I’m twenty-five. I think I can handle this conversation.”
Ebun folded her arms. “The floor is yours.”
“Right.” He bit his lip; it was an action that reminded her of Zubby so sharply that it hurt. “Right. I messed up. I did a great disservice to your family. You opened your arms to me and I hurt someone that was precious to all of us.”
Ebun hissed, “You have a terrible way of showing that people are precious to you.” Eniiyi wished her mother wouldn’t keep interrupting the man. He was clearly suffering.
“I…I wanted…She was…so far out of my league, so different…and I thought I needed to toe the line. I should have stayed away from her. But Zubby doesn’t deserve to be punished for my mistakes.”
“We don’t want anything to do with you or your family.”
Tolu stood up then. Eniiyi guessed he was going to tell Golden Boy to get out. She thought of what she could say to defuse the situation. She saw Ashley touch her uncle’s arm, so she was not alone in her worry. But to her surprise, Tolu turned to face her mother.
“Where the hell do you get off behaving like Kalu was the sole source of Mo’s depression?”
“I never said he was the sole—”
Ashley laid a hand on Tolu’s wrist. “Babe, maybe this isn’t the…” He shook her off.
“How do you look at yourself?! You convinced her to have an abortion, and then threw her under the bus…”
“What is he talking about, Ebun?” asked Grandma East.
“Mum?”
