Page 90 of Cursed Daughters
“Well, we saw someone interesting today…”
“I dare you to finish that sentence,” Monife said, spinning away from the sink. She didn’t even have any real way to threaten Ebun, no secret of her cousin’s she could reveal. But if Ebun spilt the beans, she would make her younger cousin very, very sorry. Ebun pressed her lips together, unwilling to call Monife’s bluff. Aunt Kemi looked at them curiously.
“Ebun, talk j?`?´. Who did you see?”
“It’s nothing, Mum. Just an old friend from school.”
“So why is Mo threatening you?”
“I don’t know for her. Maybe she is into him.”
“Really?” Kemi narrowed her eyes, but didn’t push it. “Okay o. It’s even time you dated someone new, Mo. Ebun j?`?´, help me take the things out of the car.”
Ebun followed her mother out. Mo was finally able to breathe; and then the tears came. She heard Sango pad over to her, and she buried her face in his fur.
V
The next time the house was empty, Mo called him. When he showed up, very few words were spoken. She took him straight to her room. She did not give herself a chance to think about anything else. It was surprisingly easy to shut it all out. She was almost ashamed of how easy it was.
Afterwards, they lay in the bed together. She thought of how many times she had imagined this, how they would fit together perfectly, and they had. And where things did not flow organically, she would tell him how to touch her, where to touch her. He received the feedback gallantly and learnt quickly. She only ever had to mention a need once.
She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes as he gently stroked her hair.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m not entirely sure…”
He didn’t say anything else for a while. She looked up at the clock. Her mother would be back from work in two hours. But she couldn’t bring herself to say this out loud. She did not want to burst the bubble they werein.
“I didn’t think I would be back.”
“Whyareyou back?”
“It is impossible to resist you. God knows I tried.”
She felt a little fizz of anger at his words. Several choice responses were piling up in her mind, but how many times had her aunt told her that quarrelsome women drove men away.
“Aren’t you happy? In your marriage?”
Several minutes went by, and she began to doubt that she would ever get an answer. But then, “I…Amara is a good woman. And she deserves heaven and earth. But I miss you so, so much, Mo. I knew I would miss you. But perhaps I underestimated just how much. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all of this.”
He began to disentangle himself from her, but she used her thighs to grip his leg, preventing him from moving.
“You can think about all your sins after you leave. But stay present with me. For the rest of the time we have together. We don’t have to talk.”
So they didn’t. She listened to his heartbeat, and she breathed in his scent. Eventually he fell asleep and she was rocked by his gentle snoring. She pretended that they were married, in their marital home, on their marital bed; and that she could have true happinesstoo.
VI
As far as birthdays went, her twenty-fifth was fairly gloomy. Tolu had suggested that they mark the day at a Chinese restaurant in Victoria Island; so of course, he was late. Ebun remarked on the fact that there wasn’t a single Chinese staff member in sight. They were all Nigerian, and the decor was working hard to make up for that fact—the walls were lavishly painted in red and gold, and there was no lack of porcelain Buddhas, waving cats and trickling fountains.
Aunty Kemi insisted on carrying in a half-deflated balloon. And her mother was still arguing with the staff at the entrance about bringing in Mo’s birthday cake. Mo whispered to her mother that she should threaten to curse the restaurant, and then slipped by her to locate their table, followed closely by her cousin.
Eventually Bunmi joined them. She was flustered, but she had emerged victorious. She placed the cake at the centre of the table. The dinner began in a pleasant enough, if wholly unremarkable, manner. And then out of nowhere, Aunty Kemi dropped her chopstick. It rang loudly against the plate.
“So you really won’t tell us who the father is. You want to raise this child alone!”
“Mummy, it’s Mo’s birthday…”
