Page 40 of Cursed Daughters
“So…Ebun is going to be starting uni soon.”
“Yes o. God is good.”
“She said she will have to ask her father for…the funds.”
Aunty Kemi sighed and lowered her spoon. “So she has reported me.”
“I think she is just a bit uncomfortable, Aunty. She doesn’t really know Uncle.” Mo figured Kemi herself barely knew her baby daddy. He was simply a man she had had a brief affair with over a decade and a half ago; tied together for ever because of her cousin.
“He is her father. She can’t say she doesn’t know him. I want her to go to a good school, so she can have the best opportunities. And he is a doctor. He can afford it. Mi ò ?e ìkà.”
“But Aunty…”
Aunty Kemi waved her hand, ending the conversation.
“There is nothing to discuss.”
“Okay, ma.” Mo got up to leave. Then she turned back.
“This thing you are asking her to do, Aunty, it is painful. Me, my daddy abandoned me; but I know what he enjoys eating, what he watches on TV, who his friends are, what to say to get him onside. But Ebun has seen her father only a handful of times; he is basically a stranger. She now has to go and beg him for money. If I know my cousin at all, I know she would rather drop out than be going to ask for a handout from someone she barely knows.”
“She is his responsibility.”
“Aunty Kemi, if he felt his duties so keenly, neither of you would have to ask for a dime.”
“What do you want me to do, Monife? The money for her school isn’t going to appear from thin air.”
“I don’t know, Aunty, but I think you should try for her.” Having said her piece, Mo headed for the door.
“Where are you running off to? Since you have grilled me, it is my turn to grill you. Sit down.” Her aunt gestured to a stool and Mo lowered herself onto it. “So how far with that fine boy you arealways sneaking around with? Has he come back yet? When will he propose?”
Mo hesitated. “He is still in England.”
“You people have been dating for a year now, no?”
“About that…”
“Ehen. Long enough for a man to know if he is serious about you.”
“Aunty Kemi, I’m only twenty,” she said, as if she hadn’t thought about it, dreamt about it. As if she hadn’t already circled the wedding dress she wanted in a magazine she had bought.
“I had already given birth to my second child by the time I was your age.”
“Eh, that was then…”
“Look, all I’m saying is, you seem to have found a solid guy. You better lock him down before anything happens. If you get pregnant, for example…”
“I am not doing that, Aunty. I am not trapping him!”
Her aunt raised her ruby-red nails in surrender. “Monife, sometimes you cannot leave these things to fate. You might not be happy with what that fate is.”
“Aunty…”
“I’m just saying, there is no harm in moving things along.”
“Fan-tastic. I wonder what your pastor would say about all this.”
“Okay o! Message received; but do not say I did not warn you. Don’t be taking this our curse for granted.”
