Page 58 of Cursed Daughters
“Ask you what?”
“How I ended up nearly drowning. You’re curious, no?”
She laughed. “Yes. Fine. How did you even end up in the ocean? Most Lagosians have a healthy fear of the water.”
“And I’m no different from them. But I…I can’t explain it, Eniiyi. It was like being in a dream. One minute I was standing in the shallows, with the water barely at my ankles; the next, water was getting into my lungs. Then I lost consciousness.”
“Sounds like you’re saying Mami Wata pulled you into her murky depths.”
“Sounds like that…”
“You really don’t remember anything that happened between those two moments?”
“I really don’t.”
She chewed her lips. Mami Wata indeed. She turned and stared at the ocean surrounding Lagos, with its water the colour of clay.
“You know, the water here was once as good as the water in the Caribbean,” she said, changing the subject.
“There are some places that still have blue water.”
“In Lagos?”
He laughed. “Yes, in Lagos. They are protected, though, co-opted by white people and politicians.”
She whistled. “Interesting.”
“I’ll have to take you to one of them.”
“Yes. Yes please.”
A waiter turned up with their order of suya and asun on a platter, along with her mojito and Zubby’s cocktail. Beside them, he lit a coffee and charcoal bowl to keep the flies at bay. The wind wasgentle and cool, nature’s very own air conditioner. She closed her eyes. If she wasn’t looking at the brown sea, she could have been anywhere. She opened her eyes and turned to face Zubby, who was using a cocktail stick to spear a piece of asun.
“Don’t be offended…” she began.
“I won’t be.”
“But…were you drunk? Or high?”
“The night I almost drowned?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head. “I actually don’t drink. Or smoke.”
“Not at all?”
“No. I’ve seen my dad…spiral. And it only happens when he drinks. He doesn’t indulge that much, but when he does, he takes it too far.”
She liked the way he spoke. He considered the things she said and answered honestly. He was open and straightforward. She told him about her degree, about her interest in genetic counselling as a career, and he walked her through his job as a programmer. She had the sudden urge to hold on to something of his; his key ring or his sunglasses perhaps. A token to remind her of him. Perhaps she could take something without him noticing…She quickly squashed the thought. She was behaving like a mad person.
“Perhaps you should stay away from the water going forward.”
“I’d actually like to learn how to swim…if you’d have me as your student.”
“You want me to teach you?”
He shrugged. “Yes. I’d rather not find myself quite as helpless again, and you’re clearly a strong swimmer. Plus, I’d like to spend more time…more time with you.”
