Listen To Me

Chapter 9

Damilare slammed the door behind him as he walked into the house, giving Mama Ola, who was watching TV, a fright in the process.

"Damilare, Is something wrong?" Mama Ola inquired in worry.

Damilare dropped his bag roughly on the floor as he sat beside his mother on the couch. He was still angry at what Hope said to home earlier. He tried to forgive and forget but it was difficult. His mother was the closest person to him, how dare Hope insult her.

"What is it?" Mama Ola asked, placing her hand on her son's shoulder.

Damilare sighed, "Mummy, let us not interact with the Osaseres anymore." He murmured.

Mama Ola was taken aback by his statement, "What do you mean by that? Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened. I just feel that it is better if we do not interact with them anymore." He stated.

"They are our neighbors. How can we stop interacting with them? And by the way, they are nice people. Especially those girls." Mama Ola said with a smile as she went back to watching her program on the TV.

Damilare stared at his mother with compassion. His mother was so nice yet people treated her poorly. She only sees good in people but that same people mock her behind her. "Mummy, those people are not nice." He said, his voice wavering.

Mama Ola averted her gaze from the TV when she heard the gloom in her son's voice, "Did you fight with Hope? Is that where all this is coming from? If you indeed fought with Hope, you better go and apologize. You should not offend beautiful girls like that."

"Mummy, why are you so good? Did you know what that girl said about you today? She called you boorish, uncouth. Honestly, I thought she was better than the rest of her obstinate family." Damilare blurted out in anger.

Damilare knew he had opened old wounds when Mama Ola went silent for a while. She was hardly ever silent, she liked to talk, even about the little things she did in a day. That was just how she was.

"Did Hope say that?" Mama Ola finally asked.

Damilare slowly nodded his head, "Yes, she did." He told her. He tells his mother everything. She was the wisest person he knew.

Mama Ola picked up the remote and switched off the TV before turning to face Damilare, "Do not fight with her because of that. She must have heard it somewhere. I am sure she did not mean it."

"Who else would she have heard it from if not from her rude mother?" Damilare retorted but Mama Ola quickly shut him up.

"We don't know if that is true. Go inside and rest, you have an exam tomorrow." Mama Ola shooed him away.

Damilare sluggishly picked up his bag and shuffled to his room but before he left he told her, "Mummy, I love you." A smile blossomed on Mama Ola's face. Her children were her pride and joy.

Mama Ola's smile faded away when she remembered what Damilare just told her. It made her remember her past.

Mama Ola was brought up in a small village in Ondo state. Her father married three wives of which her mother was the second. She was the seventh child out of thirteen children. Their family was devastatingly poor yet her father kept on giving birth to more children. He claimed that the bigger your compound, the more respect you receive. He neglected the fact that their actual compound was very small and thirteen children were too much for a two-bedroom mud house. At the end of the day, he died and left them all to fend for themselves.

Her two elder sisters, Tolani and Funke, were the first to run away. Two years later, another two of her siblings ran away. Her immediate elder brother told them he was going to the city in search of a job to make their lives better but he never returned. Only God knows what happened to them.