Listen To Me

Chapter 13

Immediately Hope greeted Mr. Edosa and Efe, she zoomed out of her house to the Ayo house. This was a routine for her now. Hope no longer cared about her mother's opinion. Her life was more important. She avoided interacting with Efe anytime he came. His face was filled with bruises and Hope would snicker anytime she saw him.

Adenike heartily opened the door for her when she arrived. For the past few days, the Ayo house has been her second home. Hope greeted Mama Ola who was knitting on the couch. Akinjimi and Olajumoke were on the floor, drawing. They all knew why Hope was here.

"Hope, how are you? Have you eaten yet?" Mama Ola asked. Hope nodded in response although she did not eat to her satisfaction as she was in a hurry to get out of the house. She has been walking on eggshells around her mother ever since the fight they had. Mama Unique was oddly quiet. She was like a ticking bomb waiting for the right time to explode.

Akinjimi stood up and sat beside Hope, showing her the elephant she had drawn, "Hope, look I drew you."

Hope stared at the drawing dumbfounded. When did she become this fat? She thought. If Akinjimi was not a child, Hope would think she was trying to mock her.

Akinjimi who was unaware of Hope's thoughts looked at her drawing proudly as she went back to join her brother on the floor. Very soon I will become an artist, she said silently with confidence.

Mama Ola stared at her daughter fondly before turning to Hope, "You concluded your exams last week, right?" Hope nodded in response. "It means your results should be out today-"

"Mummy, good afternoon." Damilare who just walked in greeted, interrupting his mother. Mama Ola nodded, acknowledging his greeting as he came to sit beside Hope on the couch.

"Damilare, is your result not supposed to be out today?" Mama Ola inquired.

Damilare scratched his hairline. There were beads of sweat on his forehead, evidence that he had trekked in the scorching sun. He had asked her earlier if she would attend the teenager's program in church but she refused. Judging from the Bible and journal in his hand, he just returned from the program.

"Yeah, it was supposed to come out today but they posted on the WhatsApp group that their server is down and all students should come and collect their results by themselves tomorrow," Damilare replied.

Hope frowned at the news. She hadn't gone online all day, so she had not seen the news. She disliked going to school to take her report card. Everyone was going to crowd around her and pester her for her position though they already guessed it. She preferred checking her results online.

"You guys will go early so you can come back early. Damilare, remember that we all have to visit the Pastor tomorrow, so do not play in school."

"Mummy, I am not a child. Why will I play?" Damilare grumbled.

Mama Ola let out a laugh, "See this one. You are forming big boy because Hope is here, abi?"

Adenike, whose eyes were glued to the TV, chuckled, inciting laughter from all of us. If Damilare was a white boy, he would be red from embarrassment.

After the laughter subsided, Hope asked out of curiosity, "Why are you guys visiting the Pastor?"

Everyone went silent, staring at her as if she said the sky was purple. Even little Olajumoke was looking at her quizzically, "Did I say something wrong?" She asked, unsure.

"Yes, you did." Adenike commented, "Everyone knows tomorrow is the Pastor's child naming ceremony."

Hope was rendered even more confused, "Which child? He gave birth."

Akinjimi giggled, "The Pastor did not give birth. It is Mummy Eseosa that gave birth." She said referring to the Pastor's wife.

Hope rolled her eyes internally. Of course, that was what she meant but she never knew that the Pastor's wife was pregnant.

"Don't tell me this is news to you. The church conducted a small Thanksgiving for them in church on Sunday. Where you not present?" Damilare asked.

Hope did recall everyone dancing and singing but she did not bother to know why. She was busy reading the Economics notes she had saved on her phone in preparation for her exam.

Damilare gazed at her face before shaking his head, "It is funny how you can be so oblivious to your surroundings." He said with a faint smile on his lips.

Hope frowned in disagreement. She was not oblivious. She was very observant. She just did not pay attention to things she did not care about and church service was one of them. And by the way, how was she supposed to know that they were dancing and singing for the Pastor? Everybody in that church danced and sang all the time for different reasons.

"I thought naming ceremonies were in the evenings. Why are you guys going in the morning?" Hope asked.

"We are going to help them prepare," Adenike answered.

The frown on Hope's face deepened, "What exactly are you guys going to do?"

"We will help with the cleaning, cooking, arrangement, and any other things that need to be done. Are you interested?" Adenike asked.

Hope shook her head vigorously, "Why would I subject myself to unnecessary work? It's not as if I will get paid."

Mama Ola immediately chastised her, "We should not work to get paid. We are helping the Pastor out because it is the right thing to do. His wife just gave birth, she is weak and needs a lot of assistance. The Bible says we should help the needy and right now the Pastor needs help with his child naming ceremony." She told Hope. "Our reward is in heaven."

Hope nodded even though she did not understand. The Pastor was not needy, he had a lot of money. He could simply hire people to prepare the event for him.

Mama Ola saw the conflicted look on Hope's face. She smiled and said, "Hope, you should join us," Hope shook her head in refusal again, "I have noticed that you are not eager in the things of the Lord. Your whole family, in fact. It is very bad. A family cannot survive without God."

We've been surviving since, Hope thought.

"A house that is built on rock does not fall but the one built on sand will surely do. The same goes for God." Mama Ola added.

Anytime Hope visited their home, Mama Ola would always try to preach to her, even Damilare spoke to her about God any chance he got. It was as if they were trying to woo her. She found it amusing.

God is interested in you, Hope.

I wonder why, she thought.