In the Loving Arms of Servitude

21. And It Begins

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The month of February is coming to an end. And for the past week, aunty Amara has been on a pilgrimage to Rome. It has just been Tobi, Uju and uncle Femi at home ever since. Due to Amara's absence, the burden on Uju has increased ten-fold; responsibilities, chores and all. It has been quite hectic. Thank goodness, she is returning home today. It is also a good thing that she did not travel during the period of Uju's Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination. Uju might not have been able to study properly for it, with all this work. Uju wrote the JAMB exam with the S.S. 3 students this year, instead of waiting until her final year. It was all Mrs. Obi's idea actually, being aware of Uju's situation and the fact that she is a genius. She suggested it to aunty Amara, who then agreed that it was a great idea for Uju to attempt the exam. So she did. Apart from Bayo, Uju did not tell anyone else at school. The principal and Mrs. Obi are the only other people aware that she wrote the examination. And she has heard that the results are already out. So right now, she is itching with anticipation, as she heads home. Hopefully, uncle Femi would have already checked her result.

While she walks along the street, she starts to get close to Iyabeji's kiosk. And upon reaching the front, she greets loudly, "Good evening ma!"

"Ah! Ọmọbinrin!... Bawo ni o, ṣe o wa? " Iyabeji responds, dusting the powdered wheat flour off her palms.

Uju does not understand Yoruba very well. But although oblivious to what Iyabeji just said, she replies, "...I'm fine."

"I see your unko dey comot... Ee be like sey he dey quick close from work now." Iyabeji comments.
Uju smiles and nods in reply.
Iyabeji continues, "But ee don tey wey I see your anti oo... She travel go anywhere???"
Upon hearing her query, Uju smiles again and replies courteously, as she continues walking, "She dey fine, ma... She dey fine." Then she increases her pace, as though she has got something very important to do at home. In truth, she does. But she is getting quite uncomfortable with Iyabeji's intrusiveness. And aunty Amara left strict instructions not to tell anyone of her journey; all the more reason to avoid this conversation.

As Uju walks away, Iyabeji keeps perusing her; eyeing her from top to bottom with a disdainful look on her face. But somehow, that synthetic smile of hers still remains visible; intricately woven into her scornful demeanor, to form a fabric of pretence that constantly alternates its shade when viewed in the light, such that her contemptuousness seems almost hidden but glaringly obvious at the same time. Fully aware of this, Uju keeps on walking until she reaches the gate of their house. Thereafter, she knocks and calls out, "Yusuf!!!... It's Uju!... Please open the gate!"

She receives no answer.
So she knocks again, "Yusuf!!!... You dey there??? "
But no one answers.

Uju then sighs and starts to knock non-stop, calling out his name with even more verve, "Yusuf!!!... Yusuf!!!..."
Then a few seconds later, Yusuf reluctantly opens the gate and rests beside it.

"Ọmọge!... Ekaabọ o!..." he greets her sarcastically.

"E Kaale o!...", she replies in like manner, as she gently pushes the gate open and enters. After closing the gate behind her, he echoes, "Hmm! Time don go o. You sure sey na school you from dey come so? "

"O-o-o!...Kedu nsogbu gị?" frustrated Uju subtly laments in Igbo, afterwhich she replies, "Yusuf, abeg na school I dey come from."

"Okay oo... hmm!... You don turn madam for dis house sha! You no just dey do like house girl again." he comments, letting out a mild grin as he does so. Not bothered by his words, Uju just keeps walking towards the door of the house.

Upon entering the living room, she sees Tobi watching TV and then says,
"Enjoying yourself, huh!...What about your homework?"

Tobi jumps up in shock at her voice. "Uhmm... I am almost done. I just came to get some water... and then I saw the Tv on... so I wanted to quickly watch this episode of..."

"...Mm hmm???" she exclaims strictly. But then folding her arms, she instructs leniently, "Once that episode ends, make sure you go back to your room and finish your assignment. You are lucky I'm in love with this show too."

"Okay... Thank you so much! I'll gist you everything later." Tobi responds in glee.

Afterwards, she smiles and heads to her room, goes to take a bath and then puts on some fresh clothes. Thereafter, she brings her books out of her bag and begins her Further Maths assignment. Shortly after, she hears the sound of uncle Femi's car drive in. He must have already picked up aunty Amara from the airport.
"That was sooner than expected!" Uju exclaims in shock, realizing that she has not warmed the stew yet. She hasn't even cooked the rice for supper.
'Oh my goodness!' she gasps. 'Has Tobi left the living room like I told him to? What if they catch him there?'
She immediately drops her pen and races toward the sitting room. Upon reaching there, she notices that Tobi has already put off the TV and run into his room. 'Smart boy!'

Then uncle Femi walks in, looking quite agitated. Unlike usual, he is casually dressed in a blue T-shirt and a pair of black jeans. His face also looks terribly distraught, like there is a big problem.
"Good evening sir!" Uju greets him, but he barely even takes note. He just keeps walking briskly toward his bedroom.
Something is obviously wrong, but Uju doesn't have the slightest idea what. She sincerely hopes that it does not have anything to do with aunty Amara's arrival.
'Oh my God!...What if...?' Uju starts to wonder, before abruptly cancelling the morbid thought from her mind. Hopefully, nothing has happened. Nothing will happen to aunty Amara.
But suddenly, she begins to shiver at the thought of another tragedy. She starts to take in long deep breaths, to calm herself, reassuring herself that everything will be alright. Afterwards, she slowly heads to the kitchen, to make dinner.

After a few minutes, she hears uncle Femi leaving quickly again. Thereafter, the sound of his car driving out begins to waft into her ears, as she strains the water from a bowl of rice grains.
The ominous suspense right now is extremely frightening. So within herself, Uju quickly says a short prayer for the safe return of aunty Amara.

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GLOSSARY
"Ah!.....Ọmọbinrin!......Bawo ni o, ṣe o wa? " - "Oh!.....Young girl!....How are you?"
"I see your unko dey comot......Ee be like sey he dey quick close from work now."- "I saw your uncle leaving....It seems he returns from work early, these days."
"But ee don tey wey I see your aunti oo...... She travel go anywhere???....."- "And it's been quite a while since I saw your aunt...... Did she travel anywhere???"
"She dey fine, ma......She dey fine."- "She's fine, ma'am......She's fine."
"Yusuf!!!.....You dey there??? "- "Yusuf!!!.... Are you there???"
"Ọmọge!... Ekaabọ o!......"- Welcome back, young lady!...."
"E Kaale o!... "- "And good evening to you!"
"Hmm!......Time don go oo.......You sure sey na school you from dey come so? "- "Hmm!..... It's quite late....Are you sure you're actually coming from school?"
"O-o-o!...Kedu nsogbu gị?"- "Ughh!....What is your problem?"
"Yusuf, abeg na school I dey come from."- "Yusuf, please I am coming from school."
"Okay oo.....hmm!....You don turn madam for dis house sha!......You no just dey do like house girl again."- "Okay, if you say so.....Wow!..... It seems like you've become the Lady of the house now!.......You hardly ever act like the maid nowadays."