Mother Of One (Preview)

4. Ignorance and Dash of Pride

Dedicated to @littlelo for inspiration.

Temi was washing with a big crooked black bowl with broken edges filled with brownish water as a result of little soap and a heap of clothes by her side, it was Sunday after church and she was washing her clothes outside her house, sitting on a sturdy small wooden stool, a  faded red bucket with no handle beside the bowl.

"The Obobo man had the guts to tell me that I am not a good mother," she said to Rukky who was also washing her clothes, the hot sun was shining and hitting on her body and since it was Sunday Temi wanted nothing more than to go to her bed, sleep and enjoy her only day of rest, but she couldn't postpone washing her clothes any longer she actually only got the strength to wash when Rukky started washing.

"Is that so?" Rukky replied and that was the only push Temi needed to continue her story.

"He even said that I was not fit to take care of Lele, me!" Temi exclaimed, it was not the first time she had told Rukky this but after the man came to the market yesterday, she couldn't get his offer off her mind.

Temi was confused but she didn't think  she wanted or needed any help from any body especially that man, the words he uttered that day hurt Temi more than she would admit to any one, not even Rukky; even now as she repeated the words, they still hurt.

Temi remembered the numerous hospitals she had taken Lele to using up all her funds to no avail, she remembered all the churches all the crusades everything that she had done but that man came from no where and assumed that she was not a good mother, A man that was not a mother at all.

"He kept on saying that something was wrong with my child even though I insisted that she was fine, how can he even say that my Lele is not normal does he not know that what you say will come to pass," Temi continued ranting to Rukky, even though she knew that there was nothing she could do about it, she just needed to let everything out she needed to tell somebody and Rukky was there.

"How can he even say such a thing?" Rukky replied in her overly dramatic fashion and Temi just smiled at her, this was what she needed.

"Abi oh, he said my daughter, my only daughter is not normal, Ha! Osanitemi you have suffered," Temi said to no one in particular, remembering her time at the village, back then even if she was young no body would ever say that to her, even if her child was a mad woman on the street, in the village she was the daughter of a chief but in Warri she was a nobody.

"It is his children and whole generation that is not normal, useless man!" Temi continued, hissing loudly and venting out her frustration on the poor clothes, which refused to be clean, she already had blisters on her palm from washing and it didn't help that the soap was not enough and that the clothes had not been washed in a while.

"Yes, oh!" Rukky said in agreement in with Temi while still washing her clothes.

"Just because he looks and talks like an Oyinbo man that is why he feels he is better than me," Temi continued.

"That is how all these people use to do oh, even if they have not left Warri they will be talking as if they stayed abroad all their lives," Rukky contributed and Temi smiled at her.

"That is it, only God knows if he even has money with his skin that looks like pig own, he is not even fine self," Temi said Rukky laughed, even though the last part was a lie no matter how much she bad mouthed him  he was certainly not ugly he was very handsome and even taller than her, which was very rare but Temi continued insulting him. she was definitely not going to tell Rukky that.

"See how you are insulting his skin as if your sister is not fair," Rukky said and that was true Temi's elder sister's skin was light like the man's, like Jide's,  Jide that's what he introduced himself as.