Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : YoungAdult

Ibironke 

The sun rays got into the room stirring Ronke into consciousness.  She looked at clock and behold it was 7:30AM. 


“Oh my goodness, I'm so late to church,” she rolled out of the bed in shock, running into the shower to take her bath. Since it was the first day of summer, it was normal for her to sleep for a very long period of time. 


In the bathroom, she looked for her towel only to realise it wasn't there. “Banji,” she growled internally. It was his handiwork: always fapping(taking) her towels. When was he going to learn how to stay away from her stuffs, most especially her towels? If only he was careful with his own towels. She dressed up in her Blue Ankara gown and had matching earrings. She ran out of the bathroom only to meet with an empty house. 


“Mum! Goke, Bukky, Banji.” She ran out of the house only to meet Mohammed, their Hausa gateman. 


“Madam, me I no know say you no go church(I thought you had gone to church),” Mohammed  said in his Hausa accent. 


“You mean say dem don go(they really left?) Makawhy(why?). I go call dem sha, thank you sha(I'll call them thanks anyway),” she ran into the house to pick up her phone and dialled the number that first popped up on the screen. She waited for the call to go through before picking it, “Banji, where are you, na? You guys just left me behind like that.” 


“But- Goke said he would come with you?” Banji protested. 


“Goke? Ko sin le o(he’s not at home). I swear I searched everywhere for you, Goke and Bukky, no one’s at home. I'll ask Mohammed sha. Lemme not distract you in church, good day,” Ronke hung up the phone before walking out of the house. 


“Mohammed, abeg shey you see Goke?(have you seen Goke?)” “Madam, Oga no dey for here o(the boss is not here). He tell me say he dey go somewhere, he no mention am(he said that he’s going somewhere but he didn't mention the place).”


“Thanks. I'd find a way to get a ride. Abeg, help me open gate(please, open the gate).” The slim, dark-skinned man opened the gate for his little madam, earning thanks from her. The only problem was how she would get to church without a keke marwa(tricycle). She decided to walk to the main road, then she noticed a vehicle trailing her and turned to see who it was. 


“Hi Tunji,” she waved at the driver who beckoned at her to come in. Tunji was one of Goke’s friends and was known for not-so-good things. No one would be surprised if he was the main bad influence on Goke because of his notoriety.  


“So what are you up to early this Sunday?” 


“I'm off to church. Goke left me at home. I'm sure he’s smoking and going around with those girls he always bring home, now I have to find my way to church,” she sighed. 


“Church? I never thought of you as a religious person,” Tunji scoffed.


“Where do you think I'm going in this dress?” She pointed at the gown that went an inch below the knee level. It flared from her waist downwards.


“My room, a night party, a boyfriend's house. The options are wide,” he grinned mischievously. 


“Please, be serious.” Tunji was the kind of person you'd call a hardcore atheist which was rare in Nigeria which is a secular state. It was either Islam, Christianity or the ATR; no neutrality. Tunji grew up in a family where religion was seen as “a poor man’s opiate” and science and logic were the “answers to everything”. 


“What? What the f**k do you do in church anyway? You only sit on your a**es to be indoctrinated by some paedophile. Good thing Goke has opened his eyes to reality…”


“Look, if you don't believe in God, it is your own choice but don't say what you don’t know.  Even if my pastor is indeed a pedophile, only God would deal with him, not you or me or anyone, okay?” Ronke held her hand. 


“Seriously, how can you worship a God who clearly hates women?”


“You don't understand, do you? The God I worship does not hate women and I don't worship God out of fear. Just get me to church,” she sighed in defeat.

After church service, they sat in the parlor to watch The Johnsons which is a funny Nigerian sitcom. Spiff, as usual, was always up to his mumuish(foolish) but funny antics that always got him into trouble. Efe was the efiko (geek or smart guy) of the family which he inherit from his father, Lucky. Tari as the official NFA(no future ambition) was the happy-go-lucky and Jennifer was the sisi ologe(fashionable girl). Their mom, Emu, could be accurately be the boss madam of the house. The episode she was watching was about Efe and Spiff pranking the family members to the point Lucky took matters in his hands. 


After that, she went to the refrigerator to warm some Egusi(melon) soup to eat with Iyan(pounded yam) for the family to herald their mother's arrival. Their mother, as busy as a bee, ironically had time to spend with them and never hesitated to discuss with them. 


She put out the fire on the gas stove before turning to see Banji. “Banji, is Goke back?”


“Goke?” He scoffed. “The guy is probably smoking igbo(weed) and shagging (sleeping with) some girl. It’s only God that is keeping him from contracting HIV gan.” Ronke sighed. Banji and Goke had a history of bad blood after he hitting him on the head with a bottle. 


“Banji!”


“Ehn-ehn? Or is his yeye(useless) friend sending you love signals? Because I saw him bringing you to church this morning o,” Banji grinned mischievously. 


“Sharrap, jor(shut up). That's the only thing you know. Anyway, Ezinma said I should greet you sha. The girl likes you gan o…”


“Sister Ronke! Mommy is back o,” Bukky exclaimed excitedly from outside. Ronke and Banji rushed out to greet their mother.


“Eku ’role(good evening), Mommy,” they knelt down in the Traditional Yoruba manner. 


“Good evening. Where’s Goke? Is he not at home?” Sade enquired. 


“He’s probably with Tunji shagging some ashewo(prostitute) and probably getting stoned,” Banji replied with a roll of his eyes.


“Ah-ahn, Banji, don't be like that na,” Sade smiled.


“It's true, na. He even left Ronke at home and didn't show up at Church sef.”


“Hmm, God will help me with that boy sha. Ever since your dad died, he’s been acting out ni. Let's get inside, jare.” 


After meal time, the door swung open and revealed Goke whose clothes were disheveled and was apparently stoned with a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hands. He looked disoriented before his eyes landed on his mother.


“Mummy ooo, wa pe laye(Mummy, may you live long). Mummy eee, wa jewu omo(Mummy, you'd reap the fruits of your labour),” Goke sneered. “That's even if you deserve that song, Mother dearest,” Goke laughed.


“Goke, are you okay?” Bukky asked, checking for signs that her brother was in his right mind. “Oh, I forgot, you're stoned so your brain is obviously not functioning,” she said in a tone that said duh.


“Adebukola!” 


“What na? Is it not obvious?”


“Will you shut your f**king mouth up? Just because Mommy doesn't let me beat you doesn't mean you should run your mouth like typewriter here o. I will just slap you ni,” he hissed before walking away.


“You too, who tell you say make you carry mouth(why did you talk)?” Banji queried.


“What did you expect Bukky to do?” Ronke laughed, attempting to reduce the tension. 


Sade looked at her adolescents arguing and shook her head. It wasn't their fault Goke had chosen to that path. When they heard the news that Debi had passed on, Goke went out of their house and got drunk. That signalled the beginning of his rebellion: he started moving with the wrong crowd, getting drunk and stoned, changing girls like clothes. 


Things got worse when he befriended Adetunji Oladele. That guy was the perfect Yoruba demon, with his smooth tongue, he could even make the ocean change its current which was a perfect tool for his Casanova skills. What really made her worried was the fact that he has his eyes set her daughter and who knows what he could do to her.


“Ehn ehn,” she cleared her throat, “I have something to tell you guys.”