Good Riddance... (4)

Some days are awesome, some days are just there, while some days are terrible. Today was one of such terrible days, even though it started so well.

Mum was really careful but I had not had much sleep all through the night, and every little sound woke me up. She shut the door gently behind her, walked quietly to my bed and sat by my side. I had seen her walk in and then shut my eyes again, pretending to still be asleep. I smiled in my mind. My mum will never change. It was Sunday morning and there was church service to attend but on days like this, when her precious daughter had gone all the way to show support to a friend, she could be understanding enough, and even get dad to agree to us attending second service.

"Adetola mi, abike okin,
omo a ji f'ojo gbogbo dara bi egbin...
omo ateni gbola, ateni gbore...
my precious, priceless daughter..."

I shifted a bit on the bed. I'm sure she suspected my pretense already. Then I smiled when I felt she was smiling at me.

"Hmmmnnn, good morning mum..." I said slowly and sluggishly.

"Kaaro, oko mi. So, how long have you been awake?" This time, my mum laughed a little.

"Haba, mummy. Can't a girl enjoy a little bit of attention anymore?" My eyes were now wide open. I took the covers off my body and sat up.

"Happy Sunday, sweetest mum of the universe; the sweetest of them all" I held her hand and tried to contribute to the early morning eulogy before she cut in.

"Happy Sunday to you too. You're hilarious. Get up and get dressed o. You know how your father can be. We're going to church soon."

"But it's second service now..." I tried to argue.

She turned my bedside clock to me to show me the time and continued.

"Dide kia kia. Breakfast is ready. I don't want your dad hurrying you up. You know you still have to make-up and style your hair, sisi eko...." My mum laughed hard this time around. She got up from my bed, walked out of the room and then walked back again to make sure I had gotten out of bed.

"I'm up now. Mu-mmy".

I smiled back at her, made sure she had stepped out, walked to the door to close it and staggered back to my bed. The pain in my head was unexplainable. I covered my head with my pillow. I was in so much pain. After about three minutes, I managed to get out of bed again and walked to the bathroom.

That was the last thing I remembered.

***
"Will she not get down now?" Chief Ajisafe checked his wristwatch, again.

Chief Ajisafe was not the type to be delayed, especially on a Sunday morning. He had this principle of having his entire family leaving home for church together, in one car. It was a way of bonding; at least that was the reason he gave on days when his daughter or wife suggested coming separately, just in case they had to leave for some other places after church. Sunday was a dedicated family day, according to him.

"She'll be out soon. I checked her room before coming down. She was in the bathroom or so. We will join you in the car".
Tola's mum pacified her husband who was now walking out of living room to the car.
She walked up the stairs again to get her daughter.

"Tola, that's enough. You'll continue in the car"

She walked in but Tola was still not out of the bathroom. Tola's phone was ringing, her bed was still rough, everywhere looked the same, like the last time she peeped to see if Tola was ready.
The bathroom door was slightly opened, so she pushed it in and hoped to see Tola using the mirror in the bathroom. What she saw instead made her scream.

***
"Have you seen Tola anywhere?

Jessica walked up to one of the ushers to ask again. She had called severally and the second service was almost over. Tola was never late for church, and even though she didn't tell Jessica she would be coming for the second and not first service, Jessica figured herself after checking through all the uniformed ushers without seeing her friend; and after asking about three of them if they had seen or heard from her. Jessica had called and pinged severally but Tola wasn't picking her calls, neither was she reading her bbm messages.

Jessica became worried. She had not noticed any of the Ajisafes in church. The church was a big one but it was quite easy to notice who was in church and who wasn't, especially the Ajisafes that had customized the front seats for themselves.

"It would be awkward to call Tola's mum on a Sunday morning" she thought to herself, as she walked out of the church to dial Tola's number again.

"Madam... how you dey?" Demola patted an engrossed Jessica on the shoulder.

"Err... Demola. This is a pleasant surprise. You now worship here?" Jessica forced a smile, as she shook Demola.

"Well, I just wanted to be welcomed by the beautiful ushers I've heard so much about and be ushered to the front specifically by your friend, Tola." Demola paused to see the look on Jessica's face and burst into laughter.

"Oh. Okay... That's a nice motivation to come to our church... At least, you will get blessed in the process" Jessica tried to flow with what she suspected was a joke.

"You should see the look on your face right now. I'm just kidding. I was invited by your Tola. By the way, have you seen her anywhere? I've been browsing through all the ushers but I've not spotted her." Demola responded.

"Browsing through? Now, that's some major work you've had to do." Jessica laughed.
"I've not seen her all day. She specifically invited you for second service, right?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Demola looked puzzled.

"I'm just wondering if there was an after-party that I was not invited to last night? Otherwise, Tola should have told me she would be coming for second service like she did you" Jessica was curious. She stopped dialing Tola's number for the umpteenth time.

"I don't know anything about an after-party o. But I guess she was tired after the stress Vic put her through. I really don't know, trust me." Demola laughed.
 "Anyway, if you see or hear from her, tell her I honored her invitation but she's not such a good host..." Demola walked away, still laughing.

"I will. But please, don't be offended. Just enjoy the service. See you later." Jessica replied, took her gaze back to her phone and decided to call Tola's mum this time around.

A call came through to interrupt her dialing. It was Segun.

"Hello Segun...
What?!
Okay. I'm on my way. I'll be there just now."

She hurried out of the church premises.


*Good Riddance by Faith Tunde-Yara
*Photo credit: blackhair.about.com