Chasing Shadows (Episode 3)

Days turned into weeks and Sade eventually got used to having a third person live with them in the small two-bedroom apartment. She had felt bad the other night that she returned home and met the guys seated on the rug, watching a football match, and munching on Suya and coke. She slipped into the room, sent a message to Siju that she was sorry and was going to bed. She avoided Supo in the first few days of his stay, by making sure she was out of the house as early as possible, and returning as late as she could. She took solace in the many deliveries she had to make that week. She was working very hard to contribute her own quota to the wedding plans, and she didn’t mind that it might be little. Siju and Mosun had persuaded her to be friendlier to the guest, and Mosun had particularly reminded her of the Yoruba tradition that required her to respect her in-laws. She had brushed off the idea as being barbaric. Besides, he was just a stranger that showed up three months to her wedding. It would take time to get used to this in-law. After much persuasion and self-thought, and more particularly because she could not afford to come between two brothers, seeing that she was not supposed to be living with Siju in the first place until they were married, she began making concerted efforts to be cordial with Supo.

Supo on the other hand had given Sade enough time and space to get used to his presence in their house. He had assured her that he would not be staying permanently. He had gone further to confess that Siju never mentioned anything about having his fiancée live in the same house with him, otherwise he would have made other arrangements. The revelation had made things between Supo and Sade less awkward, since they had one thing in common. They both laughed at their acting skills the first time they met. He assured Sade that Siju’s habit was not one she should be worried about; Siju had always been that way. It was either that he had plans to tell the other party of any new development but forgot or that he didn’t consider it necessary to do so. They both went with the first option as Siju’s excuse in their case.

Supo was back in Ibadan to resuscitate their father’s printing business. He had a smile on his face as he relayed his childhood to Sade. This printing business was all they had while growing up. Their father owned one of the biggest printing outlets in Ibadan. It was a whole lot to possess at the time, and they – (Supo and his two other siblings) had enjoyed the best of everything from the proceeds of their father’s business.

“You have another sibling?” Sade asked in surprise.

Supo paused a bit before he continued his story with a smile.

“Had. We had.” He repeated softly.

“…Yes, I know Siju never mentioned it. It’s the second reason we would go for as his excuse in this case.” Supo said gently.

“It’s a part of our story that he never talks about. Her name was Sholafunmi. We always came to daddy’s office straight from school. On this particular Tuesday, we came back from school as usual, ran straight to daddy’s office, while greeting the staff on our way up. We had only just settled down to our lunch that mum always brought to the office after dropping us off at school in the morning. Dad was not in the office at the time we arrived, but it wasn’t awkward. He always had one or two things to handle at the two adjoining outlets. In less than 30 minutes after our arrival, I began to perceive a very odd smell. I was wise enough to know it was from the machines. I immediately instructed my siblings to pack up and run down the stairs and out of the building. I was shocked at the sight of the fire that had begun burning downstairs. Shola was asthmatic and had already began to cough by the time we got down. Smoke was everywhere and it was difficult to see properly. I carried her in my arms, while shouting at Siju to jump over through one of the windows that was yet to catch fire…” He paused.

Sade sat frozen at the back seat of the cab they had both taken to view potential outlets to start up the new printing press. She wanted to say something to all he had said but couldn’t find the words. She opened her mouth and then shut it again.

“It’s okay” Supo smiled again and squeezed her hands.

She nodded. That was all she could do – nod.

“We don reach oke-itunu. Which side I should turn to?” the cab man said in the best of English he could muster.

“Turn left sir.” Supo directed till they arrived at their destination.

***

The rest of the evening was quiet, quiet all the way from when they alighted from the cab to view the outlets, till they returned home.

Even though Supo tried so hard to change the topic and cheer her up, she just withdrew into a shell and spent the rest of the evening in the kitchen till Siju returned from work. The product of her elongated stay in the kitchen was ofada rice and fried stew with assorted meat. She served the guys and left them both in the sitting room. She had a lot to process, and a lot of questions to ask Siju. She understood why he wouldn’t mention his sister, but she couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t tell her the remaining things Supo already told her. He might just be more difficult to live with than she was actually prepared for, she thought.

She began re-arranging the already arranged room, placing the numerous aso-ofi for her clients in a different position than they usually were in the room.

She had moved to the second room since Supo arrived, to create a good impression of herself on Supo; not that it was important but she felt it was the best thing to do.

“Babe, are you alright?” Siju stood at the entrance of the room, and watched Sade fold the dresses on the bed.

“Hey you. Enjoyed the meal?” She smiled back at him and continued with the folding.

“Yeah. I asked you a question” he said softly.

“Yes, I’m good. You know your prayers have been working. So many bookings came in today” she tried to change the topic.

“Okay… you’ve been acting off since I got back. I just hope you’re fine.” Siju pressed on.

“I’m good. Really. We went shop-sight-seeing today. Did Supo tell you?” Sade said excitedly.

“I see you had fun.” He smiled and she nodded in affirmation.

“It’s good to see you’re finally getting along. I’m going to bed dear, long day ahead.” He kissed her on the forehead and made his way to the other room.

She walked him out of the room, waited for him to shut the door to his room behind him, before stepping out of her new room to the sitting room. She knew Supo would still be up and she was glad about that.

***CHASING SHADOWS by Faith Tunde-Yara

***Photo Credit: www.vanguardngr.com