Entangled – episode 7
Entangled episode 7
Written By Shalomdee
“Oow” , he sounded like he were purring . “I could die for Chimamanda , her writing style is out of this world . ”
Jane nodded gently , “that I have to agree with ”.
“Bessie Head writes as if to mystify , I don ’ t quite enjoy her narration ” .
“You will if you studied more of her work. I like female writers a lot, I admire their art ” . Jane crooned.
“I hope you are not a feminist?” Haruna said suddenly as if feminists were leprous people.
Jane lifted her eyes and looked into his in a way that showed she was ready to defend feminists with all she had left.
“What is wrong with feminists , Mr Classical Literature?”
“I find them most annoying , all that bullshit about men doing the dishes ”
Jane twittered , she was not sure feminists advocated for such unreasonable things .
In a few minutes , the reception ground had been transformed to a Disney Palace. Balloons , flowers and colourful dresses of pink and gold adorned the event in a way a tiara adorns the head. The event started soon after the MC , who declared himself to be MC Born Again , announced the reception had started and ordered the DJ to play music for the couple and their train to dance in .
A popular song played and the couple danced in with the groom ’ s men and bride’ s maids behind them . They danced so well and in tune Jane knew they had rehearsed so many times. “What a beautiful couple ”, she stated .
Haruna smiled and reached out to hold her hands. She felt uneasy but assured herself that nothing otherwise was going on . She looked around for her cousins, aunt and mother . She saw her mother and aunt in a different canopy that seemed to be majorly for the elderly and respected people in the family . They were caught up in some heated discussion that she was sure was unrelated to the event on going . Her cousins were filming and taking pictures of the couple .
Except for the time Isaac asked to be taken to urinate , Jane gave her full attention to the wedding . Unlike most people who looked for things to complain about , Jane was absorbed in admiration of the couple . Tall and huge Lancelot held her slim and fair cousin and they were interlocked in each other’ s arms. Rahila wore a thoughtful smile that made Jane wonder what she must really be thinking . Was she really just glad to finally be the wife of this handsome fellow or was there something else she was worried about amidst all the glamour .
She looked at the programme of the wedding which held the picture of Lancelot and Rahila dressed in white about to k-ss , she held the programme close to her chest and became lost in the world of imagination. She did not even notice when Haruna collected the drinks and handed one to her .
The Okafor house was a three bedroom flat painted red and white with a black gate. in,side the house were valuable and colourful pieces of furniture positioned at the right s₱0ts and nice abstract paintings hanging on the wall . Their church wedding picture hung at the centre just above the big L . G home theatre . From all indications , Lancelot Okafor Okoronkwo was a lover of beauty, art , and the aesthetics . A huge chandelier hung on the ceiling from which different colourful bulbs shone . Bordering the dining table was a finely built rectangular bar where expensive non-alcoholic wine were stored . Opposite the bar stood a huge shelf with a glass opening , there stood books about Medicine , history, philosophy , Christian faith and classic Nigerian novels . Upon entering , one would think the house was a grand photo studio . Lancelot had gotten his exquisite taste in design from one of his Senagalese friends who he shared a room with in his days at medical school. The five years he had spent with Ousman in the campuses of UNIBEN had left in him an imprint for artistic works , coupled with that he was a man who believed in impressing others .
Rahila for instance had been impressed the moment she had entered his flat just a few streets away from the Central hospital at Gwagwalada, a district in Abuja . His multicoloured upholstery, emerald design centre table and adorable stuffed animals had warmed her heart. She was a lady who had been brought up in money , but when she saw anything close to wealth , she recognized it. Then he was aware that he was competing for her love alongside Pam , a member of Plateau state house of representatives whose father was a national figure . Lancelot doubted at that time that she would accept his marriage proposal, however she did and he was forced to believe it was God ’ s intervention.
It was now six months after their glamorous wedding . Their honey moon had been abrupt, she had to resume at the private hospital in Abuja which had accepted her application while he had to resume his duties at the Central Hospital Gwagwalada. It was because they had this fact in their minds that they had to spend their honeymoon in Akwa Ibom and not South Africa or Kenya as he had once imagined it will be . Akwa Ibom though had been quite an adventure , they had taken their time to visit all the interesting places and dine in the classiest restaurants .
His mind now went to their first night together at the Olives Hotel, it was nothing more than her coyness that had made it worthwhile . Twice she had locked the bathroom on entering and had forgotten to dress up in the night dress her best friend had made sure to get for her . Now , it longer mattered . They were no longer the latest couple . Still, every day was new and exciting to both of them because their friendsh¡p was as strong as their love .
Lancelot was proud though that he never allowed any intimate activity between them during their dating and courtsh¡p period. He followed his Pastor ’ s advice strictly by not allowing her sleep at his place no matter the reason and limiting the time they spent alone . There was a time she had almost slept at his house , not out of any mischievous motive but because they had lost track of time and the night was far spent.
“I will sleep in the living room, ” she said not reading his mind.
“Oh no , you can ’ t , how do you expect me to be able to sleep in my room when someone as lovely as yourself will be in my living room ? It may be late , but I must drop you off at your best friend ’ s place . ” He had said with a bright smile hoping she will not be offended . But she wasn’ t , she agreed with almost anything he said , another trait that made her a wife material.
He remembered how eager his mother was about him getting married to Rahila . “ I have not seen any other girl as gentle and easy going as she is . She will be good for you . ” His mother said to him six months after he had introduced Rahila to his family . His father had nothing to say to him about Rahila ,
as a matter of fact he hærdly had anything to say to anyone concerning any matter . His dementia made it hærd for him to articulate his thoughts and say something useful . Yet it was he who had ingrained manly virtues and character into Lancelot . Had it not been for his father , he would probably be a wayward son without any principles and respect for the opposite s€× .
Rahila was a favourite in his family , they all thought her to be a saint ; perfect and s₱0tless . He alone was aware of her little shortcomings . One of them was the fact that she was a very bad cook. She had confessed this to him during their courtsh¡p . She did not know how to make jollof rice taste better than the gruesome stuff a ten year old will cook and her soups and stews were almost always sour .
Now that they were married , he tried to give her a helping hand sometimes and he got her cook books on various Nigerian dishes . The fact that she was a nurse did little to help because when she was in the house she always complained that she was tired . Lancelot got to know she could not cook well because her parents employed the service of maids : kitchen maids, cleaning maids and laundry maids. The house was full of them . He found it surprising though that she was neat to a fault, but her training in Nursing school could take credit for that . Still, he wished she would upgrade her culinary skills .
He hated having to eat in the hospital canteen. As a bachelor , he had imagined eating his wife ’ s meals during free time from a food flask but he knew now that it was impossible considering her job and the fact that she could not cook well. “ Let ’ s bring someone over to help you . ” He suggested to her recently after an uninteresting meal of beans and yam – the beans had been undercooked.
To be continued
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