Chapter 41

                                    

                                          
Mama eyed the house in anger. Tahir stood at an arms length, scared any reply might annoy her and she would use her hand to correct him. Apart from his older brother, Tahir is the only one who knows the whereabouts of his father. Mama has broken two phones now, trying to reach him. 
When she calls like a billion times and the phone refuses to connect she'd smash it and curse at everything in sight. She would promise not to call him even if she was dying only for her to start demanding for phone to try reach her husband again.
"He called you" she had stated in a clipped tone. Tahir shifted once more, then answered affirmatively. "With what number?" She asked.
"A foreign number" Tahir replied.
"So he's not in Nigeria" 
"I can't say..."
She turned and eyed her son menacingly before walking towards the front door. She pushed the door opened. The air conditioner had successfully turned the living room into a cozy environment. For a moment she forgot she was so angry with her husband and wanted to commend his ability to get a home, exactly how she wants it. 
The thought of his divorce letter and having to share the house with her cowife immediately dampened her spirit. She nodded in a approval and headed for the front door. 
"Mama, where are you going?" Tahir asked following her on hot heels, confusion clearly lacing his features. He thought the house would do the magic of calming his mother down. She ignored him and pushed open the door, a wave of heat hit her face but she ignored it and headed straight to the car with Tahir calling her. "Mama, stop being dramatic. Baba got this house for you alone. It's his token of apology for the stress he's caused you all these years...."
"Shut your mouth! You have the right to actually stand up for your father after everything he has done. He drafted a divorce letter for me, the mother of all his children without a second glance. He married my best friend's daughter. A child I bathed times without number. He kept us in the same house, and allowed her disrespect me, the list goes on and on be on. You think a house, a stupid house is going to clean the years of agony he's put me through......"
"Mama, we were all there when it happened. We lived through that nightmare with you. Mama you equally traumatized him! The quarrels, the shouts, the beef and countless melodrama is enough to drive any sane man insane! Mama both of you hurt each other......"
"You will never understand because you're not a woman. If your father wants to give me a house as an apology, tell him I said he should shove it up where the sun doesn't shine. Take me to my house before I severe our relationship with you" 
With that Tahir knew that his mother wouldn't be appeased easily, so he kept mute and drove her back to her house. He called his father immediately she got off the car and explained everything. 
"I will handle it" he had said after sighing softly. He knew the time to come back home had drawn nearer. 
***
Janan swerved abruptly causing her and Maryam's mother to stir roughly in the car. She muttered profanities and sped up to insult the guy who had  overtook them, ignoring the sharp bend of the road. She honked twice and whined down then shouted an insult at him. The driver was a teenager whose parents had allowed to come to the road and display his childishness. 
"I am sorry Ma" he had shouted with a glint of amusement before speeding up.  She hissed and slowed down. That child wanted to kill himself, then by all means he should go at it. 
"Is this how you would sit down and watch yourself get killed Nana?" Janan scolded Maryam's mother who had a very distant look in her eyes. She inhaled deeply and kept mute. "Being sullen won't change the past you know. You have to accept that it has happen, and there's absolutely nothing you can do to change it. But you could only make it better by correcting your mistakes, and trying hard to sway from commiting the mistakes you've made before"