Dont tell daddy about Father

Short story by Otruwajhime Alabi We were in our usual place. I could hear the waves and how it slapped against the small shed beside it that belonged to the carpenter. He was long gone, mad from hunger and smoking too much igbo, or so I was told. Jide came a little late, limping hurriedly; we told him we were going to share the roasted boli and groundnut without him. He panted as he climbed the fruit tree to meet us. Omini and I exchanged conspiratory glances and nodded. Have you shared it? he asked a little breathless, staring from one to the other, his gaze stayed on Omini, he tried hard to suppress the laughter but couldnt, I rolled my eyes, he wasnt good at keeping secrets, wey the boli? Jide asked, a little aggressively, I stared at him without talking, and then I turned towards the road again. It was dusty and deserted, my stomach growled, If you dont give me my boli I will tell! Jide threatened, I turned sharply and the branch I was resting my hand broke, I almost fell but I managed to balance myself, are you mad? We promised we wont tell anybody or else he will not come again! Jide hung his head, but I am hungry now! he whined, the wind swayed the trees and kicked up more sand, I closed my eyes and rubbed the grains from my face, when I opened them Omini nudged me and pointed to the road, he came from the sand wind like an action hero, I smiled and quickly climbed down, just before I reached the ground my pinafore snagged a branch, scraping my thigh. I didnt care, he came as he promised. I ran towards him trying to outrun Omini, as usual, he got to him before me. the tall man scooped him up and swung him up, I got there and screamed for my turn, he set Omini down and grabbed Jide instead, I danced around screaming at the top of my voice, me tooooooo!! I screamed as he swung Jide and put him down, then he reached for me and lifted me with a small grunt, I smiled broadly as he swung me twice before putting me down. Then without another word we headed for the shed. We entered and allowed him to sit on the broken bench, ahh, this feels so much better! he exclaimed as he stretched, we watched without a word; now he was here I didnt know how to tell him everything I planned last night. He looked at me and smiled; I looked down on my hands as my heart beat increased, how was school today? he asked me, I nodded without a word, I played football today in school! Omini said jumping on his laps, I frowned, I told him to stop behaving like a baby but he will never stop, I got ten over ten in my home economics test! I screamed from where I was standing, daddy said all I need is be a good cook and I will rule any man! I looked to Jide for confirmation he was there when daddy said so but he hung back at the door to the shed, he only came because of the food. He took my hands, they were sweaty, he didnt seem to mind, dont let talks like that limit you, Ima, you are a smart girl you can be the president tomorrow we all laughed,

even Jide, I was going to be president tomorrow, I will buy ice cream and jollof rice and chicken for everybody! I declared, it made him laugh too. He nodded his head, good, dream about becoming the president, concentrate on math, English, biology, subjects like that he said counting them off his fingers, what is biology? I asked stepping closer to him. Omini continued jumping on his knee and chanting biology over and over again. Its a subject, just like math and English, Im sure you will like it he explained. Then he opened the nylon he was carrying and we all stood still, waiting. He brought out something wrapped on newspaper and I started to smile, boli! He unwrapped it and handed me the longest one, then he gave the remaining to Omini and Jide who had stepped closer and was standing next to me, thank you sir! we chorused still waiting. He reached in again and brought out another wrapped nylon, this time we could see it was groundnuts, he shared it among us and again we chorused our thanks and sat on the damp ground and ate quickly. So how is your dad? he asked tentatively, fine we chorused again and continued eating. He nodded his head absently. I looked up to him and broke some of my boli and offered him, he smiled shaking his head, but took it and ate, he looked both happy and sad at the same time, and grandpa, is he still beating you? he asked as he reached and took some groundnut from my hand. I shook my head, he cant walk, he is in the village we all continued to eat without talking. When we were done we all rose to our feet, himself included, go straight home okay? we nodded, I will see you tomorrow again, wait for me in the tree he said as he normally said. We nodded, dusted our uniforms, hugged him and walked out, see you tomorrow! Omini waved, then we broke into runs and ran till we got to the end of the road and I had to hold their hands to cross, Jide will you tell? Jide shook his head, what about you Omini? he shook his head with a huge smile showing the gap in front of his teeth. I sighed and we crossed the road, our house was close to the road. When we got home, Daddy was fanning himself and eying us, did I not warn you not to go play beside the beach again? he asked before we greeted him. I nodded mutely, take your brothers in and wash their uniforms, theres no food for you for disobeying me! he was always angry. There was always no food, but we ate already. After mummy went to heaven when Jide came to stay with us as my brother, daddy stopped smiling and throwing us up like he used to do, but the man was doing that now, so I was happy. I only wished he will take us to stay where he is staying, but when I asked him, he said he will be with us everyday till we dont want him anymore. Is that even possible? Not to want him? He was my daddy first, then one day he left mummy and she cried and cried, I remember because Omini was a baby and I had to change his diapers because mummy was crying and sleeping all the time. Then she got better and we packed down to this place and she took us to second daddys house and she said to me, Ima, your dad left us, but I found you another daddy who

wont leave us she was still crying, I nodded and thanked her for my new daddy, but new daddy made mummy sick, then she said she was going to bring our new brother and she left and never came back and Jide came instead. Aunty Rita said she went to heaven to be with grandma because grandma wanted to plait her long hair. But I had long hair and Aunty Rita plaits it for me now and daddy has stopped feeding us. When I finished washing the uniforms, I went inside and we all did our homework together, then it was time for the evening bath, first I bathed Jide, then I bathed Omini and they went to bed. I had my bath and lay down too beside them. When I woke up in the morning, daddy was not around, so we ate garri and went to school, by the time we returned after meeting with my former daddy, we met aunty Ritain our house and she took us to her place. She made jollof rice and fish, it was sweet. She told us she will be taking care of us from now. My life changed after that, we didnt go to the beach anymore to meet the man, it was too far from Aunty Ritas house and she always had delicious meals waiting for us every afternoon. I only went back once, I waited and waited and finally he came, smiling and not carrying any boli. I told him our dad left, and he said he knew, I asked if he can come back and again he said no, we were better off with Aunty Rita. He made me promise to study hard and pass well. I promised and I did well too. I am twenty-five now, a medical doctor, soon to be president, Omini an architect and Jide is studying to be a lawyer. We still remember our escapades, the beach and the man who was actually my biological father who had died in a boating accident when Omini was two, how he came to feed us for three weeks before my step dad ran away is still a mystery. The only explanation we had was that God was watching out for us, he had sent the only person He knew I will trust enough to feed from, my late father and since such mysteries would have put us in trouble, he had told us not to tell our dad about the meetings. Our father saved our lives and he knew I could be much more in life, I still dream of being the president and alleviating the poverty that ravages our beautiful homeland, but that is another story entirely