Quietly Observing: Part 1

Picture Credit: www.dailymail.co.uk

She loosened the twists in a slow and gentle caress through the sharp edges of her dark woolly hair. She has been repeating this process for more than I can tell anymore. Twisting a portion of her short hair with her fingers and then untwisting them again after she’s done. I don’t get it; why she needed to go through that process with her hair repeatedly. How aware is she that she looks scattered and mad almost all the time. “Chekene cannot even be bothered I swear”, I caught Bukky saying. I have lost the trail of the gist at hand being distracted by her hair pulling. She had been saying something about two sisters who were dating the same guy at the same time and had confided in her separately. I frowned and took another sip of my drink. Sadie truly does make a mean Chapman.

She [Sadie] has just returned from one of her numerous trips, this time to Spain with her two kids and had not stopped yapping about it all afternoon. It was becoming a ritual; Sadie hosting afternoon hangouts every time she returned from a trip, mostly just to show off her newly acquired wears and kitchen skills. This time she had learned how to make a Spanish dessert she called “Horchata de Chufa” I had barely been able to stomach the damn thing. I can almost tell Chioma and Bella are suffering through as well. I choked on my Chapman and gave off a muffled “cough-laugh”. No one seemed to have noticed. Everyone’s ears were glued to Sadie’s lips now, picking at her every sentence. 

“Oh Bukky it was surreal. I am glad Alex couldn’t make it o. I met this fine German guy, Mustak, he was vacating alone”. She paused and stared around in that way only Sadie could; in the satisfaction that all ears were on deck, on her gist-ship.  

“Nothing happened though. You know, because of the kids, but the flirting was real”, She blushed and gave off a weird giggling sound.

“Oh oh” I thought almost out loud. I wish I could stuff her with a pillow just so she can shut up but all I did was smile. I like seeing her happy like this; her trips keep her in that happy shield for a while. It kept her blind to facts likes Bukky’s misdemeanors. If only she knew how busy lives had been in her absence. But then, Sadie smiling were rare moments like these. I took another sip of my sweet chapman.

“If only I could have closed on this Badejo case on time, I would have been able to take on a vacation”, the workaholic Chioma was on the stage now. I could tell everyone was rolling eyes in their minds as I was doing. She always has a work excuse. Where vacation or a hangout was involved, all hope was lost with Chioma. Still I can only wonder how she makes out time to sneak into hotels with Kodi. I glanced briefly in Kodi’s direction, at the far-end left-edge of the stretched out dinning, seeming to be truly enjoying her Spanish dessert.

I guess body no be fire wood after all. Why Kodi had thought it wise to confide in me that she likes girls still beats me. Or was she trying to turn me with style? I stared at her hoping I could somehow see through to her soul. She is the quietest one amongst us, well after me of course, usually just taking everything in while legs crossed and stretched upwards like she was The Queen. She can choose to turn me on her hairdo, nonetheless; I really should meet her stylist soon!. I swallowed my Chapman with a sheepish smirk.

 “Biola, how’s your sister, Eny, feeling now? Bukky had called me telling me all about the severe epileptic episode she had at the Theatre”.  

Of course she did, meanwhile, in bed, screwing your husband! Does she ever shut-up? The Gist-monger who always has everyone else’s gist, but her own, to tell. “Oh she’s fine Sadie”, I smiled at her and continued, “Still in shock however. But she’ll be fine; she has Koku at her side”.

“Oh Koku is one of the few of the good men we have around. I wish her well. That was how Mustak was telling me about this niece of his he lost to Cancer….” She trailed off as usual, back to talking about things that concern Sadie alone.

I suddenly noticed Bella has been unusually quiet all day. Not to be so unusual since I bet she has enough demons to contend with. The one with the gift of gab has suddenly lost her voice. I hissed silently. I scanned Sadie’s dining hall, a little surprised that no one has noticed. My gaze intensified and fell back on her face. She is clearly choosing to avoid meeting my eyes.

I had been aware she had a short fling with Koku while his long-standing relationship with my sister seemed to be hitting the rocks, five years back, but I’d not been prepared for this recent shocker. To think she had made us all believe Laye is her niece. The die is cast! When Jimi, my sweet chatter-box of a daughter, had told me Laye called Bella “mummy” during one of their evening piano lessons at the Theatre, I couldn’t produce the right reaction. I had confirmed my fears when I found it out, from their class teacher at school that Laye takes on Koku’s last name, Williams. 

A lump formed in my throat while I continued to stare at her, now with near disgust. How am I going to tell Eny that her longtime boyfriend is actually also the father to her favorite student?

To be continued…….