Claimed by the Mafia King

During the announcement, a girl I knew in church, Cynthia, tapped my shoulders causing me to turn my head to her. “Can we talk outside?” She whispered in my right ear, making me shudder. I don’t like close contact, especially with people I don’t roll with.

She touched Peter’s shoulder so he turned too. “Hi.”

“H, i Cynthia.” He didn’t sound happy to see her. Did they have a fight?

“Go ahead, I will join you,” I replied, curious to know what she wanted to say. “Excuse me, Peter, I’m coming back now.” I was hoping she would not hold me back for too long.

“Be fast, mass will soon end.”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“I know.”

I ignored the stares I got as I stepped out.

When Cynthia saw me coming outside the church she grabbed my hand pulling me to the side.

“How do you know Peter?” She asked, her facial expression unreadable under the dim light.

We stood at a small gate around the church side, the sun had completely disappeared from the sky. The night was dimly illuminated by the light coming from the church, and the small stores opposite. I towered over her by a few inches, but she was chubbier. I didn’t want to fight, but if push came to shove, I planned to strangle her with the long pink scarf she tied around her bald hair. I wondered if I stood a chance…

I laughed, getting over how startled I was by her question. “He was my Primary School classmate.”

“Ohh.” Her face brightened up immediately. “Don’t mind my question oh. I just wanted to know.” She added, playing with her scarf. “You guys were talking like people who have known each other for a very long time.”

“Technically we have.”

“But it’s just friendship, isn’t it?”

Are you kidding me right now? “Yes, it is.”

“I actually know him too. Don’t mind that he was acting somehow now.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t like talking in church,” I said to assuage her feelings. Also, because I didn’t know what the hell was going on and didn’t want to overstep or be involved.

“Abi oh.”

I patted her shoulder “Yes na. Anyway, y make I dey go back inside.”

~~~~

Peter beamed when he saw me. I didn’t even get to sit properly when he started his gist about his school. Complaining about how he wasn’t eating because they weren’t feeding them with “good food”, and how he was kept away from girls.

“It’s a seminary. What do you expect?” I asked him, earning a mean glance from the middle-aged man sitting on the front pew.

Peter gave me a knowing glance and we both laughed.

After mass, he offered to escort me home and I couldn’t say no. He was good company. He made me talk a lot. I exposed many details of my high school consciously omitting all my adventurous stubbornness. For example, purposely went to school late and then climbed the fence to prevent myself from being caught and flogged even though the ugh cane never even affected me. And also learned how to shoot with my JSS2 best friend who travelled with his rich parents to London after that year. I was a menace!

Peter loved my stories. We laughed all through. It’s been almost two years since I reminisced like this and I loved sharing it with him, loving his occasional input.

When we got to the gate of my compound, I blurted out the question I had been dying to ask.

“So what’s the deal with Cynthia?”

,

“Oh, that one. Nothing really. She is just looking for more than I can give her. She’s really pressuring me that it’s not pretty. I feel assaulted.” He answered, looking really annoyed.

I laughed at how cute his annoyed face was. “Being angry doesn’t fit you.”

He snickered. “So I have heard.”

“But seriously, is she really disturbing you?”

“With constant calls and unexpected, uninvited visits.”

“Hmm.”

“What’s hmm?”

“Sorry for that I mean.” I actually felt bad for him. He really seemed affected by it. “You will soon be leaving for school anyway.”

He sighed. “It’s to just be avoiding her.”

“That can work.” I agreed.

“So what did she tell you?” He asked. I didn’t want to reply, but I figured it was only fair I did since we were sharing.

I placed one hand on my gate, “she asked if we were friends.”

“Can you imagine such audacity!”

I laughed. “Pele. Anyway, I’ll be going in now. It’s late. This one all these women are already looking at us.” He looked back to find the woman whose kiosk was opposite my compound staring comically at us. Anytime my parents were fighting this woman would leave her store to our compound just to hear what was going on.

“So you people have aproko neighbours too.”

“See, this one is the oga patapata of them all.” I joked. We laughed in unison.

“Ok na. See you in church tomorrow.”

“How do you know I’ll be there?”

“Won’t you?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. No one knows tomorrow.” I teased.

He laughed. “I will come get you if I have to.”

I giggled, happily. “Na so. Good night jor.”

“Bye.”

He waved at me when he got down from the slippery pavement. I waved back, beaming.

I opened the gate and sprung upstairs in joy. When I got to the door I pushed it open. It wasn’t locked like I suspected. My brothers usually sensed when I was coming and would open the door to keep me from stressing myself by knocking. Especially because our neighbour’s generators were usually on at night making it hard to hear anything.

Today it is still the same case. The streets were so dark, another reason why I enjoyed my walk with Peter.

“Where are you coming from by this time of the night? Mirabel!” My dad shouted. He was sitting on the armchair in the vendor as he normally does anytime he comes back from his store in the evening because he feels alienated staying inside with us. No one wanted to talk to him because he was such bad energy just like now.

“Church. Today is good Wednesday.” I answered, startled.

“Church my foot! By this time right!” he spat, fuming. His eyes looked even bigger than they normally were. He glared at me like he wanted to swallow me whole.

I had grown taller than him over time, but he still scared me shitless.

The only thing I took from my father was his perfect set of teeth. I took everything else from my mum. Her eyes, full lips, big boobs, hip dips, ears, thick hair that was so tough to comb and grew fast, and my round face which used to be long when I was younger. She had a perfect set of teeth too, but my dad was more beautiful and whiter glowing even in the dark. It was the only thing I admired about him and the fact that he had first-class honours in literature from the University of Calabar. He was intelligent, but not wise. Pride and laziness ruined his life not us, but he has refused to see it.

I would have studied the same thing. However, I didn’t want to bear any semblance to him, at least if I could help it.

“Is it not you I’m talking to?! A small girl like you is coming back home by eight pm! If I talk, they will label me the bad father, the unreasonable one. The person giving you the go-ahead to do as you please, just be ready to answer to me if anything should happen!” He screamed, causing me to wince.

I closed the door and locked it, looking out to see the woman opposite us staring up at our house. Mama Tega never minds her business.

“It’s holy week so there were a lot of programs today,” I replied, facing him squarely.

“So you can’t leave the church halfway?! All of you using the church to pretend to be good in this house will soon be exposed by my God. You think God is interested in all this feigning you people are doing with dark hearts. It’s not about going to church you hear?”

I bit my lips hard to keep me from replying. I didn’t want to give him the pleasure of knowing he was getting to me. I needed to be brave for my family. The average-height, dark-skinned man with short hair, a big nose and a wrapper tied around his waist leaving his hairy chest in full view was the enemy.

I played with my nails, staring blankly at the wall behind his seat.

“Keep letting your mother deceive you.” He continued speaking with so much venom, that it almost poisoned my blood.

“Mira, come inside” My mum urged, her soft voice cutting through the generator noise and my dad’s screams. “Anything you people are discussing outside can be said inside. Stop showcasing our dirty linen to the world.”

I rolled my eyes and walked In. She would sometimes try to save me from my father’s rot but her occasional Interruption wasn’t enough. I wanted a permanent end to his bullying. I was so tired of being scared of him.

I went into the children’s room to change my now almost dry clothes. My dad badged into the house and started shouting. His voice caused my hands to shake while at it. I wondered who he was shouting at, but I didn’t wonder much. He just liked to shout even to himself…