Life With Tutu

Femi knew she was hopelessly in love…for the first time ever in..her existence. Wale was the centre of her universe. Her darling who could do no wrong. She discovered Wale was in the school on a partial scholarship. His parents were dirt poor and he had to do odd jobs during vacation to make ends meet. Femi was determined to help him as much as possible and so, her allowance plus monies she made by the side, she shared with him. They were like two peas in the pod. From year three they started winning the couple of the year award on campus up until they graduated. Femi discovered Wale wasn’t good at the practical aspect of Mechanical engineering and decided to do his project work for him, as a result he got a distinction and this adhered her to him even more. Service year brought about a separation. Femi was posted to Lagos through her father's influence whilst Wale was posted to the north. Femi had tried to persuade her father to influence her lover's posting but her father was...

She found herself going down memory lane. She was born the second child in a family of four, all girls: Oluwafemi Deborah Santos. People always thought she was a boy before meeting her and she liked it. ‘Twas fun seeing the look of shock/surprise on peoples faces. The scan result had shown she was supposed to be a boy and her father had insisted on naming his supposed first male child, even whilst in the womb, Oluwafemi. He had refused to change it when she eventually landed one cold rainy night. Her mother was able to squeeze in the name Deborah upon seeing her feisty baby girl.  She was a tomboy. Always imitating her father and hanging out with boys in school. Automatically, she was her dad's favourite. Femi would be the one to buy gas, fill the gen, change deflated tyres, climb the roof to change the position of the antennae and even go with her father for some of his….political meetings. Her father had her enrolled in martial art classes. He wanted his favourite daughter to be ...

Femi looked at the wailers seeing….yet not seeing. She had cried so much she was numb. She was seated betwist her elder sister and mother. She wondered how she would have coped….without them. They were her bulwark. The wailers were apparently tireless. As one set left another came in to continue the wailing. Idly she wondered if her late husband could see or hear them. She wondered at the state of their vocal chords and lungs…at this stage. Her eyes roamed the sitting room that had turned to the wailing room. Just a few days ago there was so much sunshine and happiness here. Her husband and best friend was still alive, vitality his middle name. She sighed and her mother looked at her with utmost concern. She tried to give her a reassuring look. The sitting room looked so dirty now. In her depression she had ordered the two maids to leave her house. Normally guests were not allowed in with their footwear, but now, no one could be bothered with those rules. What was the essence of cleanl...