Scars (Romola 2)

12: Romola's Job

The metallic taste of blood touched the tip of her tongue.

"How dare you? Who sent you? Am I begging you? Do you think I want to touch your rubbish money? Ehhh God. It's like this girl wants to kill me."

Her mother loosened the wrapper around her waist. Some crumpled Naira notes fell to the ground. The older woman kicked the notes towards Romola. She knelt down and dragged a rusty metal chest from underneath the bed. She opened the clasps and lifted the cover before reaching in and throwing more crumpled old ten to fifty Naira notes at Romola.

"Come take your money. God knows I will not use a prostitute's money."

Romola knelt on the cold cement floor and gathered the money. She tried to put it in the box but her mother slapped the back of her hands. The money fell out of her hands. She turned her back on her mother and gathered the notes before reaching back to the box and letting the money fall, just as her mother tried to shut it. It missed her hand by a fraction of a second.

Her mother grabbed an old Lenovo smartphone off the arm of a chair buried in a weird assortment of clothes and beauty products. "Tell me now. How much have you given Sunbo?"

Romola wiped her tears with one hand while she retrieved a lonely fifty naira note from under the bed. She placed it on top of the metal chest.

"Maami, I know you don't have that much to save." She backed away from her mother and the possibility of more slaps. "I just came here to warn you about Sunbo."

"Why should I listen to you? You have corrupted Sunbo too. You have dragged her into your evil ways."

"I didn't do anything to Sunbo. It is not prostitute money. It isn't even dancing money."

The peace that powered her words urged her to speak with more confidence even though she knew she was risking a relationship with Sunbo. If anyone could hold Sunbo back, it had to be their mother.

"I still don't want it."

Romola's jaw jutted. "Then don't take it. It is for Lolade because I know she can't take of herself. I heard you are now making her hawk. Haba. She's not even nine yet."

"She needs to support this family."

"She can't. If you stop giving all your money to that old drunkard, there would be enough to take care of her. Use the money I send for her. It is not Ahsewo money."

Romola waited for her mother's response. The woman only blinked. Romola skipped over the clothes on the floor. This room was overcrowded with more of her step father's things than anything belonging to her mother. She put her hand around her mother's shoulder and held her next breath. There was no reaction from her mother. Maybe she was getting into her mother's good graces.

"I work now."

"Where?"

"A supermarket."

Her mother shrugged off her hand, face twisting. "That's not a real job. You can't fix your problems like this."

"It pays the bills Maami and it feeds me and yo— I mean Lolade. What else am I looking for?"

"A supermarket job is not how you fix your problems."

"What problems, Maami?"

'You are supposed to be an accountant.

Romola shook her head. "I can't go back to school. Too many people know what happened."

"Then why are you here if you cannot fix what has been broken? I sacrificed a lot to send you to school. Now, you're telling me you work in the supermarket. Supermarket, Oshi."

"So what should I do? Go back to dancing?"

"Shebi, that's what you want. I'm not stopping you."

Romola shook her head. "Maybe I'm not the problem?"

"What did you say?"

Romola squared her shoulder, speaking louder now. "Maybe the problem isn't me. I'm working where I have enough to take care of myself, I don't have a problem with it."

"You were supposed to have a better life." Her mother rose.

Romola took a step forward until she was staring at her mother face to face. Her mother's hot breath fanned her face.

"No Maami. You wanted a better life for yourself. Before accusing me of spoiling Sunbo, maybe we should look at how you raised her. Shouldn't she have learnt from my mistake? Instead, she wants to do the exact same thing I did. Now you are making Lolade hawk, what will happen when she's older."

"I did what I could for you."

"No. You didn't.. You are just pushing your fears on me, Sunbo and Lolade. Is your best to turn Loalde to a slave so that baba Jide can buy another bottle? Do you even know where Jide is? Or where Sunbo spends her time? Can you remember the last time your husband brought money home? No, but he is always working with nothing to show for it but a pot belly."

Her mother's nose flared. Instead of the yelling that should have followed, her mother dropped her eyes and sat on the bed before speaking in a quiet voice.

"Don't ever come back here."

Author's Note:

Please pray for those in Ukraine.