The taxi halted in front of the city hospital and I immediately hopped out.
"Aunty, where my money nau?" The taxi driver did not forget to shout those words at me.
Without a word, I quickly handed him a 200 naira note and he didn't waste time in zooming off.
I was acting like a lunatic as I made my way to the receptionist of the hospital.
"Wi...wihey iz jhi?" I blurted out, not calming myself down before speaking.
"I'm sorry?" The nurse raised an eyebrow at me.
Something told me that if not that she was dressed in her nursing uniform, she would have rained abuses on me for running up to her desk the way I did.
As I was about to open my mouth once again, I heard my name from behind.
"Tilda!"
I immediately turned around to acknowledge the owner of the overly familiar voice.
"Kiki," I rushed to meet the girl who had a big nylon bag in her hand, leaving behind the nurse who was obviously annoyed at my behaviour.
"Where is she?" My words had finally coupled themselves.
"She's in the ward. I just went to get her something to eat," Kiki replied. "Let's go meet her."
On our way to go see her grandma, Kiki told me that she was down with malaria and it happened to be a severe one.
Though she said grandma claimed to be feeling better.
Kiki was the one who opened the door of grandma's assigned room at the hospital while I simply followed behind her.
And you won't believe what I saw.
Kiki's grandmother lay on her hospital bed and was pressing away on her phone like it was no man's business.
I mean, she had a drip connected to her left hand yet that was not enough to stop her.
She didn't seem to have noticed our presence until we shut the door behind us.
A bright smile pulled up on her lips and her eyes widened as soon as they fell on me.
"Titi! Ah ah! Is that you?" She exclaimed with so much happiness glistening in her eyes.
Titi was a name that only Kiki's grandma called me and her mixed Nigerian and American accent added a sweet touch to it.
"Yes, Mumsy," I ran up to her and gently threw my arms around her.
"See my baby o!" She exclaimed once more as we left each other's embrace.
"My Titi is now a grown girl o!" She continued to exclaim.
No matter the time that this woman saw me, even though it was three hours ago, she would always say I have grown bigger.
This time around, we had seen each other last week here.
"Mumsy stop it nau," I playfully tapped her shoulders.
"Hmmm I'm just saying," She gazed at me in awe. "Even your ikebe is now bigger than mine."
God knows that I was trying to hold my laughter where I was standing. This woman just knew how to lift up the mood, sick or not.
She was just in her early sixties yet she acted in a I nor wan old kind of way. She knew how well to level up around teenages like Kiki and myself.
She was always up to date with basically everything. Was it the lastest trend or the latest outfit?
She was practically an older version of Kiki.
"It's as if the two of you forgot about me," Kiki hmphed and truth to be told, that was when I remembered she was in the room with us.
"Abeg let me enjoy with my babe," Joyce, Kiki's grandma hissed.
"Come and eat first," Kiki moved over to her side and helped her out of the bed, carrying the drip stand alongside, to the only table in the room on which the food she bought was already set.
"Titi come and join me," Joyce beckoned on me but I politely refused by waving with a smile.
Kiki and I moved to sit next to her while she ate and made small talks in between.
"Girls," She began after chewing down a spoon of rice. "I've been thinking of making my hair and I don't know what to get."
"This woman you never old reach?" Kiki immediately burst into laughter and Joyce and I followed.
"Until I say so," Joyce pouted her lips before proceeding to eat another spoon of rice which she gulped down with a glass of chilled juice.
"So?" She tilted her head to the side, patiently waiting for us to give her a response.
"I think goddess braids would look very good on you," I told her.
Joyce was a very beautiful woman for someone of her age and almost anything was definitely a fit for her.
"Or something like french curls!" Kiki nodded and sent me an high-five.
"You two will come with me to the hair salon once I leave this place," Joyce replied.
I loved her so much for her resolve to not let anything hold her back and sometimes I wondered if there was anything she was afraid of.
"You know, I have to look good for my old man. He's taking me on a date next week," She added with a look of pride on herself.
We couldn't help but laugh. Joyce was just a vibe.
*.*.*.
Kiki had decided to spend the night with Joyce while I decided to return home.
To be honest, I didn't have a curfew but once it was as late as 11:00pm, my mum would send her stupid men to look for me.
It was 7:45pm when I was making my way out of Joyce's room.
Kiki had offered to escort me downstairs but I insisted she stayed back with Joyce.
It was quite cold that evening for some reason.
I was slowly making my way down the stairs when I noticed a patient who was rushed in on a stretcher.
The man looked helpless and almost lifeless, covered in wounds. That scene looked too familiar.
"Daddy please don't leave me!" Seven year old me cried as I tried to keep up with the nurses who pushed the stretcher on which my father laid.
"I forgive mummy, Tilda darling. Go and tell her that," He managed to render a weak smile.
"Daddy come and tell her yourself! Please! Don't leave me daddy!" I cried out my eyes but he just kept on smiling at me and uttered no words.
"It's you," A nonchalant voice struck my ears and broke through my thoughts.
Just a few inches away from my face was his. His eyes searching my face for something new but with so much disappointment in them.