CHETA
"Mum, he left." She heard him say. He had called her as at 1 in the morning, his voice shaky as he said it. She could feel,- she knew he had cried, no matter he tried to hide it. He wasn't trying to hide it and she knew also. He had never been this way. She remembered when she lost her husband, his father, he was just fifteen and had expected him to cry, wail- as she was wailing, she had expected him to fall to his face and shout to God, the one she never thought them- her children about, the one she would leave to her sisters because she never really believed existed. He never came through for her while she was growing up and now, she never really saw the need to teach her children to rely on "false hope" as she had termed it.
It was quiet on the other end, so quiet that she could hear the sound of the rain on the roof, so quiet that she could hear his heavy breathing, what was happening? She question herself. She was glad and terrified at the same time. Glad the he saw her as someone fit to talk to, terrified that the first time he called to talk to her this way was around 1 in the morning, a "he" was involved and he had cried! Who!!
She remembered when she and her late husband would quarrel and sometimes fight- throwing things at each other, he would console his younger ones, he would tell them to go and play outside and whenever Uzo, his neighbor and friend, talks about the incident later on, he would warn him after a few punches to the face.
She remembered how Uzo's mother would come back from her stall at the market and to their room with a bleeding uzo and how he wouldn't care much because him- Uzo had insulted his parents. He would defend himself without having to care about his parents coming to his aid.
And here he was, on phone talking about a guy leaving. She got scared and even though she knew who it was, she still decided to inquire.
" Aru adikwa?" (Is everything okay?)
"Who left nwa m?" She asked again when he didn't reply.
She took deep breaths and he could hear it.
There was silence but she knew he was on the phone, she knew he was listening.
"Uchenna".
The silence that followed took longer than before.
She felt the hurt in his voice and knew that it wasn't as simple has she thought. Her son had never been that way. What was he?
Homosexual??
If not, why would he feel hurt that the boy she loathe, left?
Yes, she loathe him.
The air-condition was on but she was sweating, the tick tock from the clock brought her eyes to it.
"Nwa m, it past 2, let's talk in the morning, okay?"
"Okay, I'm sorry mum. I didn't realize how late it was." His voice now calm.
She went back to sleep but she couldn't. She tossed and tossed in her bed. She felt empty as though she witnessed her son die.
"Homosexuality!!! She exclaimed again".
She picked her phone from the bed, her thumb hovering on it.
The phone rang on the other end and soon it got connected.
"What's wrong with your brother?" She asked almost immediately.
"What Mama?" Adanna asked back.
"He called me saying that Uchenna left, he was crying! Crying, Ada. Your brother was crying!" She shouted.
Adanna knew about her brother and she wasn't going to allow her mother hear it from her. It was not within the rights she had.
She loved him.
"He sees Chenna- as her brother loved to call him, as his younger brother. They probably had a misunderstanding and you know how your son can be, he doesn't like being at fault. Maybe it was his fault this time." She said.
It was a dumb lie and she knew but she just had to say something to write off her doubt about him. You know Nigerian mothers would believe anything just so they won't believe that their son was a homosexual.
"Okay," she heard her mum say.
"I asked him to call me tomorrow." She said and ended the call.
Maybe what her daughter said must be the reason. She thought.
She had sensed he needed her, but she was afraid to pry, afraid that he would say something if she did pry, something she wasn't ready for.
"Hopefully, when he calls in the morning, he would no longer need her." She thought to herself and with that, she went to sleep.