Read Online The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin - Free Book Online
Authors: Lola Shoneyin
Tags: Fiction, General, Family Life, Domestic Fiction, Cultural Heritage, Families, Nigeria, Wives, Polygamy, Families - Nigeria, Polygamy - Nigeria, Wives - Nigeria
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quickly!”
“Have we not done enough already? I don’t think I want to be part of this anymore,” I said. I don’t know what came over me.
Iya Femi picked me up with her eyes and threw me to the floor.
Iya Segi shook her head and belched. “Listen to the fool who begs for crumbs from Bolanle’s table! The lickspittle! It is all right for you to say you do not want to be part of us, after you have benefitted from my wisdom all these years. Now you wish to remove yourself? Well, you can’t! You are bound to us. We are all bound together! And if you dare to open that stupid mouth of yours, I will ruin you myself. I will tell my husband things that will make him wring your neck in your sleep. Go! Take your small brain out of my sight. Imbecile!”
I left them in the sitting room so I don’t know what they are planning. I fear for Bolanle but I am a coward. I know I should show Bolanle the arm of friendship. I should not pretend she is a stranger when the other wives are around. I should tell her to be careful but I can’t. I am afraid of these women. I will just keep quiet and watch. What else can a shit packer do?
CHAPTER SIX
RAT HEAD
I F B OLANLE HAD KNOWN what lay in wait for her, perhaps she wouldn’t have ventured to spend so long in the market, wandering from stall to stall. Before she spotted the small crowd gathered in front of her home, she smelled Mama Elepa’s groundnuts burning. As Bolanle moved closer, she was sure she could make out Mama Elepa’s fragile frame on their veranda, bent over from decades of carting firewood. Most of the women she saw were standing with their hands clasped behind their backs. Some had their hands on their heads and were hopping from leg to leg as if their bladders held them hostage. Taju was leaning against a pillar scratching his chin.
Iya Segi’s voice was loudest. “Woe,” she yelled.
Iya Femi was screaming in tongues. Iya Tope had an arm around Segi but the arm was limp like a wet cloth. Segi’s eyes were red from weeping. Everyone looked around nervously.
“ She wants to kill him!” Iya Segi pointed when Bolanle was within a few steps of the commotion.
“What did my father ever do to her? I am not married yet. She wants to kill my father with juju before he walks me down the aisle!” Segi flopped to the concrete floor and the spectators standing by rushed to her aid.
“Of what use is she? She cannot have children. Her womb is dead. She wants to kill our husband to save herself from shame. I am too young to be a widow,” Iya Femi added.
As soon as Bolanle stepped onto the concrete floor of the veranda, the crowd went quiet. The bystanders parted and created a path for her. When she got to the sitting room, Baba Segi was in his armchair. His arms were slung over the sides, his great legs stretched out in front of him like logs.
“Good evening, Baba Segi. Why have you not changed your clothes?” Bolanle asked.
“Where have you been?”
“It is not even six yet. I am here on time like I said I would be.”
“The question I am asking is: where have you been?” His voice was deep and hollow, like the aftermath of a drumbeat.
“So I can’t even leave the house now?” It was a daring response.
In a flash, Baba scrambled up the back of his seat and leaped into the air like a gorilla in flight. He landed bang in front of Bolanle and gripped her throat with both hands. He squeezed hard and shook her, pressing his thumbs on her windpipe. “Who are you asking questions? Do I look like afool? You said you were going to your father’s house. Taju has just come back from there. Nobody there has seen you today! Where have you been?”
“The market! I went to the market.” Her voice was hoarse from the pressure. “You can kill me, Baba Segi, but I only went to the market. Look at the bowl I bought.”
Baba Segi searched her face and thought how strange it was that there was no fear in it, just pain. He glanced to the side and saw the plastic bag
“Have we not done enough already? I don’t think I want to be part of this anymore,” I said. I don’t know what came over me.
Iya Femi picked me up with her eyes and threw me to the floor.
Iya Segi shook her head and belched. “Listen to the fool who begs for crumbs from Bolanle’s table! The lickspittle! It is all right for you to say you do not want to be part of us, after you have benefitted from my wisdom all these years. Now you wish to remove yourself? Well, you can’t! You are bound to us. We are all bound together! And if you dare to open that stupid mouth of yours, I will ruin you myself. I will tell my husband things that will make him wring your neck in your sleep. Go! Take your small brain out of my sight. Imbecile!”
I left them in the sitting room so I don’t know what they are planning. I fear for Bolanle but I am a coward. I know I should show Bolanle the arm of friendship. I should not pretend she is a stranger when the other wives are around. I should tell her to be careful but I can’t. I am afraid of these women. I will just keep quiet and watch. What else can a shit packer do?
CHAPTER SIX
RAT HEAD
I F B OLANLE HAD KNOWN what lay in wait for her, perhaps she wouldn’t have ventured to spend so long in the market, wandering from stall to stall. Before she spotted the small crowd gathered in front of her home, she smelled Mama Elepa’s groundnuts burning. As Bolanle moved closer, she was sure she could make out Mama Elepa’s fragile frame on their veranda, bent over from decades of carting firewood. Most of the women she saw were standing with their hands clasped behind their backs. Some had their hands on their heads and were hopping from leg to leg as if their bladders held them hostage. Taju was leaning against a pillar scratching his chin.
Iya Segi’s voice was loudest. “Woe,” she yelled.
Iya Femi was screaming in tongues. Iya Tope had an arm around Segi but the arm was limp like a wet cloth. Segi’s eyes were red from weeping. Everyone looked around nervously.
“ She wants to kill him!” Iya Segi pointed when Bolanle was within a few steps of the commotion.
“What did my father ever do to her? I am not married yet. She wants to kill my father with juju before he walks me down the aisle!” Segi flopped to the concrete floor and the spectators standing by rushed to her aid.
“Of what use is she? She cannot have children. Her womb is dead. She wants to kill our husband to save herself from shame. I am too young to be a widow,” Iya Femi added.
As soon as Bolanle stepped onto the concrete floor of the veranda, the crowd went quiet. The bystanders parted and created a path for her. When she got to the sitting room, Baba Segi was in his armchair. His arms were slung over the sides, his great legs stretched out in front of him like logs.
“Good evening, Baba Segi. Why have you not changed your clothes?” Bolanle asked.
“Where have you been?”
“It is not even six yet. I am here on time like I said I would be.”
“The question I am asking is: where have you been?” His voice was deep and hollow, like the aftermath of a drumbeat.
“So I can’t even leave the house now?” It was a daring response.
In a flash, Baba scrambled up the back of his seat and leaped into the air like a gorilla in flight. He landed bang in front of Bolanle and gripped her throat with both hands. He squeezed hard and shook her, pressing his thumbs on her windpipe. “Who are you asking questions? Do I look like afool? You said you were going to your father’s house. Taju has just come back from there. Nobody there has seen you today! Where have you been?”
“The market! I went to the market.” Her voice was hoarse from the pressure. “You can kill me, Baba Segi, but I only went to the market. Look at the bowl I bought.”
Baba Segi searched her face and thought how strange it was that there was no fear in it, just pain. He glanced to the side and saw the plastic bag
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