We made a brief stop at the market to buy some soup ingredients. Mama has a one-stop shop where she buys her ingredients on credit, and with that concession, she buys only the bare necessities but always ensures that vegetables made the top on her list.
The long wait at the bus-stop began to affect my legs as I felt shots of pains all over my lower body. With virtually all the buses that passed already filled up, I felt like sitting on the ground.
“Don’t worry my dear, even if we get a bus with just one seat left, we’d just have to squeeze ourselves in,” Mama pacified me.
In answer to my desperate heart cry, a commercial vehicle stopped at that moment and as we were both on the verge of boarding it, one fat lady pushed us from behind, but before she could occupy the seat, the bus zoomed off
Mama and I burst out into laughter almost simultaneously.
“You’re both laughing at your stupidity,” the fat lady thundered, “if you’re both in a hurry, why not pick a taxi?”
“Fat people like you would have utilized this opportunity to exercise their body,” Mama retorted as her anger gained some momentum.
“How dare you insult me?” the fat lady untied her scarf and tied it around her waist.
Before I could count one to five, the lady slapped Mama hard in her mouth. Mama staggered and in the heat of the moment pulled out the bunch of vegetables she bought and thrashed her attacker mercilessly as though she was casting out an evil spell.
“Please, stop fighting!” I screamed.
As the battle intensified, several people gathered but were more concerned about watching the fight than making peace.
“Mama, it’s okay, please!”
The pieces of vegetables which littered all over the ground gave a mock impression of a battlefield.
A security officer on patrol eventually came to the rescue and dispersed the crowd.
“You’re both shameless women,” the officer rebuked.
Mama bent her head in shame; she had once more broken her vow not to fight again.
“I’m sorry Nnenna for disappointing you,” she apologized a thousand and one times as we continued our journey in another vehicle.
“That’s okay.”
As we approached home, I noticed a contortion on her face as though she had tasted a sour beans.
“But I’ve accepted your apologies. What is it again, Mama?”
“I’ve lost it…I’ve lost it all…” she shook her head.
“Lost what?”
“The vegetables I bought for soup!”
-NEXT CHAPTER
