Deviations

“Soooo, how’d it go?”

and giving me a conspiratory smile,

“Were you caught?”

I let out a smile, a little, withering smile. It wasn’t a day for laughter, and I felt within me, that most of my days would lack those. My morning wasn’t as usual, I met Nnanyi when I awoke, sitting in the parlor, candles lit, drinking palm wine. For all he was, he was a principled man, palm wine in the morning was not a thing for him. And circumventing his usually alert eyes, I met my mother, in the kitchen as usual, and although everything seemed off, although I knew that she would move on, act like I’d been home early, as usual, it hurt to watch her dish out her usual instructions, not bothering to query me, acting like nothing had happened. So, I did what she obviously wanted me to do, I took the familiar path, acting like everything was the same, intent on not deviating from the predictable. Feeling an ache in my feet, I turned to face Nene, upon her face was a smile which only she could give, and then, at that moment, I felt a genuine smile blossom on my face.

“He caught me.”

And we both burst into laughter.