Danced Herself To Exhaustion

Lanre was delighted when her brother called her two days after her visit to Mrs. Okafor informing her that he got his job back. She practically danced herself to exhaustion while the call was still going on. She felt cramps on her lower abdomen while breathing heavily from dancing. She must have over danced. Lanre sat down from her exhaustion.

“Are you getting a promotion?” She asked her brother over the phone. He told her he was only being called back to duty. The letter he got was a call back to duty with the statement that his suspension has been revoked. Lanre laughed. They sure did look for a good excuse to bring him back. But she wondered why he was not promoted as well. She decided not to worry. If Mrs. Okafor does not complete her task, she could go on and forget about getting out of cell.

Lanre congratulates her brother and ended the call. She placed her phone down on the table and relax into the chair. Her eyes caught Eno walking out of the Kitchen. The girl has made herself a little bit comfortable with the house but not with her.

She watched the girl drop her plate of food on the dinning table. She wondered if she should talk to the girl. She sighed heavily. Closed her eyes choosing to ignore Eno’s presence. It was no use talking to the girl knowing she won’t get any reply.

“Ma, are you not eating? I made extra noodles for you ma”. Eno said. Lanre blinked her eyes. Did the girl just spoke to her? Lanre looked at Eno in wonderment. This would be the first time the girl was actually talking to her.

“I have never seen you eat in your house since I came. I thought I should prepare some noodles for you. You can employ me as your cook. I will need the monthly salary so I can pay Senator Ojo Omolaji for the money he paid buying my freedom”. Eno said to Lanre.

Lanre was taken aback that the girl would think this way. But she was a little bit impressed.

“What is your name?” Lanre asked.

“Eno!” Eno answered. Lanre asked for her full name. Eno shook her head. She bowed down her head. Lanre frowned. Was the girl still feeling uncomfortable. She tsk and asked Eno to forget about it if she does not want to tell her her full name. She stood up from the couch and went to get herself the noodles Eno made. Lanre felt the struggle trying to get the noodles past her throat. After forcing down six spoons, Lanre ended up finding her way to the toilet. She threw up, vomiting the little she has eaten. A cold breeze from no where swept across her face in the bathroom. She could feel tears already stinging out her eyes.

“Ma! Are you okay? You looked fine a while ago! You should go to the hospital. Or was it my cooking?” Eno asked sounding a bit nervous.