22 The black sheep

Amaka Nwafor was by all definition a disappointment to her parents. She refused to study medicine as she was instructed; squandered her allowance and worse of all got pregnant at just 19years of age, by a Yoruba boy no less.

Oh yes, Amaka was the blackest of sheep and her parents never let her forget it. Because there is nothing worse than a wild child that started off mild. Amaka grew up obedient and submissive in the Igbo Catholic home she shared with her five siblings. Her father Chinedu Nwafor was an oil tycoon who harboured fantasies of running for office. His wife Ulonna Nwafor enforced her strict rules with a regimen to shame military boot camps. Boys to Men were akin to Satan with their baritones of fornication; form fitting clothes signalled End of Days and make up invited a sponge scrub. Television viewing time was restricted to Tales by Moonlight and Speak out and Kidivision 101. The mere mention of the Spanish soap operas such as: Secrets of the Sand, Wild Rose, or The Rich Also Cry were grounds for beating and prayer interventions. So Amaka lived within this environment and passed her teenage years without a tantrum or a raised voice or a slammed door. That was till she was put on the plane to England.

It began in Manchester University when Amaka denied her offer of Medicine in favour of Psychology. The allure of philosophy, biology and sociology suited her background too perfectly to pass up. Psychology was based in asking why. That was a privilege Amaka was never allowed and she revelled in it. It was a strange new world to her, one where her parents for the first time had no control over her actions or beliefs. It was invigorating, like the first scent of sea after years of drought. In her second semester she met Nabila in a crowded lecture hall and they became partners in a group presentation on Communication Skills.

Then Nabila met Jamal and as those two became joined at the hip, Amaka was left alone with Jamal's course mate Femi Coker. The Politics and International Relations student found Amaka annoying. Because she hardly ever spoke a word and when she did it was straight out of a text book. It seemed she never had an opinion of her own and clung to her rosary like a life line. But she came with Nabila and Nabila was stuck to Jamal and Jamal was his friend. To cope with the vast amounts of time they were left alone Femi cultivated the habit of teasing her. At first it was just something to do, and it was fun. It was too easy with Amaka providing material as she knew nothing of Popular Culture. How could she never have heard of TLC? There was her dress sense which resembled that of a convalescing patient, and the fact that she never had a retort. Femi began to look forward to seeing the antique and sometimes kept insults on reserve just for her.

As a guy he never saw the boundaries drawn in the sand till Amaka burst into tears one late afternoon in March. Without the common decency to run into the bathroom as girls usually do she sat there and wept till Femi really felt ashamed of himself. Nabila returned and took her away; Femi saw neither of them for a month and when he found out Jamal's relationship was suffering as a result he appeared in Amaka's hall with flowers to grovel for forgiveness. Insisted on taking her out to dinner to make amends and somewhere between the cab ride and the paying the bill Femi saw Amaka in a different light. He had never seen anyone so appreciative of pizza and crispy chicken before. Amaka gazed at their surroundings like it was a candle lit Italian restaurant on the banks of Venice and sipped on her cola like it was a fruity full bodied red wine. At the end of the evening he knew he would insist they be more than friends...

Amaka relayed the story to her children this morning, as she did most days when they insisted on hearing about daddy. She believed they savoured the tale because they recognised every character; that way daddy was more real. Naturally she left out the party animal she became and the drastic make over that occurred as a result of it. Femi's interest gave her the confidence to relax her hair, wear slinkier outfits and loosen up. Those days of double dating with Nabsy and Jay were the happiest of her life and she loved Femi with a conviction as blind as faith. Even with his flaws and obsession with money. Even as his get-rich schemes investments drained them both of monetary resources, leaving gaping holes in grocery and phone bills. Amaka never stopped believing in Femi and remained his biggest supporter long after his charm wore thin on Nabila and eventually Jamal.