Family drama and an Island outing

TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE ATTEMPT.

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Order turned to chaos when my father snapped and began to drink from a bottle of sniper we kept for rats.

I was 15 and grown-up enough to separate fights.

When I was younger, I usually hid in my room, whimpering and covering my ears; waiting for the shouting and yelling to stop.

However, this time, I didn't have the liberty of an escape.

I rushed to the kitchen and retrieved a keg of palm oil from the cupboard.

Thankfully, the sniper was too corrosive for him to swallow more than a small gulp.

I administered the palm oil to him as he lay panting on the floor while my mother was standing at the corner of the room, a petrified look etched on her face.

I hoped in my heart that the poison hadn't done any real damage to him.

I remembered that we also had activated charcoal and I prepared it and gave it to him. Colour began to return to his skin and the panting reduced but he had this tired and defeated look to him.

That spark of life he always had in his eyes dimmed and I knew that my family would never be the same again.

My mother had a way of firing accusations so rapidly. My father usually said that she spoke one thousand words per minute.

That day, she came back home with a fire in her eyes and fury in her steps.

She had been insulted again by one of my father's sisters on her inability to bear a male child. 

"You have to warn those women you call sisters. Warn them to leave me alone. Am I the only one that hasn't borne a male child? What is all this nonsense?"

Her voice was up an octave. My father was in the parlor listening to the eight o'clock news. He turned his gaze towards her and spoke calmly.

"I have been telling you to ignore them. You have given me a beautiful daughter and I am happy with that. Calm down," He said.

"I will not calm down. I have had it up to here." She used her index finger to point to her neck. "You and that your miserable family should better leave me alone. I know you want to marry another woman and I'm not stopping you so do as you please," She spat, her arms folded under her breasts.

"Did you just call me miserable?" My father raised his voice. I was in my room trying to ignore the ruckus but their voices kept finding their way into my eardrums.

Their fight went on and on until my father yelled at her to shut up. And that was when he entered his bedroom and retrieved the sniper.

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"Daddy, I want a new wig! I cannot be braiding my hair in school every single time and my afro looks so ugly," I pouted, putting on my best puppy dog eyes to convince him.

To my satisfaction, he smiled and told me to wait till the weekend so I could go to Lagos island and purchase a wig of top quality. 

"Thank you, daddy, I love you!" I said and skipped off to my room. I couldn't wait for the weekend to arrive.

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"What do you mean you won't take her to the island?" My father asked in exasperation.

"I will not be touching any of your filthy money. Go and give it to that woman and your other family."

My father didn't say anything more but called me to his room and told me that I should ask one of my friends that is familiar with the island to accompany me.

He would also ask one of his lady friends to help me purchase the wig. 

At the word "Lady friend", my suspicion arose. Could my mother be right? Could my father be seeing another woman outside the bounds of his marriage?

I brushed it aside and called Mariam. Luckily, she wasn't going to be busy the next day. 

Finally, it was Saturday. I woke up very early and put on my favorite dress. By 7a.m, Mariam had arrived and we were having breakfast when my dad called me to his room.

"Som, here is the estimated amount for the wig." He handed me a brown envelope. "If it costs more, call me and I will transfer the balance to your account.

"Also, my lady friend will be waiting for you in front of Isolo General Hospital. I have given her your number so she'll call you in an hour. You would have gotten there by then," He continued.

I nodded my head to show I was listening. But what he said next made the suspicion I felt before rising again. 

"Do not tell your mother that my friend is going to help you purchase the wig. You know how she is, her insecurities would envelop her completely and create another issue and I have sworn not to raise my hand on her ever again."

His explanation felt like an excuse but I couldn't care less.

I was excited to finally buy the wig I've had an eye on for a long time. 

My mother prayed for me and bid me goodbye.

Mariam and I boarded a tricycle to Isolo General Hospital.

The "lady friend" was dark in complexion, not too tall, and fat with the heaviest of makeup. On seeing her, I concluded that my dad couldn't possibly be interested in her as she wasn't the type of woman he liked.

The bus ride to Lagos island was riddled with gallops due to the bad road and traffic jam which is a normal thing for Lagos.

We arrived around 10a.m and alighted from the bus.

I recognized the beautiful catholic church I saw in my favorite "Nollywood" movie and dragged Mariam to take pictures of me in front of it.

The lady interrupted my picture taking telling me that she had other things to do on the island. I had to stop my photo session albeit with tremendous displeasure.

Lagos island market was rowdy. I had to hold on to Mariam to avoid getting lost in the crowd. Traders grabbed at me, pushing their wares in my face.

One called me a fine girl and all sorts of sweet names to convince me to stop and check out his goods but the moment I refused and started walking away, his face twisted in anger and he began to insult me.

I was in shock; Mariam had to tell me that that was how they usually behaved.

That was my first time on the island so everything was new to me.

There were a lot of buildings situated side by side having different shops built inside them. Mannequins wearing different styles and clothing were lined in front of the shops.

Each section of the market had different wares put up for sale ranging from food products to clothing.

The lady whose name I never learned, led us into the hair section of the market. Different colors and styles of hair that I hadn't come across before were right in front of me. I was so confused with the number of options I had to choose from.

She guided us into her customer's shop, asked what hair I wanted, and proceeded to pick it out. She handed me beautiful, silky, medium-length Brazilian hair.

"So soft and smooth," I murmured in awe and passed it to Mariam to feel.

She helped me bargain with the trader for a fair price and then, took me to the place where the hair would be transformed into a wig.

"I'll bring the hair for you tomorrow, I have somewhere else to be. Take care of yourself." She patted my arm and walked off. 

Mariam and I decided to enter Chicken republic for a quick bite.

"So, how are things with you and Tobi going?" She asked, winking at me while sipping from her bottle of coke.

I blushed, "He asked for us to hang out soon but I haven't been able to obtain permission yet. I don't like being disappointed and things are kind of rocky at home so I don't even know which of my parents to ask."

"Your parents are still having issues?"

A look of pity came over her face and it made me uncomfortable. I hated being pitied.

"Yeah, but you don't have to worry about me. It'll be all right." I mustered a smile.

"It is well. Make sure you don't let their "Wahala" get to you. Ah, look at that Chinese man!"

She was acting as if she's never seen a foreign man before.

I knew she was trying to distract me and I appreciated her efforts.

The next day, I got my wig delivered to me and I organized a fashion show in front of my mom to show it off.

My family was hanging on by a thread and as much as I didn't want to care or bother about it, I still cried myself to sleep wondering why they couldn't just resolve their issues amicably.