Tale of an African Woman

Chapter Fourty Three

279 43 n the course of that year, a girl dismissed for bad conduct from Our Lady of Lourdes College in Abakwa washed up in SAC with her fat mother. Her mother must have had prior knowledge of the spirit of compassion of Fr Nielen, for as soon as she landed she started to stage a drama by threatening to commit suicide if her daughter was not admitted. The priest took the threat seriously and allowed the girl to be admitted on promise that she would not be a nuisance or a bad seed. After the daughter had been admitted, the round woman jiggled her bulk, adjusted her wrap-around and clasped the amused Dutchman in a bear hug of gratitude which jangled his bones. “Thank you Fr,” she declared as she slammed a kiss on the cheek of the priest. As soon as she let him go, while he set about adjusting his cassock after so impressive a grip and loud a kiss, the mother turned to the daughter and vowed that it was the last time she would be putting herself through hell for her. Makajo, for this was the girl’s name, knew her mother to be a dormant volcano. She took her utterance seriously and so did her best to stay in line. But when she met Achini, she lost her mind. She was so carried away by him that she completely lost sight of her mother’s temperament and the trouble she had put her through. The two had met their match and hit it off right away. Even though Achini still maintained his friendship with me, it was obvious from the way he treated Makajo in public that he had finally found the person he was looking for. Unlike her mother, Makajo was a slim, tall girl with beautiful hair braids like a Fulani. She had older sisters who lived in Mungo East and kept her supplied with a steady stream of dresses which made her stand out of the crowd. She barely ate and she exercised constantly to stay in shape. The cut of some of her I 280 dresses almost gave the impression that she was in a fashion parade. Each time she went past, she trailed a column of sweetsmelling perfume which most students had never even heard of, let alone seen. The nuns at our school viewed her flamboyant lifestyle with some apprehension, lest it should make the other girls feel inferior and go around prostituting themselves in order to assemble the funds necessary to copy her ways. They invited her to the convent and advised her but it was the most they could do since being fashionable did not run contrary to the school regulation. It was in this web of fashion and finance that Achini became entangled. He had always given the impression that he hailed from a rich family and this was what seemed to have registered in Makajo’s mind when she first met him. Obviously, a girl with expensive taste should hang out with a rich boy. Achini had rich brothers who gave him money. Having been through college themselves, they knew how much their younger brother needed to be comfortable in school. Instead of coming out clean with the girl, he continued to foster the misconception that he could not run dry of funds. He was playing with peanuts in the presence of a mouse. He created an expectation which he was compelled to live up to. The two kept on with their extravagant lifestyle constantly fuelled with unconfirmed rumors that they were involved in intense sexual activities. They made it to the end of the academic year without any incident. The next year came. I moved to the third form after a brilliant academic performance. As for Achini and his lover, who barely managed to make it to the fourth form, the year began almost with a bang. They were just returning from a long holiday in which it was rumored that the two of them lived almost like husband and wife. Nobody noticed any change in attitude during the first month at school. Then gradually, things began to change. Achini started to maintain an unusual distance from his belle. As for Makajo, the very embodiment of vitality among students, she lost most of her vigor and increasingly became pale. She hardly indulged in exercise and put on weight. For a couple which in their halcyon days [3.139.82.23] Project MUSE...