Marital Dance - Part 4

Lagos, Nigeria

Startled out of a restless sleep, Azuka reached for his ringing cellphone on the nightstand and saw that it was his mother. They had developed a schedule for visiting Dad at the hospital – Azuka stayed with him for several hours from midday to late evening while his mother rested at home, cooked and took care of other household issues. Then, at night Azuka would come home to sleep and his mother would go back to the hospital. It had become so routine, it was almost like clockwork. He wondered why his mother was calling now – a glance at the digital clock told him it was only 5 a.m. – not yet time for their shift change. Maybe she needed him to bring her something from the house, or the store…or maybe…no, his mind veered away from that thought immediately. Not that. Not yet. His pulse immediately started racing. Lord, please…please…I’m not ready…

‘Mom. How are you doing? Is everything okay?” He struggled to control the tremor in his voice.

 “He’s asking for you”, Mom said without any preamble. “I think it’s time”

 Azuka’s heart sank “Are you sure? We’ve seen him take a bad turn before but he always came out of it.” His mother’s next words snuffed out the sliver of hope that was building in him.

 “Nna, I don’t know if anybody can be certain about something like that” His mother said tiredly, a world of cares in her voice. “But this is not my first brush with - ”, she hesitated, not wanting to finally give life to the word they had both been dreading.

 "This is not my first brush with death. Daddy is ready to go and he wants to see you. Come quickly.”

 Come quickly…quickly. Azuka hung up and grabbed up the shirt he had tossed onto the dresser last night. Come quickly.

 Those words followed him as he sped toward the hospital. It was early yet, but he could see people already opening the small roadside kiosks that sold odds and ends, from home-made meat-pies and puff-puffs to notebooks and pencils.

 What are you doing? He asked in silent anguish. Don’t you know my father is dying? He knew it was irrational, but he felt as if the world needed to stand still and acknowledge a life-changing event…his life-changing event.

 Thoughts bombarded his mind as he drove – thank God it was so early and the traffic hadn’t started building. His tires screeched as he braked to a sudden stop in front of the hospital. He rushed through the lobby and down the hallway to his father’s private room on the ground floor.

 He knocked once, opened the door and stopped short at the sight before him. His mother lay beside his father – her husband on the narrow hospital bed, with her head on his frail chest. A tender smile curled her lips as they gazed into each other’s eyes. The cancer had ravaged his father’s body mercilessly and left him pale, thin and in constant pain, yet Emilia looked at her husband with eyes filled with love. Tears welled up in Azuka’s eyes and he rushed to his father’s bedside.

 His father’s eyes lit up as Azuka knelt beside him. He held out his hand and Azuka grasped it tightly. He almost gasped out loud at how much thinner and frailer it had gotten. Had his father deteriorated so quickly in one day or had he been so preoccupied that he hadn’t seen it?

 Azuka couldn’t stop the tears streaming down his face. “Daddy”, he whispered. He had always called his parents ‘Dad’ and ‘Mom’ since his teenage years, but now he reverted to the comforting childhood terms. It was hard to speak around the lump in his throat.

 His father grimaced in pain and struggled to speak “Azuka…I’ve always been …so proud…you”

 Azuka held his father’s hand even tighter. “I’ve always been proud to be your son”

 His father smiled softly and looked from Azuka to his wife. “My sweet…Emilia…thank you…” His mother nodded as something silent passed between them.

 She pressed a soft kiss and whispered something to him “Thank you for being such a good husband and father.” Her voice broke “I love you, my husband”

 Azuka’s father looked at him one last time – a piercing, searching look – and seemed satisfied with what he saw there. A peaceful look came over the features so marred with pain and he laid his head back down on the pillow. His hand momentarily tightened on Azuka’s, and then loosened, his breathing eased - stopped. He was gone.

 With tear-filled eyes, Emilia pressed one last kiss to her husband’s face “Go with God, my husband. Go with God”.

Azuka heard her as if from a distance. Go with God? So that was it then. His father was gone. He would never hear him laugh again…never have another conversation with him. His father would never see him get married, have children… Deep heart-wrenching sobs filled the room and it took Azuka a minute to realize that they were coming from him.

****

Two days later

Grace hummed softly as she worked in the kitchen. She was helping her mother cook dinner tonight and she was surprised to discover that she was enjoying herself. She caught herself humming and smiled. It’s nice to be happy again or at least halfway there. It had been four weeks since Alex broke up with her and she was starting to function like a normal human being again.

The onions sizzled as they made contact with the hot oil and Grace stirred the mixture. The soft tread of footsteps on the linoleum floor made her turn.

 “Hi, Mom. How was your day?”

 “Not so good, my dear.” Julia sighed “I went to see an old friend who lost her husband two days ago.”

 “Oh…wow. That’s sad. Is it someone I know?” Grace asked as she mixed the blended tomatoes into the onions.

 “No, I don’t think you would know her. She and I lost contact some years ago. I didn’t even know they were living here in Lagos.”

Grace sat down on a kitchen stool near the door, and waited for the sauce to cook. “So, what happened to her husband?”

 “I think he was sick….some kind of cancer.  Such a shame, and he was so young, not even sixty yet.”

 Grace nodded somberly. “The funeral is in two weeks”, her mother continued. “Maybe we can go together. You know I don’t like traveling to the village on my own.”

 Grace smiled. Her mother thought she was being subtle, but Grace could read her like a book. The driver always drove her parents down to the village whenever they needed to make the 8-hour drive. Her mother would hardly be alone, but Grace knew she was trying to get her out of the house. If her mother was trying to cheer her up, a funeral was hardly the place to start. Well, it’s still two weeks away. Plenty of time for me to beg off. Wait…two weeks? Her heart dropped…that’s when Alex is getting married. She looked up and the compassionate look on her mother’s face told Grace that her mother knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted to get Grace out of the house so she wouldn’t stay home feeling sorry for herself, or worse, try to crash the wedding. Suddenly glum, Grace nodded. Yes, a funeral was just what she needed.

 Onyih Odunze