The Folly of Oyibo Rejoice

THE FOLLY OF OYIBO REJOICE

SHORT STORY BY

JED’S JOURNAL

SPEECHLESS WATERS

It was a little past midnight when Rejoice felt the pangs of hunger gnawing at her stomach. She lay on her mat, stomach growling, as she stared up at the rafters of her grandmother’s house. she had stayed late after school and returned to find that her siblings had devoured dinner, leaving her with nothing but the scent of leftover stew clinging to the air.

Her eyes narrowed in frustration. How could they not leave her any food?

Her eyes narrowed in frustration. how could they not leave her any food? She thought angrily, but then a plan formed. I’ll just soak garri, she decided. It was easy and quick, plus she knew where to find everything she needed. As quietly as she could, she tiptoed to the kitchen, careful not to wake Grandma. The kitchen was lit only by the faint light of the moon spilling through the window, but Rejoice knew where everything was. She grabbed a bowl, and a satchet of pure water, and set it aside. The garri was in its usual spot, tucked into a basket, waiting for her. She smiled. This was her favorite late night snack.

Next, she needed sugar. She fumbled around the wooden shelf, her fingers brushing against a bowl. The sugar! Her hands connected with the bowl, after which she deftly brought it before her eyes. She squinted her eyes against the sugar bowl. It was familiar alright. Her fingers curled around her spoon, and without hesitation, she scooped a generous amount and dumped it into the garri. As she made to stir, something seemed off. The sugar looked clumpy and white, too bright against the pale garri. Curious, she brought a spoonful to her lips and tasted it.

Fire.

Fire.

Her mouth exploded in pain. It wasn’t sugar. It was caustic soda! Rejoice’s lips burned like hot coals pressed against them. All of her oral faculties seemed to be on fire. Her tongue, for instance, was aflame, her eyes wide with shock as the realization hit her..

She bolted to the tap, her heart pounding as she threw her mouth under the water, gulping in between cries of pain. The water helped little, but she was too panicked to think clearly. In a voice that didn’t seem like hers, she screamed “My tongueee! Acid!”. The commotion woke Grandma, who came rushing into the small kitchen, her worn wrapper loosely tied around the waist. One look at Rejoice’s swollen, blistering lips told her everything.

“You foolish girl!” Grandma yelled…

“You foolish girl!” Grandma yelled. “Caustic soda! You’ve poisoned yourself!”

With a speed Rejoice didn’t know her grandmother possessed, the old woman grabbed a bottle of palm oil from the shelf. “Open your mouth now!”

Rejoice barely managed to follow the order before her grandma started pouring tht thick, red liquid down her throat. It tasted, well, palm oily, which Rejoice didn’t like very much, but she gulped it down. Her lips were already swelling, and the flesh inside her mouth felt raw, like it had been scalded. Almost immediately, the palm oil made its way back up, with a mixture of what looked like blood. Grandma immediately blanched, a small sound of horror escaping her mouth. “Blood?!” she said more to herself, than Rejoice.

Still, Grandma made her drink what felt like half the bottle. By the time she was done, Rejoice’s stomach sloshed with oil, but the burning had subsided to a dull throb. By morning, Rejoice sat on the porch, her lips puffy and sore, unable to speak much. Every time she tried to eat, it felt like knives scraping the inside of her mouth. But, worse than the pain, worse than the embarrassment, was the thought of the wasted groundnuts. They had been sitting underneath the garri, ready to be eaten with her midnight snack. But now, they were ruined, and that was the true tragedy.

Her siblings peeked at her from behind the doorway, snickering at her swollen features, their faces a mixture of fear and amusement. “What happened to you?” one of them asked, eyes wide.

Rejoice, in all her misery, smiled. She smiled because she knew they would never understand the madness of midnight hunger. And because, despite it all, she had survived her own folly.