Tani took a step towards their bedroom door, fired up as much by “bride price” as he was by his mother’s cry.
“Do not ever speak to me in such a tone.” Abeo’s voice was louder now, no further attempt to stifle his words.
“I must speak if it means the protection of our children.”
“There is no must. You must nothing. Do you understand me? I protect our children.”
“Stop it! You’re hurting—”
“Oh, you hurt, you hurt. What do you expect from me, eh? You and your father and the lies you told. What do you expect? I was meant to have a breeder, but here I am with you, with your pain and your tears and . . . Enough. Enough. You need to be shown . . . You make me do these things, Monifa . . .” The sound of tussling ensued, feet shuffling on the floor, a heavy thud.
“You’re hurting me. Please, Abeo.”
At that, Tani grabbed the knob and shoved the door open. His father had pushed Monifa to the edge of their bed, but she was still upright. He had the back of her neck in one hand and her chin in the other, and he was squeezing so hard Monifa’s face was inflamed. “Leave her alone!” Tani said.
Abeo didn’t loosen his grip on Monifa’s chin, but he released the back of her neck. He swung round to Tani, his free hand clenched into a fist, which he raised.
“D’you want to hit someone? Hit me,” Tani said. “Do it, because I want like hell to break your nose. You got that, Pa? Come on. Or is it only women you hit?”
“Please! Tani! You cannot speak like that!”
But there was no fight for Monifa to worry about. Abeo snarled at her, “You know what to do,” and shoved Tani aside. No fool, Tani thought. His father demanded complete respect, but he knew damn well what awaited him if he struck Monifa in Tani’s presence. He followed Abeo out of the room.
Monifa cried, “Let him go! Tani! Just let him go!”
But Tani had no intention of doing so. Any peace they had with his father’s departure would last only till morning and then everything would start again. It needed to be finished, and he understood that he was the only person who could possibly do that. A door slammed. Abeo had left the flat.
He had a head start on Tani because Tani had to check on Simisola. He saw that she was awake. She was sitting up in bed, her eyes huge and dark, clutching her pillow to her chest. Tani said, “Go to Mum. I’ll be back,” and he left the flat before her fearful protest kept him with her a moment longer.
Outside, he looked left and right. There was no telling where his father was headed. No pub would be open at this time of night, and it was doubtful his men’s club was available to him either.
Dim lights shone down on the tarmac pitch across the lane. Tani gazed through the trees, but the pitch was unoccupied. He looked round and saw that no one lingered nearby. His father had managed to disappear into the hot ether of the night.
31 JULY
ABNEY SIXTH FORM COLLEGE
STOKE NEWINGTON
NORTH-EAST LONDON
He’d not been able to keep his mind where it needed to be when it came to his courses at college, so Tani had skipped three lectures and one supervision. He had to talk to someone, but the only person he really wanted to talk to was Sophie. Only . . . there were things he didn’t want her to know, things about his family that he could hardly stand to let stay in his mind, let alone share them with anyone else. But he finally gave in to the pressure building inside his brain. He needed a plan in a situation in which he saw no way to come up with a plan. This suggested to him that, like it or not, two minds were indeed going to be better than one.
He found Sophie working on an essay in the college library. She was wearing her noise-cancelling earphones and chewing thoughtfully on the end of a pencil. As he watched her, she read a bit from a text and scribbled a few lines on a piece of paper. He put his hand on the open book.
She looked up, smiled, and removed her earphones. He could dimly hear white noise issuing from them. It sounded like rain. He swung his leg over a chair across the table from her and straddled it.
She looked at the institutional wall clock above the checkout desk. “Where’ve you been, Tani? And don’t you have a lecture just now?”
“I get plenty ’f lectures at home.”
“Very funny.” She leaned across the table and kissed him. She made a business of it. He was more than willing to let her. When she drew away from him, he pulled her back till they were forehead to forehead and he could lock his stare onto her dark gaze.
She whispered, “What?” with a smile.