Otaare

by Alessandra Ebulu

  "Before, hating him didn't do anything to him," his father answered. "He just continued to make more money and moved from being a millionaire to being a billionaire and now he has over a billion dollars. My hatred wasn't getting me anywhere. But now…" his father held out both hands, palms up, in Ukeme and Bola's direction. "The heavens have provided me with the best way to get back at him. Have his son not only turn out to be gay, but to be in love with my son. MY son. A writer nobody whose father was in the army and whose mother sells food items for a living. Not the son of a fellow billionaire o. But a poor boy. It's a double blow." His father went back to cackling. "I can just imagine his face, son. Revenge is a dish best served with my son hooked up with his son, and there's nothing he can do about it."

  Maybe it was the gin talking, but something told him that sure, he might have a new boyfriend and the support of his parents, but his father had totally and completely gone cuckoo. Utterly bonkers. Undoubtedly insane.

  What did that say about him?

  He heard Bola laugh, and then his hand was airborne and on its way to the lips of the man who lifted the hand to his lips and brushed those lips against the back of his palm.

  Twin dimples flashed, and Ukeme found himself smiling back.

  It said that he was a lucky, lucky man. He was with a man who loved him back, parents who strangely accepted his relationship, and now an Otaare that had now become eniafowokan—a lover and a friend.

  Life was good.

  epilogue

  Ukeme had his eyes on his tablet as he walked into the house, his mind focused on Elizabeth's congratulatory email on how well his novel was doing and her publishing company's request for a sequel. It came as a surprise, considering that the book he'd sent her—nine months after she'd first approached him with writing an expose about Bola Johnson and his family—was not the expose she'd wanted. He had instead sent her an original story of his own. The story had been about enemies turned friends, and how villages and people had come back to rebuild the land, a symbolic representation of the country itself.

  She'd loved it, been a bit miffed that she wasn't getting her tell-all after all, but had run with it, in the way of one who knew an interesting story that the varying Nigerian tribes would be interested in—the good part of making his characters as diverse as there were ethnic groups in the country. The audience had loved it, just like she expected. Now, a year later, she was clamouring for more. Ukeme made a mental note to send her a mail as soon as he was settled.

  Just as he entered the living room and dropped his bag, and he absently wondered why on earth the place was in such complete darkness when he'd assumed that Bola would finally be back from his Canadian tour, light flooded the room and even as his eyes adjusted and took in a sea of faces, particularly one whose eyes danced, whose laughter rang bright, and whose cheeks deepened into twin dimples that he loved, his family shouted. "Happy birthday!"

  The words had his eyes flying to the clock on the mantel, and sure enough, it was five minutes past twelve. As he accepted hugs, kisses, and claps on his back, he laughed. "How did you know I would come in this late?"

  "Or early," Bola teased, just as he stepped forward and kissed him. Ukeme sank into it, a soft sigh escaping as his tongue swept in, reclaiming a mouth he'd missed for the past three weeks since Bola had left in the early hours of the morning for his flight to Canada.

  "God, I missed you," Ukeme murmured when they finally broke apart.

  Bola rested his forehead against Ukeme's. "I missed you, too."

  "Yeah, yeah. Stop hogging him." Bola suddenly was pulled away from him, and although he gave the token protest, he grinned when he looked down into brown eyes that were as identical as his lover's. And then that stern face broke into a smile that showed the twin dimples she'd gifted her son as well.

  He hugged Olusola Johnson, breathing her in, and silently thanked the heavens that unlike Bola's father, Bola's mother had taken the step to reconnect with her son, and had also accepted Ukeme as well. "How is he?" he breathed against her ear.

  He must have a made a sound, because she patted his back. "I've been married to him for over thirty-five years. He'll come around. You'll see."

  He brushed a quick kiss against her cheek as he pulled back and returned her smile, even as he sent a quick plea upwards that Adegoke Johnson will get off his high horse and reconnect with Bola, because as much as Bola didn't want to be his father, he still wanted his father in his life.

  "He will. I'll work on him." With that, she winked, then walked away to sit with his parents, who were, at the moment, holding court with a photo album in each hand. Ima sat right beside them, adding extra details to give everyone the background story of each picture. With the way the girls and Deji kept smiling, then occasionally glancing in Ukeme's direction, he could guess what they were looking at. It was probably all those pictures of him that his family liked pulling out whenever they wanted to embarrass him. Pictures that chronicled his five-year-old self's decision to give up clothes and pose naked for every picture.

  But as he stared at his family, laughing and talking amidst themselves, as he caught Debs mouthing, "happy birthday," and Deji's smirk, even as he noted Eze and Sukanmi in the corner having a whispered conversation, he felt anything but embarrassed.

  Nope. When he caught a scent of his man, felt Bola's warmth as he leaned in, chin perfectly balanced on his shoulder, he felt love.

  Fin

  Appendix

  Abeg e: Pidgin English for Please

  Abula: Yoruba soup made from blended beans and mixed with ewedu: a popular Yoruba soup made with the ewedu vegetable and which has a mucilaginous texture, similar to Okra soup.

  Aburo: Yoruba word for younger brother/someone who's younger than you but not necessarily a relative.

  Afang: A soup popular in Eastern Nigeria made from the wild leaves referred to as Okazi leaves.

  Agbada: A free-flowing overall worn over an inner shirt and matching pants, worn primarily by Yoruba men. The excess material used to make it, causes the outfit to billow out and add regality to whomever's wearing it.

  Agbo: Yoruba word for traditional medicine.

  AMA: African Music Awards

  Amadioha: Igbo god of lightning and thunderstorms.

  Amala: Yoruba meal made with ground yam flour, popularly called elubo

  Baba God: Pidgin English for God Almighty

  Banana Island: A heavily guarded and very pricey estate on Lagos Island.

  Beef: Pidgin English for quarrel/fight.

  Bokoto: Yoruba word for the popular peppered cow leg.

  Buka: Small scale restaurant Ota n pa ni, omo magbagbe: Yoruba words meaning: Enemies kill, child don't forget it.

  Dashiki: A loose tunic popularly worn by men from Northern Nigeria.

  Egusi: A popular Yoruba soup made with melon seeds.

  Elubo: Ground yam flour

  Environmental Saturday/Sanitation: The first Saturday of every month where residents in South Western Nigeria are mandated to clean outside their homes till nine in the morning. The major roads are usually devoid of cars and people and anybody caught on the major roads is taken in to pay a steep fine.

  Form: Pidgin for pretend/acting fake

  Garri: Pidgin word for cassava flakes

  Hang: Hang out

  Ifoti: Yoruba word for a hard slap that covers almost half your entire face.

  Iro and buba: Yoruba word for the African style of dress that is made up of the top (buba) and a wrapper (iro) which is 'wrapped' around the woman's (and some men, in the case of men of the Ijaw tribe in Nigeria) waist.

  Joor: Yoruba word meaning please

  Ke: Yoruba exclamation

  Ko n se gbogbo ota lo n pa ni. Ko gbadura fun Otaare: Yoruba phrase meaning: Not all enemies set out to kill you. Just pray for an "Otaare"

  Lagos Island: The areas in Lagos surrounded by the ocean which gives Lagos it's island title. These areas are all found on the other side of Third Mainland Bridge, a bri
dge that separates Lagos Island from the Mainland.

  Lagos Mainland: The part of Lagos that are mostly on dry ground, except for Ikorodu, an area that shares the pacific with Lagos Island and is therefore quite connected with it.

  Man no go chop: Pidgin for a man still has to eat anyway.

  Na: Pidgin exclamation

  Naija: A variant of Nigerian/Nigeria

  Niger-Delta: Specific states in Nigeria where crude oil can be found. The areas have been pillaged for decades since crude oil was first discovered and pollution abounds in the area. They're primarily made up of fishing communities but due to the pollution of the waters as a result of the oil drills in the area, most of their marine life is dying out, putting further hardship on the people who live there. Those who identify as being Niger-Deltan come from these states: Edo, Delta, Port Harcourt, Cross Rivers, Bayelsa. There is a lot of animosity between Niger-Deltans and the oil companies polluting their lands, the rich people pillaging what's left and the rest of Nigeria that's not concerned about the destruction of their land. Kidnappings are also high in Niger-Delta, especially of expatriates and the rich, people that Niger-Deltans hold responsible for all the destruction of the area.

  Obalende: An area in Lagos Island

  Ogbono: A popular soup made from the ogbono seeds whose texture is also mucilaginous, although thicker than Okra soup.

  Ogudu: An area in the mainland.

  Ogun: Yoruba god of iron and travellers

  Okada: Local slang for motorcycle

  Okirika: Strong man.

  O ma pe e: Yoruba phrase meaning: It took you long enough.

  Otaare: Yoruba word meaning "Good enemy"

  Paddies of life: Pidgin English for Best of friends

  Pomo: Yoruba word for the popular peppered cow skin.

  Quanta: Pidgin for trouble

  Sango: Yoruba god of lightning and fire.

  Shikena: Hausa word meaning "that is all"

  Victoria Island: An area in Lagos Island.

  Wetin: Pidgin word for what

  Yoruba: An ethnic group that's one of the three major tribes in Nigeria. The other two major tribes are Igbo and Hausa. There are also two hundred and fifty other smaller minority tribes scattered all over the country. The Yorubas largely populate South Western Nigeria and some parts in North Central Nigeria.

  about the author

  For as long as she can remember, Alessandra Ebulu has always had her nose buried in a book. The characters appeal to her and it is not uncommon to find her talking to the various characters in her head—both the ones she created and the ones she has read about (of course she does this while walking down the street, but she's not crazy or anything).

  When not reading or writing, Alessandra can be found watching movies, sitting in front of her laptop (watching animes, reading mangas or surfing the Internet), and listening to all the genres of music that make her life complete.

  You can find Alessandra Ebulu on her blog (http://alessandraebulu.wordpress.com/), livejournal (http://cassie821.livejournal.com), or @itenoria , or email her at siteno.ebulu@gmail.com.