Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite - 86

It was Ebun who broke the news to Grandma East, Ebun who held Grandma East as she crumpled and cried, Ebun who gathered the things Grandma East would need to wash her sister’s body, and Ebun who led her mother to Grandma West’s room, then closed the door behind her, leaving the sisters alone. Eniiyi stayed hidden in her own room, buried under her duvet, unable to face the fact that the family she’d always known would never be the same again.

It was as if the old house itself mourned. Every time she left her bedroom, she heard whispers in the corners of the rooms. What else could it be but the voices of all the women who had grieved here? And who could explain how cold and wet the house felt, even though the sun blazed above them, or how quiet it was, though they should have been able to make out the sounds of traffic from the next street.

She expected that her mother would tell her she needed to get up and be practical, she craved it even; but Ebun did not remark on her behaviour at all. In the evening, she knocked on Eniiyi’s door and asked her if she would eat.

‘I am not really hungry.’

‘Well, the dog has to eat. So come down anyway.’

She looked at Sango. She had lifted him onto the bed – it had been ten years since he had had the strength to jump on – and he had stayed with her all this time, even though he hadn’t eaten all day.

Grandma East did not come down for dinner. Ebun explained that the sisters would stay locked in the room together overnight whilst Grandma East cleansed her older sister’s body. Eniiyi could not think of anything more traumatic.

‘Shouldn’t … umm … wouldn’t the … mortician do that?’

Ebun put another piece of meat in her mouth and did not respond.

Her uncle Tolu showed up as they were clearing away the dishes. He didn’t say anything, but his lips were tight. Aunt Ashley was behind him, her eyes red and puffy. She hugged Eniiyi and then Ebun. Ebun gave her a stiff pat on the back.

‘I can’t believe this,’ Ashley said over and over.

‘Where is she?’ Tolu asked.

‘Still in her room. Mummy is with her. She plans to bathe her.’

‘What? Why? I didn’t give my permission for that!’

Ebun rubbed her forehead with her fingers. She looked weary. ‘Tolu, I don’t think she needs your permission.’

He walked off towards the west wing, and Ashley began to follow him. Ebun grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop.

‘Help him keep his cool, Ashley, because I swear to God if he rattles my mother today, I will make him regret it.’

Ashley’s eyes were wide, but she simply nodded. When Ebun released her arm, Eniiyi could see the imprint on Ashley’s fair skin. She thought her mother might say something, apologise, but Ashley was already walking down the corridor.