The Banana Effect

I woke up abruptly due to the chaos and commotion around me thinking it was a bad dream but it wasn't. On hearing the brutality of words being exchanged, I tried to decipher the voices but I was still drenched in sleep,kofi was already awake due to the noise too I guessed; although we had retired to bed early the previous night,the scuffle that prevented our slumber carried on for more than an hour.I wondered what would have happened for paapa to rain insults down on mamaa like that. She was the sweetest and kindest human I had met.Despite the fact that I was her last issue,i was still the closest to her heart,always of good cheer and friendly to all. Paapa on the other hand was the opposite...An authoritarian,detester off laziness and very strict.

We his four children were never idle always busy with one chore or task ordered by papa which at the end was rewarded with serious criticism and scorn; I always took solace in maama's kind words of appreciation whenever I was scrutinized by paapa.

She was my idea of a good life,i admired her in everyway....how she was unperturbed in the face of danger,brave in times of sorrow, benevolent in times of lack;these characters I always tried to emulate and we eventually grew fond of each other.In all my 15 years of living I had never heard paapa and mamaa have any squabble because I thought they balanced each other but here we were 2 days to my 16th birthday and for the first time I heard them quarrel voraciously. It was definitely past midnight but not yet dawn.Kofi,mamaa sister's son who came to live with us five years ago to further his tertiary education shared a room with me while my three older brothers were all out of the house.I on the other hand was still yet to finish my senior certificate exams.
In a hushed tone,i asked Kofi about the pandemonium and he signaled to me to be quite and listen to know the bone of contention,i could only imagine the disappointment on his face as we both heard the calibre of insults my father rained on his aunty.Unable to stomach it,anger clouding my sanity pushed me out of the bed to take action but Kofi held my hand motioning me to sleep but it was too late,i was fully awake and devoid of slumber

As the duel continued,many secrets were revealed,paapa's illegitimate children before and after he met mamaa,his loyalty to his kinspeople which was questionable and so on...I was already mesmerized at this point until mamaa declared her intentions to leave the house...I was petrified beyond words,a cold shiver ran down my spine...life without mamaa? I could not imagine it...my eyes were wet but I was not sad just scared....scared of the future;...mamaa countered paapa's insults urging him to do his worse and how she had remained in this house all because of we the children and what people would say.When it was getting to a frenzy,I quickly slid out of the bed and made for the built-in-toilet before Kofi would persuade me not to. As the noise of the bathroom door surfaced,the chaos came to a halt.

I tossed from side to side till day light.At the break of dawn,paapa stormed out of the house and mamaa didn't come out to do her normal morning routine.I did my chores and left for school, I could not concentrate that day until the close of school...
On heading home,I saw a lot of footwear at our doorstep.I eavesdropped and heard the voices of my uncles and kinsmen.It was then the gravity of what happened yesternight dawned on me.The meeting dragged on for hours till evening,I searched for mamaa everywhere but couldn't find her.I feared the worst.
Kofi told me the details of the meeting but left the part were mamaa and paapa were likely to separate.I later spotted mamaa at the backyard sitting near the plantain trees crying bitterly.It not only broke my heart into a million pieces but awakened a hatred in me .I headed to her side to console her....on seeing me she wiped her eyes with her blouse.She beckoned on me to come closer and gave me some advice.She warned me not to tell anyone anything and to pretend like nothing ever happened.I was confused beyond measure...how could she say such a thing when there was fire on the mountain.

In the days that followed papa never ate her food,seldom responded to her greetings and always complained. Sunday came and we went to church; they both pretended like nothing ever happened.....smiling all the time and responding to greetings. As we headed home, Still in my state of confusion, Kofi went to the neighbours farm to help out and came home with a bunch of Banana,fresh and ripe......as I reached out for the first best one I could take and peeled,it was rotten deep and then I taught to myself ;How can something so fresh and fine on the outside be so rotten and spoilt on the inside. An epiphany hit me which was the fact that mamaa and paapa's behaviour over the past few days could be likened to it...how they loathed each other inside but on the outside they portrayed goodness to the best of their ability.