I don’t know where children get their audacity from but for their age they sure are fearless. Sometimes I wonder if I was audacious and talkative while growing up, I guess my dad owes me an explanation.
So on a very good Saturday morning, my Aunt was on her way to my house. You know that Aunt who pays you a visit and braids your hair for free as a parting gift? Yes, that special Aunt.
Making free hair hits differently when you are broke and a broke girlie was what I was that day.
I got the extensions and everything my Aunt needed to braid my hair. I was ready for FREE braids!
In no time she arrived at my place with her five-year-old daughter. I was so happy to see them. We talked, laughed, argued, ate, and did other stuff until it was time to make my FREE braids.
While other people looked forward to making their hair, I didn’t. I am tender-headed, and I have a very low threshold of pain. By tender, I mean I wince at the slightest touch of my hair by anybody. That day, I decided to wear my big girl boots since I wasn’t paying a dime.
I sat on the chair, ready to do my FREE braids. The moment my Aunt attempted to comb my hair, I screamed. She tried again, and I screamed again. “Aunty, it’s painful oo,” I politely told her.
“Painful for hair that we haven’t started?” She replied.
From her reply, I knew I was in for a long ride but I braced myself, reminding myself of the thousands of naira she had saved me from spending.
It can’t be that bad, I reassured myself.
Ladies and gentlemen my head was on fire from start to finish.
While I kept screaming out of frustration, my Aunt did not even flinch. After telling me sorry twice, she didn’t say a word again. Her facial expression and vibe were like those of evil villains in movies.
You know when the stylist tells you sorry again and again, it kind of reduces the pain but my Aunt scolded me for making a fuss like a child.
“Free thing dey purge,” I told myself as I continued to endure the pain from the supposed FREE hair .
I hung in there until she got to the middle of my hair and I lost it. I jumped to my feet not minding who was watching. Out of nowhere, my five-year-old cousin said:
“Aunty IB it’s not by force oo, shakara no dey pain(beauty isn’t painful)”.
“Huh?”
I was too stunned to say anything.
Just when I thought I had heard it all, she turned to her mum and said:
“You sef small, small, it’s painful”. At that moment, I didn’t know if it was the pain from the braids and the headache I was experiencing that was making me hear things but watching how her mum scolded her, was a confirmation that I wasn't hearing things.
I stared at the old woman in a five-year-old body and I burst into laughter.
“Ibitoroko what did you say again?”, I asked her.
“It’s not by force oo, shakara no dey pain,” swinging her head and body alongside, she replied.
“Who taught you that?”
“My mummy, she always says that to me,”
I burst into another round of laughter upon seeing my Aunt’s reaction.
“Teacher, teacher, role model, philosopher, I see your doings(handwork) ooo”. I told my Aunt and we all laughed again.
This little girl's words cracked me up so much that I forgot about the pains and fire on my head to concentrate on the words of wisdom she was spewing.
All images are mine except otherwise stated.
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