The Family Dinner

(Hello! I just decided to try something new. Hope you like it. I humbly apologise for not posting in a while. School has a way of consuming your entire being. Enjoy.)

"How do I look?" Uloma asked.
"Turn around."
She obeyed.
"You look beautiful, mom", Ugo told her quietly. She nodded in appreciation. It was a beautiful day afterall; the day she would meet all her lovely children. She had managed to convince them to attend her 60th birthday dinner today and she was surprised that they had agreed. After their father had died, the children had gone through a catastrophic metamorphosis that she was totally oblivious of. She needed to know why her family was in shambles now more than ever. She needed to fix it. She would lock them all up and threaten to end her life if they were not cooperative.

After dark, they trickled into the house  and sat at the dining table, each avoiding the other. None had a gift. None even brought wine. Uloma stared at all four children and they stared right back.
"Happy birthday mum", she said when no one would say it. Then, they all chorused after her apologetically. The silence continued. Maybe they would not even shake if she tried to take her own life. They were all too selfish. She would threaten to end them all instead if they did not make peace, she decided. Suddenly, an idea formed in her head. She excused herself from the table and disappeared into the kitchen. She slowly, knowingly turned the knob of the gas cooker and grabbed a matchbox. She would threaten to light a match if they did not talk.
"Ada, how are you?" She asked when she returned.
"I'm fine mum. You?"
"Perfect!" Uloma replied. She was far from it. After their father's death two years ago, she had slowly lost touch of the world. Now she wanted to gain it back before she returned to dust. According to the doctors, that would be soon. She had managed to keep the news from Ugo.
"Chisom, tell me where you have been?"she asked her other daughter.
"I just got back from California", she said stiffly.
"With my husband", Ada interjected.
"Yes, her husband. The one that started ignoring her last year because she was starving him", said Chisom. Uloma had no idea that her daughter's marriage was in jeopardy.
"Mummy, we are still officially married", Ada said bitterly.
"I had no idea. Will you come and sit beside me, Ada?" Uloma asked hopefully.
"I would rather not be close to that mistake of a woman", Ada murmured. Chisom was already sitting beside her mother.
"Your sister?"
"Not anymore Mummy. Not anymore."
Uloma looked at her two beautiful daughters. Chisom looked more beautiful than ever. Her skin was flawless and she had added a little weight. Her curves were more pronounced now. Cheating really suited her, Uloma thought. Ada on the other hand had aged since Uloma had last seen her. Her daughter's wrinkles were competing with hers and her lips were plastered in a permanent frown. Uloma's heart broke for her. She suddenly remembered when Ada had married Ugwu. He had been a handsome man that could not keep his hands away from her. He loved her to stupor and she always found a way to advertise it. Uloma longed to know what had gone wrong.
"Ada, what happened to you and Ugwu?" Uloma asked.
"He cheated and I swore never to touch him again. Then he started parading girls into our home. Then Adanna became the new woman. I found her naked in my bed last year and I left the house", she narrated. Uloma could tell that it was difficult for her.
"How wouldn't he leave you?" Ugo mumbled. "Career woman."
"Shut your dirty mouth, you ingrate", Okechukwu shouted. He had been quiet since, but Uloma could tell that he harboured a lot of anger in him.
"What has been happening in this family? Where have I been? What have I done?" Obioma shouted with both hands raised to the top of her head in surrender. "Two of you are also fighting?" she cried. She could barely breathe.
"Mummy, I never wanted to bother you, but you see this your son? Someone has to kill him or I will", he raged.
"Okey, calm down."
"No, I won't! I brought this idiot into my house to stay with me and he decided to rob me dry and sample the women in my family", he said.
Uloma turned to her last son. She always saw him as responsible.
"Is it true?"
"Mummy, it did not happen like that", he explained. "The little girl kept coming to my room until I could not hold myself any longer. Understand that a man is a man", he pleaded.
Uloma could barely talk.
"But Ijeoma is just 14!" Ijeoma was Okechukwu's only daughter.
"You need to see her now. She looks 20."
Uloma was not aware of the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. She was more interested in saving Ugo's face from the punch that was coming his way. Okechukwu was fast enough, but he hit the wrong person. His mother laid on the floor with her arms wr wrapped around her middle, coughing like her end was imminent.
"Mum, I'm so sorry! Why did you get in the way? Where is Ugo? I should hit him twice for causing this", he ranted while searching for Ugo. He had disappeared.
"You all have to make up now. Please, let us be normal again", Uloma croaked in between coughs. "I'm...I'm dying."
"Mum, you are only 60", Chisom said. The two daughters were looming over their mother with concern.
"The doctor said I have 2 months", she continued.
"Mummy stop this. Which doctor?" Ada asked in desperation.
"I have lung cancer. Apparently, your father and I will die of the same sickness", she said smilingly sardonically. "Somehow that makes it better. At least we can remain connected somehow." She had really loved her late husband.
"Mummy just calm down", Chisom said as she tried to pull her mother up. Her makeup was still perfect, but her hair was a now complete mess. Ugo finally made an entrance, and suddenly, no one knew how to break the news to him. The room became silent.
"Mum has cancer", Okechukwu finally said.
"What the-"
"Don't swear in front of your mother", Uloma interrupted him. She could barely recognise her own voice. Ugo fidgeted as he dipped his hands into his pockets. When he pulled them out, a cigarette was in one and a lighter in the other.
"Don't do that", Uloma suddenly shouted in distress. The gas cooker!
"One stick will not kill anyone", he said as he struggled to light it. Without warning, the whole building went up in flames. The explosion could be heard four streets away.