– 7:53 am
I woke up at six with no desire to go back to sleep. So I decided to make the most of the morning starting with the blog (which is currently down so I’m drafting this in an email using Spark).
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been making posts on the site public. They were private until I could figure out some basic SEO. If I don’t get the chance to hand this over to you, then maybe one day you’ll make a great discovery about yourself.
As of yesterday, we now have a spanking new kitchen. Well, almost. There’s still a glass splashback that needs fitting in a fortnight but otherwise all done. It looks glam! like us. The Corian countertop covered all but a couple of the previous holes on the wall so I decided to add a filler to them. I think I’ll address the other damaged bits of the wall this weekend. Unless you decide to make an appearance.
I made myself a decaf and started typing when your uncle called. Fusi that is. Everyone calls him Judex but I prefer his middle name. He inherited it from our maternal grandfather, the same way you’re inheriting yours from my father’s grandfather. He called worried he couldn’t reach me yesterday, thinking your mother had gone into labour and something had happened. I apologised for not returning the missed call and reassured him he’d be the first to know the moment Liza and I got in a car heading to the hospital.
One of our neighbours in Douala died so there was a wake keeping which they all attended, your grandad included. I know some of Pah Sama’s kids. His children are like my younger siblings. We all grew up together. I spoke to his eldest son yesterday over Whatsapp. He seemed aware and settled with the notion of what was happening. His dad had been sick for a while so this was either relief, shock or both. Likely both would be my guess.
Fusi updated me on that. We spoke about the family at large and life in general. He talked about Mafor, your grandmother. There were moments I felt like crying but held it in. They accomplished a lot together, from nothing, and evidently very close. It cuts us mighty deep to talk about her but this is therapy for us. We need to. She was so undeserving of the ending she got. It haunts me all the time. There are people I will never forgive and ties severed beyond repair.
I went upstairs to the bathroom to contain myself where unfortunately your mother was having a shower and saw me. So she’s in tears now as well, begging me not to cry. For both your sakes, I don’t want her crying so I’ve applied a hard stop.
Today’s entry was meant to address names, your first name. I thought we had one pinned but your mother handed me a shortlist… I want to say yesterday but it could well be the day before.
By the way, doesn’t she look fantastic for someone who’s about to give birth like any second now? She looks fab!
Her list includes “Gustav”, which she said she loves. I’ll be damned if I ever have to call you “Gus”. No thanks. It reminds me of Eddie Murphy’s BBQ skit on Delirious where he talks about his Uncle Gus. You won’t be named “Milan” or “Isaac” either. I suggested Eli, which she also likes. Emil isn’t bad…
Short story shorter, your first name is still up for grabs, according to your mother anyway. That’s fine though. We can wait to see what you look like and name you accordingly.