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“Oh Gladys, thank God you arrived safely.”
She was inside the big house, wrapped in Aunt Isioma‘s arms.
Perplexed by the effusive welcome, Gladys hugged her back in a tentative manner. The underlying awkwardness was so real that she wondered if her aunt could not feel it.
Aunt Isioma was tall and light skinned like her. Her cotton nightgown skimmed her slim figure. Only her face showed she was a similar age with Gladys‘s mother. She didn‘t look too different from the pictures in the old black and white family albums back home. As they spoke, Gladys followed her through a wide hallway and into the living room. “Sorry, it would have taken too long for Ade to get here on time to collect the car and then come pick you at the bus station. And there‘s the traffic too.”
“I didn‘t mind making my way here. It‘s just that it took the bus a while to get over the bridge which was full of cars coming this way; the rush hour I guess.”
“You got here OK? You didn‘t miss your way?”
“I did but it was fine in the end. I have to say the people here are more helpful than I was told. Lagos is not so bad.”
Her aunt smiled and indicated she should sit. Gladys sank in and relaxed against the soft cushion behind her. Her muscles relished the soft contours after the uncomfortable bus benches. She looked slowly around. The fabric sofa she sat on was close to the hallway and in earthy tones that matched the abstract watercolor to her right.
Large photographs of two good looking women dominated the nearest wall; those would be her aunt‘s daughters, both whom were older than Gladys. They were now permanently living in America which was where they‘d been born. The elder one was married, and her younger sister lived with her while she completed her postgraduate education.
Gladys looked up to the very high ceiling of the huge cream-colored room. It was made more so by the decorative white plaster which also highlighted the stairs leading to an upper level. There were two furniture collections in the expansive space. An oversized chocolate leather settee with identical armchairs faced the television flanking a heavy looking center table made of dark wood. A soft lavender scent filled her nostrils from the fresh flowers on the table. Magazines were arranged inside a cane basket on the lower rung.
“How was your trip? Have you let your family know you‘ve arrived?”