Going to Amrika

Olaitan Joy Damilola

_{Art by Destiny Desire.}

Emeka told me Amrika is in the sky. Aeroplanes lift people up and up, where all the Oyinbo people live on top of the fluffy white clouds. It made sense to me, but when I told Sisi Bisi, she laughed for a very long time before telling me it was true. I think she’s lying. A lot of people lie to me because they think I’m just a small girl. But I’m going to be six years old next month.

Pastor told us it’s not good to lie. I even learnt a memory verse that says, “Do not lie.” I was scared to recite memory verses in front of the church. And just when I couldn’t remember any other verse, I remembered Leviticus 19:11. And I recited it so well. “Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.” When I finished, Mummy had the biggest smile on her face. Which made everything okay because Mummy doesn’t usually smile like that anymore. She hasn’t smiled much since Daddy left.

Mummy said things that were lies sometimes. She’ll say I should put my shoe on my head, then shout at me when I put it there. I don’t know when she’s joking, but I sometimes laugh just in case. I think it’s okay to lie if you’re joking.

And Sisi Bisi lies sometimes too. I asked my Sisi Bisi why my name is Surprise. Broda Daniel said it’s because they can’t name a child Mistake. Sisi Bisi got angry and said she would not play with him again. But three days later, I saw her sitting on his lap, like how I sit on Sisi Bisi’s lap in the bus when we want to pay for one seat. So, she was lying when she said she didn’t want to play with him again. Sisi Bisi bought yoghurt for me that day, and I understood. Yoghurt means “Don’t tell anyone.” I’m very good with secrets. Pinky promise.

I try to be a good girl, most of the time. I listen to what the adults say. And I keep really quiet, so sometimes they even forget I’m there. All Mummy talks about now is going to Amrika. Nobody tells me anything, but I hear a lot.

One day, Mummy was so happy when she came back home. She told Sisi Bisi, “I got the job.” I don’t know what the job is. Mummy worked at the bank, and I didn’t know she wanted another job. Sisi Bisi was so happy. She took my hands and swung me round in circles until my stomach was paining me. She used to do that when I was small, but she always said I was too big now. But today, I wasn’t big; I was small. I was small and I was happy, and Mummy was happy too.

“Surprise, Mummy got a job in America, but you can’t tell anybody in school, okay?” I felt bad. I already told Emeka in school that I think we’re going to Amrika. I don’t think Sisi Bisi was supposed to tell me. But sometimes when adults are very angry or very happy, they tell me things that feel like secrets. Like when I shake a bottle of Coke, and open the cover, and everything spills.

We had to take pictures and had to go to a place with many benches and angry people to get passports. We sat down for a long time, but Mummy bought yoghurt for me when we finished. I really like FanMilk yoghurt. Yoghurt can also mean a reward for being a good girl.

Mummy came to my school and told them I would not be coming for a day because of a family program. It was a lie again. Because Mummy said we were actually going to the Ember Sea. I’ve never been to the sea before. I’ve only seen it on TV with Barbie Mermaidia and other movies.

I never ever don’t go to school. I was sad I would not see Emeka and Precious, but I was happy that we were going to Lagos and the Ember Sea. The road was long, and I fell asleep. But Sisi Bisi woke me up when we got to Lagos. Lagos had rivers of rubbish in gutters that moved in the heavy rain. I asked Sisi Bisi if the rubbish entered the Ember Sea. Sisi Bisi laughed. She’s always laughing at me. She said we were going to the Embassy, not the Ember Sea. And that’s where we need to get permission to go to America. She said it’s America, not Amrika. I was angry with her because she laughed at me. I didn’t talk to her again till we got to the embassy. I wish I could make people laugh with me, instead of at me, like they always do.

After a long time, we finally got inside the American Embassy. I’ve never seen that many people in my life. I wanted to tell Sisi Bisi that it was an Ember Sea of people, but I remembered I wasn’t talking to her. It was cold inside, very cold. I moved closer to Mummy. There were many lines we had to wait in. We moved slowly to the front of the third line of the day.

The woman in front was white, like Barbie. But she had lines around her eyes. Like Mummy. And she had pimples, like Sisi Bisi. I didn’t know Oyinbo people could have pimples. Emeka was not going to believe this on Monday. The Barbie woman smiled at us. Mummy’s smile was like the smile she gives Iya Bisi when she forgets to pay her for the rice.

“Good morning.” The woman’s voice was soft and loud at the same time.

I smiled back and curtsy, “Good morning, ma.”

“Is this your Mum?” she asked me.

I leaned in and gave her a wink. I wanted to make a lie that is also a joke. I could be funny like Mummy or Sisi Bisi. “No, she’s not my Mum.”

My laugh died when Mum gave me a bad eye. “I’m joking. Yes, she’s my Mum. My Mummy.”

But no one else was laughing. And Mum’s face moved in slow motion, the way it did when I tried to carry a crate of eggs, and it slipped and fell from my hands. My stomach was paining me, and I felt like I’d made a big mistake.

They continued talking, but I didn’t hear the rest of it. The woman’s smile was small, but plastic, like Barbie’s. She gave Mum our passports back.

Mum’s lips turned into a straight line as she looked at the woman, and looked at the embassy one last time. Mum was smaller, like a Cheeseball sachet with air squeezed out. Mum’s hand was tight around my hand as we walked quietly out of the Embassy. I saw a FanMilk man standing outside, but it didn’t feel like the time for yoghurt.

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_{Olaitan JD (Ravanjie) is a writer-illustrator who loves to write poetry, and make people laugh, sometimes even in spite of themselves. She is currently a medical student at Obafemi Awolowo University. She has featured in multiple local exhibitions. She was the first runner-up in OAU Inaugral poetry contest 2023, NSP 2026, and has featured work in the Fifth Chinua Achebe Anthology, 2022 SprinNG Fellowship Anthology, TVO, among others.}