The Bite Magazine - Autmn/Winter 2020 - Issue 28

bitetheatre birth being natural phenomena, and sometimes not to be. “I have decided from now on to be a good wife that causes no trouble to her husband or her fellow wives. Life is not easy; why make it difficult for myself?” she declares, call- ing upon Ifa to protect her, her children and her pregnancy. However, over-exerting herself has its bodily moribund toll, and her struggle to maintain a status deserved of her posi- tion in the household frequently compromised by feminal suspicions, envy and spite, finally comes to a head. ‘1986’ Omotola resumes her narration to declare “Things are not working out for me in Nigeria. I’m 19 […], so I join Sade in London.” But “Times have changed. Things are different here,” Sade tells her big sister who is hearing of Black-British cockney Simon ‘with dreadlocks and tattoos’ for the first time. Culture-clash causes friction, and only two days in, there is familial malice between the two. “Apologise to your sister” encourages her father, to no avail. Having settled down, Omotola then happens upon Ranti aka ‘Americana’, her old friend Tinu’s boyfriend from years ago, which results in them marrying ‘within a year’ but proves treacherous. ‘Two years later’ having still not con- ceived, her father pleads with her for a grandchild. With the conversation so blaringly candid, Omotola braves ques- tioning her dad for the real reason why she had undergone a paedophilic attack as a child, and we are exposed to the horrific truth. However, she eventually gives birth to a child, Aramide (played by Kiké Brimah). Aramide, Yorkshire accent and all, starts narrating her story at “six (…) on our way to visit Auntie Sade in Peckham” where a pivotal incident results in Ranti’s incarceration. With lies and deceit laid upon a young Aramide regarding her father, Omotola wonders if she even knew the man that she ended up marrying. Omotola however, stands by him. “All our money we saved (…) spent on lawyer’s fees” she laments in narration, “But he’s a good father to Aramide” she contemplates. Her career has them move to Leeds with a chance of a bet- ter life “the new house has a garden” she tries to placate a reluctant-to-move Aramide. “It’s not a house, it’s a castle!” We, the audience, hear history repeating itself. “I don’t want to live in a castle; I want to live in a palace” Aramide retorts, and again we witness a child dream of something that may not be. Omotola’s dad’s visit has him rebuke her for her non-Nigerian ways and, commending Ranti, conde- scends “Any other man would have put you in your place!” but Omotola retorts back “You maltreated her!” when the subject turns to her mother. Once again, family harmony is compromised as he calls upon Sade to have him at her house instead, much to the dismay of young Aramide. ‘2011 Leeds’ is the start of a teenaged Aramide’s story, and her friendship with Jade highlights the diversity differences in this location in comparison to further south in London. As devastating news reaches, Omotola, Aramide gets tak- en for her “first time in Nigeria […] to bury grandpa […].