Taffeta cloths were hot in Kufi village and beyond, but was it really the taffeta cloths or Yaremi’s taffeta cloths?
Ohh! Yaremi’s taffeta clothes – if Yaremi was a real person in this age and time, that’d make a unique brand name, don’t you think?
As you read, please note the spelling of Taffeta
Chapter 8 – Yaremi’s Taffeta
“What is all this yapping about taffeta cloths?”, you may ask.
Well, the sales of taffeta cloths were how Yaremi made a living and what is more? She was known throughout the entirety of the market for her good tafetta clothes. Why?
If you read the previous summaries, you’d understand that Yaremi was quite diligent when it came to her business, and funny enough, her husband’s death only made her unconsciously extra diligent as she sought a means of escape by burying her head in extra work.
Yaremi would put her neatly pleated taffeta cloths in three trays – two for her and one small one for Woye.
Then they would travel to the market, which was across Fadina village and Oyedeji village. It was always an arduous journey, as they would briefly stop at Fadina village to catch their breath and feel the cool breeze on their skin before embarking on the final lap.
On getting to the market, it’s always a hassle. Customers loved Yaremi’s taffeta so they never allowed her breath. They’d say things like;
“We’ve been waiting”
“Where have you been?”
“Your taffeta is a must for us all, especially the one with our favourite designs: the ‘crow’s feet’, and the ‘neck of the giraffe’ with green and yellow background “
Yaremi was very calculative. She knew how much she’d gain from selling all the taffeta she took to the market. If one roll was 30 naira, ten rolls (which were from Woye’s small tray) would be 300 naira. Thirty rolls on her own two big trays would bring her 900 naira. Her total would be 1,200 naira.
That was a lot of money back then. Oh! Bring back that beautiful economy!
In the past, she was known to sell to customers on credit. But, she knew better because that only left her with debtors from numerous villages. In those villages, poverty lived rent-free. It was their culture to give their orange and kola nut trees out to money lenders in exchange for a raw cash payment of debts.
A man from one of these poverty-stricken villages, Fabotoki, was known to have given out his wife to a hard money lender as a means of settling his debt.
People starved in those villages.
They would beg Yaremi for taffeta cloths promising to pay then disappear or come up with flimsy excuses. Some of them would even be shamelessly confident – standing over Yaremi saying things like;
“I have no money to pay you today, Yaremi”
“Let the moon tumble down from heaven”
“Alright! Come and do what you like with me”
“Take my life!”
“No money!”
Yaremi knew better. Never again would she sell on credit.
On more news?
Woye fell ill. He came down with a high fever. This worried Yaremi because it happened severally in the night and this meant he would not be able to accompany her to the market. Several times, Woye would call out his mother’s name in his dream and express his desire to return to her in Olode village.
Woye had numerous nightmares, and he’d remember the details but never share them with anyone. Sometimes he’d see a lion taking people captive, other times, a witch, eating stone pebbles or drinking the owl’s urine. He’d sleep and get transported into a world filled with the most horrible events.
Yaremi would lay him down gently on a mat and massage his nose with hot water because it had become a difficult task to breathe through his nose. Yaremi would be scared, but mask her fear with nervous laughter.
She’d also prepare herbal concoctions with awful smells to enable him to breathe and sweat properly. Woye hated it, he always wanted to be released, so Yaremi would give him a condition; “Get well first”.
Yaremi hated it when Woye fell ill. Each time he did, she’d do everything in the world to make him better. Everything! (Read the book to get the details).
She’d promise him hilarious things – everything he ever dreamed and hoped for. She’d tell him animal stories. We know how much Woye loves stories, especially animal stories.
Woye must not die!
Anything and everything to keep him alive.
He must stay awake.
So don’t blame her for tearing up after she saw the young boy strengthened with all the sweat dried up on his skin as she was packing his mat.
Her happiness was expressed through tears.
Woye did not die.
Read here, the summary of Chapter 7 Lonely Days.
