Another Morning

The bleached oak cupboards which hung right above the kitchen sink seemed so out of reach. It normally was an easy stretch for her hands to find the shiny knob, but today, Teniola practically stood on her toes to reach the knob and was surprised to find the cupboard empty. Regretfully bringing back her feet flat on the cold tiled floors, she picked up her teacup and her eyes fell on the container that housed the dried mint leaves nestled to a corner of the porcelain kitchen table. 

Carefully placing the cup on the table, she ran her hands over her natural kinky hair, whilst trying to use her free hand to stop her robe from sharing her nakedness with the empty kitchen and the cold morning. Teniola poured some hot water into the cup, found a tiny spoon in the plate rack, picked up the container and arranged them neatly in a tray that innocently lay on the kitchen table. She picked up the tray turned to exit the kitchen and froze.  

Her eyes were fixed on the open doorway into the kitchen, there was no one there. The window blinds rhythmically hit on her window protector as the outside breeze found its way into the kitchen, but all of nature's effort to get her to stop staring at an empty doorway proved futile. She stood motionless with the tray in hand and her mind in space, she barely blinked. 

Momentarily, her eyes closed and she snapped back to reality. Wondering what she was doing with the tray in her hands, she walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. 

Settling into a lone burgundy armchair in the living room, she laid the tray on a tiny stool, lifted the stool and set it in front of her, before opening the dried mint leaves container. A smile escaped her lips as the scent of the dried mint leaves hit her nostrils. This was a scent she was familiar with, though she couldn’t immediately remember why. 

She took a few of the leaves, transferred them into the teacup and instinctively placed the saucer over the teacup for a few minutes. 

Teniola let her eyes wander about the living room. It felt like she was seeing everything for the very first time. Hanging in the centre of the room was a canvas painting that looked like it was drawn by an artist who used his legs to make paintings. She twisted and turned her head to try and make sense of the white, red and bright-orange lines that ran through the painting, but it only got her more confused. 

There was a tiny ceramic puppy close to the TV stand, the dog just sat still and looked directly at her, and for a few microseconds, she could swear the dog blinked. Her eyes glided to a framed picture of a married couple on their wedding day, the woman seemed to enjoy getting married more than her bearded husband. 

The blades of the ceiling fan took their time pursuing each other, and Teniola’s head ached as she tried to follow them with her eyes. Turning her head in the direction of the blades got her woozy but she quickly shook it off and brought her attention to her tea.

The tea was ready. 

Lifting the saucer off the teacup, it was clear that the flavour of the peppermint leaves had fully developed and was awaiting their journey through her tiny mouth if they would eventually get that far.

Excitedly, she lifted the cup, sniffed the top and let the mint dance through her nasal cavity. She took a tiny sip and waited for something she wasn’t sure of to happen.

Nothing.

She took a bigger sip and was satisfied with the fresh, cool flavour. Her eyes closed voluntarily and she let them. The tea had a tingling finish that lasted longer in her body. She was finally ready for her morning, or so she felt. 

“Teni…Teni” her name echoed behind her. The voice was that of a man, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn around. 

Gbenga ran toward the chair, got in front of Teniola and tried to get her to zap out of her trance state. 

“Teni, look what you’ve done” 

She looked down and saw the tea stains that drew a map on her robe as they made their way to the floor. There was a tiny pool of peppermint tea on the floor directly beneath the chair and the teacup was horizontally lying on the saucer. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how that happened. I was just drinking the tea and-” she paused. She couldn’t remember what happened after the big sip, nor how the tea spilt. 

“Sorry, who are you?” She asked Gbenga.

Gbenga’s eyes watered as he closed her open robe, scooped her off the armchair and carried her into the bedroom. She thought to fight him off her but didn't.

He took her into the shower, helped her off her robe, ran the water and carefully sat with her in the bathtub fully clothed. 

Teniola wasn’t sure why she felt safe with the stranger, but it didn’t matter at the moment because something was reassuring in his eyes and the way he held her close to his chest as he ran the sponge over her body. She closed her eyes.

Teniola stirred and opened her eyes to see Gbenga tucking her into the bed. There was something homely about his face. 

“Thank you” she muttered. He bent over, kissed her forehead and pulled the duvet high enough to keep her warm. As he walked out of the room, she relaxed a bit and her eyes fell on an identical frame like the one in the sitting room with the happy bride and her handsome beast, only this time, she could clearly see that the man in the picture frame is the same one that just kissed her head and walked out the room.