The Mad Man
Episode 2
“Who is this girl? She looks so fresh and juicy. Wow! It’s been long I saw such a beautiful girl. Who is she? Look at her body! She looks as fresh as tomato Jos. Her back looks ‘poko poko’ like fresh ugu leaves. Let me go and touch her.” Nzube was saying all these in his mind when he returned from work and saw Lucy bending down on the dining table at one corner of the living room. She was busy pressing her phone.
He tiptoed to where Lucy was and almost touched her when Ndidi walked in and shouted at him.
“What is going on here?” Ndidi asked with a very loud voice that alerted both Lucy and Nzube.
“Nothing is going on my dear. I was just wondering who the stranger is. I’m scared. You know there are so much insecurity, bandits and kidnappers everywhere. Even the house is no longer safe. So, I was just trying to identify the stranger or call the police if need be. Young lady who are you and what are you doing in my house?” Nzube asked with a loud voice.
He used wisdom and he battled so much to cover up his real intention or what he was going to do to Lucy before Nzube walked in. He succeeded in fooling Ndidi, but she still had some doubts in her mind.
“This is Lucy, our new househelp. You know I told you the work in this house is weighing me down. I need some help. I brought her from my village. Lucy is a very hardworking girl and she is obedient and loyal. Lucy, please meet Nzube, my darling fiancée.” Ndidi said with much excitement in her voice. Lucy did not like the fact that she was called a house girl, but she tried so much to hide her true feelings.
“Good evening sir.” Lucy greeted Nzube with respect in her voice and also genuflected the way she used to do while greeting teachers while in primary school.
“Good evening my dear. Ndii my love, you mean she is our new househelp?” Nzube asked with surprise in his voice. Lucy does not look like a house girl. She was wearing a bum shot and ‘show bele.’ She forgot she was supposed to wear a long skirt as instructed by her mother.
“She is the maid, my love. She is very hardworking. You will like her.” Ndidi said. The conversation was making Lucy to be very uncomfortable.
“Ah! I already like her. I mean who wouldn’t like such a nice girl? I’m sure she is very good. Very good in everything. You are highly welcome Lucy. Just feel at home.” Nzube said as he walked upstairs. In his mind, he saw Lucy as a full blown temptation. But he promised himself to try so much to resist the temptation.
Meanwhile, at the gate, the mad man had forced himself into the compound and he refused to leave. He has overpowered the gateman and was now sitting in the compound.
“Where is my daughter? I saw my daughter entering this compound the other day and you must produce her or I’m going nowhere.” The mad man said as the gateman kept dragging him by holding his bag.
“Leave this compound now or else, I will show you pepper. I will scatter your head with upper cut. Leave this compound before Oga will come out now. If you make me lose my job, you will feed my family for me o!” The gateman kept shouting, but his shout was like he was pouring water on a stone as the mad man did not listen to him.
“What is happening here? Why are you people shouting and disturbing everyone?” Lucy asked. She had come down from the main building to find out what was causing so much ‘kata kata.’
“And who are you to be asking me question? Wait o, are you the madam of this house? Go to the kitchen. You are the house girl and you belong to cleaning and cooking. The gate is my department, leave it for me let me handle this man.” The gateman warned Lucy.
“Shut up you fool. Look at your red teeth as if you have been eating kola nut since morning. Your face look like charcoal.” Lucy cursed. She was so angry that even the gateman saw her as the house girl. She was supposed to have some respect in the compound, but no way because her mother put her in a very difficult position.
“Look at this one o! So because they brought you from the village yesterday, you think you have authority to talk to town boys like us? Or is it because you live inside there with madam and Oga? I’m your senior in this compound and you have to respect me.” The gateman asked sarcastically.
“Do you know me? Do you really know who I’m?” Lucy asked the gateman, but it was the mad man who answered the question instead.
“Yes I know who you are. You are my daughter. I knew you the very first month you were conceived. I watched you as you grew in your mother’s womb. I watched your tiny kicks as you matured into a baby. But unfortunately, I was not there when you were born. I was not there to hold you in my hands. I was not there for you to see you cry your first cry. I was not there to watch you crawl or to watch you say your first words. I was not there all these years. But I’m here now to take you and care for you the rest of my life.” The mad man said with so much confidence and clarity in his voice. He spoke in a very emotional way. He made a lot of sense. Lucy was captivated by what he said but she tried to hide her feelings.
“I said it! Chicken cannot give birth to lion. The mad man is very correct. You are his daughter. That is why you were talking to me like a mad woman.” The gateman said.
“Who is his daughter? You are mad! You are out of your mind.” Lucy said as she walked away from the scene leaving the gateman and the madman.
The gateman has been overpowered, so he resorted to begging the mad man to leave the compound before Nzube or Ndidi would come out and see him.
“Please, my dear friend. Don’t be angry that I was shouting at you. Please can you go? If not I will lose my job o! I have ten children and I need to feed them daily with this job. Please, go now. You may see your daughter outside, or at the main road. She is not here.” The gateman pleaded.
“I will go, but I will be back.” The mad man said. He looked at the gateman with an open eye before leaving the compound.
Meanwhile, because of the episode, Lucy suddenly remembered that her mother has not satisfactorily told her who her real father is. The visit by the mad man and all that he said got the young lady thinking really hard. She decided to ask her mother again.
“Who is really my father?” Lucy asked Ndidi. The question took her by surprise. She never expected it.
“You say what?” Ndidi asked Lucy, pretending not to hear her very well as she was busy pressing her phone while lying on the sofa in the living room.
“I want to know who my real father is.” Lucy said again with more determination and seriousness in her voice.
“I told you that your father died in an accident before you were born.” Ndidi said. She adjusted herself and sat on the sofa.
“Where was he buried?” Lucy asked. Ndidi became very scared of the questions. She suddenly realized that her baby girl has grown up and could no longer be fooled by unsatisfactory answers.
“There was nothing to be buried. His entire body was crushed during the road accident. There was nothing to pick.” Ndidi said. Her voice was laden with fake sorrow, but Lucy was not taking it.
“But you people should have taken even if it was a stone from the scene of the accident. You should have buried the stone so that I can at least point at my father’s grave. That is Igbo culture. Ozu nwanne adighi atoo na mba.” Lucy said.
“I could not go to the accident scene. Remember, I was heavily pregnant with you when it happened.” Ndidi responded.
“Anyway, a mad man was here today and he said I’m his daughter.” Lucy said. Ndidi was shocked.
“You want to take the words of a mad man and ignore your mother? You think I’m lying about the death of your father?” Ndidi asked. She had started crying. Lucy felted that she had angered her mother, so she came closer to her and petted her.
“Stop crying mum. I’m sorry, but I just wanted to be sure. The whole thing is getting me confused. Stop crying. You know I love you and I would never hurt you.” Lucy said while holding her mother’s hand, using her handkerchief to wipe her tears. Inside her heart, Ndidi knows that there is fire on the mountain.
Thanks for reading. Watch out for episode 3.
