Episode 18(final)
Mamiwota Is After My Life π
“Are you saying that…are you saying that, that the mamiwater didn’t take her?”. I stammered.
Hubby shook his head, and smiled.
“Though she tried to, but God pass her”. He said
This is unbelievable. So which baby was she blackmailing me with?. I wondered.
“But….”. I opened my mouth to say something, but hubby pressed my lips with a finger.
“Shhh! I know what you want to say. But like I have said earlier, Chinenyenwa is our precious gift from God. She is neither from any mamiwater, nor any man-made gods..”. He said.
In a nutshell, it happened that I was already few weeks gone before I met with the goddess, and she was fully aware of it, but had decided to take advantage of my ignorance…. I exposed my daughter’s delicate soul to the dev!l ππ.
As he explained, tears filled my eyes.
“Please, put her on my bossom”. I pleaded with mother.
“No, she is going to wake up. I know what I went through before I was able to get her to sleep”. My sister protested.
But mother didn’t listen. She gently placed the child on my body. I couldn’t control my emotions. I broke down in tears.
“Oh my baby! I thought I have lost you for life”. I cried. Hubby parted me continuously on the shoulder.
We maintained that position for a while before Sasa interrupted.
“Wait, are we all going to keep pretending like what happened is normal?”.
Everyone turned to face her.
“What are you talking about?”. Hubby questioned her.
“I mean is it normal that the daughter of the almighty diocesan EFAC president knows her way to a shrine?”. Sasa said, mockingly.
Everyone exchanged quick glances.
I turned to look at my mother. The expression on her face was clear. She was as embarrassed as she was disappointed.
This is not the way she raised us, and I felt I owe her an explanation….I owe everyone an explanation.
“I didn’t do it with my clear eyes. My friend deceived me. She…”. I was going to explain, but Sasa was not ready to hear any of it.
“Please, stop the pretence already. Your friend deceived you? as a baby or what?”.
“Shut up, Chinasa!”. Hubby yelled at her, but she seems to be out for everyone.
“No, brother. You can’t shut me up now. Someone needs to talk to this wife of yours since you’re so scared of confronting her.”. She fired back.
“Of what need is this argument now?”. Mother-in-law asked.
“Mama, this girl almost k!lled you!”. She said, pointing a finger at me.
“But I didn’t die. I’m okay. She almost died too, but God delivered us all. What we should do now is thank God”. Mother-in-law defended me for once.
Sasa frowned. She wasn’t expecting her mother to be this cold…she was supposed to keep the argument rolling….as usual.
She stared at everyone angrily, then sighed loudly and walked out of the ward.
I was discharged that same evening, and we all went home together.
How It All Ended.
The next day, after we returned from the hospital, a very closed neighbor of ours snuck into my apartment to hint me on the latest development.
“Mummy Alicia and her family moved out yesterday afternoon”. She said.
“Why?”. I asked.
“I overheard their daughter telling them how she saw your child on the bed one day, turning into a snake. She said.
I covered my mouth with the back of my palm, unable to utter a word.
… Yes. According to her, immediately after she screamed, the baby shifted back to her body, and warned her never to mention the encounter or else she kills her.. She shrugged.
…You need to be careful”. She concluded. And with that, she stood up, adjusted her wrapper, and left.
I was right all along. I knew something serious transpired between Alicia and my baby that morning.
While we were alone in the room, later that night, I narrated everything to hubby. I also went ahead to confess to him the real cause of Ethel’s death.
“I’m so sorry”. I wept.
“Now I think it’s high time we moved out of this house”. Hubby said.
And that we did. We moved out of the compound to a totally different neighborhood where we started our lives anew. The day we were moving, the couple who fought me the other time came to seek forgiveness.
“Let’s forget the past, and move on”. The husband had said.
If only they knew what their careless utterances have made me do.
“It’s the dev!l”. The woman had said.
Well, we forgave them, and life goes on.
As for Angela, hubby cleared all the debts, and I avoided having anything to do with her for the meantime.
Our daughter is 18 today with two younger siblings, and I’m glad to let y’all know that she has never shown any more sign of abnormality over the yearsππ
Patience is priceless, patience is golden. Patience is a virtue. Losing patience means losing the battle of life. Just keep praying and believing. God will work wonders in his own way and time. NEVER LOSE HOPE.
Dedicated to all the TTC(trying to conceive) mothers all over the world.
The end π
Thank you so much for reading
Β© Joy Ifunanya
It pays to wait sometimes in life