Naomi episode 16

Episode 16(final)

NAOMI

Very early the next morning after aunt Tracy left the house angrily, daddy came to my room to wake me up.

“I’m going to the hospital”. He announced.

“Why?”. I asked.

“For the surgery ofcourse”. He said.

“Oh, Joshua’s. Is it today?. I asked, rubbing my eyes.

He nodded.

“Let’s pray before you leave”. I said this casually, but surprisingly he took me serious and was already on his knees beside my bed.

“Daddy, what are you doing?”. I asked.

“Did you not say we should pray?”. He asked.

“Yes, but I don’t even know how to pray”. I said.

“Naomi, pray anyhow”. He said.

“Why don’t we give madam Beatrice a call?”. I suggested.

He hummed, and handed me his phone. I put a call through to madam Beatrice.

“Good morning, ma. Please we need your prayers”. I said.

“What is happening now, Naomi?”. She asked.

After narrating everything to her, she said a simple prayer for us.

I was worried about the success of the operation all day, but as God may have it, daddy returned in the afternoon with smiles all over his face.

” Daddy, how was the surgery?”. I asked.

“It was successful, Joshua is okay now”. He announced.

That was when I had my first meal of the day.

Much later that night, I followed him to the hospital. Mummy was trying to calm the baby down as he struggled to remove the bandage on his face.

He only calmed down after he was sedated.

He was discharged the next day, and daddy drove them back to the house. He led them into my room. I came out from the bathroom to see them on the bed.

“We are leaving tomorrow morning”. She had said to me when she realized I wasn’t comfortable with her presence in my room.

I just put on my nightwear, and went to lie down at the other end of the bed. No word was said.

Very early the next morning, I felt someone tapping me on the shoulder. I opened my eyes.. it was my mummy. I frowned.

“Good morning, ma”. I greeted, wondering why she had to disturb my sleep.

“Get up, and get ready for school”. She said.

I closed my eyes again.

…Naomi, I’m talking to you. Or are you not going to school today?”. She asked.

I opened my eyes again.

“Like you care?”. I asked.

“Naomi, stop saying things like that to me, you’re hurting me badly. Do you think I’m happy that I left you here?. You were ten when I left this house. You were a witness to what I passed through in the hands of your daddy. She hissed.

… I never expected this attitude from you at all”. She said.

I sat up.

“Well, for your information, I no longer go to school”. I said.

She sat up abruptly.

“What do you mean by that?”. She asked.

I sat up to face her.

“That is the outcome of the separation”. I said.

“What are you talking about?”. She pressed me on.

Before I was done with the narration, we were already lying on each other’s arms in tears.

“Oh, my daughter, is this what you had to pass through?”. She cried.

“I saw he11, mummy” I cried.

Just then, her phone began to ring…it was a call from her sister, aunt Sandra.

She wiped her tears, sniffed before she picked up. There was no need to strain my ears to listen to their discussion. She already put the phone on speaker.

“Hello, sister, there is problem oo”. Aunt Sandra announced from the other end.

“What is it?”. Mother began to breathe fast.

“Sister, I don’t know what, you see I don’t know..” She began to cry.

“Sandra, I don’t like this kind of tension. Say what you want to say”. Mother yelled at her.

“Okay, I’m sorry, the thing is I have not seen your daughter since yesterday morning, Ndidi is nowhere to be found”. She Cried.

Mother stood up with her eyes wide open.

“Tell me you’re joking”. She screamed.

“Sister you should know me by now. I cannot joke with such”. She said.

Mother threw her phone away, and let out a sharp painful scream that startled the baby out of his sleep.. Daddy too came running into the room.

“What is going on here?”. He asked.

After mother explained what happened to him, he dashed out of the room angrily without saying a word. Mother went after him.

I was left alone in the room to take care of the baby while they paced up and down the house.

“Naomi, your sister has been kidnapped. And we’re expected to pay 12 million naira ransom in two days. Failure to do so, we lose our daughter”. Mother cried.

“Where are we going to get such an amount from?”. I asked.

While they were in the living room later at night, I snuck daddy’s phone into the bedroom and put a call through to madam Beatrice.

“Mummy, please, we need your prayers”. I pleaded.

She hummed a smile.

“Naomi, you have the knees and the mouth. You can pray yourself out”. She said.

“No, mummy. This is nothing I can do on my own. My sister has been kidnapped, and the men want to k!ll her”. I said.

She hummed.

“That’s very bad. But I insist, you can talk to God direct. Though I will be praying from here too”. She was saying.

“Please, I don’t want anything to happen to my sister”. I pleaded.

“Nothing will happen to your sister”. She assured me.

Just like she assured me, my sister returned safely three days later. But my mother and I went on a two days fasting before then.

Well, I wasn’t the only one with a story to tell.

“Aunt Sandra is very wicked. Do you know that I didn’t go to school for a whole term just because I mistakenly burnt her daughter’s school uniform while I was ironing it?. Do you know that ever since I left this house, I haven’t eaten up to two square meal a day?. Could you believe that I trek to school everyday?, a journey of 20 minutes from our estate. The worst part is that she drives passed me some afternoon with her kids, but never stop for me?”. She had a lot to complain about about.

Mother pulled her close to her bossom, and they cried together for a while.

“It’s okay, my angels. I’m here now, nobody is taking you away again”. She assured after listening to Didi’s sorry tale.

“Are you staying back?”. I asked excitedly.

She shook her head.

“You know that is not possible”. She replied.

“Why?”. Didi and I asked in unison.

“Because your father and I are div0rced”. She blurted.

Didi and I looked at each other and frowned.

When daddy returned that evening, she took the two of us to the living room to meet him. He was busy typing something in his phone

“Dennis, please, I have something to beg of you”. She began.

He put the phone down, and looked up.

“What’s it, my dear?”. He asked, and motioned her to sit beside him.

Didi and I exchanged glances. We had never heard him call her ‘dear’ before.

“Please, I want you to allow me go with the kids. She waited for a while before she continued.

…. Please, don’t say ‘no’ to this. Let the kids go with me this time”. She begged.

“Where are you going to?”. He asked.

“I will be going back to Asaba where I stay”. She said.

“What makes you think I’m going to let you go?”. He asked.

“What are you talking about?.We are divorced, remember?”. She had to remind him.

“Yes, I know but it’s nothing we cannot fix. Before we need it, he went down on his knees and started apologizing for all the wrong he’s done to her.

… Over the years, I have come to realize that we need each other. Our kids need us together”. He was saying.

“Please, I’m not ready for this”. Mummy said, and stood up to leave, but stopped when I knelt down beside daddy.

“Mummy, please, let’s stay back”. I begged.

Didi knelt beside me too.

“Mummy, please, stay back”. She begged.

“I don’t like this”. She began to cry. Daddy stood up, hugged her and kissed her on the lips.

Didi and I covered our eyes with our palms, giggling.

Just then the door was flung open. We removed our palms from our eyes. Behold, aunt Tracy walked in with her luggage, but she stopped death at the sight in the living room.

“What is going on here?. She asked.

Daddy held mummy on the waist and pulled her close to himself.

“Family reunion”. He announced.

I enjoyed the shock on her face.

“So this is what you want?. This is the way you want it?”. She couldn’t hold back her tears.

… It’s okay, it’s fine”. She wiped her tears, sniffed, turned her back and walked out of our lives forever.

And we live happily ever after.

It’s been over twenty years now, but until his death two years ago, daddy never raised his hand on my mummy ever again.

As for the spirits, I ran didn’t see them again, and never would I. Madam Beatrice never stopped calling to check on me.

And Clara too….she and I have been best friends for life.

Recently, a story was shared by some folks about a man who k!lled and buried his wife and son in his living room. And also many years later how the building collapsed on the man and his mistress.

“The land has remained desolate for years”. One man said.

It may also interest you to know that the said desolate land was the same clearing where I had my first encounter with the spirits.

The end 🔚
Thank you so much for reading my family story from Joy Ifunanya

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