OSUWAKE
Episode 8
I summoned courage on the agbero man and charged him to stop driving my customers away as they were just my friends and customers and so, will do no harm to me as he allleged.
He went and reported me to my step mum immediately. When i reached home that day, my step mum laid a complaint against me:
I was playing with boys too much in the shop.
She was complaining to my dad, he started quarreling me immediately. He threatened to deal with me anytime he catches me playing with boys. I agreed and he left me at once.
The agbero man usually buys my market and pays but one faithful afternoon, he bought market of a thousand naira (1000) but didn’t pay. That same day, i sold market of close to ten thousand naira (10,000) and handed the money over to my step mum.
She started buying things for the house. She bought alot of things and i was extremely surprised. I asked her the reason she was buying many things this time and she replied me that she was married to a man, her husband, my dad gives her money. I agreed wholeheartedly. She bought jacket and some other things for me and i was very happy.
It got to a point, I started suspecting somethings that were not nice, because my step mum’s attitude worsened towards me.
I don’t normally eat her food because my mum, warned me not to eat her food.
There was this my little niece. My elder brother’s daughter. Her father is a dancer; he dances in occassions and generates money from there to take care of his family. They weren’t really feeding very fine in the house and that my niece looked extremely malnourished. She eats alot too.
She became very sick and was taken to the hospital. She couldn’t survive the sickness and so, she died in the process. It was heartbreaking for us especially me because i loved her so much.
The doctor asserted she was poisoned as her liver got damaged. We don’t really knew what happened to her as she eats alot and things remained so.
I wasn’t really concerned about food then as the market husslings takes a larger part of me.
Food never bothered me that much.
The next day, i got back from market, my dad began asking strange questions..
“ten thousand naira(10,000) is not in the market ”
I was surprised and shocked at his assertions.
“daddy ooh! I gave your wife all the money that day. It’s only one man that was owing me” i explained.
“why are you talking as if you don’t know what’s happening, she said people are owing you! How many people are owing you”
“it’s only one person that was owing me and the money is not even up to ten thousand naira(10,000), it’s just one thousand naira” i explained further..
“just go and get the money anyhow or anywhere you wished to” he concluded.
I kept telling him that it was only one person that was owing me and i can’t go to his place that night to collect the money. I was crying profusely untill my step mum emerged and started consoling me. She even referred me to the agbero man.
“don’t worry , stop crying! go and tell him to borrow you the money, anytime i realise the money, i will pay him back”
I refused going to meet the agbero man despite mounting pressures from my step mum. The next day, i greeted my dad and he responded well. The issue died a natural death.
*********************
I was sponsored to write my SSCE exams through a schorlaship programme. One day, i went to check my Neco results and stayed there for long.
i came back home rejoicing because the result was very good. I showed my dad the result, he was very happy. He gathered his friends and bought drinks for them. He was so excited..
“she has passed oh! I will surely do what i wanted to do”.
people were very happy and congratulated me.
But, when i showed my step mum the result, she didn’t say much. She only asked if my mum has seen the result and i said ‘yes’. She started quarreling and alleging that, i left the house since morning without doing anything.
she went further to dampen my mind in a grand style..
“you came back home, running up and down; showing people your result and disturbing the whole neighbourhood.
“are you a baby?” she yelled at me.
i cried bitterly and left her to meet my dad.
“from the onset, when the foundation
was laid, man’s heart had always
been very deceptive”
To be continued…
A life story saturated with intrigues, controversies and life struggles.
Written by:©️Emeka Nwobu
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