Agony of beauty episode 1

Agony of beauty
Episode 1
 
It is end of semester again. My two room mates and dear friends, Wuraola and Becky packed their luggages, ready to travel home for the semester break. I was so reluctant to go home and my friends noticed this. Wuraola, the most quiet of us was the first to mention it.
‘Why is your packing so slow, Beauty?’ She asked.
I shrugged my shoulders and replied, ‘I feel weak.’
Becky, the most cheerful and lousiest amongst us replied, ‘Hmmmmmm, Effico! It is exam tension . It’s a good thing that you are going home already, at least, you will have enough time to rest’. ‘Indeed’, I answered absent mindedly, and continued with my packing.
They both assisted me to get my luggages ready. It had always been our custom to move to the motor garage together whenever we were travelling for the semester break. Though our destinations are different, we board our buses at the same park. Rapid tears dripped out of my eyes and I quickly wiped them before my friends could notice it. I looked at Wuraola and our eyes met, she smiled. ‘Don’t tell me you will miss us’, she gave me a hug and wiped my tears with her handkerchief.
‘Thank you, I will try not to’, I replied. She actually thought I shed those tears because I would miss them.
Poor girl… But wait! I am the object of pity here. Sincerely, I am the poor girl! I really wish I am either Becky or Wuraola at this moment, I would have been the happiest to go home right now, I thought. Maybe it was my Mum or Dad, I wouldn’t know but whoever gave me the name ‘Beauty’ probably made the greatest mistake of his or her life.
Indeed, I am beautiful but I really have the feeling that if I was given another name, that might possibly be a minus to my beauty and good looks, so I might not have gone through so much trouble in these few years of my existence.
Well, can I say what will be will be, whether I was named Beauty or not? Should I blame my mother for a little bit of negligence or should I say my fate is my fate, nothing could have changed it? But how could fate be this cruel to me?
It is a dizzy world indeed… I feel so bitter right now and in this agony of my heart, I write my story…
 
I am a 300 level Accountancy student in the University. I have always excelled in my academics and I earned the nick name ‘Effico’ which my colleagues call me. I am a combination of beauty and brain…
My parents loved the Lord and they tried their best in making sure that we were led in the path of godliness.
I enjoyed my family so much because Dad and Mum love and respect each other. Everything was going on fine until Daddy died in a motor accident when I was in SS3, my final year in Secondary School.
Life became nearly unbearable for us because Mum never worked. She was a full-time house wife until Daddy died.
It was worse to the extent that she couldn’t afford to give us three meals per day. My elder brother dropped out of the University because Mummy couldn’t pay his school fees. My younger sister and I were withdrawn from the private school that we both attended and were admitted to a public school. There was no help in sight.
Though my Mum loved her children so much but because she could no longer shoulder all our responsibilities, she had to ask me to stay with her younger sister who lived at Jos after I finished writing my Senior School Certificate Examination. At first, i refused, but after much persuasion, I reluctantly agreed.
My Aunt came from Jos and I got my luggage ready in order to go with her.The day I parted with my Mum, I wept my eyes sore.
Seeing my Mum and younger sister wave at me at the park was too much for me to bear.
My Aunt held me close to her as we both climbed the luxurious bus heading for Jos. ‘Why will such a beautiful young girl cry so much?’ Asked the man seated close to us. My Aunt told him my plight. He only shook his head and said to me, ‘All will be Well, Okay? I nodded faintly. ‘Will all really be well?’ I thought to myself.
Since Daddy died, all had never been well. My Daddy was the most handsome and kind hearted man I had ever known. A few drop of tears escaped from my eyes as I remembered my Dad… ‘May all be well’, I whispered  to myself and slept off.
 
It was the loud sound of a nearby Trailer’s horn that woke me up. My Aunt gave me some snacks. I ate with little appetite. It was such a long trip. We finally got to Jos around past nine in the evening. I was so tired and exhausted.
We got to my Aunt’s apartment late in the night. I wasn’t sure of the time because my wristwatch suddenly stopped working after we alighted from the bus . We entered her flat and my Aunt took me straight to the guest room. ‘Feel at home dear, you will be fine’, she said. I thanked her and she left after I insisted that I will eat my leftover snacks for dinner. I ate and later had a shower in the adjoining guest bathroom.
I sat on the bed. My mind was filled with thoughts of my Mum and siblings. I thought about how life had been so unfair to us. I didn’t own a cell phone, so I couldn’t reach my Mum but I overheard my Aunt telling her we have arrived home. She should have brought the phone for me to speak with Mummy, or she probably thought I had slept and did not want to disturb me?
Well, I said a few words of prayers and laid on my bed thinking of what the future holds for me. I closed my eyes and gently sailed into the dream world.
“Will you marry me”? “Yes”, I scre-med. And so, in a few days, we both walked down the aisle with bright smiles on our faces.
It was the happiest day of my life. I forgot about my past sorrows as I hugged my ‘Knight in Shining Armour’.
“I love you baby”, he whispered. “I love you too”. I whispered back. I kept smiling at all the guests and well wishers…
‘Beauty, wake up! it’s 6:00am already’. I woke up to a gentle tap on my shoulder, still smiling like an idiot. It was my Aunt. Aunty Tope is an early riser. I opened my eye lids gently. “Who are you smiling at by the way ?” She asked. I stretched and yawned. So, I have been dreaming? I thought. ‘Nobody ma’, I replied.
“How are you this morning?” I am fine Aunty, and you?
“I am good. Come with me to the kitchen, let us prepare breakfast, we must leave for the market, latest by 8:00am and by the way, you haven’t met my husband, he is waiting for you in the living room”
That very day I met my Aunt’s husband marked the beginning of  my agony…
To be continued