Thorn between episode 3
TITLE: TORN BETWEEN
WRITTEN BY OGECHI ALABI
HOW IT ALL STARTED PART 3…..
Flora waited for Eucharia to come out and serve her husband food, but she did not come out. She knocked on their bedroom door, but they didn’t respond which got her angry. She came back to the sitting room fuming. Her husband asked her what was wrong.
“It is Eucharia. She didn’t make any food for my brother and retired for the night.”
“Flora, she just returned after being away from her husband for over a month. What did you expect will happen tonight? Adim took her to eat isi ewu. He wants her to be happy because she was reluctant to come back. I know you are the reason she didn’t want to come back. Leave this poor girl and Adim alone. The food he is eating now is more nourishing than whatever you want to give him.”
“That’s the only thing she knows,” Flora replied.
“She is his wife which gives her the right to be with her husband. I’m sure Adim didn’t want her to come out too.”
“Isi ewu is not food; let me knock for them again and give my brother food since his wife does not know the right thing to do.”
“If you knock on that door again, you will see what I will do to you. What is wrong with you? I told you to allow Adim to rent a place before his accommodation is ready, but you refused. You manipulated him into bringing his young wife here. He is not smart; I am surprised he hasn’t confronted you about the way you treat his wife.”
“Why would he? It is for his good.”
“Did anyone in my family treat you the way you treat her? It is wrong, and Adim should call you to order.”
“Biko, don’t come between my brother and I. Mind your business. I am training her.”
Early the following morning Flora knocked on Adim’s bedroom door. He answered it topless. Flora couldn’t hide her irritation. She asked him, “Why is your wife still in bed by this time?”
Adim looked at the clock in the sitting room and said, “It is just 7 am. What should she be up doing? By the way, I asked her to sleep in. She just came back from a long journey.”
“Who will make breakfast for you while she sleeps?”
“I am not hungry yet. I can get bread and sardine for us to eat if food has finished in the kitchen.”
“Instead of you to tell your wife to stop being lazy and make you a nice Saturday morning meal, you want to eat bread and sardine. That is a bachelor’s food. Let her stand up and join me in the kitchen.”
“Flora, my wife is sleeping and I want her to rest after the trip. When we wake up, we will eat something, ok?”
Flora was upset. Why would Adim challenge? She suspected Eucharia heard their conversation. She believed Eucharia had enchanted her brother. To Flora, she was not beautiful. She was only light-skinned, tall and had other features some Igbo men find attractive. There was nothing special about her. She had wanted Adim to marry a girl from her husband’s family. The daughter of her husband’s very healthy cousin, but everything changed when he met Eucharia. Her uncle was also wealthy, but she was not his direct child. Eucharia’s mother and stepfather were not rich by any standard. Eucharia didn’t consider them poor either. They lived in their own home and her stepfather could afford to feed and train his children. They didn’t live off people; they were content and happy.
Adim came out of the room by 10 am. He went to buy Akara and pap. Eucharia made the food and brought it into the bedroom. She went back into the kitchen to make soup for her husband to eat. Adim didn’t eat red meat often so she bought snails, dried fish and stockfish. She entered the kitchen to cook ofe achara. She had started when Flora came in and scolded her. If anyone was talking, Eucharia did not acknowledge or notice. She went about her business.
“Am I not talking to you?” Flora asked frustrated at being ignored. Eucharia continued to ignore her. For Flora to tell her husband she was lazy, she would not do anything for her again as her uncle had suggested. Flora stormed off to Adim to report her to Adim, but he was with her husband. She didn’t want to say anything that would make her husband demand Adim gets his accommodation. She decided to plot against her.
Eucharia talked to Adim about her university education. Adim was interested in her going back to school. He gave her money and a list of institutions around Yaba for her to check, the University of Lagos, College of Technology and College of Education. The proximity to where they lived was the reason he chose those three institutions. He asked her to leave by 8 am so she could make the necessary enquiries and return to Surulere in good time.
After Adim left for work, Eucharia rushed to do her chores before she got ready for her outing. She dressed up and was ready to leave at past eight that morning. She told Flora and her husband where she was going. Flora wouldn’t hear of it.
“Adim must be mad. How would he want you to continue your education? Of what use is education when you have babies and have to take care of them? My brother is a young guy who is just starting his life. He can’t afford maids and nannies like I can. So how can you go to school when you are having babies? Are you not supposed to be pregnant by now?”
Read – Winter rose episode 31 – 32
Eucharia had agreed with Adim that she would not conceive until they moved to their accommodation. Adim knew her cycle well, and they were careful during the unsafe period. They used the withdrawal method Adim was very good at. She wasn’t ready to reveal that to Floral. She told her again she was going out and then turned to leave.
Flora ran from where she was to the entrance door and called her maids to lock the back door. She used her body to wedge the door not allowing Eucharia to leave the house.
“Nda Flora, what did I do to you to deserve all this? My husband sent me on an errand. Why are you obstructing me from leaving? How did I offend you?”
“Since you came back you have been feeling too big to obey me. You went to the village to fortify yourself. You are giving me the silent treatment, imagine. You can’t leave this house and that is final.”
Flora’s husband heard the commotion and came downstairs. He was surprised to see his wife at the door. He asked what the problem was. Eucharia explained. He turned to his wife and said, “Allow her to go where she wants to go. If her husband has permitted her, why would you stop her? Stop blocking the entrance; let her go.”
“Go where? She is not going anywhere.”
“Flora leave there before I bundle you out of there. Before the count of three, one, two, three,” he bundled her from the door and signalled to Eucharia to leave.
Eucharia left with mixed feelings. She was young, barely nineteen, and her sister-in-law that was older than her husband was jealous of her because she didn’t make any headway in life except for marrying a rich man. Her husband was generous to his in-laws and outsiders but was stingy to his wife. Her attitude might be the reason; she didn’t know and didn’t care.
She had planned to be home by the latest noon. Flora had set her back by more than thirty minutes. She hurried to the first institution. She had to calculate her time so Flora does not insinuate a reason for coming back late. She timed herself to finish on time at each location she went to make enquiries. Adim loved to have details of anything he asked her, and she had learnt to write down everything she knows to be accurate and not miss out on anything. She jotted down all she heard at each institution. She was thorough. She wanted to appear intelligent to her husband because he looked down on those who were not. Her last institution was the University of Lagos. She was awed when she got to the school gate. She made up her mind she would attend the university. She got all the information she needed from there. She showed them her WAEC result and they were impressed. She was meticulous in writing down everything they said. She asked questions and wrote down answers. She was satisfied with the information she got. She didn’t want to be forward by paying for the form before speaking with Adim. She had enough money to pay but she wanted him to give his go-ahead.
She left Yaba for Aguda Surulere immediately. She was very hungry but didn’t stop to eat any food in order not to waste time. She had a target to be home by noon and she was within the target if she didn’t stop.
She got home and tried to enter the house through the front door, but it was locked. She was surprised because it is not usually locked. She went through the back and it was also locked. She came back to the front and knocked on the door. The maid answered her but didn’t open the door. “Madam locked the doors and took the keys. She said we should not let you in for disobeying her. “
Eucharia was tired and hungry. She sat outside there waiting to see if she would eventually let her in, but she didn’t. She stayed outside for two hours. Her tummy grumbled. She had skipped breakfast so she could get there in time. She had to eat something. She knocked for the maid again. She told her she was going out to buy something to eat. She begged her to help her bring out the soup from the freezer. She left to buy a gala and a bottle of soft drinks. She sat on a bench by the roadside to eat comfortably. She was tired. She tried to enter the house but the gate was locked. Her bag and envelope were by the entrance of the house, she took some money to buy a snack and drink. The maiguard told her Flora came out after she had left and locked the gate. She took her bag and envelope inside the house. She panicked. All her money was in the handbag. She didn’t know what to do. She regretted going out; she should have sat put or gone with her handbag and envelope. She sat by the gate and cried while waiting for Adim to get back.
Tbc