Three Generations

Three generations episode 65

TITLE: THREE GENERATIONS

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 65

Thursday the following week, they drove down to Nsukka. Nwadiuto didn’t know anything about her father except his name. She didn’t know his department. Eventually, when they got to the school, she gathered her confidence to call him. He picked the call after the second ring.

“Hello sir,” she said on the phone, “my name is Nwadiuto. Your mother gave me your number to see you”

His voice sounded so soft and gentle “She is always giving people my number. What is it you want? Admission?”

“Not really. Where can I meet you for us to discuss?”

There was a little silence then he said, “I am at the Department of Environmental Sciences. Ask to see the HOD of Architecture. How soon will you get here? I will be going for a meeting soon”

“I should be with you shortly”

When they got to the department, Nwadiuto couldn’t bring herself to knock on the door and enter. She was scared. What would happen when she enters here? Her entire life depended on this moment. What will she say? How would she act?

Paul could feel how tense she was. He told her to take her time. A few minutes later some students came out of the office. She gathered the courage and then knocked on the door. It was better it was done without planning. She heard “Come in” so she entered the office dragging Josh along.

The man sitting behind the desk looked at her stunned. She also looked at him. He was slender from where he sat. He was handsome. He had a bushy eyebrow just like Nwadiuto’s. His hairline was rescinding. She saw where she got her complexion from, she was lighter than her mother. And her eyes. She knew she got her eyes from her father. She realized they were from him. He was her father and she knew it. Now she realised why she felt she knew his mother, he looked like her too.

“Who are you?” the man asked.

“I am the one that called you to tell you your mother gave me your number”

“I mean who are you? You look so much like someone I know. There must be a reason my mother asked you to see me”

“I am Nwanneka’s daughter. Nwanneka the daughter of Nwakaego and Anozie”

“I said it. The resemblance is too much. You are all grown. How are you?”

“I am fine sir. Your mother told me you were really good friends apart from being cousins with my mother. I was around and decided to check on you”

“What are you doing in Nsukka?” Chidi asked cheerfully.

“We came for a function so I used the opportunity to see you”

“I am happy you did. I see your grandmother sometimes but I haven’t seen your mother in ages. What do I offer you?”

“Nothing. This is my friend, Josh”

“You are welcome. Nwadiuto! Are you at the university? Your mother is a very intelligent woman. She was the envy of many young girls because they believed she had it all; beauty, wealth and brilliance. We were very close.”

“I just graduated from FUTO”

“What did you study?”

“Computer Science”

“Wow! That’s the way to go now. I hope you are as, if not more, brilliant than your mother”

“I tried my best”

“Your grandmother is a great woman. She is well respected in our village. She takes care of the widows and the fatherless and motherless children. I lost my father when I just gained admission or about then. Your grandmother trained me in school. She was very good to me. How are your uncles? Especially the last born, uncle Onye…”

“Uncle Onyedika? He is fine.”

“Also a very nice guy. I heard about the demise of your great-grandparents and then Nwanneka’s husband. It has been years. Wow. How old are you now?”

“22 years”

“Ah! You are a big girl. And you have graduated? That’ nice. You are like your mother”

The conversation continued to flow. It seemed like he had really missed her mother as he kept mentioning her. Or was he still in love with her? He seemed excited to see her. Knowing what she knew, it was obvious he didn’t know she was his daughter.

After conversing for a while longer, Chidi asked her if she was going back to town. She told him she was.

“I would have loved for you to meet my family. You would be an inspiration to my son who is struggling with what he wants to do?”

“How many children do you have?” Nwadiuto asked.

“Three of them. Two girls and a boy. They are much younger than you although very close in age. My son is in secondary school and doesn’t know what he wants to study. The two girls are in University, 100 level and pre-degree. He is in SS2 and still struggling.”

“That’s nice. I wouldn’t mind meeting them. When are you rounding up your meeting?”

“It is a church programme actually. I will be ministering”

“Are you a pastor?” Nwadiuto asked in awe.

“I’m just a minister in the Anglican community. The congregation enjoy listening to me so the Youth invited me to speak with them during their programme. Would you like to attend?”

She looked at Josh excitedly and he nodded his head.

They went together. Josh and Nwadiuto drove behind Chidi in his Toyota Camry. They were surprised by the way the youth programme org-nisers rallied around him. Chidi told them they were his guests and they should be made comfortable.

They were ushered to the seats reserved for guests. They sat there watching the programme until it was his turn to speak. When he spoke, he captivated the room and held it spellbound. People listened when he spoke. Nwadiuto could hear her voice as he spoke. She was someone who spoke and people listened to; this was where she got it from. Chidi spoke for an hour and it felt like a few minutes. When he finished speaking, he was greeted with rousing applause. Nwadiuto didn’t know when she stood up to clap with the rest of the congregation. The programme ended not long after that.

They followed him to his house. Seeing the house, you would know an architect designed it. There was a Honda Civic parked in the compound. He welcomed them to his home. He then called out for his wife, “Genevieve, we have august visitors.” Then he turned to Nwadiuto, “Did I tell you my wife is also a beneficiary of your grandmother’s generosity? We are eternally grateful to her”

Genevieve, his wife, came outside. She looked at Nwadiuto curiously. She greeted them and they answered.

Chidi then said to her, “This is Nwakaego’s grandchild. Nwanneka’s daughter she had when she was young”

“O, I can see the resemblance now. Nne, how are you? How are your mother and grandmother?”

“They are fine ma” Nwadiuto responded.

Chidi continued, “Mama gave her my number to contact me. I thought she came for admission but apparently, she is a graduate. She was around Nsukka and decided to see us as she had promised mama”

“That’s good o. Welcome. That means they will join us for dinner. I will set two more places. Angela, Deborah, Isaac come and greet your cousin”

They came out to greet them. They looked alike. They looked more like their father with the bushy eyebrow and eyes. Nwadiuto concluded at this point. They all had dinner together. Cornmeal with bitter leaf soup. Josh wanted to decline but Chidi was not having any of it.

Nwadiuto talked to her ‘siblings’. The first child was studying Medicine while the second girl wasn’t too sure if to follow in her father’s footsteps or do a science course. Nwadiuto asked Isaac what he wanted to study. He said he didn’t know yet. He was a science student but wasn’t willing to settle for science courses.

Nwadiuto asked him what he saw himself doing?

“I want to import phones, computers, laptops for sale. I will learn how to repair them very well and open shops for sale and repair” Isaac replied.

“That is a brilliant idea. Go and study Computer engineering first so you will have knowledge about the hærdware and software of computers. When you graduate, you can travel for a firsthand experience of all you have learned and also acquire an MBA. You would have saved and gotten money to start your business on your return. If your father permit, you can start an apprenticesh¡p in a shop where they do repairs so you can learn”

“Can I really achieve this?” Isaac asked Nwadiuto.

“Yes, you can. All you need is to pass your core science subjects very well. You will write Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry in Jamb. It is that easy”

“Thank you for helping me make a choice. I wanted to change to business class because I knew I wanted to do business. With this knowledge, I will be a good engineer and businessman”

Genevieve, Chidi’s wife, asked if Nwadiuto was staying over with them but she said she was going back to the hotel. The children joined them in the sitting room and they were all cheerfully chatting.

It was getting very late. Josh and Nwadiuto had to leave. Nwadiuto remembered what she was asked to do. As they were being seen off, Nwadiuto asked Chidi if he would pray for her. He took her aside, “What for my dear?” he asked.

“I want to fulfil my destiny upon this earth. And, I don’t want what happened to my grandmother and mother to happen to me”

‘What happened to them?”

“Their husbands died young and they never moved on”

“I am a minister but if God has laid it in your heart for me to pray for you, then I will. Father in the name of Jesus……..” And he, not knowing, prayed for his daughter and she answered vehemently.

As Josh and Nwadiuto got into the car, Chidi gave her an envelope. “Have this. It is not much but buys something for yourself. Tell your mother and grandmother you saw me. Please, communicate with my children, I want them to look up to you as someone who could achieve so much against the odds. Nwanneka and her mother raised you well. God bless you, child and safe journey. Feel free to talk to us whenever you can or even visit.” There were tears in Nwadiuto’s eyes as he closed the car door.

Josh allowed her to wallow in her emotions while they drove down to Enugu. By the time they arrived at the hotel, she was fine. She put the envelope in her bag and entered the hotel with Josh. The hotel was fully booked as there was a conference going on and had only one room remaining, the penthouse. Nwadiuto asked they should take it. She was tired at this point and just wanted to sleep.

They entered the room. Josh asked her to take a bath first before he does while he waited for her in the sitting area. She did and got ready for bed. Then she called him to do the same. She stayed in the sitting room and waited for him. He came back to join her.

“How do you feel now?”

“He doesn’t know”

“I sensed that”

“He is a nice man who loves his family”

“He would have loved you just the same”

“I don’t think so. Did you observe he was more focused on his son? He is a traditional man. The second daughter also has challenges but he wasn’t bothered about her. Did you see the way his face lit up when the boy agreed to take my advice?”

“You are very observant. Help the second girl too”

‘I intend to”

“You’ve achieved finding him, what’s the next step”

“I have done everything I was supposed to do”

“What did you do?”

“He has prayed for me concerning my destiny. I don’t need him for anything else”

“You won’t tell him?”

“And disrupt the life he has? I won’t do that. He was also young when he took advantage of my mother. He took advantage of her naivety. She said it to me so many times and I can see how easily he did. She is very impressionable and not a good judge of character. She always wants to be seen as a good girl. She said it happened once and I believe her. What he did wasn’t right but the consequence fell more on my mother. She was the one with the evidence which is pregnancy. He didn’t intend the pregnancy to occur. I think he got married not long after.”

“What will you do about your mum and grandmother?”

“I will taunt them. I want them to feel my pain right now. I should have had such a secure life”

“You lived a privileged life if I believe all you told me about your family. I can see you did. Your grandmother has promised you a car you will pick out yourself if you are the best graduating student. How many children enjoy such luxury? Nwadiuto, your mother made a mistake when she was just sixteen, don’t punish her for the rest of her life”

“I love him; I mean my father. I know the consequence of revealing my identity to him. I can never get married in Igboland. My sisters will never get married in Igboland too. His family will be ostracized so will my family. We will be like outcasts. Now I understand some of the prophecies.”

“You can marry who you want to marry and there are other tribes. I have cousins who will snatch you up in minutes”

“Cousins?”

“Yes. They are about your age. All of you are weird together. You have funny ideologies. I observed you don’ have friends. Why is that?”

“I have friends for different occasions. I don’t like female friends; envy and jealousy are terrible. I like guys but they like my body more”

“You are crazy. Go to bed. We will leave by 9am tomorrow for Owerri. This has been an interesting trip”

‘I will take you to my grandmother’s village so you would meet my father’s mother”

“I will like that. It has been a day for you. Go to sleep and we will discuss on our way to Owerri tomorrow”

Nwadiuto stood up and walked to the room door. “Aren’t you coming to bed too?” she asked.

“I’m not sleeping in the room. You will need your privacy”

“I am not complaining”

“I am. I need my privacy”

Chidi couldn’t sleep that night. He kept wondering why Nwadiuto came to see him. He was excited when she said who she was although he had guessed by looking at her. She had grown into a beautiful girl. She was bold and fearless. The way she talked to him made him feel they had a connection. He waited for her to drop the bomb; she never did. He hadn’t told a soul what happened between Nwanneka and him. He doubted if Nwanneka would have told anyone too.

Even Chidi’s family loved Nwadiuto. She was the topic of discussion the next day. His daughter Deborah said Nwadiuto reached out to her. She didn’t give any reason to be suspicious and he relaxed.

Her prayer request was strange; that was what unnerved him. Why did she ask him to pray for her? He was aware of Nwakaego and Nwanneka’s predicaments. Did she have to travel all the way to Nsukka to see him just for the prayer? He remembered, she said she came for a function. Was he overthinking her visit? His conscience might have been pricking him.

Josh and Nwadiuto left for Owerri the next morning. Nwadiuto looked a lot better that morning.

“I can see you slept well. You look so refreshed”

“I did. Thank you. I don’t know why you do this for me but I am very grateful”

“I do it because I can relate to how you feel. I wish you had told him though; he has a right to know”

“Let the person he violated be the one to tell him. I have prayed over it and I know my prayers have been answered. A burden has been lifted off me. It is to deal with my mother and grandmother left”

“You have graduated. While waiting for your service year, what will you be doing?”

“I don’t know yet. Maybe get an internsh¡p somewhere”

“Should I talk to someone for you? His office is in Lekki; an IT firm. He will gladly take you on”

‘You want me busy so I don’t do something stupid”

“That and also because you have to quickly put your skills into practice and this is the best way to start”

‘Where do you live?”

“Lekki. Why do you ask?”

“Can I stay with you there or would your girlfriend create a scene?”

“I am not in a serious relationsh¡p; I told you that already. You can’t stay with me. It is not proper. This is the recklessness I was talking about”

Nwadiuto laughed. Then she put on a serious face and asked him, “Has Ada told you she is getting married?”

“She has.”

“Will you attend the wedding?”

“If you are attending, then I just might”

“You are not happy about it, are you?”

“The sh¡p sailed a long time again. She’s happy. I want her to be happy”

‘You are a good guy. I should link you up with one of my friends. She was in school for a second degree in engineering. You would like her”

“Your choice of a guy to celebrate graduation with is a man who has no respect for you. Now you want to give me a lover? Hell no. Thanks, all the same. I will find one myself”

“I think you are celibate”

“I’m not but I am also not too crazy about s€×. It is something I tend to once in a while”

“I don’t have such needs. I don’t know if I am normal.”

“You do; Malik ignites it in you.”

“Now you understand why I like him”

“It doesn’t make him a good person. This issue has been over flogged. We won’t talk about Malik again. As I said, don’t tell me about it”

Nwadiuto took him to meet Chidi’s mother. She told the woman she saw Chidi and his family. She was very happy. They came back to Owerri. Josh lodged in a hotel. He wanted to get a room for Nwadiuto but she declined. She was going to sleep in the village and visit during the day. She had tempted fate enough. She was changing.

Josh stayed until Saturday evening before he left for Lagos. He saw changes in Nwadiuto which he didn’t expect. She was more thoughtful and quiet. She wasn’t her over bubbly self. There seemed to be some constraints. It was short-lived.

Josh realized he was very concerned about Nwadiuto. He liked her a lot and it hurt him each time they talked about Malik. She was very free and open with him but didn’t see him. That was what hurt him the most. He initially thought it was because of Ada but since Ada had been out of the picture, they had become much closer but as friends and nothing more.

The first day he saw her, he desired her. All the guys lusted after her. But then he liked Ada and felt Nwadiuto was like other girls. Also, she was too young. But, he discovered she was daring, bold and bursting with intelligence. She stood out from others.

He just found himself doing things for Nwadiuto. He had given the excuse of understanding her predicament but he knew there was much more. He expected her calls and was always at hand to pick them. He would take permission from a meeting only to take her call and hear her rant. Her calls were always the highlight of his day.

He knew she was special to him. She knew she was special to him. She had told him how assured she was each time she calls him and he talks to her. To him, she saw him as a big brother. She was still the girl with the s€×y body everyone desired. He saw the body but also saw the girl in,side the body longing for acceptance, fighting a quiet stigma from her birth. It had bothered her for a long time which she suppressed. She played out her struggle through rebellion and destructive actions. He wanted to heal the girl; the body could wait.

Nwadiuto stayed in the village for another two weeks before jetting off to Lagos. She took Josh’s offer of a job. She told her mother she would like to rent an apartment in Lekki so she could go to work easily. Her mother declined. Rather she gave her a car and driver to work and back. Nwadiuto was upset as she had to leave home early to beat traffic.

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