Torn between 6 – 7

TITLE: TORN BETWEEN

WRITTEN BY OGECHI ALABI

FAMILY LIFE 1…….

Chidumebi shortened to Dumebi was born a few days after they moved into the new house. She brought so much joy and happiness to her parents. Adim was exhilarated. He sent for his mother-in-law to come for ‘omugwu’. He sent money for local food items and condiments, especially for a delicacy called mmiri ogwu used to tend to new mothers. Before Eucharia’s mother came, Flora offered to help. She moved into the house to tend to the baby and mother. She was sweet when Adim was around immediately after he left for work; she was nasty to Eucharia.

Eucharia chose to ignore her. She was strong after birth and could tend to things herself. She was clever too. She prepared the baby’s bath before Adim left for work so his sister would be forced to bathe and feed her. It gave her ample time to tend to the house chores and rest. She did not make food for Flora. She told her to feel at home and cook whatever she wanted. She made dinner for her husband before he returned from work and took it into the bedroom for him to eat. She could eat whatever was left. Flora took credit for the meals Eucharia cooked.

Flora made fun of her tummy. Her tummy was still big because Dumebi was a big baby. She promised her she would never lose the tummy weight and mocked her, suggesting she would drop out of school. Flora was perplexed when Eucharia did not react or heed what she was saying. She ignored her unless it was mandatory to talk to her.

She drew the line when she called Dumebi ugly. Dumebi had Adim’s complexion and Eucharia’s looks. She was also a ‘long’ baby. Eucharia replied, “Your niece is ugly to you because she looks like your heart.”

Flora got angry and screamed at her, “How dare you? I will deal with you. You will regret playing this game with me. Let Adim get back.”

Adim got back and Flora was outside telling him what happened. This time Eucharia served him dinner downstairs as she had always done before Flora came to stay. Adim came inside and met a cheerful Eucharia. He asked her what happened. She refused to say anything until he had bathed and eaten. She waited for him while she tended to her daughter. Flora stood by their bedroom door and waited for Adim to come out, not wanting Eucharia to talk with him alone. She intended to influence the whole conversation.

What Flora did not know was that Adim was no longer gullible. He had noticed how tired his wife was and knew his sister was not of much help. She begged him to insist Dumebi is bathed before he left for work so she could rest after the baby slept off. He knew his wife was calm and disliked trouble. She would never complain about Flora to her husband but he noticed. It was just the fourth day Flora had been in the house. When he came out of the room, Flora was by the door. He sat down to eat, but Flora wanted him to address the issue first. Eucharia refused, she wanted him to eat before she would say a word.

Adim ate his delicious meal and drank the chilled glass of water. Eucharia cleared the table and went into the kitchen. She washed out the plates and came out. She brought out Dumebi and gave her to her daddy to carry. He carried her and smiled; it was not what Flora expected.

“I reported your wife to you and kept silent. What is going on here?” Flora asked.

“I just came back; can’t I eat and play with my baby before settling any issue? Unless it is a do-or-die affair, it can wait. And from what you told me, it is not. Have a seat. Eucharia, take Dumebi to her cot. She has fallen asleep and then come and tell me what happened.”

Flora was upset. She asked, “Why should she tell you what happened when I told you?”

“My dear sister, there are always three sides to a story, your side, her side and the truth. From hearing both sides, I will hear the truth.”

“Is that so?” Flora asked. Her voice was laced with disappointment.

“Yes, it is. Eucharia, what happened?”

“Nothing happened. I am even amazed she reported me. What did she say I did? She has been angry since she came here, and I don’t know why. I have tried to avoid any confrontation. I did not do anything to her,” Eucharia replied

“So you didn’t call her heart ugly?”

“How can I just wake up and say that to her? Di m, you know me well. What did she tell you she said to me that made me call her heart ugly?”

Adim turned to Flora and asked her, “What did you say to her that made her say that to you? She is not mad to insult when you did not provoke her. Did you?”

Eucharia answered for her, “She didn’t provoke me. Whatever she said didn’t offend me because I didn’t hear it and I didn’t respond to her.”

Flora flared up. “Eucharia are you making jest of me? You insulted me in my brother’s house and he is taking sides with you. Well done. You will live to regret your actions. I leave tomorrow morning; I can’t take this insult anymore. A child I am older than by nine years insulted me and you, Adim, supported her. Well done.” Adim tried to calm her down but she stormed out of their presence into her room.

Adim and Eucharia retired for the night. Adim asked Eucharia to tell him the truth about what happened. She told him everything. She allowed her insecurities to show so Adim would know how deeply Flora’s words hurt her. She ignored them for peace to reign. She insisted that anytime Flora calls her children names, she would respond. She could take personal attacks, but any attack on her children, she would respond and damn the consequences. Adim understood Eucharia and he knew the right thing to do.

“Baby m, Flora is wrong. You should have ignored her instead of responding to her. I know you are stressed out, but Mama will be here soon. Once she comes, I will personally drive Flora home. This arrangement is just temporary, and you can endure it. I want you to apologise to her tomorrow, and I will also talk to her.”

“Apologise? For what? She called my daughter ugly. Because she hates me, does she have to take it out on my child? I did her no wrong, I swear. You should ask your sister why she dislikes me. What did I do to her?”

“She is jealous. You are young and beautiful. She was once like you and felt intimidated by your presence. Your husband loves you and he doesn’t hide it. She no longer enjoys that. You have what she craves and can’t have.”

“But her character is the problem, not me. When you were young, was she like this?”

“She was. Ada ukwu had everything she wanted. My parents spoiled her and this is the result. I don’t want that for any of my children. We will raise them well. The girls will be well-trained like you.”

“Girls? Dumebi will be the only girl o. I want to have two boys after her.”

“What is wrong with girls? I love girls.”

“What if we have only girls?”

“There is nothing wrong with that. Any sex God blesses us with is what we will have.”

“That’s what you will say. Biko I want two sons. I can’t take the risk.”

The following morning there was a knock on their gate. It was loud enough to wake them up. Adim went to check who was at the gate. He was surprised to see his mother-in-law. She came to the house in a taxi. Adim helped offload her bags from the taxi and went inside to get money to pay the taxi driver. Adim was so relieved to see her.

Eucharia came out when Adim told her who knocked. She hugged her mother and helped Adim bring in her bags. She asked her where she was coming from by this time.

“My children,” Mama Uk replied, “I left with the night bus. I was concerned about how Eucharia was coping as it is her first time.” She looked at her daughter over and noticed her feet were swollen. “Have you been working in the house? You are not supposed to. See how swollen your legs are. Where is my grandchild? I will attend to her so you can sleep and raise your legs. Just show me around the house and go and rest.”

Eucharia brought out Dumebi. Her mother danced when she saw her. She prayed for her. She laid her down. Eucharia showed her around the house. The room she reserved for her mother was unavailable, so she asked her mother to stay in the baby’s room. There was a bed there. She showed her around and taught her how to use the kitchen equipment in the house. Mama Uk boiled water. She poured the water for Eucharia to bathe and boiled another for Dumebi’s bath. After Eucharia bathed, her mother asked her to breastfeed Dumebi. She did and the baby suckled very well. She bathed Dumebi and pressed her body with hot water, Dumebi didn’t make any noise, she was sound asleep. Her mother advised her to feed the baby before bath, they never cry if their bellies are full.

Eucharia went to bed. She raised her legs just as her mother had suggested. All the while Flora never came out. She didn’t care. She was free to leave now that Mama Uk was around. She slept like a baby.

Flora came out while Mama was cooking mmiri ogwu for Eucharia. She watched the woman cook in the kitchen and shook her head. Why bring a village woman into this new house? She disliked Eucharia’s mother because she had spoilt her plan. The entire house smelt of the condiments Mama Uk was cooking with. Flora capitalised on it to embarrass the woman. She entered the kitchen and said, “Why is the entire house stinking so badly?”

“Eww, it is the ogiri (locust beans) I put in the mmiri ogwu. Don’t be angry, nwa m. The more rotten it is, the sweeter it becomes. You must be Adim’s sister.”

“Yes, I am. Where is your daughter? She is so lazy! I am sure she has gone back to bed as she always does. She leaves me to do all chores in the house while she sleeps. She should be here helping you.”

“I asked her to go back to bed. Her feet are swollen which shows she has been on them too long. It is not good for a woman who just put to bed to do house chores immediately. That journey is between life and death. She should have time to recover. Ndi Igbo know the difficulties new mothers face reason why they introduced omugwu. Who can care for a new mother (with all her heart) without withholding anything? Her mother. So the wife’s mother caters for her after childbirth. Her mother can never call her lazy because she understands the journey she went on and returned safely. Some people don’t return. She has to rest from the journey. Or didn’t your mother come when you had children?”

“She did, but I stood up to work. I didn’t allow her to do everything. I also had maids to make the job easier.”

“You are lucky. We thank God you were strong without complications. I will take superb care of my daughter. She will not do any work for two weeks or until her bleeding stops. After that, she can cook her husband’s meals and do light chores. I will take care of the rest.”

Flora could not counter this woman. She could see she was wiser than she thought. She left there and sat in the parlour. She waited for Adim to come out to continue from where they stopped the night before. She wanted to humiliate Eucharia in the presence of her mother.

TITLE: TORN BETWEEN

WRITTEN BY OGECHI ALABI

FAMILY LIFE 2…….

Adim woke Eucharia up to eat and also feed the baby. She had slept for a long time but the way she was moving she was hungry again. Mama wanted Eucharia to eat before feeding her baby so that the breast milk would fill up and be rich. She smiled as Eucharia and Adim relished the delicious mmiri ogwu. After the meal, Eucharia went to Dumebi’s room to feed her before she woke up fully.

Flora came out of her room to the parlour. Adim was still eating; the food looked and smelt delicious. Mama Uk saw how she admired the food and asked if she would like to have some to which she said yes. She ate the food well and was even sweating in the process.

“That ogiri smell you said was stinking up the whole house made this pepper soup more delicious. Do you want some more?” Flora was embarrassed. She shook her head even though she wouldn’t have minded a second helping.

Eucharia came out of the room after feeding Dumebi. She sat beside her husband. She had not settled in fully before Flora started. “Mama, you are welcome to my brother’s house. I forfeited my education so Adim could finish school. My husband and I paid for him to travel abroad to study. I have taken care of him since he came back. He was living with me peacefully before he married your daughter. Eucharia is strong-headed and disobedient. She does not accept her mistakes or corrections. Yesterday she insulted me. She said my heart is ugly. How can she say that Ada nne diya (the first daughter of her husband’s mother) has an ugly heart? I have endured her enough; that was the last straw.”

Mama had a look of worry on her face. She replied Flora first. “My daughter, I have to apologise on her behalf. Since she has been married, this is the first time any complaint about her has reached my ears. Your parents sing her praises every time they see me. They salute me for raising her well. Even your brother Adim gives me gifts for the virtues he had seen in her. Your complaint is strange to me but it should not be undervalued.” She turned to Eucharia and asked, “Uk, what happened?”

“Mama, you advised me never to complain about my husband’s family to him. You said I shouldn’t come between siblings and even be the cause of any problem between my husband and his parents. You told me to endure the harassment because it will be short-lived. I accepted. I have never complained about the maltreatment I had to endure. It is not from the entire family, it is only Nda Flora. You saw my feet when you came. Since I gave birth, I have been working. I changed diapers and fed the baby. I do all chores in the house. The only thing Nda Flora does is bathe the baby in the morning because Adim insisted on it. Adim is here; he is not aware of all I have just said. I never complained. Still, she would terrorise me. She told me I looked ugly and terrible because my belly was still big. She said many hurtful words. I endured all she said without responding until she called my daughter ugly. That was when I replied that she looked just like her heart. She was angry. I am saying this openly for the first time because you asked me, Mama, and I cannot lie to you.”

Flora was speechless. She did not believe Eucharia would divulge everything. She thought she would be silent as she had always been. That was a big blow to her plan. Even Adim was shocked at the entire revelation. There was no way he would allow her to stay a day longer. She swore to herself to deal with Eucharia. She played the pity party and the manner she played it; no one would believe her if she countered it because of her precedence.

“Still nwa m, you should not have responded. She is your husband’s elder sister and she deserves respect. Insulting her means you are insulting your husband and her husband. Wasn’t her husband nice to you?”

“He was,” Eucharia replied with a sob.

“That is it. She might have made a mistake when she said those hurtful words to you. I bet you, it did not come from the depth of her heart. She could also be testing you. Please, Ada m, apologise to her.”

Eucharia wanted to stand up, but Adim held her back. She said to Flora, “Nda Flora, I apologise for calling your heart ugly. Please forgive me. It won’t happen again.”

“Nwa azuruazu! She listens to wise counsel and acts accordingly. Flora, please forgive your sister-in-law. She is but a child and acted out of ignorance.”

Flora had entered the trap set for her and she knew it. She couldn’t refuse the apology now and appear as a villain. She accepted it and knew she had to leave immediately.

She stood up to leave when Mama Uk called her back. She sat back down. “Before anybody leaves, I would want us to pray. Flora, you will represent your parents as we pray for Adim and Uk. Let them kneel in the middle while we pray over this family.” They all took position and then the prayer continued, “Father God, we present your children Adim, Uk and their baby girl before your presence. Nna anyi na n’eluigwe, you said when two or three people gathered in your name, you will be there. We know you are here. Today is the first time I stepped my feet in this beautiful home and I am grateful for the opportunity. Papa in heaven, bless Adim and his work. May he rise to great heights. Lord bless Uk and her school, may she excel. Lord as the baby has come, more children will follow. They will have both male and female children. This child they have will be a blessing to them likewise the other children. Anyone that wants to destroy this union, oku eligwe (fire from heaven) destroy such a person. Any man or woman who has declared that Adim, Uk and their children will not know peace, may that person never know peace from today henceforth. Anyone that tries to use evil to stop this family’s progress, the ground will open and swallow them. They will never labour in vain and will enjoy the fruits of their labour in ripe old age. In Jesus’ name, we pray.” There was a resounding Amen from everyone except Flora. She saw what Eucharia’s mother did there. Like mother like daughter. She had stylishly placed curses on her. She was offended. She rushed into the room to take her bag and announced she was leaving. She was visibly upset.

Adim drove her home. On the way, she quarrelled with Adim. She said Adim had been brainwashed by Eucharia and now her mother. If he wasn’t careful, he would be separated from his entire family and they will turn him into their puppet to do as they please. She claimed the prayers said earlier were for her and she felt insulted by them. She concluded Eucharia’s mother was sly.

“Well, I didn’t see anything wrong with the prayer unless you are guilty of what she prayed about. Secondly, I want to know if you called my child ugly. Did you? Because you dislike Eucharia you took it out on your own flesh and blood. Who does that? And then finally, I didn’t want you to stay with Eucharia after the baby was born but you insisted. Only to get here and make a woman who just had a baby for the first time do chores and stand on her feet for hours. You claimed you made the meals she served me but she was the one. It took her mother’s presence for me to notice her badly swollen feet. If you didn’t want to take care of her why did you offer to come? I had arranged with a Ghanaian woman to help until her mother got here. Flora, you are wrong and there is nothing you will say that will justify this action you took. Nothing! So spare me all this emotional bullshit and face what you did. You were wrong and if you have any sense you will ask Eucharia and her mother for forgiveness.”

“I said it, she has blinded you for you not to see. I was taking care of my family after I had my child. What are you even saying? If you married a lazy wife who wants others to be responsible for her, it won’t work.”

“Well, we both know you are lying. Eucharia is anything but lazy. Even your parents attest to that fact. She was heavily pregnant and tendered to the home, went to the market and gave me sumptuous meals. My woman is not lazy. You have shot yourself in the foot this time. She can speak up against you now. I have to discuss with Chief about this.”

“Why do you want to talk to my husband? Am I not your sister? How did Eucharia turn you against me like this? You know he will be angry and take it out on me. Your wife lies a lot, I did not want to embarrass her in the presence of her mother that is why I kept quiet.”

“You can explain that to your husband and not me. I will not condone the wickedness you have shown to my wife. She has not offended you or insulted you until you dragged our innocent daughter into your hate campaign. Flora, please do not visit us. Your husband and children can come, but you are not welcome in our home. I do not want the mother of my child to always walk on eggshells when you are around. I want her to feel free in her home. If she chooses to visit you, which I will advise her against, she knows what to expect and be prepared for it.”

“This is too much now, over gini? Ok, I apologise for what I have done but do not tell my husband anything, I promise to mend my ways.”

“It is not enough, I don’t want you to be alone with my wife and child in my house. If you visit without informing me first, I will report to Chief that I gave you money for upkeep while I was in your house. Remember you told me he insisted? Let us see what happens.”

“You are blackmailing me over Eucharia? Let us see how it goes. This girl will make you cry. That school you sent her to, other men will sleep with her and you will never know. She might even give you a bastard to father.”

“Flora, Eucharia lived in a city but kept herself for marriage. She will not change now and I trust her not to ever betray me like that. Another man will not sight her nakedness. She is also intelligent. She reads a lot. Now her mother is around, she will resume reading in preparation for her examinations. I won’t stop her from progressing; it won’t happen.”

“Don’t say I didn’t tell you.”