SEE FINISH BY TREASURE EZURUIKE EPISODE 11

SEE FINISH BY TREASURE EZURUIKE EPISODE 11

(CHIKANMA’S POV)

Gerald noticed and stretched forth his hand to my children and they took it. I’m sorry for yelling I’m not mad at you, someone upset me so much. Please feel free to play. I’m not angry at you. He hugged both of them.

I wondered why Ijeoma was trying so hard to get rid of me because I was still grieving the loss of my husband and had never looked at any man lovingly. I had not looked at Gerald or got attracted to him. I just wasn’t ready.

Gerald turned to me and said please do you mind serving me food? No problem, I responded. He ate the food and apologized to me for his outburst. I said it was fine. No, it’s not I scared you all and I’m sorry he pleaded. 

He played with my children and made them feel comfortable. I was about to leave and he insisted on dropping me off.

I declined but my children were already inside the car saying mummy please get in. 

I refused to get in but Gerald kept looking at me. When I finally got in, he drove me home. My mum was so happy to see him.

She welcomed him and served him a drink. She asked for his number and he immediately obliged. I was just staring at her but she had this broad smile on her face. 

I continued to cook for Gerald but never met Ijeoma again and I didn’t ask.  Some of her belongings that used to be in Gerald’s house were no more there.

By the end of the year, Gerald requested I follow him to see his mother with my children. I completely declined. Are you crazy?

Am I your mate? He will say I am older than you by over 25 years so don’t talk to me like I’m your mate. 

We are not mates, we are not born in the same generation and on and on he went. 

Each time he made those words and made those sentences I saw my mum die emotionally. 

Here she was married to this man who still thought he was her father and could not relate to her like a husband.

She was the servant, he was the master. I did not want that. 

Follow you as who and what? Calm down, Gerald said. I’m not commanding you. I just made a request, you can say yes or no. 

Well, my answer is no, I said. I don’t want any trouble. You have a girlfriend so what would I be doing there? Besides, your mum doesn’t like me.

First of all, I don’t have a girlfriend anymore. We broke up. It was long overdue. That information took me by surprise.

For my mum, Gerald said. I just want to change that impression she has about you. I want her to see you differently as the nice person you are.

I’m not interested. it’s fine we don’t have to disagree about this, please. I hope you won’t stop coming to my house because of this?

I don’t know. I said. I don’t know why I was so upset. I told my mum and she almost shot me with her eyes.

You said what? Nne what is wrong with you? I know you love Nkem but he is dead. Those words pierced right through my heart.

You were 24 when he died and you are about to turn 27. It is still a long way for you. if a man is showing interest in you please just give it a shot.

His mum doesn’t like me, Mum. I said. She doesn’t like you because of what she’s heard my mum said. Correct that impression. 

This man loves your children. He has had a positive impact on your children. They have loosened up. Your life should not end because you are a widow.

Your husband may have remarried by now. If it was you who died. Please try to think about it. I just looked at my mum speechless. 

Gerald stopped by to see my children, they ran out screaming uncle, uncle, uncle Gerald and jumped on him. My mum said see how happy he makes them.

I did not talk to her. He came in to say hello to us. He avoided me and left. He got home and apologized to me.

He called me on the phone and said he was sorry. I told him it was fine. I apologized to him for my outburst and said I will think about his request. He said he’d be glad if I did.

I told my mum she knew the end of the year was a peak period for my business. She said I’ll take care of it.

I thought about the business too but your brother and I with your workers would attend to it so please go and rest madam. I taught you this business, remember? 

How are you sure I will rest? I asked my mum. Nnem I doubt you will do all the cooking when you get there. I’m sure you will do less work than you would do if you were here.

Since your husband died you have not rested, please rest. My mum was right. I had worked as a horse since my husband died.

I told  Gerald that I would go with him to visit his mum. I could feel the sheer joy in his voice. Thank you so much he said I assure you you will never regret this.

I had no idea what he meant but I was panicking and also troubled because the last thing I needed was a misunderstanding with somebody’s mother. 

(KEISHA’S POV)

Because of mum’s marriage to Dad, I vowed to marry a man in my age range, not one who will see me as his daughter. 

My mum could not play with my dad. She had to reverence and respect him and worship the ground he walked on. 

She could not talk back to him even if they were trying to joke, if she did he would remind her that they were not mates. 

Am I your mate? He will say I am older than you by over 25 years so don’t talk to me like I’m your mate. 

We are not mates, we are not born in the same generation and on and on he went. 

Each time he made those words and made those sentences I saw my mum die emotionally. 

Here she was married to this man who still thought he was her father and could not relate to her like a husband.

She was the servant, he was the master. I did not want that. 

You can say whatever you like mum, I said but you know I’m telling the truth. 

Your relationship with dad is not one I want to emulate. You worship him like a god not out of love like one will have for the husband but that of Fear. I don’t want to be put through that with Richard. 

In your generation, it was okay for a man to be 30 years older than his wife. Now is not okay and even if it was it is not okay by me. 

You and Dad have not kept in touch with me since I left home. You cannot just call me now and ask me why I am not responding positively to such a good opportunity. 

Did I tell you I want to get married, especially to a man older than me with 22 years and his children are almost my age? 

She continued to reign curse on me but I didn’t care. I had told her how I felt about her and that was what mattered to me.

At some point, I left my phone and let her speak to the phone because the phone was on speaker and I was recording her call. 

I did not want to be accused later of disrespecting my mother because I know she will blow it out of proportion and I was ready to defend myself this time around. 

When I saw my phone show light I knew she was tired and she had hung up almost an hour later. 

I called Richard and lashed out at him. I forgot he was my boss and I told him he was completely out of line to track down my family and tell them he wanted to marry me when he had just informed me about it. 

It was not like we are in a relationship and there were signs that he was going to propose, we are not in a romantic relationship. 

Our relationship was strictly professional. I didn’t know anything about him until he told me that day that he was a widower with four children and then he mentioned how he wanted to ask me to marry him. 

He never even tried to persuade me, after I said no he left. Who did he think he was and what did he take me for? 

Some woman with no brain of her own or who was controlled by her parents?

Probably some other young woman would have with fear and trembling agreed to be married off by her family but I was not that woman. 

I do not have good memories of my upbringing. I just managed to get by and survive till I left for the University and that was my freedom. 

I heaved a huge sigh of relief once I stepped out of that house that day I knew I was not going back. 

Richard apologized to me and said he was sorry he did not know what came over him. 

I told him he knew exactly what he was doing and that’s exactly why I said no to him because he’s thinking is my father and can order me around but I am not that kind of woman. 

I hung up my phone and switched it off. I put a few belongings together and left town. 

After a few days, I switched my phone back on and Richard began to call. I rejected all his calls. 

One evening I received a call from a number that was not saved to my phone.

I answered the call and it was the voice of a young woman who introduced herself to me as Carrie. 

She told me she was a daughter to Richard. She was his first daughter and my countenance changed immediately. 

Must Richard continue to follow me? I said to myself what is the meaning of this?

She started by apologizing to me for calling me when she did not know me.

She told me she got my number from Jake. Jake, I asked. You know Jake, I asked her. 

Yes I know Jake we grew up together he’s a family friend. Small world I said to myself. I could not believe what she said next.

She told me she had seen my photo on the timeline of Jake a lot. She could tell we were close.

She reached out to him to enquire who I was and he told her we were just friends. 

She said from then she began to nurse the thoughts of me getting married to her father. 

Excuse me, I exclaimed. Why would I want to get married to your father? I asked her. 

Calm down she said. I know how it looks but I have no evil intentions.

Let me ask you a question. If you were in my position, would you marry a man older than you by 22 years who has four grown children your age and is a widower? 

She kept silent for a while and said let me be honest with you. There is no yes or no answer to your question but my answer will depend on my relationship with the man. 

I understand the age difference and you must be wondering why my father cannot find a woman around his age range to get married to but he doesn’t want to. 

He had said he was never going to remarry which never made me unhappy because my dad was 40 years of age when mum died. 

He was relatively too young to remain unmarried and I have to give it to my father to have stayed for 15 years without getting married just because of us.

He didn’t want us to suffer in the hands of another woman. But now that we’ve all grown up he deserves happiness.

He deserves to remarry, the warm embrace of a woman. He deserved to be taken care of by a woman every day when he gets back from work. 

It will gladden my heart if that woman is you. I understand you have your prerogative and your qualities and probably my father doesn’t fit that description.

I want to plead with you to please give him a chance to prove himself to you. 

I know the age difference is much and I’m not going to coerce you into making a decision you will regret for the rest of your life. 

My call is just to plead with you to not brush my Dad aside. Please forgive him too because he told me you are no longer taking his calls and you are not reachable. 

Please forgive him for jumping the gun and going to your family. I guess he was desperate and my dad is never desperate. 

I wonder what came over him. Usually, he will follow your lead but I guess it’s been a while since he’s been in a relationship.

He’s been out of the game for so long and he has forgotten how it works. 

(NNENNA’S POV)

It wasn’t my fault that the relationship had fallen apart. It was my in-laws who mistreated me. After I left to save my life they kidnapped Dubem to further escalate matters.

Towards the end of my pregnancy, it became so turbulent. I was in and out of the hospital. Dubem was my rock.

At some point, I got so tired and just wanted to give up. Dubem kept encouraging me, telling me it was almost over. I thought about Ikenna who didn’t care.

Labour was a different matter altogether. I thought I’ll pass out. I didn’t inform my parents I was in labour. I didn’t want them to panic.

Dubem was with me, rubbing my back and encouraging me. He had coached me on how to manage pain.

He coached me in using different coping mechanisms when labour started. He coached me not to cry but breathe.

He coached me to walk in-between contractions. Even though they were painful I walked through them until they got too painful and I had to line down.

As I groaned, Dubem rubbed my back. I could see he felt my pain with the way he looked at me. When I screamed he knew I was full.

All the health personnel involved in my baby’s delivery gathered around me, urging me to push with each contraction. They told me they could see the baby’s head.

I told them I couldn’t do it. Dubem whispered to me that I could do it. He held my hand and asked me to push.

I tried the first time and just couldn’t, at that point I hated Ikenna. He was the father of my baby but offered me no support.

I pushed three more times with no success. With my 5th push, Chiemerie came forth. My son was born and I felt instant relief. Another contraction delivered the placenta.

I could see relief written on Dubem’s face. I heard him heave a sigh of relief. He was acting so strong just to encourage me, but I knew he felt scared. He couldn’t wait for it to be over.

Chiemerie was cleaned up while the tear I sustained from pushing was stitched. It was a painful experience. Dubem held my hand as I was stitched.

He kept an eye on Chiemerie while I sobbed from the stitches. Chiemerie was handed to me so we could bond. I breastfed him for the first time as he latched onto my nipple.

It was an emotional experience. I let the tears fall thinking about Ikenna. I had our first child and he wasn’t even aware. Dubem spent the night with me in the hospital. I informed my family I had given birth.

The next morning I informed Ikenna about the birth of our son. He asked me what I wanted him to do since I refused to follow him home when he asked.

He told me to do what I liked because there was no evidence he was the father of the baby. Those words hurt me deeply.

I decided to forget about Ikenna and severed all ties with him. I was discharged from the hospital.

My mum arrived a few days later. Before she arrived, Dubem was so hands-on. I wondered if I would have pulled through all my challenges without him.

I knew his wife would be so lucky and blessed. My mum took care of me and my baby during the day.

Dubem helped me at night if he was home. My mum left 3 months later and returned to my father. Dubem continued to assist me. 

After Chiemerie’s first birthday I resumed work. Dubem found me a job at his friend’s establishment. I was employed as a marketing expert.

I wanted to move out of Dubem’s apartment but he rejected the idea. He played a fatherly role to Chiemerie.

I was so thankful for his help because he filled a void left by Ikenna. Single parenting was not a walk in the park.

Dubem had become a father to Chiemerie. He went for “school runs”. I almost felt like I was married to Dubem.

I started to feel guilty that I was taking advantage of Dubem, not letting him focus on starting a relationship.

I had never seen him with any woman or talk about any woman. I told him about it. He told me not to be silly.

He told me he wouldn’t put his life on hold because he hadn’t met the right woman. He said when he met the right woman he would do the needful.

To be continued

© Treasure Ezuruike.

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