She ran as fast as her legs could carry her
into the bush, ignoring the pain from the
piercings of the sticks on the ground and her
mother’s voice shouting “Olanma Nwokocha,
come back here!”
All she needed was to get away from
everything, and block everything out as much
as possible. Another set were coming to her
house today, her mother had told her, another
set of humans who think she will be perfect
for their son, and have come to “pluck the
beautiful flower in her father’s garden”
She slowed down to think, she had discovered
some years ago that she didn’t know how to
think and walk at the same time, not when it
comes to critical thinking. She sat down on
the root of a big tree, and picking up a twig,
she thought out loud, speaking to herself.
‘Beautiful flower my foot! Well this beautiful
flower is not interested. What is so hard to
accept there? I am not ready or even
interested!’
She could hear her mother’s voice replying
her, ‘You are twenty years old Olanma, at
your age, I was already married. Good men
are hard to come by you know, I think you
should choose one and start a family. They
may not always be there for you to choose
from.’
She shook her head to ward off her mother’s
words which she could recite by heart. Her
father, who was on her side, was getting tired
of rejecting the wine from suitors, and she
knew it was just a matter of time before he
“talked to her.”
She looked up to the small patches of sky
which could be seen between the tree leaves
and whispered, ‘I just want to get admission
into the University before I think of marriage
to anyone. Why is that so hard for people to
understand? I have prayed, I have cried, I
have read, I have studied yet, for four years, I
have been at home. My mates are about to
graduate and Olanma is still in this village,
rejecting suitors. I need a miracle.’
Olanma was the only child of her parents, the
only surviving child. Her parents were of the
same genotype AS, and as a result, most of the
children born were sickle cell anemic, most of
them dying before their third birthday, due to
ignorance and lack of proper care.
The villagers had brought up the solution to
make the “Ogbanje” stay, but Olanma’s father
had become a Christian after his mother died,
and he had learnt that God alone has all the
answers to life questions. After making
inquiries and asking questions, he and his
wife had gone for the blood test, and as
expected, they both had the AS genotype.
When Olanma’s mother conceived again, her
parents had prayed like never before, and
Olanma had been born a healthy baby with
AA as her genotype. Although she was the
only child, as her parents had refused to take
the risk of having another child, she was far
from spoilt. Her parents firmly believed the
part of the scripture which says, “he that
spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that
loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”
But she knew she was loved, and it hurt her
that they worried about her. She wished she
had a sister they could marry off and get the
grandchildren they wanted.
The result of the recent JAMB showed that she
had failed again and that had been a bad
news. Her parents struggled to buy the form
each year, and she was also getting ashamed
of asking for JAMB form every year. With
tears in her eyes, she looked up, and prayed
again ‘Dear Lord please help me, please.’ She
didn’t want to travel the road of “what if”
which her mind presented.
She made herself comfortable, resting her
back on the tree trunk. She slept off while
waiting for her suitors to go back where they
came from.
Chidi looked at his ringing phone, and on
seeing his father’s number, decided not to
pick the call. He’d rather call him back later
when he got home. He knew the reason he
was calling, it was for the same reason he
always called, about him getting a wife.
Chidi could hear his father’s voice
‘Chidiebere, your mother and I are not getting
younger. Bring a girl home, no matter who
you choose we will love her.’
His mother’s voice, ‘Chimdiebere, your sisters
are all married, and you have everything
necessary to start a family. What’s stopping
you from getting married? I didn’t bring you
to be an irresponsible man. You are the only
son of your father, make us happy and bring a
wife home.’
Chidi stood up, and paced around his office,
stopping at the window, he looked outside,
not seeing anything. He only saw his father
and mother in the last meeting they had
invited him to with the rest of his family
members, asking him why he has refused to
get married. Chidi could remember the
embarrassment he had felt. Since then, he
always found an excuse not to go home
during the festive period, when everyone in
the family comes back home. He made his
trips to the village during the year, and sent
back money during the festive periods. He
didn’t need anyone to pressure him into doing
something he didn’t want to do.
‘They think it’s easy to find a wife. They
wouldn’t understand what I go through.’ Chidi
was an epitome of the proverbial “tall, dark
and handsome” man. He was the fifth child of
his parents and the only male child. He was
also a driven man, and had achieved great
heights, but he has not found a lady God
confirmed. There were ladies all around him,
in his office, at the church, back in the
village, everywhere! But he has learnt, the
hard way, to follow God’s leading. That was
the main reason for his achievement, and
when it comes to something as important as
marriage, he wasn’t going to settle for less
than God’s choice for him.
There were lonely nights and tough days, but
he’d rather wait, just as he was waiting for
his father to get tired of calling him so he
could call his driver to come pick him up, he
had a meeting in the next hour.
‘Stupid man, give me my back my money!’
Uchenna shouted at the bus conductor who
ignored him, and kept looking for a way to
repair his spoilt bus.
‘You knew this bus was bad and yet you took
it for work instead of repairing it, please give
me back my money’ said another passenger
who was also standing to collect back her
fare.
Uchenna was tired and hungry and he was
getting angrier by the minute. He hated
people ignoring him, and considering the fact
that he was in a very bad mood, it was
making everything worse ‘I said give me back
my money! Are you crazy?’ he dragged the
conductor, holding up his shirt and shaking
him ‘give me my money’
‘ Oga leave my shirt, or I go scatter your face
for you o’
Uchenna, ignored the fear that went up his
spine at the thought of being beaten ‘Not until
you give us our money’
Without a warning, the conductor swiftly gave
Uchenna two hard blows on his face, making
him stagger backwards, dropping his bag
containing his credentials. He knew he was
going to pass out and he welcomed the
darkness.
He woke up to a serious headache and people
gathered around him. He put up his hand to
stop the water being sprinkled on his face. As
he came to, he managed to sit up, thanking
God his bag was still by his side unopened
and apparently intact. Not far from him was
the conductor on the floor being beaten by
some angry people. He shouted at them
urging them to stop. When they finally
listened to him, he saw that the conductor
had a swollen lip ‘maybe that will make him
to think hard about hitting someone next
time.’ he thought.
He took his bag and struggled to sit up.
Ignoring the questions about whether he was
strong enough, he slowly walked home. He
had no money on him to take another bus,
and he didn’t think he had the strength to ask
the conductor for his money again.
As he walked home, he thought about his life.
It was two years since he was sacked from his
job. He was sure he won’t be able to
recognize himself if he compared his look of
two years ago, to his present look. He didn’t
have to, as he could see the change in his
wife. His wife was a gift to him, and it hurt
him that he had not listened to her advice
when things had been rosy. She had begged
him to start a business for her since he asked
her to resign from her job. He had refused,
saying he didn’t see the need for her to work.
She finally gave up when it started causing
quarrels between them. He should have
listened. His pride and obnoxious attitude,
had made him without friends, and so when
the devil had struck, he had been alone, but
for his wife.
He had made a bad call in employing a thief
for a driver, not following the due course, and
the driver had disappeared with a huge sum
of money. Though his innocence had been
proven, someone had to pay for the loss, and
all his assets had been taken. When they had
completed the sum, only his uncompleted
building was left, which Uchenna saw as a
liability as he could not finish the building.
Life had taken on a different meaning after
that. His wife’s parents had rented an
apartment for them, and started giving her a
monthly allowance. He was ashamed to the
depth of his being, but he knew he couldn’t
reject it or his family will suffer.
His wife had stubbornly stuck to having just
three children, and that had been a good
decision as he saw the look in their eyes each
day, a look of dejection, and he wondered
what would have been if they had had five
children as he had wanted.
He got home and stiffly walked to his flat. He
knocked and while waiting for the door to be
opened, talked to himself ‘I wish I knew how
to pray.’
‘I hope the letter you are bringing to me is
the positive result of a pregnancy test you did,
and not another promotion letter.’ Her
husband’s ability to guess accurately was one
of the reasons Ngozi had agreed to marry him,
but seeing it in the negative light, she
cringed, though she quickly hid it with a
smile. She didn’t feel like quarrelling today,
she had had a long day at the office.
‘It’s a good thing that I got promoted, is it
not?’ Ngozi sat by her husband of ten years,
though she increasingly felt like a stranger in
his presence in the past five years.
‘What do you do with all the money, apart
from giving huge contributions at church and
acting the Santa Claus to anyone and everyone
who asks for your help? We should be
spending them on our children, the children
you refused to give me.’
Ngozi felt like she was slapped ‘How could
you say that?! Am I God that gives children?’
she angrily wiped the tears from her eyes.
‘Go and meet your God to give you the
children you believe He can give you. I want
children so I can stand up like a man in the
community, that’s what I want!’ He stood up
and walked into the room.
Ngozi lost it, ‘Stanley! How dare you say that
to me? Stanley!’ she crumbled on the floor
crying, her tears soaking up her letter of
promotion.
