Skarlett, how do u expect me to survive til Monday With this half chop!!!

Monday should do and reach o. Skarleet dear, tnx for this sweet half chop

JeffreyJamez:


Nice one


Where the Cover?

I go put am for first page now. Thanks again

smokeydrinky:
Skarett, how do u expect me to survive til Monday With this half chop!!!

Monday should do and reach o. Skarleet dear, tnx for this sweet half chop

Lol, you'll survive dear. I just wanted to sha post something, at all, at all nahim bad pass

skarlett:


I go put am for first page now. Thanks again

Berra!

skarlett:
Dedicated to Pablobellins, twinkle004, jagugu88li

Thanks for the dedication and thanks to bibijay123 for sharing this beautiful thread

You say Monday? Chai, see weekend. Issorite

thanks sweet for the mt, pls keep it coming. good nite ..

I. Guess. Papa now rmbr the baby no b his own, na Fr. Patrick get the pikin. #we dy wait til Monday sha.
Gud story.#thumb up!!!

Skarlett thanks 4 d dedication,dat was sweet of u.can't wait 4 monday 2 come oooo
Y passing aggression 2 both mother & daughter,if he feels he is tired of d marriage u divorce her instead of been violence

Old Kelechi is gone, nice one miss.

Good job here skarlett. I have bin following from the first page and haven't made a comment ever since until now, sori about dat. You glide smoothly!
More ink to ur pen!!

Dedicated to shilox, ps2, agromuda and smellymouth

Thirteen


For as long as she could remember, they lived in one of the fine looking houses in Omagwa Aluu and according to Mama, it was the house that Papa had been born in before the war. He had lost both of his parents in an airstrike and being the only child of his parents, he had been the one on whose shoulders lay the reconstruction of his father’s compound. After the war, he came back to a compound that had been broken into and looted. But aside a few bullet holes in the roof and walls and a broken down fence, the building, a four bedroom bungalow was still intact.

Papa had rebuilt the house and was doing well with his mechanic and frequent small carpentry jobs. He had been eighteen and studied up to Standard Six before he had been grafted for the war, his parents hadn’t survived in. Mama had memories of the war too where she had lost her father and two brothers. Grandma Nnaji had died years later in an accident involving a mammy lorry, so both her parents were orphans.

Aside their dead relatives, Mama and Papa didn’t seem to share much in common and as she grew older, they seemed to grow further apart. Their bickering became more frequent and bitter, their animosity sharper and deeper. She didn’t seem to understand why they married and had her if they couldn’t stand each other and why Mama couldn’t leave Papa despite the beatings she received.

One time it had been really bad that Mama had to be hospitalized. She had been eight then and scared that she would lose her mother especially after seeing the amount of blood she had lost. When the doctor asked Papa how she sustained the injuries on her body, she heard him say, Mama had slipped and fallen from the stairs but she knew there were no stairs in their house and Papa had been lying. When she was allowed to see Mama who was still in some pain, she’d asked her.

“Why don’t we leave him Mama? Why do we still stay?”

Mama had gazed at her a long moment before she replied.

“You’re still too young to understand how the world works, Nma. Besides,” she looked away from her briefly and stared at a distant spot over her head. “I brought it upon myself,” she said letting out a sigh.

Nma listened but she couldn’t understand all of it, what had Mama done that she deserved the shabby treatment that she got from Papa? She couldn’t ask further because it seemed like one of those complications that came with being a grown up. She was eight but she bore the burden of the secret of what Papa did to her and Mama like a heavy sack. Nobody told her to lie about the reddish welts she sustained from Papa’s leather belt but she felt she should.

Papa and Mama were beautiful people. How often had she overheard some of Mama’s patients tell her they envied her for her marriage to a man like Papa. They looked like the perfect couple to everyone.

Papa was a handsome man when he wasn’t scowling or being a terror in the house. His complexion was always caramel because of his time in the sun and that brought out the splendor of his dazzling white teeth when he smiled. Except for when he was swimming in beer or the locally made gin, he stood tall and firm as an iroko tree. His shoulders looked strong enough to hold a house and there were stories about him lifting the back end of a Peugeot 504 to get out of a rut. When he was sober enough, he could be relied on to undertake repairs around the house because he was a good handyman.

Mama wasn’t tall, but she had presence. Her peculiar hazel eyes which she passed on to her daughter and light complexion made her look like some of the half-caste Rivers women. She was a good midwife, one of the best in the village and she was thinking of becoming a certified nurse too, although she didn’t have the courage broach the subject with Papa. He seemed so volatile these days, it was difficult to hold a simple conversation with him and not get into trouble. Mama said he was going through some pressure at work so Nmachi found herself fading into the background when Papa was home. Things hadn’t been this bad in the house, she thought with a sigh.

As a child, she recalled them sitting together in the terrace behind the house, Papa holding her on his laps and Mama carrying out some cooking chore, unshelling melon seeds, picking leaves or beans in preparation for dinner. The light still shone in Mama’s eyes and Papa never as much as raised his voice in the house. There was fun and laughter in those breezy evenings waiting for dinner to be ready. It had seemed like the perfect family time and for as long as she could remember, it had always been the three of them; her, Papa and Mama. It seemed like she’d been woven into the family’s tapestry from the beginning.

In times past, she’d yearned for a sibling or two because being an only child could be really lonely but in the years that passed and series of miscarriages that followed, she felt her hopes dwindle. And when Mama was told her womb had been severely damaged and would never be able to carry a child till full term except through a miracle, she finally felt her hopes crash.

Mama didn’t cry. She accepted her fate and focused her energy on her work and only child. She managed to find the resilience to fight on, to restore her optimism about life and to dream on for her daughter.

Nmachi knew it was Mama’s courage more than anything that kept her full of dreams, too. If Mama could still be strong after what happened to her, she thought, then what excuse did she have? She who was younger and still had so much chance, she had to remain optimistic. She had to see the silver lining in the very dark clouds.

Fourteen


School was the only place she felt a little better in because she didn’t have to tread cautiously like there were landmines buried afoot. In a way Papa’s temper could be compared to a landmine because when it erupted, it was bound to leave frayed nerves and flayed skins. At school she only had to worry about participating actively in classes and staying out of trouble which was piece of cake compared to home. Her good grades made her amongst her teachers favorites and her reserved nature kept her in their good graces because she rarely got into trouble. She was fourteen and in class four, not the most popular in school but certainly one of the brightest.

Her school was a private mixed secondary school with the fancy name of Mayflower Secondary School and was one of the most expensive schools in the area. It lived up to its fancy name and was equipped with an athletic field, tennis and basketball courts and a swimming pool. The administrative building was separated from the classroom by a beautiful garden setting and the classes themselves were squeaky clean with desks that looked like they had just arrived from the factories.

Mayflower students were known for their tidy dressing and well groomed appearance. The school frowned on tardiness and students caught defaulting were severely punished.

Nma didn’t particularly have many friends infact all the other girls in her class seemed to hate her. Once, Victory, the only girl who cared to be friends with her told her why;

“Its because of the way you look and how you always seem to be better than most of them in class,” she said shrugging nonchalantly.

“I’m certain its not, I’m not as beautiful as Alice with her really smooth and light skin. And I'm sure if they all spent more time studying than they do worrying about boys and make-up they’d do better than me.”

Victory let out a giggle, “Alice is as beautiful as a dragon especially with her bad attitude.”

Nmachi pulled a straight face and tried not to laugh at the most popular girl in her class who was really saucy. Victory was probably right, Alice’s attitude made her as unattractive as a scarecrow.

Mama always taught her that vanity was a sin, but sometimes when she looked at the mirror, she wondered if she had been given some special gifts. Her hair was fuller, longer and richer than most. She had a creamy caramel complexion, shades darker than Mama’s and never bothered much by acne. She also had Mama’s hazel eyes with long lashes. Victory once said she thought Nma should go into acting like the beautiful women they saw on tv but she was afraid to wish for such a thing. She was afraid to wish for anything good. Nice things had to happen by surprise, she thought, it was like holding a balloon too tightly. It would simply burst, splattering your dreams into pieces of nothing and leaving you desolate.

When she was younger, Mama would brush and twist her hair in braids humming one of the soft melodies her own mother had sung to her.

“You’re going to be a beautiful young lady, Nma because already you’re living up to your name, God’s beauty,” she would whisper in her ear, “but you’ve got to know that beauty can be a burden too. You’ve got to learn to say no and watch yourself more because men will be looking at you more.”

Mama’s warnings usually frightened her. She couldn’t help but walk through the school corridors with her eyes firmly fixed straight ahead, not returning a glance, not welcoming a smile. She knew most of the other kids thought she was a snob, but she reacted this way because of a tiny butterfly that flapped in her heart every time a boy gazed at her with interest, especially a boy like Raphael Okoh. He was in the same class as her just in Science while she was in Arts. He just joined Mayflower that term but with his rising popularity, it was as if he’d been a part of the school from class one. When he gazed at her with his really dark eyes, she felt her heart beat faster and the butterfly flap furiously. The flutter sent a chill down her spine and down to her feet. She’d almost rather be unattractive, she thought.

She knew Victory didn’t think she was pretty, even though she thought she had nice features and beautiful ebony eyes. She had a bigger bust and liked to keep a button or two undone, she’d been punished several times for slim fitting her navy blue uniform skirt to emphasize her wider hips and mean girls like Alice called her a tramp. She thought Victory just craved to be accepted by the popular girls who teased her mercilessly.

Recently though, Victory seemed to have got her wish and hung around with Alice and her crew of mischief makers a lot more. Nmachi was uncomfortable with the dalliance with the girls she saw as trouble but her friend didn’t see anything wrong with them so she’d pushed her worries to the background. Maybe they weren’t as bad as she thought. That week, they were having after class studying in school.

“Stay back and join us Nma, its going to be fun.”

She chewed on it for a while, “Since when have you been so keen on studying hard?” she asked raising a brow.

“Well since Alice and her crew made it seem like the new cool. Besides…there’s someone I want to see who’s in the study group too,” she added with a flirtatious smile. Nma knew she had been flirting with Ejike Aneni lately; he was one of the popular guys in school although Nma didn’t see the attraction he held for any girl as his cocky attitude was a huge turn off for her.

“Mama would be worried if I got home late,” she said.

“Come on Nma, I’m sure your mother wont find anything wrong with your staying back after classes to study.”

“Yes well but Papa could…” she wanted to say Papa could get mad if he returned and she got home late but stopped herself on time. Nobody knew how it was in her house, not even Victory.

“Your father could?”

“Nothing.” She said hastily, a little too hastily. “Don’t worry, I’ll stay back for the group study.”

Victory’s face broke into a smile. “Great, its holding at SS1b,” she said taking her hand and dragging her along. Her eyes was full of anticipation and despite the brave front she tried to put up, a little fear, too.

If Nmachi had felt some unease at the class chosen for the group study, she said nothing and sauntered along to the back of the school where SS1b was. Maybe they wanted a high level of privacy, she thought.

Fifteen


The desks were pushed to the further end of the wall, the room was smoky and crowded and it smelled greasy and sickly sweet, but no one seemed to mind or care. So many of her classmates had cigarettes on their lips and were taking swigs from a bottle of whisky passed around. This was no group study, Nmachi thought with dismay.

She glanced at Victory when they entered and saw the look on her face was no much different from the look of disappointment and disgust that was on Nmachi’s but when she caught her staring at her, she acted as if she was still very excited to be there.

“Now that you see what’s going on, do you still want to stay?” Nmachi asked her.

“Of course I want to stay. It doesn’t look bad at all, infact I think I like it here.”

She made a beeline for where Alice and her friends were huddled in a corner, sticks of lighted cigarettes on their lips. Ejike waved her a signal and she went over to meet him.

Nma didn’t see anyone she wanted to talk to so she tried to stay out of sight, more towards the door like someone who thought a teacher or the school security men could bust in on them at any moment and she was better off being away from the crowd. Some guys were on the lookout though and she saw them look at her mischievously. How had she gotten here? She wondered. If word of any of this reached Mama’s ears, she would give her a good tongue lashing and Papa…Papa would skin her alive, she shuddered at the thought. Victory came back to meet her.

“You know most of them are your classmates and talking to them wouldn’t hurt. They’re beginning to talk about the big snob that you are.”

“We should go home, Vicky. Look at this place, look at what’s going on, what if a teacher finds us out or God forbid, the principal walks in? We would be in big trouble and I didn’t sign up for that. I only tagged along because you said it’s a study group, if I’d known this was what they’re doing, eziokwu, I won’t have followed you.”

“Can you hear yourself whining like a baby? Sometimes you’re such a worrywart,” she said rolling her eyes.

Nma wanted to retort that if you had a father like Papa, worry and fear became kith and kin but she said nothing.

“Anyways, there’s no need to worry about a teacher coming along, there are look outs and the security men have been bribed to see no evil and say no evil. Apparently, you’re not the only one worried about your image.”

Its not just about my image, Nma wanted to say but Victory had already stalked off. Great! She thought rolling her eyes, now she wants to give me attitude.

Johnny was a big boy, a science student. He liked walking with a swagger and thought himself God’s gift to women.

Nma was standing at the door when he sauntered in. He stopped and whistled.

“Hi,” he said and grinned, showing all his teeth.

Nma knew him as one of the less intelligent boys in class with money to throw around and an inflated ego. She heard some of her class girls call him ‘money miss road Johnny’ when they thought he was out of earshot.

“Hi,” she mumbled indifferently praying silently he would go away and Victory would come so they would go home. Johnny didn’t look like he was put off by her air of indifference.

“Nmachi, is it? You’re one of the fine girls in class although you act stuck-up,” he said.

And you’re the dumbo in class who thinks he can get any girl with his father’s money, she thought with disgust.

When she didn’t say anything he added hastily, “its cool though, the whole ice queen thing works for you, makes you a lot more, hot,” he winked.

“Thanks.”

“You want something to drink? Smoke?” he asked.

“No thanks,” she said. She backed up a few more steps toward the door.

“Hey, girl,” he said with a look of disgust, “you came to have fun here, didn’t you?”

“No,” she said.

“Then why did you come?” His face folded into anger, his eyes wider and Nmachi knew she couldn’t ever fancy such boy even if he was the last on earth.

“I came to study,” she replied a little lamely and sure enough, Johnny hooted in laughter. She burned in shame as they drew the stares of the other boys around who came closer. Two of them stepped between her and the door. She saw no one who would come to her aid. All the people looking at her had a gleeful smile on their lips as if they were enjoying her discomfort. It frightened her even more. Her heart began to pound.

“Well we could get back to studying after playing, like they say, all work and no play makes Nmachi a really dull girl,” he said flashing her a wolfish grin.

“I have to go home now,” she said giving up on waiting for Victory who was nowhere to be found.

“So soon? Will mommy beat you for coming home a little late?” he asked. Every time he spoke, his private audience laughed. She felt their eyes all over her, drinking her up in gulps from head to toe. It made her feel naked and on display. Her face felt hot as fear planted itself firmly in her stomach and sent her blood raging around her body. The reference to beating had made the image of Papa’s belt flash in her mind’s eye and she winced from the memory.

“I have to go home,” she whispered.

“What was that?” he asked cupping his ear with one hand.

Before she could reply, one of the guys said, “maybe she wants you to walk her home, Johnny.”

“I could do that,” he offered.

“No thank you.”

“No thank you? How polite. Isn’t she polite Prince?” he asked.

“I’ve never seen a more polite girl,” Prince quipped. Everyone laughed. The circle they made tightened so she couldn’t see beyond them to the corner where Victory had gotten lost in.

“You’re really polite Nma and I’ll let you go,” he said and as she was about to let out a small sigh, he continued. “On one condition, though. I want a kiss.”



TBC

Updates on wednesday, kindly like, share and comment

ps2:
When I was supporting father Patrick Skarlet said I am weird., Yhu see what is happening now....

How sure are you that Father Patrick is any better, lol

johnwizey:
Old Kelechi is gone, nice one miss.

Thanks mister

shilox:
Good job here skarlet. I have bin following from the first page and haven't made a comment ever since until now, sori about dat. You glide smoothly!
More ink to ur pen!!

Thank you, I really appreciate this

Agromuda:
I. Guess. Papa now rmbr the baby no b his own, na Fr. Patrick get the pikin. #we dy wait til Monday sha.
Gud story.#thumb up!!!

Lol, indeed.

Thank you

Twinkle004:
Skarett thanks 4 d dedication,dat was sweet of u.can't wait 4 monday 2 come oooo
Y passing aggression 2 both mother & daughter,if he feels he is tired of d marriage u divorce her instead of been violence

youre welcome dear.

Hmmmmm...remember this is the 1970s, divorce wasn't so rampant then

skarlett:

youre welcome dear.
Hmmmmm...remember this is the 1970s, divorce wasn't so rampant then

Yea,dat s true

Please let someone come to Nma's rescue, don't let her join the bad gang abeg. I'm afraid she's going to disappoint her mother soon..... Thanks for the wonderful update Fii and pls, find a way for Nma's mother to get pregnant for that man as a compensation. Somebody has to carry on his lineage. Thanks and God bless you dear

I just pray Nma won't be rape oooo Skarlett keep it coming

Fijumokesayo:
Please let someone come to Nma's rescue, don't let her join the bad gang abeg. I'm afraid she's going to disappoint her mother soon..... Thanks for the wonderful update Fii and pls, find a way for Nma's mother to get pregnant for that man as a compensation. Somebody has to carry on his lineage. Thanks and God bless you dear

Lol, no be small compensation. I agree though, someone has to carry on his lineage

Twinkle004:
I just pray Nma won't be rape oooo
Skarlet keep it coming

I hope so too, i will.

Fijumokesayo:
Please let someone come to Nma's rescue, don't let her join the bad gang abeg. I'm afraid she's going to disappoint her mother soon..... Thanks for the wonderful update Fii and pls, find a way for Nma's mother to get pregnant for that man as a compensation. Somebody has to carry on his lineage. Thanks and God bless you dear

lol

Welldone Scarlett...this is a wonderful piece!

This is too good to be free

skarlett:


Lol, no be small compensation. I agree though, someone has to carry on his lineage

so u agree dat Nma is not is child. well fingers crossed, great piece.

[quote author=ozila post=49680846]

lol


Boss Oz, I hail o.

[quote author=Fijumokesayo post=49691701][/quote]
na me hail pass

Thank you skarlett for the dedication.
I must confess, your narration is suspense filled. I love it.

It is a slow fade when you give yourself away - Casting-Crowns