All About My Bruises (14)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I was afraid that the miscarriage I had while I was with Sam might affect this child but the doctor told me that I was healthy and so was the baby. I told him of what I went through. He checked my body and did a lot of tests before he told me that I have healed handsomely. I went into the market next to buy the things that I would need to go visit my parents. They must be worried about me. Even though I called to let them know that I was fine, they have not seen me for a very long time and I know for sure that a phone call would not appease my mother. She would want to see me. I decided that the Shoprite mall was less crowded than the market so I drove towards the place. I packed my car, took my handbag and went into the mall.

For the next two hours, I bought foodstuffs, cloth, house materials and so many other things that I knew my mother and family would love to have. I saw so many house appliances that my mum would love and would also make house chores easier for her. I have sent her such before but I wanted her to have the latest home appliances. The lucky thing was that I was not a spend maniac. I saved lots of money while living with Sam. He liked to show off his wealth even to his wife.

By the time it was midday, I was already sagging on my feet. I was so tired that I wondered what was holding me standing. I decided to get a bite while I was at it. I was very hungry.

I finished eating the coconut rice and fresh fish that I ordered and stood up to leave. Someone bumped into me and nearly knocked me down. Instinctively, my hands went to cover my belly. I turned around to see Tracy looking at me with murder in her eyes. God, will I ever get free of these people? She was dressed from head to toe in what I suspected were designers clothing. I wondered if her hair was designer too. She still looked as beautiful as she did in secondary school but the beauty was now more pronounced by her exotic make-up and outfit. She looked like a model but that still did not make me like her. I did not want to see her or anything related to Sam.

"Hey Tracy, long time, how have you been?"

She sneered at me more like her brother did not long ago. I knew that was not what she wanted to hear from me. I could see that she was spoiling for a fight. I was determined to think that she was now a mature woman so she should be able to know how to handle emotion. Unfortunately for me today, I gave her more credit than she deserved.

"You witch," she shouted, pointing her perfect long finger at me. I knew from their sceptical looks directed at us that Tracy was making a fool of herself. They looked at her like she has gone loco. The people beside her even gave her a wide space. I decided to make her the fool she was begging to be at a safe distance of course.

"Are you by chance talking to me?" I said as I took a step back. She took one forward.

"I am talking to you whore. You think you can get away with what you did to my brother. Let me tell you a secret; you will never. I will make sure that I drag you down with him." She took another step towards me, I took two steps back. I did not want to have anything to do with her before she harmed my baby.

"Whore? Don't you think that is a very heavy word for a lady like you? And what are you saying about your brother, I do not know of whom you speak of. But I hear there is a bastard that has been admitted to the hospital. Could that be your bother?"

Hear it. Chew on that for a second my pampered, spoiled chignon.

"You want to play innocent right? Let me show you how it is done." She made to grab me.

No one could accuse me of not being fast. I moved fast to the other side of the table so fast I wondered if I have a spring attached to me.

"Hold that woman, please. She is crazy." I was talking to the security man. Having said that, the security that was hovering around watching the show grabbed Tracy like the madwoman she was. I smiled at her. "My dear, what you need is help, professional help. You cannot go around accusing people of cheating on your brother. People will think that you are crazy."

"You are the one that is crazy. You are the one that needs help. Don't think I will let you get away with this. I will destroy you. Leave me alone you adulterated criminal." She shouted at me and then at the guards.

I knew that they were not going to leave her alone. I felt secure in that knowledge. They dragged her screaming and trash out of the mall.

*******************

I drove to Nsukka with the things I bought. I was not in a hurry to get back so I took my time making the forty-five-minutes-drive last for one hour. When I reached the compound, I honked and Yusuf came to open the gate for me. I thanked him and bowed until I drove off. I was afraid if I stayed longer he would prostrate for me. It was just bread. I smiled at him as he greeted me and gave him the bread I bought for him. He told me that people came to see me.

That was when I saw the car that was packed in the compound. It was a taxi and the taxi man was inside. I did not remember inviting anybody over. It must be Oge or Israel because they were the only ones that knew my new address. I did not want to pack what I bought into the house because that would be double work as I planned to visit my people the very next day. I went around the house where Musa said that my visitors were.

I was not, however, prepared for the sight that met me in the backyard. My father, who was very healthy last I heard, was sitting on the front step, my two sisters, Nmeso and Tochi. My mother was sitting beside my father and they were talking. They have not noticed my presence.

I got over the surprise before I felt the pleasure of seeing them. Mama did not age a day since I last saw her which was very long ago. She was wearing the white Buba blouse and her kirikiri star wrapper. She used the same material to tie her hair. The only difference was that she was darker. My father on the other hand was getting very old. I expected that because the age difference between my parents was much. My dad had twenty years on her. He still looked tall and muscular; thanks to his farming career but he also looked thinner. His veins were more pronounced than when I last saw him. He was wearing a brown old suit and black trousers. It did not fit him.

Nmeso and Tochi were also looking very healthy as expected. I have been in touch with them before Sam locked me up and they looked the way I expected them to look. Young and ready to face life with their innocence. I just hoped that they didn't lose it before they actually began to live life. Nmeso was dressed in a black long gown while Tochi, the outgoing one, was dressed in a short flay gown with many colours. They looked good in their gowns.

"I told you that something was wrong with my daughter. You cannot ignore the feeling of a mother." My mother was giving my father that look she gave the women in her Umuada meeting when she knew that she was right and that they were talking rubbish and she always thought.

"Woman, when have I not agreed with you that something was wrong with Ola? Why do you keep pressing the point? Allow me to enjoy this breeze nah? Please." He sounded like she has been saying that for a long time.

I smiled. My mother knew how to bother people when she has a point and right now, she was determined to press her point deep on my poor father. The two girls with their faces on their phones did not notice what was going on around them.

"I will not allow you to enjoy even the heat until I see Ola. I told you not to let her marry that man but you refused." Oho! She was spoiling for a fight and my father was not in the mood.

"What did you want me to do? Ola is very stubborn and she has decided that she wanted to marry that Sam person. I had no choice. I love my daughter and I am proud of her but remember what they say, pride goes before a fall. She thought that she was too beautiful to be in school and that she wanted the easy way out of the situation that we were in, she got it eventually but at a very high price. Experience, they say, is the best teacher." He used wild gestures to emphasize his point.

"Please Udoka, don't give me that bogus logic. Don't you know that the girl is just a small girl? Or do you think that any girl that develops breasts is now a fully grown woman? She was just a kid. You went and gave her away. If you had insisted that she finished secondary school before getting married, she would have done it. I know my Ola and she respected you. All you had to do was stand your ground," she said as she stamped her foot on the ground to show him how it was done. I smiled.

My mother was right on that ground. If my father had insisted that I finished school before getting married, I would have listened to him. But then I knew that I would have made that difficult for him then because I had wanted to marry Sam. I debated with the idea of staying there and watching them have their little family drama but decided against it. It would be rude if I did not make my presence known. I did not like eavesdropping.

"Do you have any argument to counteract that one? You know mother is right so don't even try to deny it," I said as a way of announcing myself.

They were surprised to see me but that was a good thing. My mother on the other hand was very happy to see me. She jumped up from her sitting position and rushed towards me. She stopped to tie her falling wrapper. She was used to that. She loved tying her wrapper loose only to stop in the middle of something just to tie it again. It amused me a lot. I smiled now but it was with eyes that were blurry with tears. It has been a long since I saw my mother and I have missed her a lot.

I went to her. "Mama!" There were tears in my eyes already. She came to me and hugged me. The tears I had been trying to hide started falling then.

"Hey, nwamu oo, Olamma moo. O gini ka emere gi? You look very thin my daughter. Chimu egbukwa mu. What has this man been doing to you? O n" eti gi ihe?""

She was speaking the Igbo dialect. She was also crying. I felt rotten and sad that I was the one that made my mother cry.

Shame on you Adaeze.

"Adim mma mama. It's a long story but to cut it short, I am no longer with Sam. I left him. I will tell you all about it later," I informed her, knowing that she would want to know every little detail and knowing that I would not tell her every little detail. I would tell her what she needed to hear and nothing more.

She put her hand on her head and screamed. I expected something close to that but not that dramatic.

"Aru! Mmiri ama efi na anya. O siri gini? What happened, Ola? Do you want to shame your family? A woman is supposed to be with her husband no matter what. You have to go back to him."

I knew that was the African mentality but I was not going to be a victim of that mentality. I was done with Sam and nothing they or the villagers said would make me go back to him.

"It doesn't work that way anymore. When a man cheats and beats his wife and she doesn't want it, she is allowed to obtain a divorce in the law court and that is what I am going to do. I have to protect myself and besides, I am pregnant." I said that as I removed her hand from her head. I wanted to go greet my father and sisters but I knew that mother was not ready to let me go. When I told her that I was pregnant, she took a step and looked at me thoroughly. She then turned to look at my father.

My mother turned to look at me again. She looked very pleased with what she saw. She beamed with the widest smile I have ever seen on her face. "You are with child! That is a very good thing, my daughter. To God be the glory. I will soon be a grandmother. I cannot wait."

She gave a shout of joy.

"Are you going to invite us in sister?" asked Tochi. She was turning out to be like my mother in stature and in beauty. She was now taking her WAEC.

My mother hugged me so hard that I thought for a second that I was going to crack and break like one of Sam's expensive plates. I hugged her back. I did not know how much I have missed my family. I just found out and it was too much.

"I am fine, mama. I am okay. I just had a little sickness. I am good now. Stop crying mama. You will make me cry also."

She sniffed and used the head of her wrapper to clean her nose. She looked adorable. "How do you expect me to stop crying when that man has managed to kill my daughter for me? You look like a ghost. Chei Ola nwam, okpukpu ka gi ibu!" she shuddered dramatically. That meant that the fish was bigger than I was. I smiled.

I knew how I looked. I didn't need her to tell me that I was still very slim. My mother on the other hand was a very thin woman. You could see it if you looked hard at her face that worldly experience has hardened and made her look much older than her fifty-five. She was still very tall. Suffering has not bent her as it tended to do to other old women. Not that my mother could be termed that old. She was just aged. As if there was a difference in it all.

"My child, how have you been? You do not look well." My father had to shove his way to me in order to say what he wanted to say. Still, my mother scowled at him.

That was typical of my father. He asked a question and answered it. I wanted to tell him that he got it correct but that would have sounded sarcastic. Instead, I smiled and hugged him. I had missed him too but I sure did not miss his limitless stories.

"I am now fine papa. You people did not tell me that you wanted to come to the city. I would have come and gotten you all. I hope you had a pleasant journey?"

"The journey was not much fun. You know I hate cars. They make me want to puke," he said with disgust.

I laughed at that. The main reason why my father refused to come to the city was that he hated cars and did not like getting into one and my mother would not go anywhere that he did not want to go. I smiled at that.

"Tochi asked if I was not going to invite you guys in. Well, I am going to do that. Come in. Tochi how is your WAEC? I did not ask you that before because you did not greet me and were pressing the phone."

They came into my house. I was conscious of my house all of a sudden. I knew the place was good and homely but I tried to look at it from the eyes of a stranger. The couch was very expensive and good looking if there were any things like that applied to a couch. I had brown curtains to march the couch. The rug on the floor was green and brown to march. The living room was painted white but I would have to repaint it when the baby came.

"You have been staying here? It is good even though a woman is supposed to stay with her husband. That is the way our lord made it to be but since your husband is not the man he claimed to be, the Lord will have to be generous," my mother declared.

"Mama, I know what our Lord said but I don't want to think about it yet. Now, what I want to do is feed my family."

"If you knew that we were your family, you would have come to visit us. We have not seen you for a very long time. Do you know how long it took us to find your house?" I knew my mother felt like beating me. I was very sure that had I not been married, she would have beaten me very well.

My father was angry that I have not come to visit them for a long time but he did not know half of it. I knew that I went into the kitchen because I did not have any argument to refute what my father has just said. He was right. I knew I should have gone to visit them but I was so ashamed of my behaviour towards my family. I felt like I was not worthy of them. I wanted to become somebody worthy of them before I was able to stand in front of them. I had planned to go see them but I wanted to get everything with Sam over with before I went to see them

"You guys must be hungry. What will you like to eat?"

"Indomi, spaghetti," Tochi and Nmeso said at once.

My father and mother scoffed at what the girls said. I knew they loved local food and I have also come to love it too. I have had more than my share of that junk. I would have done the same if I were in their situation. Eating that American junk food was a very big treat for those that stay in the village.

"I have soup in the freezer. I will get it and make garri for mama and papa then you girls can take the second gas cooker, get Indomi from that up drawer and cook it. I will not cook for you guys. I will only cook for mama and papa"

After eating, I told them to sleepover. They wanted to start going but I begged them and they stayed. I showed them to the rooms that I have. It was a three-bedroom flat. I will stay in my own room. Tochi and Nmeso were mighty glad to have a room to themselves and not a mat.

It did not take long for night to come. I was in my room getting ready for bed when my mother came in with my daddy in tow. That did not look so good. I wanted to go and hide. Any time my parents did that united-we-stand-and-divided-we-fall-front of theirs, I got wary because my daddy must have a story or two to tell and my mother must have womanly advice to give or even three of them to give.

My room was decorated in purple. I used to like pink but as I found out that my memory was filled with the image of my pink decorated room smeared with blood, I began to hate the bright colour.

"Sit down let us talk my child," my mother began. She was tying her wrapper and nothing else. It covered her from chest to knee. It was a very long brown wrapper. We all sat down on my bed with me in the middle.

"Adighi ekpuchi afo ime aka. We have looked at you as our daughter and we have found out that all is not well with you. We know that you are unhappy with your life now. We hope as your parents that you will tell us what is wrong with you."

"Mama, there is nothing wrong with me now. There was something wrong with me but I am okay now. The only thing out of shape about me is that I am pregnant."

As much as I would have loved to unload all my worries on my parents, I could not, would not do it. That would only serve to make them worry about me and make my mother cry. If I told them all about it in detail, my mother would not stop crying this year and my dad would tell me more than ten stories that would illustrate my situation and as much as I loved them, that was asking too much. I just hoped that they would be satisfied with what I chose to tell them.

"What is wrong with you? You can tell us anything. We are your parents."

"Papa, it is not important now to dig up old wounds. I just want to let it go and go on with my life. I have left Sam and I am now a graduate of law. That is the latest about me now."

My mother stood up and started dancing. She was happy now. That was good. "My daughter is a lawyer. Abum onye chi n' echerem? God, you are so good. And I am going to be a grandmother!" She raised her hand to the ceiling and thanked God.

She danced from one end of the room to the other, making my father who was following her movement dizzy. "I knew you looked differently immediately I saw you. You were blooming. I shall now smile with my fellow women." That was as close as my mother came to tell me that she wanted a grandchild.

She eventually got tired. She told me to stand up so she could look at me well. She touched my slightly bulging stomach. She smiled as she did that. I looked at my father expecting to see a smile on his face but he was scowling at me.

"What is the matter papa? Don't you like it?"

"What I like is not the problem! Though I do like it, I really want to know why you are not with your husband anymore. I told you before you married him that marriage was a lifetime commitment. You can't leave him just because you discovered something you do not like about him. He is still your husband whether you like it or not." He pursed his lips and shook his bald head.

"Don't you think I know that papa? I do but this is no longer that time of the world where a woman is supposed to take anything from her husband without talking. I left Sam because he was cruel to me. O na-eti m ife. He beat me to the extent that I had a miscarriage. He made me his punching bag for a long time. I could not stay with him anymore if my life depended on it. He is now in the hospital because of what I did to him but I tell you, that did not begin to cover the hurt he caused me. And I told you that I did not want to talk about this."

I really did not want to talk about it but I guessed that I owed it to my parents to tell them why I was acting the way I was doing. I felt very ashamed. I did not know what my father and mother would think of me after I told them what I did.

"If that is the case, why did you not come back to your father's house so I can arrange to give him back your bride price? That is what you were to do. To live alone and with a child is an abomination. Aru!"

I was frustrated by the fact that my father did not seem to understand my situation. He was determined to do things the way custom dictated. As if Sam would be able to make the journey required for him to get back the bride price he paid. Besides, I have already paid for it in blood. I faced my father so that he would understand clearly what I wanted to say.

"I did not come back home because I did not want to impose on you people and, besides, it has not been long it happened. If you go to my boot, you will see that I just came from the market where I bought things that I wanted to use and visit you guys."

My father nodded like that was a logical explanation. He looked at me and touched my head affectionately. "I am going to tell you a story, my child. You must learn from the story. There is this story about a girl that is called Ngeto...."

What my father did not know was that I did not need stories to learn moral lessons. My life experience was a whole new story on its own and I have learnt a valuable lesson from it. So I put my hands over his to cut his story short.

"Papa, I am really very sleepy. You do tell such wonderful stories but I cannot listen to this story now. Why don't you tell me tomorrow? I will really like you guys to stay with me for some time. I have missed you."

"You know I do not like the city too much but I shall stay because the air is good here and I can rest as I wait for my farm to be ready for harvesting."

I smiled at that. My father, in his early seventy, was still a very ardent farmer. Wild horses would not have stopped him from going back to his farm let alone city life. "I was also wondering if you would allow Tochi and Nmeso to spend their holidays with me. I will need help around the house."

"Nwamoo, this is your first pregnancy Adaeze. Do not go and start pampering yourself or you will find it very hard to give birth. You need to do things that are gentle but hard. Get sleep and rest but do not overdo it. If you go all soft, you will have very hard labour. I am telling you this as a mother," she said while pulling hard on my ears. I was afraid the ears would come out red, peeling.

I did not want to tell my family that there might be a chance that Sam might sue me in court. If I told them that, they might want to be there. I did not want that either because I have a feeling that if I should go to court with Sam, it was going to be nothing less than ugly. I would just have to tell them when the whole thing was over.