Episode 3
Emeka saw the knife over his head, and he saw the look on his fatherâs face, this man wanted him dead⊠this man would kill him.
It took a second for Emeka to decide..
Kill him first âŠ
Or save himself.
Emeka bends, placing his hands over his head, then he kicks forward hitting his fatherâs legs from under him⊠which causes his father to fall backwards with the cutlass, once he hits the ground he holds his head.
His mother was screaming, she rushes to her husband, the cutlass had fallen away. Emeka steps on it.
KILL HIM OR NOT TO KILL HIM?
Emeka stands over him, his mother was searching if his father was injured, he wasnât. He was squirming in pain as the girls rush to him pushing his mother away to attend to him.
Emeka picks up the cutlass, and pulls his mother up entering back into the house..
âEmeka your father, he is injured,let me help himâ she cried
âNo Mama, his sluts will help him, you come, you are not wellâ
âEmeka you shouldnât have challenged your father, you shouldnât haveâ
âSo I let him do what? hurt you continuously, make you suffer always, should I have walked away seeing you in that state? Ah itâs enough! if I had been challenging him right from time he would have mellowed down but every time I come home to see you cry you beg me not to go to him and I listen but within I was breaking, I was dying everyday seeing you like this. No mama, enough is enough, no more. He touches you I fight him, he hurts you, I fight him, he starves you, I fight him. This house, this wealth is because of you, he has no right to the way he does, none. Itâs enoughâ he says taking her into her room , he looks at her body, he frowns when he notices bruises, he goes into the toilet, grabs the first aid kit and begin to clean her up
âHe is angry, but he wouldnât be for long, go and apologize to him Emeka please, for my sake I beg youâ she cries
âNever, he wanted to kill me mama, he wanted to kill his son, your son. That man and me have nothing anymore, other than the blood that flows through my veins mama, he is not my father,never againâ
âStop it Emeka!â
ââNo, no I wonât⊠look at you, look at your bodyâ he lets his tears flow
âoh my babyâshe leans cradling him to her
âI canât watch this go on like this anymore mama, one dayâŠ.one of us would really die one dayâ
ââ You canât say thatâ
âmama I can and I willâ
Mercy coughs hard, Emeka pulls away touching her neck âYour fever is still there, come mama, let me take you to the hospitalâ he says pulling her up
âThere is no money for that, give me that bitter-leaf drink, it would helpâ she points to an Eva bottle with green liquid contents
âNo mama, I sold my car, I will take you to the hospitalâ
âYou did what?â
âMama, donât ask me too many questions,lets goâ he says taking her by the arm and leaving, they didnât meet anyone at the gate, and didnât see any sign of his father.
âAre you feeling better now mama, the injections wasnât too painful was it?â
âI am better thank God, but my son how will you cope?â
âDonât worry mama, he under prized that car but it doesnât matter, you are the one who matters to me, with the change remaining we can go on for a few days, I would look for another job again. We just have to assume that even the little privileges we used to get at home wonât be there anymore⊠so that meansâŠwe are on our ownââ he had said turning away from her, closing his eyes, he sees Dianaâs face.
He couldnât believe he wouldnât be able to talk to her, to tell her how much he loves her, to kiss her and hold her at night. To tell her she was beautiful, to help her when she couldnât understand her assignment.
To drive her to and back home from school, to tell her jokes and watch her throw her head back in laughter, to watch her sleep and wish he could give her the world.
He couldnât believe the girl, the first girl he had given his heart, body and all to suddenly broke up with him just because everything was going bad for him, and he thought when she said she loved him she meant it.. so it was all a lie? She liked him because of his name and his fatherâs wealth, now that he was getting nothing she couldnât handle it.
âDear lord why does it hurt so much, this pain in my chest, this painâ he says letting another tear fall from his eyes rubbing his chest
âEmeka, all will be well, God will not abandon usâ she says squeezing his arm, she wipes his tears away âGod will not abandon usâ she repeats
âBut he did mama, he didâ he says
âAnd he took my heart awayâ he adds
âWhat do you mean Emeka, what is wrong with your heart?â
âDiana mama, she âŠshe doesnât want to be friends anymoreâ he says,
âShe would come aroundâ
He shakes his head âNo mama, this time she wouldnât, we have had fights, weâve had quarrels, but this time we didnât fight, this time she⊠she just didnât want to be in my life and it hurts mama, it does, all that pain, all with what I see coming home, she was my safe heaven, my escape, my peace, now all I feel is pain and emptiness and loneliness and-â he trails off, âYou wonât understand mama, you wonâtâ he cleans his eyes
âI am sorryâ she says to him
âShe left me Mama, she said she didnât, IâŠ. I love her mamaâ Emeka says
Mercy stares at her son, her heart breaking for him, he was twenty âthree years old, what did he know about love? She didnât even know anything about love, and she was already a full blown adult, and had lived half her life already.
Love? There was no such thing like love.
Did she love her husband? She didnât know because she had no clue what love was supposed to feel like. But she knew she never wants harm to come to him, she knew she would go to the ends of the earth to make sure he is safe, she knew that she could give her arm if he asks her to. Maybe thatâs why no matter what he did to her she forgave him, even in her pains she forgave him, in her tears she forgave him when all he did was cause her pain and misery and try to break her spirit, she forgave him.
Maybe that was love not judging him for his wrongs, accepting his flaws and mistakes, looking past his imperfections, accepting his scars and default⊠forgiving him constantly and submitting to him always even if it broke her.
Maybe that was love, she didnât know but she had a child with this man she had called husband from day one, she had cared, she submitted and God knows she would continue to.
Yes, he wasnât the man she saw long ago in her Uncleâs palour, warm and sweet. He was different but she had also come to realize somethingâŠdespite it all, she would never live him hanging, stranded or dying and walk away, No!
Maybe that was what she understood as what love meant, and if this was love why did it hurt so much. why?
She cleans the tears from her hers, looking at Emeka silently nursing his pain, he says he loves this Diana girl, she had seen her a couple of times, sweet, sometimes and a bit pushy other times, they were friends, Emeka had said, but she knew her son, the closest friend he had and cared so much for was Jessica,they were inseparable until her death. He had cried, the way he was doing now⊠it broke him.
Maybe Emeka loved that girl in his own way, but for this her, this pain was different, it was suffocating, it was⊠deep.
Yes, Mercy didnât know what love was or what it meant or how it felt like but she felt pain for whatever her husband did to her and still care for him⊠and here her son felt broken over a girl.
Then maybe they were unfortunate beings to care for people who hurt them, but the strangest thing was that they cared still, they cared still.
âI am here Emeka, I will never leave you my son, neverâ she says taking his hands to her cheeks and kisses it
Emeka turns to her, a sad smile on his face, a strand of tear trekking down his left eyes âI know mama, and that is why Iâll never leave you and never let any harm come to you, never againâ he says, this time he pulls her to him, hugging her tight as they cried in each otherâs arms.
They came home to find their things outside, the gate locked
âWhat in the world? Adamu, open the gate!â he orders the security man
âBros Emeka, oga says make I no let you inside if not him go fire me, and I get wife and pikin for house, abeg make una go, abeg him don go bring big boys, them be go eat, na them bring una things come outside, him say him go go police station sef go report say you use cutlass mark am for bodyâ
âI did no such thing, he is lucky. Adamu, open the gate my friend!â Emeka shook the gate
âBross abeg na God I take beg youâ Adam pleads âOga go kill me, kill you, kill madam joinâ he begs
âWho be that! who you be?â three men asks walking towards them, that minute his father drives in, a man in the front seat, a police man at the back with him
âYes officer see him here, this boy tried to kill meâ His father jumps out of the car, âAnd his mother sent himâ he says pointing to her
âI didnât, he was the first person to attack my mother, I tried to stop him and we got into a fight, he used the cutlass to attack me but I stopped him. I took it away and left with my mother to the hospital, you should be arresting him for treating his wife and son like this, isnât there a law against domestic violence against spouses and children?â
The men had alighted from the car, he recognized one as his fatherâs lawyer
âLook Emeka, your father had filed a report against you, and shown us the injuries he sustainedââ
âWhat injuries? He didnât sustain nothingâ
His father unbuttons his shirt to show bandage around his body..
âHe wasnât injured, he is lyingâ Emeka shakes his head, really, his father went that low as to lie and inflict these on
The lawyer steps forward to show him pictures of a man without his face showing, that looks like his father âs with cutlass marks on it, he looks at his father and some red patches on the white bandage
âI didnât do this, if I did you would have been dead for all that you did to my motherâ Emeka says. His mother is crying
âMy husband please please.. okay we are sorry, forgive your son, please this is a house matter donât let people laugh at usâ she goes on her knees
âHouse matter you say madam? And you sent your son to beat up your husband, to get him injured? You should be arrested, both of youâ
âDonât touch my motherâ Emeka pulls his mother away as the police reaches for her hand âDonât you dare. I know what you are doing Father, playing politics with your money, it wonât work. How much did he pay you to lie eh Mr lawyer? Donât you have a family, arenât you ashamed to be bribed? And you thugs âŠis that how money sways you all? And you police man, you have pledged to honour and protect lives and properties and here you all are dancing to the drum Mr Ambross Chikurdi is playing because he threw a few nairas on your faces and put some in your bank account is that it eh? You all know all he is saying is a lie, I only punched his face that is allâ
âYes we have pictures of that tooâ The lawyer says
Emeka laughs âYou all are pitiful, get out of my way, my mother needs rest, she is sickâ
âYou and that witch are no longer welcome in my house, never!â
âYou lie papa, you lie! this is as much my motherâs as it is yours and we will enterâ
âDare me!!â
âYou dare to stop me, not your bodyguards, not your lawyer, not your police dog, you father, stop me, then those fake pictures you have now I will show you what real cuts looks like Mr Ambross!â Emeka flares
âEmeka pleaseâ Mercy begs
âNo mother, I am done, tired! he wants it, let him come stop me himselfâ he pulls his mother towards the gate and keeps kicking it, Adamu was pleading for them to go.
âDeal with him, have no mercyâ His father orders
The guards pull Mercy away flinging her to the corner and descends on Emeka, beating him to a pulp as his mother screams and beg, she is held down by the police man
âPapa Emeka enough, AMBROSS ENOUGH!!!!ââ she screams âI will do anything you want, donât kill my son, tell them to stop please, please!ââ she screams
âAnything?â
âYesâ
âGive her the papers Lawyer, I need you to sign the divorce papers and the restriction orders, I need you to sign there and then I need you to take yourself and your son and I never want to see either of you ever again in my entire life, will you sign??ââ
Ambross comes forward
âYes, yes, just stop themâ she screams as they kept beating Emeka, she saw blood leaving his mouth, she screams louder
âSign it firstâ
Mercy without thinking signs it,
âStop, let the boy goâ he orders âGet out from my sightâ he tells Mercy
Mercy runs to her son, crying, cradling him to herselfâŠâGET OUT!!!!ââ
Ambross screams âThrow them away from my gate nowâ He says to his boys who drags Mercy in one hand and then drags Emeka by his leg and push them to the road, dumping their cloths on the ground next to them and leaves.
âMy son, my sonâ she cries âOH God!! Oh God why?â she bellows
âMama, mama..â Emeka coughs
âSshhh,itâs okay, itâs okay⊠you father will come around, we would wait and then we would go beg himâ
Emeka shakes his head, he painfully stands up, wiping the blood from his mouth,one of his eyes was swollen and so was his lips âI would rather die than go backââ he says taking her hand
âWere do we go, how do we survive, whereâŠ.we are good as finishedâŠmy son, we canât go anywhere else but home, how do we survive? we have nothing, nothing! You father had thrown us out, he has divorced me, he beat you, we have nothing⊠let us go and beg, accept the servants quarters⊠my son, your father isnât in his right mind⊠God will change him. We canât leave, what if he falls sick, what if⊠they ruin him..he needs me, he needs us. Where do we go if not home,we have nothing no money how do we survive how do we, how do we?â she begins to be hysterical
âMama , mamaââ he holds her face in his hands, kissing her forehead, his blood smearing her âYou have me and that is enough. I donât care if I drop out of school, I donât care if I need to push wheelbarrow or pack s–t, I donât care but mama, me Emeka Odinaka will be your blessing, your happiness and one dayâŠall this pain would be a bad dream I promise youâ he says holding her to him
He looks back to the house ..
And you father, one day⊠I will make you pay, I will make you beg and cry and then I would push the stool from under your leg and watch you fall..
One day papa, I will be in that position and power you wield I swear it and I will pay you back coin for coin, t-t for tat, blood for blood, I promise you.
âCome mamaââ
âWhere to?â she says crying
âAnywhere the wind blowsââ he holds her hand, the other he carries what he could carry and they stagger down the road, walking into the night.
Ten Years Later
Emeka stands facing the window, watching the cars move below, watching the traffic light turn from yellow to green to red.
There was a knock on the door, he didnât turn
âSir, your 11âoclock is hereâ
ââThank you Patricia â he says over his shoulders âusher in pleaseâ
He heard the door close, then someone knocks and walka in..
âGood Morning Mr Uchendu, MY name is Mr Ambross Chikurdi, my company had contacted you for some partnership and financial assistance, thank you for seeing meâ
Emeka turns to look at him after hearing this name âŠ
God works in mysterious ways ..
âWhat can I do for you Mr Ambross Chikurdiâ he says taking a seat and crossing his legs
This man standing in front of him, he had hated for years and after ten years he didnât know that his son was the one he called sir nor had the biggest company in the country with four other branches scattered within the country and out. And his company was taking other small company out of business.
Yes. God works in mysterious ways.
Now he would begin what he had prayed for years.. Revenge they say, was best served cold and karma was a b—h.
He smiles
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