By Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu
‘The government didn’t do this without someone lighting the fire from beneath. Tell me who is behind this?’
‘Well, maybe your sister should learn to be a good girl. If she didn’t anger Emmanuel Nnaji, none of this would have happened. But you can’t do anything except to watch as our bulldozer raise it down.’
Louisa
was furious this time. She hadn’t complained about how bad her daughter was
been treated but this time she was determined to fight for her daughter. Once
they reach Abuja, she was going to meet Michael’s parents, and she would end this
entire problem, she thought as they gathered a few of their property that
hasn’t been damaged yet. But, was she going to do that? Perhaps, she was only encouraging herself in her thoughts. However, Louisa was still hopeful that her children will find peace someday.
Edward was in the study, looking at an old photo belonging to him and Louisa. They had taken the picture at a beach in Lagos State. Various pictures of his past with Louisa flitted through his mind. After a while of thinking back to when he first met Louisa and to how he broke her heart by being forced to marry Patricia, he put away the photo and headed into the bedroom. Seeing Patricia standing beside the bed in a daze, he stopped in his tracks for a moment before saying in a low voice, ‘Memories of the youth got you thinking?’
Patricia lifted her head and looked at Edward. ‘Yes. I can’t stop thinking of Louisa all these years…I just wanted to know if she’s fine, how she had been? If I had the power then, I wouldn’t have married you.’
‘You’re regretting having me as husband?’ Edward knew what she meant but still chose to misunderstand.
‘I don’t mean that…I meant that I would never have married you in the first place. But now that I am married to you I can’t divorce you. But I pray to find Louisa.’
Seeing Patricia in such pain of the past, he stretched out his arms and hugged her. ‘I know you had no choice then.’
Patricia returned Edward’s hug as she tried her best to absorb the warmth from his body. ‘I had promised Louisa that if one day my son falls in love with her daughter, I won’t object to it.’
‘What if Chioma is Louisa’s daughter. I am not saying that she is. I’m only thinking of the possibility.’
‘Then I will stop fighting for Jessica,’ Patricia smiled.
‘Isn’t Chioma the slummy girl, will you throw away your love for Jessica just for Chioma?’
‘When it comes to Louisa I don’t think I will want to see tears in her eyes anymore.’
‘You are not jealous that she was my first love and I can rekindle that love back?’
‘You wouldn’t do that.’ Patricia was optimistic. ‘However, I know that you will love her daughter for our son instead.’
Edward gently stroked her black hair before saying, ‘You have always been a good wife to me. Maybe, destiny didn’t let me marry Louisa because she wanted Louisa’s daughter for our son. I just wish that Chioma is Louisa’s daughter,’ he breathed.
‘Yes…but for now I still hate that
slummy girl for my son. I will only love her if her mother is Louisa Ugo.’
At this same moment, Louisa and her children were sitting in a bus on their way back to Abuja. Chioma flipped open the book on her lap, but her mind seemed excited that she was heading for Abuja. She could feel a bit hopeful for the future. She had bought a pretty white dress for Chisom and a pair of flat shoes before catching the bus.
Reaching Abuja, Chioma pulled out her phone and rang Chisom, telling her that they have arrived Abuja. This time they are not going back to their old house. Louisa didn’t want to bring her children back to the memory of pain. With the help of Beatrice and Leonard, they were able to secure another place, though still slummy, but it had a bit of fresh air, and the waving of their past behind.
This time they found a house
at the lowly-life valley of Kpaduma, thereby leaving Mpape, a slum that rested
uncomfortably on the side of Maitama, Abuja second most affluent district.
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