Lose Woman 3

     

As Maria recalled, while observing the atmosphere during her father's burial  she didn't attend mama’s burial, and had no reason why, but guilt and frustration, mama always made her feel dirty but still demanded from her money to do this, money to do that, while her dad on the other hand was quite different, he never demanded but yet, she still didn’t listen when he talks, what do they expect her to do? The family was poor, barley had money to do anything, to eat three square meal a day was so difficult, they owed people lots of money for petty things, begged for help and assistance all the time, she also recalled how she struggled her way stubbornly from delta to lagos, lived with a friend till she got admission into  lagos state university to study theater-art, there has been these feeling in her that life was never meant to be lived by  begging and suffering just as her family has accommodated it to be, even at that, during her university days she did dabble into a sort of prostitution just so she paid her school fees, buy herself hand-out  and eat, basically to survive, till a day came when she came across a guy, Vincent, he was a club promoter and was very nice to her, he got her introduced into the system due to the fact that he was madly in love with her, but once she started club promoting, she made cool money, quick money, enough money to buy a complete duplex house  at D.S.C, Gr area for her parent in warri, and buy three shops at effurun market for her three elder brothers, shops they now rent and make money from because their lazy asses can’t even do any useful business as  men, to live in Rome you have to act like a Roman,  she got drinking and smoking, met different guys who wanted different things from her, she wasn’t in any relationship for love, to her money talks,  love sucks, at-least so far in her twenty eight years of age that theory has proven to be accurate, she did disappoint Vincent, he probably was too good for her, he wanted a wife while marriage was nowhere in her agenda, part of the things she told her mum that Sunday leading to a serious augment and unstable movement causing her to  slum outside of her gate then died from head trauma.

life did  take a sore turn for Maria since then, as people blamed her for mama’s death, her immediate elder sister Ejiro was the problematic creator, although they had always disliked each other right from small but as they grew Ejiro’s hatred increased and mama’s death only elaborated it, but the idiot was the worse hypocrite, she got married to a lazy ass and has four kids, Ejiro just like her mother was quick to judge and quick to ask, Ejiro runs to her for children school fees, house rents, foodstuffs, even loans for her good for nothing husband, yet  she  was the same person who would say nonsense  about her to people.

                                  Life could be a little bit confusing, Maria said to herself as the burial ceremony came to an end and the last sets of well wishes came to pay their respects and condolences at their house, some came to eat, others came to ask for money, some came to claim positions as elder brothers or family relations, some just came to see her. Observing everybody, Maria sat quietly on the couch with Ejiro’s last daughter balanced on her laps, she gave most of  the old folks money and barley raised a smile while doing it, there was a lot on her mind, considering this was the right of her elder brother Efe, and him bluntly giving  it up to her made her know she was now directly responsible for her elder siblings  and it heaved her heart, they were like sheep’s with no Shepard, and moved along with all she had to provide, although she had always been their provider, but she  gave a frustrated hiss once she realised  how real and useless her life was, at her expense and disadvantage was her care and responsibility  for these  irresponsible bunch of siblings.  Right now, Maria thought to herself, life was a day away, as long as she slept well at night she would live through the next day.

“My pikin, doh!”     Maria heard one of her mother’s sister talk from the background, she wore a weak smile and feebly tried to sit on the chair next to her, the single she was tying was squeezed and faded, very hard not to see that, and she was really getting older, life in the village could be harsh, Maria thought and observed the manner at which her Aunty chewed the red kola nut, quite irritating,

“Aunty migwoh”                         she greeted still not smiling but in a respectable manner

“ Vreen doh…..  How city”          her aunty replied then chewed another piece of her kola nut

“City dey fine”

“é show for your body”       she watched her aunty replied with a smile that irritated her    “ sorry for your loss, omoh mé, your papa sick well well before e die so…. Sorry you hear!!!! The lord gives and he has taken”

Yha yha smuch! That’s the parable for the weak, Maria didn’t say that, she murmured out instead “migwoh…..”       her greeting was brief then she squeezed three hundred naira note into her aunt’s hand and watched the woman pray for her with so much strength, once she was done and gone, Ejiro, Maria’s elder sister found her way beside her, she quickly carried her daughter that was sitting on Maria’s laps, and told the child to go and play, and waited till the kid was out of site before murmuring out in her tiny tone

“When you dey go back to lagos?”         Ejiro murmured in a tone scarcely above a whisper

“Tomorrow”                 Maria responded without looking at her

“Tomorrow!”        Ejiro repeated the word like it had no meaning    “when you go come back?”     She asked again

“I no know”         

“ I see……… abi na wen one of us die again you go show face con spend money”        Maria gave a sharp look at her sister  as though she should give the girl a nice slap that would shut her mouth, but instead she said nothing to that statement and tried her best to ignore it

“Look make I tell you…”         Ejiro began with her usual ‘I too know’ voice

“ life na small small, no body wan talk to you again because na you get your life, even though you dey fall out small small money for we so, you still be my sister, at this your age and standard you suppose don get husband or at-least one pikin, settle down, stop smoking, and drinking, quite your job, and be responsible…… all this one when you dey sleep with people husbands up and down like say them done swear for you…… dey embarrass this family anyhow, you suppose stop this rubbish”                                  if the clouds could listen and respond, it should have started raining as it rained anger in Marias heart

“I see… e be like say you see me for dream,”                   Maria began with an angry tone              “no be face wen person get e dey use take go market? My sister wen sabi judge! Mrs adviser,”                         Maria mocked standing up this time               “ I no fit change my life because you of all people say so, I understand say my life and yours no be the same, at-least no be me marry woman for house call am man, no be me dey born pikin like factory and dey beg my younger sister for money, no be me dey beg and live for my papa house even after my so called marriage, my life might suck, but it put food in your mouth and every other good for nothing siblings I have, wader you, or anybody, or even mama and papa wen done die, like it or not, my life sucks because of all of you,  you all are responsible for my way of life, at-least I was determined enough to be the goat in the slaughter house, for meat on your bloody plates……if I sleep with peoples husbands let it be my weakness…you, you are  more useless than I am, the same with bro Efe, Bro Kome, and Bro Felix……..  Bullshit!”                        She conclude furiously and stubbornly, how she hated it when people told her what to change about her life like she didn’t know her weakness already, with lots of anger in the air, Maria stormed out of the house, while everyone in the parlor stopped whatever they were doing to listen and watch, at this point she was fed up with their hypocrisies, they would still talk about her at her back, so why not give them something interesting to talk about.

                                                              

                                                         To be continued