Driven to (2)

Once, a man came into her life and she was quite excited about him. He was from the neighbouring town and thought she was beauitful. She liked him too and tried as much as she could to make the relationship work. At the beginning, the village was aghast that a man was actually interested in Agama and had plans of marrying her. But on seeing how committed the man was, the people actually gave in to the man marrying Agama. Some people went to the Ekwu's village and tried talking to his family to dissuade him from marrying Agama but all to no avail. He was bent on taking Agama as his wife and no one would actually stop that. She opened up to him when he came asking her hand in marriage and warned him to back off from any future embarrasments. She cared less if he stayed or left because she was already used to all of them leaving after listening to all the gossips in the town. Ugara on the other hand heard about the bustle in town and was angry at first. He thought of how a man could seek Agama's hand in marriage knowing fully well she was not capable of making babies like other normal women do. Ugara was infuriated when his fellow worker informed him and he stayed the whole day thinking about it. On getting home that day, he didn't even touch his dinner and Ezigbo on seeing this, thought she had done something wrong and went in to plead with thim to eat his food. He only said he wanted to be left alone and this continued for days. He actually was jealous not because he still loved her but because somebody else valued what he abandoned and people might make fun of him later.

Nkasi

She saw her father very moody for several days and wondered what it was they had done again. That particular week, she and her mother had vowed to make everything right to avoid any problems at home and so when Nkasi saw a very moody man come in and leave the house, she went into hiding not allowing herself be seen by her father. She was turning into a young woman and would go the stream with her female friends to either fetch some water or firewood. Her good friend Enyinne was leaving the community to attend the polythecnic in Enugu state. A family friend had promised to send her to school to further her education and Enyinne was very excited. Nkasi was also happy for her friend and wished she was in her shoes. The day Enyinne left was the beginning of her big dream. She needed to get out of town and quiclkly. Tired of the life she lived, she came home to inform her mother of Enyinne's trip to the city when she saw her mother very downcast. She was really worried and asked if everything was alright. Her mother quickly told her of her father's ailment that bothered her greatly coupled with the fact of him not speaking with anyone or wanting to go to the community clinic for a checkup. Nkasi wanted to reach out to her father, but his constant fist and rage even drew them farther apart. She only tried to cheer her mother up and went ahead with her normal chores at home while keeping her dream alive. She knew that sooner or later, she would also be in Enugu with Enyinne and they would do things together like they used to.
Taking an evening stroll with her other friends in the communtiy one evening, she heard of Agama's upcoming marriage and was astonished. She'd met Agama once or twice and was convinced she was a very nice woman who treated everyone with respect though she got none from most people. Nkasi was not surprised Agama asked for a divorce because her father was a very difficult man to live with and often times she wondered how life would be without her father; if her mother would be a happier person without him. Though she was glad about the news she got, she also wondered why her father had been so sad lately, getting ill and not wanting to go to for a treatment.
To be continued...
Ate ja!