Ekene moved from one store rack to another leisurely inside the boutique with her friend Anita. She scanned through several dresses not so sure of exactly what she was looking for. Ekene in her early twenties was endowed with a gorgeous body but she had a bad taste or wrong idea of how to dress herself so she did a bad job each time she wore something. Her friend Anita wasn't any better. Both of them looked like tramps who obviously were searching for more skimpy outfits.
"You are missing too many classes and tests girl. Try and be showing up more often naa!" Anita admonished her friend while she put a short dress on her body looking into a mirror close by.
"If you continue with that trend, you will have too many carryovers."
Ekene hissed, "God forbid! Don't worry yourself bae, I will sort myself out!" She examined a dress at a rack and went to the next rack.
"Really?" Anita eyed her friend. "But you know not all of them want a piece of flesh, Mr Kofi for example."
"He sure won't say no to cash then. No one ever refuses a clean bundle." Ekene said, winking at her friend.
Anita smiled and shook her head. "You are irredeemable!" She checked out another outfit and queried, "Who did you say you are dressing to kill tonight?"
"My dad is having a reception party for his special client. I told you on the phone." Ekene answered as she picked out a dress and examined it. "How about this?"
Anita shook her head in disagreement. Ekene hung it back and continued explaining, "It must be someone special for my dad to be throwing a party for. You know he's not the party type. You should come girl!"
Anita smiled. "I would love to but I can't afford to piss off Steve. Did you forget we have an appointment with his oyibo tonight?" She glared at Ekene.
"Oh my God!" Ekene froze and covered her mouth with a palm. "I completely forgot!" She frowned. "What do I do now? Steve will skin me alive if I don't show up and I can't afford to upset my dad either." She stared at her friend thoughtfully, "Please Anita, you have to explain to Steve on my behalf, I can't…"
"No way!" Anita cut her off! "I can't! You are on your own here, bae!" She turned away from her friend and continued to look at clothes.
Ekene feigned a crying face and after a while, she resigned. "I will call him myself later in the day!" She went back to looking at skimpy clothes.
Minutes later, Ekene saw a hunky young man come into the shop with a girl. She held her breath and stared lustfully at him. Anita followed her gaze. "Girl! He's so hot." She whispered to Anita. Anita agreed with her with a mischievous grin.
Ekene kept an eye on Mr hunk and his girl while he pretended to be checking out more clothes. She moved to the section where the couple were shopping and continued to search for clothes. "What are you doing?" Anita whispered to her. "Watch me!" She whispered back.
So Anita didn't follow too closely. Once Mr Hunk's girl went to a fitting room with a dress, Ekene went close to him with a dress, putting it against her body, she asked him,
"What do you think please?" Mr Hunk looked at her, she smiled and turned around giving him a full view.
"Do you think I should go for this dress, does it suit me?" Hunk took a critical look. He obviously liked what he saw and answered. "It's perfect. Go for it!" He smiled back at her.
Ekene smiled provocatively. "Thank you!" She turned to leave.
"I'm Sly. What do I call You? Mind if I call you sometimes?" Hunk asked with a matching corky smile.
"Sure!" She gave him her phone. "Call me EK!"
He took her phone and dialed his number. He returned the phone to her.
"You are very pretty EK! See you soon!"
"Thank you! See you soon!"
She spun around to leave the moment Hunk's girl approached. Anita glared at her in awe. Both of them exchanged giggles.
**********
Chisom is dressed in a purple, plain- cotton, smart jumpsuit. She wore flat shoes, her hair in a bob style and simple makeup. Her dressing complimented her slender, beautiful figure and ebony skin. It gave her a cultured and classy look.
Her leather box tucked away in the corner, She paced around the living room with an apprehensive expression.
After a few minutes of restless walks, she glanced at her silver wrist watch, sat down on the sofa and exhaled. She switched on the television with the TV remote next to her seat and tried to relax as a home movie appeared on the screen. She fixed her gaze at it in an attempt to follow the drama but rather, her mind and views drifted off to the past and the drama of her seventh birthday played out before her.
Away from the main house of Chief Amadi's residence, by the side of the boy's quarter, seven year old Chisom was posing cheerfully in a Cinderella dress and with her birthday cake while her mother took photographs.
"Mom, let me go and check if my friends are here so they can take some photographs with me." Chisom chirped in excitement.
"Okay love!" Chinyere smiled encouragingly at her.
Chisom ran off heading straight to the main gate of the Amadi's mansion. She peeped through the gate to see if she could see anyone but nobody came to her view so she decided to hang around a little while. Ngozi came out of the main house with her little boy, Obinna who was six years old. She spotted Chisom in her beautiful dress hanging around the gate. she stopped in her tracks and watched Chisom curiously. Soon, there was a knock at the gate. Chisom went to peep again. She saw her friends, jumped in excitement and ran to the security man, Ahmed. She asked him to open the gate for her friends. He smiled at her and went to the gate.
"Ahmed, don't you dare open the gate for anyone I didn't ask you to!" Ngozi shouted at Ahmed from where she sat on a lounge chair cuddling her little boy.
"Yes Ma!" Ahmed responded. He gave Chisom a pathetic and apologetic look and returned back to his post.
Chisom was at a loss. In confusion, she ran to where Ngozi was seated, knelt down and pleaded,
"Good afternoon ma! Please, kindly allow my friends to come in! They're only here to take photographs with me, it's my birthday. I promise you, they won't disturb you and won't stay long."
She put her palms together in prayer.
Ngozi glared at her and mimicked her scornfully before adding, "Who gave you the right to invite anyone to this place? What do you and your mother know about the upkeep of this compound? Come on, get away from my face you little brat!"
Dejected, Chisom ran off back to the boys quarter in tears. Chinyere became alarmed seeing her in tears, she held her in her arms and asked, "what is it Chim? What happened? Your friends didn't come?"
Sobbing convulsively, Chisom narrated what transpired at the gate to her mother. Chinyere, fuming in anger, took Chisom's hand and marched off to the main house.
They met Ngozi outdoors still in the lounge chair. She braced up when she saw mother and daughter already in anticipation. Chinyere lashed out angrily, "Why did you not allow those children to come inside? What are you trying to prove? What is your problem?"
Ngozi ignored her.
" Well, I can see you have no manners at all. Since you intruded into my home and took over, I've tried to be nice by keeping out of your way but I've just realised that I've given you too much benefit. Now let me tell you something, next time you pull this type of stunt here, I'll teach you the lesson of your life!"
Having said that, Chinyere grabbed Chisom's hand and took off.
That very evening, while mother and daughter were saying their night prayer kneeling together by the bedside, a loud rumbling knock came to the door. Startled, the two women exchanged glances before looking at the door.
Chief Amadi's voice followed the second banging, "Open this door before I kick it open!"
Chinyere jumped to her feet and opened the door. She asked immediately Chief Amadi rushed in,
"My husband, what is the problem?"
Amadi wild with anger retorted,
"How dare you? What gave you the audacity to threaten my wife today?"
Chinyere grabbed an idea of what the matter was and exhaled. "Calm down my husband! It's not what you think!"
"Who's your husband?" He fumed. "It's obvious you have grown retarded, that's why you have refused to accept the fact that there is nothing between you and I again. We have for a long time been history. Fini..."
Chinyere cut in, "My husband, don't be rash in your anger. Please..."
"We are done! It's been long over between us! Get this into your head!!!" Amadi shouted.
By this time, Chisom was hiding in a corner of the room with her two hands covering her ears in an attempt to block out all the verbal exchanges between her parents.
"I've been lenient enough by keeping you in this premises but it has just dawned on me that it's a big risk. I can't continue to harbour you here! Chinyere, it's time for you to leave!" Amadi continued to rant.
Chinyere shook her head in rejection of what her husband was saying. She refused to accept it and she voiced it,
"Amadi you are so enraged and have no control of what you are saying! You can't ask me to leave! I'm your legal wife! You don't know what you are saying! Please calm down!"
"Chinyere park your things and leave with your daughter first thing in the morning!! I will not be here at noon so if you don't leave by morning hours, you are on your own! I will not be responsible for whatever happens to you! Read my lips; you are on your own henceforth!" Amadi sounded very determined.
Chinyere knelt down, held his hand which he shook off. She pleaded,
"I'm so sorry my husband if I said anything to Ngozi today that got you offended! Please forgive me, it won't happen again! Please! Don't kick us out! I'm so sorry!!"
Amadi turned away from her, insisting that she must leave.
Chinyere continued to plead,
"My husband, where do you want us to go? You know I have nowhere to go! Please! Consider your daughter, Chisom! Whats going to happen to her welfare and education?"
Amadi raged on, "Which daughter? She's not my daughter! You know where you got her from. Please take her back there or wherever you care!"
"Amadi don't say that... how can you say she's not your daughter? You haven't even seen all her school results and the awards she's won at school. Let me show you!"
She frantically ran around the room bringing out stuff, "Take a look at all these Nkem! She took after your brain!"
"Get lost Chinyere! Get out of my house with that girl from the marine world! I'v given Ngozi the power to deal with you anyhow she deems fit if you don't leave here in the morning!"
With those words, Chief Amadi stormed out of that small room leaving Chinyere shocked and Chisom crying bitterly.
Chisom had tears in her eyes when the sound of the doorbell to Chike's entrance door pulled her out of her painful memories. She pulled herself together and cleaned her eyes with some serviette on the coffee table. The bell rang again. She stood up, went to the door and opened it.
"Good evening Miss! Chief Amadi sent me to pick you up!" The driver at the door said.