After paying for the surgery and other postoperative care fees, Briar returned to the ward where she had a chat with her brother. After not seeing each other for years, only to reunite in such a state, Briar was emotional.
However, Benjamin continued to reassure her that everything was going to be alright and she shouldn't worry.
Since her brother reassured her, Briar decided to trust him. He had never let her down, so her trust in him was very high.
Briar couldn't sleep in the hospital and she didn't dare share the same space with her parents. Besides, her brother's operation was in two days, which meant that she had these days to do other things she came back home for.
So, on that very day, when visiting time was over, Briar bid her brother goodbye and promised to return before he got into the theatre.
After doing so, she left the city in the car she had hired when she arrived earlier and drove straight to the village.
The roads were very bad, however as someone who needed something there. She gritted her teeth and continued to drive meticulously along the way.
By the time she entered the village, the sun was setting and smoke rising into the sky, as the women were cooking.
Seeing such a huge car in this remote village, the villagers were curious and couldn't stop gossiping about who it belonged to.
Briar didn't have any thoughts of dropping by her family house or visiting her grandparents. Seeing those people, she was certain that her blood pressure would surely rise and something bad would end up happening.
And since she didn't come to see them but someone else, her car drove straight to that person's house, which was quite a distance from the other houses in the village. A perfect situation for her who didn't want to be seen.
When she stopped her car at that person's house, she saw the familiar hunched silhouette which had scared a lot of children in the village in the years when she was growing up.
This person's name alone was enough to make a disobedient kid straighten out his crooked ways, and it so happened that she was one of the few people in the whole village she greatly respected and looked towards to as an elder.
"You came!" a hoarse female voice rang in her ears as the hunched silhouette came into view.
Briar seeing the woman, who happened to be the only spiritualist in ages, beamed as her lips curled upward in joy.
"Spiritual mother, I am here! Were you waiting for me?" she asked teasingly as she carried out the bags she had brought from the city.
The old woman with wrinkles on her face, wearing a white robe, smiled dotingly as she looked at Briar, her agaze oozing with affection and love.
Briar seeing the love and warmth from the older woman felt very warm once again. Only in this place, when she used to live here, did she feel like she belonged.
At home, she didn't even dare think about it. Mother Grace was truly one kind of mother who would go down in history. But she couldn't blame her. Weren't most of the mothers in villages like hers all the same?
She should blame the ancestors who made it a priority to favor boys over girls. See how they were being treated now!
Just mere tools.
"Indeed, I had an inkling that you were coming!" Mammy Adonai, the spiritualist said as she took the bags from her.
Getting used to her doing that all the time, Briar didn't stop the other from doing so but simply followed behind as she asked curiously, "Then did you prepare a welcoming dinner for me?" her tone filled with shamelessness.
Mammy Adonai chuckled helplessly as she stepped into her house, thinking of how this little girl never changed.
"If I don't prepare it, were you going to?"
"Hehe, why are you saying it like that as if I can't cook?" while sticking her tongue at Mammy Adonai, Briar asked with a light chuckle.
Mammy Adonai stopped in her tracks before looking at Briar with a side-eye. "Are you sure you can cook edible food?"
Briar puffed her cheeks sulkily, seeing the other not believing her.
"Mammy! How can I not cook? I cool herbal dishes and have been doing it for more than ten years. How can you doubt me?" she coyly complained, stomping her feet as if she were a little wife who had been wronged.
Mammy Lena, seeing her acting cute, and shamelessly like that, broke into a peal of laughter. That face which had been used to maintaining a stern expression finally loosened up.
How much she loves being with this spiritual daughter of hers. She was truly a heaven-sent.
Seeing Mammy laughing hard like that, Briar pouted sadly, knowing that she had been played however inwardly she felt a sense of joy. Mammy still took her as her daughter and continued to look forward to her return.
At least in this cold village where she was raised, there was still another person who sincerely welcomed her.
With all the bantering done, Briar found out that Mammy had indeed prepared a welcoming dinner for her and it was still hot.
There were her favorite dishes prepared, and seeing them, Briar felt teary.
Briar loved clay pot chicken with mushrooms, cooked on low heat alongside fufu (a pounded meal which can be from plantain, yam, cassava or even rice).
Her favorite fufu was made from rice. Back then, when she was young, whenever her family had rice, she wouldn't get to taste a single grain. All of it went into the bellies of her parents and brothers. Fortunately, there was her younger sister who was born after her and suffered with her, but her suffering was lesser than her. So, it didn't count.
Mammy was the first person to cook meticulously and earnestly for her. Although Benjamin could keep food for her on the side at times, her mother ended up watching guardedly over him and that stopped automatically.
As for Brenda, her younger sister, maybe it was because she knew how to act cute when she was young. Her life was better compared to hers. And with her married to the man her parents wanted before divorcing, the hostility towards her was lesser than her.
As for how she was faring, she didn't care.
Briar and Mammy Adonai ate the meal with smiles on their faces. It was a satisfying meal for the two of them, loners who wore masks every day without fail.
After the meal, as the junior, Briar did the dishes and once that was done, she was taken to the treatment room. Where all guests or rather patients who come to seek help from Mammy Adonai would be taken to.
The room was adorned in white cloth, which covered the four walls. Herbs were hanging on racks and an altar was set at the front.
Briar sat on the mat cross-legged across from Mammy Adonai and the consultation began.
Because all the time, Briar didn't have enough time to spend with Mammy Adonai. The very night that she arrived, she would get her consultation and get what she needed. If more time remains after that, she would have time to chat in detail with the other.
"You have gotten married to him, finally. Should I say congratulations or what?" Mammy Adonai as soon as she was seated, uttered those words, making Briar smile grimly as she recalled her marriage status.
"Mammy, are you mocking me? We both know that it's fake. Once my use is done, then we will part ways!" she dejectedly said.
She was aware of her situation and didn't need anyone to remind her of it.
There was a reason why he picked her, of all people. Though she was grateful for it, she couldn't help but feel sour as well. Was she a pushover?
Mammy Adonai, seeing Briar's expression, felt sour as well. She just wanted the best for her child and yet her child had to carry a torch for a man for over a decade and when a breakthrough finally came, the marriage just had to be fake.
With her status, reputation and all the help that she had given others, how could she happily watch her daughter suffering like that?
"Are you still standing firm about now, wanting to do something about it? Do you know that I can help you to give him a push? With a single move, he will be sniffing around your skirt like a tamed dog!" Mammy Adonai offered for the umpteenth time ever since she learnt of Briar's love for her boss.
If other things could be achieved by using a few herbs and calling a few spirits, why should they put more effort into it and waste so much time?
Mammy Adonai just couldn't get it at all.