CHAPTER SIX

*

Emeka saw the knife over his head, and he saw the look on his father’s face, this man wanted him dead..this man would kill him.

It took a second for Emeka to decide; Kill him first or save himself?

Emeka bends, placing his hands over his head, then he kicks forward hitting his father’s legs from under him… which causes his father to fall backwards with the cutlass, once he hits the ground he holds his head.

His mother was screaming, she rushes to her husband, the cutlass had fallen away. Emeka steps on it.

KILL HIM OR NOT TO KILL HIM?

Emeka stands over him, his mother was searching if his father was injured, he wasn’t. He was squirming in pain as the girls rush to him pushing his mother away to attend to him.

Emeka picks up the cutlass, and pulls his mother up entering back into the house..”Emeka your father, he is injured, let me help him” she cried

“No Mama, his sluts will help him, you come, you are not well”

“Emeka you shouldn’t have challenged your father, you shouldn’t have”

“So I let him do what? hurt you continuously, make you suffer always, should I have walked away seeing you in that state? Ah it’s enough! if I had been challenging him right from time he would have mellowed down but everytime i come home to see you cry you beg me not to go to him and I listen but within I was breaking, I was dying everyday seeing you like this? No mama, enough is enough, no more! He touches you I fight him, he hurts you, I fight him, he starves you, i fight him.

This house, this wealth is because of you, he has no right to the way he does, none. It’s enough” he says taking her into her room , he looks at her body, he frowns when he notices bruises, he goes into the toilet, grabs the first aid kit and begin to clean her up

“he is angry, but he wouldn’t be for long, go and apologize to him Emeka please, for my sake I beg you” she cries

“Never, he wanted to kill me mama, he wanted to kill his son, your son. That man and me have nothing anymore, other than the blood that flows through my veins mama, he is not my father, never again”

‘Stop it Emeka!”

‘‘No, no I won’t…look at you, look at your body” he lets his tears flow

“oh my baby” she leans cradling him to her

“I can’t watch this go on like this anymore mama, one day….one of us would really die one day”

‘’ You can’t say that”

“mama I can and I will”

Mercy coughs hard, Emeka pulls away touching her neck ”Your fever is still there, come mama, let me take you to the hospital” he says pulling her up

“There is no money for that, give me that bitter-leaf drink, it would help” she points to an Eva bottle with green liquid contents

“No mama, I sold my car, I will take you to the hospital“

“You did what?’

‘’Mama, don’t ask me too many questions, lets go” he says taking her by the arm and leaving, they didn’t meet anyone at the gate, and didn’t see any sign of his father.

*

“Are you feeling better now mama, the injections wasn’t too painful was it?”

“I am better thank God, but my son how will you cope?”

“Don’t worry mama, he under prized that car but it doesn’t matter, you are the one who matters to me, with the change remaining we can go on for a few days, I would look for another job again. We just have to assume that even the little privileges we used to get at home won’t be there anymore..so that means…we are on our own’’ he had said turning away from her, closing his eyes, he sees Diana’s face.

He couldn’t believe he wouldn’t be able to talk to her, to tell her how much he loves her, to kiss her and hold her at night. To tell her she was beautiful, to help her when she couldn’t understand her assignment.

To drive her to and back home from school, to tell her jokes and watch her throw her head back in laughter, to

watch her sleep and wish he could give her the world.

He couldn’t believe the girl, the first girl he had given his heart, body and all to suddenly broke up with him just because everything was going bad for him and he thought when she said she loved him she meant it..so it was all a lie? She liked him because of his name and his father’s wealth, now that he was getting nothing she couldn’t handle it.

“Dear lord why does it hurt so much, this pain in my chest, this pain” he says letting another tear fall from his eyes rubbing his chest

“Emeka, all will be well, God will not abandon us” she says squeezing his arm, she wipes his tears away “God will not abandon us” she repeats

“But he did mama,he did” he says “And he took my heart away” he adds

“What do you mean Emeka, what is wrong with your heart?”

“Diana mama, she …she doesn’t want to be friends anymore” he says,

“She would come around”

He shakes his head “No mama, this time she wouldn’t, we have had fights, we’ve had quarrels, but this time we didn’t fight, this time she …she just didn’t want to be in my life and it hurts mama, it does..all that pain…all with what I see coming home, she was my safe heaven, my escape, my peace, now all I feel is pain and emptiness and loneliness and- “ he trails off, “You won’t understand mama, you won’t “ he cleans his eyes

“I am sorry” she says to him

“She left me Mama, she said she didn’t....,- i....i love her mama” Emeka chokes