You know sometimes I’d like to believe that I’ve seen it
all—life with all its drama in all its various forms , all seasons and
episodes, and just when I’m about to revel in all that boss mode, BAAAM!!! Life
decides to release another episode of “I DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING!”.
So there was this man, remember I said “man” and not “guy”
or “boy” meaning that this man was old enough to be my father. For the purpose
of this story, we’ll refer to him as Mr. X.
Mr. X happened to be
one of the contractors working together with my mum’s team on this job they’d
been given in my school. Most days after school, my usual norm was to go to my
mum’s office and chill a bit with hopes
of scoring a little extra cash from her before heading back to my hostel, and most
days I came, I’d meet the team having meetings for one reason or the other with
Mr. X being present.
At first it was the usual: “aah, madam, Owu nwa gi nwanyi?
O toochala oo, okwa nke a bu nke n’agu medicine?(aah, Madam is this your
daughter?, chaaii, she’s all grown up, oh is this the one studying medicine?,
aah very nice”) .Of course I’d have this plastic smile plastered on my face as
I g politely greeted, being the little innocent girl that I was (okay, maybe not
so innocent).
I remember one time I went to my mum’s office after school
looking all tired, Mr. X was there, and when he saw me, he started going on and
on about how I shouldn’t let myself get too stressed out and how he doesn’t
like seeing me stressed out, etc. I managed a faint smile as I said thank you
to show my appreciation for his concern. But I guess he really wanted to show
how concerned he was because he reached inside his pocket, brought out a sum of
money and bade me take it and buy myself a nice meal for lunch and a chilled
drink. I smiled, said thank you, and politely declined the offer, but he wasn’t
taking no for an answer. I looked at my mum whom gave me the okay on accepting
the money so i accepted the money and thanked him for his generosity, my Mum
thanked him as well.
Occasionally I’d run into Mr. X outside my mum’s office, and
whenever I saw him, he’d start making weird comments like: “Nne, okwa ima na-imaka, chaii,
okwanu open teeth gi n’ eko m, m gwa mummy gi kita na mu like gi, o ga-achu m
n’oru” (you know you’re a pretty girl, I like this your open-teeth oo chaii,
but if I tell your mummy that I like you, she’ll fire me from my job ”). As
usual, I’d innocently smile, thank him for the compliment, make some excuse
about being late for class and be on my way. The man gave me the creeps.
So yesterday, I was heading to my mum’s office after school
as usual when I saw Mr. X pulling up in front of her office. There was no
avoiding him as I had to pass him on my way to the entrance. At this point, I’d
seriously started considering turning back, I mean, as much as I needed some pocket money, being
broke and starving all through the weekend didn’t sound so bad when compared
with having to see this man. I had already started making up reasons in my head
to justify my starvation in case any of my friends asked why I wasn’t eating—I
could say I was on a diet, I’ve been trying to shed some weight after all, or I
could say I was fasting for the success of my upcoming exams(yup, that definitely sounded like a good idea). Oops! too late; he
saw me as he stepped out of his car. After all the formalities were out of the
way, he again began with speeches of how
he really likes me, but doesn’t want to
get in my Mum’s bad books seeing as she’s his boss and all that other
weird stuff.
He went further to ask what time I got off school and if he
could come by my hostel in the evening after closing hours. I told him I had
exams and was too busy to entertain any visitors, but as always he wasn’t
taking no for an answer as he kept insisting that he’d come to my hostel
later on so we could just chat for a bit. He kind of sounded something like
this: *insert sugar daddy voice* “baby just relax eea, ihe obuna ichoro, mee ka
mu mara, I’ll take good care of you nwa, ka m takea gi out, o buru point and
kill or nkwobi, just nke o buna ichoro, gwa m, anaghim a like ka stress na-eme
gi inugo?(baby just relax, if you want anything, just let me know, I’ll take
good care of you. Let me take you out, if you like fish pepper soup or nkwobi,
anything at all, just let me know. I don’t want you being stressed out okay?)
I could hear my inner
self screaming out :” Chaii, is this how hard life is now? Getting a girl is
now as simple as a plate of nkwobi? This life is really nobody’s own.
He also begged me not
to tell my mum of our little talk else he might lose his job, and how it should
be just between the both of us. In that instant I actually had to ask myself if
I really appeared so naïve. I mean young? Yes! but do I look naïve?. He then said that since I was on my way inside to see my mum, I
should give her something from him, because she was in a meeting and he didn’t
want to disturb, I said okay. He went to the back of his car, opened the trunk
and brought out a bottle of wine and some fancy looking paper.
Ladies and gentlemen, could you believe that what he had in
his hand was the invitation card to his wedding which was just 2days away?
As for what happened next? That’s a story for another day,
but I’ll tell you guys this, it’s not too early or too late to start covering
your future husband and family with the blood of the lamb. Someone will read
this now and say all men cheat and it’s a guy thing, well to that person or
those people I say, Olumo rock fall on you(I’m in my father’s house, come and
beat me).
What would you do if you found yourself in this situation
and what do you think could be the cause of this—that a man about to get
married in a few days is hunting for some young girl to mess around with, I
mean this man is old enough to be my father!
As always, do have a nice day and an awesome weekend ahead.
Dr. Alma Rosenfield