Her Father's Wife

Chapter 8

Mazi Nwokeforo felt some relief after coming to this decision. The major problem facing him now is how to tell Obidiya and Ona about it. Obidiya is not a problem. She has always supported his decisions. She has never given him a moments stress since he married her. Their hearts beat as one. He will only be surprised if she has not already thought of this solution. His daughter is another kettle of fish. She has a mind of her own, she always has. In fact, she reminds him a lot of himself. Strong willed and difficult. Not easily swayed. Force will not work in this context, he knows that very well. He intends to use persuasion or cajoling, bribery if all failed. He has to follow it with wisdom. Parents are sometimes afraid of their children's reaction, but they don't let it show . No parent want to appear a coward before his own child. First, he has to get Obidiya no his side. That one will be no problem at all. Obim will do anything to make him happy. Especially as she knows that he has not been himself for some time now. Obim he thought fondly, he married Obidiya when she was just twelve years old. Having lost his parents when he was but nine years old, his eldest sister Ugbala, took up the job of raising him . When she later got married, she took him with her to her husband's house. That was how he came to grow up in his brother in-laws house. When he was about eighteen, Ugbala called him and told him that they are like the proverbial one eyed man that is owing blindness. As such, she said, they cannot afford to waste time in getting him married and settled. Moreover, she said, he has become a man and there is need for him to go back to their own village to take care of their father's home stead, so that it will not be overrun by weeds. He was in total agreement, in fact, by that time,he has started feeling uncomfortable with his prolonged stay at his in-laws. Although nobody was troubling him, still home is home. The only thing was loneliness. His sister already has a solution to that, marriage. Ugbala paraded more than nine beautiful girls before him in less than one week. Out of the lot, he picked Ulumma, whom he nicknamed Obidiya. She was the youngest of all the girls his sister brought. She was about eleven or twelve years old then. He doubted whether she even knew that she came for screening as a wife. Unlike the other girls who were well dressed in the half wrapper un married ladies wear with waist beads, hand beads and all, she came wearing an over sized gown which was obviously a hand me down. Her attempt to help in fetching water from the stream did not work out well either. She has never really been strong. Even now, she is still not. His love for her grew out of the fact that, he constantly needed to protect her. By the time she went on the first and second trip to the stream, it was obvious she was already tired. She dropped her water pot on the third trip. She refused to go back to the house until he promised her to take the blame for the broken water pot. The two of them had sat down to conspire on the the story they will tell Ugbala about the broken pot. That was how they developed a firm friendship. He had earned her trust from that day. Ugbala had some misgivings when he told her he chose Ulumma amongst all the other girls. For one, she was  too young, that means, they cannot start a family immediately. Secondly, it was obvious that, she was not a strong person. Ugbala can just imagine how the whole thing will end, she may not be able to push out a child and will then die at child birth. Chineke ekwele!, for her brother to be saddled with such. As for farm work, she cannot see Ulumma being able to work out enough to feed only herself let alone a family!. Look at what happened to her water pot. The two of them probably thought that they were able to fool her with their cock and bull story about the pot. it's just that, a wise person knows when to keep quiet. He had remained adamant and Ugbala had no choice but to give in to him. After all, he is the one to live with her. They got married and he did not touch her until she was twenty. For eight years, they lived together like brother and sister. They started off as friends, then they became brother and sister, before becoming husband and wife. He trained her to know his likes and his dislikes. Over the years, he has also come to know what she likes and the things that makes her unhappy. Obidiya as a matter of fact, is a more avid consumer of meat than Lolo, Mgbechi's daughter, but nobody knows. As they say, a husband is the wife's shield. Thank God he is a butcher as well as a farmer. It is mostly because of what he feared Obidiya will suffer that he has refused to marry another wife. Should he marry again, and the second wife gives birth to a boy, Obidiya and her children will automatically become like second class citizens in his house. When he is no more, the second wife who obviously will get a boy from outside will inherit all that he laboured for all his life, while his real children from his loins will get nothing. No he shuddered, no matter how he thinks about it, this is the only way. As soon as the first cock crows that morning, he woke Obidiya up and intimated her about his plans. She was not at all shocked by the idea. She even said she knows a family or two in her village that has also done the same. She was only too glad to take up the task of persuading their daughter. Only their chi knows why he had denied them a male child she said sorrowfully. At the meeting of the elders tomorrow, he concluded, he will table the decision before their umunna.

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