When May gets pregnant for Edric at a young age, her wealthy father feels deeply hurt and humiliated. In a moment of anger, he disowns her. Upon the disown, May is left with no choice than to go with Papa Edric, her lover's father to join the middle...
"So what if they don't like you? Chances are they're channelling their energy into hate not hustle." -Anonymous
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The sound of a moving bucket against the cemented floor attracted her attention. The noise was coming from the lady next door, who was too lazy to carry up the bucket of dirty clothes she was about to wash, leading to the scrapping that disturbed May.
"Ah! Good morning." Greeted the woman in her early forties, when she noticed May's attention was on her.
"Morning," May replied absentmindedly. Although her eyes were fixed on her neighbor, her mind was elsewhere.
The woman hummed in reply, sitting down on the wooden bench that was on her verandah.
May's attention drew back to the stained clothes she had washed earlier. She walked a few steps forward to take a closer look at them. The blue and green pegs she had used to peg the clothes were on the floor too. She, with only two fingers, picked up one of Edric's white long sleeve shirts that were now muddied. Irritated by the sight, she dropped it back into the mud and glanced back at the woman, who was pretending to be minding her own business. May knew she wasn't.
Caroline-her neighbor-was an elderly woman with wrinkles and dark spots all over her face, as a result of her overusing different types of body whitening skincare products on her once dark complexion. Nobody called her "Ma" or "Aunty"-which was the way young ones in Bayelsa state, addressed their elders. She considered herself to be a young lady and would insult, or if possible, fight anyone who didn't publicly regard her as such. She was single and dressed immodestly, drank, smoked, dated younger boys and most of all was known to be the biggest gossip in the entire neighborhood.
May decided to use this as an advantage. She thought it was best to ask instead of jumping to a conclusion.
"Aunty Caro, you are looking good this morning."
Caroline looked up at May with an inquisitive look on her face, her instincts telling her May was up to something. May wasn't really friends with her neighbors so why would she offer such a simple compliment?
When she said nothing, ignoring the fact that she was being referred to as 'Aunty' which certainly was a good sign, May continued with a big smile spread across her lips as she swung both her hands back and forth, knowing full well that her praises were working.
"My able Aunty. The youngest Aunty in this state... you're workin' that sweet sixteen look. If anyone gives you any problems, just holler at me and I'll give them trouble. Jackie Chan style."
This made Aunty Caroline laugh. "Hmm... May. With the way you're complimenting me... I'm starting to get suspicious."
May played along, teasing her. "What? Aunty... Is it a bad thing for me to praise you?"
