PART 2
“NWALA: THE BITTERSWEET STORY”
©️ Opeyemi Akintunde
I thought twice about telling Daniel, I fore-saw the drama that could follow, so I chose to share my funny story with my immediate elder sister.
Chinwe was far away in Texas.
After marrying her super rich husband as PRAYERFULLY worked by my mother, they relocated.
“Mama Bear now finally has your time!”. Chinwe said laughing “I always knew you and Daniel were child’s play” Chinwe said adding pepper to my injury.
“Chinwe, whose side are you on?
“The side of reality, Nwala, your coconut head will not work this time, you know no one wins mummy. We are talking about Madam Nwakaego here, she will tell you…” Chinwe was saying but I completed it for her.
“That just like her name, her children supersedes everything including the wealth she has”
“So you know she wants the best for her children, hence if she says Daniel is not good for you, then he is not good for you”
“What if she is wrong?” I asked
“Nwala, your coconut head will not win this one, the warrior in you will not win the war with mama Bear, the earlier you bowed to her, the better”
“She may have won you and Big Sis, but for me Nwala, the son of the soil, I will win this war”
‘This name father gave you has always been your problem, it brings out the man in you…”
“Not all women are meant to be subdued” I agreed with her previous statement.
“Nwala, Daniel is a good guy, but he may not be good for you. Stephen my white boyfriend was good, but mum told me he was not good for me, and today I am happy I followed mum’s choice”
I shook my head in pity, Queen mother had manipulated my sisters, I was not having it, after all, I am Nwala!
At this point, I am sure you are wondering what is special about my name!
From the eastern part where my parents hailed from, Imo State precisely, having a son was everything. It was an affirmation of a man’s manhood. After my mother had two girls consecutively, my father was beginning to feel the heat amongst his peers. They mocked him about not been the true son of the soil. They told him he was a woman in a man’s skin.
I was told my Father and Mother went to several native doctors to ensure I was a boy.
When my mother became pregnant of me, my father was in no doubt I was going to be a boy, so he had boastfully named me Nwala from the womb. He wanted them to know he was a legit child of the Land and so was his unborn son. By Birthing a Son, he was proving to them he was the child of the land.
Disappointedly, I arrived as a girl after several scan reports indicated I was a boy. My father refused changing my name and treated me like a boy. Shortly after giving birth to me, my mother became born again as the humiliation from her husband’s family drew her close to God.
God vindicated my mother and just after a year after my birth, she gave birth to my twin brothers, John and Joseph.
Despite them being boys, I was more manly than them when it came to decision making, so mother was definitely going to fail in dividing Daniel and I.
I ended the conversation with Chinwe since she was not giving me the energy I wanted.
Daniel called and he could tell from the sound of my “Hello” that something was off.
Instead of his usual reply of “Hey Babe!” he simply asked..
“Nwala, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing! Why do you think something is wrong?”
“Something is wrong? Are you sick?”
“No, I am fine, just mum and I”
“Ok… What’s up this time around?” Daniel laughed easing up a bit. He knew my mum and I were warriors.
“Don’t mind her, she said the food I cooked had too much salt and Daddy ate the entire food” I lied.
Daniel laughed so hard…
“My baby, forgive mummy, just two more years and she will be missing your delicious delicacies once we make it official” Daniel said and I could feel the joy laced in his voice.
I was his trophy. I was his mission impossible achieved. I felt guilty about lying to him. I knew I had to shut down that conversation before Daniel got out the truth from me…
“Babe, please let me sleep, we will talk in the morning”. We said our usual lovely dovey talk before I ended the call.
My phone vibrated waking me up from the nap I had forced myself into at around 5am. I literally couldn’t sleep after Daniel hung up. I thought of ways of winning my mother. I researched online on how to stop one’s parent from meddling with one’s marital choices and I got a lot of confusing answers.
Some writers applauded it stating that parents mostly see the flaws of our intending spouses and are able to pull the red flag on time, while the other school of thought discouraged parental influence in any way stating that only God was important in the equation.
I checked my phone to find out why it was vibrating. It was a text message from an unknown number.
The text read:
“Hi Nwala, my name is Reuben from church. Your mum told me she had informed you about my intentions. If it won’t be a bother, I would love us to have lunch together sometime this week before you return to school.
Thanks
Warm Regards
Reuben Acme”
“Ha! Ha!. This thing is “serious-er” than I thought”. I exclaimed. ” What is this? Mummy is not playing ooo. Jesus Christ of Nazareth!”
“Mummy! I screamed from my room and I am sure that scream must have been loud enough to raise the dead!
To be continued…
