So Not Love

Episode 19

Till today, you are the only one I have told. I never told Daniel. I don’t know if he knew but decided to stay quiet. Ever since his brother raped me, he lost respect for me. He treated me like crap, talked to me in any manner and treated me almost the same way Daniel treated me. She began to sob again and my heart went out to her. I could feel her pain and sorrow. Her body shook as she sobbed and I embraced her and consoled her without saying a word. I had a lot on my mind now but I didn’t want her to know what I was thinking about but I was already plotting ways on how to avenge her. Ways to make Daniel and his brother pay for everything they had ever done to Victoria.

PAPA VICTORIA’S POV
I was sitting outside in the varendah with my wife, happily eating garden egg and usoji while my wife was eating roasted corn and cooked pear. We were enjoying ourselves on this Saturday afternoon and passers-by would stop to exchange pleasantries with us before going on their way.
“Emma!” My wife called out. “Emma! Bring your father and I some cold minerals from the fridge so that we can wash this food down properly.”
I laughed. “Mama Adanna, you and enjoyment! Enjoyment will not kill you o.” I teased my wife.

“Bia, papa Adanna, please leave me to enjoy my enjoyment. If it’s going to kill me, I don’t mind, let me die! Besides, it’s my son-in-law’s money, it’s my right. Let me enjoy it. Do you think it’s easy to give birth to beautiful daughters?”
I laughed. “Just don’t finish the fifty thousand he gave you o. Remember that I need twenty thousand to go and drink peppersoup in Big Mama’s shop o.”
She gave me a disgruntled look. “Twenty thousand naira for eighty pots of pepper soup or what? Baba Adanna!” She pointed a finger at me and squinted suspiciously at me. “I’m beginning to suspect you and this woman o! There’s no day that you won’t go there! What exactly is between you and this woman, ehn? What exactly?”
I chuckled as I bit a garden egg. “Ahan! Your blood is too hot! Nothing is going on between Big Mama and I. I only go to her shop for the peppersoup!”

“It had better be the peppersoup o!” She shook a finger at me. “It had better be! The day that I will find out that you are big Mama are playing away match, I will visit Ezedibia and…” She suddenly slammed right palm against her left fisted hand for emphasis. “… I’ll make sure you gum there! You’ll gum there and the whole street will know what you have been doing!”
“Eh?!” My eyes grew round. “Eliza, if that’s a joke, stop it o.” I shook a finger at her. “You’ll gum me where? Don’t try it o! Don’t try it at all at all!”
“Oh! So you want to cheat on me, okwia? You want to enter another woman’s perere?”
“I thought you told our daughter that marriage is for better and for worse and that men are allowed to cheat!”
“Taaaa!” She shouted. “That rule is only applicable to the rich! Papa Adanna, are you rich? Answer me, are you rich? When your mates were making money, you were busy chasing small village girls and putting on masquerade costumes to dance around the village!”

“Then why did you marry me?! Ehn? Why? Did I force you to marry me?!” I snapped.
She simply flinched her mouth to me turned away and placed her jaw on her hand as she continued eating her corn. Just then, a small car and a police van pulled into the compound and confused and surprised, we rose, wondering what was going on when Daniel appeared from the car with a neck brace and several stitches on his face and arms. He didn’t look happy as he stormed towards us with some police.

I rose slowly, exchanging a confused glance with my wife. As he neared us, I stepped out of the varendah to meet him. “My in-law, welcome.” I said.

My wife adjusted her wrapper and folded the end properly under her armpit as she joined us. “In-law wam! What happened to you? Were you involved in an accident?”

He glared at us with such hatred in his eyes that I turned to look at my wife if she had any idea what was wrong with him but she simply pouted her mouth and slapped the back of her hand into her palm to indicate that she was as lost as I’m. I turned back to Daniel and said, “Eh, in-law, please come and seat down. We were just eating some garden egg and Usoji, please join us.” I gestured towards our seats but he didn’t move an inch.

“Where’s your daughter?” He asked in a deep tone that oozed revenge.

I glanced at my wife again and asked, “Which of our daughters?”
“The witch you brought to my house!” He spat.

My wife hit the back of her hand into her other palm and we both murmured in agreement. “Mba o, witches? We have never given birth to witches before.” She replied him. “The children we have are from God.”
“Go in there and bring her out this minute! I know she that she must have come back here after what she did to me!” Daniel barked.
“Did to you?” I asked, perplexed.

“Are you trying to say that Linda did all these to you?” My wife gestured with her four fingers put together at his face.

“Mba o!” I shrugged my shoulders deeply and turned to look at my wife, both of us now wearing an amused smile. “Is it not the same Linda that cannot kill a common chicken on Christmas days?”

My wife laughed, “Or the Linda that will never sleep if there’s a cockroach in her room.” She slapped me on the upper arm and doubled over to laugh and I joined in the laughter too.

Daniel suddenly cut in. “Do you think that this is funny?!” He was furious. “So this is your plan? To have your daughter to not only steal from me but to also kill me so that you all can sit down and enjoy all the things I have laboured for.

I turned sober now, clearing my throat. “My in-law, God forbid that we should harbour any evil thoughts towards you. You have been more than generous to us, so why would we wish you ill-luck?”

“I don’t care what you say!” He hissed with a stiff neck. “All I want is for you to go in there and bring out that witch you bred!”
“What other daughter again?” I asked in confusion. “We only have two daughters? Adanna, the elder one we gave you in marriage and Linda, the young replacement we gave you for Adanna. Which other daughter could you be talking about?” Then I turned to my wife and asked, “Or did you not deliver our daughter to him as you told me.”
“I told you na, is he not the same person that gave me the fifty thousand naira?” She asked me.

“Are you sure that you checked the house address and you were sure that he was the very one you left Linda with?” I pressed.
She eyed me now with a frown on her face. “Papa, Adanna, what kind of question is that? I have gone to Daniel’s place a million times and I wouldn’t have forgotten where he lived so soon.”

“Then why is he here talking about the same Linda you claimed you left with him before you returned home?”

“I wonder.” She answered. “Bia in-law, where’s Linda?” My wife asked, craning her neck to glance at his car.
“At first,” he began in a terse tone. “Your first daughter stole from me, I forgave you and next, you deliberately set me up by bringing your younger daughter to my house so that she can do this to me!” He pointed at the neck brace. “She nearly killed me all because I tried to be friendly with her!”