KASARACHI
Kasarachi - Episode 38
(Tell it to God)
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
I was summoned to appear before the kinsmen in two weeks time. I stubbornly refused to honor their invitation because I knew exactly what it was all about.
Uncle Okafor thinks I am still the small Kasarachi that he used to know who will hide behind her mother's wings, while they take what rightfully belongs to her family.
I will never allow it, not now, not ever!
Thank God I have collected the land papers from mama and with those documents in my possession, we are legally covered.
Uncle Okafor can go to all the kinsmen including the village head of this community, I don't and will never care!
So he thinks that I would let him take away the results from my years of sweating and working in Canada....? lie! lie! I will not.
Three months have passed since I came back to the village and received the invitation from my paternal kinsmen.
They tagged me disobedient and stubborn but I didn't pay heed to any of their taunts because I knew it came from a place of hate.
Can you imagine that three out of these kinsmen even came to my house last week to issue out warnings at me....?
Well I didn't give them time to blab for a long time before I ordered them out of my house and locked my door.
Do you know another annoying thing that happened to me last week...?
Ekene, my ex-boyfriend had the guts to come to my house to tell me tales of how he misses me and wants me back for a relationship. It was very very annoying!
This is someone who never regarded me in the past. Now that he is seeing me look more beautiful, he is professing love to me and he expects me to jump at such an offer.
Gosh! Even after the six years that has passed, Ekene has absolutely nothing to offer humanity because his own life is not straight. He has no personal accomplishments or qualifications, and I doubt he even has future plans as it stands.
I was told he was expelled from the university in his second year for his involvement in indecent activities like sleeping with his female lecturers, and breaking other school rules.
Currently, he is serving as an apprentice in his father's workshop as an electrician.
Then there's pretty ME who is done with the university and graduated with a distinction as indicated on my certificate. Plus, I have built two gorgeous houses singlehandedly.
It was Ekene's arrogance while asking me out that was even more irritating for me.
Telling me how he would marry me immediately if I accept him.
Ekene even said that maybe God kept me unmarried for his sake and brought me back to Nigeria to meet him as my husband.
I laughed hysterically after he told me that.
His sense of reasoning gets me wondering how I had managed to date him in the past. Like what did I even see in him sef...?
I suppose it was childish exuberance. Thank God that the Kasarachi I have now evolved to become can never choose him as a boyfriend, let alone as my husband.
With his unpleasant character and shallow mentality, I doubt that we could have even worked out as lovers for up to a week.
I am not being proud but the truth remains that I am no longer in his league, hence we can never ever get involved as lovers again.
I told him this truth to his face without mincing words. Since then, he left me alone and stopped coming here to disturb me.
As for Uncle Okafor, he saw that I wasn't going to bulge in my stance not to attend the meeting organized by the kinsmen and he then decided to use another approach.
Uncle Okafor used the silence treatment approach. He completely went quiet over the matter and stopped sending the kinsmen to my house to persuade me.
For six whole months, I didn't hear anything from uncle Okafor again. I felt very restless!
His silence was deafening and frightening because throughout these past six months; there was no meeting summons from anyone, no threats, no visiting.
Absolutely nothing at all!
I was becoming worried because silence could mean so many things; first, it could be that maybe the person has given up on the fight. Second, it could mean that the person is laying low in order to cook something worse than the previous ones.
Mama and Osinachi think it is the first option which is that uncle Okafor has seen that he cannot win against us and decided to give up on fighting any senseless battle.
I share an entirely different thought pattern. To me, the first one is very unusual for uncle Okafor whose heart is dark.
Unlike Mama and Osinachi, I think that it will certainly be the second option of planning worse things on the low.
I'm feeling a little scared and disturbed. God knows how I hate being taken unawares and especially over something that I can't easily predict what could be coming at me.
Well since there was nothing much I can do, I have decided to keep my hands crossed while being mentally at alert all the time.
Meanwhile, I have been applying for jobs in the nearby developed towns and states with the android phone Mama purchased for me.
So far, it has been frustrating as none out of the sixteen organizations I have applied for online have contacted me for an interview.
I am still hopeful though. My God in heaven is alive and He will definitely make a way for me. God will never leave me stranded.
I believe that someday, I will be granted employment so I can become productive and eventually earn income monthly.
I want to be able to take care of myself in the way I want with my money, and to assist Mama in carrying on the house expenses.
Mama has been the one carrying on all of our financial burdens, including giving me pocket money every month for my personal use. She does this from the sales of the chickens, and also from the provision business that she is doing courtesy of me.
Most times I do help mama in her shop in the market but it's still not enough for me. I want to find a good-paying corporate job to do, that's the type of life I want for myself.
Mama isn't complaining but I just do not feel comfortable being idle when I have a good qualification and intellectual strength.
That's why I have decided to start doing something intentional. From tomorrow, I will be going in person to the main town to try my luck, since using the digital space doesn't seem to be working well for me.
I intend to walk around to ask every big supermarket and boutique I see on major roads if they need the services of a marketer or a business manager.
Whatever salary they will offer, I'm going to accept it as long as it will take care of daily transport and remain for my personal use.
Uncle Okafor was my major fear and it's the reason I refused going far from home as I was scared of being kidnapped on the way.
But since I haven't heard from him for months now, I suppose it is about time I move forward with maximizing my certificate and building my future.
After discussing it with Mama and getting her approval, I went to town as I planned.
For the next two weeks that followed, I moved from one supermarket to another, and from one boutique to another to inquire if they needed my services.
Some of them consistently implored me to come back later and still paid me no heed whenever I did. Eventually, I left them alone and I stopped going to their places.
Most of them bluntly told me to stop wasting my time with them because they weren't interested in my services.
Some were very rude that they didn't even give me a listening ear or attention.
They blatantly ordered me to leave their business environment so they would see space to attend to important people which are their customers.
For some supermarkets and boutiques, there was nothing they could do as there was no space to employ more workers. They would tell me using a polite tone to look elsewhere, or better still, I should wait until they are understaffed.
About five of the supermarkets and boutiques I went to gave me a listening ear. They asked me numerous questions and I made sure to sell myself well to them by answering their questions intelligently.
From their facial expression, I knew the owners saw that with my vast knowledge and skills, I could be a huge asset to them.
The problem is that they were offering very low salaries. The salaries were too low that it would not even cover my transport for a month, let alone remain anything for me.
I tried negotiating my way through by pleading with them to add something on top in consideration to my distance but they refused, saying I should take it or leave it.
It's obvious they were trying to exploit my situation so I refused. I may be desperate but certainly not stupid! Accepting such a salary would mean using my intellectual strength and knowledge to grow their customer base for practically no pay.
Afterwards, the cycle of searching for employment in town continued yet again.
Honestly, job hunting in Nigeria after graduation is not an easy task at all. It makes me miss Canada and my previously comfortable life in Mrs Sharon's house a lot.
The worst part about all of this job hunting is that, we are in the rainy season. A day would normally start sunny but before afternoon or evening, it will rain heavily.
I hardly leave the house with an umbrella so I mostly returned home drenched in rain. It is so tiring, frustrating, and mentally draining for me who has once tasted a stress-free life. Oh! I miss my Mrs Sharon.
If only Mrs Sharon was here then I wouldn't have had to worry about a good-paying job and healthy working conditions at all.
In fact, if not for whoever hurt Mrs Sharon, I would have currently been working at the reputable place she had helped me secure.
Speaking of Mrs Sharon, I am seriously worried about her and also always wondering how she's been faring so far.
It's been six months already so it is only natural to have lots of questions on my mind.
How is she faring at the moment....?
Is she out of coma or is she dead already....?
If she's alive and awake, is she looking for me after being told that I was accused of hurting her and later deported to Nigeria...?
Does she ever think of how I am faring or does she also think that I am responsible for her predicament like others think....?
Hmmm. I am missing her and her family a lot and I do wish to meet them again someday even if it's not immediately.
I don't know what even gave her husband the thought that I Kasarachi Arinze would hurt Mrs Sharon, a woman who showered me with excessive love than I deserved.
I do not necessarily love Mrs Sharon for the benefits but for her core values which makes her who she is as an individual; humble, kind, compassionate, loving, selfless, and understanding.
She was this cool-headed, calm, and gentle lady who avoided trouble and was considerate to everyone around her. If she cared for people she didn't know very well, then you can imagine how it would be for people close to her heart; like me and her friends. The love she showered on us was usually massive and devoid of selfish aims.
She was never proud like most women of her class would have been. I mean despite being super rich personally and thereafter married to a rich husband, she still relates with people below her class so well. There was no demeaning, treating people unjustly, cheating or looking down on anyone.
Mrs Sharon was also very patient, generous with her resources, and slow to anger. You will never hear Mrs Sharon disgrace or wash someone's dirty linen in public nor will you hear her shouting at any of the staff no matter how provoked she was.
Ah! There are too many timeless reasons why I love my Mrs Sharon of which I will never be able to exhaust in a million years.
It's just so unfortunate that before the ugly incident that happened, I couldn't get the chance to express more in terms of actions on how much I had grown to love her.
And throughout these six months, I have never stopped loving her nor have I ever relented in praying for her welfare and for quick recovery, incase she isn't awake yet.
I even had to specifically set aside all of my Friday mornings as a sacred day to fast and knock on heaven's gate on her behalf.
Oh yes, I care about Mrs Sharon that much and nothing will be too much to do for her.
"Mama I've arrived oh. Come down nau!" The driver told me and I jolted in shock.
I gradually relaxed when I remembered that I boarded a taxi earlier. This was after the last supermarket I checked in for a job and I was offered peanuts as payment.
I sighed heavily as I resolved to focus my mind on my present reality and to quit hovering over the thoughts of Mrs Sharon, at least for now.
I sluggishly stepped out of the taxi.
I wasn't pleased that the driver had stopped me a short distance away from my house but since there's nothing I can do, I let it slide without rebuking him. I paid the man who thanked me and then he drove away.
As I walked the little distance to reach my house, I saw a man with the exact physique of uncle Okafor standing in front of my gate and knocking on it vigorously.
I was immediately alert thinking it was uncle Okafor and this got me very furious. I increased my walking pace so I can reach the gate quickly to confront uncle Okafor and insult the nonsense out of his body.
Getting to the gate, I saw that the person was not the uncle Okafor whom I thought him to be. It was someone else entirely.
Could you guess who this person was that came looking for me....?
It was beyond my expectations.
(Do not take credit or Plagiarize AMAH'S HEART stories)
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