Epiphany

(Chapter 2)

Amongst everyone present in the room, her mother-in-law was most shocked by her actions. Lady (Dr.) Silvia Ezemba was a petite woman in her late fifties. As the wife of Late Sir. (Prof.) Ambrose Ezemba (KSM)-a former commissioner of Anambra State Ministry of Education in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a prestigious knight of the Catholic Dioceses of Awka- and a retired university lecturer herself, she was highly respected, not just in Ihite but in the entire Awka region. She was the former chairwoman and an active member of the Catholic Women Organization (CWO), and the current chairwoman of Ihite Women’s Progressive Union and Orumba Women’s Association. Wherever she goes, she calls the shot and everyone else follows, she was basically the Ezenwanyi or what western people call the ‘Queen bee’.

When her second/favourite son, Amadi, married Adaeze, she was displeased as she had tried to set him up with the daughter of her best friend, Lady Gladys, a woman higher up on the social ladder. She manipulated and stepped all over Adaeze. To Lady Silvia, Adaeze and her family were merely another less privileged family on her charity list.

The Okolis were on a monthly allowance of N20,000 along with a bag each of foreign rice and two bags of beans, twenty tubers of yam, a carton each of Peak milk, Nestle milo, Dangote spaghetti, macaroni, and a pack of Lipton tea every Christmas and Easter eve. According to Amadi, it was a token of appreciation for raising such a beautiful and well-behaved daughter.

Occasionally, Adaeze’s younger siblings received hand-me-downs from her sister-in-law, Ugorji. These were the only times her siblings interacted with Ugorji. Nearly everyone in the Ihite town is wary of her because of her unpleasant personality. Adaora once said she believes that Ugorji suffers from NPD. She is extremely arrogant, controlling, insolent, and she nags at everyone, including her husband, especially when things didn't go her way. Her husband eventually sent her packing after seven years of putting up with her personality. She came back with her two kids, Chidi and Mmasi, and ever since then, she made the Ezemba mansion a living hell by transferring her pent-up aggression on everyone else.

Items they received from her included used clothes, shoes, and handbags even used weave-on and wigs. Their mother gets these items by worshipping and kissing Ugorji’s behind and later she would make them go over to the over to thank and appreciate her by doing chores in the Ezemba mansion occasionally. Adaeze’s entire family also received gifts whenever Amadi travels abroad for business meetings. Adaeze’s mother used these things to emotionally blackmail her.

On April 4th, 2000, the day she became aware of her husband's infidelity. Her mother convinced her to stay with him by reminding her of the benefits her family enjoys from her marriage. She also reminded her that it was almost two years since the wedding and she had not conceived a child. Her mother convinced her that the moment she bears her husband a child, she would win not only his heart but that of the entire family, especially her mother-in-law.

On the cold rainy night of August 27th, 2002, she ran home to her parents with a black eye and a battered body; that was the very first time Amadi laid his hand on her. That day, she had gone from room to room picking dirty laundry as part of her daily morning routine. When she got to Chidi’s room, she met the door slightly ajar but knocked anyway in order not to offend the teenager but there was no response. She had turned to walk away but froze as she heard soft moans and a child’s babble.

She charged in and was crippled with shock by what she saw; Chidi had Nkasi on his left arm-she was playing and biting on her stuffed Barney dinosaur-while his right hand was buried inside his navy blue Adidas tracksuit bottom as he pleasured himself with an adult movie playing on his TV screen. She walked up to him while leaping over adult movies collections littered on the floor, yanked the child away from his grip, and two slaps echoed throughout the walls of the room followed by severe scolding.

‘Chidi have you gone mad? See what you’re watching in the presence of a two-year-old!’ She pointed to the TV with trembling fingers and eyes red shot.

‘For God’s sake, how can you be so irresponsible? What was going through that stupid head of yours?’ She yelled.

Chidi was stunned for a moment because the Adaeze he knew was a pushover. Then he replied sharply: ‘Aunty Adaeze enough! I have taken enough insults from you this morning. First, you slap me, now you’re calling me stupid. I don’t blame you. My Uncle picked you from your wretched family, cleaned you up, and gave you status, now you no longer know your place!’

Adaeze had anticipated those words for so long. Her family depended heavily on the Ezemba family's wealth; the money, the foodstuffs, and all the gifts. Thanks to them her mother was able to set up a small restaurant business at Federal College of Education, Umunze campus, own a tokunbo Peugeot 504 wagon, and her parents are slowly climbing up the social ladder; they were invited to sit at the 'high table' at wedding ceremonies for three consecutive times. The 'high table' is where VIP guests sit, they eat large chunks of beef and chicken, and drink wine and Maltina, while the regular guests eat tiny pieces of beef and drink Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and cheap beer.

When Adaeze’s and her sisters were growing up, their mother would always tell them not to bite the hands that feed them whenever they disrespected her. She repeated those words whenever she felt the urge to lash out at her husband and his family. Some people believe that there are special children who are born to bring their family wealth and good luck, which explains why they make way too many babies than their annual income can handle. Maybe she was one of those special kids. Maybe she was born to break the shackles of poverty that have bound her family for so long through her marriage to Amadi. So she walked on eggshells in the Ezemba household. She couldn’t afford to mess things up.

Adaeze had always prepared herself mentally for when anyone would mock her family background. But when Chidi dropped the bomb, she was taken aback by how deep it hurt. Those words wounded her especially since it was coming from a 17-year-old. She had always known that Chidi was obnoxious but this was the height of it.

‘You turned seventeen last month and you think you’re grown right? Let’s hear what your mom and grandma have to say about your perverted behaviour when they come home’ Adaeze responded in a low brittle voice.

With that, she walked away with Nkasi clutched in her arms and slamming the door behind her as she left.

Chidi was mortified. His mother shouldn’t know that he is a p**n addict; he was very scared of her. He knew too well that she was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Grandma was scary too but he would pick her anytime over his mother. He quickly turned off the TV, gathered his adult movie collections, hid them in a box at the bottom of his wardrobe, and poured his old toys over them to conceal them properly.

At noon when Lady Silvia and Ugorji returned from the executive meeting of Ihite Women's Progressive Union, Chidi had broken out in cold sweat upon hearing his mother's voice. He assumed Adaeze must have tattletaled on him, thus he waited and waited for his mother to come up to his room and drag him around the house by his ears while laying curses upon him and his future generations. To his greatest surprise when she eventually came to his room, she only came to inform him that lunch was ready and she met his swollen left cheek with intense anger.

When Ugorji heard that Adaeze was the cause of her son's swollen face, she flew down the stairs with so much rage that Chidi's long legs struggled to keep up with her pace. The moment her feet touched down in the dining room, she grabbed Adaeze by the hair and threw fierce slaps across her face till her nose began to bleed and Lady Silvia and her older daughter-in-law, Ginika, who had come home for the annual women's August meeting, intervened.

'Ugorji gini mere? What is the matter?' Lady Silvia queried in confusion.

'Mma negodu ihu nwa nwa gi.  Mother take a look at your grandson's face. See what this witch did to him', she replied angrily.

'Sisita were ya nwayo. Take it easy. Adaeze is not one to be violent. He must have done something extremely bad that caused her to hit him.' Ginika said to Ugorji.

'Mechie gi onu! Be quiet!' Ugorji retorted.

'Ugorji cherekene! Wait!' Lady Silvia cautioned. 'Let's find out what happened.'

Adaeze narrated the events that took place earlier as she wiped the blood dripping from her nose, her voice quavering as she tried to calm the storm of emotions building up in her chest. This only triggered Ugorji the more.

Ugorji yelled at the top of her voice: 'Are you accusing my son of being a p*****t? A child I single-handedly raised! Go to his school and ask about him, everyone knows that he is a very responsible and respectful boy!'

She lurched forward, grabbed Adaeze by the hem of her blouse, and tried to strip her naked. Adaeze struggled to break free from Ugorji’s grip and in the whole process, Ugorji fell on a side stool behind her and fractured her arm. Lady Sylvia quickly picked up her Nokia 6360 and dialed Amadi’s number.

‘Adaeze has killed me oh! The witch has killed your sister and me!' She wailed. Immediately Amadi arrived and saw his sister’s fractured arm, without saying a word, his slaps came landing on Adaeze’s face with full force. She ran upstairs and he chased after her while undoing his belt. She ran into her daughter’s room hoping that if he sees their daughter, he would stop, but to her greatest surprise, he locked the door, pulled out the key, placed it in his pocket, and gave her a good beating. Her screams and the terrified cries of the child were all that those who were outside the room could hear.

When she got home that cold night, her mother-in-law had already called her parents, and perhaps the entire town, to paint her black, her parents gasped at the sight of her swollen face and mark-filled body. That night, while her younger sister, Chinweije dabbed her face and body with hot water, she was taken aback by how her mother only talked and preached about how she should be thoroughly obedient and not challenge her husband and his family. Her mother also advised her to try to control her anger, so as not to offend them. Adaeze gently pushed Chinweije’s hands off her face, stood up, and went to bed while avoiding Adaora. She was ashamed of facing her twin sister.

Ever since that incident, Amadi kept finding new reasons to hit her; she raised her voice at him, she gave him the silent treatment, she bought a college of education application form without his permission, she went to visit her family without his permission, she stayed too long at a parent's house and the list went on and on.

Like the last time, her mother once again filled her head with more lies when she confided in her about her husband’s brutality and infidelity. She told her to fast and pray to God about her husband, that he would change.

‘There is nothing that God cannot do’, she declared. ‘You have to endure, all men are polygamous in nature, they will have other women, but as long as you are the main woman, the one who bears the Mrs. Title, you should be happy. Another thing you must do to win the heart of that family is to give them a male child, an heir, someone to succeed his father’. She paused, and with sadness, in her eyes, she said: ‘The reason why your father’s family still look down on me is that I never had a male child and I don’t want the same to happen to you. The moment you bear them a son, you’ll have the confidence and dignity to stand where other women are gathered’.

Adaeze prayed and hoped that someday things would magically turn around, but somewhere in her subconscious, she knew she was lying to herself but didn’t have the courage to admit it.

Adaeze was the type to bottle up her emotions, perhaps it was the way her parents raised her. She had this ability to endure pain. Like a sponge, she would soak up all the difficulties in her life; the sadness, fear, hurt, anxieties, anger, she would draw them all in and lock them up in a dungeon she created in her mind. Her emotions would sit there for a very long time and occasionally, like plants enclosed in a dark box growing towards a ray of sunlight, they would fight to get out. Sometimes, her emotions won, which is why every once in a while she would sneak out at night, squat beside the outdoor generator room, and let out all the tears in a very loud voice. She was thankful that the sound of the generator was always there to muffle out her screaming. She was not going to let anyone see her broken.

Tonight, the chains around the doors of the dungeon in Adaeze’s mind broke free and all those emotions she had suppressed for years were channeled towards punches at Amadi.