FLAMING HEART

THIRTY THREE: UGOMMA

"Mama, don't you know Oby has a rich boyfriend?" - Ugomma.

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Obioma almost fell. "Mma, is this you?"

Ugomma gave a shrill laugh. "I don't know."

Obioma shook her head sadly as she hugged her bony sister and they began to shed tears: tears of agony for Obioma and tears of joy for Ugomma.

"I'm so happy to see you. You look good." Ugomma complimented; wiping her eyes.

"We thank God." Obioma simply stated; still finding it very hard to believe this was her sister. Ugomma had always been a beautiful girl and that earned her her name. Obioma wondered what kind of life she now led to look this way.

"My house is few metres from here. Come let's go." She took some of Obioma's luggage as she led Obioma to her house. They entered into a quite beautiful house which had some shops in front. As they walked to Ugomma's flat, the neighbours stared at them; whispering words to one another. Obioma ignored each and every one of them; concentrating on the three boys that were now running to her. She fell to her knees and opened her arms wide and they fell right in. Pecking their forehead, she asked how they were and offered them the nylons she had been holding. They ran back into the house; chattering happily. Obioma smiled at this.

"I didn't expect them to remember me." She said more to herself than to anyone but Ugomma heard and only smiled. Her luggage was placed by the wall in a room and she was asked to freshen up. She entered into the small bathroom which had a shower that was not working anymore so Obioma had to take her bath in discomfort. Staying in the city for so long had changed her to the extent she didn't know how to cope in a lesser environment.

She called Sharon to inform her she had arrived, before joining the family at the dining table. A scrumptious meal was served and they ate in silence. Obioma ate a little; doing more of observation than eating. She watched as her nephews ate. Surprisingly, they looked healthier than their mother. In fact, they were almost chubby.

They settled on the only sofa in the room which had lots of torn areas, while the kids sat on the floor; their eyes glued to the cartoon showing on the television screen as the big OX fan fanned breeze to all corners of the room. The last boy whom Obioma deemed would be two kept pushing Ugomma's hands until she carried him and balanced him on her laps.

"Ngwa, you people should change this mumu channel to something else." Ugomma began but Obioma stopped her.

"Let them watch what they want to watch." She said and the children relaxed; flashing her a smile.

"I don't see your husband anywhere around." Obioma turned to Ugomma but the loud cry from the bedroom sent Ugomma running to the carry the crying baby.

"He has gone to the first wife's house. He was here with me last week." Ugomma replied, as she came out of the room. Obioma stretched her hands and collected the child from her; rocking and making weird sounds that amused the child.

"What a beautiful girl! What's her name?"

"Adaeze."

"Very good. She's truly the daughter of a king." Obioma smiled.

"Daughter of a king my foot." Ugomma retorted. "A man that can't provide for his family;yet gets married like he is changing his cloth is not fit to be called a king. Can you imagine he got married recently to another woman? Honestly, I don't know what all these young girls see in that man."

Obioma shook her head. "Once a w***e, always one. Your house is pretty comfortable, by the way." Obioma tried to change the topic but it seemed anything she said warranted more talk about the same issue.

"What is pretty comfortable? Most of the appliances in this house are for fancy. I'm very sure you saw the shower. I've complained to Pa Chika about it and I'm already tired of complaining. I can see he isn't ready to do anything. All he's concerned about is getting married. I don't know if he's trying to break the record of king Solomon. He keeps adding liabilities and not taking care of any. I can't remember the last time he paid these children school fees."

Obioma knew where this was going and so she tried to speak only to be interrupted by Ugomma who made a loud hissing sound. "I just thank God I was able to talk him into buying one of the shops in front for me and that was two years ago. If it was now. . ." She shook her head. "Sorry story. But if you see the amount of money he wasted on the wedding of that young lady, Oby, you would be shocked. Anyway, what can I do? That's what I get for getting married to an old hag." A tear slipped from her eyes.

Obioma clucked her head in sympathy. She took a deep breath before asking, "Have you seen him?" She knew this was the worst time for her to ask such a question but wanted to know if there was any hope of Ugomma being with the man she loved. She wouldn't hesitate to break this curse of a marriage if he was still available.

Ugomma turned to the television screen; pretending she hadn't heard her.

"Have you? Please, tell me." Obioma pressed on.

"It has been long I saw him - probably a year. He's now married now to that palm wine tapper's daughter - you know she had always been into him. They have a son together and they're happy." A lone tear rolled out of her eye and she quickly wiped it with her left hand. "What do you expect? He has to move on and I'm glad he did. I'm glad he's happy."

Obioma moved closer to her sister and drew her close but Ugomma jerked back. "Don't try to console me. I'm not mourning." Her voice was throaty and Obioma knew she was suppressing a whimper. Obioma could see the unshed tears in her eyes. She felt a lot of pity for her sister. Ugomma was suffering a lot but was trying to look happy in front of their mother. Thinking of what to do or say to brighten her up, she remembered all the gifts that had been offered to the baby. She gave Adaeze back to her mother and walked into the room to bring all that had been given to her.

Ugomma did a small dance immediately she was offered the gifts.

"Oby! My goodness! So you live with rich people? This is too much."

Obioma only smiled and shrugged, while Ugomma counted the money in all envelopes.

"They don't even know me personally and they are doing this for me." She continued. "You're very lucky, Oby. You're the luckiest of us all. See the way you're shinning. I never knew Uloma was this generous."

Obioma laughed heartily. "She is but this is not entirely her doing." She batted her lashes and offered the boys what she had bought for them while coming. They quickly began to devour the chinchin; muttering thank you with a full mouth.

"Tell me something." Ugomma dropped the card Evelyn had offered on the table as she turned to face her sister. "Ngwa, start talking. I hope you are not following one sugar daddy or the other." She raised her brow and Obioma screwed her face.

"God forbid! You know how much I hate old men."

"So tell me."

Obioma laughed once again before bringing her phone and showing Francis's picture to Ugomma who gave a loud shout of surprise.

"It's a lie! Oby! Who is this boy?"

"My boyfriend." Obioma covered her face and Ugomma's jaw dropped.

"Obioma! Your boyfriend? How did this all happen?"

"That is story for another day. The most important thing is we love each other dearly."

Ugomma nodded as she kept scrolling; staring at more pictures of Francis. Obioma had created a personal album for him and had locked it with a code.

"This guy is so fine. I can bet he is rich."

Obioma shrugged as she laughed again. "I'll send you the money he asked me to give you and the baby."

Ugomma shook her head. "Obioma! I envy you. See you looking all classy. I wish I was bold enough to take the same step you took. This would never had been my fate now." Ugomma began and Obioma quickly cut in knowing fully well where this would go.

They retired to bed after talking about random things. Obioma decided to call Francis after seeing the amount of calls she had missed from him. He picked at the first ring like he had been expecting her call. He had demanded instantly why she had missed his call and she spent over ten minutes pleading with him. Francis was such a stubborn and sweet lover. The loud cough after she had hung up startled her. It was Ugomma staring at her with a crooked smile.

"Good night." Obioma told her as she pulled the blanket over her head but Ugomma pushed it away; tickling her and asking her to tell her about the call. The room was filled with bubbling laughter from both parties.

★ ★ ★

Obioma woke up early the next morning to help Ugomma dress the kids for school. She offered to take them to school giving Ugomma the time to prepare for her own business. Following the directions the eldest boy gave, they arrived at school and Obioma bade them good bye; urging them to be good children and to pay attention in class.

Ugomma had already opened her shop where she sold foodstuffs when Obioma got back. Obioma picked up the baby girl; throwing her up in the air and catching her midway while Ugomma picked up a worn out book to calculate her last sales. Obioma wondered why the rest of her family couldn't see Ugomma was unhappy. Ugomma must really be a good actress to fool almost everyone.

"I visited Udoka recently. He is doing pretty well. His boss had opened a shop for him. He sells drinks, both alcoholic and non alcoholic. There's this girl that always come to his shop. I don't know but I smell a fish."

"A fish?" Obioma placed the baby in her cot.

"Don't be surprised if he brings that girl home as his wife."

"That would be great news. Mama is already worried. Don't you like the girl?"

"I didn't say anything." Ugomma snapped and so the day went on with them making random comments and attending to people. Obioma received some calls from the house mates and she assured them all was well. They requested to speak with Ugomma and Ugomma took the opportunity to express her gratitude.

The day went by a little slower with Obioma bringing the kids back home; Ugomma introducing her to some of her neighbours and then, finally preparing dinner. Francis called later that night and they spoke for hours.

Wednesday went by in a flash with her repeating the same cycle. A call had come in from their mother after Obioma had transfered a huge sum to her. She had wanted to know where Obioma got such amount of money and Ugomma had grabbed the phone; giggling as she said:

"Mama, don't you know Oby has a rich boyfriend? Her boyfriend makes sure she lacks nothing."

Obioma had dragged the phone back trying to cover up but her mother had wanted to know who he was and so she had no choice but to spill the beans. Florence had then went further to ask about his parents, where he hailed from and other questions but Obioma had assured her that there was nothing to worry about.

"You worry too much. It's not good for your health."

"Okay, Oby. But be careful. I heard the city is a big place filled with evil people. Do not fall into their trap. Don't become their prey."

"I've heard you, mama. Take care of yourself." Obioma had hung up; already angry with the way her mother had taken it.

The journey back to the city began the next day after the kids had been taken to school. Ugomma had expressed her desire for her to stay longer but Obioma couldn't risk losing her only chance to be with Francis so she refused; claiming she had some things to do. She bought her ticket and settled into the bus which was not as comfortable as the one she had entered while coming. She waved to Ugomma as the bus moved and leaned back into the seat to begin another long journey.

Obioma got back to the city; wearied and worn out. She took the last bus for the day to Francis's house and got in with the help of the guards. Francis was yet to return from work so she went to sleep; telling Mama Jay to wake her up when he returned.