WHY I WILL NEVER GET MARRIED

CHAPTER 1

I wish I could have a best friend in my parents or one of my parents but they are both obsessed with their jobs rather than spend quality time with me. The only few time they spend together as a couple are always on argument, fights, and the house has never been peaceful for a month before. I so much envy other children being with their parent and how often they spend quality time together. 

My name is Victoria, the only daughter of my parents. My Dad is a Doctor while my mum is an accountant in one of the big company in our city.

I was eight years when my mother got promoted at work and she will be transfer to the head branch in South Africa by her company which my father didn't obliged to it, my mum insists she will go cause that is all she has always wanted to work at the head branch. My father decided that he is not well equipped to be a practicing single father and since his job too was very demanding and took a lot of his time too. He couldn’t manage taking care of an eight years old girl with being a round the clock doctor at the same time, so him and my mom came to the conclusion of sending me to stay with her grandmother.

The following week I heard someone calling my name from sleep. "Let me sleep more" I said, still much into my sleep. “you better get up or you will be late for your new school” my mother chuckled as she dragged me up from my bed, i scratched my eyes as i tried to find my balance, staggering to the bathroom to prepare for school. On getting to the school, i had no problems about determining what to feel about my new situation, i was at a new school where i felt totally lost with no friends but i didn’t miss my old school that much cause i was more of a loner and i hated my class teacher back then. I sat at the waiting room of the Head mistress’s office when my parents took care of the registration. After about fifteen minutes the head mistress came out of her office “come on Victoria follow me” she leads me to a class which had Primary three boldly written on it. Hello class you have a new member, "the head mistress said" has she introduced me, her name is Victoria she is a new member of this class. Still very confused about what to say or what to do. I just walked straight to an empty sit. I took one last look at the head mistress as the middle aged woman walked into the light of the sun, the class teacher who was a woman in her early twenties continued her teaching. And so does this new life starts for me, i preferred to look at it as a new beginning as an adventure. I forced myself to think that way, not letting the fact that my mother was going to be away for a period of time which she had no idea of and being the child that i was who didn’t like to stress her parents, who always made them think i was happy and contented with whatever choices they made concerning my behalf. At the end of the school day, i sat in the middle of the school alone waiting for whoever was going to pick me from school, i was told that uncle Tobi was supposed to pick me from school, uncle Tobi was a guy in his twenties which is family had handed over to my grandma to help her out with whatever she might need.

After a half hour of waiting uncle Tobi showed up, “oya come and let’s go” he grabbed me roughly as i staggered and fell “sorry shey you no get any bone for your body ni”, i stood up and let out a little smile, Uncle Tobi’s broken English amazed me, my parents had never really allowed me mingled with others, it has always been school, lesson, church and home for me so i never really had any contact with anyone who had problem speaking fluent English and this made me have a liking for him. As i got home, i ran all about the house in search of my mother wishing for some kind of miracle that she would still be around, although she didn’t say she was leaving the country that exact day there was something that i felt like she wasn’t going to stay around for long. I began to panic as i couldn’t find my mother anywhere “what’s wrong dear?” grandma asked with so much concern. “I’m looking for my mommy” i replied as i waited for a disappointing response, “oh honey, your mother as left for South Africa” And for a moment i didn’t know how to react to the news, i had no idea whether to cry or keep my cool, but deep down i anticipated that my mother had already left for the country but that wasn’t what hurt me, what hurt me was that she left without even saying good bye. “okay ma” i replied. “my love, are you hungry?” grandma asked “yes ma” i replied as i followed grandma to the kitchen.

“Victoria!!!” grandma screamed “your mother is on the phone ” upon hearing that my legs moved as fast as they could, this was the first time i would hear from my mom since she went to South Africa. “don’t fall down oo” grandma chuckled noticing the excitement on her granddaughter’s face “hello mommy” i said has i grabbed the phone from my grandmother “hello my baby how are you?” “I’m fine ma” “how are you enjoying your time at grandma’s place”, “fine”, “hope there is no problem?”, “yes ma” “so how is school?”, “school is fine” and with this followed an awkward silence, both me and my mother had nothing to say to each other, this was the first time we have never been this far apart, and i found it weird pouring out myself to my mother while grandma had her fixated eyes and huge smile on her.

Grandma had been a career woman when my mother was growing up, I think my mother took that from her. She was a banker and didn’t have time to watch her children grow up, so me being brought to her was like her second chance to motherhood and she saw the conversation between me and my mother as some kind of review. “okay give your phone to your grandma” “okay ma” i said as i passed the phone to my grandma.

The next day was a school day, i had started to feel comfortable in school all thanks to the lesson teacher grandma hired to tutor me who also worked in the school, he was extra caring and treated me with preferences to the extent that rumour started going round the school that i was his daughter. I was required to see him during the break time and also after school, and all this wasn’t part of his job description he just took an interest in me. By closing time, the school became empty, i was in my class playing with my biros and imaging in my head like i was playing with someone else, it was my left hand against my right, the hand that could knock the others biro off the table was the winner, i tried not to be bias and it seemed my right hand was winning, i had to learn how to play with myself since my parents were always working and i had no siblings, i was a very imaginative kid, always making myself laugh, creating my own stories and seeing the beauty in almost anything.

“Victoria, mister Eze said you should come to his class” a scrawny boy said disrupting my game as he panted and ran out of the class, which made me wonder why exactly was he running, i didn’t seem to understand the boys of her age they were just too rough and i couldn’t stand them. I got to MR Eze class which was empty except for Mr Eze who was sitting on his chair. “how are you” Mr Eze said, “I’m fine sir”. “where were you? Don’t you know you are supposed to come and see me after school closes”, “I was in my class”. “what were you doing there?”, “nothing sir”. “don’t let that happen again, do you have any assignments?” “yes sir” “bring it here”. I walked up to MR Eze, placing my book on the table, and then flipping it to the page of the assignment. “come and sit here” Mr Eze said pointing to his lap, i found this weird, why would he want my to sit on his lap, i thought to herself.

I reluctantly sat on his lap, in fear of speaking against it, i found it hard to concentrate because the aura of the whole situation was very uncomfortable, first off all i felt Mr Eze breathing down hot breath and Also he was breathing heavily like he was nervous about something, secondly i felt suffocated being in between the Mr Eze and his table and thirdly i felt something sharp poking my skirt, and as i couldn’t take it anymore. Aunty Mary walks in with a very confused look on her face, Aunty Mary was the help that was hired to help grandma in taking care of me. “errr victoria go and meet your aunty but make sure you complete your assignment” said Mr Eze, “okay sir” i said as i walked towards Aunty Mary.

“Hey small girl what where you doing with that uncle?” aunty Mary asked giving me a sinister look “which uncle pretending not to know exactly what she was talking about", she knew the conversation was about to get uncomfortable, Aunty Mary was the gossip and talkative type, who does basically nothing all day because her only responsibility was taking care of me but i does most of the caring myself so basically her job was just to see me wake up and watch me eat, go to school and come back from school, so all this gisting was the highlights of her day. “I mean that your lesson teacher, what exactly was happening in that class? ” “he was helping me with my assignment” “okay?” Aunty Mary said anticipating more of the story “that’s all” “that’s all” Aunty Mary said out of frustration “wetin you people dey talk about?” Uncle Tobi said interrupting the conversation, “what’s your business?” Aunty Mary shot back at him. There has been some kind of tension between the two of them ever since Aunty Mary came, and this was because they both had nothing to do.

Grandma was still very strong and she loved doing things for herself, and never required help from anyone of them, she is even the one that gets up every morning at five am to prepare me for school, and countless of times she has told her children my mother and her siblings that she didn’t need any help but they wouldn’t bulge. “Victoria !!!!” grandma called out “victoria your mother is calling you” Aunty Mary said giving me a side eye “my baby how was school” grandma said has she invited me to sit on her bed “it was fine. It was a little boring” “ha, noo it has to be interesting, jo omo mi(please my child) you have to study hard, you have to come first” “ha grandma, first…” i exclaimed “yes oo my daughter, you are a bright child” I smiled has i laid her head on my grandmother’s lap. My grandmother was the only good thing in my life at the moment, she has been successful in trying to fill the void my mom's left when she travelled but i still misses my mother but my grandma made everything easier for me.

My grandma has always been spoiling me ever since i was a little baby and i came to visit and now living with her wasn’t any different “do you want to sleep in my room tonight?” grandma asked noticing her fatigue, i nodded has i adjusted myself to a more comfortable position.

The next day of school was a bit strange, i noticed that Mr Eze was occasionally checking up on me and every time our eyes met he would immediately adjust himself and act like he wasn’t paying any attention towards me and what made everything more troubling was each time i tried greeting him he would ignore me and act like he couldn’t hear me greeting.

All this was getting confusing. “Victoria Mr Eze said you should follow me and carry this to his house” a young boy around 11 years of age said has he handed me a nylon bag which was quite heavy. I wondered what was inside but i didn’t have the guts to check. On getting to Mr Eze’s house, i stumbled on something very troubling and uncomfortable. On a piece of paper under a shelf has something boldly written in it “Victoria and EZE together forever” i got more scared wondering what this meant, who wrote it? And what exactly did the person mean by that? And why is it in Mr Eze’s house?.

There was something about this day that just didn’t feel right, i couldn’t shake away this uncomfortable feeling, it made me uncomfortable and my stomach feel weird, it was like i could sense that something bad was about to happen to me and i does this every time i got scared, i got on my knees to say a little prayer “dear lord, thank you for today, I just want to say you should protect me and every member of my family don’t let anything bad happen to any of us, thank you for always being there for us, in Jesus name I pray Amen”.

I spent my day quiet through school, it didn’t really make any difference to others around because i has always been a quite child. Though, it was rather hard detecting that there was something off about me, i myself had no idea what was wrong, i just had this strange premonition that something bad was about to happen. It was the end of the school day, aunty Mary was running late, she should have been here to pick me, just as i was trying to distract myself with a drawings as i waited for Aunty Mary, a voice called out to me “Victoria what are you still doing in school?” I turned back to see who it was as cold shivers rushed through me since upon realising that it was Mr Eze, the memories of the note i saw began to terrify me “err emm… i am waiting for my aunty to come and pick me” i replied as i swallowed hard “what’s wrong with you?” “nothing sir” “why are you sweating?” him noticing has my cloth were beginning to get soaked “I don’t know” “what do you mean you don’t know?”“nothing sir” “well come and help me carry this box to my house” “excuse me sir but my aunty would soon be here” “well she’s not here now, come and help me with this box my friend!” he shot back at me has i followed Mr Eze home the sick grew even more and now i felt like i was going to vomit, i can’t fall sick i thought of that to herself, i just wanted to get away from Mr Eze, when i remembered the note found at his house, and for the past few days i found Mr Eze to be very scary.

Upon getting to Mr Eze’s house, he immediately locked the door and immediately ordered me to go place the box in one of the bedrooms which to my surprise the bedroom I entered was like the room of a little girl. What was more surprising was that there was a collection of a little girl’s cloth, it was as if there was a girl that once lived here. I sighted a frame picture which was placed on the drawer beside the bed and was shocked by the resemblance between the girl who was in the picture with Mr Eze and myself but what was more shocking was the smile on Mr Eze’s face. I never knew he could be this happy because Mr Eze just had two kinds of looks which were confused and scary. “start packing those clothes into the suitcase and be very fast with it!” Mr Eze said with a very look on his face, he looked anxious and scared at the same time as if something bad was about to happen “yes sir”, i immediately threw the clothes into the bags and locked it “excuse me sir I’ve put all the clothes in the suitcase” “that’s good, are you ready?” he said frustrated trying fit somethings in another suitcase “yes sir, am ready go back to school” “why are you going back to school?” “my aunty would be there by now to take me home” I replied confused by his question. “Home? Home?” Mr Eze said has he faced me “yes sir” “and where exactly is home?” “err… my grandma’s house” “you are never going to that place again or going to see anyone there ever again” “ehn? why?” tears began to roll down my eyes as i was finding it hard to understand what was going on “you are now with me and where I’m taking you to is going to be your home and am going to be your family” “but I already have a family, my mother…” I got interrupted with a slap on the face “don’t you ever say that witches’ name, she’s never going to separate us ever again do you understand me Elizabeth?” Everything just got a lot more confusing, did he just call me Elizabeth? Who is Elizabeth? Was i being kidn*pped by my supposed lesson teacher? “don’t you have mouth Elizabeth!” Mr Eze screamed at me “I'm not Elizabeth” I screamed back bursting into more tears “yes you are, yes you are” Mr Eze said as he forcefully pressed a handkerchief against my noise which immediately made me unconscious.