The house had a touch of class. The food was superb. Fried rice, decorated with vegetable salad and a big chicken lap. A chilled orange flavored juice was placed by the side. The taste of the food made me temporarily forget my sorrows. I rested for a while after eating before initiating a discussion with her.

“Ma’am, I want to start by appreciating you for your concern. Before I met you, I was thinking of the worst. I got tired of life and wished to die. If it was easy for me to take my life I would have done so. From childhood, I had been suffering. I lost my mother at age 1.”

“It’s a pity. I’m sorry for your loss,” she sympathized.

“After her death, people encouraged my father to get another wife. Their reason was for the new wife to take care of me since my mother was an orphan with no relative. However, the woman came in and turned me to a slave in my father’s house. I start each day with tears and end it with groaning. While her children attended private owned schools, she enrolled me in a public school.”

“Was your father not aware of all these?” Mummy asked in a tone of surprise.

“My father was a very busy man who hardly stayed at home. When I got to my final year in secondary school, my father released money for my Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) but my step-mother confiscated it.”

“And you still kept quite?”

“No ma’am. That was more than I could take. So, I reported the matter to my father. He had to personally go to my school to register me for the examination. A day to the commencement of the examination I became sick. I never responded to treatment till a day after the examination. That was when the sickness disappeared.”

“That was strange,” Mummy said.

“It was really strange. However, my father took another step to register me for General Certificate Examination (GCE). When the examination commenced, I was hale and hearty but something mysterious happened. When I attempted writing, the pen was not visible on the answer script. After various attempts without result, I sought the assistance of one of the invigilators. He was kind enough to help me with two additional pens but the result was the same. The invigilator later came to me and attempted writing on my script and his writing showed. This made him very angry and he threatened to send me out of the hall if I disturb again. I was stranded and had to submit an .empty script at the end of the examination”

“Did it not occur to you that it was a spiritual attack?”

“I knew that it was not ordinary but there was nothing I could do. When I got home, I reported the issue to my father. My step-mother over heard and told me I was talking nonsense. She accused me of not studying for the examination.”

“What was your father’s response?”

“He promised to buy a pack of pen for me. He believed that, will solve the problem but it was never a solution. I go for examination each day and return home without writing anything. That continued till the end of the whole papers. When the result of the examination was released, my father was very angry with me. He threatened that he will never spend a dime on my education again. All of a sudden, my step-mother turned to a Good Samaritan. She started weeping and begging my father to forgive me. She suggested that I should go and learn trade skills, since I am not brilliant. I knew that she was behind my ordeals but what could a motherless child do in such situation.”

“It’s a pity. I can sense that she never wanted you to be educated.”

“That is the truth. Finally my father made an arrangement for me to be under the tutelage of a man that sells electronics for seven years after which he will settle me with some money to start my own business. I was happy with the arrangement. Not because that was my ambition in life; I wanted to be a doctor. But I accepted the plan for me to be free from my step-mother. However, my master’s wife was another Jezebel. She serves us food meant for dogs. The soup and stew were always tasteless. I suspected she usually added extra water before serving us. Of course neither fish nor meat was ever added to our food. It was seven years of servitude but I was never bothered. My consolation was that one day, it will be over. However, all my expectation of good life after my years of service was dashed this morning. My master gave me a cheque of N100,000 as my settlement fee. I pleaded with him to rent a shop for me to put goods in, no matter how small, but he refused. That was the source of my pain today. The worst is that I have nowhere to go. I don’t even have anyone to speak for me.”

“What of your father? I think you should let him know what is going on.”

“Even if I tell him, it won’t solve the problem. My master is a relative of my step-mother.”

“What exactly did your master say is the reason for settling you with such a meager amount?”

“He complained that business has been dull. He also accused I and my colleague of stealing from him.”

“I have a question for you and I want a sincere answer. Did you steal your master’s money?”

“I never stole from him. It is true that I have some negative traits but stealing is never one of them. The only thing I did was that whenever I sell goods above the normal price, I take the excess. It’s from there that I feed and take care of other personal needs.”

“Truly, your story is pathetic. But if I tell you mine, you may pity me too. However, I looked up to God and he turned everything around for my own good. He has been the one taking care of me and my two daughters since my husband died. I will enjoin you to forget about the past and embrace your bright future. By stepping your feet into this home, I assure you that your days of agony and pain is over by the grace of God. Take this place as your home and see me as your mother.”

The house had a touch of class. The food was superb. Fried rice, decorated with vegetable salad and a big chicken lap. A chilled orange flavored juice was placed by the side. The taste of the food made me temporarily forget my sorrows. I rested for a while after eating before initiating a discussion with her.

“Ma’am, I want to start by appreciating you for your concern. Before I met you, I was thinking of the worst. I got tired of life and wished to die. If it was easy for me to take my life I would have done so. From childhood, I had been suffering. I lost my mother at age 1.”

“It’s a pity. I’m sorry for your loss,” she sympathized.

“After her death, people encouraged my father to get another wife. Their reason was for the new wife to take care of me since my mother was an orphan with no relative. However, the woman came in and turned me to a slave in my father’s house. I start each day with tears and end it with groaning. While her children attended private owned schools, she enrolled me in a public school.”

“Was your father not aware of all these?” Mummy asked in a tone of surprise.

“My father was a very busy man who hardly stayed at home. When I got to my final year in secondary school, my father released money for my Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) but my step-mother confiscated it.”

“And you still kept quite?”

“No ma’am. That was more than I could take. So, I reported the matter to my father. He had to personally go to my school to register me for the examination. A day to the commencement of the examination I became sick. I never responded to treatment till a day after the examination. That was when the sickness disappeared.”

“That was strange,” Mummy said.

“It was really strange. However, my father took another step to register me for General Certificate Examination (GCE). When the examination commenced, I was hale and hearty but something mysterious happened. When I attempted writing, the pen was not visible on the answer script. After various attempts without result, I sought the assistance of one of the invigilators. He was kind enough to help me with two additional pens but the result was the same. The invigilator later came to me and attempted writing on my script and his writing showed. This made him very angry and he threatened to send me out of the hall if I disturb again. I was stranded and had to submit an .empty script at the end of the examination”

“Did it not occur to you that it was a spiritual attack?”

“I knew that it was not ordinary but there was nothing I could do. When I got home, I reported the issue to my father. My step-mother over heard and told me I was talking nonsense. She accused me of not studying for the examination.”

“What was your father’s response?”

“He promised to buy a pack of pen for me. He believed that, will solve the problem but it was never a solution. I go for examination each day and return home without writing anything. That continued till the end of the whole papers. When the result of the examination was released, my father was very angry with me. He threatened that he will never spend a dime on my education again. All of a sudden, my step-mother turned to a Good Samaritan. She started weeping and begging my father to forgive me. She suggested that I should go and learn trade skills, since I am not brilliant. I knew that she was behind my ordeals but what could a motherless child do in such situation.”

“It’s a pity. I can sense that she never wanted you to be educated.”

“That is the truth. Finally my father made an arrangement for me to be under the tutelage of a man that sells electronics for seven years after which he will settle me with some money to start my own business. I was happy with the arrangement. Not because that was my ambition in life; I wanted to be a doctor. But I accepted the plan for me to be free from my step-mother. However, my master’s wife was another Jezebel. She serves us food meant for dogs. The soup and stew were always tasteless. I suspected she usually added extra water before serving us. Of course neither fish nor meat was ever added to our food. It was seven years of servitude but I was never bothered. My consolation was that one day, it will be over. However, all my expectation of good life after my years of service was dashed this morning. My master gave me a cheque of N100,000 as my settlement fee. I pleaded with him to rent a shop for me to put goods in, no matter how small, but he refused. That was the source of my pain today. The worst is that I have nowhere to go. I don’t even have anyone to speak for me.”

“What of your father? I think you should let him know what is going on.”

“Even if I tell him, it won’t solve the problem. My master is a relative of my step-mother.”

“What exactly did your master say is the reason for settling you with such a meager amount?”

“He complained that business has been dull. He also accused I and my colleague of stealing from him.”

“I have a question for you and I want a sincere answer. Did you steal your master’s money?”

“I never stole from him. It is true that I have some negative traits but stealing is never one of them. The only thing I did was that whenever I sell goods above the normal price, I take the excess. It’s from there that I feed and take care of other personal needs.”

“Truly, your story is pathetic. But if I tell you mine, you may pity me too. However, I looked up to God and he turned everything around for my own good. He has been the one taking care of me and my two daughters since my husband died. I will enjoin you to forget about the past and embrace your bright future. By stepping your feet into this home, I assure you that your days of agony and pain is over by the grace of God. Take this place as your home and see me as your mother.”