Life is like a misery. If I was told I wouldn’t have believed it. But I know that all that goes around will always come around. Ugomma happens to be my very good friend. I cherished her more than all my friends. She came from a very poor background. I never acknowledged that fact just like other rich people will do because I believe that everyone is equal.
Her attitude made me reflect back on how I picked her from
the gutter. One blazing afternoon, my father’s driver came to pick me up from
school but unfortunately for him on our way home, he knocked down a girl. He
stopped rushed to the girl, and shook her but she was still conscious. She
sustained bruises around her body. I pitied her and wondered what a beautiful
girl like her should be doing out there when others were still in school.
Hi! I signal to her.
Hi! She replied.
What is your name? “Ugomma” she replied. What a charming name I
acknowledged. You are supposed to be in school, aren’t you? Yes, I am, but
circumstances demanded that I shouldn’t be in school today.
What circumstances? I asked. Ugomma breathed heavily to indicate
that she didn’t know where to start but I understood and urged her to begin
from somewhere. She began to tell the tale of her life. Life was so cruel to my
mother when she lost her beloved husband. He was caring even till death.
Nkem take care of yourself and this baby. I can’t make it again.
My ancestors are calling me, how I wish I could stop it but it’s beyond my power.
These were his exact words before he joined his ancestors in a
beautiful land of no return. He was a great hunter who had ventured into many
adventures. It was actually the last one that he had undergone and he sustained an
injury that led to his sudden death.
After he was buried my uncle ganged up and took away all his properties leaving nothing for my
mother. My mother went through hail to ensure that she took proper care of me.
She started hawking bananas and other kinds of fruits. At the age of ten, I
started assisting her.
It was actually time for me to write my junior high
school exam and the only way to achieve it was through hard work. So I chose
three days for school and the rest for hawking. That is my story, she said.
What a story, I was dumbfounded and looking at her. So I pleaded with
my father’s driver to take her home alongside me. At home, we narrated the incident to my daddy and I pleaded that she should be allowed to stay with
me in the house. My mother disapproved it after several pleadings; so I threatened
her that I would run away from the house and she would never see me again, she yielded
to my request.
I was the only child of my parents and they loved me so much
that they couldn’t withstand the chance of losing me. They went to Ugomma’s family
and told her mother of their intentions. The poor woman was so glad, that at least
the burden of her school fees and feeding would no longer be a problem for her.
Ugomma and I grew up like best of friends. You would hardly know that she wasn’t
my biological sister. We did virtually everything together. All went smoothly till
we graduated from our secondary school and tertiary institution. She studied
‘law’ and I studied ‘medicine’. We lived happily until the tragedy of my life
caught me.
One fateful day, my fiancée visited the house; I introduced him
to my parents. They welcomed him and admonished him that he should take proper care
of me because am their only eye. He promised. After his departure, my mother
called:
‘Asamma’ I answered.
She warned me that I shouldn’t trust anyone not even ‘Ugomma’ she
instructed that Tony was too handsome. She advised that each time I want to
visit him I should go there alone. Mother never knew that I had visited
Tony several times in his house with Ugomma. I didn’t disclose it to my mother
because I knew my sister and my friend couldn’t betray me.
A day came when Ugomma took permission from my parents to go see
her mother and siblings. We hugged each other and she departed. I was so bored
at home so I decided to go and see Tony. I left immediately and when I got there,
I was shocked. Ugomma you are supposed to be at your family house, what are you
doing here?
Tony came out of the house and was surprised to see me. You didn’t call me before coming but anyway I would explain. Explain what? That you have been sleeping with my so-called friend or sister. I trusted you Ugomma, I never knew you could bite a finger that feeds you.
She never uttered a word but
kept staring at me with her innocent face. Indeed innocent look has betrayed
me. Now I knew that all that glitter was not gold.
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