“Mama, you don’t have to go, we can still survive the next few hours till the rain stops”, said Amara.
Despite spending the last five years in the poorest living condition, with a mud house for roof over their head, no more than three tattered gowns and barely having enough to eat, Mama Chi couldn’t have been more grateful to have the most understanding 14 years old daughter.
Despite their poverty, she has never for once complained. Even when she couldn't afford to play with Barbie dolls like her mates, she never complained. But as she looked down from their mattress at her daughter sitting on the torn carpet in the room, she knew she couldn’t stand to leave the girl unfed for another 1 hour. They had only drank Garri for the past 12 hours.
“The rain is not that heavy, I’ll just quickly stop at the farm and come back. Thankfully, the rain will make the ground softer, so it’ll be easier for me to harvest the yams. Today, we’ll finally eat yams, we’ll even make pounded yam and vegetable soup, your favorite, I’m so happy my dear, aren’t you happy?
“I’m happy Mama, but I’m sure your leg still hurt from the fall you had at the market yesterday. I’m still so angry that the bike man ran away after almost hitting you and ruining all the carrots you wanted to sell. That’s why we couldn’t eat yesterday. But food is even the least of my concern right now. I really don’t want you going into this rain with an injured knee. Let me come with you Mama.”
“Over my dead body will any child of mine soil their hands with dirt. I have told you Amara, I don’t want you to even experience what farming is like, I already feel bad that we are living like this. I can handle it. All I need you to do is just please, focus on your studies. I’ll work hard and train you. I know you’ll bring us out of this poverty someday. But till then, I promise you, I’m fine.”
She stood from the bed, bent to roll one leg of her trouser up to avoid strain on her injured knee and then she picked the nylon raincoat and farmer’s woven hat hanging on a nail on the wall “let me quickly go and come back so we can eat something” she then ran out
Amara ran after her but stopped at the door, her eyes depicting how much she longed to go after her mother as worry creases her forehead, she shouted after her mother, “Mama, be careful”
Src. Upon getting to the farm, Mama Chi couldn’t believe her eyes, she said to herself, “no no no no, God no” as she ran around her quarter plot of land farm frantically wondering what could have happened overnight. What was supposed to be heaps of land cultivated for the yams was now an empty dug heaps, not a single tuber of yam left.
“who could have done this?” She thought to herself as she fell on her knee not even minding the pain that shot from her injured knee, she wept bitterly.
After what felt like the longest 1 hour of her life, she stood, devastated about going home empty handed to her daughter. She harvested some vegetables from the farm, even the unripe ones, wondering what kind of meal she could make out of leaves, onion, pepper and carrot.
She walked out of her farm, then looked back at the farmland, the only property her husband’s family couldn’t take from her after her husband’s demise five years ago. She wondered who could have callously raked the whole farmland of the yams she had spent the last 6 months tending to, “the person must have been watching me closely, how wicked”, she thought as another teardrop escaped her eye.
Src. She trekked back under the rain which was now drizzling and no longer heavy, yet, the road seemingly longer than it had always been, worry building a mansion on her soul, each step heavier than the last, how would she tell her daughter what has happened? Most importantly, how will they feed for the next one week. Where will she start from?
“Mama Chi, Mama Chi” a voice echoed behind her, she turned back to see Mr Akpan, a farmer whose 2 acres of farmland happened to be a neighboring one to her quarter plot farmland.
“I’ve been calling out your name since I saw you leaving the farm, I saw what happened to your farm, those darn thieves. They’ll soon get what’s coming for them!” Mr Akpan said in his funny manner of speaking with his bulging eyes, a crooked tooth, rounded beer filled belly and umbrella in hand to shield him from the rain.
Src. “Thank you Mr Akpan. I don’t even know how to feel right now. Did the same thing happen to your farm? Asked Mama Chi
Mr Akpan replied, “no my dear, they probably thought I would have security guards since it’s a big farmland and I am a very important person. Speaking of security guards, I am actually going to get one, because now that the stealing is getting rampant, one has to be careful. I’ll ask the security guard to watch over both our lands since they’re next to each other.”
“you’ll do that? I’ll really love to accept, but I’m afraid I can’t afford to contribute money for that right now”, Mama Chi said while squeezing her eyes, already suspecting where the conversation is going.
“Who’s asking you for money? Ehn Mama Chi, Security is the least of what I intend to do for you. I want to take care of you and that your daughter, what’s her name again? Come under my umbrella, let me take care of you. Your beauty is already fading because of this hardship, you don’t have to go through this anymore” he grinned as he stretched forth a hand towards Mama Chi’s waist, ravaging her body with his bulging eyes as he subconsciously licked his lower lips
She shuddered, swatted his hand away and pointed a finger toward him, pouring all the frustration and anger into her voice, “never again in your life, repeat this to me. I have told you NO a thousand times but since you have refused to hear me, then I’ll hit the nail on the head properly without sugarcoating my word, my late husband was the best husband and best father a woman could ever asked for, being with someone like you after his demise would be an insult to him, he would roll in his grave, it would be a shame to my integrity and a death sentence to my daughter. You think I haven’t seen how you carry girls my daughter’s age up and down? For goodness sake, you just married your seventh wife just last month. See, don’t ever tell me this nonsense again, I beg you” She hissed and bent to pick her bag of vegetables then turned to continue her journey home.
“Mama, you’re back”, Amara ran out to hug her mother and help her with the bag.
“Amara, I’m going to make you the most delicious vegetable soup today. We are going to eat a delicacy called Carrot porridge”, Mama Chi said in a shaky voice as she tried to control her emotions in front of her daughter
“Mama, I already made yam porridge for us with the remaining palm oil and pepper we had at home. I’ve been waiting for you to come back so that we can eat”, Amara said while grinning happily
“Yam porridge? Where did you see yam?”, asked mama Chi puzzled
“Mama please don’t get angry, but whenever I get back from school and you’re on the farm, I’ve been helping Mama Nkechi on her farmland, it’s a very big farm and they have a lot of workers, I begged her to recruit me as one of their workers so I can support you and she agreed. Today was our yam harvesting and they had way too much, they gave all the workers 30 tubers of yam each, she even told one of her sons to help me carry the yam home in that wheelbarrow” She told her mother pointing to the wheelbarrow that now laid on the wall.
Mama Chi looked down at her daughter with moisten eyes as she sniffed back her running nose, “oh my daughter. Thank you. I truly am not alone, my husband left you for me, you’re my angel”
Amara smiled and nudged her mother so they’d go inside. The two of them walked inside with a deep side hug and a hope stronger than that of yesterday’s because they now know that as long as they have each other, tomorrow will be alright.
