Utonwa_writes

CHAPTER NINE  THE EXCHANGE “It seems it was not only your love for flowers that died after I left Nne, everything about you has changed.” They were standing right outside the ICU waiting for the doctor to finish with rounds. Ijeego was staring at the wall looking lost. Uju touched her lightly on her shoulder to call her attention, “Mummy?” She said “How’s your daughter, Ujunwa?” Uju was startled by the question and how cold her mother sounded. “She…she is well” she stuttered, still confused about the question. Ijeego turned towards her and said with a stern look on her face, “You get to see your daughter anytime you wish right?” And before Uju could answer, she continued, “You are a part of her life? You go to bed every time knowing you have full access to your daughter. She did not leave your home; she listens to you and does everything you want. These alone are enough to make any mother happy, to make you flourish as a mother, Ujunwa.” “Mummy, I am seriously trying not to compreh...

CHAPTER EIGHT REUNION  Uju took a taxi to her parents’ house after she landed in Enugu. She needed to drop some of her things there before going to the hospital. The state hadn’t really changed much since she left. She met the gateman when she arrived; her mum had told him she was coming. Uju hadn’t met him before, the former gateman she knew had died years ago. The door to the house was locked, so she checked the flower pot in front of the house and found the key. She smiled. Her mother still kept the key there after all these years. She unlocked the door and hesitated for some minutes before stepping into the house and immediately regretted coming straight to the house as old memories flooded her mind. She dropped her bags in the sitting room and briskly walked out. Outside, she sat on a plastic chair in the compound to catch her breath when she remembered her mother had a flower garden she tended to and loved when Uju was younger. Brides- to-be from their church would come over ...

  CHAPTER SEVEN  Too Much It was a quiet ride to Kasie’s school. Uju needed the silence to help calm her mind from brooding on the chaos of the past few days. She looked out the window and silently counted the nose masks a boy was hawking in traffic in a bid to distract herself from thinking about meeting her dad. She stole a glance at Nnanna. He was driving and was focused on the road. She was grateful he didn’t engage her in any conversation; he must have read her mind. Flashbacks of their conversation at the parking lot earlier made her cringe; Nnanna had given her a dazed look when she had asked why he was at her company and after she got ahold of herself she had blurted out “well, sorry but I was just surprised to see you here. Of course your company and mine might be working together in the future –or soon, so the question was absolutely unnecessary.” “How are you, Uju?” he had asked again with concern written all over his face. “I am fine.” She had replied and laughed n...

CHAPTER SIX  Need  Life has a way of leaving you in shambles when you think you’ve almost got it all figured out. Uju knew she was certainly going to meet her father again after all these years but she never thought it was going to be in this situation. When Ijeego, her mother had told her about her father’s deteriorating condition, Uju knew she was helpless. Her mother had always been helpless when challenges were thrown her way. She knew her mother needed her there and even though she didn’t mention it over the phone, her tone gave it away. She loved her mother, she always had. Even when she couldn’t speak up for her years ago while she was pregnant and her father had thrown her out for refusing to terminate it because he didn’t  want a bastard in his home. Ijeego was with him when he drove all the way from Enugu to Awka to drive a pregnant Uju out of his mother’s house. Ijeego just stood there crying. She had instructed the driver to take Uju there the night her father...

CHAPTER FIVE Letting in Kasie hurriedly unlocked the door when she heard her mother’s car drive into the compound. The car had barely stopped before Uju jumped out and ran to hug her. Nnanna, the CEO alighted from the driver’s side and went behind the house to look around. Uju was talking with the gateman when he came back to the front. “There’s no one at the back, he must have run when he heard the car drive in” he said. Uju turned to him, “The gateman didn’t see him too. It’s really creepy at this point.”  “Have you filed a report yet?” Nnanna asked “I planned to do that this week.” “I could help you put a call through to the police. I have people there.” He had offered to drive her home after Uju told him what the call was about at the restaurant. She was visibly shaken and he knew she was not stable enough to drive. He had instructed his driver to follow them in his own car. Uju declined his request but agreed when he offered to go to the police station with her. She invited hi...

CHAPTER FOUR  Lunch At the parking lot, Uju heard someone call her name as she was about entering her car. She knew the voice and seriously didn’t want to face the owner. She heard the voice call again this time, closer. She exhaled slowly and turned to face the caller. Standing there was the CEO, he was pretending to catch his breath. “Damn, you’re such a fast walker. I had to jog to catch up with you Miss Chukwu.” Uju rolled her eyes, “What now? I already know we are not winning the contract Sir, you don’t have to taunt me.” “What are you talking about?”  He asked with obvious concern on his face. “You did absolutely well today, my team liked it but we haven’t made a decision yet. That would be after I must have had a meeting with them. But trust me, your presentation was good. I personally like it.” Uju was relaxed now. She was relieved by what he said but didn’t still trust him. He might be making fun of her you know. She knew she overreacted at the mall but wasn’t really ...

Chapter Three Wahala Uju felt like a million years had been added to her life the moment the ‘manly figure’ got closer to her car with security  boldly written on his T-shirt. Kasie heaved a heavy sigh of relief and sank into the car seat. “Hello Ma’am, sorry there has been a general power outage in the estate. We are trying to fix this. I am just here to see how the electrician is going about it,” the security man said. Uju still catching her breath from her initial panic replied, “that’s...that's all right, take your time.”  THE NEXT DAY It was a cool Sunday afternoon with Jon Bellion's simple and sweet playing in Uju's room. She was doing a final check on the presentation she had prepared for her company. Her company or rather her passive aggressive boss desperately needed to be awarded a contract from a multi-national and internationally recognized Motor oil producing firm in the country.   “This would be the biggest gig of the company so far, if we can grab...

CHAPTER TWO The strange man "Kasie," Uju called as she glanced at the wall clock, "let's go, we are running late already". She perused the list she was holding making sure everything they needed to get from the shopping mall was written. Kasie walked frantically to the living room. She looked tensed. “What’s the matter?”, Uju asked standing up immediately.  Kasie stammered, "I...I saw him." “The strange guy?”  “Yes, through the bathroom window. He was hovering in the backyard but I do not think he is still there. I made a sound and he ran off to the other side of the compound," Kasie replied while trying to catch her breath.  They had been seeing this strange man longer than they could remember. Uju had reported the case to the estate security a couple of times but nothing seemed to be done about it. She hugged Kasie, promising to report to the police this time. She just needed a picture of him on their property as evidence. Uju sighed. “Do you st...

Chapter one Nightmare  Kasie ran to her mother’s room as soon as she heard her scream. She knew it was the nightmare, again. She met her sitting upright on her bed clutching the pillow a little bit too tight to her chest, with sweat dripping down and soaking her silk floral nightie. The AC was on, Kasie noticed and the room was a little bit chilly. She sat down close to her mother hugged her tight and continued whispering, “It’s alright mum, I’m here now”. Uju woke up with a jolt, her daughter, Kasie cuddled up at the other side of the bed sleeping. She looked at the table clock close to her side of the bed “11:32am, God!” she exclaimed under her breath cautious enough not to wake her daughter. The events of the night kept replaying in her head. The nightmare, the same nightmare that had tortured her for the past 16 years. This time, she had clearer images of the only memory she had of the man that raped her 16 years ago. She remembered he had what seemed to be a scar and a badly d...