THE TATTOO

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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 sent her packing from their home and somehow she was still the one who disclosed the information of Uju’s whereabouts to him. She still went with him when he drove to Imo state to throw Uju yet again out of her maternal grandmother’s home. As usual, she had done nothing but cry. Uju’s grandmother had chased her father out of her compound  while threatening to break his head if he ever set foot there again. Ijeego had pleaded with her daughter that day to listen to her father and terminate the pregnancy so she could come home. She said the house was empty without her. 

Uju didn’t realize she was crying till she heard Kasie ask her what the problem was. She was still holding her phone to her ear even though the call with her mother had long ended. Her father had suffered a stroke the day before and had lapsed into unconsciousness on the evening of the present day which prompted his admission into the ICU.

“My…ehm, your grandfather is sick and is in a very critical condition. Your grandmother called.” Uju said to Kasie as she fought back more tears.

“Oh. I’m so sorry Mum, is he going to die? How’s grandma? Have they gone to the hospital?” She queried

“No darling, he is not going to die. Grandma is fine and she’s with him in the hospital but I’d have to go to Enugu to see them.”  

“Okay Mum, when are you going?” She suddenly realized she hadn’t made any plans yet, but knew she was supposed to leave as soon as possible, probably tomorrow but she still had to go to work to inform her boss. Possibly, she could ask for a week leave. 

“You’ll stay with Aunty Nwanneka till I come back. I will call her tomorrow, okay?” Aunty Nwanneka’s was Kasie’s second home on the days Uju travelled out of the country or to other states for work. She was Uju’s second cousin. Nwanneka was no longer on talking terms with Uju’s mother as a result of her actions or rather inactions while she was pregnant with Kasie. Uju stayed at her house when she first moved to Abuja with Kasie after her grandmother's death and she had stayed there till she got a job and a place of her own.

Uju was still freaked out by the thought of the strange man looming around her home in their absence because she already knew she wasn’t going to make it to the police station the next day with Nnanna. She decided to stick with his initial plan of putting a call through to 'his people'. She made up her mind to call him tomorrow to let him know. The next morning, after Uju had called Aunty Nwanneka, she helped Kasie pack some of the things she would need for a week. She had already packed her own bag and booked a flight to Enugu the night before. After narrating her ordeal to her boss when she got to work, he told her to take as much time as she needed. He was surprisingly more empathic than she thought he would be even though she felt his actions were as a result of how delighted the team was after her presentation yesterday. He was probably hopeful that they would be awarded the contract. She hoped so too. She met with HR and picked a few things that she would need while away from the office because of course, she still had to work during  her supposed leave. She had texted Nnanna earlier contrary to giving him a call as planned. She didn’t know why she did that though but she thought it would be more undemanding, more formal. Maybe she was just overthinking the whole thing, she thought to herself.

Uju spent three more hours at work mainly updating her assistant and making sure her department would be up and running in her absence. 

It was on her way to the parking lot that she saw Nnanna standing close to her car, his arms folded. She abruptly stopped in her tracks and gave him a quizzical stare. “Uju, how are you?” He asked with a note of concern in his voice

“Why are you here?” She asked.

                                                                                                                                           CHAPTER SEVEN

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THE TATTOO

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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...
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THE TATTOO

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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...
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THE TATTOO

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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...
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