AMARACHI THE BEAUTIFUL POOR CHILD
Amarachi The Beautiful Poor Child - Chapter Nine
Theme: And Her Journey to Destiny-Discovery
By Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor
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Her head suffering from a strange migraine, the ticking sound of the
clock suddenly became noisy and mind-troubling. The entire roof seemed to
be collapsing on her as the thoughts of the dream of the previous night
growled in her headache like a thunderbolt. Fear brooded all over Amarachi as she
kept thinking deeply about the significance of the dream; a bad omen?
“I think it’s time for me to take this nightmare more seriously and be more
careful,” Amarachi muttered and kept gazing absently at the rusty bullet lying
on the floor.
The pigeons began to coo by the window side just like it was in her
dream. The next line of action according to the sequence of the dream was
meant to be a gunshot but she heard none, even though she remained hopeful
that she would, but still wished that it would never happen.
Leaving the room was so hard for Amarachi because she’d developed cold
feet and thinking through the menace of the perilous dream she just woke up
from. Amy was pessimistic as she became unconsciously eager to know what
comes next but at the same time afraid of the answers she’d get.
It was time for her to go for her Akara business but fright and uncertainty
got her totally engrossed in such deafening silence.
Summoning courage, she got up and said, “After all, I’ve prayed and God
hears,”
She undressed, took her towel and girded around her. When she entered
the Jacuzzi, her mind flashed straight to the water heater that mysteriously
stopped working in her dream. She became afraid, entertaining much
fearfulness and paranoia as her eyes got affixed to the switch of the heater.
Shaking her head to shake away the vivid thoughts that wouldn’t allow
her rest, Amarachi went straight to the heater and checked it out. Truly, it
wasn’t working. Untold shiver of uncertainty and sweat got her drowned in goose pimple. She couldn’t move but remained calm knowing full well that the
dream was about to become a reality.
As she stood agape, with her hands akimbo and lips fallen apart, she kept
reminiscing on every part of the dream. She tried to create a connection
between dream and reality.
“Is it that I’m awake in another dream?” she grumbled as that
unwelcomed restiveness characterized her entire being at the moment.
As she continued staring at the heater switch, she then realised that she
forgot to put it on, so she took a deep breath but wasn’t sure that putting on
the switch would make it work.
With heavy concern and fright, she wearily switched on the water heater.
The red indicator light responded forthwith; indicating that the heater wasn’t
bad, so she heaved a deep sigh of relief and entered the bath tub.
“Thank God,” she vocalised and lay on the Jacuzzi and rested her head on
the headrest while she waited for the water to be ready for a hot bath.
In that state of great fear, a knock at her door got her startled as if a ghost
was coming after her in a jiffy.
“Please, who is this!?” she echoed angrily, “I’m in the bathroom if you can
hear me!”
‘Please, let this not be my mom’ she prayed as she wished the dream
remains in dream realm and not come to reality.
The anonymous knocker didn’t say anything but left in shambling but
heavy steps as the knock from the footstep gradually became indistinct,
indicating that the knocker had gone away.
Amy was still fazed because the shock of the dream never left her mind’s
eye.
Amarachi conjured sudden audacity, bearing in mind the kind of woman
she is. She deliberately shut out such negative thoughts and remained
optimistic that she’d always conquer her fears.
With a loud cry as if she was having a battle of words with an enemy, she
yelled, “I have a wolf and a lamb in my mind! My life depends on the one I
feed, and I hereby choose to feed the lamb! Let the wolf die of hunger,”
That clamour against her fears really helped Amy a lot and made her
conquer that unnerved mind but that didn’t completely erase the fact that she
still had lots of fears unconsciously registered within her.
Quickly, she got dressed to a classy girl and opened her door. She walked
with sedate steps to Dave’s door and knocked.
Hearing the creak of the inner door, she knew that he could be in the
bathroom and probably wanted to come and open the door for her.
Thinking about what her mom told her in the dream concerning giving
her a motherly blessing, she left hurriedly to her mom’s room so that she’d be
the first person she’d meet and receive the undiluted morning blessings before
seeing any other.
Dave opened the door, still having his unsullied towel around his waist,
with some lather all over his hair. Seeing no one, he had to finish showering
first, so he went back to the bathroom and had a hasty bath just to ensure he
meets Amarachi who suddenly became hard-to-find lately.
When Amy wanted to enter Ego Oyibo’s room, the door suddenly
unlocked and opened before she could touch the knob.
“I’m glad you came, Nwam,” Ego Oyibo said and pulled Amy into the
room, “sit down, please,” she demanded humbly.
“Good morning, mommy,” Amy greeted, looking confused and waiting for
her mom to talk about packing out of the duplex as she did in the dream.
“Mama, you make me afraid with such reception,” she said and closed the door
behind her, and then sat and waited.
“How was your night?” Ego asked and observed her daughter’s pretty face
closely.
“It was fine, ma,” Amy replied but still uneasy as she braced herself for the
inevitable complained she already envisaged.
“This dress of yours is fine and lovely but...”
“Mom, don’t bother about my cleavage being revealed,” She replied;
knowing that her mom wanted to complain that her chest was almost bare and
the dressing indecent, “I have a jacket here with me,” she said and unzipped
her bag, and then brought out the jacket, “I’ll use it to cover the top,”
“Asikwam! I know my child isn’t an indecent one,” she said with pride
and observed Amy’s makeover, “but are all these dressing for the Akara
business or are you going out again and not coming back on time as usual?”
she asked observing Amy’s face to the point that Amarachi became bashed
with shame.
“Mama, I have some things to take care of,” she replied and tapped her
mom gently on the nape, “but, seriously, you now look younger, Ego Oyibo
Nnem,” she complimented and observed her mom too, “I’m happy we’re here
in this house. So don’t think this place is too big and that I won’t be having the
time to come and see you or stay with you,”
“I don’t understand,” Ego said, looking a bit confused, “have we discussed
anything about leaving this life I enjoy in these rooms filled with big fridges
that chill my body. Mbakwa (No at all), we’ve come to stay and we’re not
leaving, just that I want you to marry Dave and ...”
“Hey, mama,” Amy yelled but in a controlled tone, “I never said I’m dating
anyone and I’ve not even given a chance to him ...”
“Then give him a chance,” she interjected the clever words, “You love him,
don’t you?” she asked making Amy speechless and dumbfounded in thoughts.
“Well, I didn’t say that I don’t love him, mom, but...”
“But what?” Ego asked looking directly into her daughter’s eyes, “It’s
written all over you but you keep fighting it. Even when truth lies permanently
on your lips, you still pretend. Or do you want Urhobo people to come and
take me away when I’ve not seen my grandchildren?
Even though Amy was happy with the discussion, she was confused with
the last part of her mom’s statement. She pondered the words in her mind but
couldn’t fathom what she meant by that.
Read similar story: ISADORA (The homeless girl)
“Who is coming to take you from Urhobo?” Amarachi queried sounding
more concerned. She was taken aback by that strange statement and needed
answers.
“Please, don’t talk about that now,” Ego said with chuckle, trying to
trivialize the issue. She never meant to let the words out at all at first.
“No one is coming for me now, but I’m fine and promise to be okay,” she
lied.
Even though Ego Oyibo said she was fine, Amy wasn’t convinced because
she wouldn’t want to lose the same woman that had made her life more
beautiful.
“I hope you’re not dying soon and....hmmm,” Amy left the statement
uncompleted.
“God forbid!” Ego growled and snapped her finger in rejection to that
question, “I’ll outlive my enemies. So don’t panic, Mkpulumma, my daughter”
Amy got up to leave because she was already late but her mom stopped
her still.
“Ego Oyibo, what else do you want us to talk about?” she asked and
checked on her wristwatch to know how late she was for the business of the
day.
“Always remember to visit the church because I still believe in the
existence of the Supreme Being that controls our lives,” Ego urged, and then
bowed her head in reverence and said: “I pray that you go out and come back
with good news of your life. I know you have a secret you may not want to
share but let the solution come back with you. Your legs would take you where
you’d be celebrated, and not where you’d be tolerated,"
It took Amarachi some time as she digested the prayers, in relation to the
nightmare she had. She finally broke the loud silence with a loud: “Amen
oooo,”
It was just like in the dream when she was throbbing with the fight of her
life to stay alive and her mom begged Uremma to allow her (Ego Oyibo) take
her daughter to the church. Not just that, even the morning blessing was as it
was in the dream.
That morning blessing was a huge encouragement to Amy. She was
assured that she wasn’t coming back with bad news but a good one as Ego
Oyibo prayed.
Amarachi left immediately, forgetting to go back to Dave to have a brief
chitchat with him before leaving.
As she was about to open the compound gate, she heard Dave say: “You’re
already forgetting something,”
Looking back, she saw Dave and Ujunwa at the balcony as if they were
stalking her to know when she’d sneak out as usual.
Amara felt she just erred because she was always in haste to leave,
forgetting to exchange pleasantries with the people that gave her a
comfortable life.
Amy’s life had always been that of an independent woman, though she
tried her best to ensure she managed the life that Dave welcomed her into.
“Good morning charming lady and gentleman,” Amy greeted with smiles,
radiating love and concern.
Her magic worked on Ujunwa but Dave knew that he would have been
accorded a more welcoming and endearing closeness other than the casual
greetings he gets from her.
“How’re you pretty?” Ujunwa asked; smiling down at her with affection
and tenderness. “Babe, you look so sweet for an Akara seller this morning. I
hope no one is taking you away from my brother,
“Hmmm, Uremma, of course,” Amy muttered indistinctly to herself, “Oh...I
don’t know the answer to that question,” she said openly and cast a lewd look
at Dave who was just putting on his gym figure-hugging tracksuit.
“Funny,” Dave mumbled with sadness, and then threw down the keys of
the e-Vogue. It was funny how Amy struggled to catch it. He then said: “I’m
surprised that you’ve not made use of the car since the day I bought it for you.
It seems you don't like it?"
Ujunwa knew that Dave wasn’t really happy, even though he pretended
to be, so she winked at Amarachi and asked her to come and meet Dave
upstairs, though it wasn’t verbally done but with a signal so that Dave
wouldn’t understand the language of the women.
Amy knew that she was already late, but wouldn’t want Ujunwa to feel
bad about her being insensitive to her signal, so she stooped and picked the car
keys and then began to go back into the building to meet them. As she was
about to walk up the staircase, she looked up straight ahead and saw Dave
coming down as his footsteps announced his arrival. She then waited for him
to meet her downstairs.
Just looking at Dave got her clouded with affection but the memory of the
gunshot from Uremma still lingered and preoccupied her mind.
You can also read: ThE BLUE LOVE (Romance)
“You look dashing and inviting,” Dave complimented when he came to
her and held her by the arm with a caress, “I have missed you a lot but seems
you’ve been engulfed with the thoughts of fixing your friend’s engagement;
even though I’d warned you to stay out of their business,”
Amarachi rolled her eyeballs and smiled; with her eyes affixed to his cute
face that was favourably beautified by that well-carved eyebrow.
“I missed you more,” she said shyly and pulled back to make him more
spellbound with her natural endowment, “but I have to start going now,” she
added and thrust the car keys back to his palm, “I’m sorry to say this, but it
seems like I’m accustomed to a lowly life. Take back the keys,
Dave smiled, seeing how beautiful and innocent she looked as she tried
letting him know that she was used to the life of a simple girl. That humble
part of her made the feeling he had for her grew more and more.
“Can I whisper something to you?” Dave asked smilingly, flashing that
white set of teeth that glittered without blemish.
Amarachi was eager to hear what he had to whisper, even though she
was already shy, knowing it could be an additional strategy to woo her.
“Why not say it openly?” she insisted, even though she wasn’t firm with
that insistence. “Since we’re alone, you can say it without a whisper,”
Dave smiled as he felt outwitted but still remained firm and determined to
whisper to her. “Why not allow me first,” he reiterated.
Amy had to give up and let him have his way since what he wanted to
whisper was of utmost importance to him. “Fine, I give in,” she said admittedly
and pushed her hair aside to offer her ear for the whisper. “Here, you go, sir,”
she said and waited with anticipation of hearing something sweet and
pleasant.
Dave came closer, pulled her ear closer and said: “If this is how Akara
sellers dress, then no one would ever buy a cake,”
While Amara was still feeling the sweetness of his words, he nibbled her
ear that got her tickled.
“Ha-ha-ha,” she laughed; feeling those sweet words that kept dangling in
her imagination. “You got me there, especially that gentle bite on my ear,” she
confessed.
Amy knew what could come next if that romantic chat lingered, so she
left immediately as she continued laughing.
Dave watched her leave, with his lips fallen apart as he kept gazing at her
edges and curves with passion and admiration. He imagined such pretty and
perky girl like Amarachi as she left.
Since she hadn’t the time to return the car keys, Amarachi had to use the
e-Vogue that very day for the first time. But as she entered the exotic car, she remembered that in her dream, it was her truck, and what happened
afterward was death and disaster.
A tinge of fear gulped Amarachi’s emotions but she avoided wallowing in
such negativity, and then ignited the engine and drove out of the compound
without delay.
As she was leaving, she saw her mom admiring her from the window of
her room. Dave and Ujunwa were not left out as her audience, and many
others.
Amy felt so loved by such a wonderful family, even though she kept
wondering what could become of her if Uremma later discovers that the same
girl that she disliked because of Osisioma was the same taking her boyfriend
away from him.
“Amy,” she murmured to herself, “it seems that trouble locates you
without your permission,”
She drove down through Ridge Road to Ose Market to see her friends at
the motor park because it was obvious that she'd missed selling her Akara for
the day.
The driving continued until she felt she was being followed. Using her
rearview mirror, she saw a black Lexus Saloon coming after her. At first, she
thought it was just another driver plying the same route of hers but was
surprised that the more she navigated away from the car, the more it followed
from afar.
Amy redirected her movement and continued on another route but the
same car still followed. This got her gravely afraid, even to the extent that her
legs started quivering; affecting her driving and making her navigate without
caution.
Amarachi didn’t know what else to do at that particular time other than
enter the church (Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha) where she
believed would be a safe haven to her for the mean time.
Immediately she drove into the church, she went straight to the parking
lot and parked. She remained for a while in the car to know if the tinted black
car would show up. She was surprised that the car actually showed; though it
passed her location and parked at the other side of the church compound.
Amy felt like screaming but didn’t have to raise any alarm since it won’t
be easy to be abducted in a secure area like a church. She alighted and quickly
went into the church.
There was absolute serenity; with the statues looking like they were going
to communicate to her. She enjoyed the absolute repose of the church and sat
to pray, but her mind was still troubled, so she couldn’t concentrate.
“Mom said that I should always remember the church,” she muttered to
herself but fear still got her cocooned in that church. Uneasiness couldn’t just
let her be because she wanted to know if the black car was still in the church
compound.
Peering through the window for a check, she saw two hefty guys on allblack top and jean coming into the church too. The macho guys with thick abs
and strong body build weren’t smiling at all, with their eyes shaded with thick
black specs.
Out of great feeling of fear that something bad was about to happen, Amy
suddenly got up from her sitting position and looked searchingly around to
know where to hide.
In order to outrun the two guys, Amy quickly removed her high-heeled
shoes and left them at the pew where she sat, and then rushed towards the
back of one of the statues but it wasn’t the best hiding place.
She saw a priest on her way towards the back side of the church, and
then pretended as if she was busy with her bag.
Being that she had nothing to cover her hair; she quickly used her
handkerchief for that purpose, and then smiled sheepishly to the priest as
pretence that all was well.
“Good afternoon, Reverend,” she greeted with a curtsy and passed.
The priest noticed that the girl was barefooted but didn’t stop her
because, in the church, life-troubling issues can lead to certain behaviours.
Being that the priest just left the confessional, Amy quickly rushed into
the booth and locked it up. She remained there and waited. The booth was the
best hiding place for her at the moment.
As she remained in the booth incognito, she wished that the priest doesn’t
come back too soon to see a woman hiding in the confessional of the Roman
Catholic Church.
She held back until the two macho guys; after waiting for a while outside
the church premises, entered the church. They scouted for Amarachi but
didn’t see her except her shoes that they saw in one of the pews and took it;
probably as evidence to whoever sent them. The macho men never suspected
that Amarachi could hide in a booth that is exclusively reserved for priests
when hearing a confession.
When they stayed a little longer in the church without any luck of seeing
Amy, they left.
Amarachi wanted to come out from the confessional but decided to wait a
bit longer to be sure they had gone for good.
When she was assured that no one was there, she tried to unlock the
booth and come out but heard a knock from a confessor; maybe one of the
church members that came to confess her sins.
Amy wanted to tell the lady not to go ahead confessing because she was
just a laity but looking straight ahead; she saw one of the hefty guys coming
back into the church so she remained there without a choice, other than to
disguise her tone and pretend to be a priest.
She knew she could ask God for forgiveness later because at that point,
she had no choice than to play along and remain covert and alive.
“Father, I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” the confessor
said but Amara couldn’t reply because her tone could be noticed to be of a
woman.
As the confessor waited for the priest to respond, Amy had no choice than
to say: “Go on, my daughter,”
Her tone wasn’t deep enough but was strong enough to be likened to that
of a man with a touch of a female voice.
“I am not really here for a confession but seeking a counsel,” The beautiful
voice said.
Amarachi was so uncomfortable for usurping a priest’s duties but she had
no other option left because one of the hefty guys was already kneeling at the
rear pew of the church, faking being in prayer mood but seriously looking
around to know if he could catch a glimpse of the girl they came for.
“Go on, my daughter,” Amy said again with such monotony in her voice.
After clearing her throat, the girl continued: “Reverend, I've been
pretending to be whom I’m not, just to find my way into some documents and
treasure hidden in a building where my fiancé is occupying,”
Amarachi wanted to shout as a result of being wowed at hearing that but
that would make the covertness of her position revealed, so she remained calm
and dedicated to the accidental impersonation already going on.
“Tell me about it, please,” she asked and listened.
With faint sobs, she shook her head in anguish and went on with the
confession: “I entered a family and pretended to be in love with my fiancé but I
was simply playing to the gallery,” she said while Amarachi listened.
As Amy heard the confession, she still didn't lose attention on the macho
man sitting in the church and observing around.
“I’m listening,” Amara said and remained calm.
“The problem I have now is that I’ve come to fall in love with this guy for
real but there is no way I could avoid the claws of my boss who happens to be
my boyfriend and my handler,” she confessed with tears. “When I made up my
mind to tell my fiancé everything about my mission, I met him proposing to
another girl who was actually the cause of our problem with him initially,
Amarachi was startled to hear this part because she already knew that it
was Ugwunwa. She was wowed to ascertain that Ugwunwa was just an
informant and mercenary and not actually someone meant for Chike. It was
then bare and an open secret that Ugwunwa was just feigning being madly in
love with him.
Amy was determined to hear the entire confession in order to know how
to rescue her childhood friend from the unscrupulous plotters.
“This is serious, my daughter. But you can go on,” she said in a deep voice.
The girl paused for a while, making Amarachi suspect she could have
known that the person in the booth wasn’t a priest, probably there was
something a priest should have said that she wasn’t getting right.
“Now, I want to go back to him and continue playing the game, but I’m
afraid of two things,” Ugwunwa continued, still weeping as her tone grew
dimmer.
"What are the two reasons for your fears?” Amy asked and waited to hear
the rest of the secret plot.
Taking a deep breath, she said: “He may have moved on with the other
girl I forced him to propose to. That’s the first,”
“And the second?” Amy asked and waited.
“The second is that, even if he accepts me back and asks for forgiveness,
how then will I remain the bait in this perilous game? The problem with being
a bait is that the bait always dies; either it’s killed by the hook or eaten by the
fish. In any way you see it, the bait won’t survive,”
Amy felt sympathy at this point, but the problem and danger awaiting
Chike definitely outweighs the sympathy she felt for Ugwunwa’s ordeal.
Ugwunwa tried to balance between her mission and her love.
“But now that it has come to be like this,” Amy continued grilling
Ugwunwa for more, “Why not meet your man and settle things with him
because I’m sure he hasn’t married the girl that caused the trouble between
you guys,”
Amy certainly didn’t know when she made a mistake of sounding as if she
knew about the other side of the story. She felt like taking back her last words
but it was already out.
“Reverend, how did you know about this?” The distressed girl queried
curiously, making Amarachi speechless.
As Amarachi was about to outwit the confessor cleverly and make her
continue, she saw the priest standing behind the girl.
“Oh, sorry, I went out for lunch but I’m now back,” The gentle priest said
looking surprised and wondering who Ugwunwa was confessing to.
“What about Fr. Paul,” Ugwunwa asked, looking confused, “maybe he’s
the one...”
“Father Paul is on a retreat in Enugu,” The priest said and began to knock
at the confessional but Amy remained calm because she didn’t want Ugwunwa
or even those hefty guys trailing her to see her.
It wasn’t easy for Amarachi to unlock the confessional because she knew
the implications, so she remained calm.
Ugwunwa was so curious and furious at the same time for divulging her
secret to a stranger.
The macho man suddenly became interested in the drama and came
closer to inquire what was going on.
“Fr. Augustine,” Ugwunwa called bewilderedly, “who then is in the booth
if the whereabouts of the two priests meant to be here are known?” Ugwunwa
tried forcing the confessional open but Amy kept the door bolted and was
determined to remain there unless it’s broken.
In this situation, Amarachi was left between the devil and the deep blue
sea.
“Wait, let me break it open so that we’d know who the impostor is,” The
macho man said and brought out a revolver and went to the confessional to
force it open by crook or by hook.
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