AMARACHI THE BEAUTIFUL POOR CHILD
Amarachi The Beautiful Poor Child - Chapter Two
Theme: And Her Journey to Destiny-Discovery
By Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor
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Osisioma, though very beautiful and well-to-do, had issues with
intelligence. She always depended on Amara for her successes in school. Being
that Amarachi was no more in school to help and guide her academically, life
became hell for Osisioma. To add to her mental and academic stress, it was
already an exam period and she wasn’t even ready yet. Even though she’d
made efforts to read without Amarachi’s help, it hardly made sense to her. The
only voice that makes her understand what’s being taught in the classroom
was that of Amarachi whenever she teaches her with her lecturing prowess.
It wasn’t easy for Osisioma to drive down to Onitsha for a preparatory
lesson from Amara for her exams, especially the fact that the new lessons and
topics taught in the class at Amarachi’s absence would be alien to the poor girl
fighting to keep the body and soul together at Onitsha.
On that clement morning when Amarachi was at the park as her friends
were loading her truck, a call came across. It was one of Osisioma’s numerous
calls that she ignores as usual since she wanted to have nothing to do with
school’s disturbance until she’s ready to go back to school.
Notwithstanding that pigheadedness, thinking of how fairly good her life
had been around Osisioma whose benevolence kept her alive until she left the
university, nostalgia overtook her. People at the motor park were surprised
that Amarachi remained glued to the seat of her truck and didn’t even heed to
the voice of some jokes coming from Oji Isi ebu mgbo and Obinna, his
counterpart.
Amara kept looking absently as her eyes became vague with sorrowful
tears. The phone kept beeping and the vibration kept prodding the disturbed
girl to consciousness but the poor girl’s attention was cocooned in mixed
feelings of nostalgia and willingness to let go of the past.
Aunty Amara, what’s happening, please?” Obinna queried and arched,
resting his weight on the truck to check who was calling her on the phone and
the reason she was agitated and didn’t want to take the call. “Is that Okoro
again?” he asked concernedly.
Amarachi was jittery by that interruption to her thoughtful state, so she
took a deep sigh and said, amid the towering noise in the market, “Do you
know the saddest moment someone has in life?” Her eyes abstractedly fixed at
two men fighting in a distance but not concentrating on them.
Obinna saw how reflective she was and became more disturbed and
sober. “I don’t know the answer, aunty Amara,” he said admittedly, feeling
disquieted.
“The saddest moment in life is when you remember when you were once
happy,” Amarachi maundered and hunched over the steering wheel
meditatively while the buzz from Osisioma’s call lingered.
“Aunty,” Oji isi called from the passenger’s side of the door as he tried to
force the bad door to open, “can I come in?” he asked looking worked up, “your
door wouldn’t open. You know it is oka mma na aka onye nwe ya (best
handled by the owner) because of the nature of the door,”
Amarachi felt the comic nature of his poor friend amidst her troubled
mind. Letting out that faint and stressful smile, she opened the door for Oji isi
to enter.
The owner of the load, Mr. Okeoma who happens to be an impatient type
angrily came to Amarachi and hollered: “Am I here to wait and watch or to see
my loads being loaded in the truck?”
“Oga, don’t be harsh on her nah,” Obinna interjected and went to the
trunk and started offloading what had been loaded already, “Oji isi, I need help
here,” he blurted angrily in a bid to transfer the aggression to Mr. Okeoma.
Oji isi looked at Amarachi; seeking her approval to offload the goods as
Obinna was already doing.
Amarachi wearily looked at him and nodded affirmatively in approval “Offload, please,” she managed to whisper in a husky tone.
Oji isi got down at once from his sitting position in the truck and helped
Obinna to offload the entire goods.
“Oga isi awo (The boss with grey hair), if you try raising a voice next time
on aunty Utu ocha to make her change her mind on the daily Akara we always
hope for, then series of fights would never stop knocking at your door daily,”
Oji Isi blustered and nodded in the air as a threat to Mr. Okeoma to show the
pugnacity of his nature.
You can also read: EGDE OF A KNIFE (crime/action)
Amara couldn’t even utter a word of apologies to Mr. Okeoma for failing
to fulfil her promise to him because trying to be vocal would mean she was
ready to let the tears she’d been stifling within her to be made evident in the
public. She simply waited until the entire loads were transferred to the man
meant to be the next to load after her.
“Are you sure of this decision?” Mr. Okeoma finally asked meekly and
came to Amarachi's position, “sorry, I shouted at you earlier. You’ve never
failed in your timely delivery; therefore, I will still pay you part of the money
for your time,” He brought out five hundred Naira and handed over to her.
“Manage this, please,”
Amarachi was bewildered by such gesture of magnanimity, making her
daunted and disturbed. She refused taking the money she believed she never
worked for. “No sir, you can’t...”
“I insist,” Mr. Okeoma maintained and forced the money into her palm,
“whatever the issue is, God is in heaven and watches over us all and he knows
about you too,”
Amarachi still couldn’t talk in appreciation but remained speechless and
benumbed as she looked up the sky, thinking if God was aware of what she
was passing through in life.
She ignited the engine after many efforts to get the old-fashioned truck’s
engine to start; this had become a usual exercise for her. When the old engine
finally responded, she drove away without talking to anyone.
Getting home, Amarachi simply dressed up in a fine long figure-hugging
gown, picked a few things, and then dropped a note for her mom and left to
the Peace Park at upper Iweka. The money that Mr. Okeoma gave her, in
addition to what she realised from the Akara sale of that day helped her take
care of her transportation to Unizik. She knew she was seriously needed for
the forthcoming examination; therefore, couldn’t live with her conscience if
she finally didn’t help Osisioma and other departmental friends to make a
good grade for the semester.
The challenge remained that Amarachi had been left behind and needed
to spend some time to study; in a bid to catch up, and then teach others as
usual.
You can also read: RAQUELIA (Romance)
Getting to Unizik Junction, Amarachi stood by a corner as she remained
uneasy and conscious of who sees her after being away from school for a
while.
She didn't just want to attract people's attention, both with her personality
and beauty. She called Osisioma’s number. It was as if Osisioma was already
flexing her thumb on the keyboard of her phone, making her take the call at
the first buzz.
“Hello, hello... Amy nwa,” she stuttered with a quivering tone and
exhilaration, “please, why have you been tormenting me like this, bae?”
“Come and pick me,” she said with a concealed smile, “I’m at Unizik
junction. You can do better than just asking so many questions,”
Osisioma was so surprised that Amarachi was at Unizik junction already
even without telling her that she was coming. She was very happy to oblige
her. She quickly zoomed off with a loud screech from her house at Udoka
housing estate to where Amarachi was waiting impatiently.
Getting to Amarachi’s position, Osisioma didn’t mind how she looked;
putting on just pyjamas. She rushed to her and gave her a warm hug, getting
her circled in her arms and couldn’t let the intelligent poor girl be freed from
her embrace.
Amarachi was very happy to see Osisioma after a while. With a friendly
smile, she slowly forced herself to be freed from Osisioma’s grip. “Oma, Can I
have the lesson notes and textbooks that I came for? I already know why you’d
been calling,”
“Hey, my baby girl,” Osisioma shouted and dragged her into the car, “but
seriously, you’re looking good, even though it seems like you never stopped
crying,” she added and drove off, “your eyes look pale and stressed,” she said as
she drove back to her abode, “but seriously and being candid, my numerous
calls to you weren’t just for the tutorials but to know how you’d been all these
while. I have missed you so much and God knows I have,”
Amarachi remained broody as the short drive back to Osisioma’s house
lasted, but never replied to Osisioma’s numerous talks. She simply kept
thinking of how her mom would take the effects from the contents of the note
she dropped on the table to let her know she’d left to the same school she
dropped out from. The thoughts were both funny and incredible as she
recounted everything in her mind’s eye.
You can also read: THE MAID (Romance)
Getting to the house, Amarachi was surprised to see that two of her
friends from the Economics department were already waiting with their lesson
notes and writing materials ready for her teaching.
“Welcome, guru,” Akunna, the talkative said and pulled Amarachi into a
hug, almost pulling her down from the car, “sorry, I couldn’t help but express
how I feel,”
“But that shouldn’t be the reason for you to tear her fine dress just for a
hug,” Chibunna, the most intelligent boy in the class said smilingly, “we’ve
greatly missed such a fantastic brain amongst us, making me realise I still have
a long way to go,”
“Tah,” Osisioma retorted with a great smile as she dangled her car keys on
her finger, “If blocked heads like us complain, Chibunna would do too,”
“I wonder oo,” Akunna supported and handed over her lesson notes to
Amarachi, “Oya, start reading immediately and keep digesting,” she added but
Osisioma collected the notes from Amarachi and handed them back to the owner.
“Can you give her a break?” Osisioma intervened and dragged Amarachi into
her room, “please, can we now have some lunch,” she added and started
bringing out all sorts of foods as if she knew that Amy was coming.
Even though Osisioma came from a rich home, she had that culinary art
that made her exceptionally good with dishes. She never depended on
maidservants for her meals.
“Just like always,” Amarachi said, finally breaking her long silence, “I have
missed your food for real,”
“Of course, I know you did,” Akunna concurred, “me too, I did,”
“You did what!?” Osisioma barked as she rolled her sexy eyes, “you have
no share here oo. It’s for Amy all the way,”
“Hand over the notes to me,” Amarachi said and reached out for the
lesson notes and textbooks, “I may need two days to read the entire books to
cover what you guys did for the semester,”
Chibunna knew that the semester work was voluminous and it’d be an
uphill task for Amarachi to read all and understand in just two days. With his
hands akimbo, “he took a deep breath, and then whispered into Amarachi’s
ear: “Are you sure of this two-day promise?”
Being that such caution came from another guru of the department,
Amarachi’s heart pulsated with questions and a bit fright, but she just had to
trust her instincts and remain undaunted. “I will try my best,” she reaffirmed.
**
After spending two days reading through the entire eight courses, Amarachi
was ready to teach.
No other person apart from Osisioma, Chibunna and Akunna knew about
the lectures fixed in preparation for the exams. It was meant to be a surprise to
other students; even though rumours of Amarachi’s presence in the school had filtered into many ears, they hadn’t the opportunity to see her because she
wasn’t disposed for it.
On the day that Amarachi appeared in the classroom for the tutorial
session, it was like a grand festival as the students celebrated her presence in
style. Amarachi was just blushing and happy at the same time for reconnecting
with her mates after some months of being out of school. The school’s life
she’d left behind suddenly located her again, giving her mixed feelings of joy
and sadness.
It took Amarachi just two days to teach the entire eight courses before
thinking of leaving the school back to Onitsha to continue her Akara and the
truck businesses.
When it was time for Amarachi to go, she went to the park and boarded a
bus, having satisfied her conscience for helping her friends out. It was a
surprise that the entire students raised a cash of one hundred thousand Naira
for her. Osisioma personally gave her an additional fifty thousand naira,
making it a total of a hundred and fifty thousand naira.
As Amara waited for other passengers to get the bus filled, she was
surprised to see some group of girls; all dressed in white. They stormed the
park and dispersed the people with arms. This put the business of the day to a
halt.
Amarachi was dragged out of the bus, and her entire money taken away
from her.
Uremma, the daughter of Ozo Odenjinji, a well-known politician in
Nigeria suddenly appeared with some policemen and arrested Amarachi and
took her into the police van, even when she wasn’t allowed to talk or defend
herself. The entire girls in white all disappeared on sighting the policemen.
Amarachi was just rattled and didn’t even know what was going on. The
best luxury she had at that particular time was calmness until she understands
what was going on before she could speak.
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