KASARACHI
Kasarachi - Episode 41
(Tell it to God)
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Ah! I was at a crossroad in which I needed serious intercession in the place of prayer. I had to tell it to God in that witness box as I stood there crying painfully in my heart.
'God remember how I promised that I will disown you permanently if you fail me this last time. Lord I really wasn't joking ohhh'
'So will you still not help me...? I really cannot lose my houses no matter what happens' I said in my heart as I looked at the person who raised her hands earlier.
It was Ekene's mother, Aunty Ijeoma who had raised her hands up to speak as a witness in support of uncle Okafor.
She is not in any way related to my family, so it's quite surprising to see her want to speak as a witness who has something valuable to add to the case. I am guessing that she is uncle Okafor's aide.
The court permitted her to come into the witness box to talk and to bring physical witness/proof as back up, if she has any.
Aunty Ijeoma came into the witness box and she told the court that mama borrowed money from her five years back for a joint business which later collapsed. She stretched out the farmland papers in her hands to the clerk as the physical proof to back up her claim.
Aunty Ijeoma said that the agreement was for her to keep our only farmland which father left for us as a collateral. And that if after four years passes without payment from mama, she is authorized to take the land as hers.
When Mama was asked to confirm these words, she nodded in affirmation. Mama added that she attempted several times to return her money within the four years ultimatum but Ijeoma refused to collect it, insisting that she wanted the land instead.
Mama had to let it be when Aunty Ijeoma was adamant in her resolve not to collect her money and release her papers to her.
Back then, Aunty Ijeoma simply told mama that for old times sake, she will give her one more year to cultivate the land and that's it.
Mama was left with no choice but to accept her fate that the farmland is gone. Her main fear was me finding out about it because she knows I will be so disappointed in her for striking such a deal.
That's why mama kept it from me for this long and when I came back to Nigeria, she didn't know how to start telling me that her carelessness caused us father's farmland.
According to Aunty Ijeoma, she said she found out through uncle Okafor that my second house has Mama's name and signature on it. She was interested in it so she came to mama and asked her to give her the house in exchange for the farmland.
Aunty Ijeoma said my mother accepted the renegotiation but honestly I didn't believe her in this particular one.
This part of her story seems fabricated. I do know that my mother is academically unsound but she is certainly not a dullard to have accepted such a tacky deal from her.
I wasn't wrong after all.
Mama countered Aunty Ijeoma's statement and said that she never accepted such a stupid deal. Infact, she said that she had to angrily order Aunty Ijeoma out of our house on that day when she raised the topic.
Who was telling the truth between them is what no-one knows because nobody was present on the day of their discussion. It is now left for the judge to decide what to believe and then give his final judgement.
It's very exhausting and it seems Mama too was tired of believing in God for a miracle!
For me, I am feeling very disappointed with mama for what she did and I didn't attempt to hide my displeasure at all.
How could she keep something this huge from me...? Doesn't she know that these people will do anything to bring us down....?
The judge asked me if I knew about any of this and I answered him no, that I was just hearing about this for the first time today.
I told the judge truthfully that I didn't know my mother got involved in a debt with Aunty Ijeoma, nor has mama ever told me about any previous failed business venture.
The judge asked mama if she had any other thing to add before judgment can be deliberated upon and issued out by him.
Mama nodded in affirmation and slowly went on to say that she never intended to collect the loan in the first place. She made yet another shocking discovery that shook me and people in the court to the core.
Mama said Uncle Okafor was the one who talked her into getting such a huge debt of five million naira from Aunty Ijeoma. He was even the one who introduced her to the palm oil business that closed up after six months, leaving all the investors stranded.
Uncle Okafor tried denying it, not until when mama added that there was someone who was present on the day when he came to the house to advise her.
The person is our old-time neighbor at our former house. There was no need to deny it again because if the neighbor man is to be called to the court right now, he will definitely confirm what mama just said.
Uncle Okafor knew this and so he had to admit to what mama told the court. He further said that the advice came from a place of good intentions which I know are lies.
I'm sure he did everything intentionally in preparation for a day like this but since his evil plans are starting to fail him, he wants to act like a saint when he is not one!
The judge also asked if there was any bank transaction evidence that will prove that I indeed sent money to uncle Okafor for the building projects
Since I don't have any, uncle Okafor denied it
The judges resulted in going through his bank statements starting from the year I mentioned that I began sending money.
Okafor became unstable, his fear was made obvious even the judges can see that
But he kept insisting that he built the house with his money
He said that the money I was sending to him was for him to give to my mom which he did.
He was trying all means to take everything from me but I'm certain that my God won't fail me.
The court room became quiet like a graveyard as we anxiously awaited the judge's ruling after he listened to everything we individually had to say. We were also praying immensely in our hearts for the Lord to take control of the situation.
God manifested himself mightily as the judge's ruling was partially in our favor.
The judge ruled that the second house will be left for my family because Mama's name and signature is the one on the papers.
For the second case that was brought up regarding the land, the judge ruled that Aunty Ijeoma is to return the farmland papers to Mama with immediate effect. Failure to do so before the end of tomorrow will attract a legal fine or punishment.
The judge also added that it was wrong for aunty Ijeoma to hold onto the documents without any legal binding to solidify their debt deal. The worst is her going against their agreed terms by rejecting the debt payment when Mama offered it to her.
Mama and I were so overjoyed and we felt that God had finally answered our prayers.
Our faces later turned sullen when we heard the other rulings by the judge.
Turns out that the downside of the judgement is for the first house to be handed over to uncle Okafor because the paper is bearing his name and signature.
The second downside is for Aunty Ijeoma's debt to be returned to her in cash within a year from today's date. We would be paying a percentage of N412,7000 every month until we are able to complete the payment by the stipulated twelve months given to us.
The first downside was really very painful.
I mean I built that house with my sweat and handwork, so how am I supposed to move out and then hand it over to a man that contributed no dime to its erection....?
God will punish uncle Okafor for me over and over again. His evil deeds will never go unpunished except my Father is asleep.
Well there's no problem, I will hand him the house as ruled by the judge but in my heart, I promised myself that I will take back my possession from him in the near future!
I don't know when exactly but I will not let uncle Okafor get away with my first building which rightfully belongs to me.
As for aunty Ijeoma, I don't have any business or problems with her. It's mama I blame for allowing uncle Okafor to talk her into getting a debt and venturing into a bad business that was probably plotted by him.
I don't have such a huge amount of money anywhere, if not, I personally would have cleared her debt today.
Mama doesn't have 5 million naira in and outside her account either. The maximum money in her account is about N600,000 and aside from her business profits, we have been surviving on that money since I am yet to have a job to support the family.
Now with this aunty Ijeoma's issue sprouting up, I will need to find a job asap so we can meet up with the payment as at when due. N412,700 every month is no joke and I know mama will surely need my help.
She did wrong no doubt but she is still my mother. My conscience would not let me abandon her at this point in time where she will need all the financial help she can get.
My happiness is that God gave us triumph over uncle Okafor's plans to take away either the two houses or maybe a house and father's farmland through Aunty Ijeoma.
The judge ruled in a way that was devoid of sentiments and bias, which is contrary to uncle Okafor's selfish expectations.
If not for the fact that my phone isn't here with me to show the court evidence of our messages and transfer alerts in Canada, uncle Okafor wouldn't have won the first house whether it has his signature or not.
All the same, I am thankful to God that I came back to Nigeria at the time I did. If I wasn't back, that's how my uncle could have rendered us completely homeless and propertyless in a blink of an eye.
You know what....? I think it is gradually starting to make sense to me right now.
Maybe this was God's reason for concurring with my deportation. I believe He probably knew that I will be needed here for uncle Okafor not to fully succeed in his plans.
Imagine what could have been the outcome if I was not present in the village....?
If I was locked up in Canada prison for years.
Firstly, Mama would have accepted the planned meeting with the kinsmen out of respect for tradition.
From there, they could have used that opportunity to force her into relinquishing our properties to uncle Okafor like they did in the past.
Remember father brought two farmlands but uncle Okafor took one...? That's the same thing that would have happened.
They would have asked mama to give uncle Okafor the two houses he wants while we make do with the farmland which of course was in aunty Ijeoma custody sef.
So my family and I would have lost everything we ever had and gone back to square one, but thank God, mercy said no!
Yes, uncle Okafor may have partly won by getting my first house and he is probably happy that he didn't lose out completely, but I'm assuring him that it couldn't be for long.
He should go on and enjoy the victory while it lasts because I Kasarachi will collect back what he is snatching away from me today.
After the court case was dismissed, we went home without saying much to ourselves.
We tried acting normal at home so that Binta, Judith, and Chika wouldn't suspect anything but it still showed in our moods.
Honestly it wasn't easy for the three of us to act totally fine, not after being told to vacate our house in two days time for the new owner uncle Okafor to take over.
Mama was deeply sad and she kept apologizing to me profusely for making us almost lose the farmland that father labored to buy. She regretted being vulnerable to uncle Okafor's manipulative tactics.
Well the deed has been done already so it's now left for us to find a way out of our predicament. After all, brooding for a long time will not change anything for either of us since the court judgment remains final!
First thing the following morning, I hired the services of a bus driver and started packing some of our things to my second house. When I was tired of packing, I left a few things to be completed the next day.
Before the end of the second day, I ensured that the house was completely vacant so the court wouldn't have a reason to penalize us.
My second house has seven rooms and is even more spacious and lovely than the first house. I'm just that I'm more attached to the first house because that's my first building.
Uncle Okafor unknowingly foresee that the houses were well built because he thought he will claim it all at the end but his plans failed.
My job hunting began again after a week. I didn't waste time going to the main town, instead I was searching for a job at nearby locations relentlessly. The reason I didn't want to go far again is so that the transport expenses wouldn't be too much on me.
Finally, I was offered a job to be a sales girl in a big business center which sold different kinds of car parts and electrical appliances. It is located at the village's main road so it was transport friendly to and fro. But just like the other ones in town, the salary here was very low and not befitting of my qualifications but then I had to accept it.
Madam Ify the owner of the place offered to pay me 15,000 as a monthly salary. Rejecting it and staying idle is not an option for me.
Certainly not now, that I desperately need money to be assisting Mama in taking care of the house expenses, as well as paying the monthly percentage of her debt.
I began work in earnest and for the two months I worked there, I was very hardworking and diligent in my dealings.
The shop used to record low sales before I began work but after I came, in a month there was an obvious boost in sales.
Due to my good customer service and pleasant way of relating with people, they kept coming back for more and some even invited their friends to patronize us.
By God's grace, our customer base had increased considerably. Not a single day passed that we didn't make sales worth N100,000, something that actually seemed impossible in the past.
I made sure to handle the business well as though it was my mother's own. It wasn't in my job description to clean but I made sure to tidy up everywhere when I arrive at work. I'm also the first person to come to work early and the last to leave work after making sure that everything is in order.
All this while, I didn't know that madam Ify was watching me from a distance and that she was secretly taking a liking to me.
Soon she increased my salary to 25,000 in the fifth month I worked there and made me the one in charge of record keeping. For the majority of the lunch breaks, she will buy me lunch and snacks to eat. There are also a couple of times she has told me to take a nap or rest if I was tired of working for the day but I usually decline the offer.
Madam Ify will always compliment my work ethics most days and she will tell me to keep it up that she is proud of me.
My madam is a no-nonsense kind of person so it was quite surprising to my work colleagues that she liked my work ethic and was now giving me preferential treatment.
For me, I was feeling scared and skeptical of the whole thing. After everything I experienced with Brenda in Aunty Tochi's house, I am usually suspicious whenever a woman behaves lovingly or caring towards me.
My mentality was twisted to think that if an older woman is showing preferential treatment towards females than to males, then they are probably l£sbians who are looking out for young girls to devour.
That's why in spite of her care, I was careful not to get too close to madam Ify, in case she is a l£sbian. I also didn't allow overfamiliarity to step in hence I just kept everything as formal as possible.
I came to work one Tuesday morning and as usual I was punctual so nobody had arrived yet. I took a broom and began sweeping as I am accustomed to doing.
I was almost done with tidying up the shop when madam Ify arrived for work. She ignored my good morning greeting and asked me to drop whatever I was doing and follow her to her office that she wants to discuss something very important with me.
The discussion we had that morning is what changed my story drastically.
(Do not take credit or Plagiarize AMAH'S HEART stories)
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