"Except you change your name, even if my dead mother rises up from her grave, I will not spend a dime to train you in the university. You have to change that name." His voice reverberated through the phone.
Those were the exact words of Sharon's father when she gained admission into the university some years ago.
My mother's sister, my aunt Diane, is Sharon's mother, she gave birth to Sharon(my cousin)after four years of marriage to her husband. Initially it was a blissful marriage but when it became obvious that more children would not come, after sharon.
Auntie started noticing some behaviours from her husband that got her worried, he started staying out late at night, and ultimately became unserious with his business. As if that was not enough, he became very hostile which led to domestic violence. It shocked her that she didn't see this violent streak in him and as he became more determined to destroy the marriage, she just knew she had to pack it up, at least to stay for her daughter.
Sharon was seven years old when Aunty Diane left, without even a backward glance, but with more than enough physical scars to tell her story.
She filed for a divorce and was given the custody of their only child, on the ground that her husband was very violent and irresponsible, and therefore incapable of taking care of the little girl.
Sharon’s dad was to pay some amount of money every month for her upkeep but he never did. He stopped communicating with Sharon and when Aunty Diane tried reaching out to him, his numbers never went through. So she decided that since she wanted the life of her daughter to be filled with happiness and colour, she would take care of her singlehandedly. She then changed Sharon's surname to her own maiden name.
After about a year of divorce, Aunty Diane’s husband remarried and started having other children while she began taking care of Sharon up till she was done with Secondary school.
Shortly, her ex, Sharon's father reached out to them, begging for reconciliation.
Of course Sharon and her mother were angry.
"Where have you been all these years? Why do you want to reconcile now?" Sharon yelled at her father.
He continued apologizing until they decided to give him a second chance…only Sharon of course, her mother had moved on.
Then Sharon got admission into the university, a very important landmark in the history of the family, but to the shock and disappointment of every member of our family, Sharon's father wasn't happy about her admission into the university, and therefore refused to be a part of her life, except she would change her name back to her original name.
"You are Sharon Efedi, not Sharon Efonye." He reiterated in a very angry voice;
"Dad, I will change the name back to the original but you have to prove to me that you would no longer be a deadbeat dad, and going forward, you'll live up to your responsibilities."
"That’s a load of balderdash" My Aunty fumed.
"Do you not know that we do not have the time to do that now? To start changing the name that is in all her documents would be impossible, it has to be a gradual process."
"You shouldn't have changed my daughter's name in the first place."
"Oh yes I did, because you refused to do your job when you were needed, and I was the one who took up responsibility, doing the job that you were supposed to do."
The heated argument continued as the ex-husband stormed out of the house.
"What kind of a father would ask his daughter’s name to be changed right after she got admission? Changing names will take a lot of time, besides that's the name in all her certificates.
The matter escalated, Sharon lost her admission because her father refused to pay here fees, instead he disappeared once again. Fortunately my brilliant cousin wrote the next year and still secured another admission.
Then my Aunty started a good business and by it, she was able to see Sharon through the university —singlehandedly.
Years later, Sharon made her proud as she bagged a second class upper degree, in Nursing. It was time for celebration and her mother threw a big party for her.
During the graduation party, her father came crawling on his knees again, begging for another chance, no one was interested in his pleas anymore.
Images generated by AI.
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