Miss Njideka: Nkechi, have you fetched the firewood?
Nkechi: Yes mum, I have done that.
Miss Njideka: What about water, I hope you have filled the pots and the basins?
Nkechi: Mummy, I filled them yesterday and we have not used much of the water. I will fill them again tomorrow.
Nkechi received a backhand slap from her aunt. It wasn't her first time but this time, the slap landed on her eyes and gave her a black eye on the spot.
"Fool, I have told you several times that you will fetch water every day even if we only used a cup from the basin, you must refill the used cup of water".
Nkechi: Am sorry Mummy, I will….
Another hot slap landed on her cheek, followed by continuous beating.
"Who is your Mum, witch of the highest order, Do you want to kill me just as you killed your mother? Stupid girl, go to the grave and meet your mother and give her those flimsy excuses".
Nkechi wept to the stream. She had known and taken her aunt as her mother and it hurts her to see the aunt reject her as if she is a disease. Part of her sorrow is that her cousin-sister, Nkem, who is a year older than her, does nothing at home. Sometimes, when her aunt is not around, she becomes a punching bag to her even though she can stand her in a fight.
She sometimes wonders why her Dad has abandoned her for a very long time and prays that he will one day come and take her away from the hands of the wicked aunt.
One certain day, there was a heavy downpour and it happened that Nkechi wasn't able to fetch firewood the previous day because she was down with a fever. Her aunt pushed her out to fetch firewood in the rain. This journey in the rain became her journey to success. On her way back, she met a man struggling with his Bicycle amidst the muddy ground. With her help, the man was able to get the bicycle out of the mud.
After enquiring why a girl like her would be journeying alone during such a heavy downpour and with a log of wood on her ahead, he secretly followed her home.
The next day, there was a royal visit to Miss Njideka's house. Seeing the king with his chiefs and guards, Miss Njideka came out wearing an innocent face.
King Agbodike: Good day to this household. We came to pluck a beautiful flower we have seen blossoming in this compound.
( whenever such statements are used, it is understood to be a form of a marriage proposal)
Miss Njideka: Welcome to my house, my king. I will go in to fetch her.
She went in and locked Nkechi in the bathroom while she asked her daughter to dress up and come out. When Nkem came out, the prince was able to identify that she wasn't the one he came for.
King Agbodike: My son just confirmed that she wasn't the one he met yesterday. If you have any other daughter, we would like to see her.
Miss Njideka: My King, you all know I didn't marry. I only have this daughter from my old lover. She has been the only one living here with me.
Prince Ahanna: Madam, are you sure of this because I secretly followed her and watched her enter this house. She is more beautiful than her.
The King then asked the guards to search the house. They were able to hear her sounds from the bathroom. The door was forced open and she was brought to the king. Miss Njideka and her daughter were then banished from the village. Jane's father who remarried learned that her daughter has found favor in the eyes of the prince, and quickly returned home. Being that Nkechi was still a baby when the Father gave her out, she couldn't remember him. He was denied access to the soon-to-be Queen, her daughter. The only person who could attest to his fatherhood has been banished.
Life sometimes can be cruel to one right from the first time one opens his eyes. This was the case with Nkechi. What matters is that we don't allow our predicament to change who we are. Nkechi never allowed the maltreatment she received to deprive her of the virtue of benevolence, and she got rewarded for that.
The measure we give out is the measure we will receive. Miss Njideka got what she deserved, the same was for her daughter because she could have stopped her mum from maltreating her cousin but she didn't. Evil prevails because the good refuse to speak up.
It is inhuman to punish a child because her birth caused the death of the mother. No child would ever desire to grow without motherly love. Being angry is natural, but allowing anger to control us is not cool. Nkechi's father lost the right to her daughter because he allowed anger to cloud his judgment. This made him lose the opportunity of becoming the Queen's Father.