?MMESOMA’S
DILEMMA?
Chapter 3
It had been 5 minutes since my revelation and he was so quiet. I had already given up on my HIV line working out when he screamed.
“What?!” he looked so shocked and horrified as he stood up and began to pace, running his palm throu-ghhis hair. I wanted to laugh at him but I did not, instead, I sat there looking really sad and scared
“I knew you were not keeping yourself until marriage, I mean you dated my brother , but I did not think you would be so fu-ck ing dumb to actually get AIDS, you might as well have become pregnant!” he screamed.
Wawuu! So he knew about Tobe and I and he still agreed to marry me? This guy was seriously mad. Thank God, I had not used Tobe as an excuse to back out of the marriage o, he would have just laughed at me because whatever Tobe and I had would not matter to him; I was his wife after all.
His loud voice brou-ght everyone out of the house
. I stood up, maintaining my sad face. I wondered what could happen next; I prayed that the Chibueze’s would storm off insisting that their son could not marry me and then end the marriage plans quietly to prevent embarra-ssing both families.
Dear God, please let this work, let them get their wife elsewhere.
“Afam! What is the matter?” his mother asked when they all reached us, only the parents had come to the gazebo, I could see our siblings watching us from the front of the house, they were wise to maintain a respectable distance because the drama was about to start.
“She is HIV positive”, he blurted out in response.
“What?!” our mothers screamed in unison.
Our fathers stood in shock, looking pale and refusing to believe that this was happening.
“Obim, my son, that is not true, people just want to prevent good things from happening between our families, my daughter Mmesoma cannot be HIV positive, I mean, look at her”, my mother said as she grabbed my arm and waved it in his face.
I cringed when I saw the disgusted look he gave me. I looked at my father again and his mouth was moving but no words were coming out.
“Aunty! I wish this were a rumor but she told me this herself.
. Ask her na?” he said, automatically making me the center of attention.
I looked at my feet while trying to detach arm from my mother’s arm.
“Meso, is what he is saying true? Did you say you are HIV positive?” my mother asked.
I did not know how to answer since my foolish self did not plan ahead, now my brain was not giving me any answers. Which kind wahala be this one na?
“Look at me!” she yelled.
I looked up to find myself looking straight into her eyes.
“Mmesoma! You better answer me before I give you a destiny resetting slap!” she threatened.
Ahh! I am dead!
Things are really flying out of hand o. What will I do now? If my mother says she will slap you, she definitely will, except of course you can dodge her in time. Right now, it was looking as if I would chop hot slap very soon.
Meso think na, think.
Suddenly my mother let go of me and began clapping and laughing.
Ahhh! I hope this woman has not run mad o.
“You think you are smart ehn! You are not serious o! I know you are not HIV positive. How? When? Where will HIV come from and enter your body?” she was screaming at me and I was walking backwards, looking for an exit route.
“Uju, we would call you later, we all need to go home and you need to take your daughter for an HIV test, I believe she is lying”, Mrs Chibueze said to my mom.
Then turning to me she added “Mmesoma, my generation perfected the art of evading marriage, I am sure that this is just a plan to not marry Afam, but I am telling you that it will not work”, then she walked away.
I watched in silence and slight shock as the Chibueze’s piled into their car and left the premises. Immediately our gateman locked our gate, I immediately began running to my room as fast as I could, I knew that my mother was seriously chasing me and I did not want to die today.
I entered my room and locked the door immediately.
“Mmesoma! Open this door now! Because if I have to break it, I will kill you!” she screamed as she banged on my door.
“This girl, you want to disgrace me in this life ba! Shebi you want to kill me before my time? See ehn, the child that says his mother will not sleep, he too will not sleep! Mmesoma, you will not sleep!” she said and I listened as she stopped ban-ging the door and walked away, insulting me in a loud voice.
The house was dead silent in the minutes that followed, then I heard the gate open and someone drove in. My phone buzzed. It was a text from Ezinne.
Ezinne: I texted Dara about the stunt you pulled and she told her parents, they are taking dad and mom out now. It would be safe to come out soon.
I smiled in relief, my sister is definitely the best!
Dara Shittu is one of my best friends. The Shittu’s are close family friends and if there is anyone who can calm my parents down right now, it is definitely her parents.
I needed my parents out of the house to effectively plan the next step, and with Dara and Ezinne on my planning committee, I know things will be interesting…
? MMESOMA’S
DILEMMA ?
Chapter 4
“Dara, what’s up? Ezinne why have I been rudely dragged from my room and Meso why does mommy want to kill you. Plus when did the Chibueze’s leave?” Dozie asked.
“Oga, your questions plenty sha, but to answer mine, I dragged you from your room because someone has to alert us if mummy and daddy or worse the Chibueze’s show up unexpectedly and that someone is you”, Ezinne said while she smi-rked and typed away on her phone.
“Na wa o! You will not even ask whether I want to do it, your own is to be issuing orders”, he grumbled.
“Dozie, are you living un-der a rock abi those headphones are not letting hear word again? The Chibueze’s left because their iyawo said that she is HIV positive and that is exactly why your mummy wants to kill her”, Dara explained.
He looked at me, his eyes wide-ned in shock.
“Ah, Meso! I hope you have a sensible backup plan o. How could you pull such a stunt? What were you thinking? See ehn, if mummy does not kill you, daddy would disown you. Or worse things could happen sef”, he said, looking at all three of us.
“What could possibly be worse than those two?” Ezinne asked.
Good question boo.
“Well, I am talking about the Arsenal. If they call in Grandma, aunty Kainene and aunty Somebi, your own have finish o, you are gonna have to just leave the country or kukuma disappear, because those women are so vicious, I doubt they would be allowing you get away with such an act”, he stated in a matter of fact way.
Jesus! He was right, he was pointing out facts I have never even considered, I looked from Dara to Ezinne and Dozie and I let out a scream.
I was so dead.
*****
“Seriously babe, calm down, you are just over reacting. I have met the grandma and aunts in question before and they are really cool”, Dara said.
I just looked at her and sighed, she wanted to soothe me but she was bad at it.
“Dara, see ehn, you have not really met them, whenever you meet them they are on their best behavior, those women are exceptional actresses, they are like those vicious Zee World drama queens you hate but cannot get rid of”, I explained and she sighed in irritation.
Dozie had already gone to the parlor, from where he would be on the lookout for anyone, leaving Ezinne, Dara and I to plan a way out of this marriage trouble.
I paced restlessly as I thought of his words.
The Arsenal , as my siblings and I liked to call my paternal grandma and aunts, were good at getting their way and I knew they would approve of me becoming Mrs. Afam Chibueze . When one of our cousins, Hannah, decided that she was going to pull stunts and not get married, the Arsenal had pulled up and made things happen, today, Hannah was a wife and mother of 4.
“Okay Meso, Dara is right, just calm down okay.
. See, I am compiling a ‘How to make him break the engagement’ list, so sit down let us discuss our options”, she said and we obliged her.
. I was seriously confused but my sister had everything un-der control, best sister ever !
“Okay guys, there is expanding the HIV option, we could get an actual HIV patient’s blood and be prepared to go the entire nine yards, maybe even have to bribe a doctor sef”, she said and paused to look at us.
“Ah! That has wahala written all over it na. See ehn that was only good as a distraction, if we carry on with it and manage to succeed, then you would have to live with the stigma of being HIV positive all your life. Plus where do you even want to get HIV patient from? And bribing a doctor? Which doctor, definitely not that your strict family doctor o”, Dara dramatically informed us.
“Good point and that is off the list. Then, there is taking the promiscuity to a whole new level, you would have to release that inner bad girl and who knows, if enough people talk about you, he might change his mind”, Ezinne said.
“I am loving this one o! Babe, we would be going clubbing in all the right places and ensure that all the right people see us, and by right people, I mean his friends, colleagues, worst enemies, ex-girlfriends, gossips, friends of exes, girls who love him, the list is endless”, Dara said in excitement. She loved parties, but I did not and Dara noticed that this particular idea terrified me.
“Calm down Meso, we would not be going with strangers okay, just some of our friends from school, plus we are doing this for all the right reasons”, she said cheerfully.
“Okay o, but we cannot afford to overdo it, that would just be plain dumb. No sleeping around, no drugs or too much alcohol intake or running off with random strangers”, I warned.
“Meso, I have heard o. Ezinne, what is next?”
“fli-rting with the right person!” she said with a mischievous grin.
“I thought that was un-der promiscuity?” I asked.
“Actually no it is not, considering that you do not want to be talking to all the men when you guys hit the clubs, I think it would be best if you concentrated on fli-rting with the right person”, she explained.
“Trust Zizi to think of all the small details, too bad a certain someone is not here for you to fli-rt with”, Dara said winking at me and all three of us giggled. She was talking of her elder brother, Lanre, my day one crush and fli-rting partner.
“If he was around, fli-rting and being promiscuous would have been super fun and easy you know”, I said with a sm-irk of my own.
“Well, he is not here, but we have a much better option!” Dara said and Ezinne nodded.
“What is better than my Lanre Shittu?” I thought with a frown.
“The Tobe factor, and before you disagree, just know that he is the solution to this drama”, Dara said, smiling mischievously.
“Tobe ke? Don’t go there o, he is too self-centered to be remotely bothered about this”, I explained.
“Madam that is why this would work na! He is a proud and jealous person who still likes you and would not want to lose you to his brother. When you broke up with him, you bruised his pride and I think he is also looking for an opportunity to soothe his wounded ego. Abi, you cannot remember how he was spreading those rumors about you after you guys broke up? You literally became un-dateable after him and he wants to keep things that way”, Dara explained.
Wow, how come I never thought of it that way sef?
“But you cannot just expect him to start fighting for you o, you need to give him the vibe that you want him too and we would use this first semester to do that”, Dara suggested and I agreed.
“Girls, this is going to be so fun, I am so sure even the Arsenal would not be able to stand against us, we just have to play our cards right and be very careful”, Dara smi-rked and we high-fived.
I am getting super excited about this whole thing; I really just hope our plans do not backfire.
Tbc…