Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie)
"Have you come here to insult me?!" Mr. Oyin queried with rage. He wasn't willing to listen to anyone speak to him about his decisions.
"No. We are only saying that the girl is too young to get married now." Mrs. Ken, Louisa's mother said. Her hands were placed on Mrs. Oyin's shoulder. Every now and then she would give Mrs. Oyin a consoling pat, who would just nod her head but still did not stop to cry. The way she cries easily is what Cookie took after her.
"The Hausa's gives out their kids for marriage, including those who are just ten years old, so why can't an eighteen year old get married? How is she too young for marriage?" Cookie's father asked, "Rubbish!" He cursed.
Mrs. Oyin sobbed a little bit louder this time around so her husband would notice. Even if he did, he didn't spare her any concern.
"You are not from Hausa, so why have you chosen to act like one?" Mrs. Ken asked. She was a sharp tongued woman, one Mr. Oyin had told his wife to stay away from but she won't listen.
Mr. Oyin's angry eyes shot her daggers. If only look could kill, not before long she would have been a dead corpse.
"I don't know why you guys are even worried about Cookie when she isn't even your daughter. Leave everything to be because I'm her father and a father knows what's best for their child. The Alahji is my good friend and he has promised to take good care of her for me." said Mr. Oyin.
"And school? Will she be able to go school?" Mrs. Oyin finally speaks.
"Including school." Mr. Oyin told her.
"He will train her in school."Mr. Ken, who hadn't said a thing for long since he arrived at the Oyins apartment, finally spoke. "My friend Oyin, we have been friends for a very long time before our children became friends." he cleared his throat and adjusted forward on his seat. "I would like to give you a friendly advice and I really do hope and pray in my heart that you're going to listen to me. Cookie, our daughter, is a very beautiful and intelligent lady who has a bright future ahead of her. She is too young for an Alahji. Why don't you permit her to go through higher institution first before she gets married?"
Mrs. Ken nodded in support of her husband while Cookie's mother pleaded with her gleaming eyes.
"Who says she won't further her studies? Mr. Musa said he would take care of that. Have I not already told you so?" Mr. Oyin asked, his anger spiking.
"No. I still don't want that," Mrs. Oyin disagreed, "Let her finish her studies first before getting married and certainly not to an Alahji. The man is too old for my daughter."
Mr. Oyin was about to say something rude to his wife when Mr. Ken, a calm man who always thinks before he speaks beat him to it,
"Let's talk about Mr. John's daughter." he started. Mr. Oyin exhaled loudly, already knowing where the discussion was driving to and he was certainly not ready for it.
"The Alahji she was forced marry by her parents too promised to train her in school but he never fulfilled that. Once she was married to him, she took in and bore him a son. The older wives of the Alahji became angry with her and sent their twelve sons to deal with her." He sighed but continued.
"We all know what happened to her, right?" He asked, everyone nodded except Cookie's father. He only puckered his lips but said nothing.
Everyone was aware of what happened to Mr. John's daughter after she was beaten severely. She ended up in a coma, where she fought for her dear life.
"Do you want the same for your child?" Mr. Ken asked, his question directed to Mr. Oyin but it was his wife who answered.
"God will not let such evil to befall my daughter when I'm still alive. Over my dead body." Mrs. Oyin shouted as she snaps her fingers above her head.
Her husband clenched his teeth so hard his jaws began to hurt him. He shook his legs and looked from one person to another like he wasn't the one being talked to.
"You should know that all Alahji's are not the same." He eventually replied and hissed.
"But you do know that giving her out for marriage right now, isn't the proper thing to do. What happens to the woman she wants to become in future? Are you even considering that?" Mrs. Ken persisted.
"Enough!" Mr. Oyin shouted, standing up. He couldn't take their poke nosing any longer, "You cannot come to my house and change my mind from what I have already stamped. By the way, Its too late now, no going back." He swallowed. "Tomorrow Mr. Musa will come to pay her dowry and take his wife home."
Mrs. Oyin knew that the day her daughter would leave and be married to that Old cargo was around the corner but she never knew how soonest it was until now. She fell on the floor and wailed.
Mr. Oyin eyes suddenly held shock in them and grew double it's size when he spotted Cookie standing there, behind the curtains. He realized now that she'd been there all along, eavesdropping on them and prying on their conversation.
It took nothing for the shock to leave his eyes which Cookie felt was also filled with guilt. Maybe he knew he was making a big mistake but was too stubborn to admit it or so Cookie thought.
She rushed into the living room, shocking everyone seated there because they weren't expecting her. She ignored their facial expressions and knelt before her father.
"Father please forgive me if I have ever offended you." she said with tears. He was about to move when she gripped his leg, stopping him.
"Father please I don't want to get married." and
certainlynot to an alahji.. She wished to add."Please father, please!" she spoke louder.
Mrs. Oyin was also crying. They all felt hopeless. They were in pain. Cookie knew she would be doomed soon but she never knew how close She was to being doomed already.
My
lifeisover! She thought. Tomorrow, I am going to get married to an old man and live with regret my entire life.Getting married to a man who already had wives and grown up kids was one thing Cookie dreaded the most especially after what happened to Mr. John's daughter. She didn't want thesame for herself.
Mr. Oyin kicked until he could free his legs from her grip and walked away to his room. Cookie fell on the floor and cried her eyes out.
Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie)The day got dark and it's was prettily cold outside. Cookie sat on her mother's lap with her head on her shoulder as her mother rocked her back and forth slowly to the sound of the flute played by Alex.They were sitting close to a fire arranged with fire woods, and watched as the day passed by slowly, wishing tommorow not to come.Each one of them were drowned in their own thoughts that no one spoke to the other in a long time. Cookie was thinking and searching for answers as to why her life turned out this way. She also wished there was a route of escape for her from all this.Cookie felt too weak to shed tears, she'd been doing so
Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie) Musa's had three large bungalow in his compound. One was occupied by his wives, the other by his kids and the third belonged to him. Since he had just gotten married to Cookie, he took her to the third bungalow as he was getting ready for their honey moon.Cookie was kept in a room after bring introduced to Musa's family. She didn't care to know their names or count how many children he had, she kept her head hung low for all the time but she was sure they didn't like the fact that their father and husband had brought in another wife. She didn't blame them, if Mr. Oyin had done the same, she knew she'd been unhappy with him.The room door she was currently occupying flew open and in came Musa. He had on a cunning smile as he approached her."My new wife," He called out as he reac
Delta state, NigeriaCookie continued to hide in Louisa's house. She was lucky enough that Louisa's parents were away and the men who constantly came in search of her couldn't find her.Louisa treated her like a sister. She had with her the little money her parents gave her before they travelled and she didn't mind spending it on her best friend. The only thing that bothered her a few times was long were they going to continue this? How long was Cookie going to keep hiding? Louisa kept asking herself but got no answer. She took some money and decided to go to the market and buy some groceries.Whe
Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie)Cookie's eyes flicked open the next day. She jolted when she became aware of her surroundings. She was sitting on a medium sized bed. She didn't know how she got there but she was sure the person who had carried her there was nice because they covered her with a thick blanket.Looking around, she saw that she was in a small room with cream walls and titled floor. There was a brown wardrobe at one end, a chair and a table that looked like it was used for study at the corner of the room. There was also a flat screen television pinned to the wall, a white bulb stood in the middle of the ceiling shinning brightly almost blinding her vision at first when she looked at it. She squinted her eyes then heard the room door open
Delta state, Nigeria (Fabian) 'Deardre, what's new?'Fabian texted, stretching his legs on a stool that was in front of him.'My parents and I reconciled. Yeah, I guess that's news and I'm also healthy.'She replied, 'What about you?''You won't believe it.'His reply caught her great interest, 'What? Did you win a lottery?'Fabian sent her a laughing emoji and typed, 'That would've been better I tell you but that isn't it.''Tell me then.'
Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie)'Brown skin girl'sang by Beyonce and Wizkid was playing from the car speaker whilst they were travelling to Lagos. Cookie had being eager to leave because she'd never travelled out of Delta state, where she was born. She was ecstatic that for the first time in forever, she'd be stepping her feet in Lagos.Before they had all set for the trip, Fabian had taken Gloria and Cookie to the mall so they'd get few stuff before they travel. There were many beautiful clothes that confused Cookie on which one to pick. Gloria helped in selecting the clothes she thought looked best on Cookie for her.Fabian also bought books for Cookie because he want
Lagos, Nigeria (Cookie.)"Good afternoon her majesty," they all greeted as they sat down at the dinning table to have lunch with Queen Beatrice Eze, who arrived some hours ago with her eldest son, Prince Nonso Eze."Afternoon every one," Queen Beatrice greeted back with a light voice. "The king could not make it here because he had some meetings to attend to with the village council, but he sends his regards to everyone, especially to his son in-law to be Fabby." she informed.Fabian smiled like he just won a trophy.Cookie like Amanda's family. She finds them welcoming and nice but when it comes to Amanda, it was a different story all together. For the past few days she'd lived here, she had been able to avoid her. Cookie always stays indoors, reading her books just so she could stay away from Amanda and her unnecessary drama."Prince Fabby, how are you?" Queen Beatrice a
Lagos, Nigeria (Cookie) The exams were tough. So many students were caught trying to do malpractice and this sent Cookie the chills. Her eyes were hurting so much she could not even look at the screen of the computers at the examination hall. It became worse when she began to have throbbing pains on her head. She was definitely feeling sick. After the exams, students littered around, buying snacks and discussing in groups. Cookie waited for Prince Nonso to pick her up. While she did so, she paced around for a while, feeling uncomfortable. She hugged herself and tried to remain calm. Nonso arrived with his car. He honked his car till he got Cookie's attention, making her rush towards the car. Even if he had taken long to come, she was happy he had finally. She opened the door and hoped inside, the chilly air condition hitting her immediately she did."Good evening, my prince." Cookie greeted. "Good evening, my Cookie." Prince Nonso imitated, indirectly reminding her to stop calling