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 for a long time and nothing changed. Her mother was too sad to say a word while Alex just continued playing the flute. Ruth was not with them because she was helping their father with something in his room.
As much as Cookie tried not to blame herself for her father's rash decisions, she still did. If only she had passed her exams, she would've been thinking of how to join Louisa in school and not how she would get married tomorrow.
"Mom.. Please..." she broke the uneasy silence between them but she could not finish what she had In mind to say. She was holding it back.
"It's my fault. I could not persuade your Dad to change his mind. I'm so sorry my child." Mrs. Oyin said quietly, still rocking her daughter.
"No it's not your fault, I should be blamed." Cookie quickly said. She knew that It was not in anyway her mother's fault. She couldn't watch the woman she loved and cherished so much blame herself for anything in the world.
Mrs. Oyin smoothen her daughter's ebony thick natural hair with her hands, "Do not blame yourself. I'm the one who failed to give my kids the best Dad in the world." she said.
It became quiet again well except for the musical sound coming from Alex's flute.
"Mom?"
"Yes..?"
"I hate dad."
There was a pause. Cookie knew her mother felt sad and shocked at the same time. It was hard for her to take in everything that has been going on. She too was hurt as much as her daughter but Cookie just let those words out of her mouth before she could stop herself from doing so. But Mrs. Oyin couldn't blame Cookie for her words because it was just how her daughter felt and thought she needed to express herself better.
"I'm sorry." Cookie apologized.
Mrs. Oyin nodded her head as a response to her apology but didn't say anything. She was still hurt not because of what Cookie said but because of the reason behind her words.
Cookie noticed the liquid following down her mother's eyes, she wiped it off for her but it kept coming.
"Mom don't let Musa take me." Cookie wished her mother had the power to do that.
"Please..." Cookie was saying something but her mother did not hear. All she could hear was the sound of her mother's crying voice.
Next thing they realised was that the flute had stopped playing. They felt someone's arms wrap around then. When Cookie looked up, she saw it was her older brother, Alex.
He hugged them both like that for a long time.
........
"Where is Cookie?""She is in her to sleeping," Ruth responded to her father's question.
"It's 1 pm in the afternoon. Why is she still sleeping by this time of the day?" Mr. Oyin asked like Ruth knew the answer to his question.
"I don't know," Ruth gave a shrug.
"Go and wake her up. Tell her that her husband would arrive soon. She should get prepared." Immediately after Mr. Oyin completed his sentence, a knock came to the door. He went to get it, already knowing who his visitor was.
Ruth went to inform Cookie, while their father entertained the guest. She came back few minutes after to tell her father that Cookie's room was locked from inside and she'd been knocking the door but her sister refused to open it.
"What arrant nonsense!" Mr. Oyin cursed as he climbed the stairs two at a time to Cookie's room.
Cookie had prayed throughout last night for this day not to come but it's seems impossible so she locked her room to make sure her father doesn't get her. She cuddled herself up on her bed, used a pillow to cover her ears and stayed there. Her heart beat raced out of fear when she heard her father's voice.
He kept banging on the door, "Open this door!"
Cookie looked around her room for a means of escape but there was none. Her room window had a protector so she probably couldn't jump out of it. The only way was through the door but her father was there requesting her to open it. She couldn't possibly do that.
"Open this door or else I will break this house down," Her father threatened.
"Break it down!" Cookie shouted, "Do it if that's what will make you achieve your wickedness but I won't willingly give myself to that your so called old smelling friend."
"How dare you call your husband to be a smelling old man? You're going to see what I will do to you once I get inside your room," Mr. Oyin said. He kicked the door again and again until the door opened.
Fear gripped Cookie's chest but it was quickly replaced with pain on her cheeks once he landed her an heavy slap that bruised her lips.
She refused to move even when he started dragging her. Cookie fell on the floor, shouting on her voice that she won't get married to the man. Mr. Oyin turned deaf ears to her plea as he dragged her by her hair down the stairs, not concerned that he might be pulling out her hair.
"You must get married to him," Mr. Oyin said all along the way as he dragged her to where Musa sat.
"Here is your wife. Have you brought the cow?" His question was directed to Musa.
"Yes. It's been tied at your backyard." Musa smiled, showcasing his colored teeth.
"Good. She is all yours."
Cookie looked at her father with so much hatred now, "So it is because of Cow you're giving out your daughter? You're a wicked man."
Because she called him a wicked man, Mr. Oyin balled his fist, turned his back towards Musa and Cookie, who was still on the floor and said to Musa, "Take her away this instant or else I will kill her in front of your eyes."
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
Lagos, Nigeria (Cookie) Cookie's scream of help vibrated through the walls as the guards carried her. She tried to break free from their hold, shaking, kicking and crying. But it was of no use. She felt disappointed and sad that Nonso, Gloria and Fabian were not around to help her out now that she wanted them to. Now that she thought of it, it was like people tend to hurt her whenever she was getting to enjoy her life and forgetting her past. When she'd come to Lagos to meet Fabby's fiancee, she'd never envisioned her to be a threat to her life or to be hot tempered, rude and unfriendly towards her. The confusing thing was that she had never done anything to offend Amanda that will spike any hatred she had for her now. If she had even done a thing to her, why not just tell her so she'd make amends instead of wanting to send her to that dangerous den? Only the thought of it made her to shiver and she was thinking that she'd shiver to death if not rescued on time. The guards dragged