Share

2- A looser.

Delta, Nigeria (Cookie) 

"All what your child knows how to do is fail everytime. She is a failure!" Mr. Oyin yelled, tossing the sheet of paper containing the JAMB examination score of his daughter at his wife.

Mrs. Oyin caught the paper on time before it could fly down, "You'll just have to calm down. This shouting won't solve anything." She spoke calmly even if it broke her heart that Mr. Oyin called their daughter her child instead of theirs.

"How do I calm down Rachel? Tell me! I have bought this form for your daughter thrice. Three good times for something others write just once and pass yet your daughter couldn't achieve a good result. And you tell me to calm down after I have spent so much money on her?"

Mrs. Oyin knew her husband wouldn't listen to her yet she tried her best to calm him down. "Our Cookie is not a failure dear. Please stop calling her that. Instead of condemning her, as her parents, we are meant to encourage and support her. Our daughter has gone through a lot lately or do you think she is happy that she keeps failing her exams?"

"What kind of thing has she gone through that we know nothing of?" exclaimed Mr. Oyin, "She doesn't even carry half of the weight I have on my shoulders and you say she's gone through a lot? Don't you dare tell me that!" shouted Mr. Oyin at his wife as he turned around to send Cookie a glower.

Cookie stood by the staircase in the living room listening to her parents banter and argue about her poor performance in the exam. She felt bad that she didn't do well like she wanted but felt worse because her father was making so much fuss out of it all.

Her father who was a retired soldier was very strict. Since her childhood days, Cookie always felt her father hated her, this was because he always treated her differently from her siblings. Mr. Oyin would speak well of her two siblings, Alex and Ruth in front of anybody but when it came to her it was a different case entirely. 

For this, Cookie always thought she was cursed from birth, and prayed that if she were to wish one thing from God and it'd come to pass immediately, she'd wish to be born into another family. 

Mrs. Oyin sighed then placed her hand on her husband's shoulders, "Alright. Just calm down because shouting won't solve this problem. It's already been done but it doesn't mean we should give up on our daughter. What I suggest we do is buy the examination form for her next year, engage her in rigorous lessons, and let her sit for the exams to try her best. I'm sure she'll score higher next year and make us proud."

Mr Oyin swept his wife's hand away from his shoulder, which shocked her cause it wasn't expected, "No I won't spend a dime on her anymore. Since she has decided to be a complete loser, failure and disgrace to this family, so be it!" He said while pacing around the sitting room.

His body was vibrating with anger as he then added, "She is going to get married to Alhaji Musa."

Mrs. Oyin eyes doubled in size at his outburst. Her lips parted to say something to her husband but he shushed her immediately.

"Do not say a word woman. I have already made my decision and that's final!" He yelled, pushing past his wife and heading for the staircase. When he got to where Cookie stood, he stared hard at her angrily with clenched teeth before he climbed up the stairs to his room and banged the door so loud that the hinges shook.

Even as Mr. Oyin left the sitting room, the tension he had created still lingered on. Mrs. Oyin glanced at her daughter with pity and their eyes met. She could see the sadness clouding Cookie's eyes but she couldn't tell what was going through her daughter's mind especially since she got to hear what her father said earlier on about her getting married at such a young age. 

For a split second, Mrs. Oyin thought she saw Cookie's eye swelling up with tears but she blinked, wiped the tears away from her face and kept on a brave face. Mrs. Oyin thought of sitting her daughter down to tell her that everything was going to be fine with time but before she could even call out Cookie's name, Cookie spun around on her heels and ran to her room, leaving Mrs. Oyin feeling bad for not being able to help her beloved daughter.

As she got to the room she shared with her younger sister Ruth, Cookie began crying while looking at her mirror. As she stared at the mirror instead of seeing her reflection, she kept on seeing the face of her father. The hard expression he had on when he looked at her before climbing up the stairs to his room, lingered fresh in her memories.

The hatred that was so much displayed in his eyes that it became red. No matter how much she tried to push the image out of her head, it kept on appearing.

She'd always wanted to make her dad proud. Only if he was aware of this. Everything she did, she tried to please him but it felt like no matter what she did, it never satisfied him. 

Cookie wasn't happy and she was tired as well. She'd sat three times in that examination hall, stressing her brain cells making sure she answered all the questions correctly but each time, the result that came were never encouraging.

Louisa, her immediate best friend, who had written that same exam once had passed with flying colours and had already been given admission to study in one of the best universities in the state.  

It wasn't only Louisa she knew of. There were many of her peers, friends, classmates who had excelled while she remained backwards, doing the same thing all over and over again.

At age eighteen, Cookie's dreams of becoming a World renowned model like Naomi Campbell, Kendall Jenner, Gisele Bündchen and Adriana Lima looked like it was only going to remain a dream to her forever. Her father was already crashing her plans by already agreeing to willingly marry her off to Alhaji Musa, an old man who already had three wives. 

Cookie couldn't even begin to fathom the image of being a man's fourth wife, the thought alarmed her.

She scrunched up her face in disgust and thought of how much this meant her father hated her. She had no doubt about it now.

If he was going to crash her dreams, she was going to make sure he didn't go through with his plans as well.

Related chapters

Latest chapter

DMCA.com Protection Status