Listen To Me

Chapter 17

Mama Unique was born with a silver spoon. Her father was a petroleum engineer while her mother was into real estate. As the only child, she grew up lacking nothing in life. Absolutely nothing.

"You deserve the best of everything and nothing less." Her mother would whisper into her ears anytime she made her hair.

Mama Unique was pampered. Anything she asked, she got. She had the best dresses, shoes, jewelry, the list goes on. She had the dream life. She would always laze around because she knew all her parent's possessions were hers to inherit.

Mama Unique was fourteen years old when her father's sexual promiscuity was exposed. He had two children with another woman. A boy and a girl. When she heard of it, she ran to her mother in tears, "Does this mean that I have to share everything I have now? They are not mine anymore, they belong to my step-brother."

Her mother had stared at her with a wry smile on her lips. She was confused. Why was her mother smiling? This was a serious situation.

Her mother's words were engraved in her head forever, "Your father would never make the mistake of giving anything to an illegitimate child, a disgrace. Everything we have is yours and only yours. You are an only child. You do not have a brother."

The next day, the mistress with her children barged into the house. She demanded my father take responsibility. She cursed at her mother saying that she could only produce one egg which is why she was unable to give birth to more children. She threatened to take her children away from my father if he did not divorce his wife.

Mama Unique swore that day that she would not be like her mother. She would give birth to many children so that no woman could snatch her husband from her.

The mistress did not understand. Mama Unique's father would not leave his wife because of a son. He was not like other Nigerian men. He was greedy. He wanted power and money and his wife was wealthy and powerful. Why would he divorce such a person?

The mistress was later arrested for trespassing and that was the last they heard of them.

"You should not let anyone steal what is yours. Do not let anyone trample over you. You have wealth and power, use it." Mama Unique's mother said.

Those words sank into Mama Unique's head. She became arrogant. She did not mind trampling on the poor and weak to get what she wanted, "It is not my fault you were born poor." she would say when they came to confront her.

She carried that personality abroad when she went to study business. She came out the best since she was a naturally bright student who passed with minimum effort. She became more proud when she returned to Nigeria. She took over her father's oil company and at the same time, managed her mother's real estate business. She was beyond rich but there was a problem.

Mama Unique had always dreamt of a fairytale life. She wanted to marry a prince charming and live happily ever after. It wasn't her fault, she was blind but reality opened up her eyes. She was twenty-nine when she started to despise being rich. Though she was beautiful, no man approached her. She became desperate. She did not want to marry at an old age.

"You are too arrogant."

"You are too proud."

"I don't want to marry a woman richer than me."

Men said the last one a lot. Mama Unique wanted the best but the best men did not want her. It was their loss, she thought but it was a lie. It was her loss. She was running out of time. If nobody wanted to marry her when she was young and beautiful, would they want her when she was old and wrinkly? The answer was no.

That is how her search for a husband began. She dated both Nigerians and foreigners, young and old but none of them worked out. She wanted to find love. She wanted that happy ever after that she always read about but she was thirty-three and was losing hope.

She was about to resign to her fate when she met Mr. Tunde Ayo. They met in a business conference in Lagos and Mr. Tunde was the guest of honor. He had accidentally poured champagne on her two million designer dress imported from Italy. She went ballistic but Mr. Tunde skillfully handled the situation. It fascinated her. He even replaced her dress the next day.

Seeing this, she latched herself to him like a leech. She created fake coincidences so that they could meet. She also did some digging and found out that their parents were acquainted. She pressured her mother to arrange a marriage between them but the Ayos refused. Mr. Tunde, knowing what she was up to, confessed and told her that he was in love with someone else.

Mama Unique could still remember that day vividly. She mustered a fake smile, saying, "She must be very special if she could make someone like you fall in love with her."

Mr. Tunde gave a soft smile as he gazed into the air as if he was remembering an endearing memory, "She is indeed very special. She is the best."

So, you can imagine her shock when she found out a year later that 'the best' was actually a village girl from nowhere. Mama Unique was furious. She scowled as she watched the newlywed couple drive into their new house opposite hers. She would not have recommended that home for them if she knew that Mrs. Tunde Ayo was a nobody.

How can a village girl be referred to as 'the best'? How was she better than her? She, the daughter of a prestigious family, after years of searching ended up marrying a greedy politician while a peasant girl managed to catch the interest of a renowned businessman. How was this possible? What magic was this? How can an educated woman like her accept being pushed aside for an illiterate? She had lost to a commoner.

Mama Unique despised Mama Ola. She instigated other women to bully her. She made sure Mama Ola was mocked and disgraced. People shunned her, children laughed at her, and she was even mugged numerous times, all of which was Mama Unique's doing. It got so bad that Mr. Tunde had to hire bodyguards for Mama Ola but she refused. Mama Unique wanted her to run away in shame and go back to the village she came from.

But despite everything, Mama Ola would always smile and greet everyone, who ridiculed her, happily. She would pat the heads of the children who laughed at her, fondly whenever she saw them, and she would beg for pardon when those who harrassed her were arrested. This irked Mama Unique. Is this woman deranged?

She was a month pregnant with Unique when Mama Ola gave birth to Adenike. Papa Unique had forced her to the naming ceremony and gave them a gift behind her. A blanket imported from Spain. She was mad. Why would he give such a low-class woman such an expensive gift? She was probably going to misuse it since she did not know the value of it.

Mama Unique's hate and jealousy have grown since then. A village girl got a man who was faithful to her while she got a man who only cared about food. She was supposed to be the one enjoying everything Mama Ola was enjoying. It was supposed to be her.