"…a day will come when she will be in a dire situation or be faced with a problem and she will not tell you or come to you for help."
Mama Ola's words rang incessantly in Mama Unique's head like a bell as she sat in the hospital room, watching the nurse check Hope's vitals.
Why did she not tell me that her wounds had opened? Why did she run to the Ayo's house to look for Mama Ola? Was I that insignificant? Those questions ran through Mama Unique's head.
After she gave birth to Hope sixteen years ago, she vowed never to step foot into the hospital again but alas, here she is for the second time this month.
"Madam, your daughter is fine now. She has been restitched but she needs to be careful not to reopen that wound again." The doctor told Mama Unique, dragging her from her thoughts. She nodded and the doctor left. She was about to approach Hope when Papa Unique walked into the room.
"My dear Hope, what happened?" Papa Unique asked Hope, who had regained consciousness, ignoring his wife. "How come your injury reopened?"
"I slipped and fell," Hope murmured, groggily.
"You slipped? How come?" He then turned to glare at Mama Unique, "You only had one job, to take care of her but you could not even do that properly. I heard she collapsed in front of Mama Ola's house. What were you doing?"
They were expecting Mama Unique to retort but to their surprise she was quiet. She silently stood up and left the room rendering both of them speechless. She locked the door behind her and leaned against it.
"Why did you not tell your mother that you were injured?" Papa Unique's muffled voice sounded through the door.
"It did not occur to me to do so. Every time I try to tell mummy anything, she always shuts me up," Hope replied. "When I got injured, my first thought was Mama Ola because I knew she would listen and help. Mummy never listens to me. Why does she hate me so much?" She murmured the last part.
Mama Unique's hands shuddered at Hope's question. Her legs could not support her anymore, so she walked to a chair in the corridor and sat down.
When Hope got into the accident, Mama Unique only saw her after the doctors performed surgery and cleaned her up. But today, when she saw her daughter bloody and unconscious, an unexplainable fear gripped her heart, sucking the life out of her. She could not breathe.
"...why does she hate me so much?"
Mama Unique shook her head as she recalled those words. Which mother hates her child?
Sixteen years ago when she first got the news that she was pregnant with her second child, her joy knew no bounds. She had renovated the nursery and bought baby clothes of different colors since she wanted the gender of the baby to be a surprise.
Her mother was only able to give birth to one child which gave people the effrontery to mock her.
Mama Unique beat her chest with pride, Nobody can mock me. Now, my husband won't have a reason to cheat on me, she thought.
Mama Unique, despite her nasty attitude, loved children. She had always dreamed of marrying a rich loving man and having lots of children, especially male children. It was her dream.
So, you can imagine her disappointment when the doctor, after the birth of Hope, told her that due to some complications, it was advisable that she should not conceive again or she might lose her life.
Why? Just why? It was supposed to be a joyous day but Mama Unique wept as if she had lost a child. When Papa Unique brought Hope to her, she was filled with resentment.
It was this baby that destroyed my body and it's not even a male child, she grumbled in her heart. The sight of her newborn child repulsed her.
On the day of the baby's naming ceremony, Mama Unique named her Hope Osasere instead of Special Osasere as they originally planned to name her. Papa Unique was shocked but could not refute his wife in front of all their guest. Later that evening when he confronted her, Mama Unique told him that she was hopeful, hopeful that she could give birth to more children. That was why she changed the baby's name.
For years, she blamed Hope for what happened which made her behave harshly towards Hope. But did she hate her daughter? No. After experiencing the heart-wrenching fear of almost losing a child today, Mama Unique finally came to her senses. If she did not mend her ways now, Hope would grow to hate her, that is if she did not already.
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Listen To Me
Teen FictionHope could not wait to graduate from school and escape from her home. She wanted to escape from her mother who was never satisfied with anything she did, always preferring her older sister over her. Hope's mother hates their next-door neighbor, Mama...
