The Foreigner

Flashes from the past

(Kelvin's POV)

"Did mom know about this? Was she in support of your decision?"
I can still remember Samantha's face when she asked me that question. She sounded so distant, so cold. I knew she would react like that What normal teenage girl wouldn't? If only Funke hadn't said anything. I had planned to tell her about it under different circumstances. My dying friend's final request...yeah,right! But there was nothing else I could say at that moment. I couldn't tell her it was bigger than that, a whole lot bigger. She wouldn't understand if I told her it was our Òrò ìdílé (family tradition). We the direct descendants of Odùdúwà have always given our female children to the Olakiras who were the descendants of the Oònílè, the goddess of the earth.
According to history, Odùdúwà, the first man to walk the earth made a pact with Oònílè  that he would give all his daughters to her if she would allow him live on earth.
Now, what teenage girl wants to hear that? What 18 year old wants to hear that she's part of such a mythical tale? What 18 year old would even believe that, for that matter?
And what 18 year old girl would believe that she was the first daughter to be born into the family in the last 100 years?

As a scientist myself, I had no use for such tall tales. I had thought it was just all a fabrication or some such from a bored ancestor and so I had gone into research when my father told me what was expected of me when I had given birth to Samantha. In the genealogy of our family, female children were rare, extremely so. It was very unusual for a family to have no female children in hundreds of years at a stretch. And every time a female child was born, she was married to the olakira family. In the long history of our family, there had been some female children who had tried their utmost to not marry into the olakira family. They were two, in fact. The family faced their worst years when those two decided not to go in line with the tradition and both ladies had died shortly after their 21st birthdays. I still wasn't shaken by all this but Samantha is my only daughter. I just can't afford to take chances with her life and so I agreed and made arrangements with the current olakira head.
I had planned to make it as natural as possible, to have them -Samantha and Akin meet sometime before Samantha's 20th birthday. I had hoped something would happen, that I could make it work. I made sure she didn't have any connection with our extended family. I even went as far as changing our surname to the more modern 'Coker'. If only funke hadn't spoken out of turn today. I really have to find a way to make Samantha see the importance of this. We can't afford to experiment with her life. We can't.

(Akin's POV)

What is this ridiculous situation my parents have gotten me into? I mean, marriage? Seriously? Why did Dad have to go on and do that? I mean, sure, the chick's a hottie but marriage is so not in my plans right now. Man, I hate the way Samantha looks at me. Since she and the foreign dudes moved in, she's been sending me death glares and she's not the only one either. Even the younger foreign dude looks at me funny. I'm not even sure if it's a look of loathing or interest. Man, what a drag. Only last week did this lockdown start looking up. I had just started vibing with Chloe, the South African transfer student in my department. She had liked the poem I had submitted for our departmental assignment and had gotten my phone number from someone else in our department. It was a dream come true, literally. I had liked her since she joined us, I just couldn't work up the courage to speak to her. Yeah, I've always been like that. I just can't talk directly to girls, even now that I'm in the university.  Pathetic, right? And yet she actually texted me and said she liked my poem and would like to be friends. Ahhhh, what joy! What bliss!
Now, if only I could take care of this little problem. I and Chloe already have plans, at least after I muster the courage to actually tell her what those plans are, but either ways we don't need or want any intrusions.

"Akin" my mom called as she knocked the door to my room. That's new. Normally, she'd just walk in without knocking. It was one of the reasons we argued every time. She probably wanted to ask for a favour. She doesn't actually think I'd go along with her little game, does she?

"Can I come in?" She asked, all polite and stuff.

"Sure, whatever" I answered "let's get this over with."

She walked in and went on to sit on one of the comfortable sofas I had in my room. I waited for her to get on with it.

"Akin, what do you think of your late father?" She asked.

So this is how she wants to play this. To use my dad's death to get me to break.

"Mom, is there something we stand to gain if I marry Samantha Coker? It can't possibly be money because we're wealthy enough. So why? Why? Why's it so important that I do this thing and marry this girl?"

Mom stood up and walked towards the window. She stared out the window then took a deep breath.

"Let me tell you a story........"

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I apologize for the short chapters. Promise to make them longer from now on. Please remember to vote,comment and share.
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