A happy ending

'oh, my friend, it's not what they take from you that counts, it's what you do with what you have left'. Hubert Humphrey. Just like the life and relationship between the mother hen and her chicks, such that the number of clicks hatched isn't a restriction to the playing of her role as a shield and warmth to them...although there'll always be a struggle of survival of the fittest among the chicks.

I grew up innocently to find myself in the midst of 4 already grown children of my parents, of which I'm sure was an answered prayers to them as their errand girl had finally grown up. Mum tried her best to prove to them that I wasn't who they thought and that she loved each and every one of us equally, but Blessing kept doing the reverse...'come and carry these dishes', she would say, after eating the ekpang nkukwo that took me hours to prepare alone.

Ekpang nkukwo is a local dish that takes over 6 hours to be prepared by one person from the first stage to the last.

'yes senior', I will reply, running down to carry out the order within the next 5 seconds in order to avoid being flogged mercilessly.
This happened most times in the absence of mum and reporting what happens regularly to her would be my way of causing myself more harm than good.. Hell wouldn't be a perfect description of what will happen to me the day after.

Nevertheless, mum would shower me with gifts, 'she is the baby of the house and the child of her old age' she tells our neighbors. Dad was always at work.

I grew up seeking love from all sources, including the external, friends were far away, no peer group, then Tim came around. 😔😔
I was 10 when I met him, he was 17, completed his high school, handsome and yeah, he had shown me the love no other person was able to, he automatically drove my attention away from the maltreatment I faced, the thought of his name, the tone of his voice the words he said to me kept me smiling on all day. 😊😊

Just when I thought life had become a bed of roses for me, Tim told me how much he loved me..'I will never do anything to hurt you, you give me the joy I have always dreamt of, I will forever be with you, just let me have a taste of you' he said these with tears down his cheeks.. 😭😭

I couldn't just stand the look on his face, the tears dropping and all, from the person I loved most, and at the tender age of 10,I had lost my virginity, I really didn't understand what it meant.
Everything that happened didn't seem wrong to me...cause they came from Tim 😪😪
He later told me a week later that he was traveling to Cyprus to further his education
'will I survive without this friend?' I kept asking myself
I kept moving on and telling my self that the end wasn't here yet.

After 13years of waiting, Tim returned, said he was interested in meeting my parents, that he needed a life with me.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as he proposed. 😢😢

Today, I am happily married with 2 children, Blessing got another maid who took over my place, Dad came home on retirement and Mum is currently staying with us.