-By: OkegbenroNadirat O.
Every step I took in life led to regrets. Growing up among girls was fun and interesting until death snatched my father and two lovely sisters in a ghastly accident while traveling to the village for the New Year celebration. Though I was young but the event remains evergreen in my memory. I managed to survive the hardship of life through the support of my mother and as such, I dare not disobey her. She is my mother, first wife, and first daughter. Her ‘egusi’ soup is incomparable.
Being the only surviving and the male child, the onus of retaining ‘Kekereekun’ as our family name lies on me and the only way to accomplish that is by bringing forth to live, atleast a male child. The time to act is now! After my first degree and an employment with a Finance Agency, mother has been eagerly waiting to receive her grandchildren, with emphasis on a son. Bimbo, my fiancée is also anxious of when to start her own family. Of course, ladies like kids and Bimbo is no exception. Getting this done is simple but there is a condition. What is the condition?
My mother needs to be sure of the fertility of her soon-to-be daughter-in law. But Bimbo at the age of 26 is still a virgin- a rare occurrence at such age. Being a decent girl she is, it was not an easy task to put such forward to her. It really does not worth it, giving up her virginity to a man who at the moment love does not matter but the demand of his mother. Yet, this condition is not a guarantor to her marriage but pregnancy. Women has been created in such a way that their hearts are easily won due to flexibility and it is for this reason that Bimbo gives her nurtured pride of twenty six years.
It is our fifth year of marriage, years of unfriendliness between my mother and wife. The years I have truly come to see the other side of life from my mother. My marriage is blessed with two lovely daughters whom I named after my two late sisters. Mother should have shown them the love my sisters knew while alive but even the mention of their name in the house is noise pollution to her.
I could not endure to see my wife and daughter being maltreated in their house by the same woman who has been ‘my world’ for years. For every problem comes a solution, I married another wife according to mother’s wish. A great relief it is, to my children and their mother. This peace of mind and tranquillity comes to a halt when my second wife gives birth to her first child, my third daughter, then, the fourth. Thewhole house is shaken and the tense atmosphere once again takes over.
Days turned into month, months into years, ‘Kekereekun’s family, the house of commotion. Mother planted the seed of hatred in my four daughters. They all see one another as counterparts contesting for love and acceptance by their grandmother. Enmity was the song on the lips of my children. All these does not move mother a bit. They were not her desired grandchildren. The name of her deceased husband must notbe erased.
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. I tried again and this time around, Lara, my second wife gave birth to a boy – the desired and long-awaited grandchild by mother. However, this boy turned me into the father of six as against my wish of having two children in life.
The children started growing and taking care of them from the little income becomes a burden. The dream of every parent has always been for their children to surpass them in life. In my own case, selfishness and inconsiderate nature of my mother surpassed the children’s future. To start from the least, the love, care and acceptance I had enjoyed in my day are not visible to them. They lack proper parental care because I run a polygamous home. The joy of having a son turned to be a misery. The supposed successor turned the ‘street’ supporter.
If only mother had taken time to be conscious of who she is, of the hidden uniqueness of every child regardless of gender, of the precarious future of the only loved child, then probably………………..
