“Oh, it is getting late. I need to head back. I need to make your dad’s meal. If not, he would be hungry, and you know your father, he would be furious ”
“Mum?”
She ignored me and went to pick her small purse. I reluctantly sighed and dropped the subject and stood up. “Take care of yourself my daughter, my visits would be frequent now, I need to monitor you now that your tummy is beginning to rise.” She placed her hand tenderly on the rise of my belly. “Take care of my grandchild, ok?” I nodded. She swallowed slightly. “Think about what I said Amara, you deserve all the good things you can get” she said.
I warded off the last sentence and hugged her tight. “I am here if you need me mama” I said affectionately. She nodded without looking at me and made for the door.
I entered the house after seeing her off and made for my room. It had been a long day and a cool bed seemed like a really pleasant idea. As I entered the room, I instead made for the window which overlooked the beautiful garden. I felt confused to say the least. Dad had talked about this, having my mother buttress that point again was unsettling. The sight of the garden calmed me down but could not erase my confusion and helplessness. I heard a knock and instantly told Tina to enter.
She entered and I turned to face her. “Your mother is a lovely woman” she said with a smile.
I smiled back. “Yes. She is definitely lovely”
“She is right, you know?”
“Excuse me?”
She swallowed and shifted from one leg to the other. “I… I am sorry, I”
“You were eavesdropping our conversation” I cut in.
“I am really sorry, I did not mean to. I was in the laundery and… well… your voice was loud enough. I could not stop myself from listening even if I wanted to” she explained.
Currently, all I wanted to do was put her in her place, but that would not be fair. She had been there when I had nobody and it would be bad if I made her feel like a maid now, despite the fact that I made her compulsorily see me as a friend. Besides, I knew for a fact that my voice tends to increase in pitch whenever I am angry. Hearing the conversation would have been very easy.
I reigned in my anger. “And what is she right about?” The last thing I needed was for someone else to agree with my parents. With the way things were going, I had a feeling that I was about to get just that.
“You need to buy new clothes. Mr. Alex is rich; you should take advantage of it. Miss Lisa would be visiting constantly now that she is pregnant, you don’t stand a chance in these clothes. I am sure you would be prettier than her if you are properly dressed” she ranted.
“What you are saying is that I don’t look pretty because I am not in fancy clothes, right?” I asked angrily.
“No. No. you look beautiful in anything but you would look better in fancy clothes” she tried to explain.
“Oh, so you want me to extort money from my husband, just like my mother said?” I asked again. My anger seemed uncontrollable now.
She swallowed. “Look at it objectively ma’am. You are married to Mr. Alex, so whatever he has is yours. You are not extorting money from him; you are taking what rightfully belongs to you. I am sure he is aware of that, which is the reason why he gave you a credit card. Secondly, you have a competition, in person of Miss Lisa. You need to be able to fight for your man and… I am sorry ma; I don’t think you can effectively do that in these clothes”
“Now listen to me” I retorted sharply. “I am not taking a single penny from Alex for myself because I am not a selfish luxury-seeking girl. Neither am I ready to get into a beauty contest with that good for nothing prostitute because of Alex. He saw me in these rags when he approached me in the village, if he can’t love me like this, fine. I don’t care. I care only for my child.” I took a deep relaxing breathe. “I won’t want to get angry with you Tina over Alex, please don’t ever talk to me about this again”
She swallowed. “Yes ma” she murmured.