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One week after Ebere buried her older sister, Tochi, she asked Adamu’s permission to take Soma to the city for a short holiday, and Adamu agreed. Even though Ebere was the last person Adamu would have loved to take care of Soma, he had no choice because he was still mourning his late wife, and he was still emotionally and mentally unstable.

The first few days, Soma moved in with Ebere, Ebere treated Soma nicely and gave her everything she asked for, but shortly after that, Ebere began to show her true colours. If Soma was hungry and asked Ebere for food, Ebere would yell at her and abuse her for minutes.

“All you do in this house is eat. Haven’t you seen your mates hawking on the streets?” Ebere would say in a very aggressive tone.

“I’m sure in your wretched parent’s house, you didn’t see enough food to eat; that’s why you want to run me dry,” Ebere would add.

If Ebere didn’t yell at Soma, she would either push her down or spank her, and every time she did this, Soma would cry bitterly. As a young child, Soma didn’t understand why her aunty suddenly changed, and when she noticed that asking for food usually made Ebere angry, Soma wouldn’t ask for food unless Ebere gave it to her.

The bad side about Soma refusing to speak up was that she would starve until whenever Ebere felt like giving her food. 

Before Ebere took Soma from Agaga village, she claimed that she would send her to a good school so she could continue her education, but after months of Soma living with Ebere, She never mentioned school. Instead, she would go to work in the morning and leave Soma at home every day.

One day, while Soma was alone at home, one of Ebere’s neighbours, who was very fond of Soma, asked Soma if she wanted some food, and Soma said yes. At first, Soma thought of saying no because Ebere had warned her about getting anything from anyone in their compound, but because Soma had not had anything since that morning and her stomach was rumbling with hunger, she was forced to say yes.

Unfortunately, shortly after the kind neighbour dished some food for Soma, Ebere returned home and saw Soma eating. 

“Good evening, Eny. Thank you so much for giving my niece something to eat,” Ebere thanked Eny, the neighbour. Although Ebere was very mad, she had to pretend like she was pleased with what she had seen.

“Oh! It’s nothing. I saw her sitting out here alone and figured she was hungry,” Eny smiled.

“Soma dear, come, let’s go inside. I bought something for you,” Ebere faked a smile as she talked to Soma.

“Won’t you say thank you to Aunty Eny?” Ebere added. As soon as she said that, Soma turned around and thanked the neighbour for her kindness. But Immediately Ebere and Soma entered the house, Ebere gave Soma a hot slap.

“You, this witch, how many times have I told you not to collect anything from anyone in this compound?” Ebere yelled at Soma, but before Soma could say a word, Ebere gave her another hard slap on her face. The impact of the slap was so bad that Ebere’s fingerprints were left on Soma’s cheeks.

“I don’t blame you; I blame your stupid mother who didn’t raise you well. What if you were poisoned? That is how you would put me in trouble,” Ebere added in a furious tone.

To punish Soma that evening, Ebere refused to give her any food. She claimed that Soma had eaten already, so there was no need to give her more food.

About a year after Soma moved in with Ebere, Ebere ‘s neighbours in the compound began questioning her about Soma’s education. When the questions started, Ebere would give excuses, but as time passed and the neighbours wouldn’t stop bothering her, Ebere was forced to enrol Soma in a government primary school not too far from where she lived.

Even though Ebere’s neighbors were a bit disappointed at the kind of school Soma attended, they could not question her about her choice. Luckily for Soma, she studied very hard and managed to complete her primary school education with the hopes of going to a secondary school, but that never happened.

Within the years Soma was still in primary school, Ebere had gotten married and given birth to a daughter, Nkechi. However, after a year of their marriage, her husband divorced her because he couldn’t stand her nasty attitude and cruelty towards Soma.

Around the time Soma completed her primary school education, Nkechi was only a year and four months old.

“Soma, I know you would love to start your secondary school education right away, but right now, I need help at home,” Ebere said to Soma one evening while Soma was assisting her in the kitchen.

“What do you want me to help you with, Aunty?” Ebere asked in a confused tone. 

“I want you to care for your cousin, Nkechi. I would have loved to hire a nanny to look after her, but what’s the point of doing that when you’re here?” Ebere said.

Even though Soma was sad to hear that she would have to pause her education to care for her little cousin, she couldn’t say no.

“Ok, Aunty, I’ll do that; maybe when she begins schooling, I can also start my secondary school education,” Soma said.

What Soma did not know was that Ebere had no intention of sponsoring her secondary education at all. When Nkechi started school, Soma believed Ebere would keep to her end of the deal, but Ebere came up with a different excuse. She claimed she could not sponsor both Nkechi and Soma at the same time, so Soma had to wait.

Unfortunately, years passed, and after that day, Ebere never mentioned anything about Soma’s education. Instead, she focused more on her daughter Nkechi, and she ultimately turned Soma into a house help. Sadly, Ebere not only treated Soma as a common maid, but she also maltreated her badly and would hit her at the slightest provocation.

There was even one time when Ebere beat Soma until she passed out because Soma ate out of Nkechi’s food. As if maltreating her niece was not enough, Ebere pushed Soma to start hawking on the streets despite how successful and wealthy she was.

Every day, after Soma cleaned the house and did all her assigned chores, she would go to the major roads to sell pure water and snacks. The reason Soma hawked even on the days she was sick was because Ebere stopped giving her money for her upkeep, so Soma depended on Hawking to take care of her basic needs. 

One day, while hawking, Soma met a young boy named Daniel. Daniel was the son of a wealthy man who lived on one of the streets Soma passed through every day to hawk her goods. Even though Daniel knew that Soma was not as educated as he was, he still liked her. He loved her smiles and loved how hardworking she was.

Since Soma barely had any friends, meeting Daniel was like a dream come true for her. Thankfully, the two teenagers got along well and became good friends. Every day, before Soma would go to the major roads to hawk, she would stop at Daniel’s house first and spend quality time with him. To show Soma how much he liked her, Daniel would cook in advance before Soma showed up, buy her gifts, and sometimes, he would give her some money. As time passed, they fell in love and began to date each other.

Around the time Soma started dating Daniel, Ebere noticed something different about her. For example, Soma smiled more and barely grumbled whenever she was assigned too many chores. To investigate the reason behind Soma’s sudden happiness, Ebere suspected that Soma was up to something, and she decided to search Soma’s room.

Initially, Ebere suspected that either Soma was making a lot of money from hawking or that she was stealing from her, but when she saw all the gifts Soma had hidden in her room, she realized that Soma was seeing a boy.

Surprisingly, instead of warning Soma against seeing a boy like every teenage guardian would, Ebere said nothing. She pretended like she had not seen the gifts and secretly wished for Soma to get pregnant so she could teach her a lesson and have a valid reason to get rid of her.

Precisely seven months after Soma started seeing Daniel, she got pregnant. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t even know she was pregnant until Ebere detected the early signs of pregnancy.

“Soma, are you pregnant?” Ebere yelled at Soma one morning when she saw Soma throwing up.

“No, aunty, God forbid,” Soma said in a shaky voice.

“For your sake, I hope you’re not pregnant. If not, I will throw you out of my house today, you dog,” Ebere barked.

“No, aunty, it’s malaria,” Soma tried to convince Ebere.

“I am leaving for work now. When I return, we will go to the clinic,” Ebere said before leaving the house.

As soon as Ebere left the house, Soma began to cry because she knew her life would be over if she was indeed pregnant. Already, she had missed her period, and she was feeling too tired to even go and hawk that day.

Instead of hawking that day as she had planned, Soma went to Daniel’s house, and they went to do a pregnancy test at a hospital together. When the test results were out, and Soma found out that she was pregnant, she nearly fainted.

“Do not worry; I will take full responsibility for this pregnancy,” Daniel said in a bid to pacify Soma, who was crying.

“But Daniel, you’re only 18 years old, and I’m 17; we are too young to become parents,” Soma said.

“It doesn’t matter. Teenage pregnancy is quite normal amongst teenagers like us, ” Daniel said.

“But what about your parents? What will they say when you tell them that you impregnated someone like me?” Soma asked in a concerned tone.

“Don’t worry about that; leave that for me,” Daniel said.

That evening, when Ebere returned from work, she took Soma to the clinic for a pregnancy test, as she had said. When the pregnancy result showed positive, Ebere began to yell at Soma, and she even hit her at the clinic.

As soon as they arrived home, Ebere went to Soma’s room and threw all of Soma’s belongings out of the house.

“Aunty, please, I can explain,” Soma begged Ebere as she threw her things out.

“Go and explain to your dead mother. I knew it; I knew you were wayward. Thank God I did not waste my resources on you because you’re not worth it,” Ebere said.

“Please, Aunty, I don’t have anywhere else to go,” Soma cried.

“You should have thought of that before you opened your legs to those dirty street boys, you prostitute,” Ebere barked.

” I promise it will not happen again,” Soma begged.

“Look, Soma, you will leave my house tonight. I am not your mother; don’t put your burden on me. I don’t care if you have to sleep on the streets, but all I know is that you will not sleep here,” Ebere said, ” I cannot let you corrupt my daughter with your waywardness, God forbid,” Ebere added.

Despite how much Soma cried and begged Ebere that night, Ebere refused to let her into the house. For the first time in a very long time, Soma wished that her mother was still alive. In her entire life, she had never been so confused, and she didn’t know what to do next.

The worst part was that after Soma left Agaga village, she only saw her father, Adamu, thrice, and she could not bear the thought of returning to him with an unwanted pregnancy. Also, she knew that her father had remarried and had three children with his new wife, so she felt out of place to go back there.

While Soma was contemplating the right thing to do, an idea crossed her mind to go to Daniel’s house that night, and she did. On her way to Daniel’s house, Soma feared for the worst because she knew that Daniel’s parents would be at home, but things didn’t turn out like she had expected.

As soon as she arrived at Daniel’s house, Daniel was glad to see her. He even claimed that he and his parents were planning to visit Soma and Ebere the next morning. Surprisingly, Daniel’s parents were warm to Soma, and they welcomed her with open arms. It turned out that Daniel had told his parents everything about Soma, and his parents felt terrible for her. Also, after Daniel’s mom gave birth to Daniel, she had been trying to get pregnant again, but it wasn’t possible for her. In fact, she had been thinking of adopting a girl child because she wanted one badly.

So, seeing young and naive Soma was a blessing in disguise for Daniel’s mother. The kind woman treated Soma like her biological child and took good care of her until she gave birth. After Soma was back on her feet, she sponsored her education until she reached university level. 

Fortunately for Soma, her life changed beyond her imagination, and through Daniel’s parents, she achieved all her dreams. It was funny how the pregnancy Soma thought would be the end of her life became the blessing that changed her life forever.

As for Ebere, her life suddenly spiralled down a year after she threw Soma out of the house. Her daughter Nkechi suddenly fell sick, and Ebere spent her entire life savings trying to save her child until she passed away. Though Ebere tried to go back to Soma after she lost Nkechi, Soma refused to take her back. By living with her husband and in-laws, Soma realized how wicked and manipulative Ebere was, and she refused to give her access back into her life.

The end

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