MAIN STORY

Once upon a time, in the prosperous village of Ajupa, there lived a young girl named Cynthia. Cynthia was the first daughter of her mother, Amara, and she lived with her stepfather and half-sister.

Unfortunately, even though Cynthia lived with her biological mother, she was always treated like a slave. Her mother, Amara, did not like her because of how she had gotten pregnant.

When Amara was 17 years, she was raped by a group of boys, and the result of that incident was Cynthia’s pregnancy.

Right from her birth, Amara treated Cynthia as an outcast. In fact, there was even a time when Amara refused to hold Cynthia as a baby or even breastfeed her. Thankfully, her mother intervened and helped her care for Cynthia.

About three years after Cynthia was born, Amara met and fell in love with Obi. After a year of dating, they married each other.

When Amara moved into Obi’s house, she took Cynthia with her, but it didn’t take long for Obi to notice how badly she treated her daughter.

“Amara, what is the meaning of all this rubbish you have been doing? Eh? Do you want to kill this girl under my roof?” Obi yelled at Cynthia one afternoon.

That weekend, Obi returned home to see Cynthia washing a pile of dirty clothes under the scorching sun, and she was crying and sweating profusely.

“My husband, what did I do?” Amara feigned ignorance.

“Don’t you dare ask me any stupid questions? Why is Cynthia still washing clothes at this time? I saw her there before I left the house this morning, and she’s still there,” Obi yelled.

“Oh! That stupid girl? She is just washing my clothes. I’ve instructed her not to leave that position until she finishes everything,” Amara said Coldly.

“Amara, if you do not want me to get angry with you, you will go and bring that girl inside now. For crying out loud, she is barely 10 years old, yet she does the things an adult should do. Don’t you have any conscience at all? Why would you treat your own daughter like that?” Obi growled.

“Kpam! You have said it. She is my daughter, and I can treat her however I want,” Amara said.

“Is that so? Then you will have to take your things and leave my house before your people accuse me of maltreating my stepdaughter. If anyone comes into this compound and sees that small girl in the sun, they will not think that her mother can punish her like that; they will say it’s me. So, you have to leave my house, I cannot condone such wickedness anymore,” Obi yelled.

“So, you want me to leave your house because of that stupid girl? What about the baby I’m pregnant with? Who will take care of it?” Amara asked.

“That’s your business. How do I know you will not treat this one the same way you’re treating Cynthia? Eh? Please, I do not want any trouble,” Obi said, “If you’re not beating the girl, you’re either starving her or sending her on ridiculous errands. Please leave my house, I do not want any trouble,” Obi added.

“Ah! Ah! My husband, please calm down. It has not gotten to that. It’s just that Cynthia annoyed me, and I wanted to punish her. I promise I will not do it again,” Amara said. The reason why Amara begged her husband was because she knew he was capable of kicking her out of the house. Prior to this time, he had warned her several times about the way she treated Cynthia, but she wouldn’t listen.

“No, Amara, you have to go. Take your daughter with you, so if you go and kill her in your father’s house, no one will ask you any questions, Obi said.

Immediately after Obi said that, Amara went to her knees and begged him. Since she was heavily pregnant, Amara knew that Obi would not let her remain in that position for a long time, and she turned out right. As soon as Amara knelt down and began to fake her tears, Obi carried her up.

“Amara, the only reason I’ll let you stay is because of this baby. God knows that if I see you treat that girl like a slave again, I will ship both of you back to your father’s house,” Obi said.

“Thank you very much, my husband. I promise it will not happen again,” Amara said, “In fact, let me go and call her inside. She has not eaten anything since morning, and she must be really famished,” Amara said before calling Cynthia.

In the days that followed, Amara did as she had promised. She didn’t assign Cynthia any difficult chores because she knew that her husband was always watching her. During that period, Amara also fed Cynthia on time and treated her like a child.

Sadly, Amara’s good treatment towards Cynthia only lasted for a short while because two months after that, she gave birth to her daughter, Ndidi. 

Before Ndidi was born, Cynthia didn’t realize that her mother hated her. Although Cynthia knew her mother was always angry, yelling at her and hitting her at the slightest provocation, she didn’t think her mother hated her until after Ndidi’s birth.

The first day Cynthia realized that her mother hated her was the day she returned home with Ndidi. When Cynthia saw her half-sister, she was very excited she would have someone to play with, but Amara never allowed that to happen. In fact, Amara didn’t even allow Cynthia to hold Ndidi as a baby or even sit close to her. The day Cynthia tried to carry Ndidi in secret, she got the beating of her life and nearly passed out if her stepfather had not intervened.

“You this stupid girl, how many times have I warned you to stay away from my child?” Amara said as she beat Cynthia mercilessly. From a distance, one could hear the hot slaps she gave Cynthia.

“Ah! Amara, do you want to kill this girl and put me in trouble? What did she ever do to you that you hate her so much?” Obi yelled as he ran into the living room. That afternoon, Obi was inside his room sleeping when he heard the loud slaps Amara gave Cynthia.

“I have warned this witch several times to stay away from my child, but I caught her trying to carry my baby,” Amara growled.

“Amara, why are you doing this? Is Ndidi not her half-sister? Why can’t she carry or even hold her? What you’re doing is terrible,” Obi yelled.

“I knew it. I knew that you would take her side. You’re always supporting her even when she does something wrong. I have said my own; I don’t want her anywhere close to my baby. If she does it again, she will see herself in the land of death,” Amara yelled, then she picked up Ndidi and walked out of her husband.

As soon as Amara left the living room, Cynthia burst into tears. Amara had slapped her so hard that she left her fingerprints on her cheeks and back.

“Come here, it’s ok. Please stop crying,” Obi said as he tried to pacify Cynthia.

“But I didn’t do anything bad; I just wanted to carry my sister,” Cynthia said in a teary voice.

“I know. It’s ok. For now, I need you to stay out of trouble with your mother. You know she gets angry easily, so just stay out of trouble,” Obi said, and Amara nodded.

In the months that followed, Amara turned Cynthia into her housemaid. Unlike before, Amara used to do some of the house chores before her baby was born, but after Ndidi was born, Amara no longer did anything.

Every day, Cynthia would wake up early to clean the house, go to the market, cook and wash the baby’s clothes before she went to school. Sometimes, by the time she was done with all the chores, it would be past noon, and she would end up staying back from school.

As if turning Cynthia to her housemaid was not enough, Amara would still send Cynthia to hawk on the street even though she had no need for the money. On the days Cynthia was not hawking, Amara would ensure that she assigned her difficult chores that would take her the whole day to complete.

Sadly, this continued for many years until Ndidi grew into a big girl. Because of the horrible way Amara always treated Cynthia, it didn’t take long for Ndidi to know that she was her mother’s favourite child, and as a result, she began to treat Cynthia badly even when she was older than her.

If Ndidi wanted Amara to beat up Cynthia, she would just accuse Cynthia of something she didn’t do, and Amara would beat Cynthia mercilessly without asking any questions.

There was one time when Ndidi purposely broke her mother’s expensive perfume, and then she accused Cynthia of breaking it. Since Amara originally hated Cynthia, she didn’t waste time punishing her. In addition to that, she used Cynthia’s school fees to replace the perfume. As a result, Cynthia ended up missing a whole term at school.

As Ndidi grew older, Amara did not allow her to do anything in the house, not even washing her underwear. Cynthia was the one who did literally everything in the house. She would wash Amara’s and Ndidi’s clothes, cook for them, wash their plates, clean their rooms, and do much more. There was almost nothing Cynthia did not do for her mother and half-sister. 

If, at all, Cynthia complained that she was too tired or hungry, Amara would starve her for the whole day and still assign her more chores. The only time Cynthia got to eat without finishing her chores was if her stepfather left some food for her in his plate. 

One day, something very heartbreaking happened that caused Cynthia to leave the house. That day, Cynthia woke up very sick and could not do anything at home. When she went to Amara’s room to tell her that she wasn’t feeling well, Amara yelled at her and threatened her.

But because Cynthia was very sick and her temperature had gotten high, she returned to bed and forgot about all the threats.

Around 11pm, Cynthia was still sleeping in her room when she heard Amara yelling.

“You, this foolish girl, I always knew you were an agent of darkness,” Amara yelled as she emptied a bucket of water on Cynthia.

“Mama, what did I do?” Cynthia asked in shock.

“Who is your mother? Don’t ever call me your mother again in this life. Now, why did you take out all the meat from the soup I cooked last night?” Amara yelled.

“What meat?” Cynthia asked in a confused tone.

“Oh! So you don’t know what I’m talking about?” Amara growled.

“No, I haven’t entered the kitchen since morning,” Cynthia said.

“Anyway, for your information, that soup is spoiled, and I cannot let all my efforts go to waste. Since you stole all the meat from the soup and it got rotten, you will have to finish that soup, or else this house will not contain the both of us,” Amara said.

“But Mama, I didn’t touch the pot of soup after you dished the soup last night. Maybe Ndidi touched it,” Cynthia tried to defend herself.

“Which Ndidi? Eh?” Amara asked as she pounced on Cynthia, “You must be very stupid to call my daughter a thief. In fact, for that nonsense you just said, you will eat this soup now,” Amara said.

“No, mama, I cannot eat this rotten soup. It smells bad. Why are you punishing me for what I did not do? All my life, I have done everything I can to please you, but nothing I do is good enough for you,” Cynthia yelled.

“Oh, so you have grown wings and can now talk back at me in my own house?” Amara said, “Ndidi, come into this room now. We need to teach this stupid girl a lesson.” Amara called Ndidi.

Immediately Ndidi came into Cynthia’s room, Amara ordered Ndidi to hold down Cynthia, and she did. Since Ndidi was chubby and had a bigger body than Cynthia, she used her weight to hold down Cynthia, and then she forced Cynthia’s mouth open, just as her mother had instructed.

Without wasting time, Amara poured the rotten Okra soup into Cynthia’s mouth and poured some on her face until she emptied the pot.

“Stupid girl. You have not seen anything yet. By the time I’m done with you in this house, you’ll regret being born,” Amara said, ” Oya, get off her,” Amara ordered Ndidi.

As soon as Ndidi got off Cynthia, Cynthia got up and threw up in her room because of the rotten soup she had ingested.

“Listen, you have one hour to clean up this house and go to the market. You see that my meat you stole. You must provide all of them, and I do not care how you want to do it,” Amara said before leaving Cynthia’s room. And you better clean up that mess before it pollutes the whole house,” Amara added.

“God! What did I do to deserve such a horrible mother?” Cynthia soliloquized as she cried. Unfortunately for Cynthia, Amara was still in the corridor, and she had overheard her. In anger, Amara returned to Cynthia’s room and did something very heartbreaking that altered the rest of Cynthia’s life.

Watch out for part 2

Did you enjoy this story? Tell us your favourite part in the comment section below. Please like, share and subscribe to our channel. Also, do not forget to follow our channel on Facebook and Instagram. Thank you.