A new plan

Chijioke opened the envelope with a flick of his finger to get another glance at the letter. His eyes wandered to where his mother lay snoring lightly. Even at her age, he could truly still see how beautiful she was. Her soft always voice resonated in his room all day, enquiring about his body. There was still an awkwardness between them that he couldn't help. Sometimes it felt like she was a stranger and that feeling he often regarded mutual.

He knew it was difficult the way she carried herself around still oblivious of her past. He had once asked her if she wanted to go see her husband and the fear that overwhelmed her almost made her hysterical. His mother's mind was fragile, how could he tell her that he had found a letter which proves her infidelity?

It would not only further ruin her reputation, it would automatically turn his little sister into a bastard. A bit more of guilt had tugged his heart when he showed Chidiogo the deed to the land which was in his mother's name, the poor woman had looked so melancholic that for once he had viewed things from her perspective. How sad it must have been for her to find out that her husband wasn't truly a saint.

The only source of amusement was the king's sudden visit and proposal to him.
The young king had requested for Obanma's hand in marriage after asking after his health. He was customarily the guardian of his sister according to traditions as his father's right to those were revoked by his crimes.

Chijioke felt it was out of place and uncalled for as he still viewed his little sister as a child. She probably didn't even have a boyfriend and the king had been harping endlessly about getting a queen.

Obanma had barely begun life, mentioning marriage to her didn't make sense. The thought of his sister being a bastard occurred to him again and he shook it away. Being married to the king would somehow wipe the slate clean for her. They were already tagged the children of a murderer and having a queen come from their family could be the salvation.

It made complete meaning to him after a while, he had to find a way to convince Obanma to marry the king, he needed to.

A loud scream tore across the room and his mother jerked up from the chair where she lay.

He gently sat up on the bed, releasing groans and grunts. Ngozi was terrified, that much he could see from her clattering teeth and shivering mouth. She whimpered lightly, then began to sob and he called out to her.

"Mummy ọ bu ngiri? What is it?"

Chijioke shifted to the foot of the bed so that he could see his mother clearly and she moved closer to his bed, linking her hand in his.

Her lips trembled as she opened her mouth to speak, he squeezed her hand then began to pacify with soothing words.

When she finally regained enough composure to speak, she wiped her tears then turned to Chijioke.

"Iheanyi beat my son out of me" Her eyes reflected so much pain as the words left her mouth that he began to understand that her dream was just a memory she had relived.

Chijioke's perusal of her demeanor didn't help him understand better what she meant but he was still shaken to his core.

"A little baby has been coming to me in my dreams. He says he is my son"

"Obinna?" Chijioke enquired still wary of her words

"No.. Not Obinna. Obinna comes and goes but he doesn't say much. He says it's not time yet. It's another boy and he told me your father killed him.

Chi.. I.. I saw a small grave the last time I went home with Nnamdi."

"I don't remember having another brother or losing him" Chijioke reiterated still in disbelief.

"Your father accused me of seducing a strange man. He beat that man so much and when we got home... He kept... He kept hitting me till I fell asleep." The tears flowed seamlessly as she narrated the ordeal.

"You fell asleep?" He asked rubbing her hands gently still perturbed with the idea of his father battering his mother. How come he never noticed bruises on her face when they were younger. How had something so important slipped past him. He had always borne the notion that their family was peaceful.

"Yes and when I woke up the boy was gone. There was blood everywhere and Iheanyi couldn't stop crying... It was too late for our son"

"He beat the baby out of you.. How could he?" Chijioke thundered with a renewed rage towards his father. His mother seemed vulnerable and terrified even in the man's absence. A little guilt tugged Chijioke's conscience as he remembered the letter.

Was that why she had an affair with Dozie? Was it to escape? Or had she been promiscuous?

The questions kept flooding his mind but didn't clarify any of his doubts and confusion.

"Can you remember the name of the man he beat up?"

She shook her head vigorously and Chijioke sighed in disappointment.

"His son was there.. He kept wailing. I think the man called him Ekene" Ngozi declared after revisiting the gruesome memory in her mind.

"Ekene! I know the family. The stupid boy once accused Obanma of stealing from them"

"Did they punish my father? They are supposed to do that traditionally"

"I can't recall.. Maybe they did"

"I'm sorry you went through all that." Ngozi wrapped her arms around her son while he rubbed her back gently.

A vibration pulled them apart and Ngozi picked up the source which was a phone.

She handed the item over to Chijioke who swiped through the object.

" Adaugo is back for her wedding, she just texted me"

Ngọzi's eyes gleamed with excitement as she caught on the words. It was priceless for a daughter to bring back a man as a husband. Customarily that was the greatest achievement a woman could have.

"They have deterred for long" Chíjíoke hinted as he settled back onto his bed. He wasn't too pleased that his elder sister was marrying from the Yoruba tribe but he kept it to himself. He loved his sister enough to respect her decision about whom she chooses to marry. In the end all that mattered was her happiness.

Another guilty arrow shot his conscience and he pondered on the fact that his younger sister might not be happy with the arrangement he had made.

He looked at his mother who was still grinning from ear to ear then swallowed a huge lump of sadness that had formed. If word of the letter ever got out, it would mean that his mother would be publicly shamed for adultery and they would be cleansed. Obanma had to marry the king to make things right.

Chijioke requested for his phone, then officially requested for a seating with the king.

*****************

Chidiogo's throat got parched for the umpteenth time as she thought of words that would pacify her raging son.

Arinze roared thunderously the minute she mentioned the land being in Ngozi's name. To him it didn't add up, it felt there was a huge missing piece of vital information that would help him digest the reason for his father's stupidity.

"That monkey has forged the documents. I am certain he presented you with fakes! I am going to break....." The pounding in Arinze's ear made his eyes tweak uncontrollably, his heart beat rose tremendously and he could picture Chijioke gloating. This wasn't right!

" Arinze... Calm down please.. Nodu ani Yelling will not solve anything. It was your father's signature.. His writing.. Everything. I know this is hard to take in but it is the truth. Your father gave away that piece of land"

The disappointment written over Arinze's face further broke Chidiogo's heart. She hadn't known the land meant so much to her son.

"I was going to bring our business home, just like he dreamt. He wanted his shops everywhere and he was going to start from that piece of land." Arinze cleared his throat, biting back tears

"He died thinking I was a disappointment. I wanted to do this one thing just to prove that I turned out good" Arinze stated on a somewhat somber note, his eyes revealing defeat.

"No son of mine is a disappointment nna m. Your father loved you very much Arinze, he loved both of his sons..."

"Not equally" Arinze sighed, interrupting his mother with a sad smile, his brows narrowing deeply. Chidiogo felt powerless against the sorrow that was eating her son.

"It's not easy growing up in my brother's shadow. Onyi was the ideal son to our father and.. To you mother. This was another chance to prove that I could be better"

Chidiogo couldn't feign her disappointment in herself as well as to her late husband.

"Why would he give it to her? Why didn't he tell me? He always told me everything" She muttered softly to herself, tears threatening to loosen its grip and fall endlessly from her eyes.

"For years I have been holding onto that thought that Dozie would never cheat on me.. He... was a good man... A loving husband! That woman must have done something to him, I'm certain" She resigned with even greater animosity than she had before.

"We have to truly investigate mother.. Let's find the lawyer who handled our father's deeds,maybe he'll have information for us"

Chidiogo moved closer to her son then patted his cheeks in approbation while they revered the silence that engulfed them.

"Why hasn't Chijioke sent me to court? I keep thinking about it. With his hatred and wickedness I had expected the police to come back with more lies" Arinze began on a quite tart note

"He knows you're innocent. I didn't raise murderers.. Not like their father" Chidiogo reiterated masking her nervousness with a feigned anger. Her hands shook uncontrollably while she spoke and her mouth tried as much as possible to rein in the truth.

"Why would I want to kill a man? I wonder why people would go to that extent. Plotting against their fellow human beings and even killing them...o di egwu As much as I detest that ugly toad, I would never jeopardize my life for him. I have a family to think of now, Adannaya looks up to me, Olivia trusts me and very soon our son will be here too. No parent should make that mistake of leading a reckless life"

Chidiogo's lips pulled apart in a forced smile and she squeezed her son's arm.

"A boy? Have you found out?" She enquired while Arinze shook his head with a smile. "I have a feeling that a boy will come this time"

"Arinze what if..."

She was interrupted by an excited Adannaya who raced into her son's arms screaming excitedly. Arinze whirled his daughter around quickly bade his mother farewell as Olivia stepped in and led his family home.

Chidiogo sighed as thick silence enveloped her home. She glanced at the mini bar where her husband's favorite drinks were lined up and she quickly stood up and sauntered to the position.

She relieved the rack of a gin in a transparent bottle and poured herself a good amount of the drink then downed it in one gulp.

She could picture Dozie taking swigs from the same glass, throwing around jokes that only her sons found amusing. And when the boys were no more in the vicinity , he would pull her into his warm embrace then tease her of being uptight.

"Chidiogo take life easy... Enjoy what we have. The future is uncertain and so we must make the moments count"

She could remember the smile plastered on his face when she vehemently disagreed with his notion. Life mostly worked on meticulous planning and she didn't plan on having alcoholics as sons.

"Nwanyioma welu ya nwayoo nu. Take it easy beautiful woman"

Her glare did nothing to wipe the grin off his face as he maintained his aloofness in what she considered her principle of life.

A tear slipped down her cheek followed by two more and soon a river of tears. He had somehow gotten her to start quaking with laughter after he teased her of having an uncanny semblance with a toothless old woman in their home town whenever she frowned.

"Life always has new surprises in store for us, it's the beautiful twist of nature. Someday even your plans are going to make you wary and you will most certainly remember my words. And hopefully I'd be right there to gloat"

She chuckled sadly sniffing loudly, releasing the glass tumbler to the dining table as the sadness settled in.

How did such a perfect man get entangled with Ngozi?

It didn't make sense to her, Dozie always told her everything or had he lied to her the whole period of their marriage? Had he been that good of a liar? There were no signs to show that he had been unfaithful. A migraine threatened her sanity as her thoughts delved deeper and she sighed in exasperation

Dozie's words gloated in place of him as she thought of how her plans to remove Chijioke from the land had backfired and landed her in a doubly tragic position. She had certainly become Chijioke's pawn and she couldn't oust the other thug because it could land her in deeper trouble.

She walked back to the bar, fished out the bottle and drank with a renewed thirst to quell her sorrows. She was going to let life make the new plan.

*************************************

Hello Everyone!

How are we?

So I've been a bit busy but I'm glad I'm back.

So Chijioke is definitely team king and his mother just has too many secrets to reveal.

Do you think Dozie cheated?

I am so grateful for the votes on the WattNG awards❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😘😘😘😘😘😘😍😍😍😍😍Thank you all so much for your support , you're the best! Thanks for finding this story vote worthy.