(Curtains fall)
Scene 2
At Papa Edu’s compound
NNEKA
That’s mama coming. Thank God. I was beginning to get worried. Mama welcome. What kept you so long? And how did it go…?
MA CHIEMEKA
Nneka my dear, please come let’s just go inside.
(Both of them go inside the house.)
NNEKA
So mama how did it go?
MA CHIEMEKA
Are you alone? Where is your father? And the boys? Where are they?
NNEKA
He has gone out to somewhere. He said he was going to meet some people and will be coming back very soon. I think Edu has gone to see his classmate or something. I don’t know about Henry, maybe he has gone to see one of his crazy friends. So mama how did it go? Did you see Mama Chinwe?
MA CHIEMEKA
Yes. Yes I saw her.
NNEKA
And you told her everything?
MA CHIEMEKA
Yes.
NNEKA
And…?
MA CHIEMEKA
And what?
NNEKA?
And what did she say then?
MA CHIEMEKA
(Flares up) Nneka please give me a break! I need to rest for a while. Stop barging me with all these unending questions!
NNEKA
Ha maama! Why are you sounding like? I hope everything went well? Please tell me what happened there at Mama Chinwe’s. You know I am very worried!
MA CHIEMEKA
Do you think you are the only one who is worried? Let me tell you something I am beginning to see now. You see, from the outlook of things, this whole affair is going to affect us much more than we even think.
NNEKA
How do you mean, mama? It seems to me like your mission to your friend’s house was futile.
MA CHIEMEKA
Oh yes it was completely futile. A mission in futility! That is what it is. Nothing could describe it better. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone there…
NNEKA
Hey mama what really happened there?! Don’t tell me there is no hope mama?
MA CHIEMEKA
Nneka the truth is that your father has succeeded in killing us all. I told him, didn’t I? I keep on saying it. I told him that his generosity will land him in trouble one day but he didn’t listen, now this…
NNEKA
But mama you know that has always been his nature. You cannot change that.
MA CHIEMEKA
(Angrily) But it was getting out of hand, that’s my point! How can you comfortably go out there and use other people’s money as if it was your own not minding the likely repercussions all in the stupid name of helping someone in need? What do you call such an act? To me that is the mark of utter foolishness and stupidity in the highest order!
NNEKA
Mama, please calm down. I thought we have gone all over that issue. Yes the damage has been done. We are looking for the solution and that was what I was expecting of you to brief me on what happened at the place you went to and not this your lambasting papa all over again…
MA CHIEMEKA
Sharrap you stupid daughter! I say sharrap! I don’t know why you are always ready to defend your father in everything! I can’t believe this. I am here telling you that he has killed us; and you are there saying that the damage has been done. Of course the damage has been done! So now you tell me, what do we do now?!
NNEKA
(In a very submissive tone) Sorry. But mama I thought that was the reason why you went over to see Mama Chinwe?
MA CHIEMEKA
Of course I went to see Mama Chinwe. And we had some discussions… some very deep deep discussions.
NNEKA
And so tell me, what happened?
MA CHIEMEKA
Let me sit down first. Nneka my dear, you see in this world, everyday is a new day and there’s always a lesson to learn. Today I think I’ve learnt mine.
NNEKA
Hmm, what did you learn? Mama you are now speaking in riddles just like papa. What is really happening? Please someone tell me before I finally go insane!
MA CHIEMEKA
My dear you will not go insane. God forbid! Never! Why should you say something like that?
NNEKA
Then mama tell me happened! This whole suspense is killing me! All of a sudden, you are beginning to sound so mysterious like papa and I am not comfortable with that at all at all!
MA CHIEMEKA
Well my dear, nothing happened. It’s just that… it’s just that… how do I even start?
NNEKA
It’s just that what… maama?
MA CHIEMEKA
How do I even start? You said your father is not around? I would have loved it so much if he was here to hear what I am about to say. Maybe he’ll learn something from it too…
NNEKA
So mama it is now your turn to summon all of us eh? Alright. So I should go and find all of them again? Ha, maama you people should please have mercy on me! Tell me what Mama Chinwe told you.
MA CHIEMEKA
You see eh, do you that sometimes your father could be right in the wrong way?
NNEKA
How?
MA CHIEMEKA
Okay. You remember that when your father was debriefing us this morning, he mentioned that he does not want any other ear outside this family to hear about the issue?
NNEKA
Yes.
MA CHIEMEKA
Nneka, your father was absolutely right!
NNEKA
Mama I don’t understand. What has that his statement got to do with what happened at Mama Chinwe’s place?
MA CHIEMEKA
Wait, I’m coming to that. Now listen, your father was right! Absolutely! See my dear, do you have any idea, I mean have you ever given a thought the number of families that could be going through some form of financial problems right now? Have you? Well, I tell you, so many families are suffering from one form of untold tribulation or another and you will never know unless they tell you!
NNEKA
How do you mean mama?
MA CHIEMEKA
Do you know that all is not rosy for Chief Ojemba’s family? Can you believe that? Do you believe that all the while that I have been going to that house, and I have been laughing with my friend and thinking that she’s so lucky because she had it so good, I never knew that they also had some form of serious financial problems? And you can never look at them and see it!
NNEKA
No! It is not possible. Are they not one of the richest families around here?
MA CHIEMEKA
Exactly! That is exactly what I’m saying! And all this time, my friend has never bothered to tell me what was amiss. Hmmmm… no wonder!!! Now I am beginning to understand why Mama Chinwe has not been her usual jovial self for quite some time now!
We all thought it was some strange illness. She even said it was malaria or something like that and we just let it go. I think I should have known! Anyway, I think that's just the way life is. So my daughter Nneka, that is why I said that your father was absolutely right when he warned us about the secrecy that this whole thing demands.
NNEKA
Mama, I still don’t get you.
MA CHIEMEKA
My dear this is what happened. You see, I went there to see my friend and we got talking. Somehow I remembered your father's warning and I decided to approach the issue cautiously and indirectly, you know, the whole keeping it a secret of a thing…?
NNEKA
Yes… I know, you mean you did not tell her the truth?
MA CHIEMEKA
Not directly per se. First I decided to engage my friend in some discussion different from what I had in mind but somehow I noticed she was not all that coordinated—or should I say she was not all that interested in what I was saying?
I think she was lost most of the time and she kept on forgetting and repeating her
self. At a stage over conversation became so one-sided or maybe she just wanted me to go straight to the point, with the way she was acting so impatient. I think she couldn’t take it no more so she asked me what the problem was. I saw that as an opportunity to tell her what was actually on my mind.
I quickly told her that there was this my husband’s very close friend whose husband has got mixed up in some financial messy deal at his office. I told her that the man desperately needed help he could get by all means. Just to give her a picture of the magnitude of the problem, I further added that this man in question is already under suspension and he could be facing immediate sack from his work place…
NNEKA
But that’s laughable. Don’t you think she could have easily guessed it was papa at least going by your concern?
MA CHIEMEKA
Maybe… Of course I had to include your father’s involvement in the whole case by telling her that your father co-signed the document which is why he is involved.
NNEKA
Anyway, what did she do… say next?
MA CHIEMEKA
Well, she just kept on listening. At a stage I had this feeling she was not paying full attention to me. It was like something else was on her mind so I called for attention. She told me she was listening quite alright. After listening to my blabbing tales on how this man ended up getting himself mixed up in the serious financial mess without saying anything for some ten to fifteen minutes, she suddenly cut me short by asking what I think could be done for this man – my husband’s colleague.
NNEKA
And what did you say to her?
MA CHIEMEKA
I was kind of shocked… and confused because I have never seen her act so forward before. Maybe I thought she was not buying into the story. Or maybe, like you said, she guessed it was your father, I don’t know. Maybe she was even angry with me for lying to her… her own close friend, who knows? I can’t tell…
All I knew was that I was so shocked and confused by her directness which threw my off balance which further explains why I couldn’t even mention any specific figure when she asked. To tell you the truth, I never knew the exact amount I could be asking for. In fact, I think that was the first time I got a glimpse of how futile and hopeless the whole idea of going to ask them for help really was.
Anyway, as I was saying, I did a quick mental recall and I remembered your father saying that the amount he could come up with after calculating all our assets was around fifteen million or thereabout. That was the dilemma I was in. And I didn’t know how to go about it.
NNEKA
So what exactly did you say to her then?
MA CHIEMEKA
My dear, it wasn’t easy at all. My mouth was shaking. I could feel myself trembling. I was thinking about the thirty million that could at least buy some time for your father and also save our face in the process but that was not even my major concern. I was completely lost in deep thoughts. A lot of things to be considered were going on my mind at the same time.
I mean, come to think of it now, what was I even thinking then? To tell you the truth, I felt so stupid! How was I going to ask a fellow woman to ask her husband to lend us such a huge amount? For what reasons? And what was our repayment plans? How long is it going to take for us to pay them back completely? Or are we expecting them to just dash16 us the money just like that?
Okay tell me, you that always like defending her father, what reasonable excuses are we going to give them when we default in the repayment, something I know is definitely going to happen for sure and they start getting on our back; that is, assuming they even give us the money in the first place? I am talking about close to thirty million naira! Oh yes! Who in his or her right senses is even going to lend you that type of money in the present day Nigeria going by how difficult things are economically in this country at the moment?!
My God! Those were the things that went on in my mind as I contemplated on the right amount to mention so as to avoid mentioning a figure that is either too much or too less. In fact, to tell you the truth my daughter, it was also at that very moment that I realized the humongous extent of this whole problem your father has stupidly and blindly plunged us all into.
NNEKA
I know you will never stop blaming papa but that’s okay. My question is still what eventually did you say to her?
MA CHIEMEKA
Well, finally, I decided to tell her we needed like ten million to solve the problem.
NNEKA
Ten what?!
MA CHIEMEKA
Oh yes, I told her we need like ten million. Hey, don’t blame me and please will you stop looking at me that way! You think I don’t understand the seriousness of this whole thing? Of course I know that it is not anywhere near the exact amount we needed to set your father free but at the same time, I was purposely reducing the amount with the hope of going back to them again to them again to ask for another round of help.
But I was also afraid because I know that if and when I come back, I am supposed to have another incredible story for them because and by then, they will surely start wonder what my connection with this unknown man that they are helping out on my behalf really is.
Then the whole story will come out like pregnancy together with the fact that I lied to my very good friend in the first place. That is something I will not like to see happen. Then there is also this question of repayment. Nwa m17, to tell you the truth, I was so confused.
NNEKA
And so? What happened? Did you increase the figure?
MA CHIEMEKA
Well, yes I did. I finally told her it was around fifteen million.
NNEKA
Fifteen?! Hmm, okay. So how did she react?
MA CHIEMEKA
What do you expect? (Scoffs) Nneka my dear, I’m telling you, if I had known, I shouldn’t have even bothered—to go there.
NNEKA
Why do you keep on saying that?
MA CHIEMEKA
Now here’s the thing. The truth I learnt today was that truly, all that glitters is not gold.
NNEKA
How?
MA CHIEMEKA
You see after I mentioned that figure, I noticed that my friend was silent for sometime. I thought that I had blown it. My one thought then was to tell her immediately that the person involved was actually my husband and him alone. But then I thought that will now amount to telling lies. Although we are great friends but I couldn’t bet on mama Chinwe being so understanding. So I waited too. After taking her time for what seemed to me like eternity to me and it was as if she was considering my request over and over in her mind, she suddenly came alive.
NNEKA
Mama, believe it or not, I still don’t know what you are driving at! Did Mama Chinwe agree to help you or not? What do you mean by all that glitters is not gold?
MA CHIEMEKA
Nneka my dear, what I mean by that is that all the while Mama Chinwe kept silent, could you believe she was actually considering telling me what was amiss in her own household?
NNEKA
What on earth is actually going on in her family?
MA CHIEMEKA
You see, the thing was that for the past two months, Chief Ojemba was living under a huge debt. Could you believe that? Could you imagine that?!
NNEKA
No! How?
MA CHIEMEKA
That’s what I’m saying! Mama Chinwe told me it was their family secret. They never wanted people to hear about it. I don’t understand what is going on again in this our society. A lot of people are living with one family secret or another. The funny thing is that they don’t want another person outside their family to hear about it. Now tell me Nneka, how can you get solutions to your problems if you don’t tell other people what is going on? That is what I learnt today.
NNEKA
Wait a minute… you mean even the great Chief Ojemba owes? Hmm, wonders shall never end!
MA CHIEMEKA
&
nbsp; Exactly my thoughts! And you wouldn’t believe it, would you?! You know Chief Ojemba is majorly into fish importation business? According to my friend, around three months back, two of Ojemba ship sunk at the Pacific Ocean. It was terrible. She said her husband lost more than three hundred and fifty million naira in that one single mishap!
NNEKA
God of mercy! That is quite unbelievable!
MA CHIEMEKA
I am telling you! And you will never believe such thing ever happened! How they were able to carry on as if nothing that serious happened is what baffles me the most.
NNEKA
Hmm. Why didn’t they tell anyone?
MA CHIEMEKA
That was exactly my question but I can now easily see why. I tell you it is the same reason why your father never wanted any other person besides us to hear about this whole thing.
Mama Chinwe told me that they knew what people would most likely do if they hear about their calamity. She said she knew many people would laugh at them. She said some people will definitely come and start shedding crocodile tears for them.
She also said some people will even say they are getting what they deserved; they’ll say all sorts of terrible, unkind and hurtful things about them. She said people will draw conclusion that they were paying for their sins because of the fact that it was not just one ship that sank. I don’t blame her. You know how superstitious our people can be?
She said people will then call her family all sorts of bad names like evil doers, murderers, and ritual killers and conclude that their misfortune was nothing but a payback time for them. That was what she said.
NNEKA
Hmm!
MA CHIEMEKA
Yes. It’s a pity but that was the reason why they decided to go at it all alone. Imagine she did not even bother to tell me, one her closest friend, to tell you the extent of seriousness of the whole thing. And if I didn’t go to her place today, who knows, she might have never disclosed such a thing to me. That is the extent of the whole thing. She was telling me now just to let me know that she and her husband were not in any possible position to help anybody out financially right now.
NNEKA
Mama?
MA CHIEMEKA
What?
NNEKA
I don’t know how to say it but do you…? Do you think she could be lying? I mean, is it possible she is lying—to you?!
MA CHIEMEKA
Will you shut up your mouth there! Lying? For what reason? Please don’t go there! I know my friend so well and lying is not one of her faults.
NNEKA
Hmm! In that case there is trouble because from the look of things right now, it looks like there’s no hope for us now!
MA CHIEMEKA
I said it, didn’t I? I’ve said it so many times. I said that your father will kill us all one day. Now he has done it. We cannot help ourselves. Nobody can help us out now. We are going to lose everything. I mean everything!
And do you know the worst part? We will still be in debt after that! Ha! Papa Chiemeka, what have you done? Mr. Ted Roberts or whatever you say your name is, I’m still saying what I said earlier, it will never be well with you—in this life and the one to come next!
You have decided to fool my husband because you saw he’s a very simple-minded person. You have succeeded for now but for how long? Soon your sins will find you out and you will come confessing. I know one day the good Lord that I serve will answer my prayers. He will find you out wherever you are, you evil man…
NNEKA
Mama it’s okay. What did you say to Mama Chinwe? How do they survive now?
MA CHIEMEKA
Nneka my dear leave me alone. I am finished, I am totally finished! What did I say to Mama Chinwe? Of course I ended up consoling her because it appears that our own problem is nothing compared to the deep shit they were in. She cried. I could easily she needed to talk to someone. She told me that their survival now is by His grace. She said they are now heavily dependent on their relatives abroad.
NNEKA
Mama I am afraid. So it means that we will lose everything and papa will still go to jail? Ha! What kind of bad luck is this? Who will bail us out? Who will bail us out now?
MA CHIEMEKA
That is the question! That is my fear! I don’t know what to do again now. I think your father said that the bank will be moving in against him in one month’s time? What do we do from now till then…? What’s that noise coming from that room? I thought I heard footsteps. I thought you said nobody was at home?
NNEKA
Yes.
(Edu appears)
EDU
Mama it is only me. I came in from the backyard.
MA CHIEMEKA
Did you hear what we were saying? How long have you been standing there listening in?
EDU
Of course, I heard most of it.
NNEKA
Edu I think there is serious trouble!
EDU
I think so too!
NNEKA
Edu what do we do now?
EDU
I’m afraid, I don’t know. I can’t think of anything now.
MA CHIEMEKA
I think it is time we should put this family into prayers. We need serious prayers now like never. I don’t know what else to say or do!
(Curtains fall)