” Kemi folded her arms. “What plans?” “The Bello family will take Chika,” he said. “You will marry the farmer.” Kemi stared at him. Then she laughed. “You must be joking.” “I am not.” Her face changed at once. “There is no way,” she said. “No way Chika will marry a rich man while I am sent to a village.” Mr. Obiora frowned. “Mind your tone.
” >> [clears throat] >> “How should I talk? You want to throw me into poverty and give Chika the better life.” “This is not about a better life,” he said. “That village promise was made because of you. You were the child that woman helped save. Your mother never forgot it.” Kemi gave a bitter laugh.
“So because one village woman helped me as a baby, I should now marry a poor farmer?” Mr. Obiora’s face tightened. “Do not speak like that. And the Bello family is not as good as they look. There is trouble there.” “What trouble?” “Enough trouble for me to say no.” But Kemi was no longer listening. “All I know is that the Bellos are rich,” she said.
“They have class, comfort, and a name. Why should Chika get that while I go and suffer?” Chika finally spoke. “Kemi, Daddy is trying to explain.” “Stay out of it,” Kemi snapped. “You are already benefiting.” Chika went quiet again. Mr. Obiora looked at Kemi with anger and disappointment. “You are being selfish.” “And you are being unfair,” Kemi shot back.
“You have always liked Chika more.” “That is not true.” “It is true.” Her voice rose. Then suddenly it changed. It became colder. “Maybe it is even better this way,” she said. “What if the Bello family finds out Chika cannot have children? Will they still want her?” The room went silent. Chika felt the words hit her like a stone. Mr. Obiora stood up at once. “Kemi.
” But Kemi kept going. “You are all acting like I said something strange. It is the truth. She cannot give any man a child, so why are we pretending?” Chika looked at her slowly. The pain in her chest was old, but it still hurt every time somebody touched it. Years earlier, Kemi had fallen seriously ill as a teenager.
There’d been heavy bleeding and panic. Their mother was already dead, and their father was away. Chika had been the one running around the hospital, begging doctors to save her sister. In the middle of that crisis, Chika ignored her own stomach ache, which kept worsening. She had to use the little money available for Kemi’s treatment, ignoring her own body completely.
Then one afternoon, it got worse, and then she collapsed. What followed damaged her body badly. After the treatment and the complications that came later, the doctors told her she would never have children. Kemi knew that. She also knew why. Still, she stood there and used it against her. Chika’s voice was low when she spoke.
