The Viper

The first time she witnessed her mother’s temper,

She was 9 years old.

Her mother had issues with a neighbor.

It was an adult thing.

She doesn’t even remember what the disagreement was about.

But what she does remember isn’t palatable.

Her mother woke up at 5AM in the morning,

Took a paint bucket,

Urinated into it,

Defecated into it,

Poured grinded raw pepper into it,

Mixed it properly and waited by the door.

Immediately the neighbor she had issues with, came out of his room,

Her mother poured the substance on him!

It was the worst sight she had ever seen.

The neighbor dressed for work wasn’t expecting it!

Her mother, ready for battle pounced on him!

It was gory!

She concluded that day that her mother had a strong mental problem.

But she was just 9 nine years old.

What could she do?!

As she grew, she saw her mother on many warfronts.

It was as if she had a warrior gene.

On the surface, she was a nice woman.

But the most lethal snakes are always beautifully arrayed.

She couldn’t remember how many times her mother locked her outside the house all night for

Insubordination.

She couldn’t bear the domineering atmosphere and always revolted.

Her mother saw her as a truant and a traitor.

Someone to break.

Sometimes when her mother lock her out without any food, a neighbor would have mercy on her and feed her.

Her mother would pick issues with the neighbor!

Cursing and ranting!

Anybody that feeds my child without my permission would die of thunderbolt!

Anybody that feeds my child without my permission shall bury their children with their hands!

The neighborhood came to acknowledge that her mother was a loon.

By this time she was 12, she had come to abhor her mother.

By this time, her mother took her to a local canteen to work as a kitchen girl.

The canteen was in the heart of the ghetto.

People high on drugs would grope her at will.

She cried and complained.

Her mother paid no heed.

One of her aunties heard about her dilemma.

She came into the ghetto and took her away.

Even though the lady just graduated from high school.

Her aunty took her in in defiance of her mother.

It was from her aunty she experienced love and care for the first time.

Her aunty treated her like she would her own daughter.

She learnt to call her aunty “mother”

Her aunt trained her until she (Aunty) got married.

She moved in with her into her matrimonial home.

Her husband accepted her.

As she filled out into a beautiful young woman,

Her aunt’s husband started groping her.

She was yet again caught between the devil and the fiery furnace.

If she told her aunt, she might be sent back to her mother.

If she stayed, she would betray her aunt by sleeping with her aunt’s randy husband.

She resisted him for two years.

Then she gained admission.

Escape!

But he wouldn’t let go.

He told her aunt he would not pay her school fees,

Because she was a very stubborn and disobedient girl.

Her aunt didn’t understand what he meant.

And she couldn’t dare tell.

Matters came to a head when her aunt confronted her husband;

“You either pay her school fees or this marriage is over”

She knelt down and begged her aunty.

“Please don’t divorce your husband because of me, I am not going to school again!”

It was a tug of war!

Her aunty caved in eventually and sourced for the money.

She paid her acceptance fee and school fees but was left with nothing else.

Though her aunt’s husband was well to do, her resistance proved a stumbling block to getting his help.

She suffered through school.

But it was worth it!

Her aunt came through.

She met a guy, he proposed.

She said yes!

Her mother brought war!

“They want to marry my daughter off without my blessing”

She told every jack, dick and Harry!

Curses and negative energy flew everywhere!

Her aunty succumbed!

Her mother insisted they must buy her a cow and lace materials for the wedding.

She couldn’t believe it!

Who was she to make demands?

Her aunt bought the items.

Her aunt fulfilled her promise to honor her mother.

What option did she have?

She barely survived having to sit beside her mother throughout the engagement ceremony.

Once the wedding was over,

She moved on but she became more determined to keep her mother at arm’s length.

In 2016, her mother’s house was demolished by the government because it was built on the path of a major construction site.

Her mother became homeless!

She volunteered to rent a house for her mother.

Her mother refused.

She had four step siblings.

Each of them accommodated her mother at one time or the other.

Her mother crashed their marriages.

The same way she never stayed married to one man.

Her mother insisted she wanted to live with her.

She refused to do accommodate her.

Her mother stubbornly started living on the streets.

Telling everybody that cared to listen, that she had a merciless, rich daughter.

If you were in her shoes,

Would you willingly live with a viper under the same roof?

PS: This is the situation as it stands at the moment

What should she do?