"Mama Ife carried her granddaughter, Akwaugo, on her lap. The little girl leaned back and slept soundly, oblivious to the current situation.
Mama Ife had read the letter several times and hoped they had addressed it wrongly. Being addressed wrongly frequently occurs, but it contained Ife's name this time. That couldn't have been wrong, yet she still hoped.
She and Akwaugo had driven this route twice, once for Ife's convocation and the other for Ife's matriculation. She didn't have to bring Akwaugo along this time around, but she couldn't leave her precious child with her co-wives.
Mama Ife was Mazi Eke's second wife. Whenever Mazi Eke tried to make her happy, he claimed that the other wives were forced on him and that she was the only one he chose. Mama Ife, on the other hand, did not choose this. She and her father had planned she would travel to the west and attend a nursing school. Her father was fond of joking; she would treat him when he got old.
This plan came crashing down the day her father went to sleep and never woke up. He left behind a mountain of debt, which he incurred while attempting to send his five children to school. He hoped they would be a source of financial liberation one day.
Mama Ife's mother, Uzodimma, decided not to repeat the same mistake as her husband; she would cut her coat according to her cloth. The least she did was ensure that Mama Ife completed secondary school and joined her in her semi-textile/tailoring business.
That was how Mama Ife met Mazi Eke, a fellow trader. He made her feel special, and she loved the attention. Not minding Mazi Eke was married to Mama Ada with three daughters, she accepted his proposal. One of her reasons for marrying Mazi Eke, among many things, was financial security.
A few months after she had married him, Mazi Eke's warehouse burned down. She went from being a wealthy man's wife to just an average trader's wife.
Like every other man his age, Mazi Eke desired a male child, and Mama Ife was still unable to have a single child. Eventually, he got a younger woman pregnant, making her his third wife.
The third wife, Mama Ikenna, went on to have four sons. Mama Ife eventually got pregnant and gave birth to Ifedimma months before the birth of the third son.
Ifedimma was her new sun. Because of Ifedimma, she could attend some meetings as a mother without feeling like an outcast. Ifedimma was why she was called mother, not out of respect for being a married woman, but simply because she was one. Ifedimma was indeed a blessing. Ifedimma provided her with a new reason to live. Mama Ife's feelings for Ife were never hidden. Mama Ife was never one to pick fights, but she was all in when it came to Ife.
Ife was a stubborn child who always spoke her mind and rolled her eyes at everyone. Everyone called her spoiled because her mother treated her like a friend rather than a daughter, but Mama Ife didn't mind because she loved it. Ife symbolized the strength she lacked.
Ife eventually understood her mother's position in the household and knew how to act and behave in a way that would not bring shame and reproach to her mother. Mama Ife was proud of her daughter because she performed better than her peers in many areas.
Later on, Mazi Eke stated that he would not send Ife to the university. He claimed he was reserving that expense for his sons, which had reached five, with the fifth from Mama Ada. Mama Ife was convinced that Mama Ikenna had planted this idea in his head because he initially seemed inclined to send Ife and the boys to school.
Mama Ife has decided that her daughter will not have that fate. She restarted her tailoring business. She got Ife the books she needed to study and didn't care what her husband or anyone else thought.
"Ife, what do you want to study in the University?" Mama Ife inquired after their meal on evening.
"I'm not going to university. Papa already said so," Ife responded.
"I didn't ask you that," Mama Ife clarified, "I'm asking what you want to study," emphasizing the last sentence.
"But, Mama," she pointed out. Ife caught her mother's sharp look.
"English," she exclaimed quickly, beaming. Mama Ife laughed at her joy.
"Why?" Mama Ife asked, curious.
"I want to talk like that woman on TV," she paused, "and write stories."
"Oya, read hard, and you will become an Englishwoman," she laughed.
However, this dream seemed impossible when Mazi Eke demanded Ife marry a certain wealthy man immediately after graduation.
Mama Ife was sure that her co-wives had forced him to do this.
Mama Ife begged and pleaded with him for days to let her go to school. Ife realized her mother's tears were meaningless. Her father owed Mazi Boniface while attempting to send Ikenna abroad. And she happened to be the payment.
Ife couldn't imagine herself as a fifth wife. She had witnessed her mother's suffering in a home with three wives, and Mazi Boniface's wives were notorious for causing strife. Ife felt betrayed.
One Sunday, she and her mother were getting ready for Sunday service. Her mother was attempting to zip her clothes.
"You're gaining too much weight, Chineke," Mama Ife exclaimed.
"You have to be careful before you start looking like Ada nna gi," she laughed at the inside joke.
Ife said, more like a whisper, "a di'm ime."
When Mama Ife didn't hear her, she repeated louder, "I am pregnant."
Mama Ife was stunned, but her heart broke when she realized it was her schoolteacher. She had allowed Ife to go to the same Teacher for extra lessons to prepare her for JAMB. She mustered the courage to tell Mazi Eke, and Mazi Eke beat her for the first time in their marriage.
He accused her of being responsible for Ife's pregnancy, saying she had truly spoilt her.
Ife married Teacher a month later. In the following year, she gave birth to Akwaugo. Ife went to university immediately after nursing her child.
"What has your husband given you?" Mama Ife inquired of Ife when Ife was planning to leave for school. Mama Ife still harbored grudges against the Teacher.
"He hasn't given you anything, so he doesn't know he's married?" She added with a mocking expression. Ife knew it was best to keep her mouth shut.
"Well, I don't have anything for you," Mama Ife said dismissively. Ife knew her mother already had a lot for her.
Ife passed through the university on stipends from her mother and her husband. When Ife graduated, Mama Ife told everyone to call her Mama graduate. When Ife got a job at a telecommunications company in Lagos, she told everyone who would listen.
Ife sent more than enough money to support her mother and child. Ife intended to move her mother and child to Lagos. Her husband stated that he would try to further his education to obtain a job at a university, thereby joining them in Lagos. Ife had indeed been the best thing to happen to Mama Ife.
Here she was perplexed where she, Mama Ife, had gone wrong. She was searching for whom to blame, but no one came to mind; she wondered if this was the will of God.
Mama Ife left Akwaugo in the corridor and instructed her strictly not to leave the chair where she sat.
It was bitterly cold when she stepped into the room. The attendant went ahead of her and arrived at where there was covered a body.
"Is she the one?" he said as he opened the cloth.
Once Mama Ife saw the body, she screamed.
Mama Ife had no idea she had screamed until she heard herself. She covered her mouth to avoid losing herself and disturbing the other bodies, which ironically couldn't hear her.
Here laid her child, sleeping but breathless. This reminded her of when Ife was born. She came out quiet and still, causing a little fright till the midwife smacked her to life. When her loud cry filled the room, an eruption of joy accompanied it; even her co-wives were happy. This time around, Mama Ife couldn't tap her to life. She turned and walked away.
A mother should never see her child dead.
When Mama Ife stepped out, she saw Akwaugo swinging her leg, utterly unaware of the reality. She sobbed as she hugged Akwaugo tight. She resolved to leave the village, convinced that it was her village enemies who had finally snatched her sun away.
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