Kathrine: I’m An Orphan But I Won’t Do It – Episode 2
One month after my Mum’s deeath, I was finally emotionally ready to resume work. Before she diied, I had just gotten paid, and it was from that money I took care of myself for a period of 1 month until she was buriied.
My uncle never showed up when she was aliive, but when she diied, in order not to raise suspicíón from his relatives, he contríbuted massívely for the buriial.
In doing so, he earned for himself buckets of adulation and praise from his relatives, but I was the only one who knew that he was an eviil and very wiiçked man; a líón in sheep’s clothing.
It was Sunday, 30th April, and I decided to carry out a general clean-up, hoping to resume work on Monday at the hotel where I worked as a cleaner.
I turned the house upside down, making sure I cleaned every nook and cranny. I had already informed my colleague at work, Sarah, to come and stay with me.
Sarah was living with a gúy because she had no place to go; her parents were in the village, and she had relocated to town in search of greener pastures.
As I was dusting and rearranging my làte Mom’s clothes, trying to fit them into her suitcase, a white paper fell from one of her wrappers, but I didn’t notice it and kept doing what I was doing.
After arranging the clothes, I began sweeping, and while sweeping, I noticed a squeezed large piece of paper on the floor, looking very new compared to the rest.
Before my Mom diied, she tried to say something to me, but she couldn’t. Even as she held my hands, I noticed her attempting to raise her right hand and show me something, but her strength would faíl her.
I picked up the paper to find out what it was. As I unwrapped it, I discovered two more papers inside. I sat down to check the contents, already guessing that this was what my Mom had wanted to give me before she diied.
To my greatest shóçk, one was a chéçk of 500,000 naira, written and signed by my Mom, and the other was a letter written by her that said:
“Kathrine, my angel, if you’re reading this letter, then I’m already deead. Beside this letter is a check of 500,000 naira – my lífe savings for donkey years.”
“I know I’ve fàíled you as a Mom, and even as a teenager, I’ve made you súffér like an adúlt. I wish I never marríéd your dàd, causing you these great tróúbles.”
“I névér lóved your dàd for a day; I was fórçéd by my Mom to màrry him because he had money. I wish I had a Mom like myself, who was never moved by material things, let alone love because of it.”
“I had a boyfriend whom I loved so much, and he loved me too. My Mom déspíséd him because he was merely an electrician. She never allowed him inside the gate whenever he paid me a visit.”
“I’d snéàk out at the solitude of the night’s zenith, just so that Matthew and I could exchange whispers of affection, but not for too long because I was scààred of my Mom noticing I had gone out to meet him.”
“I remembered running to my dad many times, with téàrs in my eyes, béggíñg him to convince my Mom to let me marry Matthew. He tried, but my Mom persísted.”
“‘Yóú múst marry Fidelis, whether you like it or not,’ my Mom would always sçóld me.”
“Fidelis was the manager in the firm where my mom worked as an accountant. His parents were descendants of fame and fortune. At a very young age, Fidelis was already the manager of one of the bíggést Fintech companies in town.”
“Fast-forward to 15 years later, my husband, your dad, Fidelis diied from allçóhól poiisoniing. He was addíícted to dríínking very pótéñt allçhólíç dríñks and thus diied at a very young age.”
“I was happy he diied because when he was alive, he miistréàtéd me like a slààve, and each time I told my mom, she waved it off, as she had everything to gain from their family as long as I was màrríéd to Fidelis.”
“When he diied, his parents held me responsible for his deeath. They somehow knew I névér lóved him and capítalized on that to blàmé me for his súddéñ démísé.”
“They séízéd all his própertíés, çhàséd me àwày from his house, and relieved my Mom of her duty, aççusiing her of sending her daughter to clàím the liife of their son.”
“I was prégñànt with you at the time. I abhórred my Mom and resorted to squatting with Jennifer, my course mate back in college.”
“Jennifer was still single and was working as a Public Relations Officer with some government bodies. She also owned a mini restaurant in town.”
“As an old friend, she employed me in her restaurant as one of her cooks. I lived in one of the detached houses in her exótic mansíón for 1 year until something terriible happened that made me leave and rent a two-room apartment with the little savings I had.”
To be continued ✍️