SISTER’S AT WAR EPISODE 7.

SISTER’S AT WAR EPISODE 7.

“Neighbors ooo! My daughters are fighting ooo!” Nneka shouted as she ran out of the compound, wrapper almost slipping from her waist.

Within minutes, people from the neighboring compounds gathered. Children abandoned their play and rushed inside to watch. Street traders left their stalls and ran in curiosity. Soon the whole compound was filled with people,men,
women, and children standing shoulder to shoulder.

In the center, Ijeoma and Amaka were locked in a bitter struggle, scratching and pulling each other’s braids as dust rose from the ground.

“Stop it! Stop it! Why are you fighting?” a strong man from the next compound shouted as he rushed in, forcing himself between them. He dragged Ijeoma by the arm.

“Leave me! Leave me let me deal with her!!” Ijeoma screamed, struggling hard against his grip.

“Don’t you know she is your younger sister?” the man scolded.

“I don’t care! younger sister my foot,Let me go!” Ijeoma fought back, eyes wild with anger.

Amaka stood breathing heavily, fists clenched, ready to continue. “No come and fight, Ijeoma! You called yourself my elder sister, but you don’t act like one. Elder sister my foot!”

She stormed inside, leaving their mother screaming at the top of her voice.

“This children will kill me ooo! They will kill me before my time!” Nneka cried, falling to her knees.

Far away in the farm, Nduka was busy weeding when one of his neighbors ran to him. “Nduka! Leave whatever you are doing and start going home now. Your compound is on fire!”

His heart skipped. He quickly gathered his basket, machete, and cap, and rushed home.

By the time he arrived, the crowd had already dispersed. He met Nneka sitting on the ground, weeping bitterly.

“Nkem, what happened? Talk to me,” he asked, panting.

“My husband, your children want to kill me ooo! They fought today like enemies!” Nneka cried.

“They fought?!” Nduka was shocked. “Where are they? Amaka! Ijeoma!”

The two sisters slowly came out, each standing on opposite sides of the compound. Ijeoma refused to look at Amaka, while Amaka kept her eyes fixed on the ground.

Nduka’s voice thundered. “So the both of you have decided to be stupid for the rest of your lives? Fighting each other like market women! Do you want to kill yourselves? Do you want to give your mother high blood pressure? Why will you disgrace this family and bring crowd into my compound? Are you not ashamed?” Nduka shouted with so much anger.

“Papa, it was Amaka” Ijeoma started.

“Shut up your mouth there!” Nduka barked. “I am highly disappointed in you. In fact, I am disappointed in both of you for fighting over a man.”

He turned to his wife. “Nkem, tell me exactly what happened.”

Nneka wiped her tears. “I was sitting down when Ijeoma came shouting Amaka’s name. Before I knew it, she gave Amaka a dirty slap. Amaka slapped her back and the fight began.”

Nduka’s anger boiled. He faced Ijeoma. “Why would you slap your younger sister? What did she do to you?”

“Papa, thank you for asking!” Ijeoma said bitterly. “This idiot here, this shameless thing went behind my back and told Ikenna I’m not the right woman for him. She tried to destroy my marriage!”

Nduka turned sharply to Amaka. “Amaka, is it true? Did you do that to your own sister?”

Amaka lifted her head, tears in her eyes. “Papa, it was Ijeoma who deceived me. She told me lies about Ikenna that he wasn’t good enough for me. She made me reject him with my own mouth! But when she saw he had money, she ran back to him. Papa, she is the one who betrayed me!”

“Liar!” Ijeoma shouted. “Amaka, you are a very big liar! When did I ever tell you that? Chai! So this is how desperate you are? Lying against me just to steal my man?”

“You told me yourself!” Amaka cried. “You told me that Ikenna was not a good person, You said he will never take care of a wife. You said I should leave him!”

“Eh-eh, you see how foolish you are?” Ijeoma clapped her hands mockingly. “So you mean to say that your own elder sister has the power to control your brain? Did I tie your mouth when you rejected him? You rejected him because you are stupid, Amaka!”

“I rejected him because I trusted you!” Amaka screamed back. “You are wicked, Ijeoma! You wanted to ruin my life!”

“Papa, Mama, you hear her? She is just jealous because Ikenna chose me over her. A hungry rat can never steal a king’s meat!” Ijeoma sneered.

“Jealous of you?!” Amaka shouted. “God forbid! The whole village knows you are only chasing Ikenna because of his money. You don’t love him, Ijeoma, you only love his pocket!”

“You are mad!” Ijeoma fired back. “If Ikenna doesn’t love me, why is he coming to marry me soon? Can’t you see you have already lost? Cry till tomorrow, you can’t win!”

Amaka stamped her feet. “Over my dead body! I will fight you, Ijeoma! I will never allow you to marry him!”

“Then start digging your grave!” Ijeoma clapped her hands in mockery. “Because whether you like it or not, I will be Ikenna’s wife!”

Amaka shouted, “Selfish witch! You don’t care about me, you don’t care about this family, you only care about yourself!”

“And you don’t have shame!” Ijeoma shot back. “Running after a man who rejected you! If you like, cry from today till tomorrow, he will never choose you!”

Both of them began exchanging rapid insults:

“Husband snatcher!” Amaka called.

“Snake in human skin!” Ijeoma shot back.

“Gold digger!”

“Jealous goat!”

“Ugly witch!”

“Empty head!”

They tried to rush at each other again. Their father banged his walking stick on the ground.

“Enough! Enough, I say!” Nduka roared. “You two will not kill me before my time! If you like, continue fighting like wild dogs, but hear me no daughter of mine will tear this family apart because of a man. I will not allow it!”

Nneka, crying, buried her face in her wrapper. “What kind of daughters did I give birth to? Chi m ooo!”

But Ijeoma and Amaka stood glaring at each other like sworn enemies, chest rising and falling as they hurled fresh insults.

“Gold digger!” Amaka shouted, pointing at her.
“Empty brain!” Ijeoma fired back.
“May thunder strike that your sharp mouth!”
“And may madness catch that your big head!”

Nneka tried again to speak through her tears. “My daughters, please stop this madness. What kind of shame is this? People are laughing at us outside…”

But before she could finish, Ijeoma shouted over her. “Mama, leave me! Let this thing here know she can never compete with me!”

“Thing?!” Amaka screamed, stamping her feet. “Did you just call me a thing, Ijeoma? Chai, God will punish you!”

“Punish you first!” Ijeoma clapped her hands mockingly. “Even the gods know you are a failure!”

“Better failure than a cheap woman that chases men up and down!” Amaka spat.

Nduka raised his walking stick and hit it on the ground so hard that both of them paused. His voice thundered:

“Enough! Enough of this madness! If I keep talking here, I will collapse. Do you two even know the disgrace you have caused me today? The whole village gathered in this compound because of your foolishness!”

He shook his head, his face twisted with disgust. “Nkem, let us go inside. These girls are no longer listening. If they want to destroy themselves, let them go ahead. I have wasted my strength already.”

Nneka sniffed and nodded. “My husband, let us go. They will not kill me with high blood pressure.”

Together, Nduka held his wife by the arm and led her into the house, leaving the two sisters outside.

No sooner had the door closed than the insults continued louder than before.

“Idiot! Shameless pretender!” Amaka shouted.
“Jealous rat! Crybaby!” Ijeoma shot back.
“May your marriage scatter before it even starts!”
“And may you remain single forever while I ride in Ikenna’s car!”

Amaka’s voice broke with emotion as she shouted, “I will never let you have peace, Ijeoma! As long as I am alive, I will fight you for Ikenna!”

Ijeoma only laughed, her laughter loud and mocking, echoing in the compound. “Fight till you die, Amaka. Ikenna is mine already. You can go and marry poverty, it fits you more!”

The two of them kept hurling words like spears into the night, while inside, their parents sat silently, too tired and broken to intervene again.

That evening ,Obiora sat quietly on a wooden stool, peeling roasted corn. His clothes, though neat, looked old and worn, the kind a man who had seen hard times would wear.

Adaku stepped out of the kitchen with her hands on her waist, eyes rolling the moment they landed on him. She let out a loud, mocking laugh.

“Ehn ehn, so this is the big man that traveled abroad,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Obiora the America returnee, sitting here like a village farmer, eating corn. Abroad didn’t even add small flesh to your body. See how thin you look!”

Obiora’s hand froze on the corn. He looked up slowly. “Adaku, must you insult me every time? Abroad was not easy, I suffered there. Coming back alive is enough blessing.”

Adaku clapped her hands together dramatically. “Blessing kwa? Which blessing? Other people’s brothers come back with cars, money, fine clothes. They build houses for their families, they even open shops for their sisters. But my own brother came back empty-handed, wearing one old coat like a church rat! Tufiakwa!”

Her voice was so loud that neighbors passing by turned their heads. Obiora’s cheeks burned with shame, but he kept quiet.

Adaku wasn’t done. She marched closer to him, pointing at his chest. “Tell me, Obiora, what did you even go to do abroad? Sweep streets? Carry people’s loads? Because nothing in you shows you ever left this village. Instead of making our family proud, you came back to disgrace us!”

Obiora’s eyes glistened with pain. “Adaku, don’t talk like this. You don’t know what I went through. I worked hard, but life there was not the way people think”

She cut him off with a hiss. “Spare me that story! You failed abroad and came back to become a burden here. Look at you, walking around this compound as if you’re somebody. If you didn’t bring wealth, at least you should hide your face instead of sitting outside for people to see your shame!”

Her words cut like a blade. Obiora stood slowly, his tall frame shadowing hers, but his voice was calm. “Adaku, one day, your tongue will bring sorrow to this house. Don’t despise a man just because he returned poor. Tomorrow is in God’s hands.”

But Adaku only laughed scornfully, turning her back. “Tomorrow, tomorrow… I can’t eat tomorrow. I want to see what your so-called God will do for you. Abroad man with nothing!”

She walked away, shaking her head, leaving Obiora rooted to the spot. His heart was heavy, but he whispered to himself, “Even my own blood has turned against me. Father, mother, if only you were alive to see this…”

To be continued…..

SISTER’S AT WAR EPISODE 7.

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