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Episode 5
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Queen was surprised to see her neighbour who
had once asked for her hand in marriage
standing at the door. To complicate matters, he
was with his parents; Queen couldn’t help but
wonder what he was doing in her house with his
parents.
Queen: “Peter, what are you doing here?” she
asked rudely.
Peter: “can you just allow me come in? At least
for the sake of my parents here”
Queen left the way and they entered.
Mr Ayo: “As we were saying my daughter. Peter
here has been coming around to ask for your
hand in marriage but I told him to hold on until
you are around because like our people would
always say, you don’t shave a man’s head
behind his back”
Queen: “dad, please go straight to the point, I
don’t understand what you are saying”
Peter’s father who was a dark husky man with
grey hair that had seen better days cleared his
throat and spoke up.
Baba Peter: “My daughter, I am sorry that we
came on you like this. When your parents called
and said you will be around today, we decided to
come and finish up this matter. My son here said
he has been asking you to marry him even before
you secured admission into the university. He is
ready to settle down now and we thought we
should see you and start the marriage process”
he said quickly for he was a man of few words.
Queen: “excuse me sir. Your son told you that he
has been asking me to marry him. Did he also tell
you that I refused?”
Mrs Ayo: “Queen!” her mother screamed at her.
Queen: “no mum, I need to ask questions because
as far as I know, I asked Peter never to talk about
marriage with me again”
Mr Ayo: “I did not train you to be disrespectful
and shout at elders. Why did you have to interrupt
a man old enough to be your father while he was
still talking? You should have allowed him to
finish talking before making your point” he
admonished her.
Queen: “I am sorry, dad” she managed to swallow
her pride and say.
Mr Ayo: “as I was saying, you have come of
marriageable age and it is my wish that you settle
down with a good man. I have known Peter and
his family right from when he was a little boy and
I can vouch for his integrity. His parents are here
to ask for a date for Introduction but I want to
ask you first, do you want to marry him?”
Queen: “hell no, daddy. I can never marry Peter”
she dropped what sounded like a bombshell in
their ears.
Baba Peter: “my son, I thought you said Queen is
willing to be your wife? Did you bring us here to
embarrass us?”
Peter: “She gave me the impression that she was
interested in my proposal”
Queen who was trying to control her anger flared
up.
Queen: “I gave you the impression that we could
get married when I was in this village without
admission in sight. Now I am in the university
and all you have is your O’Level certificate as a
secondary school graduate. You do not expect me
to marry you with that, do you?”
Peter: “Queen please” he stuttered.
Queen: “don’t please me o. What is it? In fact
what do you have to offer me? Can you afford to
buy my cosmetics and makeups talk more of
other things?”
Mrs Ayo: “Will you shut up your mouth there? If
you don’t want to marry him, do you have to be
rude?” her mother said.
Queen: “Peter, I think this meeting is over. Please
use the door” she said getting up and pointing at
the door.
Peter: “Are you asking me to…to leave your
house?” he asked with pain in his voice.
Queen: “Peter! Peter! I don’t want to sound
disrespectful because of your parents here o. Get
up and leave my father’s house; your parents can
remain behind and leave whenever they are tired.
Just come and leave please, I cannot stand your
presence, it irritates me”
Before Peter could speak up, his parents got up.
Baba Peter: “It is okay, my daughter. We can read
the handwriting on the wall. We shall leave” he
said.
Mr Ayo: “I am so sorry about my daughter’s
behavior. Please forgive her”
Baba Peter: “it is okay my friend. You did not
offend me, may God have mercy on the children of
nowadays. I think we have overstayed our
welcome in your house, it is best we leave now”
he said and he walked out with his family.
Asha was there watching the drama, not knowing
what to say.
Queen got up from where she was sitting after her
parents returned back to the room from seeing off
Peter and his family.
Mrs Ayo: “what has come over you Queen? No
answer me now. Do ladies run mad when they go
to the university or something? If you don’t want
to marry him, couldn’t you have said so without
sounding very rude? No, answer me now. I am
talking to you”
Mr Ayo: “o ma shey o (what a pity). Queen is this
how you chose to embarrass me in the presence
of an outsider?” he asked rhetorically.
Mrs Ayo: “papa Queen shey you have seen now?
That is why I said we shouldn’t have bothered
about sending her to the university. We should
have just married her off after her secondary
school. That would have saved us all these stress.
Now see, apart from the fact that our daughter is
now rude, we heard she is also into sugar
daddies in school”
Mr Ayo: “what crime did I commit by taking loan
and sending my daughter to the university? I
want a better life for all my children, a future that
is far greater than mine. I know that I have not
been sending money to you the way you would
want it but God knows that it is not my fault. Are
you the only undergraduate whose parents are
poor? Look at Mercy for instance, her father my
brother is very poor and yet she doesn’t go about
talking to him anyhow talk more of doing so in
the presence of guests. What is my offence,
Queen”
Queen: “Oooh, I get where this is coming from
now. So Mercy who is squatting with me has been
snitching right? It’s okay, no problem. If this is
how she intends to repay me for all that I have
done for her, then we shall see”
Turning to Asha, she said. “Let us go”
Asha: “Go where? It is getting late and you said
its dangerous walking here in the night because
of kidnappers”
Queen: “Are you coming with me or not?”
Asha stood up without saying a word.
Mr Ayo: “Mercy is innocent o, she did not tell us
anything. You forget that it is a small world. We
have people from this village in your school whom
you do not know. They told us about your
waywardness but when we asked Mercy, she
denied it. But with your behavior today, I am sure
there is an atom of truth in what we heard. Better
leave the poor girl out of it” he called after the
girls who had picked their bags and gone out of
the house.
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To be continued
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