CHAPTER

Max and his mom walked up to

Shulamite's parents and both of

them began to apologize for

Max's behavior in the past. Mrs.

George was forced to come down

from her high horse and plead

with Shulamite's parents because

of her son. She started by saying

"my name is Lillian George and I

am Max's mother. I never knew

about the escapades of my son

and I am very sorry for the pain

and shame that his deeds have

caused your family. If I say that I am

not ashamed after hearing what

has happened, I'll be a liar. After

hearing this story today, it's made

me realize that I have failed in

bringing up my child properly as

a mother. I am here to beg you to

please put the past behind you

and not sue my son and also let

us be involved in the life of Rachel.

I know that we have no right to ask

you for anything and expect you to

grant it, but let us please look at

the child that is involved and try to

cohabit. I will not stand in front of

you and say my son is a good

person or praise him, but I would

like to say one thing which is, if

my son ever knew that your

daughter got pregnant for him,

he would have found a way to

reach out to her but he never knew

and neither did we his parents.

We have a responsibility to the girl

and we will not shy away from it if

you let us be involved in the child's

upbringing." After Mrs. George

finished talking, Max went on his

knees to plead with Shulamite's

parents not to keep Rachel away

from them and he also apologized

for his behavior in the past.

Shulamite's mother looked at Mrs.

George and Max before saying,

"we are not people who like to

dwell in the past. The mistake

has been made and there is

nothing we can do about it

except to live with it. Rachel is

your daughter and we cannot

keep her away from you even if

we want to because it's obvious

that the girl was taken a liking to

you. No matter how much we

want to hate a person sometimes,

once a child is involved and the

child makes his or her decision,

it has to be respected. We are a

people who live by honor and a

code of conduct. It's already too

late for anger because our anger

can do nothing but complicates

matters. You are free to see Rachel

anytime you want to or even take

her to spend some time with you

but one thing that we will not

accept is you trying to take the

child away from us. You came and

spoke to us, and we listened and

reasoned with you because we are

meek but do not take our meekness

for foolishness or weakness. I

have nothing more to say than that

because if I need someone to

blame, I will blame my daughter

for not conducting herself properly.

I love Rachel and sometimes, I

wish that she was my daughter

and not my granddaughter because

that girl is very sensible and kind." 

After the whole discussion, the

two families exchanged contact

numbers and home addresses

before Max and his mother left the

hospital to go back home and face

the issue of leaving Chioma at the

altar. Mrs. George felt bad for

Chioma, but she also couldn't hide

the fact that she is grateful that

her son went to the hospital one

time to save the life of his daughter.

The marriage with Chioma can

still happen at any time but if

Rachel had died, they would have

never been able to get her back.

She knows that Chioma loves Max

and will be ready to accept him

the way he is. All she needs to do

is calm her down and speak to her.

When they got home, Mrs. George

couldn't hide her happiness as

she ran to her husband to share

the good news with him. Her

husband listened to her intensely

without interrupting her and after

she was done talking, he looked

at her and said "Lillian, I can see

that you were very happy to have

a granddaughter but what about

the poor girl who you pushed on

Max. Do you know how devastated

she will be by now? She was made

the laughing stock of this town

today and I wonder what is going

through her mind right now. If I

know our son properly, I will say

that he has found a way to free

himself from this marriage. I warned

you about it before you forced

Chioma into the life of Max by

brainwashing her into marrying

the person who has no feelings

of love for her." 

Mrs. George looked at her husband

and was perplexed as she couldn't

believe that after everything that

she has just told him, he is worried

about Chioma who she can always

convince to change her mind and

give her son a second chance. "I

expected you to be happy at the

news of having a granddaughter

who looks just like our son and is

already nine years old rather, you

are worried about the person

whom I can always convince to

do what I want. Leave Chioma's

case alone because she is like a

daughter to me and she will always

listen to me. I will call her up later

in the evening and check up on her

by tomorrow and as for Max, if he

thinks that he can pull out of this

marriage, he is just joking because

I will never let that happen. I

promised Chioma that she will

be the wife of Max and so it shall be." 

The man shook his head as he kept

wondering why his wife is so

stubborn that she doesn't know

when to stop. "Why not leave poor

Chioma alone. Haven't you ruined

the girl's life enough? You are not

supposed to promise her that Max

will marry her in the first place

because you cannot influence a

person's decisions, especially an

adult. Max is no longer a baby

who you can make decisions for.

You will go to Chioma and tell her

that Max is no longer interested

in marrying her. I don't know how

you will do that but the same way

you managed to convince her to

marry him in the first place, that's

how you will manage to convince

her to give up on marrying him.

You rushed in here telling me about

Max's daughter but have you

considered the lady who gave birth

to his daughter? Is she married? Or

do you want your son to have

children here and there? I will not

allow you to force Max into doing

what you want him to do anymore

because we are going to ask him

if he still loves that lady so that we

can know where we are headed

from here." Mrs. George tried

saying something else but her

husband did not let her speak as

he stood and left her alone in

his study.

The next day, Mrs. George went to

her friend's house to check on her

goddaughter but she was made to

understand that Chioma has not

been home since yesterday that

she was stood up at the altar. Every

attempt to reach her has failed as

she has powered off her mobile

phone and nobody knows where

she is. Her mother has been worried

and praying that her daughter doesn't

do something stupid or even take

her own life because of the shame.

She told her friend that she regrets

the day that she allowed her friend

to convince her into letting her

daughter marry her friend's son.

"Chioma never wanted anything to

do with your son because she didn't

know him but I forced her to break

up with her boyfriend and pushed

her to your son hoping that she will

be happy but look at what has

happened. If only I had listened

to the pleas of my daughter, all

of these wouldn't have happened.

I know that wherever she is right

now, she will be blaming me for

her misfortune." Mrs. George was

short of words because she didn't

know what to say to her friend to

make her feel better because no

matter how she tries to look at it,

she and her friend are responsible

for everything that has happened

to Chioma.

 After Chioma left the church that

day, she got a taxi and drove down

to a boutique so that she can

change her clothes and after doing

that, she checked into a hotel. She

stayed in the hotel till late evening

before going out in her blue jean

bum shorts, white sneakers, and a

white crop top. All the while that

she was in the hotel room, she

never felt pity for herself or pain

in her heart. She felt at peace and

couldn't wait to go clubbing to

celebrate her freedom from

marriage. She has always seen

Max as a brother and a good friend

rather than a husband. They never

really spoke much and it was funny

to her that she was getting married

to a person who she does not know

his best color, his best friend, or

even his best food.

When she stepped out that evening,

she went to the karaoke to sing out

her heart and when she got there,

she sang one of Jay's songs

because she has always been a

fan of his. She began to sing           

          "Nobody really knows the pain

           behind the fame and nobody

           really knows the shame behind

           a fall. It's a feeling you can't

           understand so come sing with

           me, dance with me, if I rise

           we rise together and if I fall, I

           fall alone cause all these are

           empty feelings. All these friends

           of mine, they are never there for

            me when it's tough but when it's

             time to collect, all I can hear

             them say is, I want, I want, I want.

             Your money, I want. Your name, I

              want. Your clothes, I want.

              Everything I want, but let me tell

              you something, even beggars

               are choosers but you ain't no

               chooser because you're worse

               than a beggar, you wicked

               opportunists, alapamasise,

               oga rolling stone kuro lona."

She sang to her heart's content

before leaving the karaoke and

going to a club. She clubbed all

through the night and got very

drunk before finding her way back

to the hotel even though she can't

remember how she got to the

hotel that night.

Every time that Chioma thinks

about Max and the fact that he

has a daughter with someone else,

it makes her laugh. She couldn't

believe that she wanted to marry

a man who already has a child

because she never wanted to be

left alone at the altar. She has

always told herself that she will

never be a stepmom but that was

what she almost became yesterday

out of desperation. She knows that

Mrs. George will look for her and

try to convince her to marry her

son but she will never get married

to Max because a man having a

child is a turn-off for her. Sometimes,

she wonders if her mother has her

best interest at heart because

whatever she chooses to do on

her own, is never right as far as

her mother is concerned. She

had the best relationship and the

best boyfriend ever but her mother

did everything in her power to make

sure that she ruined that relationship

because she wanted her to marry

her friend's son.

Chioma has always been the perfect

daughter who listens to her mother

and is always obedient. She laughed

at herself as she asked herself

where all that obedience has gotten

her. Looking back at her life now,

she will wish that she had rebelled

at some point and made sure that

her voice was also heard. Maybe if

she had talked to her parents and

told them what she wanted, she

wouldn't be in this situation which

he is in today.

She checked out of the hotel and

took a taxi back home. When she

walked into their house, she met

her mother and Mrs. George just

the way she had imagined. The

first thing her mother got worried

about was her wedding gown as

she shouted "where is your wedding

gown? Don't you know that you will

still need it?" Chioma was quiet as

she had no response for her mother

at that minute because if she opens

her mouth to talk to her mother, she

is very sure that her mother will

regret it as the words that she will

say will not be nice. She ignored

the two women and wanted to walk

into her room when her mother

pulled her arm back and said "you

walked into the house without

greeting your mother-in-law and

me, and now I'm asking you a

question which needs an answer

but instead of you to answer me,

you are walking away. When did

you develop this kind of attitude?" 

Chioma had had enough already

and she turned on her mother and

shouted at her "mum! Can you let

me be for once in my life? Don't you

think that you have ruined my life

enough? I had a perfect life but you

walked in and destroyed it. After

destroying my perfect life because

you wanted me to marry your friend's

son who is not in love with me, you

didn't stop there. You and your friend

made sure that I was publicly

disgraced yesterday at the church.

I was left standing at the altar like a

pathetic soul as people began to

take pictures of me and record

videos to post on their social

media handles. Do you know that

I am already trending on the internet?

Instead of my wedding to trend on

BellaNaija, it is rather trending on

InstablogNaija. Why should I even

bother about telling you about that

when you do not even know what

social media is. I don't want your

advice neither do I want your

recommendations. All I want is for

you and Mrs. George to leave me

alone and let me live my life in peace.

And as for the wedding gown, I gave

it to the owner of the Boutique

where I bought these clothes from."

After speaking, she walked away

and as she was entering her room,

she could hear her mum screaming

her hair off.

Mrs. George walked up to her friend

and held her to the sofa as she told

her friend to have a seat and stop

screaming so that her blood pressure

will not rise. She explained to her

friend that the girl was right about

what she said. She tried getting her

friend to put herself in her daughter's

shoes and ask herself if she would

have been able to take such disgrace.

Chioma's Mum looked at Mrs.

George and asked her "what is

social media?" Mrs. George laughed

and said, "social media is a tool

that can be used to destroy your life

within seconds."