CHAPTER 33

CHICHI

After the wine and dining with her friends that day, Chichi retired to the second bedroom in Tade's house later in the night. The fun time she had with her friends really helped her shove her exhausting worries aside for a while. She has decided to stay a while at Tade's to help with Susan's wedding plan and Tade's divorce process, even though those reasons lie on her tongue. All she wants at the moment is to avoid her mother, only that she has to go home to pick up some office wear the next day, she can't stay indoors forever if she wants her bills paid.

Chichi has been independent since her University days, though her parents did their obligation well, her father did mostly, while her mother is the kind of woman who depends solely on her husband to do everything in the house, no matter how little it is, she will always say it was the man's responsibility to care for the home. She and her siblings were raised her with this mentality but it always disgusted her. She always pitied her father and she promised never to be a burden on any man. Since then, she had thrived to be independent, even while in school, rather than ask her father for the money for her handouts even though he can absolutely afford it, she would go out to work ushering jobs alongside her coursemates to raise the funds on her own.

Her father loves and adores her because of her

selfless attitude and how different she turned out

to become from the rest of her siblings. Her

father's love for her was evident, he always treated her special from the rest of her siblings which often causes disagreement between her dad and her mother. Growing up was fun, it was a large family. She lived with her four siblings and other cousins and distant relatives also lived with them because her father was considered to be wealthy. In an African setting, some believe that if the man has a white-collar job that earns him a constant income monthly, he is therefore considered a wealthy man. Family members send at least one of their children to you to live with you, and also expect you to send some amount home to them for the upkeep of the

remaining ones with them, taking responsibilities off their necks. Chichi watched her father

experience this while growing up and always

pitied him because she knows he is weary but he never complained. He always told her not to worry about him and that he is a man and it is his responsibility, but she wishes her mother could render assistance no matter how little but she never did, rather she nags and compiles with more responsibility on the innocent man. She is often referred to as the black sheep of the family and she proved it, she never returned to her parent's house after she graduated from the University, and she never lived off anyone's income. She only visits once in a while but she never failes to send money home to her father with a strict warning that it solely belongs to him, not to her mother or any of her family members.

Her mother's arrival to her house was on the guise of a visit to her to report her father to her since she is his favorite child with the belief that she can talk to him but she refused to interfere stating clearly that her father can make decisions on his own. She doesn't understand why her mother has such a mentality, is it the century she was raised or she is just trying to be the perfect wife that the husband's family wants? Her mother was trying to force her own husband to take in another wife because his family says so, which she finds so absurd.

Ever since her visit, she has refused to go back

home to her husband and has been forcefully staying with her. Her presence in her house is like living in hell right here on earth, she nags every minute, insults her over little things, and emphasizes that her attitude wouldn't make her get a husband, while she also doesn't hesitate to remind her that her husband was left alone without a wife but no amount of hurtful words would make her leave.

Her mother's constant statement is 'Be totally submissive, so you can find a man. When you find one, make him your Lord and worship him, you must also worship his family' which she finds very disgusting and myopic. She often tells her mother that women are not created to serve the male breed, she wants more for herself. So rather than serve men like a slave she would work hard and also be a queen so she can stand by her husband's side as the king that he is. Her mother would shout every time and swear that she will never find a man with such a mindset. She always prays to meet a man like her father who is very hardworking and caring, yet extremely patient to put up with someone like her mother but she hasn't met a man that has it all, either she meets one who is rich but pompous and disrespectful or another who is meek, average but too contented with his status and it is a no! no! for her, she won't end up with a No Future Ambition man. She wants a successful man, who is also homely, caring, patient, and respectful to women, and doesn't believe in gender roles. A man who wants growth for his woman and himself, who also keeps thriving to have a great name and great connection. She loves her man meek, someone she can share her mind with, learn from, joke with, and is open to taking advice or learning from her despite being a woman. Her mother always says she can't find such a man, and with the number of successful men she has met through summits, travels, jobs, and high-profile events, she is not sure she can truly find such a man. Since then, she has decided to stay independent.