The Pain Of The Poor - Episode 13

 

Hi everyone thanks for all your comments so far, and to those of you who are up to date with all the episodes thumb up to you all.

Read " Blood And Water " by the same author ( Nnenna books )

. Thanks for aways making out time to read them , I  love you all.

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Ada! You have killed her o , they called after me . What! I shouted as I turned and ran back to her (Joy, though  I  harted her but the last thing I wanted to kill her, what am I going to tell father and mother,  I should have just let them beat me up as always, oh no what have I done now? Joy please wake up I cried as I begin to regret my actions but what could I  have done, I  couldn't help to be beaten both at school and a home again. 

Oooooh Joy just wake up o you know very well it was your fault,  I  said to her while I  remember what brought about the beatings in the first place, so I  let my mind take me back to a year ago when it all started. 

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It was a new section, new classes and most of all new friends to be made. So I was really looking forward to it because I  will be free from the troubles a home for a while and I will also be getting  the chance of making new friends to play with since my other friends UKRAINE, BLESSING, MARY and JANE  have stopped being my friends.  I will make new ones .  Ukraine and the rest of the girls stopped being my friends because of JOHN

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/the-pain-of-the-poor

. John is my very good friend he was like a big brother to me we couldn't stay a day without seeing each other, we ate together anytime either his mother's food or mine. Both parents were aware of this and they accepted our friendship, it got to a point that people started questioning our friendship.  But we never cared for their is nothing the other would do or be doing that the other one won't know of.

So unknown to us Ukraine was not happy about this just because she wanted John to be her friend and he  refused her friendship,  
 Ukraine has this ego that can make you hate her, being the daughter of one of the richest man in the village made her to be very full of herself. 

Her father was the fourth to have a zinc house in our village and the only one who has a rice mill and also, her mother is the only woman that goes to the big city LAGOS every week,  so  with all of this things  she felt on top of the world. 

The irony of life "no matter how much you have you will always long for more " so that was Ukraine for you.  If Ukraine sees that you are happy she wants that thing that makes you happy at all cost and if she doesn't get it then you are on her enemy list. 

So since John is the one that makes me happy,  she wants him to herself and since he refused her of that  because of her character I and John became her enemy, she made the others to stop speaking to me and being my friends  too.

Anywhere they see me they do make fun at me using my family because the rest of them had no step mothers like I do so their homes are always peaceful but my was now the complete opposite of that. 

At school they will laugh at me and me being Dada didn't help  me so much for they will pool it till I cried out for help and Fridays where always my worst days for that is the day they will gang up and beat me black and blue then they will cut of a string of my Dada to torment me the more and when I do get home all beaten up my father will beat me again for letting my follow girls beat me up . He would say" Ada since you don't know how to defend yourself I will teach you the hard way" This kept going on till the section ended and I made up my mind not to return back to school again until mother called me and encouraged me to face my fear, 

So I agreed to return to school when it resumes and make new friends.  A week later school opened , oh my what a happy day, I  said as I entered into the school,  as God may have it I wasn't in the same class with Ukraine and her friends I was so happy, at list they won't pick on me in class, I said to myself just then teacher Maggie came in with a girl of my age,  who is this fine girl, can she be teacher Maggie's daughter? I  thought to myself and I know others thought so too judging from the way we all looked at them together. To cut the long story short,  Teacher Maggie introduced her to the class as Joy our new class mate from the big city LAGOS, 
 Whao!  We all said surprised to having someone from the big city of Lagos attend our village school, just then teacher Maggie added she's here because her parents are on a transfer so please children be nice to her and during break time some of you can show her  round.  Like I said, she's new here so be friendly and one more thing she doesn't speak Igbo only English  she said to us all and that cleared all my anxiety. 

Break time soon came oh this most be my lucky day a new friend I said to myself because I knew what none of my other friends before like Ukraine and the  rest knows. I could speak English though not very clearly but I Sha know a little, for my father travels to the big city LAGOS and he speaks and  understands English so he teaches me. 
Yes am going to use this to my  advantage, I said to myself. 
I  met with her (Joy the new girl ) and asked her to let me show her round the school, she was so happy to hear that ,that she followed me immediately. 

Just as we were at the school  garden, Ukraine and the others  showed up  and I could see the envy on their faces because the news was all over the school that the was a new student from the big city LAGOS.

But the bad news for them was the fact that she was with me and we were playing and laughing with each other . 

Me and Joy were friends for a period of 6 months and that was for two school terms, after this she changed towards me, she was always cold with me and not wanting to be near me again . I  toke it with good faith thinking maybe because she was beginning to understand Igbo now she has made new friends. I  didn't feel bad,  on the contrary  I was happy for her at first until I found out that her new best friends  were Ukraine and her friends. 

They made her hate me for no reason, before I thought Ukraine and her friends were the worst but why speak too fast when the worst of them all just joined. I  didn't now know if they were the ones who told her what to do or not but the truth is that her own torture was worst and I couldn't have father beat me up again as well all in the name of teaching me  to defend myself.  I have learnt enough so as soon as school resumed for a new section I planned to fight back . 
       
hochi  hochi  (sneezing  ),   her cough and sneez jetted me out of my deep thoughts, I  stood as she woke up oh thank God she isn't dead she is alive, I  shouted as I watched Joy awaken back to life.
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 So now dear reader judging from Ada's story did she go too far in having Joy beaten up?
Live your comments below.