"Ogwu? Ogwu?" Mama's voice filtered into my beautiful dreamland of family reunion.
The beautiful faces of my siblings brought me to tears. My mother's embrace and the songs of celebration broke me. I was bawling, rocking myself side to side, weeping profusely.
At least, In this beautiful place, I was safe, I was with family and no one was going to snatch me away from them.
I relished it so much that I didn't realize I was hugging my pillow tightly and kicking off Ifechi who tried to wake me.
"Ogwu? Ogwu?" Her voice inched closer, filled with so much venom that my dreamland couldn't shield me anymore from it.
"Where is this stupid girl for crying out loud?" She shouted so loudly, snapping me out of my deluded dream.
My body rocked the bed from side to side, out of sheer fear and trepidation. I didn't want this dream to end but at the same time, I couldn't help the void in the pit of my stomach.
"Linda, wake up nau? Mama is here!" Ifechi didn't relent.
Although at this point, I honestly was half awake, trying to fight off her grip on my forearm while trying to turn the other way, to continue my beauty sleep.
But sudden loud knocks forced me to my feet and got me running. By the time I made it to the door, it flew open and hit me in the face, pushing me back to full reality. My body made contact with the floor and Mama's face came into view.
"Ogwu?" She yelled, halting her steps as soon as she saw me lying helplessly on the floor. "Serves you right! Didn't you hear me call you?"
I tried to get up but her walking stick pinned me to the floor. "You insolent child, how many times does your mama have to call before you answer?"
Her stick came down forcefully on my belly, I let out a scream, blocking the next one with my hands. Instead, she stepped on me while cursing out my entire generation. Calling me a leech and a burden.
"Mama, please I am sorry." I found my voice.
She hissed loudly while she pushed her heels into my stomach. Luckily for me, she was wearing flats.
"Please, Mama. Please." I continued to beg, shutting my eyes to her vicious rage. "I just didn't hear you call. Please."
Whether it was by the power of divinity or by the force of nature, Something shook her body, distracting her. She vibrated and quickly employed her walking stick for stability.
By the time she found her balance, I was already up and standing by the wall, far away from her intense gaze. With furrowed brows and a scrunched face, she stepped closer to me.
"If I call you once, you better answer twice or you won't be alive to tell the story. Do you understand?"
My head nodded multiple times in quick succession, my hands clutching my tummy. I could barely breathe well nor could I complain of any pain, so I tried to stand still, plastering a bland expression on my face.
She looked me over and shook her head, then hissed. "Go get ready." A wrapped package was shoveled into my arms. I looked it over and returned my attention to her.
"To where?" A mask of complete shock washed all over me. Eleven pm was lights out for everyone at the camp and I was so sure I hadn't even slept for a couple of hours before she barged into our room.
Her head shifted from a shiny wristwatch on her left hand and landed on my face. "Did you just ask me a question?" Her right thumb pointed at a beautiful flowered greeny-pink dress she was wearing while shiny gold earrings laced her ears.
The bangles and multiple necklaces got me suspicious. Mama doesn't go on house calls with us, so seeing her dressed so elegantly left a note of fear in my heart.
My head bobbled up and down, then shook and nodded again. I didn't know how to answer that question.
"Speak!" Her voice boomed throughout the settlement. The echo came back as whispers of terror to me.
The effect of her voice shook my body from head to toe. Not necessarily because she barged into my room but the question was why?
Many thoughts ran through my mind like a bullet train. I couldn't keep still nor could I bring myself to answer her question.
After she waited for a second, another hiss escaped her mouth and she began walking away. I involuntarily heaved a sigh of relief, muttering to myself, "Thank you, lord...."
"Better get ready before I send one of the boys to pick you up."
"But Mama, where am I going or should I say, where are we going?" I protested.
Frustratingly, she sighed and kept walking. From the little I've gathered about this old woman, Mama never calls or visits, except when there was an assignment.
Since we got here, to this particular camp, thankfully, I'd been relegated to kitchen and laundry duties. Nobody had sent me to the dungeon of wicked and perverted men.
"Mama, please, I don't want to go!" I blurted out.
She stopped abruptly, as though she'd been hit by lightning.
"What did you say?" She flowed back to me like the angel of darkness. I couldn't speak, seeing that she was ready to deal mercilessly with me.
"Go get dressed!" She pushed the wrapped material further into my arms, punching at it with her right forefinger. My head went up immediately as it began to bobble in weak agreement.
"Oh Lord please, let it not be what I am thinking," I whispered under my breath while taking a closer look at her make-up-caked face. Her appearance terrified me even more.
Her long Ankara dress had a shiny sequence sewn into every part of it. The beautiful African scarf (gale) sat patiently on her head, pulling her face up and giving her a beautiful younger look.
"The van will leave in exactly one hour. I want to see you seated by the time I get there."
Pointing at something behind me, "Ifechi will help you get ready." With that, she began making her way out for the door finally.
"But Mama, please, I.....I ...." My mouth still couldn't keep quiet.
Ifechi quickly covered my mouth while pulling me closer to her. Mama turned around and stared at me. "Child, did you say something again?" My head quickly bobbled side to side in confusion.
Ifechi left hand squeezed me so hard, I whimpered. "No Mama, she's fine. I"'ll help her get ready."
"That's what I thought." Her gaze danced from me to my roommate before focusing on Ifechi, "Now, help her get ready. I need her looking like a freshly groomed bird."
Specifically," pointing at my hair. "That hair must be shiny and beautiful."
My roommate nodded, splashing her teeth in a fake smile. "I'll get to it."
With Mama out of the room, Ifechi gently shut the door and dragged me forcefully to my bed.
Like someone possessed, she began pulling my clothes off my body. I shifted away from her reach, stilling her hands with mine. "Please stop, I'll do it myself."
Her gaze washed over me as though I was the devil's spawn. Her lips pulled together in a tug, forcing her jaw to tighten before she let me go.
Gently, I stood up and stepped out of my nightwear and underwear. Picking up the packaged cloth, I donned it without taking my eyes off my supposed friend. She wasn't looking friendly right now, eyeballing every of my movement.
The red silk dress covered my body, wrapping around me as though it was custom-made for my body and size. I gasped, admiring it. I'd never worn anything that gorgeous or expensive, but the reason for the dress left me in a dreaded mess.
"It's beautiful," Ifechi commented, smoothing it on my body. "It must have cost a fortune."
My gaze fell on hers, "But why? Why will Mama spend this amount of money to buy me a dress?"
She chuckled and placed her hands on her hips. "Mama doesn't waste money on this kind of thing. I'm sure you must have an admirer."
I stood there stunned. Then it dawned on me that I was being shipped off to those men again. Hot tears stung my eyes so much, that I let them flow freely. I held my chest to breathe. I couldn't, I just didn't want any man to touch me again. I didn't want to do this anymore.
"What are you doing?" Ifechi caught me before my knees gave way. "You'll mess up this beautiful dress!"
Placing me roughly on the bed. "Do you want to get us all in trouble?" She questioned.
Wide-eyed, I just gazed at her in absolute trepidation. "I just don't want to go! Is that too much to ask?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You knew that this was going to happen. Mama has to make money."
"Please, please, Ifechi .....help...... me!" I grabbed her long nightwear. She shoved my hands aside. Glancing at the clock. "We need to finish before it's 3 am."
Defeated, my trembling body rocked the bed while clattering teeth mumbled my words. The word help didn't leave my lips as she undid the wrap around my hair.
Sliding the wide tooth comb into my thick overgrowth hair. I winced in pain, holding onto that part of my head. With much difficulty, she continued to comb until the hair detangled.
After she was done, she applied a sweet-smelling oil before rolling it into a bun and baptized my face with lots of makeup.