CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Her father could not be present for the introduction of the family of the groom-to-be. He'd sent one of her uncles to stand in for him. But whether to be glad to put off explaining to Mark who her father was or be angry that her father could not spare the time to meet the man his daughter was about to be married to, she chose to accept it in good faith. She'd only postponed the inevitable.
Mark was meeting all her step mothers and some of her siblings today. Except for Victoria, and most of the older children who couldn't get away from business engagements, the rest of the family was around at the Villa.
Aisha Barigha was the first to come out of her house to greet them. She shouted They're here. The happy shout was echoed and the others all began to arrive from their houses. Within a minute, they were surrounded by women, young adults and children, hugging and greeting them. They immediately took to Mark and Samantha was very glad for that. She really wanted him to feel a part of the family and that was exactly what they made him feel.
Mark was hauled aside and barraged with tons of questions. And he, bless him, was answering as well as he could. They wanted to know about his siblings and why he didn't bring them. He was asked how fair the Chief Judge was as a boss. They wanted to know what his favorite food was and if he could agree to let them take care of the wedding refreshment. All of that felt overwhelming and just when she began to feel bad for him, he winked at her and happily told the mothers that the wedding was theirs. He was just the groom they could do with as they pleased. That was the winner because they began to hug him again and argue who got to make him dinner first.
“Your hair is messed up.”
Samantha squirmed, recognizing the voice even before she turned to face one of her younger siblings. She quickly ran a hand through the hair.
“You're making it worse.” She said, miffed. “Come sit, let me comb it out for you. The hair is a woman's glory and must be well-groomed and taken care of at all times.”
Bemused and not inclined to refuse the offer, Samantha sat down on concrete that caved in the flower bed.
“Uh, Miss Samantha has fallen prey this time.” One of the twins, Rebecca, said.
The teenager frowned at the twins.
Samantha, seeing the twins, Rebecca and Julia, mouthed 'save me', which had them reeling back in laughter.
“I ran the brush through my hair twice before stepping out of the house.” Rebecca said.
And I've been moving around the Villa with a hair brush just in case I see her from afar.' Julia held up said hairbrush.
At the sight of the brush, the teenager dove for it and in a dictatorial voice told Samantha, “Sit still.”
Mrs. Timi Barigha, the teen's mother whose attention had been on them quickly chided the child, asking her to apologize. The implication of her action dawned on the teen. Her head dropped, her hands wringing the hairbrush. “I'm sorry, Ms. Samantha.”
Of course, the teenager only had good intentions, and she was sure, has learned not to be disrespectful in the process. “It's alright, come here.” Samantha tugged her in for a big sister hug, eyeing the twins before she pulled away. “Now, I believe my hair needs you.”
With the teenager now happily brushing her hair, the twins sat on either side of her, her gaze went back to Mark and how he was fairing with her family. All she'd told him was that she was very close to her neighbors, and they would all like to meet him. So far, he was doing so well with them they already appeared to love him.
That was a major deal for her because with ten mothers and thirty-one siblings, it was imperative he liked her family. They maintained one front, loved one another. They might irritate each other sometimes and even have moments of disagreements and fall outs, but they understood they were all in this together and their father was not one to show favoritism.
“... and my editor keeps asking me for juicy stories, more in-your-face personal stories like I work for the paparazzi.” Samantha caught the tail end of the conversation the twins were having.
Rebecca was a reporter, a very good one, but she was tired of the mediocre work her editor refused to change and needed a change of scene.
“He's going to sponsor for these stories, right?” Samantha asked.
“As if.”
Getting inside stories of political personalities was what made her sister go to into journalism in the first place. The downside has been the limited resources available that she was forced to work with. “Have you thought about getting in touch with GND?”
A slight frown marred Rebecca's face. “Father said he was going to phone a friend. I haven't called to get feedback yet.”
“Please, remind her how terrible that idea is.” Julia pleaded with Samantha.
Samantha loved the twins very much. She also knew that whenever they argued, it lasted the seconds the disagreement lasted and acting as a buffer between the two, you always end up regretting for taking sides.
Rebecca gave her sister a haughty look. “It's not like he's doing any politicking.”
“Sounds about as political as the letters in the word.”
Samantha had great experience with these two. It was time to call for timeout. They needed to cool off and this argument, looks pretty old between the two. She prayed under her breath for wisdom to settle this amicably.
“Have you tried contacting them yourself?” She asked with great caution.
The teenager finished her task and returned the hairbrush to Julia and dashed off to join the others.
Rebecca nodded. “I did, but they never called back. They told me to hold. I've been holding for three months.”
Julia huffed, and Rebecca shot her a heated look.
Okay. It's time to take a different approach. “Why don't you mail me your CV and I'll put up the necessary documentation together and have Sonia submit them at their head office for you?”
The pure joy alight in her sister's eyes changed the atmosphere completely. “Oh, thank you. That would be so wonderful.” Then, her face fell. “I guess I should have told you and Lucas earlier.”
Julia gave her twin a compassionate hug. “That's why your surname isn't Maduka, it's Barigha.”
And just like that, all three sisters began to laugh. This drew the attention of the mothers to them.
“Oh dear”' One of the mothers exclaimed. “We've completely forgotten about the bride-to-be.”
Hissing, Aisha returned her focus to Mark, “Haven't we seen enough of her face already?”
Wincing, Samantha drew her face away from their direction to avoid Mark seeing her reaction.
“She hasn't changed even though you're wearing a ring now.” This, from Rebecca.
“That's why it's us versus Barigha and his wives.” Julia chimed, hoping to distract their older sister from the gloom that suddenly surrounded her, but it didn't have the desired effect. The twin shared a look and pulled her to her feet in unison, leading her into her mother's house.
They could hear the twin's mother say, “You treat that girl as if I snuck her into your womb.”
“She lacks my spirit.” Aisha said defensively.
“You excuse your errors too much, Aisha.” Another mother said.
Right before the door closed behind them, Samantha turned one last time to look Mark and saw the heavy frown on his face. Why did her mother have to always choose moments around Mark to create her scenes?
∞ ∞ ∞
“I'll be traveling for a meeting over the weekend.” Samantha said casually, fluffing the pillow she had fluffed a number of times already. “It’s only for the weekend and I'll be back Monday morning.”
Mark paused long enough to notice her jittery behavior but kept his tone light to match hers. “What kind of meeting?”
Shaking her head, she moved to the other side of the bed to fluff and prop more pillows and adjust the duvet, keeping busy and trying very hard to avoid eye contact with him.
Frowning, he stopped typing and watched her. Nervousness, he understood. They were spending the night together for the first time, and no, he was sleeping on the couch, in the living room while his sister and Samantha had the room to themselves. But it wasn't any of that that was making her nervous. He knew she wasn't ready to share what the problem was. Pushing her to would do neither of them any good. And so, he said instead.
“If you're ready for bed, let me know, so I can get out of the way.”
Maybe, allowing her time to sort out her feelings would be best, gathering his laptop and the documents he was inputting.
“You don't have to leave just yet.”
He was granted the perfect excuse when his sister poked her head into the room with a visible yawn. “Deborah might be feeling different.”
Her nerves were getting to him, making him afraid. Had she changed her mind? Was it too soon for them? Was her spending the night a bad idea? Escape from her right now would clear his head and stop the fear, so, he grabbed it with both hands and started out of the room.
“Actually, I'll be leaving after work tomorrow.”
Unaware that she followed him, he stopped and turned, and she bumped into him. “Do you have to leave tomorrow?”
She wrung her hands, looking anywhere but at him. “Yes.” Her voice was a whisper.
The change in her wasn't sudden. It began after she said 'yes' to his proposal. She always looked scared around him. Was she afraid he might hurt her? Had someone done something to her before?
Perhaps, the time away on her trip was for the better. He couldn't live with himself if she felt obligated to marry him because her mother pressured her.
Reluctant but not willing to stress out this feeling of dread while in her presence, he nodded and even dredged up a smile. “Okay. Goodnight.”
His smile must have done it because she returned it with relief.
“Goodnight.”
When he would have walked away, she touched his hand and before he could react, she tipped on her toes and kissed him on the cheek and fled to the bedroom.
However long he stood there, he could not say but one thing became certain, Samantha had not changed her mind about him. Now, he could sleep and dream well.
∞ ∞ ∞
“You've changed the furniture that What's-his-name got you.” Samantha remarked.
She arrived at Uyo late the previous day and didn't note the new furniture till this morning and Rebecca, sitting on the ottoman by the bar was now keeled over in laughter.
“Don't apologize,” Julia said, quickly cutting her off as she would have done so, “The only pest in this room is this thorn I can't seem to shake from my side. Good thing we're not conjoined. Imagine the horror.” She said this with a grin.
Being the peacemaker was all she always did and searched for a change of topic. “How's Lila? Did you get her a mate yet?”
“Lila's last concern right now is a mate.”
“Are we still talking about Lila here?” She teased her younger twin.
Still laughing, Rebecca held her side. “We tried to warn her about accepting anything from What's-his-name and now, he's taken back the things he bought for her.”
Samantha hid a smile, watching both sisters chase each other around, Julia promising retribution when she couldn't keep up with her sister's agility.
Julia had dated a guy from Delta State whose name she forgot before he finished pronouncing it. The relationship lasted a week, when he discovered she didn't even know his name, let alone, cared for him. That was after he had changed her furniture and paid an extra year on her rent, and asked her to marry him. All in one week of relationship. Now a year later, Julia never got around to finding out his name.
Diverting her attention to the room, she noted the additional crafts from her sister's most recent travels. Julia always had a gift for everyone whenever she returned from a trip. Unlike other tourist agents she'd met, Julia collected for herself only things she could give others as gifts- useful gift items. But this time, Samantha noticed the bowl made of colorful threads on the center table. The intricately patterned bowl contained various plastic fruits Samantha had not seen before.
When she picked up one, she recognized, on it was written 'kiwi'. Others she picked up had varying names also. For a tourist agent who traveled a lot, she managed to define moderate and indulgence in her work and personal life.
Beside the bowl, an ostrich was bent over the bowl as though investigation its contents. That was such a beautiful concept. She wondered if their matriarch, Ms. Victoria had anything to do with that. She decorated all the children's rooms who got their own apartments, saying it's the least she could do.
Samantha sighed. Mark had called on her arrival last night, asking about her flight and how she was fairing. She knew he'd sensed the change in her but there was nothing he could do. She thanked God he didn't push her to share. Her omissions were filling a bucket by now, not telling him the real reason why she'd left for Uyo a day earlier than planned. He would have understood, but that would only lead to her telling him the reason for the time to think. All she needed was some time to think and sort out how she was going to tell him what she'd kept secret.
“Someone's moody.” Rebecca observed.
Guilty as charged, she faced Rebecca telling herself this was not the time nor place to think about that. “Not moody. Just thinking.”
Rebecca sat beside her. “I know with the wedding coming up, you'll have a lot on your mind but you do know that the mothers are taking care of everything, right? And we're here for you.”
Sighing, she sat down. Rebecca joined her.
“Julia has arranged for a makeover for last time. Ben and Theo will be here for dinner tonight.”
“Really? I haven't seen Theo since his graduation.”
Rebecca smiled to herself, seeing as her ploy worked. “And of course, Ben is bringing his assistant along. Again.”
She could picture it now. She looked forward to being together with her siblings. “After the mess we created the last time we volunteered to ‘help' him’,” she air-quoted, “I wouldn't let me near my kitchen.”
Julia sat down across from them. “I don't know what the big deal is if the chicken isn't sautéed perfectly or the asparagus is not the right size. What difference does it make as long as it tastes delicious?”
“That's because of the three of us, you made the most mess. At least, Nikki was wise enough to admit her culinary skills were a disaster and stayed away from the kitchen.”
That day was a disaster. It proved one fact, - African food was less complicated to make. And tastier too. Local spices and Nigerian pepper gave food better taste.
“When's Nicole coming?” Samantha directed the question to Julia who knew everybody's whereabouts.
Julia smiled fondly, “Her flight was cancelled due to last minute fault they discovered on the plane. She'll be flying in tomorrow at 5am.”
“I hope she makes it to the airport in time.” Rebecca quipped, not without a smile. “Her skills are also lacking in sleeping and waking time.”
“She works late into the night.” Julia said defensively.
Samantha rolled her eyes. Who didn't? “It's her personal work. Does she have to work so late into the night?”
The twins shared a look, but it was Rebecca who spoke. “You should have seen the look she gave me when I asked her that. She literally buried me to the ground. Julia became her best friend because she didn't judge her like some people. she said.”
“Lucas said she threatened to get a restraining order from court banning him from discussing her personal life with her or anyone else. How come she's the most defiant in the family when we've got lots of guys for that?”
The doorbell rang and Julia got up to answer.
Rebecca was watching her even as her mind wandered. Not now. She didn't want to talk to anyone about it. Not about the situation she put herself in with Mark. Not to be reminded that every day the guilt of holding back the truth threatened to break them. What she knew was that she couldn't let the wedding day pass without telling him the truth.
“Why do you always do that? I heard somewhere that too much thinking can turn someone into a recluse.”
She smiled at Rebecca. What a way to put it. And if that didn't jolt her back to the present, she doubted anything else would have. “That can't be a problem with a mother like mine.”
“Did you ever find out why she is so antagonistic towards you?”
She couldn't delve into that either. “That is her problem.” And mentally shifted the subject. “Sonia said she's submitted your CV at the GND office. You should hear from them soon.”
Realizing the deliberate change of the topic, she accepted it. “I hope so. I keep checking my mailbox.”
'Don't give up hope.” GND would be blind not to accept Rebecca's application. She was awarded the best investigative journalist in West Africa. “They can't pass up an opportunity to snatch the best in the field.”
“Absolutely, Sis.” Julia quipped in. “Sam?”
Samantha got up as she saw the man behind Julia, Mr. Ubong Felix, the realtor she hired to get her a good location for her expansion office in Uyo. They'd spoken over the phone and even had one video call.
“Good evening, Mr. Ubong. It's nice to finally meet you.”
He was all smiles as he accepted the hand she held out, “The pleasure is all mine, Barrister. It's an honor to work with you, ma.” Still holding on to her hand.
Samantha, not wanting to embarrass him, yet needing her hand back, was glad when there was commotion at the door, followed by two very familiar voices she'd missed hearing. Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught the twins trying to hide snickers. Mr. Ubong finally released her hand but continued to stare lecherously at her.
The noise grew and the twins squealed, running towards the newcomers causing the raucous. With a visitor here to see her, she could not rudely walk away from him but still wished she was at the door greeting her brothers too.
“She hasn't seen me in what, five years, and she's acting like I don't matter.” Theo, the neurosurgeon and the most beautiful male in the Barigha family said, shaking his head.
“What do you expect? She's got a new man in her life.” Ben, the renowned most talented chef from Africa stood beside Theo, gazing intently at her.
A warm feeling of joy spread across her body when Theo pulled her into a brotherly hug. He was still the most handsome one between the two and although he was an inch shorter that Ben, nobody noticed because he made up well with his stunning looks.
Theo gazed at her fondly, “How's my favorite Barigha doing?”
“Splendid!” Then she looked at him properly, “Better than you too.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “Blame it on jet lag. Wait till I've napped an entire afternoon.”
Ben pushed his brother aside, “Move aside, Barigha. The lady's more favorite Barigha is here.” He crushed her in a brotherly hug.
Samantha felt giddy with happiness, hearing them bicker behind her. She'd missed these two very much. Being three years older than Ben and four over Theo, she'd watched them at each other's neck since childhood. Now, over three decades later, it was still their favorite pastime.
“Uh, I still happen to be the most beautiful woman in this room.” Julia said sweetly and had the guys turning to look her over and as if in conspiracy, both shook their heads and returned their full attention back to Samantha, murmuring simultaneously, “Uh-uh.”
Samantha extracted herself and let them argue with Julia, you never win when those two were on one side. She noticed the blonde, Ben's assistant, still standing at the door. She looked like she just wanted to shrink into the wall so no one would notice her.
Samantha jabbed Ben's side, “Barigha men are so unpolished.” She was glad her sisters were quick to remember the other visitor as well and went to help carry the luggage upstairs.
“Louise, right?”
The blonde smiled shyly. “Yes.”
Louise was an attractive young woman, very young but also very devoted to cooking as her brother was. Sometimes, she wondered if Louise's parents were aware that she travels to Nigeria with her boss and if they'd approve of it.
“Don't worry about him. I'll spank him later.”
Louise and Ben looked at her so scared like she'd follow through on her promise. It was almost laughable. “How was your flight?”
The young woman followed her up the stairs, giving her the shortest story ever about their trip. The twins emerged from one of the guest rooms, giving her the signal that that was to be their visitor's room. Then, she remembered her own guest in the sitting room and quickly apologized to their guest, handing her over to the twins.
Downstairs, Ben was lounged casually on the sofa, her guest sitting straight at the dining table where she'd led him to and Theo was busy studying the goldfish in the jar, Lila...
“And thinking how best to dissect it.” Ben teased.
Theo turned and said something in Mandarin. She smiled, knowing that another showdown was about to take place. Ben replied in French and had Theo shaking his head, wondering what to do with his brother.
It was so nice having them here together. Ben had been to the annual meeting last year but Theo, she'd last seen five years ago. His school and then work always was at the busiest around the time they were scheduled to meet, and they understood that saving lives came first before family reunion.
“It's just a minor work I need to deal with, that's all.” She assured her brothers when they began giving her the look.
Ben got up, going into the kitchen. “Don't turn Nicole.”
After a moment contemplating, Theo followed Ben, throwing over his shoulder, “Don't turn Lucas.”
She shifted her attention to the realtor. “I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. I haven't seen them in quite some time.”
“Very fascinating family, ma.”
She nodded, and tactfully stirred the conversation away from her family. “So, what do you have for me?”
They spent 30 minutes, discussing the benefits and disadvantages of the properties he had in mind, showing her pictures and offering professional advice. At the end of the time she'd allotted herself for the meeting, she'd made her choice and asked for the paperwork to start immediately.