Episode Two: The Cry Of Amanda - Ochu Juachi

Episode Two

The story so far on "The Cry Of Amanda"

Even though Miss Grace was not from my village, I had known Miss Grace since she had been a young girl. In those days, her beauty was known through my village and neighbouring one. But before any of the local youths were able to compete for possession, Miss Grace had already run off to Lagos with someone who had passed through with the medicine show. Much more later, when she finally came back, word had it that she had become thoroughly a “Lagos babe” with a haughty manner and pretentious lifestyle. She appeared to have become a lady of no insignificant wealth. Miss Grace went back and forth to Lagos often. Of the girls that went to Lagos with her, some came back even poorer than before while some disappeared completely.

After I gave word to Miss Grace, I could not think of what to tell Amanda, my beautiful and most precious daughter, my heart ached, knowing that the words that Miss Grace had uttered that day were outright lies. But what was I to have done? No matter what, I would have to let my daughter go with Miss Grace.

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Just in case you missed the episode one of "The Cry Of Amanda", don't worry as we have you in mind. So, click here for the first episode bit.ly/1KOX8JR 

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I knew perfectly well what kind of work the girls who went with Miss Grace did in Lagos. Sometime back, I had gone to get an injection at the village health center, that day, the only discrete Doctor there had told me that two to three girls who had gone to Lagos with Miss Grace had come back with severe cases of gonorrhea, so severe that he had to send them into two for treatment.  I heaved a deep sigh as the thought of my Amanda who was soon to become one more in the ranks of unlucky girls. I wanted to talk with Amanda so she would understand and be as untroubled as possible but I could think of nothing to tell her.

Rebecca, my partner through life, was lying sick in the hospital, suffering from an intestinal problem. She was waiting for the money that would be used to pay for the blood and surgery needed to sustain her life. Her survival though would only continue her pain and suffering. The N25, 000 I had received as an advance from Miss Grace was barely enough to pay for my wife’s hospital expenses. And when she returned home and learned that her daughter had gone off with Miss Grace to Lagos, she fainted instantly. When she recovered, she began sobbing and sobbing. She would not talk to or even look me in the face, let alone any of her other five children who were standing around her. I could think of nothing to say, so I sought silent refuge in making bamboo ties.

I could not borrow money from anyone else anymore, my present debt totaled already about........

Stay in touch for the next episode of "The Cry Of Amanda" next week. Please, drop your comments. Thanks.