FRIENDLY ENEMIES* *Episode 19-24

[Edoman]

*FRIENDLY ENEMIES*

*Episode 19 & 20

Mama Samantha opened the door and ran to her daughter who was scratching her eyes and wailing. “My eyes o, my eyes o”. she kept screaming.

Mama Samantha: “What is wrong with your eyes?” she asked frantically.
Samantha: “I don’t know. My eyes is hot o, mum I can’t see again o. it feels as someone poured hot pepper into my eyes”.
Mama Samantha: “How is that possible? You and I are the only ones in this house. Who could have poured pepper into your eyes?”
Samantha: “I don’t know, mum. I was
sleeping when I heard someone scream my name, I thought it was you and I answered and got off my bed, when I opened my eyes, I had to shut it because of pain”.
Mama Samantha: “May God forbid you from answering any call from the pit of hell. I told you to always pray before you sleep and never to answer if you are not sure of who called your name”.
Samantha: “My eyes o, my eyes are on fire, Ewoooo, Chimooo!”
Mama Samantha: “Just calm down, you will be fine, maybe it’s an insect that entered into your eyes while you were asleep”. She led her by the hand to the bathroom where she bent her
daughter’s head over the bath tub and washed her face with running water from the tap. “Bend your head and try to open your eyes so that water can enter and flush out whatever is in there that is
causing you pain”. She instructed her
daughter.
Samantha: “My eyes hurt, I can’t open it!” She screamed at her mother.
Mama Samantha: “Sorry, my dear. I am only trying to help”.
Samantha: “Mum, go to my first aid box and get me eye drops, I have about two in there”. Her mother ran to the first aid box and brought the eye drops.
Samantha: “Mum, put it very well now”.
Mama Samantha: “I am doing that, you need to open your eyes so that it can go in well”.

Samantha opened her eyes and shut
them immediately screaming. “My eyes are on fire, I can’t see”. That night, she and her mother did not
sleep for she was in great pains. When she tried to open the eyes, it was red and bloodshot. Her mother began to panic. “What kind of problem is this again? Look at your eyes? How can the eyes become this red without anything happening to it?”
Samantha endured the pain till 4am and when she couldn’t stand it anymore, she dialed the hospital where she works and an ambulance was sent to pick her and her mother who was already weeping and wiping her eyes with the end of her wrapper.

Eno went to bed feeling better. She had done all that the spiritualist commanded and she was sure that Samantha’s eyes will be destroyed and that will chase Dozie away for she knew that he would never have anything to do with a blind girl. She tiptoed back to her room, hid the idol under the bed but changed her
mind. “No, It will be very risky for me to keep it here, anyone can just bend down under the bed and discover it”, she reasoned aloud. She grabbed a chair, climbed on it and threw the idol up the wardrobe. “Very good, even if Dozie is a witch, I am sure that he will never suspect that anything is up there”, she heaved a sigh of relief.
“Now that the problem of Samantha has been taken care of, the next thing is to take of this fake pregnancy. I will have to call my mother tomorrow morning and ask for her help concerning that, else this people will just find out the truth and throw me out of this house”. She went to sleep.
The next morning, after dozie had gone to work, she called her mother.

Mama Eno: “Yes, what is it again this
time around? I thought I have a grown up daughter not knowing that what I have is a baby whom I must baby sit everyday”.
Eno: “Mum, you don’t have to be tired of me, I am your only child. If I don’t run to you in time of trouble, who do I run to?”
Mama Eno: “Okay o, I have heard. So
what is the problem this time around?”

Eno: “It’s about this fake pregnancy,
mum. The last time my mother in-law
was here, she said she will accompany me to the hospital on my next visit. She even asked to see my tummy. Can you imagine, mum? What should I do?”
Mama Eno: “When will you ever learn to be smart? It is obvious that you are not pregnant and there is no way you are going to keep up with the pretense for ever so why don’t you just fake a miscarriage?”
Eno: “And how do I go about that?”
Mama Eno: “Very simple. Buy blood tonic, pour it on your laps and begin to scream, when Dozie sees that, he will assume that you just had a miscarriage and they will rush you to the hospital. I will be there to cover up in case anyone wants to reveal the truth at the hospital”.
Eno: “Superb mum! In fact, bravo! I have such an intelligent mother. What can I ever do without you? I love you, mum. I will do exactly as you say”.
Mama Eno: “Love you too, baby. If I don’t watch your back, who will? Okay, bye. See you soon”.

Doctor: “When did this eye problem start, madam?” he asked Samantha’s mother after she had examined her.
Mama Samantha: “Early this morning, doctor”.
Doctor: “That is not possible, madam.
Something that started early this
morning couldn’t have degenerated to this level over such a short period of time. I mean look at how swollen and colored the eyes are”.

Samantha who was on drip and in great pain chipped in. “It started this morning around 2am today. I am also a doctor and so I wouldn’t have wasted my time delaying to visit the hospital or indulging in self medication. The only thing I used
was eye drops”.
Doctor: “It’s okay, I really cannot
ascertain the cause of this ailment. I will have to refer you to Lenses Eye Care Specialist Hospital in town. This is beyond us here”.
Samantha: “Doctor, I can’t even open my eyes because it feels sticky. Is there nothing you can give to me to relief the pain? God, I can’t even see”.
Mama Samantha: “Don’t talk like that, my daughter. There is power in the tongue so do not say that you cannot see. You will see o, my daughter cannot go blind”. She began to weep again.
Doctor: “It’s okay, we will try our best”, he patted Samantha who was lying on the bed and walked away.

“Help, my stomach! I am bleeding o, help me”, Eno shouted in her bedroom after she had used the blood tonic to do as her mother instructed her.
Dozie ignored her when he heard her
scream for he thought it was one of her numerous tricks to attract his attention but when the scream persisted, he ran to her room and was shocked to find her body and sheets stained with blood.
He began to pace up and down in panic because he couldn’t stand the sight of blood. When he was younger, he used to cry and fall sick for days whenever he saw someone bleeding. Today, though a grown up man, he felt like screaming and running out of the house when he saw Eno in blood. 
Eno: “What are you standing there staring at? Can’t you see that I just had a miscarriage? Take me to the hospital before I faint here, I am losing so much blood”. Her sharp voice jerked him up from his reverie and he grabbed her in his arms and drove her to the hospital while she continued to wail and wince from her fake pain. After examining her and giving her some drips, the doctor shook his head and looked at Dozie in his eyes. “What did you say is wrong with your wife again?” he asked.
Dozie: “Isn’t it obvious that she just had a miscarriage? I mean what are doctors for if you have to ask me what is wrong with her?”
Doctor: “Did you just say miscarriage?
Hmmn, I need to have a word with you in my office. I can’t discuss my findings here”
Dozie: “Just go ahead and say whatever it is here, I can handle it, that is why I am a man”.
Doctor: “It is unprofessional to discuss things like this in the ward while the patient is asleep. My office is big enough to contain you, come along”..............

*FRIENDLY ENEMIES*
*Episode 20*

Dozie got up from the visitor’s chair he was sitting on and followed the doctor. When he opened the door of the ward, he bumped into mama Eno whom he had called when on their way to the hospital.
Mama Eno: “Where is my daughter and what did you say happened to her?”
Dozie: “She is sleeping in the ward. She had a miscarriage, she lost the
pregnancy”.
Mama Eno: “Abasi o, my only child. So the pregnancy that was supposed to make me a grandmother has been lost. And where are you going? Are you not supposed to be sitting close to your wife and consoling her? Do you know the psychological trauma a woman goes through after having a miscarriage?”
Dozie: “I am going to see the doctor, he said he wants to tell me something about Eno’s condition”.
“Ehn, tell you what again? All these
doctors can put somebody in trouble”. She exclaimed.
Dozie: “What do you mean by trouble?”
Mama Eno: “Don’t mind me, you know that doctors have a way of making simple ailment appear serious with their big vocabularies. We are going to the doctor’s office together, you know that my daughter means the world to me”.
Dozie: “You just got here, you should go and stay with your daughter. I can
handle the doctor’s call alone”.
Mama Eno: “Why would I go and stay
with her? I thought you said she is
sleeping? After all, I am her mother”.
Dozie reluctantly led the way to the
doctor’s office.
Doctor: “Please, have a seat, I thought you won’t come anymore. And who is this woman beside you?”
Dozie: “She is my er … erm … I mean we are …”
Mama Eno: “I am his mother in-law,
doctor. His wife who just had a
miscarriage is my daughter”.
Doctor: “You sound so sure about the
miscarriage, madam. Tell me about it”.
Mama Eno: “Doctor, my daughter was with me during the first few weeks of her pregnancy and it was hell for her.
This my son in-law who got her
pregnant denied the pregnancy and my daughter almost killed herself …”
Dozie who was glancing at her lost his temper and got up from his seat. “Do you really have to say this to the doctor? What kind of a mother are you? You know what doctor? I am no longer interested in whatever is the cause of the miscarriage that you wanted to tell me. You can go ahead and tell her everything; after all she is the mother of the patient”. He left the doctor’s office. In her heart, mama Eno was glad that her plans of getting rid of Dozie from the doctor’s office was working.

Mama Eno: “Doctor, what is it? Tell me”. She asked eagerly.
Doctor: “I am not supposed to say this to you, I ought to tell her husband alone but considering how very close you are to your daughter and the fact that her husband has given me the approval to
talk to you, I will”.
Mama Eno: “I am all ears, doctor. Don’t mind my son in-law, he is always like that. I know how to table whatever you tell me before him”.
Doctor: “Very well then, if you say so.
Your daughter didn’t have any
miscarriage. In fact, to be blunt with you, she was never pregnant”.
Mama Eno: “Aluemea! What are you
telling me doctor?” she feigned
ignorance.
Doctor: “I have examined her and I am telling you what I discovered. I don’t know why she decided to lie to you all that she is pregnant and why she had to pretend to miscarry the child. I will advise that you watch her carefully, she may be up to something, that is what I wanted to tell her husband”.
Mama Eno: “Thank you very much
doctor. I will watch over her carefully.
You don’t have to tell her husband
anything else this may end up breaking their marriage. I will put the matter across to him in a more palatable manner”.
Doctor: “If you insist, madam. I have to go and examine my patients in the other wards”.

Eno was discharged from the hospital the next day. On their way home, Dozie asked what it was that the doctor told her mother.

Dozie: “What was it that you discussed with the doctor about her?” He always referred to Eno by her name or simply ‘her’ because he could never bring himself to call her his wife.

Mama Eno: “Don’t mind the doctor. It
was nothing serious. He said Eno needs to always stay around you and that she should avoid all sort of strenuous works. He also advised that you should try and get your wife pregnant as soon as possible”.

Dozie ignored her and continued driving. When they got home, her mother stayed with them for a while and then on her way to her house, she drew her daughter aside. 

Mama Eno: “I am going now o. We
have taken care of all your problems
which includes Samantha and the fake pregnancy, now is the right time to win back your husband o. You have to do all it takes to get him to take you to bed. I am sure that the love will naturally grow after that. And don’t forget that you are to go back to that baba’s shrine on the
seventh day for gratitude”.
Eno: “I haven’t forgotten but I am scared of going into that bush alone. I want you to go with me”.
Mama Eno: “I am not going anywhere
with you. Have you forgotten that the
baba said you must come back alone to thank the gods? Better get hold of
yourself, forget that fear and go ahead with what you have to do”.
Eno: “Okay, mum”.

A week after the eye incidence,
Samantha’s condition continued to
deteriorate and she was taken from the specialist hospital back home after they told her that there was no medical explanation for her condition. The eyes were swollen and filled with pus and she could nblinde. She had a glass which the hospital gave her to shield the
eyes from sun rays and from those who kept staring at her eyes and asking endless questions. When they got to their compound, her mother led her by the hand into the room. Few minutes, a neighbour who heard what happened to Samantha came visiting.

Neighbour: “Eyah, sorry o. wetin come do the eyes like this now? How person go just go blind like that? Which kind wahala be that?”
Mama Samantha: “I don’t know, my
sister. Who would want my daughter
blind when we haven’t done anything to offend anyone?”
Neighbour: “Hmmn. I am sure that this is a spiritual case. I will take you to see a spiritualist tomorrow, I am sure that he has the solution to all your problems”.
Mama Samantha: “Okay. I will do
anything to ensure that my daughter
regains her sight once again”.
Neighbour: “Don’t worry, Samantha will see again”.

Eno took a cab and paid him handsomely to take her to the area where the baba’s shrine was located. She got down, checked around to make sure that no one was watching her and went into the baba’s shrine.

Eno: “Good morning, baba. I am the lady who came with her mother the other day to …”
Spiritualist: “I know you. I saw you right from when you left your house and boarded a taxi. I know what you are here for and the gods have decided the kind of payment they want. Have you seen what you did to your friend?”
Eno: “No”.

The Baba poured water into a calabash and told Eno to peep in. When she did, she saw Eno’s face with her disfigured eyes and she screamed aloud. “Ewoooo!” she covered her face.

Spiritualist: “The gods have decided that you stay in this shrine until tomorrow and I as the messenger of the gods will make love to you on behalf of the gods after which you can leave tomorrow morning”.
Eno: “What? Are the gods out of their
mind or something?” She realized the
implication of what she said and
swallowed her words. “I am sorry I said that but how can the gods ask for such a ridiculous thing?”
Spiritualist: “It is an order which you
must obey or what happened to your
friend will be transferred to you. She will regain her sight and you will go blind”. I will be right back. Let me get you a sacred wrapper to tie and sleep tonight because you must not wear any pant tonight****************

Will Samantha be in this condition forever? God have mercy on ungodly Samantha!

To be continued