Harden, habituate, accustom.

Weeks on after complaining bitterly to

my father he sent for me one evening in his throne room, and said he wants me to go live with

his elderst sister Ugochi Ifechiluru who has been living alone ever since her husband died.

She., my father's eldest sister was 70years old and feeble.

Her children were all grown, married and

lived in different towns.

They only visited her during festive season and as such could not heed to her infirm health.

Her sickly health was not compatible with her

loneliness and so my father believed my staying with her will do good to her and as much as to myself.

I did not need my father to eulogize her for me to be fully convinced, she was already lauded in her community for her good nature.

I made up my mind then and agreed to my father's request as i was already praying for redemption from my stepmothers fiendish methods of torture.

I left my father's house to his sister house

with high expectations, and thanks to heavens i was not disappointed.

Auntie Ugochi did not just take very good care of me, she treated me with so much love as if she had birthed me.

Something no woman not even my stepmothers have done before.

It wasn't too long and i grew fond of her and started seeing her like the mother i never knew.

I cared for her and always prayed to heaven that she would get better.

Weeks spent with her and i noticed her health was getting even worser, what seemed like a controllable diabetes and high blood pressure soon became unfavorable.

One morning i woke up to her not been able to

help herself down from her bed.

_

Wait what?....Yes! exactly.

She had stroke.

This hit me hard, very hard!

How was i going to get through with this new onset?

How was i going to take care of a 70years old feeble woman all by myself?

So many thoughts crowded my mind, i felt like

running away. But then i knew was not going to be what i condemned my step-mothers of.

I wasn't going to return this woman kindliness to me with impiety.

She needs me now than ever, so i will stay. I said to myself.

Not so many people from the family knew how bad

her health was, not her children or my father was in know of this.

There was no easy means of communication for me neither was it realizable for me to leave all by herself to go sought for help from the neighbors.

The few neighborhoods who at long last visited only gave me a word of encouragement while some counsel me to return to my father's house and allow her children to come take care of her.

I welcomed the idea of informing her children but not the latter, and decided i was not going to inform my father yet as he would ask me to return home but

then my mind was already made up.

Each day had nothing promising to offer and her condition kept on deteriorating

It seems as though my prayers were not reaching heavens.

I did everything for her from bathing her, feeding her, and cleaning up her excrement as though i was dealing with a helpless newly born baby.

This was not an experience anyone should go through not even my worse enemy.

What i felt was a redemption turned out to be another torment. I muttered with a wounded heart.

I found myself in a state of betweenity of either to inform her children and just return home to my stepmothers cruelty, or accept my fate and stay with her.

Either of the two options was still involved torture hence i stayed.

I was able to manage her health with the help of the local traditional herbs the neighbors brought and it felt as though she was recovering till something happened.

One evening, i noticed she demanded for more

attention, which was kinda of unusual.

She didn't want me to leave her side, one minute she was tasty and the next minute she was feeling either hot or cold.

The rest of the minutes she wanted me to recite certain local songs she taught me.

This sudden unusually act of hers got me a-bit uncomfortable, but i managed to put myself together and keep calm.

One evening after so much distress with her routine wants, i succeeded in getting her to sleep while i laid on the floor close to her bed.

The night was a smooth one, i mean she did not

wake me up in the middle of the night for her usual needs, as i woke up twice to check on her and saw she's deeply asleep.

Which was another unfamiliar act of hers but i was so tired and did not wish to wake her up, rather left her to sleep all night long.

I was so young and naive that i did not think for second that something could be wrong with her continual sleep.

I woke up early in the morning and left the room immediately to prepare breakfast and get her bathing water ready. I returned back to the room with a bucket of luck warm water and a towel to clean her up, tried waking her up so she could bath, but to my biggest bombshell she was not responding.

I tapped her again and this time around calling her full name, aunty Ugochi Ifechulie! But there was still no response from her.

I was not ready to listen to whatever thoughts that was running through my mind as i jiggled her still calling on her name, it was still a total silence from her.

Only then i realized she was gone, a shocker!

The old woman gave up, i slept in the same room with a dead woman all through the night? Heavens!!

I immediately felt sick in my stomach and rushed out to vomit.

Fear took captive of me, i started to shudder, i didn't know exactly what to do, was i to cry out for help or run?

I ran out to the neighbors house and alerted

them of what has happened, they all followed

me back to see the dead corpse with their own

eyes.

I was devastated and traumatized, the neighbors took me back to their house and proceeded to inform my relatives of what happened.

In two shakes the news of my aunt's dead soon spread all over the village, to her children and my father's ears.