THE BITTER DRINK 1

Who would have known it was ever possible to hate a person’s mother the way Ekene did? Don’t get me wrong o, her mother was not irresponsible, wicked or in any way worth the hatred yet Ekene hated her all the same. Ekene’s father on the other hand had been absent from her life so she didn’t get the chance to love or hate him. At 25, she had become pretty independent but for some reason best known to her, she chose to keep living with her mother even when she could afford her own place.

Two years ago, Ekene begun to experience sudden bolts of excruciating headaches. They would hit hard suddenly and the pain stayed on for a while. Sometimes the headaches ran consistently for three to four days giving her only a couple of hours as a breather. After a month of the same complaints and haven treated for malaria and typhoid, the doctors advised Ekene that a CT scan was the next option so that they could take a look at her brain for what might be causing the constant headaches. Ekene never let her mum accompany her on any of her appointments with the doctors. She had grown so deep in the hatred for her mother that she rubbed it in any way she could

Beatrice, Ekene’s mother, drowned in her sorrows. The only child she ever bore hated her bitterly for no reason. Her worries aged her faster but the death she craved stayed far away. She knew it was a grievous sin to commit suicide so her strong religious beliefs wouldn’t let her consider it. For longer than she could remember, she had prayed to God to give her daughter a change of heart and was beginning to lose hope that her prayers would ever be answered.

The CT scan results came back, a malignant tumor was growing in Ekene’s head. The day the news was broken to her, her world froze for one second then spun violently for another.  The doctors explained that they had to operate on her so they could take a sample of the tumor for biopsy. Only after the biopsy could they know for sure the kind of tumor they were dealing with. Ekene’s mind had already wandered away from the point when it was announced to her that she has a tumor. The doctor’s words fell like vapour on her face. She could see his mouth move but heard no word he said. Life as she knew it was about to crumble and she didn’t have adequate funds to sustain cancer treatment, if it indeed turned out to be cancer. Who was she kidding? Only a cancerous tumor could grow in the manner that hers did. The doctor tried to convince her not to lose hope.

Ekene kept the news from her mother. The fear of impending death would still not loosen up her hatred for Beatrice. That night, neither of them had a good night sleep. Beatrice’s gut told her something was wrong but she knew better than to ask her daughter about it so she stayed back and let it beat her up. Ekene on the other hand lay still on her bed and stared at the ceiling for hours. Her mind swam with different thoughts. That night was the worst night Ekene had ever had but with what awaited her future, this night would be crossed off her list soon enough.

...TO BE CONTINUED...