Praises poured out of her family’s mouths as soon as the money left her account and went into one of theirs. That was one of the two times they said good things about her. The second one was when she did things for them that were an absolute inconvenience for her and for anyone else. This wasn’t expected of her four siblings, but her refusal to overextend herself was always met with bitterness and anger.
“Hannah you’re so selfish!” Her mother often told her.
This was probably after she asked for chama money or church contributions out of the blue in the middle of the month. When she asked her other children for the same, the response was different: “Don’t worry. He is still on the throne. He will provide, my child,” she typically told them.
Angie was the third born in their family. She was the firstborn daughter in their home. Her father worked in a different town and went home over the weekends. This was her favourite time. The closest she came to love was from her father.
He enjoyed spoiling her and noticed early on that she was academically gifted. Angie’s father often negotiated fewer household chores for her when he was around, so she could spend more time studying. This only angered her mother more, and Angie faced her wrath throughout the week.
Angie never quite knew why her mother always seemed angry at her. Her treatment towards her seemed to influence her other siblings’ attitude towards her. Angie had different relationships with each of her siblings, but there was an underlying animosity towards her.
Towards the end of high school, something happened. She came home from school to find her father’s belongings gone.
“Isn’t dad coming home this weekend to?” she asked.
“He didn’t inform you that he has another family as you were talking, giggling and looking down on the rest of us?” Angie’s mother responded.
That was how Angie knew their father had deserted them for another family. Home became a hotter hell for Angie, but she did her best to appease her family. When the results came out, she was offered a scholarship and a job at a bank before joining the university.
Her mother was excited about it but played no part in the logistics of her work. Angie asked her older brothers for fare and some pocket money before her first salary, but they offered limited help. She reached out to her father. It was a secret interaction, but he helped her.
As soon as her first salary reached her account, Angie’s family laid out expenses that she was to cover. She quickly realized that she wouldn’t make any progress if she let it happen, so she lied about the amount she was receiving. This allowed her to save some money, but her family milked every coin they could from her.
Eventually, Angie joined a university, completed and got a job. Her relationship with her family hadn’t improved, but Angie thought that if she tried a bit harder, she would have the love she wanted. So harder she worked. She gradually upgraded her family’s home. Her father had built them a big house before leaving them, but after that, her mother had taken up farming, so Angie invested heavily in farming.
She bought the mother more cows and even set up a chicken-rearing project for her. Angie bought water tanks to save them from high water bills. When it was too muddy, and even the vehicles delivering cow and chicken feed found it difficult to access their home, Angie sourced ballast to make it passable.
She thought it would make their relationship better and it did for brief moments but it also changed the nature of the relationship. In the course of life, Angie met a wonderful man, Peter, with whom she could see a future.
Peter quickly fell for Angie. He loved her kindness and ambition. Peter also saw through Angie’s family. He had lost count of the times that he would find her sobbing about them.
“My brother needs school fees for his son,” Angie said.
Peter almost chipped in to help them out when Angie complained that she had wondered why her brother had moved his kid to a more expensive school. Angie was cursed at when she asked them about it, but now they were angry at her for not helping them.
She would have helped them if she had been in a position to, but she and Peter had just bought an apartment. She had depleted her savings. Angie couldn’t tell her family that because the last time she told them about a major financial milestone they accused her of putting herself first.
Months after the school fees drama, Angie told them that she was taking someone home for traditional wedding rites. There was a lot of excitement. After discussions over the weeks, it was decided to merge the introduction and dowry ceremonies.
Angie and Peter were from different tribes, and streamlining the customs to accommodate both sides as much as possible was hectic. The demands from Angie’s family compounded their stress. It was as though they had formed a registry of everything they had ever wanted and imagined, and this was the moment.
“Babe, I’m so sorry,” Angie sobbed.
“I know this is not your fault,” Peter comforted her.
“But what are your people thinking? I’m sure they think I’m a gold digger from a gold digging family,” said Angie.
“I’ll talk to them,” Peter told her.
“And say what? Sorry, that’s just her family, she’s not like that,” Angie asked.
“Well, that’s the truth,” Peter light-heartedly told her.
“Why do they have to be like this? What will I do?” Angie cried.
Peter held her reassuringly. He consulted with his family, who then spoke with their friends from Angie’s tribe. They made a counteroffer to Angie’s family. They sent out a different list of what they expected to receive as part of the dowry. It was still extravagant but better than the initial one.
The day Angie and Peter were to complete their traditional wedding rites was bright and warm. It carried the hope of a beautiful day. It also brought out every car to the highway. Peter’s family was stuck in traffic for two hours.
The hooting at the gate signalled their arrival at Angie’s family home. The gate was quickly closed. The singing started, and so negotiated. Peter’s family was asked to ‘pay’ to be allowed to enter the home. It was expected. However, things started taking a different turn when they were denied entry until they paid more. Trying to avoid any further delays, they obliged.
They had decided to start negotiations immediately while guests in the tents were served refreshments. The chosen negotiators from each side went inside the house. Angie was hidden in a room and would only come out once both sides had an agreement.
“You know it is rude to keep your prospective in-laws waiting. For that you will need to pay a fine,” said an elder from Angie’s family.
Peter’s family would have taken it lightly had they not asked for too much money. The back and forth began. In the list of items, Angie’s family had asked for a certain number of goats. Peter’s family had approximated that a goat would be worth Ksh. 2,000-2500, but Angie’s family insisted that each goat was worth Ksh. 6,000. In addition, Angie’s mother also asked for a small generator that she’d use when there was no power to help her chop cow feed.
Some people left the room in anger. There was small talk outside as Peter’s family members tried to calm each other down. They calculated how much more was expected of them. It was too much, and they hated the ambush and the manner in which they were talking to them.
Angie was peeping through the window and had one of her cousins find out what was happening for her. She texted Peter. He initially tried to downplay what was going on, but eventually came clean.
Peter’s family went back inside with a counteroffer. As they were discussing, Angie’s mother turned to Peter, “Is this how you plan on taking care of our daughter, whom we have educated and you can see she’s done well for herself?”
That was the nail in the coffin. Peter’s family left the room ready to leave. Angie followed him. There was chaos everywhere. The guests who were eating were caught off guard by the sudden departure of Peter, Angie, his family, and some others. Angie’s family was in a shouting match. Some blamed Angie’s mother and some of her siblings for being greedy, while others were angry at Angie for leaving with Peter.
Angie and Peter went to their home. There was total silence throughout the journey. They both hadn’t eaten anything and first looked for food. Finally, Angie asked Peter what happened.
“Wait, why did you follow me if you didn’t know the details?” Peter asked in the middle of narrating events.
“Because I know you wouldn’t have acted that way if there wasn’t a reason,” Angie told him.
Peter kissed her forehead, then continued explaining what had transpired.
“Now what?” Angie said.
“I know I don’t want any other big event. My parents already gave us their blessing, that should be enough but for now, we go to bed,” Peter told her, stretching out his hand and leading her into their bedroom.
Check out more stories
His Rich Family Looked Down On Hers. She Could Not Take The Contempt And Cancelled The Wedding
He Married Me But His Family’s Still Lowkey Planning A Future With His Ex
He Expected Her To Take Care Of His Family But Forbid Her From Taking Care Of Her Family
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.