Saving mother

Uche was at the football field in the neighborhood cheering the boys when his sister choima pulled him by the arm and began to plead with him to follow her home. Fear and anxiety was written all over her face as she continued to urge her brother to come with her.

"What is the matter choima?" uche asked. But she wouldn't tell him because of the other boys that were listening. She grabbed her brother by the arm and they both hurried away.

When they were now far away from the field, uche stopped abruptly and demanded to know what was happening.

"Dad is beating the hell out of mum as we speak". chioma burst into tears.

" So that man has resumed hitting mom again, after all the promises he had made never to lay his hands on her again. After I had warned him". Uche said through clenched teeth and fists as hot rage shot through his muscular body.

" pls brother, let's not waste much time , I couldn't stop the fight he was too strong for me. Let's hurry up before he beats our mother to coma"

The distance between the house and the field was not very far but far enough for their mother to lose her life if she couldn't get help fast. So, the two children increased their pace.

When they got home, they saw their mother sitting on the floor, her face covered in blood. Uche looked around the house for their father but couldn't spot him. As usual, their father had beaten the poor woman and walked away. He would confront him when he returned home in the evening.

For now, the most important thing was to take care of their mother's wounds. Uche instructed his sister to go call a nurse who was also a family friend that lives down the street. "Aunty nurse" as she's fondly called was the one who always attended to the family's medical needs except in worsened conditions in which they would have to visit the hospital.

Chioma returned home ten minutes later without the nurse. Unfortunately, the nurse had traveled to attend a wedding ceremony in another city.

Uche didn't have enough money to take their mother to a clinic, so he instructed his sister to heat some water for massaging their mother's face. While chioma attended to their mother, uche strolled to the nearest drugstore at the other street to get some painkillers.

Uche had been living with his uncle at the northern part of the country for seven years and now he was 24. His uncle had four daughters and treated uche like the son he never had. The relationship between the both of them was so beautiful that a lot of people even thought uche was his biological son. But uche longed to see his family again after so many years and he pleaded with his uncle to allow him return home. After much persuasion, his uncle agreed reluctantly.

He was deeply saddened on the day he arrived home and saw his father beating up his mother mercilessly. His sister chioma told him that this has been going on for a long time now. She even told him that their uncle knows about it as they have informf him on several occasions to call their father to order. Uche became furious that his uncle never told him about this, but his sister told him not to blame him too much. Maybe their uncle was ashamed of their father.

On his way to the pharmacy,, he kept thinking. This would be the third time in five months that his father would beat his mother. Anytime his father arrives home feeling sore and frustrated, he never hesitates to transfer aggression on their mother.Sometimes he even beats chioma too.

Uche was worried that he would return home one day and meet his mother dead. He thought about what to do about his father.The least he could do is to scream or warn him to stop hitting the women, he couldn't possibly beat him up, the man was still his father . if he had money, he would have moved his mother out of the house a long time ago, he thought bitterly. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he wasn't aware that he had already passed the drugstore...

Thanks for reading.