Saving mother II

When uche got to the pharmacy, he found that he hadn't any money on him, but since he was a very popular guy in the neighborhood, the store attendant was willing to give him the drugs on credit.

He returned home and saw that his sister had done a good job tending to their mother's wounds and mother was now eating her favorite meal of pounded yam prepared by her daughter

Uche was glad to see his mom in a better mood and he handed the drugs to her to go along with the meal, as prescribed by the pharmacist.

According to Chioma, their mother onlyasked their father if there was anything else she could do around the house before leaving for evening program. But their father had mocked her and said that he still couldn't see the results of her prayers and church activities as their family's financial condition remained the same after all these years. To this, the woman replied that she was not worshipping God for material possessions alone as there are other things in life to be grateful for. Before she could even finish what she was saying, her husband became mad at her and threw a punch.

On hearing this, uche wondered whether his father was mentally stable. It was not as if he had been insulted neither did his mother behaved in a rude manner . This was the same man that is well respected in the neighbourhood because of his simplicity and candour, but turns out to be a violent husband at home. If his father could beat his mother for such a lame reason, uche feared that he might kill her one day. He had to invariably come to the conclusion that unless someone stops his father, he would continue to beat up his mother for fun.

Uche and his sister engaged their mother in a light conversation just to make her feel better when his father suddenly walked in. Uche caught the sheer look of horror in his mother's eyes and this made him feel bad. How could a woman be so afraid of her husband as if she had just seen the angel of death, he thought bitterly.

As soon as his father was close enough, uche stood up immediately and looked him straight into the eyes.

"If you don't stop beating my mother, I promise I will kill you one day ". He said sternly and walked out of the house, leaving his father screaming amd cursing after him.

Uche went straight to the " joint" to see the boys. The "joint" as it is popularly called was an old depot where miscreants hangout to abuse drugs. Among them were petty thieves who break into shops at night. Some of the members were also amateur internet fraudsters. Once in a while, when a member doesn't have money to pay for the hour at a small hotel, he's allowed to bring her to the depot.

The depot was the fortress of the gang members and any stranger who was unfortunate enough to wander into the den would be delt with "woto-woto".

Ike was the first person to hail uche as soon as he came into the depot. But uche didn't respond to the greetings. He only collected the half burnt cigarette offered to him by chidi and sat down silently on the exposed roots of a tree.

"What's the matter uche?". Childi asked in an anxious tone.

Uche took two long pulls from the cigarette, allowing the smoke to fill his lungs. With his eyes closed, he remained silent for the next two minutes.

" I am tired of my father, he's always beating my mother at the slightest opportunity ".

" So you mean your dad atill beats your mom?", Ike blurted out. " What a shameless man".

" I have warned him already, i am going to kill him one of these days if he doesn't stop". uche said angrily.

" I think that would be the best option, in fact if I were you, I would have killed him a long time ago". Ike laughed.

At this point, chidi revealed to uche that when he was still living in the north with his uncle, a man had contacted them for a job. The man had a brother in law who was fond of beating his sister. The assignment was simple, they had attacked the wife beater on his way back home and gave him the beating If his life. And that was the day he ceased beating his wife

Uche smiled at this story, he thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea if he organise the boys to inflict serious injury on his father or even break his arm so that he would never hit his mother again.

The end.