Must Read: Taking Chances

Episode 7 years ago

Must Read: Taking Chances

Any outsider who examined how the marriage of Jide and Daisy came about
might come to the conclusion that Daisy is a gold digger or was paying back a debt to Mama or at worst a confused girl who allowed her emotions
direct her blindly. But Daisy might probably not be that because, for as
much as anyone cares to listen, she truly loves Jide, hers is a love
that budded and flourished for over 6 years that even sometimes she
wonders if such a love could ever exist.
It all started with her sojourn to America and her later acquaintance
with Mrs. Bimpe Olukoya, preferably called Mama by all, a meeting whose
history was both eventful and tragic.
Daisy Chinwe Adelade (for that was her maiden name) was born to la!de
Adelade and John Okoye, she was however a product of a love affair gone
sour, born out of wedlock and raised without the love of any of her
parents, She grew up with her grandmother.
John’s parent had bluntly refused his marriage to la!de when he had
intimated them with her pregnancy, they told him to concentrate on his
studies and leave the Yoruba girl who might just be deceiving him
afterall. John, regardless of how his parents wanted and eventually made
him deny the pregnancy knew he was responsible, but wasn’t courageous
enough to stand up against them or rather it was more about his
cowardice and fright that controlled his choice to finally deny his
responsibility to the distraught and heartbroken la!de.
Iife continued. Someway, somehow through America Green card winnings,
la!de left for America, happy for the chance to pick up her life again
she left behind barely one year old Daisy in the care of her grandmother
in Ibefun, Ijebu-ode. She however, didn’t relent in making sure that
Daisy had all she needed Financially, but she could not give her the
love of a mother that every child so craved.
And so Daisy lived her early life wishing for the acceptance of her
father and the love of a mother after she learnt of the circumstances
surrounding her birth, but when that didn’t happen, she gradually
relapsed into hatred for her father and anything that had to do with the
Ibos, she felt that it was some unnamed customs of her father’s tribe
that had somehow influenced his decision to not marry her mother, she
grew up with a grudge against him. Although he much later pushed to be
associated with her and even invited her over during those years she was
living in Boston.
But Daisy couldn’t totally erase her ill feeling towards the ibos and
had subconsciously craved for a means where she could detach herself
from every trace of her paternity, that was one of the reason she had
taken the chance with Jide, for he represented amongst others, the life
that would align her with the yoruba people she was more at home with
and whose blood ran through her veins nevertheless her half relation
with them.
Her father however, wanted otherwise, that being the reason he had
opposed her marriage with Jide wanting her to marry an Igbo suitor of
his instead.
**************
Daisy was invited over to Boston by her mother when she was about 17
years and just through with her Secondary school. Excitedly she bade her
friends and family goodbye, it was a dream come true for her because it
afforded her the opportunity to be closer to the mother who had loved
her from afar in years past, and in addition, she would live in America
where everyone craved to be, she was going to live a beautiful life and
get the best of education.
It was a rare opportunity and she welcomed it with open arms, whatever
grudge or fault she ever had against her mother forgiven and forgotten
and she also found herself letting go of some of the hurt caused by her
father. She was all ready to experience that bond that she had always
envied in other girls and their mother and she reasoned that it was better to concentrate all her energy there. her Life wasn’t so unfortunate afterall.
la!de didn’t disappoint one bit, it was all too obvious that she ached and had been waiting for the reunion all her life, she wasted no time and grabbed every opportunity she could to make up for the loss and the years she had missed in the life of her only child and daughter for she was married to a white there in America, but had no child to that effect.
Just a year after her sojourn and reunion, catastrophe struck, Daisy’s mum was diagnosed with cancer with the doctors predicting that she had just few months to live. Daisy got busy, Most of her educational trust fund went into the treatment in the hope that something could still be done to save her mum from dying. la!de however did not buy the idea of tampering with the money she had stashed away for her daughter’s education but Daisy was obstinate and cared more about saving her mum whom she was still getting to know. Since she was a co-signatory to the trust fund, she spared nothing atall.



However, all her efforts proved futile, Daisy lost her mum some months later,
she felt her world crumble.
She was a little fortunate that she had completed her registration at
Boston University and was a fresher reading Nursing there before her
mum’s death, now she worried about her chance of ever completing her
education, considering the fact that most of the money for her schooling
had gone down the drain. Daisy considered herself an orphan, she held
no grudge anymore against her mum but transferred it to her father,
reasoning that he and his people caused her mum to come live far away
from home thereby making her prey to death.
If Daisy thought her nightmare was over, she was mistaken ‘cos months
after the death of her mother, her mother’s husband started making
advances towards, his excuse was that he’d always have a thing for
African beauties and Daisy looked so much like her mother, therefore she
could continue where she stopped while he would provide for her always.
Daisy could not be more angry and repulsed at his offers and one day,
she quietly packed all her things out of his house to go see what the
future holds for her.
********


Daisy, now living more like a destitute was switching between two jobs,
working as a part time cook and a waiter at an African restaurant there
in Boston, due to the nature of her job, she changed over to part time
in her school in other to meet up with the demands of her job and her
education. It was while working at the restaurant oneday that she met
Mrs Bimpe Olukoya.
Mama took a liking to the young African lady who had a sadness about her
inspite of her open cheerfulness and she was curious to know what her
story was. Experience had taught her that most Africans who found their
way to America had a story or two to tell.
When they finally got talking, Daisy intrigued her the more, she found
out the sorrow that trailed her and her attempts at surviving, she also
loved that Daisy was technically yoruba and spoke the language fluently
too and she was moved to compassion for her.
One thing led to another and they became good friends, the elderly woman
decided to strike a deal with the younger: she wanted Daisy to resume
full time at the College, to drop her job with the restaurant and come
work for her part time as a ‘practicing’ nurse. While she contributed to
Daisy’s education and Daisy could pay her in the future when she
graduated and was working.
Daisy was elated, it seemed fate wasn’t really cruel to her again, she
accepted the offer and promised to pay back the money as soon as she
could. She however secretly kept the cooking job because cooking was one
of her passions, though she bargained for lesser days and shorter time.
Mama later got to know of it, but she didn’t seem to mind.
And so, their relationship went beyond nurse and patient affair, Daisy
was family and like a daughter to mama and soon she became her
unofficial assistant, helping her run errands for the company. Mama was
the over seas representative of the Family company down in Nigeria, she
took care of the purchase and exportation of the household items in
which the Olukoyas company deal on and Daisy naturally offered
assistance wherever she could, but still maintaining her job as mama
fussy nurse.
Since Daisy practically was family, Mama introduced her to her son and
his children down in Nigeria, it wasn’t a physical introduction per se,
just through conversations, anecdotes and photographs, Daisy gathered
that Jide was the stubborn and favourite grandchild of mama and that had
intrigued her young heart.
When she eventually set her sights on a picture of Jide amongst the album mama kept and showed her, he caught her fancy the more and unconsciously held her heart, she never knew she had fallen blindly for him, until when years later he had visited Boston for official reasons, Daisy who was 22 then, saw her Picture idol come to life and that had cemented and strengthened the feeling, she knew then that she was sold out completely to the handsome, stubborn, arrogant man who was so sure of himself.
Jide on his part, wasn’t any particular about Mama’s little assistant, he was simply civil to her the very few times they met in mama’s house, but then he only stayed a week before traveling back to Nigeria, America and its fancy wild girls held no allure for him and he was glad to be done and off with.





Daisy however felt more, Jide was the perfect man she felt could rescue her and give her the fulfilment she had long craved, she let her young heart dream on and on about him. She became mildly absorbed with fantasies of him, so much so that she had secretly stolen that picture of Jide and stashed it away for keeps.