DEATH

Its the first constant thing in life, followed by CHANGE, some people are just so nefarious that you begin to wonder if they have paid death off, I thought to myself as I watched the remains of uncle Andrew being lowered into the ground, I stood tearless with five other crying people, a priest and those two guys who had out of pity agreed to bring the corpse down to the grave yard, I have been to funerals, if not much, I have been to my father's, my mother's and about three other people, and there were no less than 30 people present at those funerals, but this funeral is nothing to write home about.

As I walked back to my car from the grave, I thought about life with uncle Andrew in it and life without him, The Internal home of prostitutes or whatever that place is called would really miss him, but friends If he still had any would definitely celebrate his dismiss, family as they call themselves won't even feel his absence and this is obvious as none of them attended his burial, but ME, I thought as I opened the door to the drivers seat and settled in, I will never forget Uncle Andrew as he already left a print in me, a wound in the soul and a memory that I would forever tend to.


**i need corrective comments more than anything, thanks as you follow Amanda, as she goes down memory lane**

THE BEGINING

Thirty five years ago, on the 23rd of September, around 6:25pm or so I heard, I was born into this world, a bouncing baby girl, I came with my right hand first , I guess I was in a hurry to come into the world or perhaps I was trying to let them know I wanted to be a writer, it was a tough delivery for my 23 year mother, who was just getting into the motherhood wagon.
My father, 35 years old contractor waited impatiently and listened patiently for the cries of a newly born at the corridor, It was going to be his fourth child and that meant a lot to him, why! I don't know, even though I had been conceived in an unclean way as the preacher calls it almost every sunday. His mother stayed with him, supported him, and watched him pace up and down the hall.

When I finally arrived into this world as a beautiful new born baby, my father and my grandmother walked up to me but as they saw me smile, it paid for all the hours of anxiety I had caused them, my grandmother touched my tiny checks while my father watched and smiled
"She looks so much like your sister Amanda when she was born" my grandmother said as my sleeping mother opened her eyes
"Amanda?" My mother said
"Yes Amanda" my father answered

And that was how I got my name Amanda Esther Nnamba

NO WAHALA I DEY YOUR BACK CARRY GO/// the ghost decorder..

BACKGROUND - My Father

You see! My life wasn't that smooth from the beginning, I was a result of sin and a product of adultery, but I blame not my father or my mother for that, they were two sinners, two lonely and drowning people in search of a life raft.

Anthony, my father was a man of wealth, he wasn't born with a silver spoon but he worked for it, I was told he studied business administration in college, he graduated and ventured into the contracting business and from the friends he made in school, he got the connections he needed and Gbam! He got a contract worth millions of naira, he fell in love and got married and was blessed with two beautiful boys and a gal, but he had a problem and it was with his wife.

His wife, my step mother was a very jealous, hot tempered and a bad cook, my father had to hire a cook for the house, he had to come home to listen to the endless ranting of his wife, maybe about his coming home past dinner, his not picking up his call, and other little things, as if that was not enough, he must not pick up any call that was made by a lady, whether its a business call or other calls she wouldn't care.

Situation got out of hands when my father hired a female secretory and that was when his problems started

She got into fight with him every night, she denies him food, as if that wasn't enough she denies him access to her body, each fight they had ends with his inability to fire his female secretary and get a male one, my father got tired of explaining to her about how capable and talented the lady is, infact she had been a blessing to his company, with the fact that she is happily married but she wouldn't listen.

I think my father got tired of explaining to her, he got tired of going to bed with an empty stomach and the rest, so he resorted to spending quality time in a bar before going home every night and that was where he met my mother.

MY MOTHER

You see, my mother's life before meeting my father is nothing to write home about.
She lost her father at a very early age, infact too early, she was five months when her father lost his life to an accident, when I think about it, its not really an accident, her father wasn't much of a good man, he was a taxi driver and a rugged one at that, he was a drunkard and a womaniser, or whatever its called.
He got into a fight five months after my mother was born, a baseless fight for parking space and his opponent stabbed him in the belly and he bled to death, my mother never really knew her father, infact as bad as it was, there was no pictures of him anywhere around.
Her mother, my grandmother was not much of a good woman herself, not that she fights around but she had an hyper active gene for men, that's how I love to call it, she sleeps around with her men, whether they are rich or not, whether married or not, short or tall, in as much as she can get a little out of them then they are good to go. Yes! She sells paraga (gins), that's what its called, and she acts like it, that was how she met my grandfather and married him, but when he died, she married more men though she didn't give birth to any other child but she jumped from a marriage to another with my mother.

As bad as my grandfather was said to be, he loved his wife and his child, infact there were testimonies of things he had said at different places about them and how he had determined to send his children to school, he was a man with a good heart, and this was what my mother was made to believe infact my grandmother told her a lot of good things about her father and though she never knew him, she loved him and so do I

My grandmother wanted to fulfil her late's husband wish of sending my mother to school, not that she believed in schooling herself, so she managed and she got tired when my mother got to pry 3, she got tired of buying books and paying school fees or so I heard, so she sat my mother down and lectured her about how every woman would end up in a man's kitchen either educated or not, and also she made her realise that a lot of graduates ends up becoming tailors, hairdressers or the likes and she also did not forget to mention her believe about how uneducated people get married to rich men more than the educated ones, so even though my 10 year old mother was confused, she believed her mother wants the best for her and that was how my mother dropped out of school.

I am an upcoming writer, I know there are mistakes in the write up, but I can't figure them out if you don't help me, pls comment

Pls I want to know what you think of my writing so that I can improve, I know its not that good a story but I can't do better if u just view without commenting, I need your comments to continue

you need to learn to do without comments. I am suffering from it too, but i just encourage myself and continue.

Though my mother was not educated, she was intelligent and though she was raised by an irresponsible woman, she was responsible. I am not saying this because she is my mother but its the truth about her, my mother wanted to be a better woman than her mother, she wanted a better life than she had with her mother, she wanted to live in a big house, buy beautiful things and have beautiful children, so she knew better than to follow her mother's footsteps.

Mama went through hell as she moved with her mother from one man's home to another, she learnt to deal with a lot of things at an early stage of her life, she had been beaten alongside her mother by men, she had been treated like shit by men and their wives all because of her mother and the likes but all this made her strong, and from every situation she found herself, there was always a lesson to learn.

She learnt the cloth business, and before the age of 18, mama had mastered the art of selling and buying cloths, she got a certificate from her boss who was amazed at how fast and how well she learnt the trade, after her freedom, mama had a problem, there was not enough money to get her own shop and buy cloths to see, so she came up with an idea, she decided to work for people and she could save up her pay till she gets enough to start up her own cloth business, so she tried and tried to get a job with a meaningful pay but nobody would hire an uneducated woman to work, then her own mother came up with an idea.
"Why not work for my friend, mama T, she doesn't sell paraga, she has a bar, just drinks and pepper soup is all she sells, she would pay well"

Though my mother was not comfortable with working in a bar, it was better than selling paraga with her mom, besides mama T doesn't sell hemp like her own mother does, and the pay was good for her.
"I ll work for just 2 years and I ll make enough money to start up my business", my mother thought, and that was how she started working at Mama T bar

where she met my Father.

COLLABORATION

My father would leave work, go to the bar, have few drinks as he thinks about his pathetic life and when its late enough, he would go home where his wife would be waiting to yell at him for coming home late after spending the whole day with his female secretary, as she yells, my father would take a shower, then go to bed, just as if she isn't there. This became a daily routine for my father and the angrier my step mother gets, the more apart they grew.

My mother would likely have studied physcology if she went to school, she was a woman who understood attitudes, she could tell when a person is sad or happy, she could easily tell when a person is sad and feigning happiness, everyday when my father walks into the bar, sits at his usual position and orders his usual drink and pepper soup, she could tell he was having problems, she could tell from his look that he was a drowning man, but she became extra friendly to him, making jokes out of things and making sure he was comfortable, my mother wasn't doing this to get his attention or anything but she had gone through unhappy days herself, she had grown up next to that unhappy look on her mother's face and she felt so passionately about it when she sees that look on someone else's face and she had learnt over the years that a smile or a little friendliness by a someone could help lessen the pain.

One day, my father came in as usual and ordered more than the usual, he was looking really sad and keep asking for more drinks, he was getting drunk and my mother didn't like it, so she asked someone else, one of the sales girls to fill in for her, she sat with my father and asked him what the problem was.

On a normal occassion my father wouldn't open up to a stranger but he was drunk and she had been nice to him, he tearfully told my mother what he was going through, emphasised on how heartbroken he was, how unhappy he was and how he had done nothing to my step mother to deserve what she was doing to him, he had been really good to her, there was nothing she wanted that he didn't give to her and he had been really faithful to her, he had let go of female friends just for her sake and how he was giving in to her this time around, and as he talked, my mother listened to him pour out his pain and when he was through, she offered him her handkerchief.

Then my mother came up with an idea
"Why not give her a break" she had told him "women can be funny at times, you shouldn't go home for a while, let her calm down, she would have time to think about what she is doing, then before you know it, she would realise how wrong she had been"

My father left the bar that day, although he was drunk, he thought about what she said, over and over again, even at work and he figured "what the hell"

He picked up his car keys, went to the bank, withdrew some money, a lot of money, he went straight to the bar, met my mother and he gave her the money
"Get me an apartment, get the things you think I ll need there, I wanna move there by weekend" my father said
"What" my mother managed to say
"Yea, I ll be here in the evening, I need to get back to work now, its thursday today, you have enough time to get me a place, you can leave work, I ll pay you for your time" he said and left my mother in shock!

As much as my mother wanted to help the man, my father, she didn't touch the money until he came back that evening.

Sitting at his usual spot with his usual, my father watched my mother talk about how tight her schedule is, how easy it would be for him to get an apartment after meeting an agent, and she also explained who an agent is, just in case my father doesn't know, he just watched her speak calmly and gently, and he listened, he was used to listening as a woman speaks.

Its true my mother had been nice to him ever since he had known her, also true that she was a beautiful woman even though she wasn't as beautiful as his wife but she was cute, she had such a good heart, she looked so innocent and she was intelligent, she had the perfect set of eyes, a straight nose and such kissable lips, my father hadn't admire a woman like that since he got married, he was faithful but then he couldn't help but notice my mother as she talked.

After explaining to him how to get himself an apartment, my mother expected him to reply but he just kept staring
"Are you here, Mister?"
"Yea I am" he said "you will help me get an apartment young lady, I promise to pay you for your time, I need your help, please"
He told her

My mother thought for a while
"Okay" she answered
"Can we be friends?" He asked and he could tell from her reaction that my mother wasn't expecting that
"Oh! Yes! Why not!" My mother replied. "but I get really busy here that I might not be able to sit out with you"
"That is no problem, since you ll know where I stay, you could always come over" my father had said
"but you should understand that its just friendship, no strings attached" my mother made it clear, not that she goes around visiting male friends but there was something about that man that made her trust him and drew her to him.
"Okay" my father had replied smiling, he wasn't thinking of getting a second wife or a mistress anyway, the whole plan was to make his wife realise her mistake and he was going to go back home but while he was away, he figured he could use a friend.
"I am Anthony Nnamba" my father had said as my mother stood up to return to her duties
"Doyin Aderele" my mother replied as they shaked hands for the first time

Only if my father had known how much close they will get over the years.

More pls

U doin it great.

Thanks guys, I appreciate your comments

ME

Yes! I was born in an unclean way to a great mother and a father who loved me like no other, but still I was a product of adultery and I don't blame my father or my mother for that, my father was a drowning man, he was a man in pain, he needed a life raft and he got it, my mother was a woman with a good heart, she did something stupid but she never regretted it, she was a woman in love and her stupidity gave her a jewel, it gave her ME and for that, she was justified.

By now you know how my father met my mother, my mother got a one bedroom apartment for my father, not that the money she was given wasn't enough for a 3 bed room apartment but she figured that he was going to live alone and probably never spend up to six months in the house, she furnished the place for him and he moved over.

My mother agreed to bring him food every night after days of begging, I think my father just enjoyed my mother's company at least at first, and he insisted she comes on work free days, they became friends and started telling each other about their lives, they got really close, they liked each other and enjoyed spending time together until one evening, they were carried away by passion and lust and they fell into sin, the sin of adultery.

My mother wasn't the type of woman who couldn't control her feelings but she was secretly in love with my father, she didn't want to admit that she was in love with a married man but she was, and my father deflowered my mother, he had started and he wanted to stop when he realised but my mother told him to continue, she was ready to face the consequences.

I was conceived at that moment, I left the world of the unborn and I came into the world of the living, a world filled with people without a conscience, a world full of sorrow and sadness, a world where people who knows nothing about you, points at you and judge you, where you have to fight to belong, I came into this world to the loving hands of my mother and my father and I though life was sweet but as I grew up, I realised you don't judge a book by its cover.

******* ********* ******

My father went back home few days after he fell into sin with my mother, he had deflowered mama and that meant a lot to him, he had asked and pleaded to marry my mother as a second wife but my mother wouldn't have that, she wanted a big wedding, church wedding, where a man was required to have only one wife, but unknown to my mother, I was developing in her and I was doing it quick.

My father did not return home until he had given my mother enough money to start up her cloth business, my mother refused his money but my grandmother made her collect it and she started her business, few weeks after my father returned home, my mother found out she was pregnant, she went told my father about it and he accepted me.

You know, my mother grew up moving from one husband's house to the other with my grandmother, she knew better than anyone that a child is better raised by his father or better still, a child should have a father, afterall she knew what her lack of paternal care caused her, so when my mother found out she was pregnant, she agreed to marry my father, just so I could have a father, she didn't want drag me into the house of another man, just like her mother did with her.

Since my father had returned home before he got to know, he asked my mother to live in the apartment she got him until he ll get things settled at home, tell his wife about her and bring her home.

ME - THE BIG HOUSE

"How big is papa's house" I asked my mother as she dressed me for our outing that thursday morning.
"Your father's house is really big" she answered with a smile,
"Like in the movies" I asked again
"Yes Amanda, just like in the movies" she added

I think it took seven years for my father to get things settled at home, though he didn't tell his wife until that day and we weren't even sure he was taking us in, I always knew my father lived in a big house, right since I got wise enough to know our house was small, I knew I had another mother who lives with my father but I didn't care, I also knew I had brothers and a sister because my mother told me, and everytime I ask papa when I ll go to his house, "soon, very soon" he always replied.

My father comes over at least once in a week, sometimes he sleeps over, most times, he comes and return to his big house the same day, and no matter how much tears I shed and how loud my voice goes when I plead to go with him, he never takes me along, sometimes I feel bad for my second mother, I imagine how much she would want to see me, and my siblings, how much they would want to play hide and seek with me but I had no choice but to wait for 'soon',

Finally the soon came and I was going to the big house to meet my father, second mother and siblings, I was really happy, I wanted to take my toys along but mama wouldn't let me, I wanted to show my second mother my report card so that she would be proud of me but mama didn't let me take it.

I had hundreds of question to ask mama, why she was acting strange, why she wasn't very happy we were going to the big house like I was, I could sense fear in her but didn't understand why, I was confused, why wouldn't she let me take my travelling bag, my second mummy would want to spend time with me, why she wouldn't let me take my toys, but I didn't ask any, at least she let me take Betty (my doll) along, but as we left our one bedroom apartment to leave, I could feel my mother's fear rise and I wanted to know why.

"Why are you scared, mama" I asked
"No I am not scared" she replied as she locked the door
"Do they have dogs" I asked again
"Yes they have dogs" my mother answered
And I felt fear grow in me as well, maybe that was why my mother was scared after all, I thought to myself

But I knew my father and second mummy wouldn't let the dogs hurt us, dogs or no dogs, I was going to the big house and that was all that matters.

.......Only if I had known better......

Kip d update comin. Doin great

"Please I don't understand" my step mother directed the question to my grandmother

I sat down on mama's laps as I watched as events unfold, there grandma was sited, my father, his wife, one man who turned out to be my uncle, Andrew, and one old man.

Its very true that papa lived in a big house, they even have a gateman and cars, fine cars. But I was confused, very confused, it was as if my second mother didn't recognise me but how could she, when she hasn't seen me in a long while I had thought to myself, and my siblings were no where in sight, papa didn't even carry me like he always did at our house and grandma too, I just sat with my mother, held my doll and kept quiet.

"I am very sorry dear" my father answered
"You are sorry for what Anthony, for getting the lady pregnant, for marrying her behind my back or for bringing her to our matrimonial home" my step mother replied angrily

I wondered why she was angry, wasn't she happy to see me, I wondered why they were acting very strange but still I kept my calm

"You see my daughter," grandma said "you have to accept this lady and her daughter, this girl is also your daughter" grandma added

Finally, I thought, someone introduced me and for the first time, I smiled expecting my second mother to smile too but...

"Over my dead body will I accept anybody" she shouted back at grandma

"Of course you will, and even if you don't, you can't change the fact that the girl is our flesh and blood" uncle Andrew answered

"Yes!" The old man added "she is a part of us, and whether you like it or not, this woman is also our wife, and her daughter has the same rights your children has in this house" he concluded

"Anthony, say something" my second mother said to my father
"She is my wife and her daughter is my child" my father answered

My step mother rose up from her seat, and moved closer to us, I felt my heart rise in fear and anticipation,

"You take your bastard child and leave my house this minute" she shouted at my mother whose eyes were swollen with tears already.

"Of course she is going nowhere" uncle andrew interrupted, this is her husband's house too, she can come and leave anytime she wants to"

"Infact she would soon be moving in" my grandma added as my second mother angrily walked out on us all

No wonder papa didn't want to take me there, my second mother was a bad woman and I didn't know, she didn't love me like mama, papa and grandma did, she didn't want me in papa's big house, and she didn't like my mother, she was a bad woman and I stopped loving that minute

As I left the big house that day to return back to our small house, I noticed my love for the big house was gone, I didn't want to live there anymore, infact I didn't want to go there anymore, I didn't want to meet my siblings either, I only wanted mama to be happy, I wanted her and papa and the house where there was no bad woman like my second mother.

Papa walked us to the door as we were leaving and he lifted me up,
"I ll come over this evening, then we can talk" he told my mother
"Its all going to be Alright, Amanda" he said to me and I smiled.

But as we were about to leave, uncle andrew came behind us
"Doyin" he called out to my mother "we are at your back, you should not worry yourself, you have as much right as she has in this house and in the entire family, don't be scared"

"Thank you, sir" my mother replied
"No just call me Andrew" he added as he bent down to pick me up

"Hey little girl" he said as he smiled at me "I am your Uncle Andrew, what is your name?" He asked like he didn't already know

"Amanda" I replied.

My father came that evening like he promised to and he asked my mother to move us into the big house, but my mother knew better than living with my step mother, she thought of me before anything else, she knew what a hard life I would have there, although she knew she would be close to my father, he would treat her extremely well, he would favour her than the other wife but on the other hand, my step mother would make us go through hell and even if my mother manages to withstand it, I wouldn't, so my mother refused to move into the big house and even though I was very little then, I was happy we didn't.

X
My father came that evening like he promised to and he asked my mother to move us into the big house, but my mother knew better than living with my step mother, she thought of me before anything else, she knew what a hard life I would have there, although she knew she would be close to my father, he would treat her extremely well, he would favour her than the other wife but on the other hand, my step mother would make us go through hell and even if my mother manages to withstand it, I wouldn't, so my mother refused to move into the big house and even though I was very little then, I was happy we didn't.

GONE FOREVER
"You came second, that is great" my father said checking out my report card as I smiled and stared at him.
"She had 54 out of 60 in mathematics, she did better than last term" mama added, all the way from the kitchen
"Yes, she took after her father, what do you expect" my father said jokingly as he picked me up and settled me on his laps
"Now Amanda, tell me what you want, anything and I ll get you" he said
"I want you to stay here with us papa, I promise I will come first next term" I answered, I wanted papa to stay with us, even though we lived in a small house, at least we are happy and we don't have any wicked woman like my second mother around. I stared at my father and waited for him to grant my wish, he smiled at me "Amanda, if you come first next term, then I ll see what to do about that" my father answered and though it wasn't a straight answer but my 9 years old me, planned to do everything possible to come first, only if I had known......

I was a very brilliant girl in school, I always came out with flying colours, and everyone was proud of me, my mother was doing well in her cloth business and my father was always there for us, he comes over and sends us money and gifts, and though we were not staying with my father in his big house, we were happy and doing great, I was studying for my third term exam in pry 5, I wanted to come first so that papa could move in with us.

It was on a thursday morning, I was dressing up for school when my mother's phone rang,
"What!" My mother said out of shock as she listened to the caller, I stopped and paid attention
"I ll be there soon" my mother added and dropped the call, I could see tears welled up in her eyes
"Mama, what happened" I asked
"Its your father, Amanda" she answered with a shaking voice "he had an accident" she added

Guy U re doin, try 2 b kipin us.

tmamuda: Guy U re doin, try 2 b kipin us.

thank you

Accidents! I was quite young but I have heard of people having accidents, Kelvin, my classmate in primary 3, his father had an accident and he didn't come to school again, there were rumours that his father died, some said he broke his legs and kelvin was the one to carry him around and so on.

At 9, I understood death a little, if a person dies, I believed he had gone to heaven to live in a big house with God, he was going to have anything he desires, sometimes I don't wish my enemies death because it only means they are going to live with God and be happy, but as great as death sounds, I knew if a person dies, I won't see him/her again, forever, and that was the part I didn't like, I didn't want papa to die, because I still want him to be around for a very long time, sometimes the people you love just wouldn't be around as long as you want and it didn't take me time to realise that either

We left for the hospital immediately, I was still in my uniform, I could remember vividly, my mother was restless and I was sad, she held me by my hand as we rushed into the hospital, it was Uncle Andrew that called and he was at the reception when we got there
"What happened to him" my mother asked
"he had the accident on his way to work and it was really serious, he had been operated on, it was successful but the doctors want him to rest, his wife is with him" uncle andrew answered, my eyes were heavy with tears when I heard him say that but I wanted to prove I was strong, which means, no tears
"Can I see him" my mother asked
"Not yet, the doctors don't want more than a person there with him, but you can go in the next 4 hours" he answered again "I have to go back to work now, I will give you a call later" he added as he bent down to greet me

"Hi Amanda, are you not supposed to be in school" he asked cheerfully, uncle Andrew has been really nice to us, ever since I met him, I was comfortable around him but what I failed to understand was why he would let my second mother, knowing how bad she is, stay with my mother, but I knew he meant well
"Yes, but papa is sick and I want to see him" I replied
"You will see him okay, just pray for him" he added and stood up to leave
I looked up at him as he turned to leave
"Uncle Andrew" I called "is papa dieing" I asked as my swollen eyes brought out its tears "I don't want papa to die" I added before he was able to say anything, he picked me up and placed me on his shoulders.
"Amanda, your father is not going to die" he sounded very convincing but I wasn't convinced, I was still scared but I stopped crying,
"He will be fine" he added and I faked a smile

scon-p:

scon-p! Scon-p! Scon-p! Scon-p! Scon-p! How many times did I call u?

Ashley2389: scon-p! Scon-p! Scon-p! Scon-p! Scon-p! How many times did I call u?

jst five times o. How can i help you o

Improvements are visible and substantial so keep improving... Nice work.

I'm loving every bit of this story...please continue...you are a very good imaginative writer..
All you'd need if you ever wanted to publish, is an editor, who'd take care of tenses and punctuations...
But you are perfect...I dunno what anyone would mean by you could do better, you're doing just fine