“Mommy”, the little girl, in a flowery frock called out delightedly on the merry go-round, “come and join me”. Nkoyo adjusted her black shades and looked up in equal happiness when she saw her daughter riding gracefully on top of the rides at Disney Land and she waved back at her. Today marked their first trip to Disney Land, and she had been bowled over by the rides at the theme parks, just as she had been when her husband, Edem had declared his love for her the previous week with an expensive gift, a glittering diamond ring.

It was a gift from her husband for their fifth wedding anniversary. She had been swept off her feet when Edem slipped in the glittering diamond crusted ring into her finger. Tears streamed freely when her husband proclaimed in a soft romantic tone “This is for you, honey”, he said, “the woman of my dreams whose presence illuminates my path at night and brightens my disposition all year round”. Then, he clasped his hands into hers led her into their bedroom and sat her on the Kings Size bed. He handed her a brown envelope. She tore out the envelope and led out a shout of joy when she saw the Disney Logo on the white sheet of paper. Her husband, with a smile plastered on his face nodded. “We are celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary at Disney Land”.

"Honey, I am touched by your romantic gesture towards me, the trip to Disneyland means a lot to me”. She wiped away her tears. “You have now fulfilled my dream to visit the “Happiest place on earth”. “I know that of course”, He hugged her and wiped her tear stained eyes. He stared at her and affirmed his love for her. “I love you from the bottom of my heart and to prove it, I have decided to spare no expenses for our fifth wedding anniversary. “I have always known of your love for me, but this certainly tops it all”.
Together in a warm embrace, the couple engaged in a passionate kiss and then fell asleep.

Nkoyo had a great marriage. Unlike her mother, her in-laws were kind and considerate people. Her father had died young and subsequently, her rearing had fallen under the care of her mother. Following her father’s demise, his relatives had thrown them out of the house. Her mother was determined to survive, so she eked out a living, selling firewood and fish at the market to support their life together. Her daughter’s academic prowess was her consolation. She would remark to herself, “Hopefully, a great guy would come along and wipe away the sweat from my brow”. Her wish would be answered, when her daughter finished college and rode home in class with a rich gentleman.
Edem was his name. A decade older than Nkoyo, he looked considerably younger than she looked. But the most important aspect was that he was loaded with money.
He was a successful businessman with vested interests in the booming oil industry in the country. Within the twinkle of an eye, their fortunes changed.

Edem had fulfilled his traditional responsibilities of a future son-in-law. Aside from the hefty dowry that he paid to his new mother in-law, she had requested and received a luxurious Mercedez Benz car with a driver to squire her around the village.
Soon, the hardscrabble life that mother and daughter led was now a distant memory clouded with money and gifts. Nkoyo was the biggest beneficiary of her husband’s largesse. Their house, a ten-room story building was lavishly furnished with furniture imported abroad. Hired helps compensated for the domestic work at their residence. They had three butlers; each assigned to prepare their meals depending on the time of the day. Then there was the drivers all five of them in the same ratio as the number of luxury cars in their garage.
The seal of trust was cemented when her husband responded to a friend’s question if he planned on having another lavish naming ceremony for the next child. “No naming ceremony in my house will rival this event, for Susan will definitely be our only child”. His comment drew gasps from the audience and he heard it. “One child is fine with me, irrespective of the gender, it is better that way, so that the mother will be in good health to take care of her, rather than losing her life in an attempt to give me a male child”
The female guests who were all elegantly attired for the occasion drew a thundering applause at his comment.

In the evening when mother and daughter retired back to their hotel suite, Susan had regaled her mother on her joys on riding the rides. “You should have seen how high the horses took me to, when I rode it”. She laughed when her daughter also told her that “Cinderella told me that she will be visiting us in Nigeria”. A phone call put an abrupt end to her giddy mood. “Can I speak with Mrs. Udosen”?, the caller asked. “Speaking”, she replied back. There was tension on the other line. “I am sorry to announce to you that your husband died in a car crash yesterday, en-route to Lagos. His remains have been found and your presence is needed right away”. Nkoyo panicked, ignoring her daughter’s continued plea, “Mom, when is dad joining us for the trip”. She was shattered, she called her in-laws again, and the news was indeed true. Edem had died in a motor accident. That night, she packed back her belongings, along with her daughter, slowly. The agility that had characterized her persona the previous week had now faded into oblivion.

They departed the following week to Nigeria, and thereafter, Edem was commited to mother earth. Nkoyo had wailed so much that she thought she would die of a broken heart. Her relatives (her mother had died the previous year) had cautioned her, “If you cry like this, who will take care of your daughter”? Her tears intensified the following week when she recoiled with horror at the contents of the Will, brandished to her by her in-laws. Soon, it dawned on her, that she was a victim, like her mother had been of the female property rights in Africa as a whole.

All the affirmation of love that her husband had pledged to her was a ruse, for she was leaving her matrimonial home empty handed. All his jewelries, their luxurious cars, and even their joint savings account and their house was now her sister in-law’s property. Even the energy she had invested in for the success of her marriage was apparently forgotten.

What pained her most was when she was ordered out of her matrimonial home. As her sister in-law rudely informed her

“His will states that I should be the sole inheritance of the house when he dies”, another one was throwing away her luggages out of her bedroom.
A woman usurping her of her legal rights in her own matrimonial home!

Nkoyo could not recover the shock of the betrayal. She continued dapping her eyes with the black shawl that was covered on her head. She was now faced with a double tragedy , the pain of being a widow and the fear of being homeless again. She could not even answer her daughter’s question, “Are we still going back to America to visit Disney Land”? She could not tell her young daughter that Cinderella resided in a fairy tale land different from their world, which was hostile to widows.

Ndipe,
I enjoyed it even though I am not happy with the tragic loss of Edem. And Nkoyo also suffered the same fate as her mother.

I would prefer you submit the story to Amazon Shorts for possible publication.

All you need is a good title to illustrate the victimization of widows in Nigeria.

Your characters are memorable.

I don't pray that this should happen to the beautiful Nkoyo I know.

Thanks. I will probably format the Title and then see if I could have it published as a short story.

Regardless of the nonsense written in a will, the widow owns 50% of the husband's possessions, so the husband can only give away 50% of his possessions through the will. He cannot give away what he doesn't own.

That's a sad tragedy. But the plight of a lot of women at home.

My major disagreement with the story though, Disneyland's not the happiest place on earth. . .

Why a woman would willingly walk into an arrangement that makes her a slave is beyond my comprehension.

Chxta: That's a sad tragedy. But the plight of a lot of women at home.

My major disagreement with the story though, Disneyland's not the happiest place on earth. . .

it may be to this lady and her daughter

Seun:
Regardless of the nonsense written in a will, the widow owns 50% of the husband's possessions, so the husband can only give away 50% of his possessions through the will. He cannot give away what he doesn't own.

Go and argue that in a Nigerian setting lets see if your argument will hold waters among the village elders. Shey, you don dey read the battles that Bianca Ojukwu is going through with her in-laws that her disregarding the will of her late husband.