It was a Thursday afternoon and i had just returned

From our local catholic community school

in Nneohia village in Anaocha local government

I quickly changed from my school uniform to

my house clothes, picked up my farming tools

And heading for the farm.

As i walked the lonely paths to the farm

I could hear my stomach complaining of food

And my body pleading for rest.

But what could i do? I must do my assignments

If i ever imagined myself eating dinner ( i said to myself)

I should thank the heavens, am able to have access

To education thanks to my father.

It could have been worse(i hissed, nodding my head)

My Father's preference for male children

Didn't stop him from being a good father to me,

It's was just unfortunate he couldn't be fully

available for me as he had

Other important businesses to attend to as

the village king. He felt i was well

taken care of by my step-mothers.

But then he loved me unlike my step-mothers and that i can hold on to.

It was starting to get dark and with a good portion of the tuber planting done (cassava),

I was enervated and decided to head back home as it was a lonely and scary thick forest.

Sluggishly walking into the compound

I sighted my father's third wife (Lolo Uchechi)

Seating under our popular gigantic mango tree

With her copper-brown skin like a

windfall autumn leaf

She had dazzling, champagne-brown eyes and a half moon cheekbones, her hair was coral -black and had a bottom nose.

She was curvaceous with a goblet shaped waist

Yes she was beautiful, but not as beautiful as

myself ( i muttered to myself)

And i knew so because my father would always call me "oyiri nne ya" which mean I look so much like my mother, a compliment that always made

Me wish i could see my mom and at least

Know what she looks like.

Still i was certain she was indeed a very beautiful woman and so too my eldest sister whom was sent

Off to my father's relatives in the neighboring village

to leave with my father's youngest sister.

Knowing how beautiful i was, i was convinced

that my step-mothers ill-treatment towards

me had something to do with my beauty and

academic brightness.

Undeniably i was the most beautiful girl in my class and my school in general ( not to brag)

Besides i was the fairest of them all

With my sunrise-gold color long hair

I was nothing short of a paragon.

As walked closer towards my step-mother

i could hear the drums of death in the air, and the

winds murmuring through the trees.

She had this very bad temper in her and

her beauty couldn't do much to her irascible nature.

What i have i done wrong this time? (murmured )

She couldn't even wait for me to be done

With the greeting her before she let out her stream of invective.

Useless child!

Where are you coming from?

From the farm Mother. I replied

So because you had to go to the farm, we should all

starve in this house, isn't?

No! Mother, am sorry.

Something in me just wanted to be so impertinent towards her, but i couldn't.

Now rush into that kitchen and cook something for

dinner, pulling my right ears so hard

that i almost felt she would pluck them out from my head.

I ran off towards the kitchen with tears dropping from my eyes, i felt rancor

regarding my entire existence.

I couldn't stop myself from crying and singing pitiful songs as i prepared dinner all by myself as always.

As i prepared dinner I saw myself battling with sleep and fatigue and i started to recite one

local native song to keep myself from sleeping

and save my body from getting burnt by fire.

Pass eight pm and i had just finished cooking

dinner which is bitter leaf soup and went to call on my step-mother (Uchechi) to come dish out the food.

She came and did just so.

But while dishing out the food, she dished

her children's food differently from how she dished mine.

She made sure her children plate's were filled up and with enough meats, but my plate was almost empty.

She made sure she carefully selected only the

water without the vegetables in the pot of soup

and pour into my plate with no meat

Though i wasn't expecting her to add meat to my food because she has never done so before

But pouring just water into my plate was just

so much wickedness for one human to taste.

This wasn't the first time she's treated me this

way but i couldn't just take it anymore, She didn't

give me any breakfast before leaving for school,

neither did she give me lunch when i returned from school and still had to do practically all the chores in the house without complaining,

while their children would go around playing

and having all the rest they want,

and all i asked in return was a good dinner meal.

I was heartbroken, i was so pained that i pick up

the plate of soup and went straight to my father

to complain, this time around i poured out

my heart to him and made him to understand

that this wasn't the first time she's treated me

this bad, infact she's has never been kind to me.

My father felt so disappointed that he gave me

his own dinner to eat and promised me that he was going to put an end to this ill-treatment of hers.