1982 - 1984《Chapter 1 - A New Beginning 》

Obiageli glanced around the room to ensure she had not forgotten anything. She was to leave for Enugu the next morning and so could not afford to leave any of her things behind. Her eyes lit up when she found the photograph she had taken with her boyfriend: Jideze.

 She had taken it off from her wall early that morning so she would take it along with her to Enugu. She couldn't believe she had almost forgotten the photo which had been firmly protected in a wooden frame.

She grabbed a rag as she wiped the dust which clung  to the picture like a second skin. She ran her fingers on Jideze's face as she traced the lines of his shoulder. 

Jideze and Obiageli had been in a relationship  for two years. He had proposed to her but had informed her they would only get married once he had found greener pasture and acquired wealth. 

He told her he didn't want her, nor their children to suffer so he had left for Enugu a year ago in search of greener pastures and had promised to send her a letter immediately he arrived. Unfortunately, he didn't and Obiageli had been worried sick ever since then.

Her mother had taken this opportunity to mock her; her mother had never approved of their relationship.  She had told Obiageli that Jideze didn't look like her ideal  husband but Obiageli was sure her mother's hatred for Jideze was tied around the fact that he was poor.

She knew if Jideze was to acquire wealth soon, her mother's  opinion of him would change. Due to this, she had failed to listen to her mother and had gone along with the relationship immediately Jideze proposed it to her. 

Dating Jideze was a decision she never regretted. It was true he was poor and could barely feed himself but all she wanted was love and he had shown her excess.  She felt secured with him and judging from his plans and hardwork, Obiageli was sure  he would amass wealth sooner or later.

All she had to do was stand by him, encourage him and be patient.  She loved Jideze with all her heart and she knew Jideze reciprocated the same level of love for her - if not more.

Jideze, who had been a carpenter, had left his carpentry job and had jumped on the offer his uncle laid down for him. His uncle had informed him about a rich man who was in need of boys who would serve him in his large grease shop to be settled after five years of diligent service.

 It was quite a popular thing for the people from the eastern part of Nigeria; it was not unusual to see young boys serving a big man only to be settled with a shop of their own after five to seven years of service. It was for this reason Jideze had left for Enugu.  

She had cried her eyes out - they were actually mixture of joy and sadness.  She was joyous that Jideze had found something better to do but was sad that he would be leaving her for a while.  She was already fond of seeing him each day and she wondered how she would cope when he was gone.

She had aired her predicament to her younger sister, her best friend: Uzodinma, but Uzodinma  had told her to take solace in the letters Jideze would send. That way they would stay close and catch up on things they had missed in each other's  life. However, the letters never came and Obiageli was devastated.

She didn't want to believe any of the things her family and friends were telling her. She knew Jideze better than them all and she knew what he was capable of. Hurting her was one thing she knew he wouldn't do.

She knew a problem or the other had caught up with him and for this reason, she was worried about his well being instead of getting angry with him. 

It had taken her a whole year  of his absence to come to this final decision of leaving for Enugu  in search of him and when she had informed her mother about her decision,  her mother had looked her from her head to her toe with a deep scowl hovering around her face.  

After what had seemed like years, her mother had turned away from her and had said just few words: Do what you like. You're on your own. 

Obiageli knew what her mother or anyone were thinking. She knew Enugu was such a big state and it was quite impossible to find her beloved as she knew not where he lived. It didn't even help that she had never met any of his relatives.  

Jideze's family were far away in a village in Abia  state. She had told him countless  of times to take her to see them but he had told her he made  a vow to only return to his village after he had amassed wealth. According to him,  he  couldn't afford to be a laughing stock.

 Despite the fact she knew the implication of her actions, she still wanted to give it a try. She was tired of staying alone without knowing anything about her beloved.  She felt she would run mad if she kept still without doing anything.

Her elder brother had tried 'talking sense' into her just as her mother had tagged it; however, she had made her decision and no one could change it. It took her one good year to come up with this decision so it should take at least a year conviction to stop her. 

Obiageli grabbed her luggage the next morning and left for the village bus park with Uzodinma.  Her mother had refused to look at her nor respond to her farewell that morning and her elder and younger brothers had both given her a big hug and had wished her luck.

She had promised to send in a letter immediately she settles down  in Enugu and Uzodinma had watched with  tears in her eyes as she got into one of the big buses heading to Enugu.

Obiageli slept all through the journey which lasted for about four hours; she had once woken up to get something to eat. It was quite a boring journey and there was nothing exciting to look at. She had taken one of  her novels to read during the journey but only fell asleep at the first page.

She arrived at Enugu mid-day and that was when it dawned on her that she had made no plans whatsoever on where to stay. She watched as families united with families at the bus park and she envisioned Jideze standing across the road waving for her to come. Obiageli smiled cheekily at her imagination. She believed strongly that she would see Jideze sooner or later.