By Suliah Lawal
Fareedah, the last child born into a family of four (two males and two females), has never experienced the love of a father since birth. It has always been her mother who has been there for her and her siblings.
Life wasn’t easy being brought up by a single mother; her mum was married to her father out of deceit. She wasn’t aware her husband had another wife, and the wife was also aware of the plan; she pretended to be the younger sister of the man.
Ever since Fareedah’s mother got pregnant with her first child, that was when their motives were revealed to her. She couldn’t believe that the man she married had deceived her; she fainted and was ready to die.
Then she remembered she had a little baby on the way. She continued staying with her husband’s first wife; things continued getting complicated for Fareedah’s mother even after giving birth.
She wanted to leave for her parents’ house, but she got sent back to her husband’s house, being told she should bear whatever she faced for the sake of her child.
Her husband started pressuring her to get pregnant again so she could bear him more children. She had no choice but to give him what he wanted. There is a difference between wanting to become a father and becoming a responsible father; he only wanted children but wasn’t ready to take their responsibilities.
Fareedah’s mother couldn’t just sit back and watch her children suffer; she couldn’t leave them to suffer because she also suffered growing up. She couldn’t get herself a decent job because she wasn’t educated; she could only start up a small business with the little money she got from her mother. She continued like that until she could send her children to school.
Her husband finally built a house for her because the fight between her and his first wife was unbearable. She moved to her own place far from her husband’s first wife.
There, she began to live happily; she got pregnant with Fareedah, and then things started to turn better.
Her business started to expand, and then she moved to her husband’s shop where she couldn’t worry about paying shop rent.
She could now eat any type of food she wanted; she was able to afford her children’s fees and sort out little bills. In no time, she gave birth to Fareedah, and her husband still hasn’t changed a bit — still that same man who doesn’t care about his children going to school or staying at home.
Fareedah grew up knowing her mother as both her father and mother. She was sent to school only by her mother. It looks very awkward seeing other people having a father figure in their lives; her friends are always talking about how caring their dads are to them, but she has nothing to say about her dad — someone who comes home three times a week and doesn’t even give room for communication.
She finished her secondary school at a very early age; she was already exposed to things her elder sister was not even exposed to. To her mum, she was the only perfect daughter she had; she was the smartest, the only one who always had this vision of someday taking good care of her mother. She was her mother’s favourite, so her mum never saw anything wrong in the things she did or decisions she made.
Fareedah has always had it that her mum has suffered a lot for them, so it’s time for her to enjoy the fruit of her labour. So, she started doing things with all sorts of men, and started having numerous boys around her. On the other hand, her mum would always defend her anywhere, saying that her daughter is the best; she doesn’t engage in any dirty thing that would tarnish her mother’s name.
She became a very beautiful woman with her certificate in no time. She was preparing for her youth services but still didn’t stop the work she was doing; she was using the money she was seeing to take care of herself and her mother. Would Fareedah be able to make her mother proud? Or would she meet her end? It is still unknown.