It was a quarter past six in the evening, Ike asked me curiously, "Are we not eating anything tonight?."

"You should ask your wife about it" I answered him.

"You must find out what we're going to eat tonight, or do you want her to shout at you?."

"I will have to go ask her because I don't want her to unleash her torrent of anger on me..." I muttered.

The door wasn't shut; I knocked on the door before entering the bedroom - "Aunty Amaka, what are we having for dinner?."

She was sitting in front of the large mirror; she wiped the heavy makeup on her face with a piece of fluffy white material, "We are having pounded yam and ukasi soup."

I stood behind her and wondered how to pound the yam - I had never in my entire life experienced such, "Aunty Amaka, I can't pound the yam..." I said to her.

She looked at me through the mirror and then was spiteful, "I don't care if you can't pound the yam - dinner should be ready by seven; my children are hungry."

"By seven? You know that is not possible - it's already a few minutes to seven" I questioned her.

How I spoke to her incited her, and she turned to look at me, her eyes were bloodshot, maybe as a result of tiredness, "You're very stu_pid, a senseless and spoiled nonentity...."

She picked up a face cleanser bottle and threw it at me; it went through my head and then shattered against the wall.

"You are fortunate today, if you ever talk back to me, I will skin you alive..." She yelled at me.

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I held back the tears; Aunty Amaka's husband rushed in, "What's going on here? Why were you shouting?" He asked her.

She sighed and then turned her face toward the mirror, she ignored her husband.

"Amaka, why were you shouting?" He reiterated.

She gave her husband bombastic side eyes, "Ike, leave me alone, I don't have the strength to talk, and you can as well ask her," she said, pointing at me.

Ike didn't bother to ask me. Rather, he bent over and began to pick the broken pieces of the bottle on the floor - I had to go get a dustpan.

He placed the broken pieces of the bottle into the dustpan, "Take it to the kitchen and start preparing dinner - it's getting late."

"Okay, Sir," I said carrying the dustpan out of the room.

Ike and his wife had a heated argument afterward, "You seemed not to like your niece - what has done that you can't forgive her."

"You're very crazy - I wonder why I married a man who thinks from his a_nus... who, you're not man enough."

Uba and his younger sister eavesdropped on their conversation, "Dad and Mom are not just compatible" He told his sister.

"Abii, I don't like the way she talks to Daddy disrespectfully..." His younger sister replied.

They both ran into their room when they heard their father's footsteps.

Now, I was in the kitchen trying to fix dinner; I gazed at the utensils, not knowing which one to take - I felt a touch on my shoulder; I turned to see Ike behind me, "I know you're confused," He said, laughing.

I hissed and shrugged my shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm here to help you..." Ike said reassuringly.

I refrained from him, "What if she walks into the kitchen and sees you standing here with me? You know your wife is very dramatic..."

"She wouldn't dare, please, shall we begin the cooking?."

I watched keenly as he pounded the yam energetically, his cheek contracted as he did that joyfully.

Dinner was ready an hour later - I went to inform Aunty Amaka about it, "Ma'am, dinner is ready."

She was on the bed, and her back leaned against the wall; her eyes were fixated on the phone, "Go away - I'm not hungry," She said without raising her head.

Uba and his younger sister rushed out of their room to the dining table - it was obvious they had been very hungry - "Dad, the food is very delicious..."

Ike felt so proud, "Thanks..."

"Who prepared it?" Olaedo, Uba's younger sister asked between mouthfuls.

"I did..." Ike answered almost the time she had asked the question.

"Wow - you're an amazing cook..." Uba complimented.

They fell silent as they ate their food; Ike's phone that was on the center table rang, and he pulled back his seat and headed toward the table.

Uba probed curiously, "Amara, where is my Mom? And why is she not eating with us?."

"She said she's not hungry" I answered him.

He muttered incoherently making it difficult to understand what he said while Olaedo concentrated on her meal.

Ike was on the phone with a client, they discussed for a while and when he was done with the call, he proceeded to the dining table to continue his meal.

Uba cleared the table, to my greatest surprise, and even when I tried to assist him, he said, "Amara, Mom is not here to order everyone around, so allow me to do this simple task..."

The father nodded his head in approval, "That's my son," He said, giving him the thumbs up.

Before going to bed, Ike and I came up with the best way to go to the chambers without being caught - "I will return to the house by the time Amaka leaves in the morning..."

"How would you know when she leaves the house?" I inquired.

"I know her schedule so don't panic."

At the chambers, we met with the eloquent-looking barrister Nonny, she welcomed me and gave me a seat.

After we had exchanged pleasantries, she got down to business, "Did your father make a will before he died?."

"Hmmm, I don't have an idea; I can ask my Aunty," I told her.

She tightened her face, "No, you don't have to do that..."

Ike had to interfere, "Nonny, how do we know if her father made a will before he passed?."

This time, her smile brightened her face, "I need details about her father and then I will make inquiries about him...."

Ike tried to explain who my father was "Ha, her father was a well-known man in the city...." Nonny interrupted, "What was the name of the father?."

"Chief Okoli" Ike answered quickly.

"Is it the same Chief Okoli and Sons enterprises?" Nonny further asked.

"Yeah, it is the same person," Ike replied.

"A friend of mine had informed me that he made a will a few months before he died..." Nonny revealed.

Ike and I looked at each other, "There is a way out to our problems if only we don't give up."

Story continues...

Tales of An Orphan

Episode Five

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