Chapter 20: Your Worth As A Woman

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Your Worth As A Woman

The wind was still blowing under the tree.

Flora stood with her hands folded, looking at the two people in front of her. Maya was crying, her hands shaking.

The garden was quiet except for the wind.

Flora looked at Maya and couldn’t hold her disappointment over her.

"You think I’m being mean, Maya?" Flora said, her voice heavy. "Let me tell you something."

"I remember growing up in Nigeria before I relocated to the UK. No one dared to talk about loving a man in front of my parents."

"One time, a boy wrote me a love letter. My mother saw it and rubbed dry pepper on my buttocks. I cried for days. That fear never left me until I grew up."

"Even when my cousins wanted me to come to their house for holidays, my mother never allowed it."

"My father’s brother never liked my mother. They said she was too strict and overprotective. But when I grew up, I understood. My mother is the reason I became who I am today. She didn’t allow me to be misled."

"That’s why I am hard on you, Maya. I don’t want you to be misled."

Maya felt her mother’s words deeply.

"I know what I want, Mom," Maya said.

"You don’t know what you want," Flora replied. "It’s because of the system here. Back in Nigeria, a man approaches a woman, not the other way round."

Flora moved closer, her voice softer but firm.

"You are lucky you said it to someone like Simon," she said. "If it were an indisciplined man, he would take advantage of your vulnerability. You should be worried about your studies, Maya, not this."

As they were talking, Simon stood beside a tree, looking tense already.

Flora breathed out. Her words had already been harsh. She tried to calm her nerves.

"Maya," Flora called softly.

Maya raised her red eyes. "Yes, Mummy?"

Flora’s voice was calm, but it was the calm voice that every child knows is final. "I have heard you. You said you love Simon. I have heard it."

Maya wiped her tears quickly. She thought her mother had accepted it. "Mummy, I really love him. I swear."

Flora nodded. "I understand your feelings But Maya, feeling is not enough. You think love is about how your heart jumps. It is not. In this life, a woman’s worth is what keeps a man. Not her tears. Not her fine face. Her worth. Tell me, what is your worth right now?"

Maya frowned because her mother wasn’t understanding her feelings.

Flora looked at Maya and said, "You are just 22 years old and in today’s world, love should be the least of your plans."

"Simon is a driver. His salary cannot even afford a Birkin bag. But if you invest your feelings in your studies, you will be a boss chick , you will travel around the world and can afford luxuries and not a tool for Andrew or any man to achieve their manipulative goals."

"Maya, Andrew knows you are clueless and don’t have eyes for details because you have allowed these strange, stupid feelings to turn you into a dumb girl."

Maya started shaking again. "Mummy, you are insulting me because I said I love Simon?"

"I am not insulting you. I am educating you," Flora said. "If you were a woman of worth, Andrew would not have been able to use you like a weapon against this house. You would have seen his plan. But you could not see it because you are still a child playing with love."

Maya looked at Simon, expecting Simon to defend her. Simon did not raise his head.

Flora continued, "So I have made a decision. You will be going back to the States. You will go and stay with your grandmother in Manchester. Since it’s close to your university. Your school is resuming in few months, so you will go there and stay till resumption ."

Maya’s eyes opened very wide. The tears that were small before now became heavy.

"What?" Maya shouted. "You want to punish me by sending me away? Back to Manchester? Because I love Simon? Mummy, no! No! I don’t want to go back there! I want to stay here! Please!"

"Maya, you are not being punished, you are being saved," Flora said firmly. "If Simon loves you, he will wait for you till you graduate and further your masters.But if he does not wait, then you will know he never loved you and you will heal. A woman of worth does not chase a man around her mother’s house. She builds herself and the right man will see her worth."

Maya cried, her voice shaking.

"My feelings are not attached to my worth. They are rooted deep inside my heart. It doesn’t matter!"

"It matters," her mother replied. "You don’t know what you are doing to yourself. Your future is in your mindset, Maya. You can’t afford to destroy it. Don’t make me go hard on you."

"No! I will not go!" Maya cried loudly, holding her mother’s hand. "Mummy please, don’t send me away. Just don’t send me to Manchester. I hate it there. Grandma is too strict."

Flora pulled her hand away from Maya hand but not with ease

"Maya, go inside your room," her mother said, her voice trembling with anger and pain. "I don’t want to see you in this garden right now."

"You are breaking my heart, Maya. Every time I look at you, I see a girl throwing her future away for a feeling that will not last. Do you want me to fire Simon?" She asked

Maya looked at Flora, then at Simon, tears running down her cheeks..

"Simon, please tell Mummy," Maya begged. "Tell her you..."

Simon did not answer. He could not.

"Maya! Leave now!" Are you this shameless! Flora raised her voice, thunderous and shaking with anger.

Maya covered her face with her hands and ran. She ran on the grass back to the house, her slippers making noise, her shoulders shaking.

Grace who was peeping from the kitchen quickly ran away so Maya would not see her.

Now the garden was quiet again.

The tree stood still. The wind was still blowing Flora’s hair around her face.

It was just Flora and Simon standing under the tree.

Two adults alone.

Flora looked at Simon. Simon slowly raised his head and looked at Flora. His eyes were red too.

For the first time that day, there was no shouting, no crying child between them.

Just a woman and a man who both knew the truth that the daughter did not know.

Maya’s voice could still be heard from inside the house, but in the garden it was quiet. The wind was still blowing Flora’s hair. She allowed it to blow. Her face looked tired, not angry again. Just tired like a mother who has fought too many battles in one day.

Simon looked at Flora for a long time. Then he looked at the ground. He was enveloped in thoughts...

He admired her from head to toe.

"God... you are more beautiful than this whole garden," he whispered to himself.

He imagined the day she would finally become his queen.

"This thought lives in my heart," he muttered. "And I believe one day it will become reality. It will find its home."

He clenched his fist.

"No. I am not ready to give up. Not even Maya’s feelings for me will stop me. I have to follow my heart."

He scoffed.

"If she fires me a thousand times? I will find a million ways back. Back into this house... and back into her heart."

His face hardened as he thought of Andrew.

"Andrew... I will not allow your plans to prevail. I know what you are planning to do to her. But you will not succeed."

"You will have me to contend with when the time comes."

He sighed, his voice becoming soft again.

"I am falling deeply for her... but she doesn’t even know yet."

He broke the silence.

"Madam," Simon said. His voice was low, not shaking again. It was the voice of a man who wants to speak .

Flora raised her head. "Yes, Simon."

Simon took one step closer, but not too close.

"Madam, I want to tell you something I observed today. "Simon said.

"I hope it’s not about what just happened. If it is, just shut up," Flora said.

Simon shook his head. "No, it’s about another thing."

Flora looked at him. "What is it, then?"

Simon looked back to make sure nobody was coming from the house.

"Madam, when Andrew came into the living room today, I watched him closely when he stood beside the big flower vase. That big white flower vase near the television. The one with the artificial roses ."

Flora nodded.

"Yes, I know the flower. What about it?" Flora asked.

Simon swallowed. His face was serious.

"Madam, I saw Andrew drop something very small like a black button inside the flower. He did it when you turned to look at the clock before asking him to leave. I was looking at him. I saw his hand go inside the flower quickly and out."

Flora’s eyes opened wide.

"What did you just say, Simon? Andrew dropped something inside my flower?"

"Yes, Madam," Simon said. "I am sure. It was very small Like a stone. But it was not a stone. It was shining . At first I thought it was nothing. But now when I think about it, Madam... I think it is a camera. Or a voice recorder. I think Andrew is watching this house. Or listening to every conversation."

Flora’s heart started beating fast. She put her hand on her chest and walked fast towards the main house. Simon followed her

"A camera? Inside my living room? Inside my own house? Simon, are you sure about what you are saying? This is serious."

Simon nodded. His face was hard.

"Madam, I am not 100% sure it is a camera. He did it on purpose. And Madam, there is one more thing."

Flora moved closer to him now.

"What other thing, Simon?"

Simon looked at Madam Flora but doesn’t know how she will feel about it . At that moment,he knew it was time to stand as her strength, not her clutch.....