My Sugar Baby – Episode 19 by Ngozi Lovelyn
And Dimma continued praying.
‘Lord please, don’t allow him to stop this business just like he stopped me from writing my JAMB exam by getting me arrested for a crime I knew nothing about” And remembering that incident, she paused, to allow her tears to passed out freely from her heart. And she continued.
Then, Mrs Edith couldn’t help but start feeling for her. She asked for them to leave.
While they were leaving, she felt a need for her to stop and have a chat with Dimma. She then asked the workers to leave, that she will be with them later and they left. She stood by the corner watching Dimma who was praying, pouring all her heart to God.
After she finished praying, on raising her head up, she saw Mrs Edith Offor who was giving her a faint smile.
“Oh! Good afternoon Ma. I didn’t know you are here”
“How would you know when you were deep down in the spirit.”
“I was only dedicating the place to God, for him to take absolute control. I will be starting on Monday.”
“Oh, I see”
“Yes. And please Ma, pardon me that I haven’t come to thank you specially for how God used you and your husband to bring smiles into my life again.”
“It’s nothing my dear. And speaking of that, I heard things you said about your brother when you were praying, may I know why?”
Dimma tried avoiding the question, because it was somehow to her discussing about her brother with a non family member, but she forgot that Edith heard everything..
“No, it’s nothing Ma, I was only asking God to bless him.”
“I heard everything you know, so you don’t need to lie to me.”
Knowing she got her, Dimma began narrating everything that happened. And Edith was shocked on why Ugonna could be so mean as to hurting his sister like that. She then encouraged Dimma, giving her some advises. She omitted his encounter with Ugonna, because she knew that telling her about what Ugonna told her could mean an endless feud between siblings, so she hid that part from her.
Later in the night, Ugonna was listening to hear when his mother will be telling him something about Dimma’s eviction from the place, but nothing was heard.
Few minutes later, when his patience had dried out, he then called his mother and began asking her whether Dimma told her anything regarding her restaurant, and she said yes.
“She said that Mrs Edith, the wife of the man who owns the…” Before she could say further, he cut in
“Really? So finally, she did it. I told her that I’m her elder brother, that whatever I say in this house, stands. Nobody challenges my authority, thanks Mrs Edith, you have done an awesome job”
Ngozi was totally confused, she then smiled, thinking that he was referring to the sam thing Dimma told her about Edith.
But she kept wondering why her son was so excited about it.
“Does it mean he has finally forgiven Dimma? Wow! I thought that he was mad that Dimma’s restaurant will be near his own, but he is acting entirely different. Dimma told me that Mrs Edith was so nice to her and here, Ugonna is talking about the same woman. Maybe God used her to reconcile them. Thank you Lord for finally touching their hearts” she appreciated and then opened her mouth to ask him how Mrs Edith was able to convince him, but he was already with his phone, trying to make a call.
‘Excuse me Mama, I need to make this call now” he said
And Ngozi quietly left his room.
On Saturday, Ugonna went to Diogor’s place and met with her family, where he took the list for the marriage rites. On that same day, they fixed a date for the traditional marriage ceremony.
Diogor was so excited, she couldn’t wait to finally be Ugonna’s wife.
It was Sunday, a day before Dimma’s Dish grand opening. After returning from church, she headed straight to the place to fix some other things. Ugonna wasn’t aware of what was going on. He thought that Mrs Edith had completed the task for him.
Later in the evening, he discovered that Dimma had been missing the whole day.
He then asked his mother about her whereabout.
“She is at her new restaurant, you known that she will be opening it tomorrow. So, she is there with her friends who will be helping her run the place for the mean time”
“What?”
“Yes.. You are aware of it, right?” Ngozi asked
“Aware of what? I thought you said that Mrs Edith has….ha……..oh no! Does it mean she…..she…….”. He began stammering..
“She did what?” Ngozi asked, requesting him to finish his sentence.
“I will be back Mama… I’m coming” he said heading inside, wore his cloth and left..
He went straight to Mrs Edith’s shop, but found it closed.
It was on Sunday, and many shops don’t open on Sundays. It would have been easier for him if her shop was open.
“How do I meet her now? I forgot that today is Sunday, they don’t open on Sundays. But what happened, why didn’t she stop Dimma again? And I can’t go to their house now, her husband will be there, I also don’t have her number. This is not good for me, I will certainly die of heart attack because of this girl. How do I meet this woman now? She is my only hope of stopping Dimma. I really need to see her to ask her what happened.” All his efforts to see her went futile.
“Wait! Maybe, she was waiting to strike her at the time it will hurt her the most. Yes, maybe, because no woman will hear such things about her husband and remain quiet. Yes… I didn’t thought of this earlier”
And then, a feeling of hope overshadowed his heart and he went home.
The next day, Dimma was getting ready to leave, and Ugonna was looking at her, smiling in his heart.
“Poor thing, I’m feeling sorry for you, you don’t know what awaits you today”
About 1pm, he went to his restaurant to know how things were going on there, but what he heard threw him off balance.
They haven’t sold up to N3000 that day.
News circulated that Dimma was opening her restaurant that day and people were trooping in to the place.
“What? But its 1pm, what is going on.. What happened?”..
“Sir, your sister… She is stealing our customers” Ebube said..
On hearing that, he left straight to Edith’s shop without replying to what Ebube said.
When she saw him, she gave him a harsh disgusting look and asked him to leave her shop at that instant.
“What?”
“Yes, leave… So you want to use me to destroy your sister? God forbid… Look at you, what type of man are you?”
And knowing what was happening, Ugonna tried controlling the situation.
“Hold on Ma, don’t tell me you allowed her innocent look to deceive you? That girl is a viper and can be cunning and manipulative.. Don’t worry, you need proof right? I will definitely get one for you”..
“Are you still here? I said leave my shop now or do you want me to call my workers to throw you out? Stupid man..” She barked angrily at him….
And Ugonna continued saying: “Don’t worry, I will certainly get proof for you.. And then you will know that she is not to be trusted. I will leave to return with proof”
And he was burning in anger.
Asking God why he created Dimma just for his destruction.
Dimma’s Dish grand opening was a success. It went in a way she never expected. Many of her former customers launched the place for her, and supported her with an amount that enabled her established the place to a modern restaurant. The customers who missed her at “Lick Fingers” where happy to see her return to business.
CLICK HERE if you missed episode 18
My Sugar Baby by Ngozi Lovelyn
To be continued
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Copyright: ngozilovelyn.com 2018
