Oluchukwu lowered her head. Her fingers continued picking at the dirt beneath her nails as though she could somehow uncover the right words from the earth.
"He married her, claiming to love her. We all believed him. My father believed him. Chidera believed him most of all."
Her voice trembled.
"But we later discovered that the marriage was only part-payment for the debt my father owed him."
Ego's face hardened.
"How much did your father owe him?"
Oluchukwu shook her head.
"I don't know exactly. My father never told us. But Mazi Obiora reminded him of it whenever he wanted something from our family."
She paused and swallowed.
"For the first few years, Chidera tried everything to make the marriage work. She cooked for him, worked on his farm, fetched water, took care of his household, and gave him two daughters. Beautiful girls." A faint smile appeared on her face but disappeared almost immediately. "But because she did not give him a son, everything changed."
"How?" Ego asked.
"He began beating her."
The words came out almost as a whisper.
"At first, it was only during arguments. Then it became normal. Sometimes he beat her because the food was late. Sometimes because one of the children cried too much. Sometimes he simply returned from the farm angry and took it out on her."
Ego clenched her jaw.
"Did nobody intervene?"
"People did."
Oluchukwu looked up.
"My mother begged him. My father spoke to him. Even some of his friends warned him. But he always said the same thing."
"What?"
"That Chidera was his wife and that nobody had the right to tell him how to treat her."
Ego sighed.
"And then he married another woman?"
Oluchukwu nodded.
"Yes. He said he needed a woman who could give him a son. The second wife gave birth to two daughters."
A bitter laugh escaped her.
"Two more daughters."
Ego shook her head slowly.
"So he had four daughters and still blamed your sister?"
"He said the gods were punishing him because Chidera had brought bad luck into his household."
"That is nonsense."
Oluchukwu nodded.
"I know. But he doesn't believe it. He became obsessed with having a son. He started visiting dibias. He offered sacrifices. He bought herbs and medicines. He even accused Chidera of secretly preventing him from having a male child."
"And now he wants to marry you."
Oluchukwu's eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
"Because of the debt?"
"That is what he told my father."
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"He said my father still owed him and that since he had already taken Chidera as part payment, I should become the final settlement."
Ego stared at her in disbelief.
"Your father agreed?"
Oluchukwu remained silent for several seconds.
"At first, he did."
The answer struck Ego harder than she expected.
"And Chidera?"
"She begged him not to give me to Obiora."
"Did she tell him what was happening in her marriage?"
"She didn't have to. Everyone knew."
"Then why would your father agree?"
Oluchukwu's voice became barely audible.
"Because he said a debt must be paid."
Ego looked away.
There was something deeply disturbing about the simplicity of those words.
A debt must be paid.
As though a daughter were no different from a goat, a bag of grain, or a piece of farmland.
"How did you escape?"
Oluchukwu took a deep breath.
"When my father told me that the marriage had been settled, I refused."
"And what happened?"
"He beat me."
Ego's eyes widened.
"Your father?"
Oluchukwu nodded.
"He said I was bringing shame upon the family. He said Obiora was wealthy and that I should consider myself lucky. He said many girls would pray for such a husband."
She laughed bitterly.
"Lucky?"
She looked down at her torn wrapper.
"Is this what luck looks like?"
Ego had no answer.
"I waited until everyone went to sleep," Oluchukwu continued. "Then I took nothing with me except the wrapper I was wearing. I left through the back of the compound and started walking."
"For four days?"
"Yes."
"You didn't eat?"
"I ate when strangers were kind enough to give me food. Sometimes I drank from streams. Sometimes I found fruits. But most of the time..." She stopped.
"You were hungry."
Oluchukwu nodded.
"I didn't know where I was going. I only knew I had to keep moving."
"And how did you end up here?"
"I followed the road until I saw your workers. I was too weak to continue, so I sat beneath a tree. They found me."
Ego looked toward the direction of the farm.
Akidi had been right to be cautious.
But caution did not mean cruelty.
She turned back to the girl.
"Do you have anywhere else to go?"
Oluchukwu shook her head.
"My mother is dead. My father will send people to look for me. If they find me, they will take me back."
Ego remained silent.
She understood that fear.
She knew what it meant to have nowhere to run.
For years, she had survived because someone else had occasionally decided that she deserved kindness. She had once been a poor widow with no one willing to stand beside her. Now she possessed wealth beyond anything she had imagined.
Perhaps this was what the gods had intended.
Not merely to change her life.
Perhaps they had given her enough so that she could change the lives of others.
Ego reached out and lifted Oluchukwu's chin.
"You are not going back."
The girl stared at her.
"Nda?"
"You heard me. You are not going back to that man."
Oluchukwu's lips trembled.
"But my father..."
"Your father is not here."
"What about Mazi Obiora?"
Ego's expression hardened.
"If he wants to come here and collect you, he will have to come through me."
Oluchukwu's eyes filled with tears.
"Why would you do this for me?"
Ego smiled faintly.
"Because someone once did the same for me."
She stood and dusted her wrapper.
"Come. You need food, proper clothing, and a place to sleep. We will deal with everything else later."
Oluchukwu hesitated.
"You mean I can stay?"
Ego nodded.
"Yes."
The young woman suddenly fell to her knees.
"Nda, thank you!"
Ego quickly pulled her back to her feet.
"Don't kneel before me. You are not my slave."
She looked at the girl's battered appearance one more time.
"And from today, nobody will treat you like property."
For the first time since arriving at Ego's farm, Oluchukwu smiled.
Neither woman noticed the figure standing some distance away among the yam stalks.
Akidi had stopped working.
He was watching them.
And judging by the expression on his face, he had heard enough to know that trouble had just walked into Ego's household.