Chapter Three

Both Martha and Doris were exhausted after walking around in the busy market almost all day.                                      Having decided that it was better to go home and get started on dinner, Martha hand-selected some things off the list, and immediately they made their way back home. Doris planned to get a good rest before Dorine could come back so she could get back to the daily hustle of her life however, it appeared that Martha had other plans in mind. 

"Since it's your first day with your new family, why don't you prepare dinner for us? I'm sure you will have a great idea of what to come up with" 

The revelation had the younger woman's eyes almost falling out of her socket.

'Was this her idea of a joke? Could she read my mind and know that I do not have the slightest idea of cooking.' She thought. 

She opened her mouth and closed it again. Words on what to reply failed to leave her lips. Suddenly her hand flew to her head, she began scratching the human wig she wore furiously; it felt like her scalp was burnt. She cracked her brain on what to say to the older woman and how to escape from this sudden responsibility, but none could come into mind.

"So, what do you suggest we cook? There are ingredients for chicken stew as well as melon seed soup, which do you think the family would prefer, for dinner?" Martha asked Doris without sparing her a glance. She was busy sorting out the foodstuffs from the bag they returned with, that she did not notice the beads of sweat forming on Doris' forehead. 

Doris went quiet, afraid she might say something that would give Martha the wrong impression. 

"Ma'am Udochi..." Martha called out to Doris to be certain the lady heard what she previously said. There was still no reply from the woman with her in the kitchen. She walked closer to the place Doris stood; next to the big white refrigerator and touched her on her left arm. Doris shook from the impact, surprising Martha.

“Is something wrong? What's on your mind...your husband? Don't fret so much because he's already on his way with your parents-in-law” She moved back to her initial position by the cooking gas burner. 

"Bia, come let us start somewhere," Martha said with a note of finality. She felt for the younger lady, she did but it was time the new bride got over her sadness and realize that a new life awaited her.

Doris seemed to have gotten over her emotions and picked up a black chiffon apron hung by the nail beside the kitchen door. She walked towards Martha to help her prepare whatever it is they're preparing. 

"So?" The older woman asked, raising one of her brows at Doris. 

For a minute Doris was left perplexed, she wondered what Martha was asking from her until she remembered that there was a question she left unanswered. "Melon seed soup would be better." She replied; much to the older woman's approval. Martha smiled softly at her choice. 

“Wise decision, dear.” 

After Martha helped in the preparation, she left the kitchen for Doris to carry on with the rest. Despite, the help of Youtube tutorial videos, she was certain that the meal came out wrong. She knew nothing on how to make it better, but wait to hear the feedback from Martha, Matt, and his parents. 

"Uhmm! This was...okay, considering it's your first time." Mr. Raphael Udochi, Matthew's father said.

Whether that was a compliment or not, Doris had no idea and the truth was that she couldn't care less.

She has been more engrossed in the thought of Dorine calling her phone and requesting that they swap places again, she hasn't even given any thought to whatever happening around her.

The pathetic attempt she made at cooking could be easily noticed before even tasting the meal. The melon seed soup was almost really burnt and the stench still hovered all over the dining and kitchen. The soup which was meant to have a yellow and green colour, turned out to look brownish and green and also tasteless. Well, if one prepares an almost burnt food it loses all its natural taste and bears the taste of char. Doris was yet to understand why they have not given her the evil eye already.

As far as she knew, Igbo culture never condoned ill-mannered girls in any family; by ill-mannered, she meant a girl with bad cooking skills. It is said that a woman that can cook good food can keep her husband. That is what the old women believe but the reality here was that she was not Matthew's wife. 

Speaking of Matthew, he has been really quiet after the trip. He only acknowledged her with a peck on her cheeks after asking how her day was. She replied in the usual cold and monotonous tone she used whenever she was around him and since then he has left her alone. That was a good thing but right now she doesn't feel so good about it anymore. He couldn't ignore her in this critical moment. 

Matthew's mother, Mrs. Ruth Udochi was beautiful, classy-looking, fair in complexion, chubby with a small layer of fat around her neck and arm regions. She was almost stout and held a pair of dull brown eyes but she was also very lively and had a soft voice. She was staring so intently at Doris, it was like she had a feeling that the woman before her was not her actual daughter-in-law. 

"Tell us, how did you meet our son?" She suddenly spoke. 

To Doris, that was a question only a foreign woman would ask her daughter-in-law, not a Nigerian mother. Never a Nigerian mother. She was tongue-tied, how does she answer a question like that? 

"Ruth...stop it. That part of their life is not our concern for now." Mr. Raphael sounded a warning note to his wife. 

"Okay then, tell me what do you do to earn a living?" She probed further. 

"I...uh...I...."

'For goodness sakes, why am I stammering?' She inwardly cursed her nervous state. She looked to Matthew for help but he was mostly focused on the plates of food placed before him. 

She cleared her throat to get her voice before she continued. "I am a businesswoman," She managed to give such a lame answer. 

"What business?" The woman directly facing her, who toyed with fufu in her hand, continued asking. 

"I'm into the import and export of fabrics and clothing materials," she replied. That was Dorine's line of work therefore not bad that she stole her sister's identity for only a short while. 

"Oh that's nice, my son as you should probably know now is into the clothing and fashion world. I'm guessing that's how the two of you met each other." The woman confirmed. 

Doris never knew the true story about her sister and Matthew's relationship, she was never close to Dorine for her to hear such a story but she hoped that when Dorine returned later tonight, she would get their lives straight again. 

Hope was her last and only consolation right now.