SOCHI AND THE EYE SURGEON (SHORT STORY)
Sochi gave special care to cleaning her room at Emekuku, Owerri that Saturday morning. It had been three weeks since her NYSC passing out parade and she was back at the lodge where she spent her undergraduate days. She had sublet it to another girl while she did her service in Ibadan.
Why did she not remain in Ibadan or go on to Lagos? She wanted to be close to her widowed mum at Mbieri. She had no job yet, but she was hopeful that something would turn up soon. Agric. Extension workers were needed to help the federal and state governments build the capacity of local farmers for more efficient cultivation and storage practices and to boost livestock farming. In the meantime, she had begged her landlady to permit her the use of the small portion of land at the right side of the compound to run a nursery where she would tend and sell flowering plants. “But I may not have to do that if everything goes well today,” she dreamed.
She put up new yellow cotton blinds on the wooden windows, spread a new mauve-coloured bed sheet on her 8-spring mattress. She wore one of her Sunday outfits- an Ankara caftan with matching scarf and borrowed two extra plastic chairs from her landlady for her prospective visitors.
She was really looking forward to the meeting that lay ahead. It could change everything for her. And for her struggling mum, a pretty trader with three children to cater for.
Presently, she heard a car pull up in front of their compound. The house was a single row of rooms and hers was at the far right end, so she could see the SUV that arrived. She came to the front corridor that ran the length of the rooms and caught the attention of her pastor as he alighted from the passenger side. The driver was a slight, bespectacled man, to whom Sochi took an instant dislike. She found her strong initial reaction to him curious. He stood at about an inch or two less than 5 ft. (which wasn’t the issue as she was only 5 ft. 2” herself).
But she beamed a welcoming smile, went to receive the gentlemen and carry her pastor’s Bible. She curtseyed and shook hands with the pastor, who introduced her to the fellow with him.
“This is Dr. Onwuegbule, the brother I told you about. Doc, meet my beloved daughter in the Lord, Sister Sochima.”
Sochi shook hands with the doctor and they said, “Pleased to meet you,” to each other. She then invited the guests to her room, where she presented them with crackers, digestives and malt drinks.
After a short prayer in which Pastor Iweka asked God to prosper their visit, the short doctor dominated the conversation while they ate. He talked about his medical school days in Scotland and his residency training in Ireland. He spoke of his ministry with the Salvation Army in the UK and in Nigeria. He underscored the importance of his work as an eye surgeon and described how busy he was as a consultant with his own practice.
Pastor Iweka was forced to listen to what Sochi felt pretty sure he had heard many times before since he had said the dear doctor was his close friend. Once she realised he wasn’t going to ask to know more about her, Sochi feigned interest and inserted well-timed questions that kept the garrulous doctor going for the better part of three hours. Not once did he address the purpose of his visit. Did he, perhaps, reckon it was settled, Sochi wondered.
When Pastor Iweka reminded him he would be driving back to Aba that day, Dr. Onwuegbule stood up to leave, gave Sochi his card and by sheer insistence, obtained a promise from her that she would come to see him soon at Aba.
While he was trying to extract that promise, he took a closer look at a cork board on the wall where Sochi pinned cards and pictures. He took an old 5 × 7 portrait picture of her from the board and although she wailed that she loved that picture so much and had no other copy of it, he absolutely refused to pin it back. Even her offer to find him another picture could not dissuade him. He said it was the best depiction of her and he absolutely must have it. That was the same reason she loved the picture. Taken when she was in SS 1, it was a slightly profile view that captured her beautiful smile and doe eyes. The light was also perfect and showed off her chocolate brown skin resplendently.
In addition, Dr. Onwuegbule took a scripture card based on Proverbs 17: 22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine” (NIV). He said he needed it to cheer up one of his patients. Sochi told him that he could share that verse with the patient but he countered that it was more effective in graphic form.
“Don’t I know it?” Sochi muttered, because she had chronic rhinitis and regular bouts of malaria for which she got the card to remind herself of the importance of joy in healing.
***
It’s been five weeks since that fateful Saturday and Sochi has been dodging Pastor Iweka to date. She hasn’t gone to Aba and she doesn’t want to tell the man of God what she thinks of his eye surgeon friend.
She knew the pastor meant well when he invited the doctor. He was concerned about her; he wanted to “settle” her, as they say. But Sochi feels she would rather remain single and unemployed than marry such a “selfish and conceited” person. To her, the guy is completely tone deaf! All that matters to him is what he wants, how he feels, everything else is trampled on.
As an introvert, Sochi doesn’t mind someone doing most of the talking, but she feels crushed when that person won’t listen to the little she has to say and completely disregards her words. That is not how she plans to live out her days.
She figures that she is not as naive as her eyes make folks think, but she has no stomach for fighting and she feels the good doctor needs someone that will stand up to him and put him in his place.
Besides, he had driven all the way from Aba in his 2015 Ford Expedition SUV (he mentioned the particulars in his endless talk) to see a jobless sister and he didn’t buy even a loaf of bread for her! Sochi marked that omission as very significant.
She feels that what matters in life is not people’s titles or status but their ability to show kindness, compassion and be considerate of others. She sees the doctor as uncaring and the “loss” of her favourite picture to him as a precursor of many other losses if she marries him. In her view, saying “I do” to such an insensitive man would be a surrender to servitude.
-The end-
© Edith Ugochi Ohaja
Credit for picture in featured image: Nicholas Githiri on Pexels
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Hope you enjoyed reading this story. I’d like us to chat about it.
***Do you think Sochi is reading too much into what happened on that Saturday?
***If you were in her shoes, what would you do?
***Kindly advise her as a Christian.
I really enjoyed this story. I, like Sochi, dislike people who act like the said Doctor, not to talk of having to spend the rest of my life with such person. I started disliking the guy when he insisted on taking the picture. For Christ sake, he only got to meet her for just some hours. Who does that? I was pissed off by that –very selfish.
Me too! All that self-praise is off-putting and the picture thing cut deep.
That is a nice story, ma. I think the doctor needs to be tutored on the need to listen to others as he talks.
Good afternoon ma. I think the guy was just carried away or felt he didn’t deserve her,so he had to mention those qualifications or better still the guy is a narcissist.Whicheverway I think she should be honest and tell the pastor what she thinks about the guy.As for not visiting him,she did the right thing.She can’t just pack her bags and visit him in Aba just because he came to her house once. If he is serious,he should try getting her number from the pastor to ask her why she is behaving that way or better still visit her again and try to know her better.My opinion though.
Nice comment. Thank you!
I’ll make sure I collect my picture back from him, but his mission? ABORTED!
???
You no go show mercy?
Exactly oh
No play oh. You’ll keep it
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Am glad reading this article, motivated that Sochima knew what she wanted in Life despite the circumstances she’s facing.
Lots of girls use marriage as an escape means to survive not minding how challenges may result.
Someday God will match Sochi with her destined partner that sees life in the same direction with her.
Nice prayer. I pray it for all my young friends and other singles searching for spouses in Jesus’ name.
Nice piece that has kept me on suspense to know how it’s going to end. Thank you ma’am for sharing. Am not Sochi but the man got disqualified by trying to show dominance when he collected those things despite her plea, Omo I see in him someone that would not allow his wife voice out her feelings
He certainly didn’t make a good impression. Maybe he thought he didn’t need to, as per church girl that will just do as pastor says.
It’s good to see that she knows what she wants and recognises what she doesn’t. He is not emotionally intelligent at all.
He is full of himself, but she should pray at least and talk to the pastor.
She even let him have the picture.
Omo you’ll put it back oh
Rubbish!?
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Life should be a field of kindness , may God help us as we consider each other..?️
Amen.
Omo, she would really lose more if she accepted him, it’s really a “no” oh, I no do?
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The man got disqualified for trying to show dominance when he collected those things despite her plea, he is someone that would not allow his wife voice out her feelings which is not right.
I also enjoyed the story and the comments that followed. I believe the doctor made several serious errors that
day with Sochi. He spoke only of himself and spent hours doing so and then to take her photo, was very unkind. While this was only one visit, I think the doctor gave Sochi a rather sad view of who he is as a person.
Thank you, Edith for sharing your story. The young lady pictured in the photo is very beautiful and if she is
Sochi, I pray she holds on to what her heart is telling her.
Thanks for your reasoned contribution. No, the girl isn’t Sochi. It’s a stock picture from the Web and the story is fictional. 💖
A popular maxim says, “first impression matters a lot”. Also, it’s better to marry late than marry wrong. Sochi is right in her decision over Dr. Onwuegbule’s attitude and first approach.
She seems a very perceptive young woman. Many rush to get married without paying close attention to the character of their proposed spouse.
It was a case of a man with inferiority complex. He had been rejected by so many that he wanted to cling to something of Sochi’s so as to keep a hold on her, so to speak. The more she expressed her love for the picture the more he clung to it. I believe that beneath that facade could have been a good man who craved love and acceptance. Who would bell the cat?
The story didn’t say that Sochi had a relative or a friend in Aba, so I was surprised that the Pastor raised no objections to the doctor’s invitation to Sochi to visit him
You made some nice points. You may be right about the doctor’s craving to be loved but he was bullish about it, wasn’t he?
On the other point, some pastors in churches that have branches in many places with parsonages often assume that brethren going there will report to the parsonage in the city visited. Cheers!
Sochi is decisive young lady. She paid attention to those little details which helped her come to the conclusion that the man wasn’t what she wanted.
Yup!
The man didn’t make a good impression at all and that made Sochi’s hatred for him to grow more.
1.The doctor is full of himself and centers so much on his achievements. He is not even willing to change because he feels that Sochi is just a local girl from a poor family.
2. Sochi’s character here has taught me that your background is not enough reason to enter into any relationship that will cause you pain and regret in the future simply because you want to make ends meet. Rather, you should know what you want as a person and don’t be willing to compromise.
I really enjoyed the story, i feel the doctor didn’t really understand the purpose of that visit. It was meant to be an opportunity for them to get to know each other and not just for him to babble.
I like your use of the word, “babble,” 😃😃😃
Sochi did the right thing, first impression matters. Some young girls wouldn’t even notice the red flags; as long as the guy has money, there’s no problem.
Taking cognisance of the tiniest detail matters a lot.
What you can manage, tolerate or want matters a lot in whatever you do in life
1. I don’t think Sochi read more meaning into what happened. First impression matters, which the Dr. overlooked. From this story we can see that he is actually a self-centered man who would always like to be in the light while overshadowing the rest.
2. If I were in her shoes, I could have done same. She was actually rational and never allowed the wealth of the Dr. get into her. She weighed and discovered that the cons would be much if she ends up with the Dr. She thought about the future and finally arrived at the right conclusion.
3. As a Christian, I would advice her to put God first in all she does and keep trusting in Him. He never comes late or comes too early. He alone knows what is best for us and will settle us at the right time if we keep trusting in Him.
Well the doctor is wrong for just focusing on himself and that he should learn to listen to others and Sochi’s character has taught me that your background is not enough reason to enter into any relationship that will cause you pain and regret in the future.
Imagine this man, so full of himself,
That picture she should have collected it, no matter what ….
But I like her.. she never let his wealth get to her, it’s not easy to say no to that in this our generation.
The man is just a show off, And Sochi’s calm attitude towards him is better
Actually what Sochi did is actually the right thing, for those are the little things that matters in every marriage or relationship.
As a Christian I would suggest Sochi should detach herself entirely from him as her heart doesn’t even accept him in the first place.
Very interesting story.
Firstly Sochi was caught up in a surprise of the pastor’s visit with his eye surgeon friend. Then the surgeon friend could not comport himself and hear her out. Showing off his titles and status, where he schooled and the rest without even asking her a thing of her self. How bad! This is a path no one should tread upon, the path of pride. At the end of the days, Sochi decided to rather reminding me that doing with the eye surgeon. Thank you so much for this piece.
Sochi decided to rather reminding me that doing with the eye surgeon? (Sonething must be missing here.)
The doctor did not do well, collecting a lady stuff on 1st visit does not speak well of you
As a Christian, I would advice her to put God first in everything and keep trusting in him.