THE UNFAITHFUL HUSBAND ππ
Written by Henry Zibima
Episode 25
Jennifer’s POV
“That’s not even what I want to tell you” Damian said “everyone in the university knows about what he does but there is the particular girl that he takes very seriously. Most people say he’s planning on getting married to her”
“Hmm, I’m very skeptical about this your story o Damian. So do you know the lady’s name?” I asked doubtfully
“Yes…her name is Sonia”
My brain immediately recognized that name; I quickly brought out my phone from my purse and clicked on my gallery. I scrolled down till I got to the picture I was searching for.
“Is this her?” I asked very tensed
“Yes” Damian answered. “That is the lady”
I was shocked to my bones and immediately rendered dumbfounded; the air conditioner was on but I began sweating profusely.
“Do you know her?” Damian asked but I was still too shocked to give him a response. I was lost for words.
“Ma?”
“Yes…yes, you were saying?”
“I was asking if you know the lady”
“Not really, I just had my suspicion”
“That’s what I wanted to tell you; some of our family members are aware but they just thought it wise to leave you out of it for the mean time”
“Hmm” I sighed, what a shocking revelation this is. In just less than a week; I’ve discovered very apalling things about my husband. Where have I gone wrong that Femi is considering getting married to another wife, Damian poured out the yoghurt into the cup and shifted it towards me.
“I’ll be taking me leave now” I stood up with urgency.
“What about your drink ma”
“You’ll have to take it inside because I’ve already lost my appetite. Tell your dad I’ve gone”
“Okay ma, please take care of yourself”
I walked hastily to my car without saying a word to anyone. I wasn’t even in the right state of mind to drive; left alone for me; I would just take public transport.
Through out my journey, I couldn’t help but remember my conversation with Damian. I cried and cried to a point where tears filled my eyelids and my vision became blurry. To think that Femi also engaged in the act of sleeping with students for marks stunned me; added to the fact that he wanted to marry another wife just destabilized my entire body system.
The excessive crying led to a headache and I could no longer think straight. “WHY ME??” I shouted out loudly in my soundproof car. Where have I failed as a mother and a wife? Why am I being treated this way? All these where questions I kept asking myself over and again.
I felt very dizzy and absolutely weak, I became very light headed and suddenly nauseous. From all indications; I was about to pass out, I placed my head softly on the headrest to regain my consciousness as everything began blurring out around me.
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I was so glad when I finally drove into my compound; at some point I felt like I was going to just faint on the way. I was no longer myself; I came down from my car and staggered inside the house.
“Welcome” came Frank’s voice from the sitting room. He gave me a close look and his countenance immediately changed, he must have noticed that I wasn’t okay.
“Thank you” I replied “Is your dad back”
“Yes but he went out; to get something I think” he answered.
I dragged myself to my bedroom while my son watched closely. I saw pity and concern in his eyes. I went straight away to my room; threw my purse inside my wardrobe and dived unto my bed.
Instantly, I remembered the dream I had some time ago. The dream where Femi was getting married to a second wife; God gave me a sign but I never took it seriously. Deeply lost in thoughts; the musical ringtone of my phone sounded nearby. Due to the burdens weighing me down, I forgot to remove it from my purse.
I got up from my bed quickly as I could so as not to miss the call. I got to my wardrobe; reached for my purse, brought my phone out and speedily answered the call.
“Hello” came the voice from the other end of the phone; it was Ijeoma my very good friend. How we became friends I can’t even recall; the only thing I remember is that we once lived in the same neighborhood.
In time past, we had helped each other on a lot of occasions. I’ve used my position in my workplace to help some of her loved ones get employed and she was also did likewise. As fate would have it; we became like sisters from different mothers.
“Hello, good afternoon” I greeted.
“Afternoon, how are you doing”
“I’m fine” I said weakly; I tried but I couldn’t help the melancholy in my voice.
“Are you okay, you sound very gloomy”
“I am okay; by God’s grace” I replied.
“Jenny if anything is the matter, feel free to let me know about it”
“Ijeoma I am fine, you don’t need to be worried about me”
“Jenny, I’m your friend o, you shouldn’t keep problems to yourself and die alone. You never know; I could be your helper”
I gave it some thought then I concluded I should share my problems with her; maybe just give her a hint of what is going on. Who knows, it just might cheer me up.
“Fine, I’ll tell but I want you to keep it to yourself; please don’t share it with anyone”
“Ah ah, Jennifer don’t you trust me again. Me, Ijeoma; why would I tell anyone. Your secrets are safe with me” she said.
“Okay, I have heard you. What I’m passing through right now is a very big challenge, you talked about the possibility of you being my helper but I honestly don’t think you have the solution to what I’m facing right now”
“How will you know when you’ve not even told me the problem, even if I don’t have a solution; I could still render some advice”
“It’s alright, since you’re so persistent I’ll tell you. Huuhh” I let out a huge sigh before I continued “Just this morning…” I paused “I discovered that my husband has plans on getting married to another wife”
“JESUS” she screamed “how did you get to know about it?”
“Nevermind, you won’t know”
“Jennifer this one is a shocker o, but why would he want to do such a thing; it’s not like you were not able to bear him kids or you were not able to bear him male children; that would have being understandable. Why then does he want to take in another wife?”
“That’s exactly the question I’ve being asking myself, where have I failed? Why is such a thing happening to me?” I said soberly.
“Jennifer just take heart; everything will be alright, just take heart.”
“I’ve heard you” I said in a shaky voice.
“So what do you plan to do about it”
“Nothing” I answered plainly “from the things I’ve heard about my husband the only available option seems to be divorce”
“Divorce?? That shouldn’t be an option for now na. You’re only giving your counterpart the freewill to go ahead and marry your husband. Have you suddenly forgotten all the stories you told me about what you and your husband passed through, then now that things are rosy; another lady wants to occupy your position and enjoy what belongs to you. And you want to give up; just like that. No now, fight! Jennifer, fight for what belongs to you; fight till the end. Don’t back down except he starts domestic violence”
“I think you are you right there”
“Of course I am”
“Why should I walk away just like that? I have to get up and take what rightfully belongs to me”
“That’s the spirit dear. I have to go now, I wanted to speak to you about one of my relatives looking for a job but since you are not in the right state of mind we’ll sort it out later. Just take care yourself ok?”
“Yea… thanks for your advice and concern. I really appreciate”
“It’s nothing, what are friends for, just stay well. We’ll talk later” she said.
As soon as the call was over, I got up from the bed and wiped my tears. I I have to stand for myself; I said, no more shedding tears; they won’t change a thing.
****
In a few minutes time Femi entered the room; I must have been so lost in thoughts; I didn’t even know when he arrived.
He was with a bag filled with ironed clothes, my best guess was that he had just collected them from the dry cleaner but where did he intend to go to with all those clothes. I saw him place them in his wardrobe and bring out an envelope from his briefcase. He just ignored me and behaved like there was nothing going on between us.
I didn’t mind either, I sat upright on the bed, folded my hands and tapped my foot against the floor repeatedly. Femi handed me the envelope and finally spoke up.
“I was picked to be among the supervisors for the upcoming nursing professional exams, you can read the letter in there if you’re in doubt but that’s not the point I want to make; I’ll be out of town for a week or more and when I come back I don’t want to see Esther in this house. And as for you; we’ll settle our scores when I’m back. Tommorow I leave for Abuja”
“What scores are you talking about? Ehn Femi?” He remained silent and refused giving me an answer. “Femi I’ve found out about all your evil doings, Femi nothing can be forever hidden under the sun. I just don’t know what I did to you to deserve this, where did I offend you” I asked, Femi still didn’t respond; infact he began whistling just to piss me off.
He acted like he wasn’t paying attention but my next statement sure instilled fear in him.
“I have one question for you Femi and I need a straightforward answer. Who is Sonia??”
Horizontal lines immediately appeared on his forehead and his jaw went slack. His entire body began screaming panic……
*****
TBC
