Cursed Desires 2
It is apparent that Joy’s curses were getting at Uche. From all indications, the pregnancy he denied fifteen years ago was actually his. Joy clearly said he would never produce kids and that’s what my friend is facing. I couldn’t have been responsible for Joy’s pregnancy. I laid her just once!
Uche has been unable to make babies since he married Lizzy his wife. It’d been seven years since they tied the knot at St. Francis Xavier’s. They’d been to many prayer houses, adoration grounds and places that are known to them but no child was forthcoming.
At the eleventh hour, Uche remembered the incident that took place fifteen years ago back in the village. And he had to call me on phone. So unfortunate! Men need to be careful with the way they treat ladies. I’d always known that things would turn out this way for my friend.
He didn’t treat Joy good at all. Now he was coming back to lick his own stool. I already produced three kids in my six years of marriage. My businesses may have flopped many times but I was doing well. At at least I have a job that has kept me and my family at a reasonable standard of living. Uche was the victim here. His family has been on his neck as regards his wife’s barrenness. His mother has even suggested marrying him another wife.
Now the issue on board, is that we trace Joy in the village. It’d been fifteen whole years! How could we easily trace out someone we’d long forgotten? I scratched my jaw uneasily. I have gotten dressed to go over to Uche’s place so that we slapped the table on how to embark on our faceless journey.
But for hours, I’d been enveloped in the cruel memories of the treatment meted out to the poor 19 year old girl back then. The Okoye was a family of high repute. They simply sidelined anything that could make a dent on their son’s image. With their rigid backup, Uche completely denied ever having any infamous affair with Joy. The poor girl was handicapped. She was left to her poor parents who had very little to offer.
I’d seen her in several occasions, Hawking one thing or the other in her condition. My parents didn’t have much. More reason I didn’t leave the village with Uche to study in the city. I was only able to leave the village a year after he left home. In this one year, I spent a lot of time in the village hustling too. At a time, joy stopped appearing. I stopped seeing her anywhere in the entire village. When I asked about her, I was told that she’d travelled to her aunt with the pregnancy. I knew how unfriendly life had been to her in her parents’ house.
Now, the issue is how to go about locating her. She must’ve been married away to a man of some sort in a far away land. I heaved a deep sigh then poured the remaining wine in the glass down my throat then returned the bottle to the fridge. I called out to my wife and told her to come take care of Nelson who was already protesting against my outing. It’s a battle I’d always put up with the 2 year old cutie each time I was going out.
I got to Uche’s place. We already knew how to communicate to ourselves. His wife didn’t have to know what was going on. He materialized from his bedroom with a swollen face. He was in much agony. I could read through his bloodshot eyes. His wife tried to meddle in the game but we already knew our ways around. We told her we were just going for a committee of friends meeting somewhere in town.
All we needed was a privacy so we could properly plan our movements. If we were going to the village, we were bound to spend a week or more. We also needed to come up with clever excuses for our wives.
We knotted things up in a day and left for the village. On our way to Uche’s compound, we saw a woman with a familiar face…
