BEHIND THE FINE FACE
EPISODE 18
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“Godwin, how long have we been married now?” Grace questioned. Her harsh stare still very much intact, when I was finally completely awake.
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This was a little odd. Surprising even. Throughout my years with Grace, she has never, ever called me by my name. In fact, I had never imagined how my name would sound when spoken by her. And right now, Grace has just called me as though she had given me that name, which could only have meant one thing. Trouble.
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Despite the fact that I was well aware that Grace’s question was rhetorical and probably intended to draw attention to something I had done wrong, I made an effort to answer her.
“Whatever it is, for it to have earned me a sit down in the middle of this night, it must really be bad.” I thought to myself as I fumbled with words, trying to answer Grace’s question.
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I was right. Grace didn’t allow me to complete my thought before she went on.
“Do you still think that some things should be for your digestion alone after so many years of marriage, Godwin?” Grace asked, in a manner I’d rather she hadn’t.
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I kept quiet.
The entire time, I kept switching my focus between Grace’s eyes, her lips, the floor, the ceiling, and back to her eyes. Even though I didn’t know where Grace was going with this, at this point I had a good idea.
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“After you got married to me, I consciously decided never to bring up issues related to your past marriage, having noticed how very uncomfortable you get whenever it is up for discussion, and to think that you have been dealing with this past for so long now, right under the same roof as me, Godwin, and you didn’t think it important to have brought it to my notice? What if the situation is actually more complicated than you think? What if all of these are not in the light in which you’ve been seeing them? If everything you’ve told me is true, what if you and Rachel have been reunited again for a purpose other than what you or Bobby already think it is? “What else have you been hiding from me, Godwin?”
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Grace lashed out at me in a way I had never seen her do. Her look of disapproval at what I’d done was smeared with anguish, fury, and betrayal of trust.
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Every time I attempted to counter or defend myself, Grace’s subsequent remarks invariably came first.
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Grace became furious and expressed her disgust with greater fervor the more I tried to argue.
“Tell me, Godwin. What on earth have you been doing, hopping from one house of devotion to another? Uncle T, the same Uncle T you’ve made me realize never got along with you? When did you get to the point where he had to sacrifice himself for your battles, Godwin?
At this point, Grace became overly animated. She began to overreact. “Oh, my goodness! Godwin, do you know that I am not safe with you any longer? What else do I need to know that I don’t? If you can conceal this much from me for so long, Godwin, you are as well capable of killing me?”
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Grace began to wail. But wailing never stopped her from continuously chastising me.
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I just sat there, staring, as my wife went on and on, expressing her displeasure in a manner that broke my heart.
I knew I should have told Grace about all of these as soon as they became known, but since I didn’t, I didn’t expect this reaction to be my fate when I eventually told her. Besides, I had my reasons for keeping all of it away from her.
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I eventually had a chance to speak, but I hardly had time to complete it.
“Baby, I sincerely apologize. I know I ought to have told you about this a long time ago, but after a lot had transpired and I hadn’t, I made the decision that it would be better if I gave you the full story than a condensed version. We took a very long time to schedule this meeting with Prophet U.C. Kenneth, and when we did, I knew that…”
Grace interrupted my seemingly rehearsed speech even before I could finish that thought.
“… For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Bab… Godwin…” Grace spurted, as though having realized that there was nothing “baby” about me at that moment. “The contradictions in that man’s purported revelations are so obvious from everything you’ve described about your contact with him that I’m baffled as to why you, one of the smartest guys I know, aren’t noticing them.”
“Inconsistencies ke. How na?” I managed to mutter.
“According to him, you were always bound to toil but never rip anything good, yet, before you eventually met and got married to Rachel, you were doing very well for yourself. In your own words, you’d amassed so much wealth that even if you decided not to work for the rest of your life, you’d still be able to meet all of your basic needs. Inconsistency number one, Godwin…”
To be continued…
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Moshood Avidiime
