JEREMY
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Episode 14
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“Since his second wife was unable to bear him a child, my father decided to marry a third woman. The fourth experienced the same outcome, which brought about his fifth. It was previously believed that my mother was involved in each of these. It was exceedingly challenging to persuade anyone to accept anything other than what seemed clear to them because everyone was well medically. My father had already started to display his nasty side, but his full metamorphosis did not occur until after his fourth wife, who had only recently entered his life, also failed to bear him a child. His vicious behavior thereafter knew no bounds. Mother claimed that he always hits her whenever he gets the chance, and that he has even admitted her to the hospital several times as a result of these beatings. Maybe I would have had a different opinion of that man if these were just stories about bad things that happened before I was born, but that wasn’t the case. I was raised observing every aspect of this part of him. Everyone else regarded him as a saint, a wonderful example of a leader and a husband, while we saw him as a masquerade and a demigod.”
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After heaving a sigh, Jeremy continued, “Honey, I’ve personally observed domestic abuse. I had made that commitment as a result of this. I vowed never to touch a woman or subject her to the abuse my mother endured at the hands of a man who had once declared his undying love for her. I continually consider methods to make it up to you and convince you of how sorry I am whenever I recall what I did to you the other day just because I had let my rage get the better of me. I’m aware that many people think that once a guy hits a woman, things can only get worse, but I swear it won’t happen to me. I hope you understand that what happened was only a brief period of weakness.”
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I observed as clouds of tears started to form as I fixed my gaze on Jeremy’s eyes. In his behavior, I saw just honesty.
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I had repeatedly assured Jeremy that I had forgiven him. He appeared to have trouble accepting the idea that I could.
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“Baby, what happened has already occurred. While we cannot undo anything that has already happened, we can take steps to prevent future occurrences of the same thing from happening. The only way you can actually say you’re sorry is that way. I believe you. Iโm sure you never meant for any of it to happen. So for the umpteenth time, baby, I forgive you.”
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Jeremy thanked me while flashing a worn-out smile.
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“Was your father’s behavior toward these other women the same as it was toward your mother?” I inquired in an effort to encourage Jeremy to continue his tale.
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“Sincerely, I don’t know. We lived as a closed family. Only when we had to attend certain public events and make appearances did we actually get to see each other and spend time together, and even then, we always behaved ourselves. We always maintained our personalities, giving the impression that we are a big, happy family to everyone who wanted to look.”
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“Did these other wives have kids of their own?” I pushed Jeremy to provide more information by asking.
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“Yes. Hmmn! As faith would have it, my mother and all of his wives conceived at the same time. With the exception of my mother, who had a girl, they were all parents to bouncy newborn males. This girl would become Diana. As anticipated, my father’s happiness knew no bounds. He reportedly went around praising these other wives’. It would have been reasonable to assume that he would give my mother some leeway given the birth of all these children, but that was not to be the case. He probably wasnโt expecting a female child, and his avarice would prevent the four children he already had from seeming like enough. He completely forgot about all the great times they had together prior to his reign as king. All the emphasis was on the other wives. He paraded them and their kids. He spent his free time with them, allowing my mother to take care of my two older sisters alone.”
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“You mean you currently have four older brothers?” I queried.
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I can’t be held responsible for my intrigue. I wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing anything that Jeremy was conveying. I didn’t want to leave any boxes unchecked since I had the one person in the entire world who could put everything into perspective sitting right there in front of me, and we had the entire night to ourselves before Jeremy was scheduled to return to his job.
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In response to my impatience, Jeremy grinned. His head shake served as an indication of “no, I don’t.” My interest was aroused even more by this.
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“How? What ever became of the four of them?” I was able to murmur.
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Jeremy said those words, which caused my jaw to hit the floor while maintaining a straight face.
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“All of them passed away on the day I was born.”
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“Huh?”๐ซค
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Moshood Avidiime
They all passed away? How?