On Saturday, Sola woke up quite late. By the time she would
open her eyes, it was almost 8am. She did not see Paul on the bed and she
assumed he was in the bathroom. After staring at the bathroom door for about
ten minutes and hearing nothing, she got out of bed and as she opened the door
Paul was standing at the door.
“Good morning darling.” He smiled
“Morning. I woke up late. I’m sorry.”
“No need to be sorry. I know you would be quite exhausted
from last night so I decided to make you breakfast.” He dropped the tray he was
carrying on the bedside table and pulled her close.
“My beautiful wife.”
She blushed.
“My handsome and wonderful husband.”
She pulled his head down for a kiss and turned him around.
She pushed him on the bed and got on top. She started kissing him.
“Sola, the food.” Paul reminded her.
“Forget the food.”
And they made love again.
***
***
***
Sola rested on her husband’s arm as she tried to sleep. He
was already asleep. She reflected on the day and the whole week and sent
prayers up to the heavens. The dramatic
turn in the past week still surprised her. She knew that Paul had always blamed
her for getting pregnant. And when her parents had found a way to contact his
parents when he had stopped picking their calls, and their parents had forced
them to get married, Paul had made up his mind that he would never forgive her.
But she had loved him. And she had hoped that he would come to love her with
time. Paul was simply courteous and nice to her in the first few months of
their marriage, mostly because she was pregnant. By the time they would get
married, Sola was already four months pregnant. The marriage was not so good
but at least Paul was being nice to her. Everything had crumbled when Sola
noticed that that the baby wasn’t moving in her belly anymore. She knew it was
not normal and she had taken herself to the hospital where she gave birth to an
already dead baby. She came home to an empty house and Shade, her twin sister
had stayed with her for the next month. She was devasted, not only had she lost
her baby, Paul had left the house. After a month, Paul came home and Shade
left. Paul just treated her like she was invisible and once a while, when he
was in a good mood, he was courteous and nice to her. He even bought her a gift
once from a business trip. He forbade her from working and she dared not bring
friends home. She stopped going for parties and occasions because she was
ashamed and she lost most of her friends. Paul gave her an allowance every
month which was just enough to purchase the groceries for the house and for her
to buy her woman necessities. She had a car but she hardly ever went out except
to go to the market, run little errands and the occasional visits to her
family. She was already getting tired of the marriage and wanted out. But she
was scared of being alone for the rest of her life. She was raised by Christian
parents and she was a deep believer. She knew that the bible had said that that
divorce is allowed only on the grounds of adultery. That one would work for her
because she knew her husband was always with other women. The bible also said
that except a woman is a widow, she cannot remarry. A woman that remarries when
her first husband tis alive has committed adultery. Sola did not want to be
alone for the rest of her life. She was too young. And so she had prayed and
prayed and prayed. She had faith. But she was already beginning to lose hope.
There was after all no difference between being in her lonely marriage and
being alone. She would always be lonely. So she was already making plans to
leave and then without an explanation, her husband had changed for the better.
Today had been the best. Since it was a Saturday, he had not gone to work. He
had made her breakfast and they had made love before they headed out. They went to the movies, they strolled around
the mall, they shopped, and they got massages. Paul insisted that they eat out,
and Sola suggested a restaurant. He rejected it saying that he knew a
restaurant that had nice food. He took her there and though the food was not
very nice, Sola was pleased that she was spending time with her husband so it
did not matter. It was just opposite the complex she had been to just the start
of the week. That seemed like such a long time ago. She dropped a light kiss on
her already asleep husband’s lip and drifted into a peaceful sleep herself.
**** ****
**** ****
Sola felt a tap on her shoulder and she opened her eyes. She
saw that her husband was already fully dressed.
“Oh Paul. You are ready for work. I slept late so I couldn’t
wake up early. Do you want breakfast?” Sola started.
Paul stared hard at the woman lying in his bed. He felt
repulsed by her and he felt dominant over her. She was a stupid woman and he
rue the day it had happened. From the day he had met her to the day he had
slept with her to the day he had married her.
“Paul, why are you looking at me like that? What did I do
wrong?”
As Sola tries to get out of bed Paul pushes her back into
it.
“Sola, you are evil and devilish. I rue the day I met you. I
know you trapped me with that pregnancy. You knew I was not ready to commit to
a relationship. You then decided to seduce me and tie me down with your dead
baby producing womb. You loved me. I could see it. But I did not love you. I
never did and I never will. My life has been a torment since I married you. And
then despite the fact that you are my wife, living in my house, spending my
money, you still had the guts to cheat on me. Oh yes I know about your
cheating. I saw you the other day in front of that shopping complex. You and
that tall man. I saw you gazing adoringly into his eyes. And as stupid as you
are, I took you to an eatery just opposite the complex to pass you a message
but you just did not get it. Did you think I fell in love with you all of a
sudden? That would never happen and you know it. This past week is just to show
you that you will never meet any man like me. I can make you and I can ruin
you. I am travelling for two months and by the time I get back, I want you out
of my house and my life. Don’t take away my youth from me. I want to enjoy it.
I will transfer some money into your account before I leave the country. Sola,
leave.”
Sola looked dumbfounded and could not mutter a word as she
watched Paul’s retreating back as he left the room. She sat staring at the door
for about ten minutes before what happened dawned on her. She screamed, fell to
the ground and clutched her chest in pain. Her heart felt like it was going to
explode. She sat there on the floor and cried her eyes out. She cried for her
husband, for her marriage, for her dead baby, for her parents. She cried
because she knew the past week was a lie but she had held on to faith and
believed that all was well. She sat there for hours and starting gathering her
belonging.
****
****
****
****
Paul was unpacking when he heard a knock. He wondered who
knew he was back from his trip. He had called only his parents when he had
gotten back into the country earlier that day. He hoped it was someone
unimportant. He was exhausted from the flight and from the work he had done
while on his trip. He had hoped to come home, eat, unpack and sleep. He opened
the door to see his estranged wife Sola. She looked better than he expected her
to look. A well-built man was standing behind her.
“Well Hi there.” Paul greeted, wondering why Sola had come
with a body guard. To beat him up? She wouldn’t dare.
“Hi. Your parents told me you were back so I came over.”
“Okay. You want to come inside?” He moved aside for her to
make her way through.
“No thank you. I just want to have a quick word with
you. Johnson please excuse me.”
The man behind her move just a few steps away.
“So you came to me with a bodyguard? What a romantic
welcome.” Paul joked.
“Very funny. Look, I just came here to tell you this. That
man you saw me with was not anything more than he was. And that is a house
agent. I was looking into getting a store to start a business of my own instead
of sitting at home and being your little wife. I wanted out of this marriage
and I wanted to be self-sufficient before I left your house. I am not a stupid
woman as u said. And I am not a witch. I did not make life hard for you. You
made life hard for you. We could have made this work, but you never tried. You
were caught up in your childishness of wanting to paint the town red. I am a
person of integrity which you obviously aren’t. I did not cheat on you, I never
did. I am not even getting the store anymore. I am leaving the country for
good. And just so you know, I am pregnant. But it’s probably not your baby since
you say I cheated. It is probably for that person I cheated on you with. I have
good news for you. Here are the divorce papers. Feel free to sign them as soon
as possible and contact my lawyer.” She handed the papers to a shocked Paul.
She looked at her husband of four years and she slapped him
hard. Johnson rushed to her side as Paul raised his free hand to hold his face.
“Goodbye Paul.”
Paul watched as Sola walked away, with her head held up high
and her back straight. Just as her aunty taught her.
THE END
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