“Buchi, you are a very big fool like your mother. I accept that I am a village girl but I ‘don tear eye reach back, ye ye’ people,” Chika said.
All my life, I had dreamt of marrying a woman I truly loved and cherished. I wanted to build a happy and loving home where love is key. My dream in life was to live ‘happily ever after’ with my wife. But did I live my dream?
I am the only child and son of my parents. I was well to do but I was so engrossed in my work that I had no time for a serious relationship. But trust my mother, the only song she sings whenever I visit her in the village was, “Chukwudi, Nnamdi, Emeka and so on are your mates and they are all married. Are you not ashamed of yourself? You are almost 40 years old. I want to carry my grandchildren before I die. Buchi, give me grandchildren.”
When I noticed that being unmarried was beginning to affect my mother even though I made sure she lacked nothing, I decided to start a serious relationship. Annie and I work within the same complex and we have been friends for some time. I liked her person and was convinced that she was going to be a good wife so I decided to try my luck with her.
I invited her out on a lunch date; there and then I told her my intentions. “Annie, we have been friends for some time and I have fallen in love with you. Let me go straight to the point, I want to marry you. What do you say?” I confessed. She was too shocked to even say anything. “You can take time to think about it,” I told her. Two weeks later, she gave me a positive answer on the phone, “Buchi, yes I will marry you.”
We made arrangements to visit my mother in the village at least to put smiles on her face. I was so happy that I would be getting married in a very short time to the woman I loved. We bought foodstuff, wrappers and provisions to take home. When we arrived at the village, my mother was excited to see me, especially with a woman. She was very receptive and wanted to know who Annie was. I introduced her as my fiancée and told her all about Annie. “Mama, meet Annie my fiancée. She is from the South West and we plan to marry soon.” “Buchi, you cannot marry this woman. You have to marry a woman from our village. A woman who speaks the same language with you would understand your culture better,” she said.
I tried to make her understand but her mind was made up. She told me she would look for a girl from a good family for me to marry. We left the village two days later. Annie told me it was obvious my mother does not like her.
Anyway, to please my mother, I got married to her best friend’s second daughter, Chika. “Chika is a good girl from a good home, respectful and domesticated. I am very sure she would make a good wife and also make you happy. You only need to brush her up to suit your person,” she advised.
My mother told me how Chika helps her out with the house chores, fetch water, firewood and run other errands for her as well. So, in her opinion, she was the best woman for me. Although, I loved Annie, I had to obey my mother’s wish. In less than three months, Chika and I performed our traditional wedding. Three weeks later, we had a quiet registry wedding and a thanksgiving service in church.
Chika true to my mother’s words was domesticated and a good woman. We were very happy together and I transformed her into what I wanted her to be: my woman. Everything about her changed from her hair, clothes to her physical appearance and I also bought her an expensive phone. I was thinking of enrolling her in a JAMB/SSCE class when things changed.
Chika became a total stranger four months into our marriage. This happened immediately after her mother visited us and left. Chika started talking to me in a very rude manner, she stopped preparing my meals and even if she does, it would either be watery or peppery. To crown it, she would not put meat or fish in the food. If I complained, she would tell me I nag like a woman.
One day we went to a friend’s house and when asked what she would like to drink, to my surprise, she said “shine shine bobo if you don’t have that, you could get me big Stout.” I was shocked because I know her to drink only malt or soft drink.
While I was yet to come out of that shock, Chika turned herself into a prostitute in my own house. Chika, my wife informed me I have to start paying her if I have to sleep with her. “There is a new rule you should know from today. And that is if you must touch or sleep with me, it is pay before service. ‘Na so I dey do am for village. I don’t care that you are my husband. You have to pay me if not, nothing dey mega’,” she revealed.
At first, I thought it was all a joke. “Can you imagine paying your wife to sleep with her?” I paid her a few times because I am not into women and I wanted her to get pregnant so that my mother would see her grandchild. But, I guess I was mistaken. It was all a ploy to extract money from me.
Also, Chika became excessively demanding too. She wanted to buy whatever she sees in fashion magazines such as shoes, handbags, weave-on, wigs and other accessories, forgetting that they are very expensive. One night, she told me she wanted a particular shoe she saw. “Buchi, I want to buy this shoe this fine woman is wearing because it will fit my legs,” she said. “Bring the magazine let me see the shoe you are talking about,” I said. It was a Louboutine shoe and I told her it was too expensive she should forget about it. She tormented me until I bought something similar for her.
When I couldn’t bear it any more, I travelled home and reported her to my mum and her’s too. Her mother just told me to give her some time that she is still very young and thus, behaving as such. Surprisingly, when my mother visited us, Chika slammed the door at her and said, “Old witch what are you doing here. Why didn’t you give us prior notice before coming?” My mother was astonished.
When it was time for dinner, Chika informed us that food was set on the dining table. But when we settled down to eat; we noticed water in all the plates. “Chika, what is this? Where is the food? I think you are beginning to go crazy,” I screamed. I almost hit her when my mother admonished me not to because that was exactly what she wanted. “Tell your witch of a mother to go and cook for you. Do I look like your house help?” she yelled.
All Chika does is watch movies, drink and smoke all day long. Sometimes, she would just play music and dance until she runs out of strength, while I just sit and watch her especially at weekends. When I get hungry, I quietly enter into the kitchen and prepare my food because she does not care whether I exist or not.
To make matters worse, the other day, I heard her telling someone on the phone that while she was trying to carry out an abortion with some drugs in the village, she had her womb damaged. “The last abortion I tried to carry out with some drugs in the village affected my womb so I can’t even bear children. Buchi’s mother would wait for grandchildren all her life until she is six feet below (laughing). I will show Buchi and his mother ‘say I be village girl wey don wise up’.” God, I felt so stupid and betrayed.
Today, my mother regrets why she asked me to marry Chika with all that is happening. Apart from becoming a total stranger, Chika cannot bear children. She fooled us with her innocent village-girl look.
I am still unsure of what Chika’s mother told her that made her change overnight. To make matters worse, she has even refused to disclose if my mother or I did anything wrong to her so that we can apologise. So, where do I start from to solve the problem? My dream of ‘happily ever after’ is actually a dream.
No comments:
Post a Comment