THE MISTAKE OF MY MOTHER
The Mistake Of My Mother -Episode 7
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She looked at him for some seconds with a scowl on her face. All the hurt he made her feel went surging back to the surface and she burst into tears but he did not release her wrist, still waiting for her to stand up looking menacingly at Francis who sat bemused at the way things were unfolding.
Olamide: “Come with me, we need to talk now!” he bellowed without taking his eyes off Francis.
Ahunli: “Take your hand off me you scum. I have no business with you right now. can’t you see I am in the middle of an important discussion?”
Olamide: “You mean you are planning to give my baby to another man? Who does a thing like that?”
Immediately he said that, Francis’ flared up with anger, he stood up, yanked her hand off his grip and pushed him back aggressively. They were already making a scene and even I was getting embarrassed.
Francis: “Get out of here while I am still being nice” he raved with his eyes boring into him like a hot coal.
Olamide: “Ahahaahah…look at this one. I am only being nice because of the lady here. So behave yourself while I take the lady home” he stepped forward again, pulled her up and started dragging her out.
Ahunli: “Okay just leave me alone. I can walk on my own” she snatched her hand from his iron grip and looked back apologetically at Francis who stood transfixed on a spot.
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Ahunli: “So what is all these about?” she asked with hands akimbo when at last they got to his apartment.
Olamide: “Nothing at all” he said smiling sheepishly or he pretended to smile sheepishly. I felt like kicking him at the place it would hurt him the most, even though I didn’t know where that was.
Ahunli: “What do you mean by nothing? Why did you drag me down here like this? How did you even know where I was?”
Olamide: “Ajuju…keep asking me questions okay?”
He switched on the TV and tuned in to Disney Junior. He loved cartoon like crazy I thought I could actually start falling in love with him for that.
Ahunli: “I think I deserve to know though”
Olamide: “So you expected me to leave you to give my child to another man? That will never happen not while I am alive” he said proudly.
Ahunli: “Why are you being so heartless and self-centred?”
Olamide: “Well, a heartless person will surely be self-centred”
Ahunli: “Hmmmmmm so what do you want me to do? Be a single mother?”
Olamide: “Don’t you know it’s what will soon be in vogue? See I am watching cartoon so don’t disturb me”
I began to boil within. ”Mum just kick him in the butt and walk out”
I yelled voicelessly but of course she didn’t hear me and even if she did, she wouldn’t have listened anyway. Her hope of them being together had started seeping in little by little until it became a full-fledged faith.
Ahunli: “Do you want to accept responsibility of it?”
Olamide: “I guess you are also dumb. What have I been saying all these while?”
She jumped up with excitement not minding the fact that he called her dumb. I recoiled inside trying to protect myself from flying out untimely.
Ahunli: “Then that means we are getting married?”
Olamide: “No!”
Ahunli: “Oh I see!” she said disappointedly as the excitement she had felt earlier vanished into thin air. “So what are you trying to do then?”
Olamide: “Take care of my child of course”
Ahunli: “How about me?”
Olamide: “You have a father, don’t you? All I want is my child, you go and meet your dad too”
Ahunli: “You are really pathetic”
Olamide: “I know I am, don’t tell me you are just knowing?”
Ahunli: “I really can’t stay single with pregnancy. My parents would disown me. Please let’s get married. Marriage don’t kill, hope you know that?”
Olamide: “So I have heard many times but contrary to that, I have read so many news about how men are being jailed and women killed cos of marriage. Well, they were dumb enough to get married”
Ahunli: “We are not going to be married per se. it will be a contract marriage, I just need to show my parents I am married. So we will get a divorce after two years. At that point, you will be free to do whatever you want just like when you were single. I wouldn’t infringe on your space I promise”
He stared at her for a long time in unbelief then shook his head. Probably thinking she was running mad. I thought so too. Or don’t you think she is really running mad?
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After much persuasion, he agreed and they got married in a small registry despite her parents wanting to make it as big as they could being the first marriage in their family not to talk of it being that of their only child. She was able to convince them and that was how she found herself in the sham of a marriage without letting anyone talk her out of it. Alexis had tried all she could to talk her out of her decision…
Alexis: “Dear, you know I love you right?” she said one Wednesday evening on their way from work.
Ahinli: “Yes I know”
Alexis: “So you should know I’d tell you the truth no matter what. Don’t get married the way you are about to. It is not right. How could you have left Francis for someone like Olamide? Please retrace your steps”
Ahunli: “It is too late to do that already. I will marry him and I have faith that within that two years, he will surely fall in love with me and decide that we shouldn’t divorce aftral. You just sit back and watch as things will unfold. I will surely have the last laugh” she said giggling from ear to ear thinking of how it would be like living with her prince charming and being called his wife even though she didn’t find it so fulfilling that they were getting married with such conditions. She was still grateful it was the start of something good for her.
Until the day of their wedding, Alexis kept trying, Francis kept pleading but all went through one ear and came out from the other or should I say they didn’t even enter one ear at all? Maybe they bounced off.
She kept going to work despite me who kept growing healthily inside her. Every day, she would make sure she got back home before him to prepare dinner for him and make sure she looked as sexy as she could despite her already protruding belly but his attitude was yet to change towards her. it was just like the time she used to visit him; no much conversations, nothing like tender touches except during sex just that that time, even the sex seemed to have stopped no matter how much she pleaded with him, he always found a way to ignore her.
She was still lying on a bed full of roses without even knowing it. One night, she waited for him far into the night to get back from work. She sat outside at the veranda waiting for him at about 11:45pm. She was already dozing off despite the mosquitoes who had vowed to suck out every pint of blood in her veins when his car horn honked outside. The gate man who had begged her on countless occasions to go inside but she had dismissed him with a wave of the hand opened the gate for him effortlessly. His car pulled over at the tarred compound and from the front glass, she could see that he was not alone.
She quickly stood up and went inside, laid on the longest settee and pretended to be asleep. The two of them staggered in laughing hysterically at the jokes they were probably cracking in their heads. She could perceive the strong odour of alcohol oozing out from their mouths as they laughed. The lady paused at the foot of the settee she laid on…
Lady: “Who is this? And why is she here?” she heard her tiny voice say.
Olamide: “Is anyone there?” He said and staggered back from the bedroom. “Oh! Wake up, cant you see I have a visitor?” he said tapping her roughly on the shoulder. She sat up, looking like a lost sheep in the midst of wolves.
Ahunli: “welcome back”
Lady: “Who is she?” she shrieked. Acting like a child whose Barbie doll had been snatched from her at a village playground. My stomach tightened and untightened. Wished I could punch her in the face.
Olamide: “She is my uhmmmmm. She must be a maid. Come let’s go inside baby. Leave her in here by herself” he tried to draw her towards the bedroom but she jerked his hand off.
Lady: “Then why is her stomach so big? Okay tell her to sleep outside. I don’t want her in here” she said drunkenly and staggered forward, unable to stand upright.
My mum hissed and tried to walk to the bedroom but he drew her back…
Olamide: “Go and sleep outside now. Even I don’t want to see you, you look disgusting compared to the babe here” he yanked her towards the door.
Ahunli: “You really mean this? I should sleep outside? What’s gonna happen if anything happens to our daughter?” she spoke at last looking bewildered and yeah they already knew I was going to be a girl. Yeah a girl…I am a girl.
Olamide: “Then I’d kill you” he pushed her out into the cold night and bolted the door after her. She wore nothing but wrapper around her chest. She looked around the compound shivering and heartbroken yet unable to shed a single tear. She saw a rag by the window and used it to clean the tiles right in front of the door where she saw was best for her to lay on that night.
In the middle of the night, just as soon as she fell asleep after tossing from side to side because of the cold and the hard floor, she felt a hand roaming through her bare thighs. At first she thought it was a dream but a hand clasped around her mouth and her wrapper was yanked off her body with the speed of lightening…
To be continued!
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