Read the previous episodes here
In the wildest of
my imaginations, I never imagined I would be at this kind of crossroads.
It’s day 2 of Yomi’s ultimatum for a feedback and I am utterly
confused.
First I do not talk to either Gloria or
Ossy any longer. Ossy was very mean to me. From the day he met me at the
airport, he had known all about Yomi. Yomi had been his senior in
secondary school. So he knew. That’s why he smiled that smile when I told him Yomi hadn’t touched me. That was why he spoke so sarcastically.
Jealousy had blinded him so much that he didn’t bother to rescue his friend from this dilemma. A word from him would have alerted me to the danger I was in and saved me all this trouble.
But in my moments of reflection, I knew even if he had spoken out then, I would not have taken him seriously. I would have interpreted it as the angry ranting of a scorned man.
Now I was torn between calling of my well publicized and much anticipated wedding at my age or going into a life that I knew I couldn’t be happy living.
If I took the first option, I would be
the ridicule of the town, tagged as a woman who cannot just settle down.
People would assume that the man had discovered something that all the
other men before him had discovered that made them call the wedding
off.
People would assume he was being a
gentleman by not revealing what he had discovered. In our culture, for
such things, it’s the woman that would be blamed, be scorned and be
ridiculed. I would be cannon fodder for soft sells and bloggers.
If I took the second option, that would
not be the life of bliss with my husband I had always dreamt about. I
would be comfortable and free, yes, but at a huge cost.
And something in my heart told me that
as such things go, at some point in future, it would come to light and
then I would be publicly disgraced as a money hungry woman who didn’t
mind marrying someone who was gay to help him cover it up for financial
gain.The conversation with my mum went something like this
“En, kini oju o ri ri? (What’s new under the sun?). At least he isn’t a wife beater or ritualist or armed robber. You better do now and marry, and don’t bring shame to this family’s name”.
Toke says I should not be stupid and
throw away what I had found on a small issue like that. She was of the
opinion that the deal I was being served was what many girls would kill
to have.
“You have a husband; can date anyone
you want and truckloads of money, plus a hold on your husband to request
anything and he would not be able to refuse. Don’t be foolish my
dear”.
But when I told her Adamu might be
interested in having the same arrangement with her, she began to
stammer. That told me what she really thought of the arrangement. It was
good for me but not for her.
Hot Pastor expressly told me in firm
terms that I shouldn’t go ahead in spite of the pressure. He sermonized
and all, but also made plenty sense. What if someone better was just
around the corner and Yomi was the devil’s temptation to shortchange me
from getting that?
Everywhere I went, everyone was greeting
me and congratulating me on the soon to come wedding. My new name in
their mouths was Iyawo, the bride and so on. Each time they called me
so, I cringed. I decided to go away from everyone to think. There just
seemed to be too much interference from all of them.
The next day, I switched off all my
phones and left home. My mum had called me at least 20 times that
morning to keep reminding me that I should not throw away this
opportunity to settle down.
I checked into a room in Peninsula
Resort, Ajah, away from everybody to think. I knew I had but a few hours
to make the call to Yomi. I needed to be sure I said the right thing
when I made it. I’ve seen all your comments and (strong) opinions. But
trust me, when you are in the shoes, you’ll find it’s not that easy to
do any of these things.
As I lay there, I began to imagine what
he would be doing now. Probably curled up somewhere with Adamu,
somewhere I should be. Lord! This was going to be all what my life would
be if I married Yomi. Well, two can play the game. I decided to
practice what my life would look like if I went ahead with the marriage.
I turned my private number on and dialed
Kalu’s number from memory. The moment I turned it on, three text
messages from mumsy came in. That woman can like to leave me alone now!
After the second try, Kalu’s phone rang.
The cow was so full of himself, the caller tune was one of those you
recorded by yourself. Here’s what it went like “Welcome to Kalu’s Phone.
Hang on to speak with the hottest and flyest of them all.” Arrrrrgh! I
almost hung up, this guy was so childish at 38. Men, I thought I was
through with the likes of him. Anyways, he picked up and spoke with a
hint of surprise and amusement.
Kalu: The Lagos big girl calls lowly us. To remind us to attend her wedding abi?
Me: it’s because of this your goatiness that I could never be serious with you. Where are you sha?
Kalu: Where you left me noni. You? (He hadn’t lost his touch. He was already coding what I wanted).
Me: Somewhere in Ajah, personal getaway before the wedding. All alone (this felt real silly).
Kalu: Really? Call the boo to come
around now (Kalu can like to make everything hard. If I could call the
boo, shay I will be calling him abi?)
Me: You know it’s bad luck for the groom
to see his bride before the wedding. So boo stays put. You won’t come
and say hi to your friend before she finally becomes a Mrs. abi?
Kalu: Ping me the details, I’m coming.
I ended the call. It’s funny how you can
say a lot, without actually saying the specifics. I had just
booty-called (yes men get booty-called) Kalu without any mention of it.
But unlike the old days when I would
phone select with no qualms, there was a knot in my tummy. This just
didn’t feel right. And this was what I was meant to do for the rest of
my life. I do something silly that I should confess here. If you tell me
now two people are dating, I unconsciously imagine them together in
bed.
If the picture in my head gels, then I
immediately support the relationship. If e no gel, well, I believe the
relationship will likewise not gel. Hence I can never do an aristo. The
picture won’t just gel.
I closed my eyes to imagine being with Kalu… bad picture. I turned my phone off again. Kalu wasn’t getting any pings from me.
I began to wander sort of aimlessly
around the grounds. If someone was watching me, I probably looked like I
was looking for some suicide spot.
Eventually, I got to a stone bench
beside a beautiful stone arch running over a small spring of water and I
sat on it, eyes closed, lost in thought as I watched the water run over
those smooth white pebbles at the bottom of the pool...
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