Chapter 44

"Nne! (‘Mother’ in Igbo language.)" The boy suddenly exclaimed in fear and Oluchi's arm hung in the air. In anger, her arm vibrated in the air as she fought the urge to give her husband another dirty slap but Nduka quickly seized the opportunity, seized her by the front of her blouse, turned and started to shove her out of the room towards the living room.

"You are evil! I've confirmed today that you are a witch and the whole village will hear it! Now, get out of my house! Leave! You are no longer welcome here! There's no way you are going to sleep under the same roof with me after the evil strength that you have just revealed! Get out! OUT!" He aggressively shoved her outside the house into the compound and Oluchi staggered but quickly regained her stamina, retying her almost loose wrapper properly around her waist. "Tomorrow morning, be ready to go back to your people! You are possessed and I don't want you to bring me bad luck!" Nduka spat.

Vincent tried to plead with his father but he yelled at him and shoved him into the house, calling his mother derogatory names. Turning again to look at his wife, Nduka spat out spittle on the floor close to Oluchi's feet, then he slammed the door closed. This was not the first that her husband was kicking her out of the house as punishment but she was determined not to beg this time. If he was going to disgrace her in the morning by accusing her of adultery, well she would rather take her own fate into her hands than go through such humiliation.

She remained outside the house in the cold. The mosquitoes showed no mercy and she had to ward them off by slapping down on any part of her body that they settled on. Most only left her alone after they had engorged their bellies with her blood. After several hours slowly passed and Oluchi had had a deep thought, she crept to her son's window and got his attention by making a quiet whistling sound. Vincent who had been having trouble sleeping, jumped from his bed and rushed to the window.

"Nne, I think father is already asleep. Let me open the door for you so that you can sneak in and sleep, you can sneak back out before he wakes up in the morning." The little boy suggested. He was really worried about his mother.

"That won't be necessary. My days of being oppressed are over." Oluchi whispered back, removed a bead bracelet which she had never taken off then handed it to the boy through the window. "I want you to take this, it was handed to me by my late grandmother. It belongs to my family and has been handed down from generation to generation. Always wear it and it will remind you of me always." 

In confusion, the boy stared at the bracelet in his hand. "But why are you giving me this now? Can't you hold on to it and give it to me in the morning when you apologize to father and he lets you back into the house?"

Oluchi smiled sadly. "I am not going to apologize to your father and plead my way into misery, Dike. And as for the bead, I'm only giving it to you now because I might not get the chance to. Take care of yourself and always remember that I'll always love you."

More worried and afraid now, he asked, "Why are you talking like this? Are you going somewhere? Do you want to go see your uncle?"

Oluchi only smiled again, touched his cheek through the window and moved away from the window despite her son's pleas. By the time Vincent woke up in the morning, he quickly snuck out of the house to look for his mother. After looking around the front of the house and seeing no sign of her, he moved to the back of the house and froze when he saw her suspending from a tree with her wrapper used as a noose and he let out a blood-curdling scream which made his father jolt out of bed in fear.

                                                                                       ★★★

Six years later...

"You are welcome..." Nduka said sweetly as he led his new wife Njideka into his house.

Njideka looked around the living room and smiled. "It's manageable but beautiful... Though, I want the curtains changed... In fact, I think I'll decorate the entire house to my own taste, it's too old-fashioned." She said with a smile.

Nduka's smile wavered a bit and he tried to maintain it. "No, my dear, this is my house and I'll decide how it looks." He said in a calm voice, trying not to offend his new wife.

"It's your house quite alright, Nduka, but you seem to forget that it's going to be my home from now on, and as the new wife of the house, I think I've the right to decide how I want the house to look like, don't you think?" She asked, sitting down on the old sofa.

"Urm...Njideka, erm... Before you fully settle in, let's please just get this right..." Nduka carefully began, sitting down next to her as he very politely said, "You see, I'm your husband and I'm also older than you are, so-"

"Nduka, age is just a number." She interrupted, waving a dismissive hand and he cringed at the mention of his name.

"Wait, my dear, at least, courtesy demands that you let me finish first... Courtesy also demands that you do not interrupt the elderly..." He cleared his throat then continued. "Erm...as I was saying before you interrupted. Not only am I your husband but I'm also almost twenty years older than you are, which means that you ought to accord me my due respect."

"Due respect?" Njideka gave him a displeased look. "Is there any way I've just disrespected you, Nduka? I've only spent five minutes in your house and you are already trying to pick a fight?"

"No, no, not at all!" He quickly refuted. " ...but you see? That's the problem..." Nduka still maintained his politeness even though he was dying to unleash his growing anger, he was only still restraining himself because this was a new wife and he didn't want to scare her off after having to search for a suitable one for six years after his wife's death. "You have to stop addressing me by my first name... I'm not your mate."

Surprised by his words, Njideka pulled her shoulders back and gave him a are you kidding me look. "Wait, wait, wait, let me get this right... Are you saying that you don't want me addressing you by your first name?"

"Yes." Nduka answered.

"Then what should I call you if not Nduka?"

"Call me Nnayi or some other respectful name used for elders."

Njideka flinched her mouth now in a defiant manner. "Nnayi si gini? Why will I call you Nnayi? Are you an old man? See, I'm not in for all this nonsense stereotype marriage which our mothers practiced back in the days o. This is a new era; therefore, we have to follow the trend... Anyway, since you don't want me to call you Nduka, I'll call you baby."

Nduka frowned now. "Baby?" He uttered in displeasure.

"Yes na... baby. what is wrong with it?"

"You mean like baby, the child type? Like baby-baby? A small baby? Oberen nwa? (Small baby)." Nduka asked, not liking the name one bit.

"Yes, that's what I called my last boyfriend. As long as you are going to suck my breasts and enter this Jerusalem..." She pointed a finger down at her pelvic. "...you are my baby." Njideka stated.

"Wait o! Wait a minute! You mean you have dated a man before I married you?" Nduka couldn't contact himself anymore.

"Not just a man, I have dated six men!" She indicated by lifting six fingers. "And they were loaded! It's like I'm always lucky with men o. If you see their john-thomas (a slang used to refer to penis), Igba (indicating a very big size)!" She gestured by fisting her hand and raising her forearm and placing her other hand under the elbow to indicate how big and thick their penis are. "I only broke up with my last boyfriend because he didn't want to settle down yet. Me, I can't wait again...Even though I'm only twenty-four, age is not on my side. I need to have my babies early so that I can continue slaying in my thirties, besides, I need a man to sponsor my first degree and second degree."

Nduka swallowed hard now. He couldn't believe his ears. Was this not the girl he had been studying for two years and had watched going in and out of a church constantly. He had thought she was a devout Christian. His eyes slowly moved downwards towards Njideka pelvis. "Sooo, what you are saying now is that you are not a virgin?"

"Virgin ke? Why would I be a virgin? Are virgins awarded with millions for keeping their virginities?" She asked. 

"No, but don't you know that one of the virtues of a good woman is her virginity?" Nduka asked.

"Who virginity help? Please leave that matter. It's not as if you too even married your wife a virgin. We are in the world of orgasm and I'm not going to miss out."

"Let me even ask you this question. Are you circumcised?"