Chapter 47

After serving dinner, Njideka pulled her own chair and sat down, joining the waiting men who consisted of her husband and Father Thomas at the dining table. She knew that the priest had been giving her a weird look ever since he arrived at the house. 

In fact, she had caught him several times, secretly checking her out but she pretended as if she saw nothing because it made her feel that she was actually attractive. The man could fill his eyes if he wanted, after all, her husband had never looked at her that way before.

"Hmmm...this food smells very delicious." Father Thomas commended. "I can't wait to taste the food of our beautiful wife, but first, let's pray, shall we?" He bowed his head and Nduka and Njideka followed suit. However, Vincent did not join them; ever since his mother died, he had cultivated the habit of avoiding his father and the priest, staying alone and eating in his room. After father Thomas was done praying, they all took their cutleries and dug them into the food.

A second later, Nduka was the one who interrupted the peaceful lunch by spitting out the food to the side on the floor, getting the attraction of the others. "Baby, is everything okay?" Flustered, Njideka asked as Nduka quickly reached for a glass of water to rinse off the horror in his mouth.

After seeing Nduka's reaction, the priest carefully tasted his own meal then forced himself to swallow the food before gently placing his cutleries down on the table. Njideka who had already taken three spoons of food and was now chewing her fourth, turned to look at the priest in confusion. "Ahan, father, you too? What is wrong?"

Father Thomas glanced at Nduka who still had a frown of disgust on his face. He didn't want to be the one to tell another man's wife that she was a terrible cook.

"Njideka what kind of food is this?" Nduka finally spoke much to Father Thomas' relief. 

"What kind of question is that?" Njideka asked with indifference as she took her sixth spoon. "Is it not the same food that I'm eating like this?"

"This food is too salty and peppery! It's not even well-cooked! How come you can't taste all that?!" Nduka angrily demanded.

"Taste what?" Njideka frowned. "I don't see any of you panting for fresh air with open mouths if it's that peppery. I think something must be wrong with your taste buds because if you ask me, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this food! Instead of being so ungrateful, you should be commending me for my effort and time spent preparing this food!"

"Commending you for this nonsense?!" Nduka flared, pushing the food away from him. "I don't know if you did this intentionally, but if not that father can't wait until another meal is prepared, I'd have asked you to get back into that kitchen and get started on a proper meal!" 

"All because of what?! Do I look like a maid that can be ordered about?" Njideka scowled at her husband. "Even if the priest was ready to spend the night in this house, I'd not enter that kitchen until it's time to prepare dinner! So, if he wants to wait until then, no problem! But you two better eat this food, or go hungry for th next four hours!"

"It's such a shame that my son cooks better than you!" Nduka retorted.

"Just like I can also bet that he'd perform better than you in bed!" She retorted and Nduka and father Thomas stared at her in shock.

"What sort of rubbish comparison is that?! Njideka, are you mad?!" Nduka hissed in anger.

Njideka eyed him scornfully. "Nduka, I'm not mad! You should have thought twice before embarrassing me before the priest! Stop starting what you cannot finish!"

"Embarrassing you? He's part of this family, Njideka!" Nduka said in defense. "And therefore, I can say anything before him!"

Having heard enough, Father Thomas decided to intervene now. "It's okay you two...I think we can settle whatever this is, amicably..." Then he fixed his gaze on Nduka.  "Um... Brother Nduka, you told me to come over because there was something you would like to discuss with me." He began.

"Yes..." Nduka answered, still seething. "...and it's about my wife here..." He gestured with a swing of his chin towards Njideka.

"What's the matter?" Father Thomas asked, glancing at Njideka and noticing how unconcerned she seemed as she enjoyed the very rubbish she had cooked.

"Father, my wife here has refused to do a lot of things pertaining to submitting to me as her husband and head as it is said in the Bible." Nduka complained.

"But Brother Nduka, your marriage is barely two weeks old, how come you already have things you find unpleasant about her?"

"Well, I didn't know most of these things about her before we got married, so I'm hoping that you'll help groom her the way you helped groomed my late wife, Oluchi."

Father Thomas swallowed hard now at the mention of Oluchi. "May her soul rest in peace." He said then cleared his throat before asking. "So, what exactly is the problem?"

"One, Njideka is not a virgin like I had presumed despite the fact that she comes from a devout Christian home. Two, Njideka's womanhood is a problem to my manhood, I can't even feel anything. It's like an empty street." Njideka gaped at her husband in disbelief at such a comparison. "Three, Njideka is too ambitious. Father, you and I know how prone to temptation educated women are, especially with so many useless boys and men roaming around, seeking whom to devour and they don't care if the lady is married or not. Lastly, in order to make me feel like a man and put my worries to ease, Njidika has blantantly refused to go for infibulation."

"Infibulation?" The priest asked in surprise. "Mr. Nduka, why would you want to put your young beautiful wife through such a barbaric act?"

"Ohooo!" Njidike piped in then strongly addressed her husband. "Listen to me Nduka, and I'm going to tell you all these right before the priest so that he can bear me witness!" She confidently said. "One, I'm glad that I'm not a virgin because I'd have been left thinking that that thing you called manhood was the best size in the world! Two, I don't think I'm the problem; if you can't feel anything, there's no doubt that your penis is on the small side. Three, yes, I'm ambitious and I'll never stop being so! If you think that I'll be prone to temptation, then cultivate the habit of praying and fasting for me. Prayers are not only meant for women, so get on your knees and pray to God to enable me to overcome every temptation that may come my way, because like you know, body no be firewood. And lastly, if you want me to undergo that nonsense infibulation that you won't stop talking about, be ready to go for penis enlargement too!" She stated.

The priest was astonished at how Njideka had responded and he could say nothing. Soon, he got up to leave and as usual, Nduka decided to accompany him out of the compound to his car. When they stopped by the priest's car, Nduka asked in distress,

"Father, what would you advise me to do? I mean, this lady has been something else! It is now that I believe that it's indeed true that most people are not really what they seem! Before her, I have met three other women but none of them were ready to submit to me like my late wife did and that was why I didn't marry them. My loneliness was beginning to take a toll on me and that was why I rushed into marrying Njideka without first properly finding out about her! Can you believe that this morning, she threw my canes out! She stated that I'd never use them on her nor lay my hands on her or she'd leave the marriage!"

"Erm Brother Nduka, I'll advise that you exercise a little patience. Njideka is only twenty-three like you told me, which means that still very young and naive. If you want to bring out the best in your wife, you will have to groom and shape her into what you want her to be. Although, I can assure you that she'll never be like Oluchi who threw herself at me on several occasions then accused me of raping her after I turned her down.

 I've studied your new wife and I've realized that all she needs is care, attention and the word of God. Mr. Nduka, you might not know it but having an educated woman is a blessing. If you are scared that those small university boys might be after her, you could simply make sure that she doesn't live on campus. 

She could go to school from your house and you can drive her to school and pick her up after her lectures by yourself; that way you'll reduce the chances of any man coming after her. If anytime that you are not around and you want someone to keep an eye on her, I will gladly do that. I'll simply pick her up from school after her lectures and bring her home.