Backlash 1

She didn't see that far into the 
future when she decided to pitch 
her tent with the rich but married 
engineer
She was 24
Young, plump, and beautiful
She had tried dating young single 
guys but for her, it seems they 
were all bones and no flesh
They were unable to offer anything 
of value apart from empty words 
and instant gratification in form 
of sex and infidelity
The three guys she had dated 
since she was 16 all cheated on 
her and practically used and 
dumped her
The first one, the one she would 
call her first love got her brain 
so tangled up that she 
stole her mother's money for him 
and allowed him to do all sorts 
to her in the name of love
When she caught him cheating, 
she looked the other way because 
she didn't want to break up with 
him and be alone
It took her two years to get the 
message
She was a fool and he was milking 
naivety mercilessly
The other guys asking her out 
borrowed her some wisdom simply 
because they wanted to get into 
her pants
She didn't see that at the time
She dated the one she felt cared 
the most
That one slept with her once and 
walked away
Just like that
She was to him just 
another girl to add to the number 
of his conquests
Her mother was raising her and 
six other children all on her own 
at the time
Things were tough, and her older 
ones all left home right after 
secondary school to live with 
relatives and learn a trade or 
pick up a job
Her mother 
encouraged her daughters to do 
quick and get married
It was the only way her mother 
could outsource her responsibility 
legally
Her older sisters got it on time
The two of them got married 
before the age of 21
Their marriages were horrible and 
they were piss poor
She saw this and 
was determined not to tow the 
same line
She really wanted to do better, 
make something of herself
but without an education (She had
to stop after secondary school) 
the only way to do that was to
marry rich
Rich people wouldn't allow their 
children to bring her sort home 
as their intended
They ensure this by keeping their 
children in fancy schools and jobs 
that kept them away from the 
streets where they could meet 
her kind
The aspiring guys she kept meeting 
on the streets were users and 
dumpers
She set her sight on a proven gold 
mine and dig it as much as 
she could before the curtains were 
drawn
She made friends with ladies like 
her who knew the way
They invested heavily in their looks 
and shared among themselves 
several tricks of seduction and 
pleasure
They introduced her to herbalists 
and spiritualists who would fortify 
her and 
give her the advantage she needed
The preparation took her six months
The problem of the rich is what to 
spend their money on, they must 
have thrills a mundane life cannot 
offer
This was the hole she and her 
friends set out to plug
Not as prostitutes but as mistresses 
with an eye 
on becoming second wives or baby 
mamas
It wasn't conventional but it was 
an option
It offers the same benefits of 
marriage apart from the negative 
perception of the society which 
had always been hypocritical
That was how she met the engineer
He was rich and had been married for 
twenty-two years
His three children were in the 
University and his wife was already 
growing some white hairs
She made him feel youthful and happy
He couldn't get enough of her
He got her a well-furnished 
apartment and she became the 
destination of his business trips
His wife didn't 
suspect anything until she had her 
first child, a girl
Having a girl was a problem at the 
time
A girl child cannot inherit anything 
in their culture but a male child 
will have a stake in his father's 
inheritance
She was caught in between two 
difficult decisions
Keeping the affair 
secret by doing a quiet naming 
ceremony attended by a few 
relatives from both side or rolling 
out the loudspeakers to announce 
to the world that she was dating 
the rich man and should be treated 
with the respect and dignity that 
befitted that status
Her mother told her to lay low 
the wise do not rush into life's 
battle but her friends and herbalist 
told her the naming ceremony was 
a wedding she never had and she 
should see the naming ceremony 
as an opportunity to announce her 
arrival on the societal scene
She made her choice
They had the mother of all 
parties where six cows were 
slaughtered and the whole 
community was fed
Inevitably, the news got to the 
engineer's wife
The engineer's wife had a choice
To take her effrontery as a slap 
on the face or get into the mud 
with her
She was ready for anything thrown 
at her but nothing happened
She got pregnant again
This time she had a baby boy and 
became even more confident
She told the engineer she wanted 
to leave the rented apartment and 
move into his mansion as his 
second wife
The engineer always did her bidding
She had bound him to her will 
through the help of her herbalist
The engineer told her he will make 
the necessary arrangements within 
two weeks
One week later, on the very day she
was supposed to upturn the 
engineer's life by holding the naming 
ceremony in his mansion, the 
engineer died.
He fell ill and was rushed to the 
hospital
He didn't survive that night
That was it
His death stripped her of everything
Her apartment, her lifestyle, her 
hopes and aspirations
She had started lobbying the 
engineer's family members to push 
her case when she was told that 
the engineer's wife had sold off 
all his properties and relocated to 
the UK
The woman didn't even dignify her 
claims by meeting with her face to 
face or exchanging a word of 
greeting or insult with her
She left her worse off than where 
she started from
Within a year she was back in her 
mother's house with her two kids 
She cried and lamented but she 
had to survive
She had just turned 30 when the 
engineer died
She went back to the drawing-room
Within a year she had gotten herself 
another man
He was also married and rich
His marriage was not a happy one 
and she made herself his place of 
bliss 
He got her an apartment and rented 
a shop for her
When she was with the engineer, all 
she did was
She had no investment, no business, 
nothing
It was one of the things she regretted 
the most
She could have secured her future 
with all the resources that came her 
way but she didn't 
This time she was determined to 
milk the cow for present and future 
purposes
The only assets she had with the 
engineer was gold and pieces of 
jewelry
She sold almost everything paying 
off debts and feeding herself and 
her children after the engineer died
The new man was quite 
generous
He was from a polygamous 
background and didn't see much 
wrong in being with her
He was also desperate for a male 
child
(His wife had already given birth to 
seven girls) and had promised her 
heaven and earth if she would give
him a son
She didn't waste any time getting 
pregnant for him
Their relationship lasted five years
She gave birth to two girls
He walked away after the second girl
She was never married to him and 
all she got were the things she got 
while she was with her
She was 36 years old when he 
walked away.

To be continued...