Honey Badger 2

Sleep eluded her for days
She spoke with her children daily 
and discovered that sending them 
to him was the best decision she 
had made in a long time
He placed them in private schools 
and the community they were living 
in was far better than hers
Her apartment gets so cold during 
the winter that she would sometimes 
leave for many days to stay with 
some friends she made at the church 
they were attending
There was also the issue of drugs 
and other violent crimes New York 
is renowned for
She was happy before she went to 
Washinton, bit everything suddenly 
became tepid when she returned to 
New York
She knew there was a better life 
somewhere and all she had to do was 
walk into it
If only it was that easy
Her husband had always been easy 
going, easy to talk to, easy to move 
towards any direction she wanted but 
at that time she was 
richer, more ambitious, and headstrong
She was still all those things but 
her husband had changed
He treated her with the kind of aloofness 
that is usually reserved for the dead
If he had frowned, screamed, shouted, 
cried or reacted to her in any way 
other than the silence, she 
would have known what to expect
It was as if she was a total stranger, 
a nobody
While she was in Washington, she 
deliberately left her room unlocked 
hoping he would walk in and they would 
have a talk
A one on one, heart to heart, friendly 
or ugly chat
He didn't even bother saying 
good morning or good evening to her
His movement was known only to him and 
his children
He didn't introduce her to the housekeeper 
as his wife or even as the mother of h
is children
He introduced her by her first name
The way one introduces a colleague or a 
staff
It made her cry! 
She started to write him a mail, but 
she didn't know what to say
She picked up the phone several times to 
call, but what would the words be?
She decided to call his mother and other 
relatives and begin a process of rebuilding 
the damaged bridges
Perhaps they would help her make 
the runway so that her plane can land 
without a crash
The public relations strategy was quite 
revealing
She learned that her husband fell sick 
after she left with the children
He was so sick that he lost his job while 
battling for his life in the hospital
She learned that it was 
while he was recovering from the sickness 
that the opportunity for him to join the 
diplomatic entourage was made open to him
She also learned that her husband's best 
friend who had been in America for many 
years was the owner of the property in 
Washington
Her husband's friend had become very rich 
and it was through him that her husband 
got a good job
Her husband was also given the house to 
live in for as long as he desired
The butler and housekeeper came with the 
house
Her husband had become wealthy but he 
remained his frugal self and all he wanted 
was to be close to his family
The worst thing she heard was what her 
message did to him
How he cried bitterly after getting the 
hasty mail she sent when she assumed he was 
still the same unambitious man that she 
loathed while they were married
She regretted sending that mail
It was the first time in her life that she 
ever broke up with anyone she had been 
intimate with and it had backfired badly
If only she had kept quiet and allowed 
things to pan out naturally
It was all water under the bridge, anyway, 
she needed to find a way forward
She needed to retake the seat she vacated
She turned to God in prayer and fasting
The heart of a king is in the heart of 
God and God directs it wherever He desired
All she needed was a second chance
She wanted to have her marriage back
Settle down with the husband of her youth
Have her family under one roof
She called her mother and older brother 
and asked them to please intervene on 
her behalf
She called pastors too, both the ones 
from her denomination and the ones from 
wherever
She was desperate but nothing changed
He didn't call and she didn't call too
She spoke with her 
children daily
She cried herself to sleep
She wondered why he was so silent, so 
unforgiving
Days rolled into weeks
She continued her daily routine
Shoe sales representative in the morning, 
cashier at a supermarket in the evening 
and hairdresser in the late evening
Even though the children were not with her, 
she still needed all the money she could 
make to keep herself under a roof in 
New York
The apartments were extremely expensive and 
until she completes her course, she couldn't 
get a job in her preferred field
Five weeks after returning to New York, 
one of her children mistakenly mentioned that 
their father told them he might be getting 
married soon
What!
She almost had a heart attack
Getting married?
To who?
She began to plot what to do
Her first instinct was to go and get her 
children from him
She didn't want another 
woman to raise her children
She might also have to sue him for divorce 
and get money from him so that they can move 
to a better apartment and give the children 
the kind of education they were getting in 
Washington
She called a lawyer and they discussed all 
her options
It was as if the walls were falling all 
over her
She called the brother in Jeans and T-shirt 
and explained her ordeal
She told him she had decided to find her 
way to Washington, get her children and 
then file for divorce
Her lawyer had told her the court might 
grant her husband the custody of the 
children as long as he was the one 
providing for them without any support 
from her
The lawyer also told her that once her 
husband got married, her hope of getting 
custody of her children would be reduced 
to almost zero
She felt she needed to be smart and cunning 
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt said 
"Your heart is very proud and wicked. 
Do you know that?"
She was shocked
Nobody had ever said such a thing to her 
before but then when the elephant dies, all 
sorts of knives comes for the butchering
She asked him why he said so
"Have you even told your husband you are 
sorry? 
Did you for once went on your knees and 
cried on his laps? 
Did you even send him a mail apologizing 
for your tactless and heartless message? 
You took away a man's children, condemned 
him to pain and sickness in Nigeria and 
now you want to walk into his life without 
taking responsibility
You were even praying, asking God to help 
you further your callous actions
If this man is your brother, wouldn't you 
counsel him to prove his wife before 
taking her back?
Please go and do the needful and stop 
being a witch!"
Wow!
Wow!! 
She bought a ticket and flew to Washington 
the following day
She met her husband at home
He was playing video games with the children 
and they were having a really good time
She waited until she caught his gaze
She went on her knees and started to cry
It was the last thing she thought she could 
do, in front of her children...
Her husband dropped the gamepad and 
approached her
He said "I knew you would come when you hear 
I am planning to get married. 
You have always found it easier to go to 
war than say sorry! 
I forgive you!"
He drew her to her feet and embraced her
He knew how much she suffered with him
in the early years and didnt think it was
right that she should not be a part of his
success when it came
He just wanted her to acknoeldge her
wrongdoing

Phew!

Learn to say sorry! 

PS: Her husband really wasn't getting married
He had always wanted her back
He knew her to be childish (since the day 
he met her) and impulsive but she was his 
choice and he loved her dearly
He wanted her to come to her senses, 
like the prodigal son, thank God she did.

-GSW-