The Mark

Her husband told her the deal from the outset
"I met a lady online, an American
She took a liking to me and we have 
been exchanging mails for some time
I am telling you this now so that you
will not post anything romantic about
us on the social media!
I told her I was divorced
She has seen your picture and that of the
children
She can identify you as my ex-wife
She also has your social media handles
I gave them to her when she insisted on
making investigations for herself
It is a good thing that your social media
account is still in your maiden name
She saw that and was satisfied that
you are no longer my wife
I plan to milk her very well
She is the perfect mark
You must not ruin this gig for me!"
She was a little uncomfortable with it
They were both working
But whatever they were making was 
barely enough to help them keep the
kind of lifestyle they desired!
Money had been a very big problem 
in their marriage
It was either they didn't have at all
or they didn't have enough
He was hard working and so was she
Even though she earned slightly more
than him, she had always kept her own
money and contribute to the household
in her own little way
She was not brought up foolish and 
like her mother would say "Only a foolish
woman will hand over her money to her
husband or spend it in his responsibilities!
The role of the husband and the wife
were clearly defined!
He was supposed to be the provider!
She was supposed to "help" him keep
the home
He didn't like the arrangement
especially when he had to pay house rent,
school fees and other capital intensive 
projects
His mood would go dark and he would 
start venting in silence like a pit bull!
She knew what he wanted
He had asked for it several times
But she will never give her money to
a man
A girl must protect her own interest!
Earlier in their marriage, he complained
about it
They had a fight
Their parents got involved
He insisted they must pool their resources
and tackle financial issues together
She said NO!
His parents kept mute
The matter was settled two months later
when she discovered that she was pregnant
He had to be responsible and do right by her
But the matter was merely snoozed
When she got pregnant with the second
child, he insisted she had to abort the
pregnancy
"Who do you want to kill with burdens?
I am not ready to die!
I have more than enough on my plate
How dare you get pregnant?"
That was his reaction
She didn't believe it
Other men were discharging their duties
without complaining
Why was he so up in arms?
She didn't understand it
It took the intervention of pastors and 
church leaders for her to keep the pregnancy!
He also got a better paying job
But he didn't forgive her for getting
pregnant
Every time they had a quarrel, he would
refer to himself as her beast of burden!
This was why she had to look the other
way when he approached her with the
"Yahoo Yahoo scheme he got himself into"
She kept away from his phone
She made sure she didn't ask him any question
Ignorance was bliss!
The lady he was dating over the internet
was really into him
They would sometimes exchange phone calls
till late into the night
After about three months
He started receiving financial gifts from her
She bought him a car
She sent him the children's school fees
She sent him the house rent
For the first time, there was no financial 
tension between them
She started learning how to drive
She changed the children's school
and enrolled her toddler for ballet class
It was like heaven on earth
The lovemaking was even better
It was as if he transferred all his anger
to the "Mark" 
He treated her delicately, gave her 
everything she demanded and more
Sometimes he would volunteer updates
on the mark
The mark has an 18-year-old son
She is a single mother
A software engineer
He also showed her some pictures
The mark was a beautiful woman
She had sent him over five million naira
in fourteen months
He was happy, relaxed and attentive
It was the happiest fourteen months
of their marriage 
Two weeks later, he got an interview
in Abuja
It was for a job he didn't apply for
He travelled for two weeks
They barely spoke throughout the 
two weeks
He was either preparing for a stage 
of the interview or having the interview
But he always sent her messages daily
giving her his progress report!
He returned home
He told her the "Mark" was arranging for
him to travel to America
The mark had swallowed his bait 
hook, line and sinker
She didn't feel threatened at all
If anything, she felt happy for him
But later that night, while they were
both sleeping
His phone rang
it was the mark
He left her alone in the room to receive
the call
The thought struck her!
"The roles have changed here and you are
the "Mark"! Your husband will go away and
he will never come back! This was the "out"
he had been looking for all along!"
The thought was very strong!
She picked up her phone, opened her 
Facebook app and turned all the private
albums to public albums!
She even shared some of the juiciest
pictures with the public
She tagged it "wedding anniversary pictures"
She knew the Mark will see it!
She just had to burst their bubble!
She slept off immediately!
The next day, around 6 pm
He returned from work and asked her
why she blocked his source of income!
She wasn't prepared for his venom
He said all sorts, threw her and her children
out of the house and declared that
the marriage is over!
She didn't believe it!
She slept at his parent's house that night
The next morning, his parents invited him 
over to their house
He told them he had fallen out of love with
her
He doesn't want to see her again
She begged, cried and pleaded
He kept shaking his head
She called their pastor and friends
He was adamant
Everybody told her he would calm down
at some point
She believed them and waited
Nothing changed!
Six months after throwing her out
He travelled to America
Three months after he got to America
He married the mark!

 PS: She called the Brother in Jeans and
T-shirt
She cried and lamented
She wanted her husband back...
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
called her husband
Her husband said "I am praying about
it"
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
remembered Funmi Aragbaye's song
"The Lord is my refuge
How can you say to me
Flee like a bird to the mountain
What if the mountain is destroyed
What shall the righteous do?"

This event happened in Lagos,
October 2019