The Mirror

The Mirror

She was very reluctant to place the call

But she desperately needed help

Who could she reach out to?

Where would her help come from?

Her husband was a bi-sexual

She found out months after they got married

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t be with a woman

He simply did it as a duty

It was very obvious that he derived no joy from sleeping with her

At first she didn’t mind

She really didn’t enjoy sex too

She always wondered what the big deal was

Maybe she just wasn’t wired to be that way

It was one of her biggest fears as a spinster

She feared she would get married and her husband would expose her sexual inadequacies

She really had very little appetite for sex

On their wedding night

The foreplay felt more like a stalling from both of them than a prelude to hot engagement

He suddenly turned her around and before she could say “What is going on?”

He had inserted himself inside her other exterior

He did it in such a way that he had a death grip on her two arms

She was practically spread eagled on her face and raped by her own husband

When he was done, she was in tears

He feigned ignorance, asking her if she was a virgin!

Did I hurt you in any way? Was it the hymen?

He almost had her fooled

He looked so innocent and sorry

“Didn’t you see that you put your thing in the wrong place?”

What! O My God!

“I didn’t know!

I must have been too drunk to notice, but I must confess, you have a very sweet hmmm” he replied

She forgave him

He managed to do the normal thing when they went again

She couldn’t wait for it to be over

Somehow she got pregnant

She took full advantage of the pregnancy in other to avoid sex

Of course she knew he would be getting it somewhere else

She was not wired to mind such

As long as he respected her and kept the other sources far from her face she is okay with it

In actual fact, whenever he was going to a party with some of his friends overnight, she would give him a pack of condoms

“Take it and use it if you must, please don’t come back home with any disease that could ruin our lives” She would tell him

People used to tell her she was tacitly encouraging her husband to sleep around

She would tell them sleeping around was non-negotiable for men generally, although she wouldn’t admit that as a wife, she was very uncomfortable with having sex with her husband or anybody else for that matter

She studied Biology, polygamy is inherent in the nature of men

Men who married sexual tigresses cheat on their wives not to talk of a man who was married to a prig like her!

She was pregnant with her second child when her husband came home with his first “Boyfriend”

Her husband merely informed her that he would be bringing home a guest who would stay in their boys quarters for a while

 He described the guest as a friend

She didn’t smell a rat

The guest moved in and minded his business

She also minded her business

Until she saw them one evening several weeks later

She had finished cooking he husband’s meal and wanted to call him from the boys-quarters

When she got to the door it was slightly ajar

The thing must have really hooked them

Her husband was the giver

The guest, the happy receiver

Their eyes met, her husband rode on as if her presence spurred him on the more

Later that night he told her he would understand if she wanted a divorce

He had always been that way and if he divorced now it would only set him free to live the life he had always wanted without hurting her any further

She understood him

But it was time to be selfish

Where would she go?

Who would accommodate her?

What about the children?

The next morning, after her husband left for work, the guest paid him a visit

The Guest: I am happy you saw us yesterday, it is time for you to leave this house with your children

She: Are you okay at all? How dare you talk to me like this in my own matrimonial home?

The Guest: He doesn’t love you, he never did and I don’t like to share

She: You must be unhinged! I am going nowhere

The Guest: If you don’t leave, I will make it my duty to indoctrinate your children! By the time I am done with them, they will be so broken they might end up committing suicide!

The Guest left

His words kept ringing in her ears

She left early for the children’s school, she seriously needed to see them and be sure they were fine

Once she picked them, she started thinking seriously about leaving her husband’s house

But she had nobody

Her father recently remarried and moved back to the village

Her mother had abandoned her and her brother and resettled in the UK since she was 2 years old

She remembered one of her cousins

Though they didn’t have a particularly good relationship, blood is still ticker than water

She called her cousin

Her cousin drove down to their house immediately

They talked

Her cousin immediately swung to action

Helped her pack some of her stuff and that of her children

Within two hours of her cousin’s arrival

They were ready!

Her husband arrived home

She allowed the children to say goodbye to him

She didn’t tell him about her conversation with The Guest

She hugged him and told him he can visit them at any time he so desired

They left

As she left him behind she couldn’t help but hope for a brighter future

Though they were not rich, she and her children never lacked anything materially while they were with

him

She had to admit that they have been miserable

He shouldn’t have gotten married

Perhaps knowing her own inadequacies too, she shouldn’t have gotten married

Unlike many women, she couldn’t claim that she had been the best wife, just as he couldn’t claim to

have been the best husband

She owned her own small scale business and would have some respite while staying with her cousin

She really needed to sit down and sort things out

Exactly ten days after she left him

The police arrived at her cousin’s house looking for her

They informed her that her husband and the guest were involved in a ghastly motor accident while

returning from the club the previous night

They both died on the spot!

They were not officially divorced

She went back home with her children to mourn him

They buried him a few days later

He left her and her children with two houses, some choice cars and some money

She vowed she would never remarry!

PS: A brother spoke to me about remarrying

He had lost his wife five years ago to cancer

He was hopeful of meeting a widow

I broached the topic with this young beautiful widow I met recently

She just smiled and walked away

Few days later, she came to my office for a chit-chat

She opened her mouth and this incredible story dropped!

I asked her how she had been handling pressure from friends and family members to remarry

She said “Every time I look into the mirror, I am happy!

I am not making anybody’s life miserable simply because I want to please the society!

What is the point of marrying despite knowing I have this baggage!

 It is better to err on the side of caution"