The Second Wife

His Father brought home his second wife
he did it on Friday while his mother was in her shop
The new wife was not a stranger
His Father usually brought her home in the afternoon
He cannot tell from what time to what time
But whenever he got home from school around 3pm
He would meet her either coming out of her father's
room or coming out of the kitchen
It was nothing new!
He never told his mother because there were
too many of them! His mother was not unaware!
His mother used to tell him the tales of his Father
as a young man and how girls were literarily on a
queue to get a taste of the action!
She said she was also part of the queue and 
wouldn't have married him if not because she somehow
deliberately got pregnant for him!
She loved him so much and wanted to be the one he
would settle for! Her own Father married three wives 
and had several concubines! She was not a stranger to the 
way of men and wouldn't delude herself that reality would
be anything different!
As long as he was responsible and balanced in his dealings
with the "Abelejayan" i.e. his concubines, she was fine!
She married him legally and bears his name
The other ladies were just wasting their time
In a way, he was very fair to her, 
If he had ten thousand
to spend, he will spend five thousand for whichever
of his concubines was on the roll call for that season
and spend five thousand for her!
But her position had never been threatened!
Her husband had neither the capacity nor the will
 to marry a second wife
They live in a three bedroom flat!
They have four children! Two boys and two girls!
They share a room, the male children share a room
and the female children share a room!
He was a teacher, a vice-principal
The salary wasn't that healthy
She was the one augmenting his income with 
the proceeds from her trade
He had never brought a concubine that close to his family
He had a safety zone where he kept them
And she had her own turf too!
That night as she was returning from the shop
Her children ran to her
They told her everything right there on the street
"Daddy brought home an aunty, daddy's aunty was with daddy 
in your room, daddy said she will introduce the Aunty to you
as his second wife, the "aunty" is sleeping on the sofa 
in the sitting room, Mummy what should we do? 
Her children asked her
She stopped dead in her tracks
She was not in the mood for any confrontation
She told her children to return home
"Tell your Daddy I have an emergency 
meeting with my father and would be gone till Sunday"
She turned around and rushed back to the main road
Her children looked wistfully at her as 
she disappeared into the distance!
When they got home, they told their Father 
what their mother said
He got worried!
Perhaps she went to call her folks and would turn
this into a big problem! He said, thinking aloud
His new wife, sat close to him, rubbing his head
She was mindful of her words because of the children
She knew that she was in their turf 
But she had an advantage!
She had their father in her pocket!
That night they all barely slept
Their eldest sister told them stories of wicked stepmothers 
How second wives  tend to be witches and diabolic
by nature and mostly attack the children of the first wife!
Their imaginations went wild and sleep fled!
The next morning, the new wife cooked!
None of them ventured towards the dining table
When their Father emerged from the room
He was shocked to see the delicacy of plantain
 and eggs untouched
He called his first son, the one who loves food the most
"Why have you not eaten your food?"
His son, seven years old at the time said "Daddy, I don't
want to turn into a frog!"
Their father laughed and tried to calm his fears by taking
some bites of the food
But the young man was too scared to eat!
Their father got angry!
He didn't expect his children to give him any grief!
After an hour of yelling and screaming
He took his second wife out!
As soon as they were gone, their elder sister
 cooked them some rice
Their Father and his new wife returned home
late that night
As early as 7 AM on Monday morning
their father went to the nearest bus stop to buy newspapers
The new wife also went somewhere
When it was around 8 AM
Their father suddenly dressed up and left the house
He didn't drive and he didn't tell the children 
where he was going
By 11 AM they heard a strange noise
they all rushed to the balcony of their flat to see what was
going on
They saw seven hefty men carrying all sorts
Television, mattress, fridge, standing fan,
ceiling fan, stove, beddings, video cassette player,
and so on
Their Father was with them, eyes blazing!
Little children were running after them
causing all sorts of hullabaloo
Their Father directed the men to drop all the 
"properties" they were carrying in the boy's
room! He paid them and they left
Soon the second wife and her mother emerged!
Her father screamed from the balcony!
If you come close to this house, you will lose your life!
The second wife and her mother stopped,
they waited for a while and then they turned around!
Their Father, still fuming, sat at the balcony and read his 
newspaper!
Soon one of his friends arrived!
They talked in hush tones at first
But later, his father boiled over
"Noooo, she is a prostitute! We were together
all night! I have brought her into my home, 
agreed to marry her because she said she was pregnant,
I had rented an apartment for her but she insisted she
wanted to move into my home and I agreed!
How else was I supposed to please her?
Even my own wife, I didn't give her as much
as I was giving that "prostitute" every month!
I am yet to pay the school fees of some of my children
for this term because of her expenses 
Imagine!
She spent the night with me, we made love!
SHe told me she wanted to pick some clothes in her
apartment!
I went to buy newspapers and I was reading the 
papers right here when I suddenly felt she would need
some help with whatever she wanted to bring here
from her apartment
I planned to drive but somehow I forgot
I had walked halfway to her house before I realised
I wasn't driving
If I had driven, her mother would have seen me from afar
You know that her mother's canteen was just opposite
the apartment I rented for her
None of them saw me coming
When I got to the apartment, I let myself in with my key
When I got to the room I found her
On her knees, a man was ramming her from behind
I wanted to scream, but something told me to wait
When they were done, they started talking
"He said was unhappy that they were apart
She apologised and told him she loved him
She just needed to scalp the fool pretending
to be her husband until she could get something 
tangible from him"
That was when I walked out of the apartment
I got some boys from the street to pack
everything I bought for her and bring them home
I will not be anybody's fool!
Later that evening, their mother arrived home
She met a cool and calm environment
Her children told her everything that happened!
She said "I was in church, Immediately I left
on Friday I went to church! I told God what I wanted!
I told God to scatter this unholy union before
Sunday!
I was in the church around 4pm  when the Holy Spirit
told me, "Go home now, it is done"

PS: This event happened in Alagbayun community, 
Lagos- Ibadan expressway, Ibadan! 
People who sleep around are open to all sorts
of griefs, pains and agonies
One shouldn't have to live a life devoid
of peace and tranquillity!
Wives and Husbands must also be prayerful
There are issues you can settle on your knees in
a few days that will take you several years to
settle with insults, abuses and rancour!