"How dare you
Nimi? How dare you?” He began to shout. "Jaiye, did you just slap me? Did
you just lay your hands on me?" I was still astonished. ''Now listen to
me, you are going to keep your mouth perfectly shut until I am done speaking.
Any other word till I ask you to speak will amount to you getting the beating
of your life'', he said. I just sat down
on the sofa with my mouth open. This felt like a Nollywood movie sincerely. He
started, “let me tell you the magnitude of what you did today because I don't
think you understand it. Our Executive Director came into the country yesterday
and came to the office today after about six month’s absence. The main agenda
of the meeting was maintaining office decorum and image and how he was looking
for somebody to use as an example no matter how high up. Now he had some
international investors visiting at the time you came in to display your
madness and they all stood there watching while you embarrassed yourself, me,
my Executive director and the whole company. Are you getting the picture?” I
sat there quietly not knowing what to say. His next slap geared me awake. Answer
me when I am talking to you. Are you freaking getting the picture? ''Yes Jaiye,
I am,'' I said shakily in the midst of my tears. Better, so imagine how
unsurprising it was when I was called into his office few hours later. I was
given a letter of summary dismissal due to breach of office policies without
any settlement and even forfeiting my current salary. They are also going to be
suing me for damages for causing them to lose a big investment deal. Can you
see how you have destroyed my life? “Yes I can, I am sorry'' was all I could
mutter. Did you just say you are sorry? His face was so tight and astonished
and I could feel the anger coming off him in waves. You don't get to apologise
my darling wife. No you don't. By the way, congratulations on the pregnancy, isn't
that why you came over? ''Yes it was'', I whispered. Okay good. I married you
just six months ago and you managed to finish my life in such a short time
right? Do you realize we have no savings? I put everything together to
buy us this house last month and I was supposed to start saving afresh this
month and now you are having a baby? ''Jaiye I am sorry, the slaps hurt a lot
but I know how angry you are and I feel bad.'' You feel bad? The slaps hurt? Oh
my darling, you haven't seen the beginning of hurt. You will feel and
experience every pain I am experiencing trust me. Your one regret in life will
be that you married me. That is one assurance I can give you.
Jaiye's words have
been ringing in my mind since he walked out yesterday. This was the first time
he was staying out beyond 9pm not to even mention an all-night out. I have
reflected so much about my actions yesterday and I still was not making any
headway. Did I over react? Okay let's say I over reacted, has he explained what
he was doing with the woman? Did my actions deserve being beaten by my husband
while pregnant? Am I officially in an abusive relationship? My mind has been
muddled up. I have shed so much tears, my eyes have dried up. My heart is heavy
and my head aches. I finally decided to give Chisom a call. As soon as she
picked up the call and I greeted her, she knew something was wrong. ''Tell me
everything Nimi'' I told her everything up on till his last words before leaving
the house. So what do you think Chisom? ''WOW! I can't believe that happened.
While you are pregnant? I am shocked,'' she said. But Chisom, I feel like I
deserved it, I provoked him. Sincerely, you did provoke him Nimi, but I can
never justify beating a woman and a pregnant one for that matter. So what
should I do Chisom? You heard what he said. He sounded serious, not just like
the words of an angry man. ''Nimi, I think you should give him space for a while,
you can stay at my place until he calms down''. Chisom, I can't do that. How
can I abandon him when he needs me the most? You know how much Jaiye has been
good to me, I love him. ''You can’t help him by putting yourself in danger. He
is too bitter. You need to help him from a distance. He beat you for God's
sake. He is threatening you. We don't know how far he will go especially now he
has lost his job''. But I caused it all. I cannot just abandon my marriage
after six months. What will I tell our parents?
For the next few minutes Chisom
tried to convince me to leave the house temporarily. I just could not agree
with that. I agreed to stay with Jaiye for better or worse. I had to stay by
his side. As I sat on the bed and heard the front door slam signalling his
arrival, my heart thumped. I just hope our marriage can survive this storm….
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