UNCOVERED

She walked down the stairs, her mind spinning out of control. She didn’t know when she got to the end of the staircase, and she tripped. She held unto the wall, to keep her from falling on her face.

No one seemed to pay attention to her. All around her there was a buzz of activity. She felt like screaming. Why did she have to go through her pains all alone? Why didn’t anyone care how she felt? People passed by her, going up and the stairs without even a nod in her direction. She felt so helpless.



This isn’t the life she was supposed to be living, she felt like she was living inside the body of a stranger. Why has life decided to deal her this hand? How could she explain what her life had decided to turn into?

Hard as she tried, she couldn’t shake the feeling that had been overwhelming her these past months, that has finally exhibited itself on this day. She walked slowly towards the back door, and stepped out into the courtyard.

Her mind wandered back to the days….. the days her husband’s mother always referred to as her days of glory. Those days when she was still young and vibrant. She had the world at her feet.

She had everything going on very pleasantly for her. She was easily the prettiest girl in her vicinity. She had dreams of going abroad, to further her career as a midwife. She was fresh out of the school of midwifery, and the world beckoned on her. She was responding to that call, until that fateful day.

She had received a call, to attend to a woman in labour. She had been standing at the bus stop for over thirty minutes, and had gotten no luck at getting a cab going in her direction. She was getting really anxious, as the case at hand was very critical.

Then he stopped, wound down and offered her a ride. She had never been one to accept lifts from strangers, but at that point, she was desperate. She got into the car, and her journey into a whole new life began.

Kunle took her to the house, and stayed there till the woman delivered her baby, so he could give her a ride home. The labour lasted twelve hours, and Kunle waited twelve hours. She got home by 3am, very tired but happy. The birth had been a success.


 That was how he stepped into her life, and they didn’t look back. He courted her like a gentle man, a rare breed. He showed her off everywhere they went. He professed his undying love for her, and she felt magical feelings.

Those were the most exciting years of her life. Suddenly, she didn’t want to go abroad for further studies (Kunle had just come back home to settle down in Nigeria). She looked into her future, and all she could envision was the joy that would be in their home. He was everything she wanted.

The first few years of their marriage, was made in heaven. Kunle opened a practice for her, and she became a well known midwife. Nothing mattered to her, but her husband. She was the luckiest woman in the world. Her husband loved her, and treated her like fine china.

The years went by, and their love waxed stronger. Then her mother called her one day, and asked her…. “When I’m I going to carry my grand children?” She looked at her mother, and told her that children are a gift from God, and would only come when God wills it.  She wasn’t bothered by their lack of children. She birthed children on an almost daily basis, and although she wished to have her own, she didn’t think it was a problem.

Then her in-laws sent for her. She sat down staring at them, while they quizzed her on what she was doing with her un-born children. Her in-laws were such an elite set of individuals that she couldn’t help but wonder what they meant by calling her a witch that ate her children in her womb.

She went home that night, and broke down in tears. Kunle walked in on her, and held her while the tears erupted from her. She looked up at him, and for the first time she had to ask him. “What do we tell them now?”

Things became worse in the years that followed. Everything that she had heard about in-laws treating their son’s wife badly because of her inability to conceive was confirmed practically, to her.

From being thrown out when her husband was out of town, to being forcefully taken to different herbalists for spiritual baths. Various foul substances were forced down her throat, and she was even made to sleep in the rain to “cleanse her from witchcraft”. All through those years, she only had to look into her husband’s eyes to know that she was willing to go through anything that she might be put through.

She shook her head, and came back to being aware of what was happening around her. Yetunde, her husband’s eldest sister, walked into the court yard, and looked at her with spite.                            
         


   “I told you that it was only a matter of time, before Kunle recovered from whatever it is you charmed him with, didn’t i?” with that, she hissed and went back into the house. She smiled a sad smile, and stood up from where she was seated.

She looked up to the window of what ceases to be her bedroom, and her eyes met that of her husband. They stared at each other for a fraction of a second, and she looked away.

Things had been fine between them, or so she thought. About a year ago, Kunle came home excited. He told her about a new “church” that could be the solution to all their problems. She listened for a while, and decided that since he was this elated about this new church, it was worth giving a try.

 The first day she went there with him, she realized that she had walked into her past, a past that was keen on hunting her down. She knew she was never going back there. She told Kunle as much when they came back home, and they had a big argument over it.

For several months, Kunle went to the “church” alone. She watched the difference emerge right before her eyes. She wondered what was happening, and all efforts to make him see that they were drifting apart failed.

 The rift grew large, and before she knew it, she was living with a stranger. They had been married for fourteen years, and for the first time her husband started spending nights away from home.


Two days ago, her mother in law and Yetunde drove into her home, singing and dancing with joy. In their company, was a girl of less than twenty, who was swollen with child…. Kunle’s child as they wasted no time in telling her. She couldn’t believe her eyes and ears. They must be joking. But were they? Kunle drove in few minutes later, and affirmed that he was indeed responsible for the girl’s pregnancy. He took her to a corner, and told her to remember the promise she made to him on the night of their marriage.

She was confused, how can it be possible she asked him? How did it happen? Kunle then went on to tell her how the prophet of his new faith had made certain rituals for him that cured him of his infertility and made him potent. The prophet had further instructed him to test his virility on his young daughter. The pregnancy is the result of said test.

She remembered the promise she made almost fifteen years ago, on her first night on her matrimonial bed. Kunle had broken down and confided in her that he was impotent. He had found out when the lady he had wanted to get married to abroad had insisted that they undergo tests before getting married.

When his results had come out, she had walked out on him, and he had been heartbroken. He had come back to Nigeria, to get married without having to go through any test. He confessed to her that night and she had still accepted him. She had gone through all the agony because she loved him, and believed that marriage wasn’t all about procreation.
 She had been determined to stick to him and keep his secret safe.



 For two days, the house had been in a festive mood, as they prepared for the marriage ceremony of her husband, and a child that was to take place today. She knew that the fears she had always nursed, would confront her one of these days, but she never knew it would be such a shocker. She walked back into the house a determined woman.


Funmi was dancing with her new rich husband, and her new in-laws were spraying wads of money unto their foreheads, pouring accolades on Kunle. Who would have ever thought that she would come in contact with so much money in her life? She was grateful to her father for thinking out a way for her to give her child a name and a home.

Her father had always warned her about following her mother’s footsteps, and since she never knew her mother, she always wondered what he meant. When he found out she was pregnant, he told her that she had finally decided to be like her mother. Two days later, he told her he had a remedy, and here she was.  A brand new life for her and her child.
A scream tore through the loud music, and the next few minutes were chaos.


Ayo’s body was dangling from the ceiling fan in Kunle’s room, and that brought an abrupt end to the festivities.

The note on the bed read….

I know this is the coward’s way out, but I decided to take it anyway.

I have done this,so I can take your secret to my grave, but a greater secret

has come knocking on my door. I couldn’t be alive and witness the

child I gave away, come back to marry my husband. Fate has dealt 

me a big punch, and I am sorry you had to be in the middle of this

joke fate has dealt me. I got pregnant the first year I got into school

I didn’t want to abort it, so I travelled to a different state where I knew

nobody, and had my baby, a girl. Then I took her to the hut of a native

prophet and abandoned her there. I came back and continued with my

life. I never gave her anymore thought, until you took me to the church 

of your new prophet. When I set my eyes on him, I knew that my past

was actively chasing me, so I tried to stop you from going back there.

Funmi is my daughter. The thought of your seed growing in the womb

of my seed has driven me to my end. Take care of my daughter, your wife

I am really sorry for this act. 

Ifedayo

LIFE IS A CHOICE MY FRIEND
SO CHOOSE WISELY
ENOUGH SAID