Thorn between episode 58
TITLE: TORN BETWEEN
WRITTEN BY OGECHI ALABI
LIFE GOES ON 10
Adim received a phone call informing him that Thelma had given birth to a daughter. He congratulated her through the caller and sent money for the delivery and any other expenses she might incur. He assured her of a monthly allowance for the child. The caller asked for the child’s name and Adim asked her to tell Thelma to give her the name she feels best suits the child. He did not mention the birth of Thelma’s child to Eucharia or members of the family. He did not want any tension between him and Eucharia, especially now they were working on building their marriage. He almost had his wife back and he knew when the house was empty, he would have her fully to himself. There would be no escaping him.
Dumebi met a young man in a company she was sent to audit. They lived in the same area and the guy insisted on seeing her outside of work. He wanted to visit her at home but she had to tell her host about him. Her host drilled him before approving the date. They became inseparable in such a short time that the host was worried. His fear was the ethnicity of the young man, he was a Lagos boy. His parents were successful Lagosians. He confessed to Dumebi that his mother wanted him to marry a Yoruba lady and had someone in mind. He had accepted initially until he met Dumebi. He planned to have a good time with her and then settle for the lady chosen by his mother (she was rounding up her studies abroad) but he found out she was decent, she would not let him touch her at all. She refused to have any form of intimacy with him. It was frustrating sometimes but he could not let her go like that. He enjoyed her company and wondered why she refused to visit him at his home. There were two reasons. One, she did not want to be alone with him in his safe place; anything could happen. How would she explain what she was doing there? Secondly, his mother was not happy he had called off his engagement to the other lady; she felt she might not be nice to her.
Unfortunately for Tunde, her time was up in his company and she had to return to her office. He came to see her there and even begged her to leave her car at home so they could go home together. He came to pick her up one evening and saw a guy talking to her. They spoke Igbo and he wasn’t happy about it. She seemed friendly with him, but it made him even more uncomfortable. He asked her about the man and she confessed he had asked her out when she first relocated but she had turned him down. Now he was asking her to marry him. She found it funny, but Tunde wasn’t laughing at all. He asked her how she felt about the guy and her response surprised him, “I am here with you, aren’t I?” He knew he had to act faster before an accountant stole her away from him.
He told his parents he wanted to marry her. Her tribe was the problem. Without meeting her, his parents were against the union. They were also worried that they hadn’t known each other that long and he wanted to marry her. Tunde was even more frustrated. He tried to reason with his parents but they refused, actually his mother refused. He exhausted all avenues to make them see reason and had to make to let them know he was dead serious. He went to see the Parish Priest of their parish. He knew the Priest could talk to his parents and they would listen. The Priest requested to meet Dumebi and find out about her first before putting his weight behind the request.
Dumebi was terrified about meeting him. The Priest could see what attracted Tunde to her, she was attractive and had a lovely complexion. When he interviewed her, he realised she was from a good home and her parents were comfortable. It was surprising. The Priest wondered why the Adebayos rejected her. She was intelligent, had a lucrative job and appeared decent. She was a Catholic who attended Mass every Sunday. Tunde had told him they had no sexual encounter. For Tunde to oblige her by staying celibate, he felt she was special, especially to him.
He took Dumebi and Tunde to see his parents. It was a Sunday buffet lunch. Tunde’s father had to confess she looked remarkable. The Priest told them he had investigated and found that she was a good mate for Tunde. His mother admitted she was impressed but she was still sceptical until she heard where her father worked and heard about her mother’s business. She was impressed to hear she was a frequent traveller outside the country. Tunde’s father was ready.
Tunde proposed to Dumebi at a dinner. She accepted the proposal but had to tell him her little secret. She told him about her pregnant stepmother and two brothers. He accepted it and understood why the father did it.
“Would you do the same if I do not bear a male child?”
“I am a Yoruba man, to us all children are important. My younger sister runs the family business while I work with a company. All children are equal and it would have made no difference if my mum had three girls instead of a boy and two girls. I am not desperate to have a particular sex, I just want to be blessed with children from God and you.”
She took him to see her parents. Eucharia was worried Dumebi settled for a Yoruba man. Mmesoma brought an Ibibio man and Chinemerem was courted by a white man. None of her daughters wanted to marry an Igbo man. She told Adim to try to convince Dumebi as the Ada to marry an Igbo man.
“Did you see them together?’ Adim asked. “Does that man appear to you as someone who would let her go? Are there no Igbo men in Lagos? But she chose this guy for a reason. I will not force her to be with someone she does not love. She loves this guy, and he loves her too. I have given her my consent.”
Eucharia was troubled. She wondered what people would say. So she asked him, “Talk to Mmesoma or Chinemerem, one of them can give in.”
“It won’t work. Allow them to be. Why do you want to force suitors down their throats? I do not like this at all. Wait for Urenna; she might marry an Igbo man.”
Chinemerem’s suitor came to Nigeria to pay her bride price. He flew in with his entire family along with Helen and her family. Paul and Prisca had met the young man and had given their approval and came back for the wedding. Lucas asked Chinemerem to meet him at the airport on their arrival, he couldn’t wait to see her. She was also excited. As an Engineer, she interacted with many expatriates and understood them. She had told Lucas she wanted to continue her career in oil and gas and he agreed for her to do so. She was happy she was relocating outside the country where women were treated better than they were in Nigeria.
The third daughter got married first and her sisters were present with their suitors and their families for those who had family in Nigeria. Dumebi and Mmesoma got married a week after Chinemerem’s wedding so she could attend the three weddings. They had both traditional and Church weddings on the same day for the three girls. It wasn’t common but they pulled it off. The three girls did not want a long courtship which their spouses agreed to. Also, the men could not stop singing their praises. Eucharia had done a great job raising her girls right.
Adim went all out for his three daughters’ weddings. He spared no expense and engaged the services of wedding organisers to ensure they ran smoothly. All the prospective in-laws were amazed when they met Adim and Eucharia for the first time. They were impressed by their heights and Eucharia’s luscious complexion. Also, they were impressed at how successful they were. It was during that period Adim found out his wife had a very successful Telecoms business. He was amazed because he had made purchases from the company and never knew his wife owned it. He realised how selfish he had been and while he was Thelma he did not see his wife’s ability and success.
Read- True love episode 29 – 32
His daughters had married men that appeared to love them and he was happy. He hoped and prayed that Urenna would marry from home. Other weddings were coming up too. Peter’s first daughter had brought a suitor too. He was an Igbo man she worked with. At least one grandchild was coming home.
It was after the wedding Adim mentioned to his siblings that Thelma had a daughter. They were surprised. He told them he had been responsible but had refused to see her or the baby. Peter supported him but Flora told him to expect trouble because she would feel abandoned and ignored. Flora asked for the child’s name, he did not know because he had asked Thelma to choose a name for her, have a quiet christening and paid monthly support. Flora insisted he carried Eucharia along with his plans.
Adim was worried the news would affect the achievements they had made. He did not know how to break the news to her and sought Flora’s assistance to tell her. Flora had a good laugh and went with him to the house. When Eucharia saw her with Adim, she knew it wasn’t good news. She was scared someone had died.
“Eucharia, Thelma has given birth and she had the daughter she so desired. Hopefully, she will stay out of your lives now.”
“Why are you telling me?” Eucharia asked. “Why isn’t Adim telling me or has he reconciled with her? Is that what you came to tell me?”
Adim quickly replied, “I haven’t. I didn’t know how you would react if I told you. We have made great progress and I don’t want anything to affect it.”
“I don’t think we have if you can’t tell me about this yourself. When did this happen?”
“It has been a while. I want to send the boys to her before they leave for boarding school.”
“That will be nice. She can help them prepare.”
“You will help them prepare, she has no such time.”
Adim was surprised Eucharia didn’t make a fuss about Thelma and the baby. Had she truly forgiven him? Has she let go completely? He hoped so. Dumebi, Mmesoma and Chinemerem had left for their honeymoon, and Urenna had gone back to UNN. Once the boys leave for Asaba, they will have the house to themselves. He wanted their first time after such a long time to be special so he booked a weekend away in a resort in Lagos. He felt it would make her happy. She hadn’t been to a resort before. He had with Thelma when they were dating. He wanted her to have the time of her life.
He sent the itinerary to her via mail and asked her to get ready. They were going to share a room and Eucharia knew what it meant. She was too old for this outing and the excitement she felt. Her girls got married intact as she made sure of it. She had hoped and prayed that the men would not disappoint them. She still believed giving a husband your virginity is the most precious gift you can give him. She got burnt, but her daughters were blessed with exposed aunts who revealed things Eucharia could not listen to. Her daughters were more enlightened about sex than Eucharia that she wondered if truly they were still intact. They were, but with exposure and the internet they were conversant with what to expect and they had read books, watched videos and researched. Eucharia didn’t know she could do all this on the internet. She believed it was a taboo. She realised she was years behind, events had overtaken her knowledge about certain things. She looked for the film Njideka gave her from where she had hidden it. She locked her office door for privacy and reduced the volume of the television as she turned it on. Initially, she had no complaint, it was a story. But after a while, she could not believe what she was watching. The volume wasn’t low enough that she had to mute the television. Her heart was racing as she wondered what she was watching. She paused the movie and called Njideka.
“What is this? I have never watched anything like this before. I have not seen another grown man’s genitals since I married Adam, not even in the hospital. How can people expose their nudity for others to view? I do not walk around naked even when Adimm is with me. I do not bathe with him or use the toilet when he is there.”
“So how do both of you make love? Must it be dark and under covers?”
“I know you are mocking me but isn’t that how it is done?”
“Finish watching the movie. If you are human, you will get aroused. I am happy you are ready to take this step, enjoy it.
“Adim is taking me away for a weekend to a resort.”
“What? Your man is so romantic. He waited for the house to be empty to pull this stunt. I like it. Watch what the girl was doing to the man and the things the man did to her.”
“Can I keep up with this? What is he learning to please me?”
“He has already learnt. If you show him some skills he will prove he has the moves. Watch this movie and after this, you can destroy the movie. The internet is your friend you can read more about pleasing your husband from there.”
“I will try and finish it.”
Eucharia watched the movie to the end in amazement. She wondered how people felt watching others have sex, to her it was an invasion of their privacy. She destroyed the movie and instead researched about pleasing her husband. She was amazed at how much literature abounded about it. There were even books and articles written by experts. She felt she had walked into a new world. She was going to experiment with all she had learnt.
On the eve of the trip to Lagos, Njideka sent a gift to Eucharia. It was wrapped so she opened it in her bedroom. She did not trust Njideka as she knew she could be crazy. Inside the gift was three set lingerie with an open crotch and a pack of ky jelly. She shook her head. Her fellow wives were the best friends she could ever have. They were more exposed than she was and she was glad she could learn a thing or two from them.