Agony of marriage episode 6

THE AGONY OF MARRIAGE

EPISODE 6

I was helpless and I didn’t know what to do. Daniel had kicked
me out of the car and I had left my purse behind. No cellphone, no ATM cards, nothing, I was in despair. I waited
on the side of the road, hoping that a car would soon come my way and perhaps a good Samaritan would help me get
home and rescue me from this dangerous dilemma that I was
in. Soon enough, my wish c@m£ true and a pair of bright headlights appeared. I moved to the road and began to wave
my arm in order to flag it down. Luckily, the driver slowed to a st©p and I rushed to the other window to talk to him.

“Good evening… plea-se can you-”
He didn’t even let me finish before he interrupted. “This one don pas-s evening o. You no dey see time? Na 12:56 a.m.
o.” (It’s past evening alre-ady. Don’t you know the time? It’s 12:56 a.m.)
I nodded. “I apologize but plea-se I’m really stranded here and I need your help to get home”

He suddenly cut me off again and this time he shook his head and laughed ha-rd . “Na wa o. Wonders shall never end! See ashawo wey dey speak English. My friend, forget that nonsense foné, your business na to f–k, just tell me how much, I dey in the mood!” (Wonders shall never end! Imagine a pr©st!tût
£speaking good English. My friend, forget about that nonsense phonetic, your business is to have S-x, just tell me how
much you charge, I’m in the mood!)

I was taken aback by his statement then looked down at my
outfit before I said in an offended tone. “I’m not a prostitute.”
“Abeg make I hear word!” (C’mon, st©p that pretense!) He
dismissively waved his hand towards me. “No be all your br£@st full outside so? See all your l@p sef! In fact, the blood
wey dey your nose and the way wey your left eye don red, e be likes if you been thief person money, dem come beat you
throw-way you for here.” (Aren’t those your breasts that are exposed? Even your l@ps too. In fact, the blood around your
nose and the way your left eye is blackened shows that you probably stole from your customer and he beat you up and dumped you on the road.) He accused.

Hmm! I couldn’t blame him since the way I dressed up was
the way I was addressed.
“I’m not a thief and neither am I a prostitute!” I yelled in frustration.
“Oh! Na me you dey raise voice for? I no blame you, sebi na because I still dey here dey follow you yan…” (Oh? Am I the
one you are raising your voice at? I don’t blame you, I blame myself for staying around to talk to you.) He turned on the
ignition. “Your father!” He said menacingly and drove away
angrily.

As soon as he left and I straightened up, a strong waft of breeze hit my face, b!owing my hair backwards and I cringed
when I saw lightening brighten the clouds in the distance. That sign was soon followed by a distant rumble and I knew that it was going to rain soon. I waited, anxiously waiting for another
car to come along. After waiting for like ten minutes and trying to prevent the strong wind from b!owing dust into my
eyes and mouth, another car slowly crawled to a st©p beside me and the window whirred down slowly to reveal a fat man with a paunch.

“Hello baby!” He called out and I could immediately tell that he was from the Eastern p@rt of Nigeria.
“Hello sir.” I said to avoid saying good evening when it was alre-ady p@rt one a.m. “What is a beautiful girl like you doing here at this time of the night?” He asked and I could see his eyes ogling my b©dy.

“Sir, I was robbed.” I lied in order to gain his sympathy.
“Robbed?” He raised his voice in surprise. “Oh, this country! I’m very sorry about that my dear. I think it’s about to rain,
what do you say, that you follow me to my guest house to recover from your trauma.” “Guest house? Sir, I’m actually going towards Dauda lane.”

“It doesn’t matter where you are going to. What actually matters is that you leave this place. This place is not safe at
all. You are a beautiful girl and anything can happen to you. Hop in baby girl. Hop in and let me help you out of this
situation.” I hesitated. “But sir, I’m a married woman.” I lifted the back of
my hand to show him my ring.
He frowned then suddenly smiled again then as-sured me.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. You are not a child, you should know that being married shouldn’t st©p one from enjoying oneself. I am married myself. We can just help each other out, you
know? This weather is called a weather for two my dear.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry sir but I can’t do such thing.”
His smile slowly faded. “You would rather be stranded here?” When I said nothing, he shrugged and turned the key in the
ignition. “No problem, suit yourself, God knows that I tried to be helpful.” He said and zoomed off.

Three minutes later, the first drops of rain poured from the sky and it c@m£ with a cold breeze. Goosebumps spre-ad on my
skin and I wra-pped my arms around myself, I was shivering. I glanced down both sides of the road and realized that it was totally dark. There were no cars in sight. In despair, I took off my shoes and began to walk. I didn’t know how I intended to do it but I had made up my mind to walk home. The rain poured heavily now and in seconds I was completely drenched. My lower l!ptrembled and I regretted wearing this
cra-p I called a dress. It ba-rely covered my b©dy because of it was an alter-n£¢k style.

My feet soon got muddy and my
we-t hair flattened against my head and face. I was a total mess. I was still trying to walk home when a pair of headlights
appeared from around the bend. I didn’t even turn to look at it.

All I knew was that if it were a man, he would simply want to sleep with me like the other two. I noticed that the car did not try to zoom by but instead, it
slowed down behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at the car but I was blinded from seeing the driver because of the
bright headlights. I didn’t know why he was slowing down but if it was to talk to me, o have had enough of per-verts for one night so I continued walking. The car honked but I ignored it. It honked twice but I wouldn’t st©p nor look back.

The car slowly moved along side the road till it reached me and I heard the window wind down halfway.
“Hey!” The driver called but I ignored him. “Hey!” He called louder.
“plea-se just go on your way and leave me alone!” I snapped without looking at him. “I’m not a prostitute!”

I heard him chuckle and he said next, “What the hell are you
doing here at this time of the night? I thought you left almost an hour ago.”
Just then, I knew that whoever this driver was, knew me. I turned to squint at him and that was when I recognized him.

“You. Chris right?” I continued walking and he still followed
alongside with his car.
He smiled. “I’m glad you still remember my name.”

.“Yeah, right…” I rolled my eyes.
“You know it’s pouring heavily right?” He said.
“Isn’t it obvious enough?” I gestured at my drenched b©dy.
“Why are you here? Did your car break down or something?
Where’s your husband?” He asked.
“Too many questions.” I mumbled.
“I’m just really surprised to see you here all by yourself and at this time.”
“Thanks for the concern.”
“Are you stranded?”He asked I swallowed hard “No.”
“Then why are you walking?”
“I just want to do a little exercise.” I lied.
“And what kind of exercise is done in the middle of the night, on a dangerous road and in the rain?” He quizzically asked.
“My kind.” I answered.He simply shook his head and said, “it’s high time you get out
of the rain or you are going to catch a cold.”

“I’m very much fine, thank you.”
“Your being stubborn is at your detriment. I insist.” He said.
“plea-se, you are the very reason why my husband ditched me right in the middle of nowhere.” I told him now, my shoulders
sagging.

“No, I’m not. Simply agree that you married douchebag who treats you like cra-p!” He said. “Get in the car.
When I refused and continued to walk, he st©pped the car, got down in the rain and hurried to me. “C’mon, st©p being so
ha-rd -headed, just get in the car alre-ady.” He pressed.

“No, my husband would only get more angry if he sees me with you. He alre-ady accused me of having an affair.” I mused.
“And you feel this way all because an a—–e whom you caught
s——g a w—e in car falsely accused you? From the look of things, it’s not the first time you have caught him cheating.”
“It doesn’t matter. This is what the society accepts. It’s born in every man to cheat.”
“Pardon me but I’m going to have to tell you to shut the f–k up! It’s not an inbuilt trait! Words like these are the very reason
men think they have the right to cheat and it’s appalling that even women have surrendered and accepted that bull$h!t!
Cheating is a choice, goddamnit!”
I simply sighed and asked, “Does it matter? This is a patriarchal world anyway where men are allowed to get away with a lot of things and women are at the receiving end.”

“I know right… Well, we are not going to debate over that standing in the rain, let’s just get you in the car first.”
“I don’t want to wors£n my situation, Chris. I don’t want you to be the one my husband sees when he opens the gate, it will only justify his accusation.”

“So you are just going to punish yourself in order to plea-se
that idiot of a husband who dumped you here despite knowing
how dangerous this road is?”
“plea-se Chris, enough of the name-calling, the man you are
insulting is still my husband.” I said sternly.
“Well, get in the car. If you think I’m going to leave you here,
think again.” He wouldn’t give up easily.
I paused now to ask. “What’s is to you? Why do you want tonhelp me so bad? What do you want from me?”
He hesitated then shrugged. “I don’t know… I really have nonidea.”
“Well, I think it’s high time you st©pped hitting on me. You and I, can never happen. I AM MARRIED!”

Read – The demon and I episode 77 – 78

“I get that fact but I would have cared all the same if it were to be some other stranded lady, so plea-se, let’s get this over with. Let me take you home.”
“No!” I remained adamant.
“Don’t make me use f0rç£.” He said.
“You wouldn’t dare.” I uttered.
“Fine, that’s it!” He stated. “You had your chance!” Before I could say anything, he suddenly bent and scooped me up into
his arms. I protested and asked hIm to set me down but he refused and simply carried me to the car where he set me
down in the seat next to the driver’s then he hurried back in the rain to gr@bb£d my shoes which I had accidentally
dropped before he c@m£ around and joined me in the car. He
automatically wound up the windows and when he noticed that I was still shivering, he took off his t-shi-t and gave it to
me and reluctantly I sli-pped it on and it made me a bit warm even though it was p@rtially.

As he drove off, he glanced at me and shook his head when
he saw my mascara running down my face. “You look a mess.” He noticed the dried blood in my nostril and also the
black patch which was beginning to form around my left eye
where Daniel had hit me. “He did that to you, didn’t he?”

I simply lowered my head but said nothing. Soon, I told him
the name of my street and he drove me to the gate of my house. The rain had alre-ady reduced to a drizzle. I got down
the car and thanked him profusely then walked towards the gate. He nodded and slowly drove away. I was all alone now
and I could hear our neighbour’s guard dog, barking. I knocked on the gate and waited. When nothing happened, I knocked yet again and I could hear movements on the other side and
then a flashlight c@m£ on.

“Na who be that?!” The gateman yelled.
“Musa!” I called out. “Na me.”
He recognized my voice immediately. “Oh! Madam?!” He quickly opened the gate. “Na you? I be dey wonder why you no follow Oga come back.” He moved out of the way and I hurried in.

As I walked to the door, my husband who must have heard us, c@m£ out to the porch. I tentatively approached him now,
totally forgetting that I was still in Chris’ shi-t. “What are you doing here?” He asked me as he leaned on his elbows on the railings.
I paused. “please Daniel, I don’t have the time for any drama tonight. I’m very tired.” I started for the main door but he
suddenly gr@bb£d my arm and shoved me back and I staggered but quic-kly regained my stamina.

“Go back and sleep in your b©yfri£nd’s house.” He spat.
“Daniel, I’ve told you that I’m not cheating on you! Just let me be plea-se!” I said wearily. He advanced towards me. “If you don’t leave my house now,
you’ll die today!” He threatened.
I knew that it was not the first time he was saying such to me so I ignored him and attem-pted to go around him to the main door but he suddenly gr@bb£d me by my hair and punched me in the ribs. I cried out in pain and double over on the
ground.

“Do you think I’m joking?! I’m going to kill you, bury you and nob©dy will do a thing to me!” He suddenly gr@bb£d me by
the back of Chris’ shi-t, r0ûghly dragged me to the gate as he yelled at the gate man to open it then he pushed me out. I fell and bruised my knees but I was still unable to straighten up because of the pain in my ribs. I crawled to the gate, crying and begging him to open it but I heard him yell

“Musa! Do not let that s–t in! If you let her come in here, you’ll follow her out! I’ll fire you!” Half-sprawled on the we-t ground, I leaned my shoulder
against the gate, weakly ban-ging on the lower p@rt, calling out to my husband and pleading with him to let me in.

“Madam, no vex…” I heard Musa say from the other side once my husband and returned inside the house.
My ribs were hurting like hell and any slight movement wors£ned the pain. Just then the taillights of a car parked two
houses away c@m£ on and the car reversed to my gate

I recognized the car at once. It was Chris and he hadn’t left like
I had thought. He got down the car, walked around the back and c@m£ to me. He squatted on his toes before me and pursed hisl-ips as he stared at me for a moment.
“D–n, you are in one f—-d up marriage.” He finally said.

I could not reply him, tears just kept spilling from my eyes.
Then I saw him look up at the gate. “If I had the chance, I’d give your husband a serious beating. No good man treats a
woman this way! Who leaves his wife stranded on the road and then kicks her out of the house into the street in the
middle of the night? I don’t know why the hell you are putting up with this $h!tty marriage but you had better get a divorce!”

He stated angrily and then carried me again in his arms. When
I winced in pain, he handled me more gently. He carried me to
the car and gently placed me in the back seat then he got into the car and drove away. I had no idea where he was taking me to but somehow, I trusted this stranger whom I hadn’t even
told my name. Slowly, I Feel asleep, hoping the pain would go
away..
.
.
.
.

TBC….

Please like and comment 🙏