TEARS OF A HELPLESS WOMAN (episode 20)

© Pauline Mumbi 

The night before our flight to Zambia a white lady named Linda who happened to be Shane’s old classmate came to visit and we had dinner together. Linda Pitt was not only an old classmate but also Shane’s first cousin according to him. She wasn’t friendly at all, I tried to keep conversation but I could tell she didn’t like me. It was very awkward when I tried to talk to Shane as i noticed she interrupted and started another topic and surprisingly Shane responded to her not me.

After we landed home Shane made another huge purchase and this time it was a beautiful house where we would start a family. Shane moved in immediately and I would be joining him after the wedding as per agreement. He also rented me an apartment in salama where I would stay before the wedding.

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I wasn’t sure if getting married was the best decision I was making but ever since we landed in Zambia, I was under pressure by aunty Bertha to give my input on the wedding plans.

Shane wanted us to wed in a few days but I at least needed time so I pushed it further, although I only got two

weeks to prepare.

One thing I was excited about though was my book which Shane successfully published.

Just two days after hitting the markets, my book was best seller on amazon and my account quickly started hitting large sums of money. Shane and I had talked about opening a joint bank account and we agreed that I would do it before the wedding. That meant all my savings including money for the book sale would go into the same account.

One morning just 5days before my wedding i decided to go and org-nise the house especially the room that would be our bedroom where Shane used to sleep. Shane was working and he wasn’t expecting me.

As I was cleaning the closet I saw a pile of doc-ments in envelopes and wondered what they were. Shane had not yet settled as he had just moved in so things were all over the place.

As i went through the doc-ments i came across my car white book which was in Shane’s closet and it was in Linda’s name not mine. My stomach suddenly turned.

And like that wasn’t enough the house he bought for us was equally in Linda’s name.

“What is going on here?” I thought again.

I straight away went into checking things and I found many things in joint ownersh¡p between Shane and Linda his cousin.

So Shane really didn’t trust me and now Linda was helping him by putting everything under her name.

Why would he do that?

I thought that had hurt me but not when I saw prenuptial agreement papers. Shane typed out papers that I would sign to approve that everything he owned before our wedding would remain his after the wedding and that I would have no say over everything he owned. In short I was basically walking into this marriage broke and I would probably stay broke

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I told aunty Bertha that I would take care of the marriage ceremony while she could handle the reception. She wasn’t happy but eventually she agreed and she gave me some money.

Shane on the other hand was excited about the marriage and he kept blowing the bank with extravagant spending.

The following night, aunty Bertha and the rest of the family came to have dinner with us at Shane’s house, it was my treat for aunty Berthas birthday and I did the cooking.

After dinner while Shane intEr×¢ted with his siblings, I took the time to share about my trip with aunty Bertha and equally showed her some pictures. I noticed something unusual as we flipped through the Album.

Linda’s pictures that we had taken together when she came for dinner were missing. I was eagerly waiting to hear what aunty Bertha would say about her but how could I even ask? I hoped the photos would make it easier.

This was a shocker and a complete surprise if you ask me. Why would he remove her pictures?

That night I decided to spend a night over at the house as I was too tired to drive. I wanted to ask Shane a lot of questions but I decided to take my time.

I arranged one of the spare bedrooms for myself and I showered before tacking into bed.

Shane did not sleep immediately as he was downstairs skyping with some friend. God knows who.

I was sleeping peacefully and I suddenly had a terrible nightmare. I was terrified when I woke up and immediately got down on my knees in prayer.

I broke into serious prayers and burst into unknown tongues. I don’t know what was going on but I prayed so much until I heard a loud voice in the midst of my prayer.

“Oh shut up will you!!!!” Shane yelled as he pushed the bedroom door open.

It was the very first time I saw him that angry.

I was so speechless and my body trembled.

“What was that for? I’m trying to sleep and you break into those annoying sounds!” He yelled.

“Honey I’m sorry.. I was just praying” I said.

“Praying???? Are you possessed? Who prays like that?” He asked again angrily.

I was so shocked and my mouth went dry.

As I went back to bed thoughts ran through my head.

“Why on earth was I yelling in tongues that I had never spoken before? Maybe I was really possessed like Shane told me. I mean that’s the only reason he would be angry.

I remembered his angry face and I was crippled with fear. I knew aunty Bertha, she was nice and she was Christian from what I knew. She actually asked me to get baptised if I wanted to. But why would she raise a son who hates to hear prayer?. I knew something was frustrating Shane and it had nothing to do with the prayers.

The following morning I went to check on the florist and the cake just to make sure everything was according to my specifications.

The thoughts of what happened the previous night did not escape my mind and I was torn apart. What was happening and why did he behave like that? Why was Linda so special?

When I got back home Shane had bought me a beautiful cake, roses and a gorgeous dress to say sorry for how he reacted.

I was blown away and indeed I
believed he was sorry. To be with someone you needed to adjust so I convinced myself that praying loudly would not settle well with him so I had to change.

“Honey I wanted to talk to you about something” Shane started.

“Yes honey am listening” I responded as we were watching a movie.

“The wedding is two days away and I thought I explain something to you” he said.

Shane opened his briefcase and removed a pink envelope.

The envelope had the prenuptial papers and I listened attentively as he started to speak.

“Honey these papers are for us to sign. By signing you are simply protecting your property in case our marriage fails. That is everything you own before this marriage like your car and the house we jointly own” he said

I looked at Shane and I just couldn’t believe he had the audacity to lie to me.

“OK honey, does that mean I can now gave my white book?” I asked.

“Ahhh.. Yes I will give it to you. Just sign here” he said.

I did not hesitate at all and I decided to sign and he signed too and we together presented the paper to a lawyer the following morning.

We had just presented the papers to the lawyer and I decided to block my account so he could not have access to it and I diverted all my funds to another separate account.

A lot of media companies had been contacting me trying to interview me concerning my book which was now famous but I had to get the wedding out of the way first.

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The man i got to officiate our wedding was a not so well known pastor who seemed to just be interested in the fee I was paying him. I had managed to convince Shane that our court wedding would take place when we returned from Paris.

He didn’t seem happy at all but I had to make a few of my own demands and they were quite strict. For instance I chose this pastor simply because he was not so well known to avoid making a big fuss.

I asked Shane’s youngest sister who was also a bridesmaids to esc-rt me to the salon to get my hair done in readiness for the wedding which was the following day. She was very friendly so I decided to ask her about Linda.

“Linda Pitt? You know her? She asked in shock.

” yes we met. She seemed very nice” I said.

“Oh no don’t mistake her kindness for anything genuine” she said.

“But why do you say that?” I asked.

“That lady and Shane dated for a very long time and I believe she still has eyes for him. Guard your man jealously or she will take him” she said.

My stomach immediately rumbled and its like the earth shook.

“No…I know Shane … Do you have any idea why they broke up?” I asked.

“Distance I guess. We moved here and she visited a few times but she finally gave up. She was actually really stubborn but Shane loved her a lot. He gave her all he could but she still played with his emotions. We never thought he would love again but you stole his heart and once again his back to himself” she said.

That made a lot of sense and I remembered how he looked at her and just how she was so rude to me. He also responded to her before he responded to me. That really made a lot of sense. But then why did he want to marry me? Its not like I was pressuring him. He had someone who he loved and who loved him too so why me?

I had a lot of unanswered questions.

Was he using me to get her jealous? But to even go as far as marriage?

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That Evening before my wedding I called the money pastor to meet me in a secluded place. I call him that because despite knowing I wasn’t baptised he was to wed me so long as I paid.

He wasn’t sure whether to meet me at first but I assured him it was safe to meet me at the location and he finally agreed.

“Good evening man of god” I said as he approached.

I had been waiting for him for a while

“Good evening madam” he responded.

“OK this will be very short” I said as I handed him an envelope.

Sir in that envelope is a certificate. It looks just like the original marriage certificate but it isn’t. I need you to hand it to us tomorrow and we will sign it instead” I said.

“But madam that means the marriage will be…”

“Fake!” I interrupted

“But I thought you loved him” he said.

“And I thought you didn’t love money…..so we both were wrong.” I responded

“How much????” He asked me.

“I will add a K10, 000 more to your bill” I said.

“You can trust me..” I added as I handed him K5 000 cash.

I didn’t ever see myself getting to such measures but life had laughed in my face too long. I couldn’t take chances. Even if I would never be with Atusaye, I still wouldn’t be fooled into settling for a liar like Shane. What else was he capable of?. Well I will not say much, at least he got me educated and travelling first class.

I drove to my hotel room where i would spend a night before the wedding….. The fake wedding to be precise. 

To be continued… 

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