Thorn between episode 37 – 38
TITLE: TORN BETWEEN
WRITTEN BY OGECHI ALABI
TROUBLE 6
The Priest asked Thelma to wait outside while he spoke to Adim. He narrated all that Eucharia told him about their union and asked Adim why he did what he did.
“I did not intend to have a son at all and not even with another woman,” Adim replied. “I was in a relationship with Thelma before I deployed to Nnewi. She moved to be with me there, and before long she was pregnant. I was unhappy about it and wanted her to terminate it because of my family, but when we discovered we were having twins, I could not allow her to do it. My brothers are twins, and it runs in the family. She gave birth to twin boys too, and I had no choice but to remain with her. I did not do it to spite Eucharia contrary to her claims. It happened suddenly and I could not do anything about it.”
“Well, it did not just happen, you were committing adultery with a willing partner. She saw an opportunity to be with you which was why she came to join you in Nnewi and quickly conceived for you. She planned the pregnancy and from what I can see there was only one reason for it, money. If you had been a faithful husband to your wife, you wouldn’t have gotten into this mess. When she got pregnant, did you inform your wife about your misadventure? You knew what you did was very wrong. The Bible says to flee from every appearance of evil, but you got locked into it. You do not understand the implications of what you have done to yourself and your family. Your wife will never trust you again, she will never believe what you say. And if she is bitter, she will turn your daughters away from you. You might pride yourself in having sons but take note that the girls are older. They can remember the ill-treatment you meted on their mother and the deception. You made her not to have more children when she could have given you a son. Your first son is from a concubine, is that fair? Your girls know all this. Your wife said while you were with this lady in question, you stopped her education and stopped her from the group she formed for weight loss. Is that also true?”
“I stopped her because she was associating with women who could introduce her to men. I was not comfortable with her association with them. I am a man, and I know what they do.”
“But you were living with one of those women in Nnewi and got her pregnant. Is that not hypocrisy? You were in the middle of what you did not want her to do. She said you left the house and moved in with your concubine. You are free to do so, but know what God says about your situation. As a polygamist, you cannot receive communion and your relationship with the lady sitting outside will not recognised by the Church. Go home and make peace with your wife whom you offended. Abandoning her at this trying time shows how unremorseful you are. You hurt her and from what I can see, you are not a heartless man. Go home and beg your woman until she accepts you back. Once you reconcile, I will counsel both of you on how to navigate these trying times.”
Adim was sober after the Priest highlighted all his wrongdoings. He was staying with Thelma to avoid Eucharia’s wrath and because Thelma did not want him to lodge in a hotel to avoid temptation. He had missed going home and Flora refused to tell him what was happening there. His siblings had stopped talking to him because of the issue. Even Helen called him and voiced her disappointment to him in a not-so-nice way. The girls were no longer close to him, only Urenna spoke to him. The house made him feel lonely.
He was also not bubbly at Thelma’s. She complained continuously about his lack of genuine closeness. She was not like Eucharia; Eucharia cooked special delicacies and served him herself. He came home to specially made fresh food every day by her. She did practically everything for him; she put his clothes away and sent them to the laundry, brought what he would wear, knew when he needed to change his clothes or shoes or belts and handled it herself. She ‘babied’ him and he enjoyed it. He still could not understand his attraction to Thelma because she was the complete opposite of Eucharia. Thelma was short, dark, slightly plumpy and pretty. She was something different and new. She was fun in the beginning but along the line…. He never wanted to make this comparison. If only everyone stayed in their place.
As they left the parish that night, Thelma wanted to know what the Priest discussed with him, but Adim was reluctant to share with her. He told her it was a personal matter concerning his walk with God. She was not buying it. She suspected it had to do with Eucharia but he did not want to disclose it. She emotionally manipulated him by sobbing in the car and accusing him of treating her as an outsider. Unfortunately, it did not work. Adim’s mind was preoccupied with guilt and remorse for his betrayal. He knew how much Eucharia loved him and even when they disagreed, she insisted they came to a compromise. She always wanted a win-win situation. He had to champion the settlement even if it meant going back home. He had been away for five months, it was time to return home.
On Friday morning, Thelma observed Adim’s packed luggage. She was surprised and asked him if he was travelling or something. He told her he wasn’t. “I am going home to my family. I have stayed with you for five months since I separated from my wife to give her time to heal. I wronged her, and I need to make things right with her. I have not seen my children since then. I need to spend quality time with my wife and children. I will visit as often as I can, but you will give me time to reconcile with Eucharia.”
“The Priest put you up to this, right? They would side with her over me because she is more influential and popular. You also abandoned me for two months before I let her know about us, why don’t you stay with your family? Why do you always run back to her?”
Adim did not respond to her but instead called the driver to put his luggage in his vehicle. Thelma tried to stand in his way to stop him from leaving. She cried and held on to him threatening to leave with the boys and that he will never see her or the boys again. Adim moved her aside and said to her, “I had a family before this one, should I throw them away because I am with you? Thelma, be reasonable and allow me to make peace with my first family so you and the boys will be accepted. It will take time, but it is in everyone’s best interest. “
“What do I do while you are gone? Would you visit us or are you abandoning us again?“
“Why would I abandon you? Why would I leave my sons? Be reasonable and stop being selfish. We both offended Eucharia and we have to beg for forgiveness. I betrayed her and I have to make things right with her. What is wrong with apologising to my wife? What then happens to my daughters? What we are doing doesn’t show repentance; we have to extend an olive branch to my family so we can all live in peace. The Priest is right.”
Thelma stepped aside, her hands dropped to her sides. She had never thought about it like this. What Adim wanted to do would also favour her and her children in the long run. She had been pushing for him to pay her bride price, but he refused saying that he would have to divorce Eucharia first before marrying her or it would be considered bigamy. But if he could get Eucharia and her family to accept, Adim would pay her bride price and the boys would be legitimate.
Adim was genuinely remorseful and wanted to make peace with the wife of his youth. Whenever Eucharia was angry with him, things went wrong for him. He received queries at work over minor errors he committed. He refused to attribute his problems to her, but his meeting with the Priest made him remorseful and planned to make peace. He got a recommendation from the office a day before. It was why he packed his things to return to Eucharia to make peace. The whole issue had taken a toll on him. Even though he never showed it to Thelma, he missed home, Eucharia’s food and pampering. He knew it would not happen overnight, but he had to make it happen.
Read – Under the moon light episode 35 – 37
TITLE: TORN BETWEEN
WRITTEN BY OGECHI ALABI
TROUBLE 7
Everyone was surprised when Adim came home that evening. Only Urenna and Jayden ran to hug him; the other three girls greeted him from a distance and went away. This was unlike them, and it hurt Adim deeply. He asked after Eucharia was and he was directed to the room she occupied. The door was open so he walked in. She was lying on her bed downcast. She did not know who came in or react to the person. He sat at the side of the bed and spoke to her.
“Eucharia, I have come back home. I know I have wronged you and I have come here to ask for your forgiveness. No matter how much I beg you, I know you will never heal from my betrayal. I am ready to confess everything to you and will agree to whatever decision you decide to make about this issue. I want us to be a family again. I have missed you so much these past months. It was my inability to watch your sorrow so much that made me leave. I was hoping you would get over it but you have not. Neither have I. Please, tell me what to do to make this right?”
Eucharia did not say a word. She turned to look at him and shook her head. Adim, over the years, had filled his tall frame. Adim did what he could never do for another human, Adim knelt to beg her. Eucharia jumped up from the bed to meet him and asked him to stand up. “Let me stay here until you are willing to listen to me. I never set out to have a son, I agree, I was messing around with her before I moved to Nnewi. She sought a transfer to Nnewi and came to live with me, shortly after, she was pregnant. I was angry about it. I wanted the pregnancy terminated but she insisted on keeping it. When we went for an ultrasound, we were informed she was having twins. There was no way I could make her abort, only to find out she was pregnant with twin boys. It threw me off balance, I must confess. But I had to accept my wrongdoing and move on. What I failed to do was inform you and ask your forgiveness. I should not have even allowed it to happen.”
“Adim, I am not ready for this discussion because it is only going to hurt me more. I never took you for an unfaithful husband but I saw some signs that you might be playing outside the marriage I never confronted you or made your life a living hell. I let it be. I gave you the benefit of the doubt. How did you repay me? You had children with another woman after making promises to me.”
‘I know. I was a faithful husband. If I tell you she was the only one I was ever with aside from you, would you believe it? How the relationship began, I can never explain. She worked with the bank our company has an account with. I met her in the bank several times. One day she asked for my phone number to tell me the balances every close of business. That was how we started talking. I was alone in Port-Harcourt then. It was after I fell for her the first time that I insisted on bringing you and the children to Port-Harcourt. It continued but not as before. I kept giving flimsy excuses as to why I could not resist her. I withdrew from her before I was posted to Nnewi. I ended the relationship but she followed me there. What was I to do?”
“You should have moved me to Nnewi because I do not believe your story, You enjoyed her advances. You enjoyed being pursued by a young girl. I understand it but why did you decide to deprive me of all that made me happy? You enjoyed Nnewi with Thelma but frustrated me in Port Harcourt, why? You made me leave school and end my business while she still works, why? Why was I not worthy to progress in life? While you were with her you pushed a narrative that my fellow women wanted to lure me into dating other men. Meanwhile, you have another wife. You claimed I was sleeping with my lecturer and stopped seeing me and your children for three months. Where do we start from?”
“It was selfish of me and it was my guilt that made me want to protect the one I love. I love you, Eucharia. I can not love another as much as I love you. I have come back home to make things right. If we keep dwelling on the hurt, years will pass us by and we will regret it. Thelma and my boys exist, I cannot undo that. I want to repair my relationship with you first before we can talk about them. I will seek your permission to see them. I am back to you, help me be a better person.”
Eucharia did not know what to say anymore, she could see that Adim was serious about mending fences with her and the family. She knew she would not just accept especially as he just came back from being with her (he did not deny it). She insisted they must continue to maintain separate rooms while she got over her hurt. He agreed to her terms.
Flora cornered her in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon after lunch. She knew Adim was asleep in his room after eating a meal prepared by her. Eucharia hadn’t rushed to share a room with him, Flora was happy about that. But, she felt Eucharia gave Adim an easy pass and she had to voice her objection before Eucharia got carried away.
“I can see he is back and he is having a nice time with you. I asked you to seek help and you did, you are beginning to come back to life. This is the time to make demands and they would be met. He should allow you to round up your degree programme and then you can start that weight loss group but this time as a business. Have you seen yourself? Your physique turns both male and female’s heads. I can help you with the business aspect of it, I hate buying and selling but if we can produce what we can buy and sell, you can imagine what we can do.”
“Produce what exactly? The new GSM lines just started and I think you should consider it as a business once you graduate and move back to Lagos. I watched it on the news and I was excited for you.”
“You were excited for me? What of you? Were you forbidden to do the business? Go and find out about it and before you open your legs for him, he should settle you with the money for business. It should be a direct gift to you, not a family business. Once you allow him to to make it a family business, Thelma’s sons will inherit too when Adim is no more. He should give you the money as a gift, register the company with your daughters as directors, do not put Adim.”
“I should take money from Adim? If I want to start the business I know who to meet to get money.”
“Then you will reconcile with Adim for nothing? I do not know what the Priest told you but you must be compensated for what he did to you. Even if he doesn’t bring all the money, he should bring at least half and you source the rest. I can chip in an investment.”
“Why don’t you start your own?”
“I will soon graduate and when I do, I will start in Lagos. My husband’s cousin has assured me of capital for any business I want to do. He has asked me to register a company so he can get me a distributorship licence but I will talk to him about the GSM lines and the businesses from it in Lagos. I want to go back to my house in Lagos.”
“I understand. You lost your husband to death and I lost mine to another woman.”
“Eucharia, you have not lost your husband yet. He is in his room here sleeping. Adim shocked me, I must confess. The way he carried you like akwa ogazi (guinea fowl egg) no one would believe he would ever desire another woman. Men can be so stupid. What was special about her?”
‘That is why I have refused to fight her. If Adim had not slept with her we would not be in this mess. I will find out about the business and ask Adim for the money. I will tell him it is for payment for all I lost while he was having a good time. I will mention it when we get to see the Priest, that is the best place to bring it up.”
“Now you are talking. What about school? Won’t you return to school?”
“One step at a time. I still have not forgiven him fully or would I say, I have not forgotten. I want to know what his plans for our future are before I make demands. I know I sound like everything is fine but that is not the case. I cannot bear to share a bed with Adim no matter what he promises. As long as he continues to have sex with that woman, I will never agree for him to have sex with me.”
“That means he will be with her most of the time. Adim likes sex and you know it. He also cannot deny the woman sex, she is a wife whether he marries her or not. She has sons for him. There is no way you will win this.”
Eucharia smiled and changed the subject. Her mind was made up and she knew what she could condone and what she couldn’t. She was not going to get involved in a polygamous home where two women would share a man and fight each other for his attention. All she needed was for her children to finish school trained and provided for by their father. He had a responsibility to them and she was going to ensure he lived up to it. Even thinking of him touching her intimately made her skin crawl.