Too Precious Episode 28

TITLE: TOO PRECIOUS

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 28

Several months had passed after the death of PY. PB went to a drug store to buy some drugs near her home. She met Biodun at the pharmacy; he was arguing with the cashier. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Biodun didn’t look himself; he looked older and untidy. She wondered what could have happened to him. He saw her and was embarrassed.

“Hello, Biodun,” PB said to him.

“Precious,” he replied.

“What’s the problem?” PB asked the cashier.

“He is arguing over the price of this drug….”

“Give it to him; I will pay.”

“Precious, you don’t have to. You can’t be sympathetic with me now when you should have been when it mattered most. It is because of your unforgiveness I am in this predicament.”

PB didn’t answer him. She said to the cashier, “let him have whatever he wants, add it to my bill. Here is my ATM card; I will be back.” And she walked away to another store to make further purchases. She walked away to avoid airing her dirty linen in public.

When she returned, she made payments for all the purchases including Biodun’s and then left. As she walked towards the entrance, Biodun came to meet her. She tried to walk away but, he stopped her.

“I am sorry for my behaviour in,side there. I had to wait to ask for your forgiveness. How have you been Precious? You look so beautiful and you have lost so much weight. Wow! What did you do?”

“I had my peace.”

“I know I offended you and I don’t have a right to make demands but I do need your help. My family and I are suffering and I can’t get a job anywhere. How can you help me? I need your help”

“Which family?”

“My family”

“Which of them? Your wife and children or your parents and siblings?”

“All of them.”

“Then you don’t have a problem. The business you opened for your parents should be able to sustain you and your family. This is when it comes in handy.”

“Why are you talking like this. You are a good person. I have asked for forgiveness. Please help me so the children don’t starve. They took everything away from me.”

“Biodun, I don’t care. You deceived me into marrying you and in the marriage, you were wicked to me. So, I have no compassion towards you. You made a fool of me and enjoyed doing it. There is no way in this world I will ever forget what you did but I have forgiven you. If you want to take care of your family, take up menial jobs to care for your children, it doesn’t have anything to do with me. I am not responsible for their existence”

“It is because you don’t have a child you can say this. If you had ever borne a child, you would understand my request for them to be well taken care of. I did what I did for the sake of my children”

“You stole money from innocent people for the sake of your children? Did you become a criminal stealing million of naira for the sake of your children? I will never do that for the sake of my children. I know why you married me and used me; it was for the sake of your children with another woman. Well, go to that woman for help; there is none here.”

“What was I to do? You couldn’t have children. I had to have more children with the woman who could have children. I didn’t want to stress you; I enjoyed being with you (he winked at her). That was all you were good for. You were stingy and your grandfather followed your orders; he couldn’t even help me”

PB looked at him with disgust and said, “Biodun, my ride is here. I hope you got enough to take care of your children for now. That’s all you will ever get from me. Goodbye” she entered her vehicle and her driver drove off.

On the ride home, PB cried. She felt used. She knew they were mere words but it hit her differently. She wanted to have a child so badly. She wanted to feel like a woman. Now in her early thirties, she wondered how she could do it; have a child of her own. She didn’t want a man, she wanted a child.

She thought about it for a long time. It took her several months to decide. She visited a fertility clinic and explained to them what she wanted. She ran some tests and was certified fertile. She wondered why she didn’t get pregnant with Biodun. It was confusing.

The fertility clinic recommended using a sp**m donor from their sp**m bank and they would use the artificial insemination technique. She was fine with it. She had to discuss with her family so they wouldn’t be surprised when they see her with the pregnancy. And, she would need their support.

Her grandfather disagreed with her. He assured her she would find love again. He had been trying to set her up on dates but she refused. Once bitten, twice shy. He told her to do it the natural way and not be sentimental about it.

Her mother told her not to use an unknown sp**m donor She advised her to sleep with a man she knows who she could verify family histories of certain illnesses and diseases. Seun asked her to date and then get pregnant for the guy. Before then she would have found out all she needed to know.

Her grandmother told her when she was ready, she will do the needful. She said her time was ticking and not waiting for her. Whatever she decides, she should do it fast.

PB took time off to think about it. Truly, time wasn’t her friend. She decided to go her mother’s way. Instead of a s€×ual encounter, why doesn’t she make a baby with someone she knows and she is close using artificial insemination? She thought about the options she had. After the divorce and PY’s demise, she had kept a low profile and only concentrated on work. It affected her social life. So, her choices were few.

She had some colleagues to pick from. She didn’t see anyone of them she could entice to have a baby with and, she didn’t want to pay anyone to be a father.

Some of her clients had asked her out. Some of them were ready to marry her. No, some weren’t single but were willing to have her as a second wife. She didn’t want to cause any other woman hurt. She refused to date them and kept their relationsh¡p professional. They let her be because of her grandfather.

Her only options were close friends and acquaintances. Simon was an option. Since PY’s demise, he had proved himself a worthy husband to her and an amazing father. He visited them more often than was agreed. He talked to his children twice daily. He was a part of their lives and PB liked that about him. But, would it be wise to have a child with PY’s husband? She thought about the controversy this will cause. She removed him from the list.

Allen was the second option. He was a good friend. He brought his daughter to spend weekends sometimes with her cousins so his mother could have some fun with her lover. PB was becoming worried with the open display of affection Hope and Emeka displayed with reckless abandon. Engineer Collins had moved out of the house when Hope no longer respected him. He relocated to the village and only visited for medical appointments. PB knew if she spoke to Allen, he might agree to do it for her.

The third option was a friend she had just gotten acquainted with. He is the son of her client. The man manufactured and sold lubricants. Alhaji Adedayo had many wives and concubines. Those wives and concubines had children for him. Salim was the offspring of one of his concubines.

According to Alhaji, Salim was his most brilliant child so he sent him abroad to further his studies and brought him back home. As was compulsory, all his children worked at the factory for five years before they could have a career or start any business.

Salim had done his mandatory five years and had gone back to do another Masters’ degree. He came back after two years and joined the company again. He went back to working in the factory for three years before his father brought in into the office to learn the rope.

Salim handled Alhaji’s business diligently and his father is very proud of him. The problem is that Salim is not from one of his wives and Alhaji had fallen out with his mother; they were no longer together. Alhaji wanted Salim to manage the business for him. Salim understood that it was a disaster waiting to happen. He knew whoever took over the business would either lose his life or will bow to the pressures of the family and the business will be ruined.

He had these discussions with PB when he used her firm to open his company. His mother is an Igbo lady from Anambra state and a big businesswoman who specialized in sanitary wares. He knew how to handle business from a young age and decided to major in it. He realized he preferred to teach people how to run and manage businesses than doing the business but he was also a very good businessman.

Salim was a free young man who enjoyed his own company or was busy working. Unlike most young people from wealthy homes (including his half-siblings), he didn’t live a lavish lifestyle. He struck a genuine friendsh¡p with PB and she admired him. He was an option because he had character traits that ticked the right buttons.

Out of the three options she had, PB felt she had a better chance with Salim because he was naturally compassionate. They became closer when he heard about PY’s death and PB raising her two children. He had advised PB to also have a child of her own even if she decides not to get married.

The first person she discussed this with was Allen. Allen told her getting pregnant and having her child was a good idea. “You are not getting any younger. It is time you do this. So, who is the lucky guy you have chosen?”

“I wanted to use a sp**m donor.”

“sp-rm donor? No boyfriend? PB why use the sp**m of someone you don’t know their family history? Use a boyfriend’s sp**m, maybe he will decide to make it official”

“I don’t have a boyfriend. Life isn’t all about relationsh¡ps. I have dedicated my life to taking care of PY’s and my children. I don’t need a man to validate men. I won’t make the mistake I made with Biodun.”

“PB, Biodun was below your class. The guy wasn’t worth it, to be honest. How my sister understood why you were marrying beneath you baffled me. Marriage is like an alliance. His family saw you as desperate that was why his father didn’t respect you. Have a child with someone on the same level as you or even higher. You have wealthy clients who like you, choose one and have a child with.”

“Married men? I can’t do that. Why would I hurt another woman? Divorced or widower is the highest I can go.”

“You are too decent for this clime. Let me take you out tonight; I can see your social life is next to none. I won’t take a babe with me, it will be just us. Don’t look at me like that; I know you wouldn’t want to hang with me and another girl. I will be with my friends though. Some of them have sworn to bachelorhood but you can change their minds”

“I am not shopping for a man. I want someone close to me or someone I know to a reasonable extent to father my child. He doesn’t have to be involved in the upbringing of the child. He should just summit his sp**m to be used for implantation.”

“Let’s see how that works. We are going out tonight. Have you been to a strippers’ bar? I will take you to one today. This is a world of its own. My friends said it is crazy in there. Once you have your money, you can have the time of your life with the girls….”

“And I have to go with you?”

“You have to loosen up. You know I won’t do anything with those girls but I want to enjoy the moment with someone I can be free with while my guys fornicate. It will be fun. Trust me.”

“So, I am going with you to watch my fellow women take off their clothes while rom-ncing a pole. Then men can have s€× with them while I watch? How is that fun?”

“It is er*t*c but the men don’t have s€× in the open with them. They have private rooms. Let’s go and have some fun. Have the experience so when you speak against it, you know what you are talking about”

Tbc