Unfulfilled promise 2 episode 8 – 9

Unfulfilled Promise
Season 2

Episode 8
Eric got up slowly from his bed slowly after
waking up with a star He put both hands on his head and rubbed it vigorously. His bedside
clock told him it was past midnight. He had dreamt of her again. What was he going to do?
He stood up and moved across the spacious
bathroom to his bathroom to take a leak. He
walked to the open windows and looked into
the night. The beautiful constellation of stars
did nothing for his troubled mind. Gosh! He
wanted her back at all cost. Why had she
allowed him make such passionate love to her?

Her response to his touch made him suspect she was s€×-starved. It gave him hope that she
wasn’t in a blissful marriage with Dave But why
did she marry him in the first place? He was so confused. He wanted her back but could he
really destroy their marriage to achieve that?
They’d both betrayed him but he still wanted
her back. She was his soul mate for crying out
loud!
He sighed. He needed a drink. He shook his
head. There was no way he was going back to
alcohol again, not now that there seemed to be
a glimmer of hope in getting back his lost love.
Alcohol nearly destroyed his life because of her. He walked to the bed and picked up his phone.
He’d called her a number of times but she
didn’t pick. He had even sent her a message
begging for them to meet and talk but she
didn’t reply. She’d even changed her number
and refused to give it out, even to Zinny. That
was before he’d had to come back to California
to finish his project at hand. Now that he was
through with it, he was prepared to go back to
Nigeria to fight for her which he would have done years back had he not listened to that
traitor, Dave.
His phone buzzed in his hand. It was Damian.

“Eric, you have to come down to Sacramento in
the next available flight. It’s Grandma Conrad…
her…her time is near.” came his elder brother’s
broken voice.
Eric closed his eyes tightly Not now, grandma.
Not no He whispered.
#########
Dave made life a living hell for Oleng He moved
out of their bedroom to the guest room, he
stopped eating her meals and he didn’t speak
to her unless to taunt her He would go to work and not return for days without telling her
about his whereabouts. Misery became Oleng’s
name. She cried herself to sleep most nights.

She regretted the day she married Dave. She
was guilty alright but for Dave to have kept
such a dark secret that affected her to himself
all these years was inhuman. She kept recalling
her worries and tears over the years, all for
nothing. She remembered how his family had conspired and thrown her out of the house. If
she had known, she wouldn’t have gone back
but he had tried to commit suicide then
claiming he couldn’t live without her. Pure lies.
If you loved someone you wouldn’t hide such a
thing from the person knowing how your
silence was killing the one you claim to love.
She knew if he had told her from the onset, it
would have pained her that she wouldn’t be
able to get pregnant but she would have gotten
used to it and would have concurred to his
suggestion of adopting a baby. But he had
chosen to keep it all to himself and now he
treated her like a rag, an unwanted element.
She didn’t know he could be so cruel.
Things got so bad that she had to call Aunt Vien
to come over. She was glad that it was the
holiday season so the latter could come and
stay with her for a while.
“This is incredible. This is unbelievable.” Aunt
Vien said when she narrated everything to her
“No wonder. I’ve always suspected the problem was from him but you were too guilt ridden
then to listen to me. That last herbalist acted
strangely when she said he should drink the herbs also. My suspicions grew then but you
kept insisting the fault was from you.”
“How could I have known, Aunty? How could I?
You know in this part of the world, the blame
always go to the woman. I thought Eric’s baby had destroyed my womb even when the
doctors told me otherwise. He told me two of
his ex-girlfriends had gotten pregnant for him.

All lies!” she shook her head sorrowfully.
Her aunt cuddled her. “It’s okay, Oly. Don’t
waste a tear on him anymore. You made a
mistake marrying him but it’s not your fault. I don’t blame you for sleeping with Eric It was
inevitable. I feel the love between you two is still alive and very strong.”
“No aunty. I don’t love Eric anymore.” She
shook her head vehemently.
“Really? Then tell me why it had to be Eric you
slept with because if I remember correctly, so
many men wanted you in that position. You even told me that you still received advances
from men even though they knew you’re
married. So why was it Eric who finally cracked
you?” Aunt Vien looked at her niece squarely in
the eyes.

Oleng looked away dumbfounded. “Emm…
maybe…” she stammered. “Maybe because we
once dated…..Alright! Maybe it’s just chemistry.
Nothing but lust.” she denied vehemently.
“Whatever you say. I’m so disappointed in
Dave. He’s a green snake. His cool and serene
nature is really deceptive. Who would have
thought he would do such a thing and to
worsen things treat you like a leper?” she shook
her head ruefully.
“It’s not his fault, aunty, I cheated on him. I was
unfaithful to him. To make matters worse, with
his own close friend, my ex-boyfriend. I know
how he feels which is making me feel worse.
Aunty, I don’t want a broken home. I don’t want
a divorce but I can’t get through to him. He
won’t talk to me.” she lamented loudly.
Her aunt quickly cuddled her again.
“Shh…don’t worry. I’ll talk to him when he
comes back. Please don’t cry again. Remember
your baby.”

Episode 9
Aunt Vien waited until she knew Dave had freshened himself up when he came back from
work before knocking on his door. She made
the sign of the cross before she entered at his
summons.
“Why didn’t you eat the food I placed on the
table?” she asked as she came into the room
and sat on the bed beside him.
“I’ve already eaten.” he simply said.
“I prepared it not your wife.”
“I don’t have a wife.” he harshly told her.
She was shocked but controlled herself “Oh! So
the woman you married five years ago is what?
Your sister?” she sarcastically asked him.

“Even the bible says you can divorce your wife
on the grounds of infidelity.” he gently told her
with a bitter smile.
“Isn’t that rather rash? Hasty? Whatever
happened to, ‘for better for worse’?”
“I don’t think you’re in the best position to
preach that to me. I mean afterall, you left your
husband.” he jeeringly told her.
Aunt Vien was lost for words. She swallowed
hugely. “Yes, you’re right. I left because my co-
wife wanted me dead. She threatened to kill me
on several occasions. So I had to leave the
house for her. Believe me, I’ve regretted that
decision ever since because all these years, I
missed my husband. He was my very first love,”
Tears gathered in her eyes. “He begged me to
come back but I told him as long as his second
wife was still in that house, I wouldn’t come.”
she continued, “He sent her packing a lot of
times but she always came back. But the good
news is before she died two months ago, she
called me and asked for forgiveness. She was
trying to give birth to her fifth baby when she
died. They both died. My husband wants me to
come back to the house but I have refused. I
don’t want people to think I killed her to come
back even though it is a knowledgeable fact in
that part of Uyo that she wasn’t a good woman
and she and my husband didn’t have a happy
marriage. I’m telling you all these for you not to
make the same mistake I made. Don’t abandon
your wife now that she needs you most. I’m not
supporting what she did. What she did is wrong
and terrible but she’s very sorry. Please.” she
quietly pleaded.

Dave got up, walked to the mirror and stared at
his image for a while.
“What really galls me is the person she did it
with. Eric of all people. If you must know, I’ve
always been jealous of that bastard I’ve always envied his looks, brains, wealth and his
relationsh¡p with Oleng. When I married her, I
was so delighted. I had finally gotten something
he wanted so badly but couldn’t have because
of how she hated him then. More fool me, I didn’t know under the hatred was passion and
love. I can never forgive her for making me look
like a fool before him. Now he would go about
saying, ‘Dave thought he was smart by marrying
Oleng, but I proved smarter by sleeping with her whilst she was married to him.’” he bitterly
said. “God! I could kill her right now for what
she did. No! I can’t forgive her. She will pay dearly for making me look like a fool. I’ll deal
with her, brutally.” He clenched and unclenched
his fists in anger.

His in-law got up from the bed in anger. “And what about you, Mr. Goody Two Shoes? For five
miserable years, you deceived her. You lied to her. You made her worry and cry herself senseless over nothing. You said nothing even
while your family maltreated her. She was
almost suicidal because she felt like a failure to
you. Yet you stand there and accuse her. You’re
both guilty and you should both forgive each.lother. So don’t stand there playing God.” she
yelled at him and str-de to the door.
She opened the door and was about leaving
but stopped. “Before you continue accusing
her, think of this. If you had been performing
your husbandly duties, she wouldn’t have fallen prey to Eric’s touch. If you had been fertile, you
would have had maybe three kids by now and she would have channeled all her strength in
caring for them so much that Eric’s presence wouldn’t have mattered to her. If you had confessed to her from the beginning of the
marriage, you would have adopted kids and she would have been thinking about them. The funny thing about this wh0le thing is that she
actually went to his house because of you. She
knew how bad you felt when your friends
ignored you. She went there to warn him to
stop making you unhappy. If that’s not love,
then I don’t think I know what it is. Goodnight.”

She closed the door firmly behind her.
Aunt Vien thought she had talked some sense
into Dave’s but knew she was wrong when he
didn’t come home for a week. Oleng worried
herself senseless.
“He has probably gone to the field again. That field is not good for his health. He always
comes back home looking sick. Or maybe he’s in a hospital resting from under the stress he
has been going through at home and the office.

Aunt Vien, he’s not well, I don’t want blood on
my hands. I don’t want him to die. God, please,
bring him back safely.” she began weeping
again.
“Oleng stop!” her aunt chided. “When will you
ever stop crying? I’ve always told you that you
cry too much. All this weeping and worrying is
not good for the baby. Remember this is the
baby you have prayed for for so long.”
“But not this way, I wanted it to be from my
husband and not my ex-boyfriend.” she
continued sobbing.
“Then you wouldn’t be pregnant now or ever.

Please stop crying Oly. It’s not helping you or
the baby. Remember the doctor said you
shouldn’t worry anymore because your BP was
too high when he checked it. Please think about
your baby first before any other thing. Now go
and take your bath. You know we have an
appointment with the doctor by two. Let me go
and heat up breakfast. Dearie, everything will
be all right.” her aunt consoled her and wiped
her tears away with her hands. She led Oleng to
her room and put on the shower for her. When
she had finished heating up the breakfast and
Oleng wasn’t yet out, she decided to go and
check up on her.

Her heart flew to her mouth when she saw
Oleng lying unconscious on the floor. She
scre-med and ran to check her pause. It was
faint but she was glad she was breathing. She ran to call the gateman to help her carry her to
the car since she couldn’t manage it on her
own. She prayed fervently as she drove to the
hospital. She later rushed back to the house to
get things needed for Oleng’s admission when
the doctor told her she was fine but would be
placed under surveillance for a while. She was
bringing out clothes and toiletries when Dave
came to the room. She saw him and hissed.
Dave laughed.

“So she has finally gotten the message. She has
decided to move out before my telling her to
do so. Smart girl.” he chuckled.
His in-law threw the dress in her hand on the
bed and faced him. “Don’t be so callous, Dave.
For your information, your wife is in the
hospital.” she informed him harshly.
Concern flashed in his eyes but he quickly hid it.
‘He still loves her’ she thought to herself.

“What’s wrong with her?” he asked in a
nonchalant manner.
“You. You’re the one wrong with her, she has been lamenting over the state of your marriage
that she almost killed herself and the baby.
Because of the trauma she is passing through,
the baby is threatening abortion. If I hadn’t
rushed her to the hospital when I found her
unconscious here, she would have lost the baby
and her life because she would have bled to
death.”
Dave was too numb to speak as worry etched
on his face.

“You still love her very much, don’t you?”
“No!” he denied vehemently.
“If you like, deny it but one thing I know is that
she still loves you. She worried herself silly this
past week because you didn’t come home.” she
softly told him and went to where he was
standing to hold his hand. “Please Dave, forgive
her for what she did. I believe she has forgiven
you too now that she’s pregnant. She’s truly
sorry.She’s killing herself because of the way
you are treating her. Please let by gone be by
gone.”
Tears slowly streamed down his eyes. “I loved her. I gave her everything. My wh0le heart. I’ve
never loved anybody the way I loved her. I was
so happy with her but she had to go and ruin
it…the only way I’ll forgive her is if she gives the
baby up for adoption.”

“No! Not again!” Aunt Vien scre-med.
“What do you mean by that?”
She looked flustered for a minute before
saying, “I mean you should not increase her
pain again. You know she has wanted this child
for five years now.”
“We’ll adopt one.” he declared.
“But you know it’s not the same as carrying her
own child in her arms. You’ve got to understand
that every woman looks forward to that. The morning sickness, the protruding tummy, the
fluttering movements of the baby, antenatal
and finally holding the baby in your arms and
watching him or her br-astfeed. God has given
us that wonderful experience. Please don’t take
it away from her.” she pleaded.
“I’m not going to deny her that. But after the
first br-ast feeding, she should give the baby
up.”

“But can’t you see she will be unable to do that?
After everything.”
“Some women do it, why not her?”
“Because she has compassion and love unlike
the others. Please don’t make her choose
between you and the baby. It’s not fair.”
“Then she and the bastard can die and rot in
hell for all I care!” he exclaimed and str-de
angrily out of the room.
Aunt Vien sat on the bed and wept. Her family
was jinxed. She had had an unhappy marriage.
Linda had had an unhappy marriage too. Now
Oleng. Life was so unfair. She prayed her
daughters who were all married wouldn’t
experience the same thing.

Tbc