Ok, so I am the other woman, you have never seen the other woman before?
What’s the big deal? They told you I snatched a woman’s husband, I didn’t know they write the name of a woman’s husband on the man’s forehead.
People say whatever they like but thank you for asking me my version of the story.
I am not going to make apologies but to tell someone, “This thing has never happened before” is to create unnecessary fear in the heart of the person involved. There is nothing new under the sun!
This is what happened.
I lost money doing some business; I had to tell the lady I was sharing a shop with that I couldn’t continue to pay my share of the rent because there was no help coming for me at that time. I was home, thinking about my life when an aunt of mine called to ask if I wouldn’t mind being a nanny for one of her customers.
Nanny?
I agreed to do it because I wasn’t doing anything profitable at that time.
The family at that time lived in one Estate; I was to resume daily but I would never sleep there, you know that sort of arrangement. And I’ll tell you, at that time, it suited me fine.
So I resumed and was introduced to the madam and her husband and two children…small shoris at that time.
I called my madam Aunty.
She took me round the house and showed me how to clean the house, how to use washing machine…I had never seen a washing machine at that time. She showed me how to iron her husband’s shirts, how to prepare the children’s food. She normally returned around 8 pm because she worked on the Island. I didn’t mind because I loved children and immediately, the children took to me.
From the beginning, Aunty told me, “anything my husband wants, give him.”
Ok.
In my mind, I thought she meant like food or whatever he needed in the house.
Two weeks or so, after I resumed, ok before now, madam only came back home at 8 pm once, all the other times, she came at 9 pm or at 10 pm, o! Two nights like this, I couldn’t go home because she came back late from work. She said it was traffic. But oga came home early.
In short, it was around that time oga began to come home in the afternoon for lunch…what did I know?
I was just 23 years old at that time, my eyes never open.
Ok, the children were always dropped by the school bus at the gate, I would go there and wait for them around 2-2.30 pm. Along the line, one day, it was one of the ladies in the school bus, the one who assists the driver that told me I would be the forth nanny the children were having in the last one year.
I never truly found out at that time why they were leaving.
As usual, Oga came home one day and met me in the kitchen, he asked if I was a virgin…
I was shocked but I said no, that I used to have a boyfriend but he duped me and ran away with my money, that was why I was back to working for people.
Then he began to tell me how I could earn more money, what I could do with it and how to start my own business.
This man was speaking the language I wanted to hear at that time. So, I began to look forward to him coming and because, truly, he was a kind man…when he began to touch-touch, I felt bad and tried to tell madam when she came home one evening.
I asked her if she knew her husband came home in the afternoon.
She said, “Oh, he has started coming home in the afternoon, ok. Whatever he wants, give him.”
Just like that!
I stood for a long time wondering what she meant.
When I tried to tell Oga that Madam may find out about him touching me, he said, “don’t worry, she knows my spec, that’s why she hired you.”
Ha!
Ok. At that time, I didn’t even understand what he was saying just that he kind of said, Madam would not mind.”
So I told myself, maybe this is why the other nannies didn’t stay…
Anyway, he began to give me money to send home to my mum, to pay my brother’s fees…to start saving for my business again.
If someone is helping you like that, won’t you find a way to repay him for his “kindness.”
So, I was repaying a kindness….I didn’t know it would result in pregnancy, I swear!
And before that, to show you Aunty knew what was going on, she would sometimes say, “Whenever you are attending to Oga, don’t neglect my children…”
So she knew!
Pregnancy came na and the game changed!
Me, I wasn’t ready to be the third party in that house, so I told Oga and he said I should remove it!
That’s when I said, “No, what if I die?”
Aunty said I betrayed her that the others didn’t even carry belle, that she liked me and thought I would stay with them for a long time…this was almost one year of working for her.
Later, I found out that her husband even suspects her of sleeping with her boss, that was why she wasn’t even keen on whether her husband slept with the nanny or not!
See as these people gamble with our lives?
I moved back fully to my own place, not the old one, my husband got me a bigger place, two bedroom, even before I had a baby boy. I have since had two more children for him and though we are married by tradition, he is still living with Aunty and sometimes he sleeps at my place…we share him.
Everybody is out to chide the other woman; she stole the husband, as if he is a wallet to be stolen; she broke his home as if his home wasn’t in pieces before she came; she is a wicked woman, please spare me the details, the iyawo at home nko, is she a saint?
Please leave matter!
(Series written and edited by Peju Akande and based on true stories)