Itโs hard to believe itโs been just over a year since my sister passed away, and now her husband has remarried and moved his new wife into the house my sister built.
My sister, Rose, God rest her soul, was a fighter. She despised injustice and couldnโt stand seeing someone being cheated. Maybe it was her inability to let things slide, always poking her nose into matters and acting like Voltron, defender of the universe, that led to her untimely death.
You know, people get cursed with bad luck.
Let me tell you about Rose. She was in her mid-30s when she married her husband. By then, you know how Nigerian aunties can beโthey had taunted her endlessly about finding a husband. Every family gathering, which was often because we come from a very large family, they would remind her. Our grandfather married 13 wives, who had 53 children, who in turn had over 100 of us cousins. We are home and abroad.
So, we always had one family member getting married, having a housewarming ceremony, child naming ceremony, Christmas, Easterโฆ we were often the largest family even at extended family gatherings.
At that time, Rose was working with an oil company. She had a house, two cars, a cook and a driver. I remember one of my dadโs half-sisters, Aunty Beatrice, often reminding Rose not to think she was safe just because she had a house, a cook and driver. She would say that either the driver or cook could kill her and inherit her wealth. Of course, we would always say, โGod forbid.โ
I wish we had said, โGod forbid bad things!โ because bad things happened to Rose. She met this guy, one lazyโฆ sorry, but he was a Yoruba boy. Iโm not saying Yoruba boys are lazy, but she married a Yoruba demonโฆ from hell! The guy was fine, younger than Rose, but you wouldnโt know because Rose took care of herself. You wouldnโt know she was five years older than this demon. His name is Dapo. If he dares, let him come and fight me on this!
And you know, for someone who had been disappointed several times in love and who finally settled down with someone, Rose tried too hard to convince us it was a good match. We accepted Dapo, hoping he would live up to what Rose wanted from him. But like I said, Dapo was a demon.
After two years of marriage, it was one problem after another. Rose said she was tired of sharing his CV with her bossโs friends and helping him rewrite a CV he never even attended interviews for.
Dapo had it made. A wife who was rich, three cars (he came with his own car, Rose had two), and he lived in the four-bedroom flat she owned in an estate in Lekki. He would claim he wanted to start his own business, but all he did was attend parties, go to clubs and carry babes. Fine boy, no pimples! That was Dapo.
Rose showed my younger sister several bank transfers where she had sent him money for one business venture or anotherโall of which failed. He would claim to be travelling to the UK to meet suppliers or to the US for contacts, but nothing ever came to fruition. Who paid for the trips, the accommodations, the so-called equity he needed to put down with his invisible business partners?
It was Rose!
After five years and one child-a girl, Rose kicked him out of the house and relocated to the US. She sold her cars, a few undeveloped properties, and took their daughter. She went to study and became a nurse, saying it was more lucrative than finding a job in the US. Long story short, we thought, thank God, all is well.
Then she began to fall sick. Being abroad, we didnโt know too much about it. But I guess Rose still had contact with Dapo because they had a child together. Maybe they were co-parenting, talking or whatever. I know they communicated. But not once did he make that trip abroad to go see her.
I also know that after she kicked him out, he miraculously found a job. He needed a place to stay, so Rose gave him the house keys. I donโt know the exact terms of their agreementโmaybe he asked to use the house until he could afford to rent his own place. I really donโt know. But he was a man who suddenly could expand in his ex-wifeโs four-bedroom flat in an exclusive estate!
But Rose had cancer. She was dying. You know how people hush-hush over serious illnesses. She didnโt tell any of us, her siblings. We didnโt know until it became terminal. One of my younger sisters then flew to the US to be with her.
It was my younger sister who upon arriving the US to supposedly care for Rose, discovered that our niece, Roseโs daughter, also had cancer! Believe it or not!
At first, I asked, โIs cancer infectious?โ But apparently, the child had blood cancer. That was why Rose relocated and became a nurseโto find what she could do for her child. She thought moving abroad could help her daughter survive the disease. So all the time we thought she was doing well, travelling with her child all over the place, she was actually fighting for her daughterโs life.
And in some rare, cruel twist of fate, she soon discovered she had pancreatic cancer. It was while caring for her daughter that the doctors noticed she was very unwell. She had chalked it to the pressure of caring for her daughter. You know, hospital today, tests tomorrow, caring for a sick child can make you go crazy just seeing you canโt help your child!
Rose was admitted to the same hospital her child was on admission!
Unfortunately, the child died even before Rose herself passed away. I doubt Rose could have survived for long after her child diedโฆ both of them, in the same hospital! Itโs unbelievable. She knew her child was gone even before my sister told her.
Very bad luck indeed!
Guess who is getting married now, with an already pregnant wife, and living in Roseโs house? The demon king! And you know, unfortunately for us, Rose never even divorced himโthey were just separated. So technically, he inherits everything my sister worked for.
I curse him every day!
(Series written and edited by Peju Akande and based on true stories)