The only reason our daughters are no longer with us today is because my wife cheated on me! I met my wife when she was just in JSS2. And I was in SS2. We met at the government secondary school.
You know young love; we were very much into one another, though she was one very tiny girl at that time. We didn’t do anything stupid, we just promised to be with each other and we remained like that until I was about to pass out from the school. I was afraid someone would take her from me. So I made her swear to me that she would not let any boy come between us; that she would not let any boy kiss her or romance her or even have sex with her. And we used a small pin to prick our thumbs, rubbed them against one another and crossed our hands as we both sucked on each other’s thumbs.
I am a Bini boy but she is a Calabar girl; we both don’t speak our languages very well; we communicate in Yoruba because we were both born and raised here. But you know, it’s not as if we don’t understand our own languages, o. We do but you know Lagos now…
Ok, so after that oath we took; I left school but I couldn’t further my own education immediately. I was just doing jamb, almost every year; I wanted to study Law at Unilag but I just never made the cut off point, after the third year, when Rose, my wife, girlfriend, then, was almost ready to leave school, my father enrolled me at a car shop, to help one of my uncles who sells tokunboh cars. I would wash the cars, supervise repairs, if there is a need for one and generally talk to customers about the cars. I got to know about cars. Ask me anything about any make of car and I will download to you!
I became a good sales man and after the third year of trying Jamb, omo, I just fashi the thing because I was already making serious money at my uncle’s cars dealership.
I was going to Cotonuo with him to bring in cars and after a while, I was the one handling all the runs for him.
Omo, I was in serious cash…so when my girlfriend, my babe finished secondary school, I was ready to sponsor her to university because her parents couldn’t afford to. You know, I felt that if I couldn’t fulfill my law dream, at least let me sponsor her so that she could live my dream.
Of course we had been having sex before she left secondary school. I was going to marry her, so there was no problem.
Was she too young to have sex at that time?
What kind of question is this? She was around, maybe 16 or so…is that young? I don’t know. Since I intended to marry her, what is the problem?
Anyway, like I was saying. So she went to study law, not at unilag, at LASU; she finished and even before she was called to Law school, she was already pregnant with our first daughter. So she had to postpone Law school, had to postpone even NYSC because before we knew what was happening, she was already pregnant again…with our second daughter…yes o! The first one was not up to one year older than her sister…she was born March of ‘91, the other January ’92. Very close.
Ok, so, we were doing our thing small, small. You know. By the time our children had come, I was already on my own. I had my own car shop; I knew how to talk to people, how to get business, how to help people find spare parts…you, know. That was my business! And as for my wife, yes, I married her even before she finished university. I married her in her second year. Yes. Not a big wedding, small introduction, small marriage party.
We settled and I continued with my business. She couldn’t go to law school or even serve because she had two babies on her hands. I didn’t like the idea of having nannies care for my children, so I told her the best thing for the children is that she stays to care for them, then she can go and finish with law school and after wards, come and join me in the business. Because where would she work?
Do you know how much they pay lawyers? Shikini change o. I needed someone who was smart so I wanted her to join me, so we could grow our business.
She was mostly at home, you know; which is why it completely took me off balance!
Ase, our neighbour, one guy upstairs had been servicing my wife!
Live! I’m telling you the gospel truth!
First of all, what did she want that I did not give her?
What clothes did she want or shoes or bags, that I did not buy by myself? Is it when I travel or when I even pass by a shop, I see nice female things, I buy for this woman!
But it was this useless human being, one dirty sinking human being she had been sleeping with! Hmmunm. You know how I found out?
My landlady! My landlady told me.
You know what pained me the most? The guy has no job! No job! No ambition, nothing! A nobody you would not even pay attention to!
So what happened is that, of course, when I confronted my wife, she at first denied it, then she began to shed crocodile tears, said it was the devil…well, the devil entered into it because our two daughters died suddenly; the first one, 17 years old, she began to complain of stomach ache, they had bought some food, I think…fufu. The fufu we had all been eating since when? Only her complained of stomach ache, we took her to the hospital near us, doctor said ‘go and bring money,’ I ran to the nearest ATM before I came back, she was dead! Just like that! As in unbelievable! How can someone complaining, ‘Mummy, mummy, my stomach…’we ran to hospital, hospital say bring money…gbam, she died!
I was not myself…we had not even come to terms with it when her younger sister followed! She didn’t wake up from sleep…all within one month!
Is this ordinary?
No, it is their mother who sinned!
She brought this curse upon herself! Let her go and tell the world what she did! We made an oath, we never cancelled the oath; this is what happens, when you don’t keep to an oath, people die!
To be honest with you, I completely forgot about the oath! Maybe she also forgot. It was when my own mother began to make enquiries from people who have the ability to see things ordinary eyes cannot perceive, it was these people who told my mother, that we had sworn and oath and the oath has repercussions…there you have it!
This is not my fault!
(Series written and edited by Peju Akande and based on trues stories)