BEFORE DECEMBER
Chapter 7
…..We had our honeymoon in one of the most expensive hotels in Lagos,we stayed for a week ,after wish I was to returned to my job,,it now dawn on me that I really never visited Edos in his house in Lagos,how is it going to be honey,I asked,you know I don’t know your place in Lagos,,I am very stupid right,,yes I know,how can I marry a guy without knowing where he lives in the city,,,,
Who is staying in Lagos,did I tell you I was based in Lagos,well madam I am not based in Lagos,we are relocating to benin.Benin?,but honey my job,,I don’t know how you will do it,work your transfer to Benin, I mean you guys have branches there right,he said.
I was dumbfounded,,who am I to blame,no one but myself, I didn’t ask all these before marriage,these are what would be couple discuss before wedding,not after wedding,oh my God.And madam,you have a maximum of a week to work your transfer,I can not stay longer than 7 days in this hotel,the honeymoon or honeysun was for one week,this extra one week is a burden to me…Okay honey I shall try my best, couple with my position I shall work my transfer to Benin….
I did all i could to work my tenasfer to Benin,and because of my selfless services and commitments to my job,I was granted the transfer after considering my plight…
On Saturday of that week,we were set to leave for Benin…
We arrived Benin in the afternoon,I was surprised when he headed to his mom’s place,I thought we had come to say hi, so she knows we had arrived,only for my husband to start discharging our bags and things and taking them to a room.i wondered what need was it for him to bring all the boxes down since we would soon be leaving anyways,I again thought maybe it was tradition to welcome a new bride in her mother in law’s house first….iye,as she’s often called by her children and those around,served us melon and Pounded yam.the food was amazing,just what we needed after such a journey…
When we got inside the guest room,I asked him , honey,was there any need for you to bring down our boxes since we would soon be leaving,,,soon be leaving,I don’t understand, how,I mean,we just came to tell iye we were in town right,we shall soon be going to our own apartment.you and who?,we are living here hence forth,wait honey ,I am not understanding you, like are you saying we shall be living with your mom, of course we shall,,,,my God,Edos,you know your mother doesn’t like me that much,more over our marriage just started, don’t you think we need time to ourselves first before any family intererance.
What,are saying my mom is interfering in my marriage,,wait a minute,do you expect me to go rent an apartment outside,when there are two rooms wasting here,a three bedroom apartment,and my mom is the only one occupying them,,,no na, that’s bad,a good wife helps her husband saves,not look for means to lavish the whole thing…we are living here and that’s Final…..
I almost died, living with a woman who doesn’t care nor love me,I knew it was not going to be easy….I knew it was all my fault, I was supposed to have asked about all these before saying “I DO”….
I tried my best not to see the bad side of the whole thing,I wanted to make leaving with my mother inlaw fun,and try my best to make her like me,since I don’t seems to have more options.
It was early the morning,at about ,6am,I was very tired from the travel,and packing,same was my husband, when iye started knocking at our door,a Amanda,a Amanda,I could hear her call me,I opened the door immediately and saw iye at the door, iye goodmorning mam,”uzuor a,ne me goodmorning”,,she was shouting and saying some words in bini which I believe to be insults,,,you don’t greet iye Good morning,you tell her “kor iye Labo”, that’s the traditional way of greeting an elder in my family.oh mama I am so sorry,I knelt down and tried to pronounce what Edos said.
“Waiting you still dey do for bed,day never break for your eye,so 6 o’clock,woman go still dey bed”,oh iye I am sorry,I didn’t even realised it was Dawn already,I over slept,I was very tired from the stress of packing and our journey,”so because you do journey you no go come take care of work for house,okay i go dey cook and you go dey sleep when you dey as as wife abi,koyor ohhh”,I apologized again and started my chores…..
I wondered if that was how it was going to be,I mean been ordered by iye,don’t get me wrong ,i am not saying my mother in law can’t ask me to do this and that,I am only saying,this is my home,or better yet,I deserve to have my own home, especially in the days,months and few years of my marriage…I know I am not a lazy type, waking up early is not anything new,I am a banker in Lagos,so I should know what it means waking up early.that day my waking up late was out or tiredness..
By the way,to the question of if that was how it was going to be,yes oh, that day was just the beginning of what was to come…Bad enough was my husband was not helping matters.
Thankfully,I was given some days to settle in,I decided Edos took me to his shop,he never wanted to,but managed to later,,getting to his shop, it wasn’t what I had imagined it to be,the shop wasn’t so big,just a small shop,and electronics in it…okay honey this is the Benin branch and you are still trying to make it grow,the Lagos branch must be the main one, wait a minute,how would you be supervising that one,since we have relocated to benin…
Amanda,we shall talk when we get home,for now,end of discussion…okay love I said..
He took me to some exciting places in benin,I had fun,and the ancient city wasn’t so ancient after all.
Edos didn’t continue the discussion at home as he had promised.but I ignored.
My job in benin wasn’t that stressful,unlike Lagos,I was still getting to understand my husband,even though I kind of think he’s secretive,but I believed he was also trying to know me too, but my biggest pain was my mother in law, nothing I did made her Happy,she wouldn’t even like to see my face at times….
It’s been 8 months we became husband and wife,then one Sunday afternoon,we heard a knock at the door,a man in his early 40s had come to see my husband……
