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| Oyin Dosunmu |
Priscilla stared outside the sitting room window overlooking the dark lonely street below; one thought kept gnawing at her mind and a little shiver ran down her spine at the thought of Tunde back home. The tension in the house was enough to opt for anything that would prevent them from coming home early; it was clear the so-called sham of a marriage grew worse each day.
They barely said anything to each other after the miscarriage two years ago. She felt another cold shiver at the memory of that fateful day. Her eyes had grown tired of crying but she continually blamed herself and she knew her husband silently blamed her, the man could not bring himself to touch her after the accident and as usual, Priscilla was cast aside, only further away this time. In fairness to him, they tried to have another baby but the doctor said, after a while of trying, that she suffered from the trauma of losing the baby after the accident. A wife needed a lot of love, patience and care from her husband, he said.
Love. The word made her wants to laugh and cry at the same time. Love? She echoed sadly, there was no love before the baby, how could any be there after? Her mind went further back to the spinster days, the glory days; it was her father’s wish that she would marry Tunde despite all her pleas. She could daresay he was the genesis of her predicament today even after his death.
Her proud father’s company was experiencing down turns, losses and debts running into millions of
Naira and against everyone’s wishes, he put the company into the market. It was perfect timing for him when an old friend of his, Chief Ariyo, came along… to her it was both a blessing and a curse.
He bought the crashing company over but father had a condition thanks to his selfish and ambitious wife that the savior would marry off his eldest son to their elder daughter to keep a higher percentage of the profits permanently in the family as long as they were still married.
Oh, she had cried, begged and even fought for her freedom but it fell on deaf ears and after her mother’s honey coated words of persuasion, Priscilla gave into it helplessly…but they failed to tell her of the bleakness she would face in a loveless marriage, a marriage with no foundation; of the sadness and long lonely walk she would face.
The door of the entrance to the exquisite flat loudly creaked open making her head turn towards the
door. Oh, it was the stranger called her husband. Their eyes met briefly but he pulled away with just a blank expression on his undeniable handsome face.
“Welcome back”
He turned on the sitting room light without any response.
“How was work?” she pressed on.
“Same old” Tunde replied. His voice was curt.
“I’d get your food then” she said hurriedly walking towards the kitchen.
“Never mind, I ate out”
He walked into the room, leaving the tension between them as cool as ice, and she expelled a large breath as though she had been sucking it in ever since he stepped into the flat. Letting go of the edge of the settee she held on to unknowingly earlier on and swooped into the chair. Yes, no one had told her of the lonely walk she would face in a loveless marriage.
***
He felt her weight sink beside him into the mattress; he closed his eyes in the dark room for a minute. His eyes fluttered open again and he let out a controlled sigh. She had turned to face the opposite direction as he was.
Was this even a marriage? Tunde asked himself soberly. They were both into it for the wrong reasons, all other reasons except love. If they had a divorce, they would both loose but she would be far worse off than he would. Her alimony would be fat all right but it would cut off the rest of her family members and her generations unborn.
He could bet, knowing how ambitious and selfish her mother was, she would never allow her daughter get a divorce. The woman could sell her daughter to sustain the high profile lifestyle she fought so hard to maintain. Tunde snickered. Perhaps that was the reason why he secretly admired her younger sister, Imabong; the girl had put an end to her mother’s constant requests for money, she was stronger willed than Priscilla and independent too.
Tunde turned to lay flat on his back as he heard her levelled breathing whilst she slept. ‘It should have been Karen laying here’ he thought sadly to himself ‘not you Priscilla’. Karen. He and Karen had been together since their university days, they had watched each other grow into self-made people; they had planned their wedding, named their unborn children and lay in each other’s arms after their numerous nights of lovemaking and now all that was left were vague memories and the painful crush of reality weighing down on his shoulders.
They still met occasionally, cuddled and kissed once or twice but they never made it past her front door. He had too much of a conscience always reminding them both that he was married even though it was a loveless arrangement. He could almost hear her laugh and a smiled tugged at the corner of his lips. That was enough for him, knowing that he still had fresh memories of her like it was yesterday. He fell asleep with a sad smile on his face.
***
The house was buzzing with life as people chattered with laughter filling the whole sitting room. Priscilla sat quietly by the veranda wishing she could disappear from the house. It was his parents’ anniversary and the house was full of all Ariyos’ except for Lola the eldest daughter. No one cast a second glance at her- that was not unusual, except for Tayo. It made her feel unwanted though she knew she was.
Everyone despised her no more than she despised herself for marrying this man ‘but still, it wouldn’t hurt to get a little recognition now and again’ she thought bleakly to herself. It seemed time dragged on for hours. As she sat alone looking languidly at the door, a lady walked into the house catching her attention. The lady looked beautiful, wearing a red bandage dress with baby sleeves. The knee length gown complimented the woman’s bosom figure and her pretty face could surely make men swoon. She walked with an aura of confidence as though she commanded attention.
“Karen!” Many heads turned in the large sitting room; the woman named Karen seemed to light up the room some more. Unconsciously, Priscilla looked at her husband standing far away from her, he seemed surprised and he walked hurriedly towards the woman. Even Demilade, his younger sister already stuck to the woman like a magnet along with a little crowd of people; Tunde’s mother seemed to be smothered by this Karen as she stared at them full of wonder. Her heart sizzled jealously of this attractive woman. She looked away and sipped a little of her Fanta from its bottle in her hand trying to soothe the uneasy feeling.
“Priscilla”
Tayo’s beaming face made her smile. Somehow his presence was always a breath of fresh air. “It’s been a while”, he said as they hugged lightly.
“Really it has.”
“How was South Africa?”
“Good, good” he replied enthusiastically “It’s nice to see you again. How have you been coping though?”
“Just fine, I’m here in one piece” Priscilla lied through her teeth thankful he seemed not to notice. “Who’s that woman?”
“Who?” Tayo bent a little, looking round the room and she pointed at the attractive woman.
“She seems to be a bit of a celebrity around here”
Tayo nodded. “That’s Karen Amusa”
“I haven’t heard of her.”
“Really”, Tayo turned to look at her startled “Tunde hasn’t…”
“No” her curiosity increased. “Who is she?”
She could tell the hinge of hesitation in his expression “She’s a family friend. She, Tunde and I were close in our university days"
“I don’t think she came for our wedding then”
“Your wedding was more of a hush-hush wedding Priscilla but nevertheless, it was Demilade that invited her over”.
“Then I’m assuming that isn’t all about her?” she asked dryly
Tayo shook his head sideways. “But what’s been going on with you?” He was poor at changing the subject but she let it slide. For the moment.
“Same old”, she replied forcing a smile.
“Sounds like fun”, came a sarcastic response but she said nothing, A few seconds passed between them and they busied themselves silently watching the activities going on. Her eyes were fastened on Tunde as he spoke to this Karen. He seemed so absorbed in their conversation. Priscilla couldn’t tell if he was mesmerised by their conversation or the woman herself but it gave her an uneasy feeling to see him stand so close to her when he should have been by his wife’s side.
“I see you don’t mix with the rest of the family.”
She snapped her head up to look at Tayo; she had almost forgotten he was there “How do you mean?”
“Well, you don’t mix with aunt Folake. Everyone”
“Am I supposed to?” she replied my eyes to the ground.
“Isn’t it wise?” he drew a breath. “Look around you; you seem to be the odd one out.”
Her face coloured slightly in embarrassment “I’m not big on conversations, Tayo”
He nodded. “Maybe, but you don’t seem like the quiet type either” Tayo sighed “It’s funny how everyone has changed though, our childhood I mean”
“How was it?” she asked unable to stop herself. She knew next to nothing about Tunde’s childhood.
He laughed freely, “It was fun. I remember when Tunde, Karen and I used to hit the clubs, study together…we ran around a lot, now he’s cool and aloof” his mouth curled in disapproval.
She swallowed the heavy-laden statement. They were both looking at Tunde as he spoke to Karen; the way he looked at her was different. She did not know why but she did not like this woman, she felt a knot in her stomach. It had been so long since she and Tunde were intimate; somehow, she missed his weight curled really close to her.
Tayo turned to look at her “We had a lot of fun though. Three musketeers we were”
“Really?” Priscilla smiled goading him “and who was the third?”
“Karen”
She could not picture Tunde being a happy-go-lucky chap. He had always been aloof, making it clear that he was not happy about the arranged marriage. A sigh escaped her lips; ‘At least we have a common interest in something’ she thought.
Demilade walked up to them. She ran her eyes over Priscilla’s plain-a-bit over sized gown full of distaste. She had never approved of Priscilla and was fiercely protective of her brother but she looked good in her pencil jeans and chiffon top; her hair was packed tightly into a bun highlighting the basic features of her fair-skinned face.
“Priscilla”, her tone was curt
“Demilade” Priscilla replied her heart sinking lower in her chest.
“I see you’re trying to dig your claws into another Ariyo man?” Demilade asked with a plastic smile. She smiled back with less animosity. The three of them went silent feeding on the built tension. “Doesn’t it bother you to see him with her?”
“Urgh! Demilade don’t start with that”, Tayo remarked already frustrated, but she ignored it.
“Why should it?” Priscilla replied coolly looking back at her eye to eye.
“Oh it should” she smiled wickedly and her eyes glinted full of hatred “If I were you, I’d grab all the money I could. After all we all thought they would get married” she threw a glance at those two. Priscilla’s heart felt as though it would stop, it took Priscilla almost a minute to regain composure and Demilade saw how much it affected her. It gave her a thrill to know her words shook deeply and she didn’t stop enjoying her glaring moment. Tayo cleared his throat uncomfortably throwing his younger cousin a disapproving glance “That was a long time ago”, he tried to sound light “I’m sure it’s all water under the bridge now”.
“Doesn’t seem like that to me Tayo, right Priscilla?” she turned to look at Priscilla wittingly but Priscilla chose not to reply, in order not to fuel her amusement at her mockery; although there seemed to be some truth in what Demilade, said seeing those two together. Was that the reason why he detested his wife so much as if she brought this upon them knowingly? They both wanted the same thing…to be free of each other.
“Seems like you didn’t know that bit about your husband”
“That’s enough now Demilade!”
“No”, Priscilla put her hand towards Tayo. “Leave her Tayo, she has as much right to be angry”, her voice was almost a whisper.
Her tone was smug “Everyone knew that and there’s still a lot of hope left” Demilade smiled daggers at her. Her words seared through Priscilla as hot as knives and as she looked at her husband and the woman, panic began to well up. To buttress her point, it was common knowledge that their marriage was falling apart. They knew that at any moment either one of them could breakdown. “Well, my work here is done” Demilade walked away from them satisfied.
“Don’t pay any atten…”
She cut him short with a panicked voice, her eyes reflecting bitterness “Did they love each other?”
“It’s over between them now. That’s what matters”
“Did they?” she was adamant.
Tayo let out an uncomfortable sigh “Yes”
“Is it still the same way?”
He shifted “Look I think this is not for me to answer, Priscilla” he turned to walk away but she clutched his suit almost desperately “Please Priscilla”
“Will it be fair to me not to know?”
He nodded “I’m sorry”. With that, he pulled away from her and she stood there for what seemed to be eternity, really wanting to be swallowed up in the ground. At least, she wouldn’t have to endure the humiliation. So, he had so little regard for her that he brought his lover here? Priscilla’s eyes watered. The room felt smaller, suddenly it was a bit too difficult for her to breathe; but she stood there like a rock determined not to let Tunde or any of his family members get to her.
She threw a hurried glance their way, Karen’s hand was on his and they laughed together and she watched as though it did not matter who Priscilla was. Karen had no care in the world as though she was no competition. It would not get to her, Priscilla told herself, and it would not.
Author- Oyin Dosunmu
Disclaimer : This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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