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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 9:42am On Jan 21, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 10

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

7:35am

Oroma Estate

‘Good morning, Double D,’ Priye told her big brother, hiding a yawn at the back of her hand.

Dienye was in the smaller sitting room watching an old premier league match. Well, he appeared to be watching the match but his mind clearly wasn’t there. However, he turned when his sister sprawled in an unladylike manner beside him on the couch.

‘Please tell me you at least had a good night’s sleep,’ Priye said to her brother, noting that he hadn’t shaved.

‘Yes, I did,’ Dienye responded.

‘What gives?’ she asked. ‘Thinking of your proposal to Soki?’

They had talked about it the previous day when she arrived at his home from school. Priye had been pleasantly surprised by the news. She knew her good friend had a crush on her eldest brother and had teased her so many times about it but she hadn’t seen this coming. When she had called Dienye on Thursday asking for his assistance, she hadn’t expected Dienye to give Soki the entire sum. She had believed that her brother would give Soki a cheque for a reasonable amount. The proposal was definitely unexpected.

The Daniel-Hart family had been worried about Dienye after Nengi passed on. Nengi had been his world. They had been friends long before Priye was born. Her death had affected Dienye so much that the family had actually feared that Dienye would grieve himself to an early grave, but that hadn’t happened. The only outward evidence of his grief was his refusal or failure to date. Well, there was also the case of his refusal to use the master bedroom he had shared with Nengi. His excuse had been that the room was too big and thus lonely for just one person. His home boasted of six en-suite bedrooms and he had been using one of them since then.

Two things got her worried when her brother told her he was getting married to Soki: (1) He was way older than Soki. Soki was only a few months older than Priye who, being the youngest of the Daniel-Hart siblings, had three sisters and a brother between herself and Dienye. (2) She couldn’t tell whether or not Dienye was really ready to start a new family. Perhaps if he had really grieved, this wouldn’t have been an issue. But Dienye hadn’t grieved properly. At least not in the open, considering what Nengi had meant to him.

Despite wanting to see her brother settle down once more, Priye had tried to persuade him to change his mind about marrying Soki, at least for now. The timing and intention were wrong. For now, she was the only one in the family who knew why Soki and Dienye were getting married. Her parents would be relieved that their oldest son hadn’t finally taken the path of a eunuch. Belema would be back soon and he definitely wouldn’t buy the story that Dienye had suddenly fallen in love with his young friend. It wouldn’t be long before he found out the true story and tried to talk his big brother out of making a mistake he and Soki would no doubt regret.

‘You know you aren’t ready to become emotionally attached again,’ Priye told her big brother.

‘Who said anything about being emotionally attached?’

‘Like you would spend the rest of your life with Soki without getting emotionally attached? You are drawn to her. Beneath the seemingly innocent flirtations is a man attracted to a young woman who obviously adores him. However, big bro, you need to properly grieve Nengi before you can allow another woman into your life. It wouldn’t be good for either of you.’

‘Soki and I are getting married,’ Dienye said stubbornly. ‘We would sort every other thing after the wedding.’

‘That’s a dangerous comment to make, big bro. You are my eldest brother and I love you very much. I believe that any woman who has you for a husband would be the luckiest woman alive. However, for your sake and Soki’s you need to rethink this. Even if you insist on getting married to her, please have an extended courtship. That should give you enough time to sort out your feelings and give you two enough time to grow on each other. Soki is my friend and I know she would keep her word to marry you if after the long courtship you still want to marry her, but please do not rush things.’

Dienye shook his head.

‘You do know that this is not really anyone’s business but Soki’s and I?’

‘I’m your sister and if I don’t worry about you, then who else will I worry about?’ Priye asked him.

Dienye took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He didn’t want an extended courtship. He was afraid that if he did he would change his mind about settling down with Soki. He still loved Nengi but that didn’t mean he wasn’t ready to remarry. He was still young enough to have a family of his own. He was wealthy and his wealth drew a lot of females to him. With Soki he was in no doubt as to why she was marrying him; he wouldn’t be falling into the trap of making the wrong decision and having to live with it for the rest of his life. He was old fashioned enough not to consider a divorce.

He reached out to pull his sister close, brushing a kiss across her forehead.

‘Your friend is in safe hands. You know I won’t hurt her.’

‘Not intentionally.’ Priye said. ‘You wouldn’t intend to, but I’m afraid you two might have problems if the issue of Nengi isn’t resolved.’

‘Soki is in safe hands.’ He repeated.

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 9:43am On Jan 21, 2020
Chapt 10 contd

***



6:15pm

Housing Estate, Woji

Port Harcourt

Soki paced nervously in her bedroom. Her parents were in the master bedroom and she hadn’t seen them for hours. She knew better than to disturb them. Dienye was picking her up by 6:30pm and being a stickler for punctuality he would most likely arrive a minimum of five minutes to the time.

The doorbell rang but she barely noticed as she focused on getting ready for her date. Her heart was pounding against her chest. This was her first date and she was so nervous. There was a reason for every phase of one’s life and once you missed any phase, you never have the opportunity to get it back again. She should have dated before now as it would have given her an edge tonight. As it stood, she was a JJC – a Johnny Just Come.

She recalled one of the advices she had picked up from conversations with her roommates and course mates – always go out with ‘vex money’ whenever on a date, just in case the man tries to misbehave. Vex money meant a little money you had on your person to get you a ride back to school in case your date misbehaved. But vex money wasn’t going to work this time. She was broke. Besides, it wasn’t necessary since the man in question was her fiancé.

She had picked a gift with her last cash – a black leather wallet which she had JCI Logo engraved on it. It wasn’t much but she hoped he would appreciate it. He loved T-shirts but he also made a living producing them in massive quantities for clients within and outside the country. The favourable recommendations ensured that he was able to make millions in profit each year. And so getting him a T-shirt might not be the best thing to do. She would have to make do with the wallet. Next Valentines’ Day she would come up with something much better.

She took a deep breath and touched up her makeup.

* * * * *

In the sitting room of the Achebe home, Dienye was watching his parents-in-law-to-be who sat adjacent to him. He had arrived a few minutes earlier and called Soki but she hadn’t answered the call. He had also sent her a text before approaching the front door. He had been surprised when the door was opened by an elegant woman he suspected to be Soki’s mum. She had let him into the house watching him with curious eyes. When he introduced himself and informed her that he was there to take Soki out, she immediately offered him a seat and called her husband. And so there they were, watching each other in what was an awkward situation.

‘Nwasoka tells me I have you to thank for my release,’ Joshua Achebe told the young man in front of him.

‘Actually you have your daughter to thank for that. She only reached out to me in addition to others.’

‘She’s a very precious girl,’ Joshua said in praise of his daughter. ‘I still appreciate your contribution.’

‘We both do,’ Ezinne concurred, looking in her husband’s direction, gesturing with her eyes that this was the moment to say whatever it was that they had discussed earlier.

Dienye knew that they would have a lot of questions to ask. After all, he would react in the same way if he was in their shoes.

‘Like I said, I appreciate what you did for me. However, at the risk of sounding ungrateful, I would like to have an alternative arrangement with you other than the one you have with my daughter.’

Dienye was silent.

‘Nwasoka is precious to me and I wouldn’t want her to do anything that she might end up regretting because it is in her nature to adopt other people’s problems as hers. I am sure she must have told you that I would rather have remained locked up that have her pay for my sins.’

‘She did,’ Dienye responded quietly.

He knew where this was headed. They would have preferred an Onitsha man as Soki had informed him yesterday. Besides, they knew nothing about him. However, irrespective of the circumstances, he and Nwasoka would be getting married. He just had to find a way to ensure that he didn’t make an enemy out of his in-laws-to-be in the process.

‘I would feel more comfortable if I can have a payment plan for the money you paid on my behalf,’ Joshua told the younger man. ‘I want my daughter married to an Onitsha man. However, if she decides that she wants to marry from another tribe, I wouldn’t stop her or stand in her way just as long as I know she is doing it for LOVE. This clearly isn’t the situation here. As her father I cannot allow her to get married to satisfy a debt that wasn’t hers to pay in the first place.’

‘I appreciate your plight, Mr Achebe.’ Dienye told him. ‘However, this is out of either of our hands.’

‘Is it? You do not have to marry my daughter. I am certain you are not in love with her and therefore can give up this idea in exchange of me paying my debt to you. For it is my debt not my daughter’s.’

‘She will be in safe hands.’ Dienye assured them.

‘But you do not love her.’ Ezinne interjected.

‘No, I don’t.’ Dienye said in agreement, quickly adding: ‘but she is very dear to me.’

‘Love is very important in a marriage. Its role cannot be over emphasised. I – we do not want our daughter to be in a loveless marriage especially since her father and I have loved each other for almost thirty years,’ Ezinne told him.

‘I fully understand-’

‘I don’t think you do,’ Joshua countered. ‘Nwasoka is still in school and too young to be thinking of getting married. You are a lot older and more mature than she is.’

‘And she will be well taken care of.’

Joshua took his head.

‘I have no intention of stopping her education. She is free to pursue her education to any level of her choice.’

‘Good. But I still intend to work out a payment plan with you. If Nwasoka chooses to marry you, then I would prefer if it is because you love each other.’

Dienye fully understood their fears. His parents had been married for thirty-eight years. He had been married to Nengi for seven years and had they not been in love, they probably would have gone their separate ways. He had been so in love with her that he had stayed and worked around the challenges they had. Nengi had constantly experienced dyspareunia and as such hated sex because no matter how gentle he was with her, she always felt pain. They had visited a few gynaecologists with the same result –

she had primary vaginismus. And so they had settled for lengthy foreplays so that the main sexual encounter was as short as possible. And they would have spent the rest of their lives this way if she had survived. There had been nothing medically wrong with either of them that would have prevented them from having children. Like him, Nengi had loved children. After waiting for seven years to have one without success, they had decided to adopt. However, she had passed on and he didn’t bother completing the process.

Yes, love was very important but he was sure that he and Nwasoka would work something out. He didn’t believe in divorce unless domestic abuse was involved and he had been brought up to respect females. He had four younger sisters and had never raised his hand against any female. He wouldn’t start now.

‘About the payment plan…’ Joshua continued.

‘There will be no payment plan.’

Three heads turned in the direction of the voice. Soki had activated the silent sign on her phone earlier in order to avoid a few calls and had forgotten about it until she picked up her phone wondering why Dienye was late. That was when she had seen his name on the incoming call log and read his message too. She had quickly run out of her room with the intention of putting a stop to whatever it was that her parents would be discussing with Dienye in her absence.

‘There will be no payment plan, mum, dad,’ Soki repeated as she joined them there in the sitting room.

‘Nwasoka,’ Ezinne started.

‘No, mum,’ Soki interrupted. ‘I am getting married to Dienye. So forget about the payment plan.’

Dienye rose to his feet. Soki looked lovely in her red dress and light makeup. The difference between Soki and Nengi hit him. Nengi was very beautiful, tall and a size eight with full hips. Soki on the other hand was a size 12 or thereabout and a full foot shorter than he was and although not as beautiful as Nengi, was pretty in her own right. His attraction for her showed that he didn’t have a specific type when it came to women. He particular loved her full busts and eye catching backside. He smiled at the thought.

‘I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,’ Soki told Dienye. ‘My phone was placed on silent mode earlier and I forget to change the settings.’

‘No sweat, babe,’ he told her. ‘You look absolutely ravishing, my dear.’

‘Thank you.’ Nwasoka flushed at the compliment.

Her parents were immediately forgotten. Dienye also looked good in his light blue shirt tucked into black slacks. She figured that he would look good in whatever outfit he chose.

‘It was nice meeting you, Mr Achebe, Mrs Achebe,’ he told them as he took Soki’s left hand in his and led her out of the sitting room.

‘I’m really sorry for the delay,’ she apologised profusely as Dienye drove off. ‘It was not my intention to leave you to face my parents alone.’

‘I am an adult, babe,’ he laughed. ‘Besides, they were only worried about you and your future, which is quite normal considering the circumstances.’

Her gift from Dienye was a Motorola Phone, Motorazr V3 to replace the phone she moved around with. Soki felt bad about giving him such a small gift that for a moment she pretended she hadn’t bought anything. However, she soon changed her mind and gave him the wallet. His excited look wasn’t feigned. He thanked her saying that he had been procrastinating getting a new wallet for some time. He particularly loved the JCI Logo engraved on it. Right in front of her, he took out his wallet and showed it to Soki. It was really old, she thought and seriously in need of a change. She was glad to be the one to provide an alternative for him. She figured even wealthy guys could overlook a lot of things others took for granted.

Dienye quickly transferred the contents of the old wallet into the new and bigger one, smiling as he looked at it. Then he turned to her and kissed her lightly on the forehead, thanking her once more.

‘Even our thoughts are linked,’ he smiled. ‘So you see we are really meant to be together.’

The rest of the night went on perfectly.

Read Episode 11 here - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-11.html

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by bimberry1307(f): 9:12pm On Jan 21, 2020
Nice one guy. Following back to back.

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Ann2012(f): 10:02pm On Jan 21, 2020
Thanks for the update

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 10:05am On Jan 22, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 11

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

Wednesday, 24th March 2004
3:58pm
B.B Briggs & Co
Rumuola Road
Port Harcourt

B.B Briggs was on the phone with Dienye. As best man B.B was privileged to plan his best friend’s wedding. Soki’s bride price had been paid on the 28th February and the court wedding and white wedding were fixed for after the Easter holiday which was still close by.

It was weird being a major part of planning Dienye’s wedding given the fact that Dienye had been married to his only sister/sibling. Well, it wasn’t as though the Briggs family was expecting Dienye to spend the rest of his life as a widower. After all, he was still in his thirties and a young man. He had already spent four years mourning his late wife.

No day went by that B.B didn’t miss Nengi. However, her death without a child put pressure on him as the only surviving child of their parents to get married and produce grandchildren. Recently, with Dienye about to get married for the second time, the pressure had increased. They were age mates and Dienye was getting married a second time while B. B. was still a bachelor.

The door to the tastefully furnished office opened and his secretary, a woman in her early thirties walked into the room. She handed him a visitor’s slip. Still listening to Dienye, he looked at the name on the slip.

‘Oroma Amaewhule.’

Oroma Amaewhule! Oroma Amaewhule! He ran the name over and over through his mind. It didn’t ring a bell. Oroma was a popular Ikwerre name but he wasn’t privileged to know anyone by that name, at least not personally. Perhaps she was a client.

‘Head of Chambers,’ he mouthed to Medina, returning the slip to her.

B.B. had been a lawyer for thirteen years and had established his chambers six years after he was called to the Nigerian Bar, after he had returned from his Masters’ programme. His Head of Chambers, Onajite Dehinde-Philips was nine years at the bar and highly competent; a first class graduate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the Law School, she also held a Masters’ Degree and was a certified arbitrator. He loved the way her mind worked and found her more than capable of handling things in his absence. She was Itsekiri but married to a Yoruba man.

He was surprised when Medina returned a few minutes later. He arched an eyebrow.

‘Visit is personal,’ she whispered.

Personal! Perhaps someone had sent her to him.

‘Five minutes,’ he mouthed to Medina who nodded and left the office.

‘I have a visitor, bro,’ he told Dienye. ‘If you can stop by the office later, great. If not, let’s meet at home and discuss further on the checklist.’

‘No problem. If you don’t see me in half an hour’s time, then that means we would be meeting in your house.’ Dienye told him. ‘And you had better have a hot plate of onunu waiting by then.’

‘I hear.’

Five minutes later, the door opened and a tall, slim, fair skinned woman stepped into the office. Her short curly hair and large round earrings reminded him of Soki. The woman was dressed in a pink long sleeved shirt and knee length jean skirt and a pair of black flat shoes.

‘Good afternoon B.B.’ she told him taking the chair he offered her.

He placed her age at somewhere in her mid-twenties.

‘Good afternoon, Miss Amaewhule, please have a seat.’

He rarely attended to persons he didn’t know when it wasn’t for official purposes. In his almost thirty six years, he’d had to deal with all sorts of women ranging from those who wanted to date/marry him to those who just wanted to have babies for him. He was careful so as not to be involved in a scandal especially given the fact that he had recently applied to be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

‘You may not remember me. It’s been eight years,’ Oroma stated.

Come to think of it, she did look a bit familiar but he wasn’t sure how or where they had met. He wasn’t blessed with Dienye’s photographic memory. Dienye would most likely remember a person he had met for the first time as a toddler, B.B thought with a smile.

‘I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage.’ he told Oroma.

‘We met in Nsukka eight years ago, during Ibierefagha Daniel-Hart’s convocation party. Ibierefagha and I were friends although she was a few sets ahead of me in UNN.’

He had met a lot of Ibierefagha’s friends during the party. Ibierefagha was Dienye’s immediate younger sister and there was a five year age gap between them. She was presently married to her University Sweetheart, Tamunobarabinye (Abinye) Pepple and they had three children.

‘I’m sorry. I am still trying to place the face.’

‘I was called Christabel back then.’

Reflexively, B. B pulled back his swivel chair. There was only one Christabel that he knew and he had every good reason to remember that name even if he didn’t recall the face that went with the name.

Ibierefagha had introduced her younger friend to him and Dienye during her convocation party. Christabel was helping her attend to her guests. B.B hadn’t really taken much notice of the second year medical student, although she was pretty, simply because she was too young for him. She had been all over him, so much that Dienye had teased him about having a new crush.

B.B had been facing some personal challenges during that period and had only attended the party because Dienye had dragged him to it, insisting on driving down to Enugu. There had been plenty to drink and B.B had taken advantage of this to drown out his problems, something he had never imagined he could do. And that had been his undoing! He couldn’t even recall what had happened before he woke up in the middle of the night in his hotel room with 18 year old Christabel in his arms. Considering their state of UnCloth he didn’t need a seer to tell him what had happened. He had quickly dragged himself out of the bed reaching down to pull on his trousers, before waking her up, dragging her to a sitting position on the bed.

‘What have you done!’ He had shouted at her. ‘Get out of my room, now before I throw you out through the window!’

Acting mainly on instinct and anger, when she didn’t immediately move, he had dragged her out of the bed, pausing only to gather her clothes from the rug and pushed her right out of his bedroom not even thinking about her state of UnCloth and what might happen to her on the long hallway. That was the last time he had seen her until now.

Dienye was the only one he had spoken to about the unfortunate incidence. And for the next few months he had waited with apprehension for her to come claiming that she was pregnant for him. When she didn’t show up he had simply forgotten about her.

And here she was!

‘You!’ he burst out presently.

She placed her handbag on her laps and leaned forward.

‘Yes.’ she agreed. ‘Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be here considering what happened the one and only time we met. I wouldn’t bother insulting you by apologising for what happened. However, circumstances demand that I see you.’

‘If it’s a legal issue, you should have seen my Head of Chambers as I instructed my secretary to tell you.’

‘I cannot afford your services,’ she replied. ‘Besides, considering the manner in which you discharged me eight years ago, I doubt if you would accept to do a matter for me even if I had the money to pay for your professional services.’

He arched his eyebrow. He didn’t want to remember the incidence of eight years earlier, at least what he knew of it.’

‘What exactly do you want from me?’ he demanded, getting impatient, wanting her out of his office.

She reached into her handbag and took out a half size paper which she handed over to him. He took it from her, looking suspiciously at the pink paper.

His eyes widened as he read the contents. It was a birth certificate for Tamunobiobele Ihunda Briggs, born to Tamunobiobele Briggs and Christabel Oroma Amaewhule. From the date of birth, the child had been born nine months and fourteen days after their meeting.

‘What is this!’ he blurted out, refusing to believe his eyes. This was a nightmare he needed to quickly wake up from.

‘What does it look like?’ she returned, taking the birth certificate from him.

She reached into her bag once more and took out a photocopy of the birth certificate which she placed on his table, and then a photograph of a seven year old girl. She handed the photograph to him. When he hesitated, she placed it on the book in front of him, scribbled down an address on a piece of paper and placed it on the photograph.

‘I do not have a phone but you can reach me at this address.’

B.B. was still in a state of shock when Oroma rose to her feet and left the office.

*******

‘Wow!’ Dienye exclaimed as he looked at the photograph B.B had silently handed over to him.

‘There is no way she can be mine,’ B. B was saying, ‘or she would have reached out earlier. I won’t take responsibility for a child she had by another man.’

‘This girl looks exactly like Nengi did at that age.’ Dienye told his best friend. ‘Even down to the mischievous dimples. I wonder why her mother is just reaching out to you.’

‘I suspect foul play.’

‘So, what did you tell her?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Well, you need to follow up on this.’

‘I hear. We have things to discuss now. I’ll deal with it later.’

*******

B.B couldn’t concentrate after Dienye left his office. He couldn’t even work on the brief on his table. He didn’t want to believe that he had fathered a child with Christabel or Oroma as she called herself now. After waiting long minutes without achieving anything, he closed early and found himself driving in the direction of the address she had scribbled down.

He parked just before the gate and locked the car. He opened the gate and was greeted by a really long line of room and parlour apartments with a narrow walkway separating the two buildings facing each other. There had to be at least 14 apartments there. Oroma’s apartment was No 8.

Oroma wasn’t home. B. B wondered how people coped with living in such an enclosed place. He spoke to one of her neighbours who confirmed that she hadn’t been back all day. He didn’t bother leaving his name but thanked the man and left.

As he got into his car, one of the women he had sighted earlier within the premises approached his car.

‘You be fine man,’ she said, ‘but make I warn you, Mama Bio no be the kain person wey person like you suppose come find.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘She go use you like toilet paper, come troway you the way she dey take troway the other men wey dey come find am.’

‘I see.’

B.B on a normal day wouldn’t engage in gossip but then –

‘She dey do ashawo work. She don even commot like three pikin since she pack come here two years ago. If you no take time she go carry belle come put for your head as I dey sure say she don take her pikin put for another man head.’

‘Thanks for the advice.’

‘Take am o,’ the woman warned seriously. ‘If you no wan catch the plenty disease wey she carry for body. If you be one of her customers, e never late to change mind o. Soon her pikin go follow her for her business. E dey am for eye too.’

Before B.B could comment, the woman was sprawled on the floor from a punch from Oroma who had given her. She had been so engrossed in her gossip that she hadn’t seen Oroma arrive.

‘You can say whatever you want about me, Mama Rosemary, but the next time you utter such nonsense about my daughter, I will permanently shut that thing you call a mouth up.’

Talk about a lioness protecting her cub!

‘Na lie I talk? No be ashawo work you dey do?’

‘What I do with my spare time is none of your business.’

B.B noticed that she didn’t deny the prostitution allegation.

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 10:07am On Jan 22, 2020
Chapter 11 continued

****



Sunday, 28th March 2004

8:28pm

Oroma stood by the roadside with Bio waiting for a taxi to take her home. They stood before the restaurant she worked in as a cook cum waitress. She worked there from 6am to 8pm every day of the week. The pay wasn’t much but this was the first job she had taken since she had given up prostitution a year ago.

She had made a lot of mistakes in her young life. Going after B.B Briggs years ago had set off a chain of reaction. She had ended up pregnant, alone and disowned by her family. She figured she could have easily solved her problem by having an abortion, after all a lot of females did that. If she had a successful abortion, no one would know, not even her parents and she would have completed her education. However, she had chosen to keep the baby, for reasons she still couldn’t fathom. But once Bio had been born, she had fallen in love with the baby and would do anything for her.

She had resorted to prostitution after Bio developed a medical complication as a baby and required a surgery she couldn’t afford. Her parents wanted nothing to do with the daughter who had brought disgrace to the family name. Had her grandmother being alive, she would have taken Oroma in and cared for her great granddaughter. But at the time Oroma’s choices had been limited. She had the choice of joining a robbery gang or becoming a prostitute. She didn’t even think about other forms of hustling at the time. She had gone in search of a job but the jobs were limited even for graduates let alone one who had dropped out of school.

She had gone into prostitution telling herself that once she raised the needed money she would stop. However, like every sin of the flesh, she had been drawn into the forbidden world. No matter the excuse she gave, she knew she wasn’t justified. She should have thought of more things to do. There were people in worse situations than she had been in who had never thought of prostituting themselves, or at least hadn’t actually done it.

For five years she had given her body to nameless men and been responsible for their pleasures. Several times she had contemplated leaving the profession but always gave in to the temptation until a year ago when she had been attacked by a violent client and almost lost her life. That had brought her to her senses. She had almost left Bio alone in the world. For the first time in five years, she had to reconsider her lifestyle and ask herself if this was the kind of life she wanted for her daughter.

The restaurant job had come as a blessing. Yes, the pay wasn’t it and she had to deal with the unwanted attention of some men but like a cocaine addict she was on her way to full recovery. She hadn’t been with a man in a year. She hoped to maintain that status until she met the man who would marry her despite her past.

She hadn’t approached B.B before now, for two reasons: the anger on his face when he had sent her out of his hotel room and secondly, she didn’t have his contact. She hadn’t seen Ibierefagha since her convocation. But she’d heard that the other woman was married and lived in Jos with her family. She knew about Dienye’s businesses but hadn’t been able to summon the courage to approach him for his best friend’s contact details. She had only reached out to him recently because Bio had come home from school asking about her father and why he wasn’t a part of their lives.

B.B had told her he wouldn’t accept any child from her but this was beyond any of them. She could hustle even if it killed her in order to care for her daughter without him but no matter how she looked at it, no matter what she did, every child needed her father whether there was money or not.

She sighed deeply. She had to put her life together. First was to get back to school and have a proper tertiary education even if it was here in Port Harcourt. She had saved some money from her days as a prostitute as the current job didn’t pay her much. Her rent wouldn’t be due for another three months. Thank God.

They had been standing for sometime when she thought it best to start walking home. It had rained heavily so there was probably traffic somewhere around the area which could be responsible for the lack of bikes and taxis/buses.

She noticed the man who had just unlocked the door of a black car. He tossed the bag containing the goods he had bought from the supermarket into the back seat of the car. She recognised him easily. He and Ibierefagha were so alike. This was Ibierefagha’s elder brother Dienye. She felt self-conscious in her sky blue t-shirt and faded jean worn over her old okrika shoes and wondered if she should call out to him. She looked at her tired daughter and decided to draw his attention. She hadn’t seen him in years and he might not even recognise her.

‘Dienye,’ she called out.

Dienye turned when he heard his name, surprised. His eyes took in Oroma and then Biobele who was watching him with curiosity. The woman looked familiar, though.

‘I’m Oroma. You may not remember me, but I was a friend of your sister Ibierefagha, I went by the name Christabel back then. We met at her convocation party.’

Dienye looked at the little girl properly and could see the resemblance to his Nengi. He smiled as he looked at Oroma. This was the shy girl who couldn’t take her eyes off B.B during his sister’s party, and who had ended up in his best friend’s bed.

‘Hi. It’s been 8 years.’

She didn’t look like the shy type anymore but this was Christabel all right.

‘What have you been doing with yourself?’

‘This and that,’ she replied evasively.

‘You’re through with school and service, right?’

He recalled her saying something about becoming a paediatrician in the future.

‘No,’ she replied, quickly asking, ‘How is Ibierefagha?’

‘Married with three kids.’

He crouched so that he was on eye level with the child beside Oroma. He stretched out a hand to her saying softly, ‘I’m Dienye and you are -?’

Biobele hesitated for a moment but Dienye’s smile assured her that it was all right to place her little hand in his large one. ‘I’m Biobele,’ she replied shyly.

‘My daughter,’ Oroma added wondering if he could see any of B.B’s features in child. If he did, his expression didn’t give him away.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you Biobele,’ he said.

‘Do you have a little girl, too?’ Biobele asked him, smiling shyly.

‘No, but I am getting married soon and we hope to have our own little girl.’

If her memory served her well, hadn’t he been married back then? Oroma thought. Perhaps she was mistaken.

Biobele who didn’t take easily to men liked Dienye instantly. He was a rich man but he was still kind to her mother.

‘So where are you headed?’ Dienye asked Oroma.

Oroma told him.

‘That’s on my way. I’ll give you a ride.’

‘Thanks.’

He got into the car, unlocked the passenger doors. Biobele sat on the back passenger seat behind Dienye while Oroma sat beside him. Dienye fastened his seat belt, turned the key in the ignition, lifted the hand brake and set the gear on Drive and they were on their way.

‘You went shopping?’ he asked.

‘No. I work at the restaurant close to the supermarket.’ Oroma replied.

‘Her madam is not a good woman,’ Biobele said. ‘She shouts and curses too much.’

‘Bio mummy!’ Oroma cautioned.

‘But the money is good.’

‘Really. How good?’

‘N10, 000, because mummy works from 6 to 8.’

‘6 to 8 for N10, 000!’ Dienye asked incredulously but the child obviously believed the sum was okay.

‘It puts food on the table,’ Oroma said in defence.

‘I bet it does. And your rent?’

‘Already taken care of.’

He said nothing until he dropped them off. He took out a complimentary card and quickly scribbled down something behind it. He handed the card to Oroma.

‘I have added Ibierefagha’s number in case you want to get in touch with her.’

‘Thanks so much for the ride.’

It wasn’t until she had entered her apartment that she realised that he hadn’t only scribbled down his sister’s number but also an address.

The Proprietor

Heart of the Child Orphanage

115 East West Road, Port Harcourt

She didn’t have to be a university graduate to understand that he wanted her to apply for a job there.

*********

She took permission from work and applied for a job at the orphanage. She submitted it and was asked to return the following morning for an interview.

She had to come up front about her history to Dienye after the interview. The orphanage was large with its own resident paediatrician and a sick bay. There was also accommodation for the staff.

‘I need you to be completely honest with me, Oroma. Is there something about your past I should know about.’

‘I submitted my CV as well as -‘

‘Oroma!’

She realised at that moment that he must have found out about her past as a prostitute.

‘You already know about my past, don’t you?’

‘These children are special and we want what is best for them. I wouldn’t want anything to pose a threat to them.’ Dienye replied.

‘Then I am not the person for the job.’

‘Let me be the judge of that. Is there something you would like to share with me?’

She hesitated for a moment, wondering how much he knew and concluded that it was best she told him everything. She told him about getting pregnant at 18, being disowned and having to care for her baby alone. How she had made the wrong decision by becoming a prostitute in order to raise money to fend for herself and take care of her child, money she had used to ensure that her daughter had an education.

‘I did what I felt I had to do in order to survive,’ she concluded. ‘And if you think that makes me an unlikely candidate to take care of the children here, then I’ll leave.’

He adjusted his glasses.

‘Have you given up completely on prostitution?’ he asked but his tone wasn’t judgmental.

‘Since January 2003. And I have no intention of going back.’

‘Unless you have no other choice?’

‘I have given up for good. If you don’t -‘

‘I am in no position to judge you,’ he cut in. ‘You did what you felt you had to do in the circumstances, rightly or wrongly. You passed the interview and I will not deprive you of the job. Can you start immediately?’

‘Oh my God. Yes. Thank you so much.’

The job would give her time to be with her daughter. He asked her to meet Mrs Roberts to sign her contract of employment and discuss her monthly salary. The job, she found out, came with a fully furnished one bedroom apartment in the premises and the pay was far better than she could imagine. She figured Dienye loved the children so much that he ensured that the staff was well paid to avoid situations were persons were tempted into selling children.

You can read Episode 12 here now - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-12.html

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by millieademi: 10:48am On Jan 22, 2020
Loving this more and more.

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 8:17pm On Jan 24, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 12

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

12:17pm
Mundy Thursday
8th April 2004
Oroma Estate

Dienye was moving Nengi’s things from the master bedroom and its adjoining room to one of the guest rooms. It was one of the most difficult decisions he’d ever had to make, but he didn’t have any other choice. He was getting married the next weekend and his new wife would be moving in here.

He was clearing the bedrooms because of Soki.

He didn’t want their marriage to start with issues that could easily have been resolved before then. He would have had a lot of explaining to do as to why he couldn’t make use of the master bedroom. Belema had been on his case when he had come visiting. He had advised his elder brother to completely get rid of Nengi’s things since he was starting his life with another woman. However, Dienye saw no need for that. This was Nengi’s home. She had designed this building herself and done the landscaping. It was her dream home. It was so unfair that she didn’t get to live in her home more than a few months before she passed on at the young age of 30.

He stroked the wooden frame around one of the paintings Nengi had made of him. Besides her architectural skills, Nengi ventured into painting although her husband was her favourite model. Dienye smiled sadly as he recalled the moments he had to pose for her paintings.

‘These are my personal and very special possessions,’ she would tell him. ‘For my eyes only. I can’t have all those girls ogling my husband even in private.’

‘You know my heart beats only for you,’ he would respond with a twinkle in his eyes, lifting her into his arms.

‘Sure, but I don’t want to be responsible for their erotic thoughts.’

Once he had made the decision to move her things, he had placed an order for new beds for the master bedroom and the adjoining room. They should be arriving this morning. He had been up since 3:30am carefully putting Nengi’s things together, finding himself going down memory lane. The pain of her death had hit him the moment he stepped into the bedroom for the first time in almost four years. He had kept the room locked since he had moved his things from the room to a guest room just after her burial in Bonny.

There had been lots of cobwebs and dust in the two rooms and he had cleaned the rooms himself. He had lovingly moved Nengi’s clothes, shoes, cosmetics and jewelleries she had left in the bedroom before her death to one of the three other bedrooms in the house. It didn’t matter that her cosmetics had all expired. He couldn’t bear to throw anything away. Her uncompleted architectural designs lay on the bed in the guest room. She was so good at everything she set her mind to do!

He sighed deeply, bending to pick a large pink comb that had earlier fallen to the ground recalling the many times he had helped her comb her long very thick hair which she had inherited from her paternal grandmother.

‘You do know you can comb your hair yourself, right?’ he would ask her.

‘Yes, but I wouldn’t have you all over me now, would I?’ she would return with her signature smile, made even more beautiful by her gap tooth. ‘Tapping current.’

She wore her hair mostly in braids but every now and then she would let her natural hair have breathing space. The simple act of combing her long hair was in itself a really intimate act. And he had loved doing it.

Moving around the house constantly reminded him of her. Her touch was in every part of their home; from the architectural design to the furniture. Had it been a rented apartment he would have had a choice but this was their home. He could easily have engaged handymen to handle the move but he didn’t want anybody disrespecting her things and so did it himself. The men from the furniture company would be here soon.

He was giving the beds to charity.

Soki and Priye would be coming later in the day to bring over some of Soki’s things. He was dealing with the reality that he was getting married again. Even paying her bride price in February hadn’t brought out that reality as much as this move did. By this time next week, the court wedding would have been conducted and she would be in every sense his wife. The white wedding was just an addition.

He had imagined so many anniversaries with Nengi including their diamond anniversary. They had made great plans for the future. Now he had to share these anniversaries with another woman!

He thought of Nwasoka.

She wasn’t Nengi but having agreed to marry her he would take good care of her and not give her cause to want to leave the marriage. However he doubted if he had it in him to love her the way a man should love his wife. He cared a great deal about Soki but his heart had long belonged to Nengi.

He sighed deeply. He would have to move his things back to the master bedroom. His earlier intention was not to spend the night there until after his white wedding but having invited Soki over for the weekend, he couldn’t afford to have her wondering why he was running away from his bedroom. The only way he could deal with Nengi’s loss was by pushing her into the recesses of his mind. It wasn’t easy but it was something he had to do.

When he was done with moving Nengi’s things, he moved to the guest bedroom he had been occupying and began packing his things. They were neatly arranged, courtesy of his experience with Nengi. He hadn’t been this organised until a few years into his marriage. This was one of the numerous things knowing Nengi and being married to her had done for him.

He took down some of the clothes in the large wardrobe and returned to the master bedroom, opening the door to the walk-in-closet there. He had left the right side of the closet and half of the centre shelf for Soki. Hopefully, he would be done and gone before Soki and Priye arrived. He wasn’t presently in the emotional state to be with her. He would see her later in the evening.

His sister Ibinye Amachree was coming over on Friday morning with her children but she would be leaving his nephew and nieces with him until Sunday when she and her husband Sotari would pick them up and take them to Abonema to spend the Easter with his family. This would give Soki the opportunity to meet another member of his family before their white wedding.

Ibinye and her husband were based in Lagos. Except for Belema and Priye, the rest of his siblings were based outside Rivers State and Soki had only met his parents, a few uncles and aunts who had come with him to Onitsha for the introduction and payment of her bride price.

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 8:18pm On Jan 24, 2020
Episode 12 continued

Soki.

She was so young and so naïve in a lot of things. He figured that it was her innocence that had drawn him to her from the beginning, bringing out that powerful need to protect her like some kind of dream hero. He hadn’t seen her since their pre-wedding photo shoot last week but they talked on the phone. He had been very busy with work and was glad that B.B. was handling a lot of the wedding plans with a woman Soki’s mum had recommended. It made his job a lot easier. He would be taking a few days off from work and so had a lot to do so as not to have a lot of work waiting for him by the time he resumed fully.

When he had invited Soki to spend the weekend in his home starting from today, he had registered her unuttered fears, one of which was that they would end up in his bed. He had felt her hesitation to accept the invitation especially when he had informed her that it would give her the opportunity to meet his sister and her family. That had made it difficult for her to come up with a really good excuse. She had probably weighed her options. She was marrying into his family and so needed to meet his siblings before their wedding. She had spent Easter all her life with her family and so could forgo this one. However, she would be alone with him for the first night and then for an additional night with only three young children as chaperone.

Although traditionally they were husband and wife by virtue of the bride price he had paid, Dienye promised Soki that he wouldn’t have sex with her until she moved into his home after their white wedding and he intended to keep that promise. This promise was very important to Soki, given the circumstances under which they had decided to get married. He had no doubt that if he came unto her, Soki wouldn’t deny him but he wanted it her way. He had been celibate for four years, another 8 days wouldn’t make a difference.

So far they had shared nothing but short kisses. He smiled lightly as he recalled the first time he had kissed her. It was a week after Valentines’ day. He had dropped her off at school and just as he was about to give her a goodbye kiss on the cheek, she had turned and it ended up on her lips. Neither of them had moved and so an accidental light brush of his lips against hers had built into a short but deep kiss. He recalled touching his lips with his right index finger, a smile on his face.

He took two things out of that first kiss. One, he had missed kissing a woman. Two, they had each being curious about what a kiss from the other would feel like. And so the kisses came with every meeting.

3:26pm

Oroma Estate

Dienye had just started the engine of his car when a taxi drove into the premises. Although Priye had called to say they would be there by 4pm, he knew instinctively that Priye and Soki had arrived.

Turning off the ignition, he stepped out of the car and approached the taxi. The taxi driver lifted the boot of his car and took out the Soki’s luggage. Dienye asked him how much the fare was and paid him. As the older man drove off, Dienye gave his sister a hug before pulling Soki into his arms and kissing her lightly on the lips. She looked good in her black top and blue jean worn over pink sneakers. Her short hair wore fresh curls and her large channel O earrings dangled. That was her trade mark and he was used to it. It suited her.

‘How are you, babe?’ he asked her.

‘I’m fine, my darling,’ she responded shyly.

In the past, they traded endearments without the least bit of shyness on her part but since their first kiss, her skin flushed with each endearment she uttered.

He hefted one of her bags. Had he been in the best emotional frame he would have dropped it immediately, put both hands on his waist, and with a feigned look of shock. He would have teased her about having an adult human hiding inside her ‘box’. But he lifted the other travelling bag and led the way into the house. He dropped her bags in the hallway announcing that he had a meeting to catch up with. He escaped, shutting the door behind him.

Priye immediately led the way to the master bedroom, pulling one of Soki’s bags with her.

‘I don’t think there is any need unpacking my things,’ Soki told Priye even as she took in the sight of the large neatly arranged bedroom. It was massive and was en suite. It was like being in a mini suite you would find in a hotel but bigger. The décor of the room was evidence of a woman’s touch and Soki tried not to think of the woman who had being in occupation of this bedroom before her.

Her court wedding was on Tuesday and their white wedding that Saturday. By mutual agreement, she was to move in most of her things this weekend and the rest on Friday. It seemed so unreal. She was getting married to her friend but they hadn’t really talked since the proposal was made, at least not seriously with respect to their marriage. There were so many issues she had heard that couples discussed about before marriage, like the number of children, family finances etc. The only thing they had talked about was the wedding plans.

Her bride price had been paid in a little ceremony strictly for family. A lot of people she knew had been giving her unsolicited advises, telling her that her decision to wait until after the white wedding before moving in with her husband was a dangerous thing to do as she would be leaving room for some other woman to come into her life and have him return her bride price, but beyond Priye and Belema no one else knew the condition under which she had agreed to marry Dienye and frankly it wasn’t anybody’s business. What was important was that Dienye had agreed to her plan and she would forever be grateful for that.

Priye looked thoughtfully at her friend and sister-in-law. She was relieved that Dienye had finally decided to clear Nengi’s things out of the master bedroom and the adjoining room although she doubted if her brother had slept in this room or would have done so before next Saturday if Soki had not accepted his invitation to spend the weekend with him.

Priye missed Nengi whom she had known all her life, as a sister and as a big friend. Nengi’s sudden death had dealt a big blow on the Daniel-Hart family. Had she been sick it would have given everyone time to say their goodbyes and prepare to live in a world without her sunny smile and beauty.

To know Nengi was to love her. She never bore grudges and never had a bad word to say to or about anyone. She was that good and fitting into her shoes was something no woman wanted to find herself doing because she might never meet up. And that made her feel sorry for her good friend Soki. She would constantly be compared with Nengi whether intentionally or otherwise but Priye hoped her eldest brother would move past Nengi to embrace Soki and her differences.

Soki was good in her own right or Priye wouldn’t have easily welcomed the thought of her being her sister-in-law so easily. She would be good for her big brother. He had been alone for too long.

She followed Soki into the walk-in closet. The section Dienye had left for Soki was empty with lots of hangers, shelves and drawers for clothes, undies, shoes. His expensive shirts, suits and tuxedos hung in his own section and Soki looked at the number of shoes, mainly brown and black, and different pairs of sneakers. She was tempted to look into his drawers but didn’t give in to the temptation.

‘Don’t forget that Ibinye would be bringing her children over here tomorrow,’ Priye told Soki. ‘You would get to meet Ibinye and her family and spend time with Mina, Deipriye and Abiye. The children adore their Uncle Dienye.’

‘And you won’t be here,’ Soki surmised.

‘I’m spending the holiday with my parents.’ Priye replied.

‘You want me to spend the weekend here alone with Dienye,’ Soki looked at her friend, arms at akimbo.

‘What did you expect?’

‘I thought when you agreed to come here with me that you would be staying the weekend.’

‘And I’m sure you also noticed that I didn’t have any bags packed.’

‘We both know that you have some of your clothes already here as a constant visitor.’

Priye laughed. ‘You’re on your own, girlfriend.’

‘Who keeps a goat and a tuber of yam together?’ Soki complained.

‘What-’ Priye almost choked on her laughter. ‘Oh my God. No be small goat and tuber of yam. My brother is a highly disciplined man unless you fear that you would take advantage of him if left here alone with him.’

Soki arched her eyebrow but Priye only laughed.

‘Is that why you looked at everything in the bedroom deliberately averting your eyes from the bed? Don’t be such a prude, sister dearest. That is where my additional nephews and nieces will be conceived, so get used to the idea.’

‘Did you really have to go there?’

Not for the first time did Soki appreciate the fact that she wasn’t fair skinned. Geez, the thoughts that immediately came to her mind were far from ‘innocent’. Priye’s reaction was to laugh and unzip the large black and red bag. Shaking her head, Soki began to arrange her things with Priye’s help. She folded four tops and two pairs of jeans and separated them.

Wicked Priye laughed as her friend took the folded clothes to the adjoining room, placing them on the bed. She may have fantasised so many nights spent beneath the sheets with Dienye but she wasn’t in a hurry to act out that fantasy. Next week Saturday she would be completely his and they would share the master bedroom. Thank God she had the option of the adjoining room. How could she possibly spend three nights in the same bed with him without something happening? That would be tempting fate considering how she felt about him. Even something as simple as a good night kiss would put her in trouble. After all, body no be firewood.

She noted with pleasure and relief that the adjoining bedroom had its own bathroom too and she wouldn’t have to share one with him. It also had another door which took her straight into the hallway without having to go through the master bedroom.

Talk about privacy!

She was hungry by the time they were done unpacking and exploring the house except for the locked bedrooms. She called Dienye to ask him what he wanted for supper.

‘Just make yourself at home, babe,’ he told her. ‘Don’t worry about me.’

‘I’m hungry,’ she told him, smiling shyly although he was miles away. ‘I was about to make supper.’

‘Anything you make will be okay for me,’ he assured her.

‘Okay.’

‘I’m out of here,’ Priye announced once Soki was done with the call.

‘Out of where? You better follow me to the kitchen,’ Soki told her.

‘I hear. Even if I spend the night here, remember that you would be sharing an adjoining room with Dienye and what would happen would still happen with me adjacent to you two.’

‘Really?’ Soki snorted.

‘Yes. I have to get back to school before it’s late. I need to sort out a few things before I go to Borokiri tomorrow morning.’

Soki thought Priye was joking until the other girl asked her to see her off and the moment they were out of the estate, got a taxi and headed right for school.

Na so dem dey take disown friends o, Soki thought as she walked back to Dienye’s home. Priye should have at least spent that first night before the children arrived with them!

Dropping her phone on a work table in the kitchen, she walked into the store to see what was available. She opened the large freezer and quickly located the frozen red tomatoes, already cut chicken parts and pepper. There was a recently opened bag of rice and she noted this as she returned to the large kitchen. In the shelves she found the rest of the ingredients she required to fix a pot of jollof rice. She would make pancakes in the morning.

Read Episode 13 here - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-13.html

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by skubido(m): 8:28am On Jan 25, 2020
Thanks man

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Ann2012(f): 10:00am On Jan 25, 2020
Thanks for the update

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by kajsa08: 12:52pm On Jan 28, 2020
Nice write up and lengthy updates.
Keep up the awesome work.
wink
Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 8:04am On Jan 29, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 13

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

9:31pm
Oroma Estate

Soki had fallen asleep on the couch in the smaller sitting room. The telly was on and on the Mnet Action channel in which ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Twin Towers’ was currently showing. However she had turned down the volume earlier to take a call and hadn’t bothered increasing the volume once she was done.

She had picked up her large Jurisprudence text book while waiting for Dienye’s return. However, somewhere along the line, exhaustion had won and she had fallen asleep, the text book falling from her hand to the rug. She had endured a very busy week in school. With her Degree examination by the corner she had to study harder in order to graduate with a first class.

Dienye had called earlier to inform her that he would be late as he had been caught up in traffic on his way home. She was done cooking and although she was hungry, she hadn’t bothered eating, preferring to wait for Dienye to return. She wasn’t sure how things worked but she had served the security men their meals and also ensured that there was enough food for the 2 large dogs she had noticed in the cages when she had gone round the premises with Priye.

She had bathed and changed into a grey sweatshirt and three quarter jean shorts. Her nightie was too skimpy to wear around her fiancé. As a Jaycee, she had spent conference nights with both male and female Jaycees in a hotel room blocked by the LOM President but in a pack of at least six. However, this was different. Those Jaycee guys were platonic friends. She would have to make do with her knee length dresses and three quarter shorts for the duration of her stay here.

She was so tired that she didn’t wake up when the front door opened and Dienye let himself into the house. He went into the master bedroom, suspecting that Soki would be in the adjoining room. He knew her that much. She was probably asleep. He knocked gently on the door thinking of how ridiculous it was, but choosing to respect her privacy. He pulled the door open and looked inside the room. It was empty. Her short night gown lay on the bed and he tried not to imagine her in it.

He didn’t hear the sound of running water and so she couldn’t be in the bathroom. He thought of having a quick shower but decided to go in search of her first. He took off his shirt and in his white BYC singlet and trousers he went looking for her. Only the sound of the air conditioning announced her presence in the smaller sitting room.

He picked the large jurisprudence text book from the rug and placed it on the glass stool beside the couch. Soki turned in her sleep and curled into a foetal position. He smiled and let her be, going into the kitchen. He was greeted by the delicious smell of jollof rice and chicken. There was also salad and fried plantain neatly chopped into cubes. She had taken time to fix supper and although he wasn’t one to eat much he couldn’t let her efforts go to waste.

From the untouched state of the pot, Soki hadn’t taken supper. She didn’t have to wait for him, he thought as he dished out their food and placed it in the microwave. Done, he set it on the trays, took hers out to the sitting room first before returning to get his. He took out a pack of juice from the fridge and two bottles of water.

Soki was still asleep. Poor darling. She must have been really stressed from school. He squatted before her and gently stroking her cheek, called her name. She made a sound but didn’t immediately wake up until he gently shook her shoulders. She turned, her eyelids gently lifting. When she saw him, she jerked to a sitting position, her eyes wide.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she quickly apologised as her eyes took in the trays of food. ‘I didn’t hear you come in. I would have…’

‘You were tired,’ he told her. ‘I didn’t want to wake you up.’

‘You should have woken me up instead of stressing yourself,’ she told him.

‘You clearly needed the sleep,’ he smiled. ‘You were sleeping like a well fed baby. You shouldn’t have waited up for me, darl.’

Without waiting for her reaction, he placed a tray on her laps and filled her glass with juice.

‘Thanks,’ she told him. ‘You shouldn’t spoil me before I get used to it.’

‘Don’t worry, it’s just this night,’ he assured her with a laugh, ‘and perhaps when you’re pregnant with our children.’

She gasped at the thought and quickly took a spoon of rice, swallowing hard. She literally gulped down the glass of juice and he filled her glass once more. They ate in silence but he stayed amused while her skin stayed flushed. When they were done, Soki put the trays together and put the plates and glasses in the one on top, carrying them to the kitchen where she quickly washed them, put them in their rightful places before turning off the kitchen lights.

Dienye had changed the channel to CNN, increasing the volume by the time she returned to the sitting room. She bid him goodnight and without waiting for a response began to walk out of the room.

‘What? No goodnight kiss for the love of your life?’ he teased.

She paused and turned around shyly walking up to him on the couch. She lowered her face to his and brushed her lips lightly against his. He cupped the back of her head before she could move away and deepened the kiss. Her arms went around his neck and he pulled her into his embrace so that she sat on his laps. He broke the kiss after a full minute and held her gently away from him.

‘Now that’s what’s called a goodnight kiss,’ he said, ‘This should help me sleep like a baby tonight.’

To her surprise, Soki found herself walking towards the door instead of racing out of the room. She paused at the door to ask, ‘Would your sister and the kids be having breakfast tomorrow?’

‘I guess so,’ was his reply. ‘She should be here as early as 7.’

‘Okay. Good night, sweetie.’

‘Good night, babe. And dream of me.’

‘I always do,’ she winked at him and could have sworn that he blushed lightly.

She shut the door of the bedroom behind her. She yawned twice in a space of five seconds. She undressed and changed into her nightshirt. She said a word of prayer and as her head hit the pillow she was fast asleep.

Dienye watched the news and then listened to music on the MTV channel for some time before locking up and turning off the lights. In the master bedroom, he turned on the air conditioner and had a quick bath. He pulled on a pair of shorts but didn’t bother with a shirt. Even as a child he had hated pyjamas. Priye would always tease him about being an alien for he could sleep in just his shorts in an air conditioned room without a blanket and yet not catch a cold.

Before going to bed, he checked on Soki. He found her fast asleep in her short nightie which barely covered her full thighs. Another woman and he would have thought it was an attempt at seduction but not his Soki. She would faint if she found out that he had stumbled upon her dressed like this and she would most likely not be able to look him in the eyes again. He smiled as he picked the remote of the air conditioner and tapped the ‘on’ button. He pulled the comforter over her body, tucking it right under her chin.

He sat beside her for some time watching her sleep. Either she was naturally a deep sleeper or exhaustion had knocked her out. Her Degree examination was in a month’s time. She had told him that her current CGPA was 4:81 and she was looking forward to graduating with a first class degree. She studied really hard. A lot of students wouldn’t carry their lecture books around during the holidays, but not his Soki.

His Soki.

That sounded possessive, he thought with a little laugh.

She looked so innocent and child-like in her sleep, like she had no worries whatsoever. Watching her sleep reminded him of the age difference between them and ignited the need to protect her from anything and everything that might hurt her.

He rose and turned off the lights as he crossed to the master bedroom. He looked at the large canopy bed. It was new but it was still in the bedroom he had shared with Nengi. This was so complicated. Seeing Soki in the adjoining room didn’t have much impact because Nengi never slept there. It was just her own personal space to do her own things. They had shared the master bedroom every night unless either of them travelled.

He sighed deeply. Settling down on a long couch in the room, he was immediately bombarded with memories of Nengi in this bedroom. She had been so excited on their first night here. They had been living in a two bedroom apartment in Rumuomasi for years before their home had been completed. They had planned to have three children, hence the six bedrooms with one of the bedrooms intended to serve as a bedroom for guests.

Another bedroom had been converted into a gym and equipped with a treadmill and few other gym equipment – there was no need registering with a gym when one could exercise within the comfort of one’s home. Nengi utilized the gym a lot more than he did, keeping fit such that she looked good in anything she had on. Her figure was a priority and she had taken the time to maintain it.

They had both agreed on the idea of having a large bungalow instead of the common storey building people put up these days. After all, by the time the children were all grown up and had left the nest, the house would be big and empty. Their home in Bonny which he had completed before this one was bigger and had more bedrooms since it would be playing host to traditional weddings and lots of grandchildren and other relatives.

He had bought the land at the estate with his savings several years earlier. The price had increased with time and he was glad he had been smart enough to invest in the 4½ plots. He had learned early in life that land appreciated rather than depreciated and he made it a point of duty, after conducting a complete search, to buy land especially in places that were yet to be developed but which he foresaw development coming to in the future. He fenced off each land and had economic trees planted in there which were harvested by widows and orphans as part of his contribution to them.

Business had never been better. He operated on the biblical principle of giving and it had been working for him since he was a teenager. And he was also hard worker and risk taker! His main principle in life was to do things with integrity and a touch of excellence and this made him stand out.

This room held so many memories, he thought. Having reached an agreement never to take their quarrels into their bedroom, it had served as a place of peace and love. No other woman had understood him like Nengi had. She knew his strength and his weaknesses. She knew exactly how to get him out of a bad mood. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that she had known him almost all her life.

He smiled as he recalled the numerous times she would have him serve as her fashion police, trying out one dress or the other. She had learned early never to ask him to help zip her dress up unless they were both rushing out as he would rather lower the zip and feast his eyes than do the opposite.

Her laughter rang like music in his ears. The laughter of a woman in love and secure in the love of her man. She would have made an amazing mother and the hottest one at that. He sighed deeply. There was no way he was sleeping in here. He left the room and headed for a guest room, waking up in the early hours of the morning to go jogging.

.

******

Soki was up early. She took a bath before going to the kitchen to fix breakfast for Dienye’s sister and her children. She turned on the coffee maker for Dienye. She had just finished frying the pancakes and ensuring that there was enough Caprison for the children when the front door slammed open and little feet ran into the house.

‘Uncle D.D!’ squealed a child and the sound would have burst Soki’s ear drums had she been in the same room.

Their guests were here.

Soki took a deep breath. She loved children and spent quite some time with her little cousins so she wasn’t afraid of having them here. What gave her concern was whether or not Dienye’s sister would approve of her. She hadn’t seen Dienye yet. Although she hadn’t checked the master bedroom, something told her that he wasn’t a late riser. Surely, he wouldn’t leave her alone to welcome his family!

She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard his voice. She found them in the hallway. Dienye had balanced a toddler on his head, both chubby legs hanging on each side of him and pudgy hands gripping his chin as the little girl squealed with delight. The four year old twins Deipriye and Abiye clung to his legs in a hug. That the children loved their uncle was evident in their reaction to him and he was laughing really hard. It was no wonder that his sister and her husband would gladly leave the children there when they could have just been taken to their grandparents’ home.

When he caught sight of her, he beckoned to her to come for the introductions to be made. Soki straightened her t-shirt over her shorts and approached them. A tall woman in a red top with the inscription ‘Hot Babycakes’ and a pair of black shorts that ended up about three or four inches above her knees came through the open door with a pink school bag draped over her right shoulder and dragging a little pink box. Her long feet were encased in black flat shoes.

The only thing that gave Ibinye away as Dienye’s sister was the popular Daniel-Hart eyes which the six siblings had inherited from their father. Besides that, she looked nothing like her elder brother. She placed the pink box which obviously belonged to her daughter next to the two small travelling bags before reaching out to embrace her brother and leave a red lip stick smudge on his right cheek. Her daughter’s hands pulled at her braids and she carefully extricated herself before she found herself bald in some places.

‘Yes, princess, you’ll be spending the next 48 hours with your uncle D.D,’ she told her daughter.

Before Dienye could handle the introductions, Ibinye introduced herself to Soki. ‘I am glad you could make out time to be here,’ she started. ‘I am Ibinye and these are my darling terrorists, Ibimina, Deipriye and Abiye.’

‘I am Nwasoka, but you can call me Soki.’

‘Good to meet you Soki,’ Ibinye said, reaching out to grab Soki’s hand and pull her along with her to the kitchen. ‘I guess we have some time to engage in some female gossip before my husband comes to pick me up.’

Dienye’s protest was ignored.

Soki’s fears were for nothing as Ibinye took to her easily. She was clearly happy that her brother was getting married once more and although Soki could tell that Ibinye was really curious about how Soki had met her brother considering the age gap, she chose to wait before getting it all out of her. She was more interested at present in learning more about her sister-in-law-to-be.

Soki ended up returning home on Easter evening, spending Easter afternoon with Dienye’s parents and Priye. She had enjoyed having the children around, running around the place with them and playing various games. She could easily tell why the children adored their uncle: he easily brought himself to their level and played with them like he was a child. She admired that about him and could easily imagine him with their children. He would make a great father and she was glad to be the one who would give him his own children.

Resd the next Episode here - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-14.html

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 11:20am On Jan 30, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 14

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

Saturday 17th April 2017
10:24pm
Oroma Estate

Soki quickly lifted herself from the bed and hurried into the pink lingerie that was a gift from Dienye’s sister Inyingiala Haastrup. His sisters had gifted her with different forms of sexy night wears as though to ensure that their brother couldn’t get his hands off her. They had clearly known about his celibacy and the said celibacy was to blame for her current move.

Without a word to her husband, she walked into the adjoining bedroom, locking the door behind her. She was upset and with good reason. This was her wedding night and Dienye just had to ruin her memory for life!

Everything had been going on quite well; he had succeeded in distracting her with his long deep kisses and his touch. He had made her relax despite her fears. She had known this night would come, when she would have to give herself to him completely. And she had been looking forward to it. He was her husband, her body belonged to him and his belonged to her till death did them part. She had given in to her desires and given him control until he did the unforgivable: called her by his late wife’s name.

She felt like a hooker in the arms of a man who called her by his wife’s name. Then again, a hooker wouldn’t have minded because what she was more concerned about was getting her money than anything else.

In all the time she had been in his company, he had never called her by Nengi’s name, not even the Easter weekend she had spent here and certainly not when they shared kisses.

Not once!

Well, she should have seen this coming when he had told her he hadn’t dated anyone since Nengi died and that he wasn’t sure he was open to love anyone for now. That was a sure sign that he wasn’t emotionally available. She should have accepted the sign for what it was and prepared herself in advance for what might happen. But no, she had been too carried away by her attraction for the very handsome widower she was getting married to and completely grateful that her father was out of police wahala!

She took off the lingerie and went into the shower stall. The water from the shower head washed her tears as they flowed. What had she gotten herself into? Would she have to deal with being called by another woman’s name every time she was intimate with her husband? Or had it been a one off thing because it was his first time with a woman after the death of his first wife? She wasn’t sure how to handle this.

She ignored the knock on the bathroom door as she turned off the shower. What did he want? Surely he had realised what he had done to her, the gravity of his offence?

‘Soki, babe,’ Dienye called out from the other side of the door.

‘Leave me alone.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ he apologised. ‘It wasn’t intentional.’

She gave a snort of disbelief.

‘What wasn’t intentional? The fact that you were thinking about someone else while in bed with me?’

‘It wasn’t intentional,’ he repeated.

‘And I guess you would have easily accepted an apology if I had been the one to call you by another man’s name.’

‘That’s different.’

Men! She thought exasperatedly. Like seriously?

‘How is it different? Because you are a man?’ she inquired angrily, dragging a white towel off the rail and venting her annoyance on the soft material as she dried herself with it.

‘That isn’t what I meant.’

She unlocked the door and he stepped aside as she walked past him.

‘Another time and I would have forgiven you but not tonight,’ she told him. ‘For crying out loud, this is our wedding night, our first time together. I should have been the only woman in your thoughts.’

This wasn’t how she had envisioned her wedding night. After reading so many romance novels, she had been looking forward to this moment despite the stories she had heard of women hating their experience the first time because of the dreadful pain involved. She had imagined candle lights, soft music and the softest and gentlest of touches as her husband, completely in love with her, made it all about her and about her introduction into a world yet explored.

Okay, so she and Dienye were not in love. There was no candlelight or music which would have made a great memory to share with her daughter once she was of age. But he had been gentle and patient with her until the last moment.

‘I said I was sorry and I meant it.’ Dienye told her.

‘I’m sure you did.’

Soki wished at that moment that she had a grandmother’s night gown with her. It would have served Dienye right. Well thank God she also had been too shy to put on the pink transparent teddy Priye had naughtily gifted her with or this would have been oh so embarrassing.

Dienye stood watching her, his expression unreadable. He knew he had messed up. He hadn’t seen it coming. He had taken it for granted that he was stronger than this. If he had married Soki because she reminded him of Nengi then he would have been excused, at least to an extent. But there was nothing remotely similar between Nengi and Soki and so he had no excuse for making such an expensive mistake.

Every woman deserved a memorable first time and he had given his wife one: a negative one. He couldn’t even begin to make it up to her.

‘You hurt me tonight, Dienye,’ she said, ‘and I am not referring to the discomfort that comes with being deflowered. I don’t even know what hurts more: taking my virginity and calling me by another woman’s name or the fact that you looked surprised as though you had just discovered that you were in bed with me and not the woman who had shared your bed for the seven years you were married.’

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 11:21am On Jan 30, 2020
Episode 14 contd


He began to speak but advised himself to be quiet. She was right. When he had kissed her, he had known he had been kissing Soki because he had asked her to relax, promising not to hurt her. However, the moment he had her on the bed in the semi darkness of the room he hadn’t used in years, he had been transported back in time to a moment when Nengi was alive and Soki was immediately forgotten.

Until he realised that the woman in his arms was a virgin!

Nengi’s name had frozen on his lips even as Soki had frozen beneath him. Reflexively she had roughly pushed him off her. He was lucky she headed straight for the bathroom instead of the adjoining bedroom.

‘Now that I am in your home, am I to expect you to call me Nengi every time you see me or is to be at any time we have sex?’

‘You are blowing this out of proportion,’ he bit out, unable to help himself.

‘Am I?’ she returned. ‘Perhaps I would have been indifferent if I had been with another man before you.’

‘I’m glad you weren’t,’ he said quickly.

‘Of course you are.’ She inhaled deeply.

‘I can’t take back what happened, babe,’ he said, contrite, ‘but I would like the opportunity to make it up to you.’

She drew back her head as though struck by a snake.

‘There is no way on earth that I am getting back into that bed with you tonight.’

‘Be patient,’ Dienye cautioned himself even as Soki settled herself on a couch in the room, her legs folded like she was meditating.

His action would determine whether the rest of their nights would end up like this, with her rejecting him. It was like driving a car, he thought. If you had a minor accident and didn’t immediately get back behind the wheel, you risked the likelihood of giving up completely on driving. And so like driving a car it was not in the best interest of their marriage to allow things wait until some other time.

He was married to a very passionate woman and although he had messed up, he couldn’t risk her unconsciously rejecting his touch because of what had happened. He could easily sleep on the couch and let her have the bed but that wouldn’t be a wise decision. He had been married once and so knew from experience that if he let this wait he would be in trouble. And so this had to be resolved tonight.

‘I am sorry,’ he apologised once more.

‘I heard you the first time, and other times,’ she replied.

‘Am I forgiven?’

He looked so repentant that she found herself forgiving him.

‘I forgive you,’ she told him, ‘but forgetting this incident is a different ball game.’

‘I can deal with that,’ he assured her. ‘What happened was unforgivable and I promise you it would never repeat itself.’

Soki wasn’t sure he was in a position to keep that promise but she didn’t counter his statement.

Dienye sat at the edge of the bed in a pair of shorts while she remained stubbornly on the couch. She had thought he would go to sleep and let her be but he just chose to wait.

‘You really should put on a shirt or something,’ she told him, drawing her eyes away from his body.

Having wanted him for so long, how could she stay mad at him when all he had on was a pair of tiny boxer shorts that left very little to the imagination? She was tempted to reach out and run her fingers over his well sculpted torso, muscular arms… no she wouldn’t be distracted. But Dienye wasn’t about to make it easy for her. And she wasn’t comfortable with the desire in his eyes as he looked at her. There was a reason why lingerie was effective for seduction!

She swallowed hard and looked away. Damn the weakness of her body where this man was concerned! She finally gave in, telling herself that it was because he had genuinely apologised to her. She would give him a second chance but if it happened again…

Dienye made it up to her, self-conscious so as not to call her by Nengi’s name. And while she slept, he asked himself if he had been wise in remarrying. Not just because he still loved Nengi but because he was foreseeing a situation where she would rightfully expect more from him emotionally than he could offer her. He wasn’t a man in love, at least not with his current wife!



Sunday 18th April 2017

7:01am

Dienye was up early and as part of the atonement for his sin the previous night, he went into the kitchen in a pair of shorts to fix breakfast for Soki. He wasn’t the best cook but knew his way around the kitchen. He made her an omelette and served it with five slices of toasted bread. Since he wasn’t sure how she liked her tear, he placed a jug of hot water, tea bag, sugar and milk on the tray and took it to the master bedroom.

Soki woke up just as he opened the bedroom door. She quickly pulled the comforter over herself, hiding her body from his eyes. He was amused by her reaction but didn’t show it lest he incur her wrath so early in the morning. He was clearly still on probation.

‘Good morning babe,’ he greeted.

‘Good morning, D.D,’ she responded looking everywhere but at him.

She had to get used to seeing him in this state of UnCloth, he thought as he placed the tray on the bedside table on her side. With her eyes she gestured for her lingerie on the rug and the short kimono she hadn’t picked up the previous night. He handed them over to her and still clutching at the comforter, she put on the lingerie before pushing her hands into the sleeves of the kimono and quickly tied the knots.

‘I brought you breakfast,’ he told her.

‘Thanks. You didn’t have to.’

She yawned and turned so that she was sitting on the bed but with her feet on the rug.

‘Yes I did,’ he countered gently.

‘I already told you last night that I had forgiven you.’

‘And this is my way of saying thank you for giving me a second chance.’

She was silent for a moment.

‘What time is service today?’ she asked.

‘Ten o’clock,’ he replied.

That would give her time to fix lunch before they headed for the thanksgiving service. She loved cooking and so looked forward to making lunch and subsequently dinner. She yawned once more. Was it compulsory for the couple to be in church on the Sunday after the wedding? After all there were couples who travelled out for their honeymoon the same day.

It made no sense coming to church knowing that all eyes would be on you and that people would know that you had been intimate the night before and who knows, even the early hours of the morning. Good God, how would she even look her parents in the face! Her skin flushed. Even her little sister Nkolika would know something had happened.

The second Sunday would have been preferable for a thanksgiving.

‘What’s on your mind?’ Dienye asked her as she reached for the tray.

‘I was just thinking of how I was going to look my parents in the face today.’

‘Why?’

‘They would know that we were intimate.’

This time Dienye laughed.

‘Oh my God, babe, that is to be expected. After all, we are married.’

‘Don’t you dare laugh!’ she warned him. ‘I am being serious here. My father sees me as his innocent little girl, for crying out loud.’

Dienye was still laughing. He couldn’t believe the kind of thoughts she was having. At least the previous night’s mistake was forgotten albeit temporarily.

‘Wait until you visit them with a protruding stomach. That would leave them in doubt as to what you and I do with our free time.’

He neatly dodged the pillow she threw at him.

‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’ she gave him a feigned glare but that didn’t stop his laughter.

He lifted both hands as a sign of surrender.

‘Once you’re married there is the assumption that you are intimate whether or not it is true. Fortunately for you, I doubt if your mum is anything like my adorable maternal grandmother who teased me yesterday about finally getting my ‘equipment’ greased. Can you imagine that?’

It was Soki’s turn to laugh. She wasn’t surprised. She had met his grandmother whom he referred to as Mama Nawfia as a way of distinguishing between her and his paternal grandmother. The woman was well educated and had a bad mouth. She said things as they were and without apologies. She would be turning 80 in October.

Soki had fallen in love with the older woman upon meeting her three weeks earlier in her home in Nawfia, Anambra State. Dienye had informed her that his grandmother would have chewed off his head if he hadn’t brought Soki to see her before their wedding. He was her favourite grandchild and she didn’t joke with anything that concerned him.

Although she had been excited that her grandson was marrying from her state, it didn’t stop her from grilling Soki in order to make sure that she wasn’t taking undue advantage of her special boy. Once she confirmed that Soki was legit, the woman had embraced her and switched from English to Igbo language telling her things about Dienye’s childhood days.

From his grandmother, Soki had learned that Dienye spoke all three major Nigerian languages fluently courtesy of his education. By default he understood Igbo because of his mother and grandmother and also because of the fact that a lot of Bonny indigenes understood Igbo. He had graduated from Kings College, Lagos, spending six years in Lagos before proceeding to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to study Business Administration. His service year had been spent in Ekiti state. He had also lived in Lagos for two years before returning to Port Harcourt to set up his businesses.

‘An equipment she had warned me would become rusty and useless if I didn’t put it to use soon.’

Soki shook her head. She couldn’t wait to visit the old woman again. But first she had to have a long soak in the bath to deal with the discomfort she felt between her thighs. It was going to be a long day.

Read Episode 15 here - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-15.html

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Calenikan(m): 12:24pm On Jan 30, 2020
Nice story

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 12:57pm On Jan 31, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 15

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

Monday 19th April 2004
7:07am
Hostel A2, RSUST

‘Congratulations Soki!’

Soki smiled as her hostel mates congratulated her on her wedding.

‘Bookworm!’

They teased her about returning to school when she should be away on honeymoon with her handsome husband.

‘My degree exam is by the corner, girls,’ she responded good-naturedly. ‘My darling husband and I can always have our honeymoon after my examinations. It would be a double celebration as I would officially be a law graduate.’

Dienye had dropped her off a few minutes earlier. He had gifted her with a car but the papers were being processed at the moment. However, even if she had the car at her disposal, she was back to the hostel and didn’t feel the need to use a car within school. She could afford to stay on campus without a car since she had just a month to go before her examinations began. And from what she’d heard, the Degree examinations lasted only a week. She had already made plans to be home every Friday and be back to school on Monday and Dienye was fine with it.

She was glad she didn’t have to worry about completing and submitting her project and thus could focus on her examinations. She had prepared ahead of time, choosing three potential project topics during the first semester break in her Fourth year and taking time out to conduct research on them. She had gathered a lot of materials by the time she returned to school for the new semester. Once her supervisor approved the topic “Environmental Crisis, a threat to National Security“, Soki had immediately started work on her project to the surprise and delight of her supervisor. She had already submitted the bound copies.

She would be turning twenty two in July and all things being equal, she would make it for the August law school batch and be called to bar by November 2005 at twenty three. She also hoped to be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) long before she turned 40.

Smiling, she walked down the long hallway that separated the rooms on either side of her, stopping at Room 26 which was the last room on the left. She was greeted with excited screams by her room mates. It was a full room. Officially twelve students sharing three double bunks arranged in a u-shape but Soki loved the community arrangement. It was a really interesting room. They argued, fought once in a while, partied and prayed together. No one was perfect.

After exchanging pleasantries, the girls wanted full gossip. She had been vocal about her decision to wait until her wedding day before being intimate with a man and, trust the girls, they wanted to hear the whole story about her first time. She didn’t blame them though, in their position she would have done the same thing.

‘Classified information,’ Soki responded with a laugh.

‘Come on.’

‘Classified info, girls,’ she repeated, giggling at their disappointed faces. ‘However, the only thing I can tell you is that it was worth the wait.’

‘See love o.’

‘No be small thing.’

‘Girl, give us gist na.’

Laughing she headed for her wooden locker. The double bunks were arranged in a U-Shape. Her bunk was in the centre. Her bed mate Blessing wasn’t around. She was a science student and had a lecture fixed for 7am. Soki was glad her first lecture was for 9am.

She dropped her knapsack on the mattress and unzipped it, taking out the provisions she had bought the previous day. She filled her locker with the provisions, sorted out the books she needed for the day and threw them into the knapsack. She was already dressed for lectures in a white short sleeved blouse and black skirt that ended just above her knees. Her feet were encased in black two inch heel peep-toe shoes. She took a bike to the law faculty where she would receive another set of congratulatory messages.



6:17pm

38c Rumuola Road

B.B. Briggs pulled into his parking space at the side of Block C. He occupied a two bedroom apartment on the first floor of a duplex which housed four ‘two bedroom’ apartments with two apartments on each floor. The compound had a tight security and a mini tenants’ association which ensured that the premises was clean and well taken care of. One of the attractions of the apartment was the size of the living room and the bedrooms. The master bedroom was en suite and the other bedroom shared the convenience. The price was also good.

He was tired. He’d had a long day at the Court of Appeal, Enugu and had driven straight home once he was done, stopping briefly to have lunch. He hadn’t even bothered stopping at the office. The previous week had been very busy one, spent in preparing for his best friend’s wedding. He had driven to Enugu after the thanksgiving service and reception. While at his hotel, he had gone through his briefs of argument in the two appeals he was handling, taking down extra notes. He had slept late and woken up early to make it to the Court of Appeal before 8:30am. The Justices sat at exactly 9am and there were twelve sets of cause lists to be filled by counsel before the arrival of the Justices.

What he needed was a good sleep.

He took out his travelling bag from the boot of the Honda civic and locked the car. He went up the staircase to his apartment pausing when he saw a girl sitting on the staircase just between his apartment and that of his neighbour’s. She was dressed in a yellow top and blue jeans worn over black sandals. Her hair was plaited with black threads. She was reading a storybook.

She looked up as he approached. He recognised her from the photograph Christabel – Oroma, had left with him the day she came to his office last month. He had seen Oroma at Dienye’s wedding but had been too busy to ask her what she was doing there. Before the wedding the last time he had seen Oroma was outside her home when she punched her nosey neighbour. He hadn’t bothered seeking her out again.

He looked around but Oroma was nowhere to be found. How had she known where he lived? He wondered. Had she been stalking him? He had lived here for almost six years and he barely entertained guests in his home, so a lot of people in his circle had no idea where he lived and he loved it that way. And yet Oroma had found him!

‘Good evening, sir,’ the girl greeted, getting up from the top step.

‘Where is your mother?’ he asked without responding to her greeting.

‘She asked me to wait for her here,’ the girl responded.

She was seven according to her birth certificate but looked younger than that. He hoped her mother wasn’t trying to force her daughter on him! The girl did look like Nengi but that didn’t mean anything. Everyone had a doppelgänger. Oroma had taken advantage of him and she had also been a prostitute. Her daughter was probably fathered by one of her numerous lovers, if Oroma indeed knew which one.

He thought of dropping the girl off at home but he was curious to know exactly what her mother intended by her action. Besides, he was also tired and putting her in a cab might be dangerous. He didn’t want to risk anything happening to the girl. She may not be his daughter but she was a child and her life was precious.

He unlocked the outer door and held it open, inviting her in. She hesitated for a moment, looking down the staircase as though not sure whether or not to go in with him in the absence of her mother. And then she made up her mind. He dropped his travelling bag on the long couch in the living room. He yawned as he picked up the remote control and turned on the air conditioner. His unwanted guest stood watching him. What did you serve a seven year old in the absence of caprison and biscuits? There was no food in the house. Had Eseoghene, his current girlfriend being around, she would have stuffed his fridge with different kinds of fruits and the refrigerator with soup and stew so that all he had to do was make eba or boil rice or yam. But Ese was running a two week programme in Lagos.

B.B wasn’t good with children. He was barely ever around them. Ese, on the other hand was an elementary school teacher and good with children. He thought of Dienye who was always around children. He would have known how to engage a child in a conversation.

Why had Oroma left her daughter here?

He gestured for the girl to sit on one of the leather seats and walked to the fridge in the dining area hoping that there would be something in there. He found a large plastic bottle of jucee. He had forgotten about the orange drink which had been one of the few he had ordered for the last time Priye Daniel-Hart and a few of her friends had stormed his place from school.

He took out the large fruit drink and headed for the kitchen where he got a glass cup. He put the glass cup on a small tray and returned to the living room. He placed the tray on a stool beside the girl’s chair and filled the glass cup with juice. She thanked him but made no attempt to take the drink from the tray. Her eyes watched him curiously before focusing on the enlarged picture on the wall. It was his call to bar picture.

‘How was school?’ he asked her for lack of what to say. Had this been a court room, he would have been fired up but he couldn’t strike a simple conversation with a seven year old.

‘School was fine,’ she replied.

When the silence stretched for some time, Biobele looked at him and said: ‘I know you don’t want me here. I already told mummy it is okay if you don’t want to know me.’

‘I never said…’

‘I may be a child but I know a lot of things,’ she cut in politely.

Biobele was an intelligent girl. When her mother had finally broken the silence on her father and showed her his photograph, she had been excited because she was finally going to have a father like most of the children at school. She had quickly come up with a list of activities she could do with her daddy. The only male figure in her life was Uncle Dienye whom she loved very much. He had bought her story books which she read to the younger children at the orphanage. She had started the new term in a new school and was coping very well. Her mummy had told her that she had inherited her daddy’s intelligence. He was a great lawyer.

Her mummy and daddy had never been married but mummy had assured her that although her conception hadn’t been planned, having her was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

One of her friends in her former school had left school because her parents were getting a divorce. The news had been all over school. Biobele hadn’t known what the word ‘divorce’ meant until she asked one of the women in the compound they had lived in at the time and the woman told her.

She was glad her mummy had moved out of that compound. Living in a communal compound meant that you heard and saw a lot of things. They said all sort of things about her and her mummy especially about her not having a father. But her mummy had taught her to ignore their harsh remarks.

‘You are a special child and if they don’t understand that, it is their loss,’ mummy would always tell her.

‘And my father? Does he know I exist?’

‘I have made contact with him. I believe he would do the right thing.’

And here she was with him!

When he had come up the stairs and seen her, he had looked like he wanted to be everywhere apart from there. He had recognised her, most likely from the picture her mummy had chosen to show to him. Biobele had selected that picture herself from the few she had. She wanted her daddy to have the best picture of her. She had been looking forward to meeting him. Her mummy had singled him out at Uncle Dienye’s wedding but there had been no opportunity to talk to him. Besides, he hadn’t even tried talking to her mummy.

Biobele had asked her mummy a lot of questions after the wedding but mummy had clearly been covering up for him, perhaps to save her from the pain of rejection. But Biobele had understood the words her mother hadn’t said. Her father was yet to accept that she was his.

As much as Biobele had been looking forward to meeting her father, and although she would naturally feel really bad if he finally decided he didn’t want to have anything to do with her like some of the fathers of children she had seen pass through their compound, she was prepared for anything: rejection or acceptance.

‘Mummy wants us to get together but I won’t force myself to be your little girl so you don’t get to hate my mummy for the rest of our lives for doing this to you,’ she told B.B.

She didn’t sound like a child at all. Had life done this to her?

At that moment there was a knock on the outer door. Instinctively he knew it was Oroma. Relieved that he didn’t have to squirm under the child’s look, he hurried out to open the door. Oroma stood at the door in a flowing flowery dress. She was breathing heavily as though she had been in a hurry. He had judged her too quickly. He had actually believed she would not return for her daughter that evening and he would be compelled to let the child spend the night in his home.

‘Good evening B.B,’ Oroma said breathlessly. ‘I had no idea you would be back so early.’

‘Have you been monitoring my movement?’

‘Not exactly,’ she responded.

‘How did you know I lived here?’

‘I came here a week ago to drop a few things with one of your neighbours and saw you drive in. I asked and was told you lived in Apartment 4C.’

If her story was true, who was that loud mouthed neighbour? It had to be a woman. A man wouldn’t be interested in divulging information about another man while he was with a woman. Did she have clients around here too?

‘I don’t have a lover here,’ she told him, cutting his thoughts short.

‘I don’t remember saying you did.’

‘Your expression said it all. May I come in? Where is Bio?’

He reluctantly invited Oroma in. Biobele hugged her mother. B.B asked Oroma to follow him to the kitchen. He needed to talk to her alone.

‘Why on earth would you put an innocent child in the centre of all this?’ B.B demanded the moment they were inside the spacious kitchen.

‘She is your daughter and has every right to meet with you.’

‘I have told you before I will not take responsibility for another man’s child. If you are trying to extort money from me, this is not the best way to go about it. It is way too obvious.’ He drew his wallet out of his pocket, counted twenty five hundred naira notes and thrust it at her. ‘This is Ten Thousand Naira, and it is not for you but for the girl.’

‘She has a name: Biobele.’ Oroma said exasperatedly.

‘Whatever. Take this money and stay out of my life.’

Oroma looked at the money and hissed without taking it.

‘She is your daughter B.B. If you have any doubt, I suggest you request for a paternity test. You get to choose the doctor.’

‘No.’

‘Why not? What are you afraid of?’

‘I have no intention of spending my precious time and money on something so frivolous.’

‘Frivolous? There is nothing frivolous about accepting your responsibility. Biobele is your daughter…’

‘I hear.’

‘You were the first man I had ever been with, the only man I was with eight years ago.’

‘I hear you. I’m not interested. If you are looking for a man to rope into taking over your responsibility, I suggest you go to one of your numerous customers. Perhaps there is one of them whose wife hasn’t given him a child and who would gladly accept responsibility to salvage his male ego.’

‘What!’

2 Likes

Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 12:59pm On Jan 31, 2020
Episode 14 contd

‘What!’

‘You heard me. I know what you do for a living: prostitution.’

Oroma turned to ensure that the kitchen door was properly closed. She didn’t want her daughter hearing things like this.

‘She doesn’t know, does she?’

Oroma took a deep breath and silently prayed to God to help her deal patiently with this man.

‘She doesn’t know about my past and I want it to stay that way.’

‘Poor child. I am sure she had to deal with years of wondering which one of the numerous ‘uncles’ who came visiting, was her father,’ he taunted.

Oroma didn’t bother taking the bait.

‘I love my daughter and she knows that I love her. That is all that matters.’

‘And with the kind of example you would be setting for her, she would most likely lose her innocence before she reaches puberty.’

‘I am bringing up my child in the best way I can,’ she bit out, tempted to slap him. ‘And you have no right to say something like that to me!’

‘Don’t I? You’re the prostitute who is trying to force her daughter on me.’

‘Stop calling me that! I quit that profession a year ago.’

‘Oh good, clap for yourself,’ his tone reeked of sarcasm. ‘And for how long do you intend to be celibate, that is if you are? Until you find the highest bidder?’

He had no idea how low he had hit her below the belt! How could he understand how tempted she had been to go back to that cursed profession when she found herself unable to pay her bills? The pay from the job at the restaurant had been little and not enough to take care of basic needs but she had promised herself never again would she trade her body for money, no matter the sum or circumstance.

It had been like an addiction, something she had thought she couldn’t live without. At first she had gotten into profession because she was desperate but she had continued for some time, enduring the touch of different men and giving in to the lustful desires of her flesh. She had gotten a high from controlling the desires of men and being responsible for their pleasures. But no more! Her daughter was her life, her number one priority. Her desires came second and would gladly be sacrificed for the happiness of her precious girl.

She took inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.

‘This is not about me. This is about Biobele, the sweetest girl on the planet, and one any man would be honoured to call his daughter.’

‘I refuse to accept another man’s responsibility.’

‘I would gladly subject her to a DNA test to prove you are her father. If it comes out negative, which I seriously doubt, then I would pay you back the money spent.’

‘And how exactly do you expect to pay me back? You don’t have enough money and I don’t patronise prostitutes, not even the very beautiful ones.’

‘Stop calling me that!’

‘My mistake. Which do you prefer? Call girl? Lady of the night? LovePeddler? Harlot? Scarlet woman?’

‘None of the above. I have a decent job.’

‘That’s not what I heard from your neighbour.’

He couldn’t forget how Oroma had attacked her neighbour for revealing her secret to him. She hadn’t exactly denied that she was still a prostitute.

‘Assuming I believe your words that you now have a decent job, does your employer’s wife know about your ‘past’ life? I bet if she did, you would lose your job faster than you can say your name.’

‘My employer knows about my past and unlike you he isn’t judgmental.’

‘I was referring to his wife.’

This man was so different from his best friend. Dienye hadn’t judged her when she told him about her past life.

‘The only way out of this, B.B, is to have a paternity test,’ she said, bringing them back to the topic at hand.

‘And like I said, I will not waste my time and resources.’

‘I am giving you the opportunity to get to know her. I’m the only family she knows and she was so excited about meeting you.’

‘What about your own family?’

‘I was disowned the moment I was found to be pregnant. And so you and I are the only family she has.’

‘I want no part of this. You laid your bed so lie on it. I am not interested in a DNA test and the next time you bring your daughter here, I will have her taken to an orphanage where she would most likely be adopted by a family that would love her and keep her away from you and your selfish intentions.’

‘What exactly do you have against children?’ she asked exasperatedly,

‘You would ask me that simply because I wouldn’t fall for your lies? What exactly is your game plan? To get me to accept responsibility for your daughter, introduce you two to my family and have them of course convince me to marry you and we live together happily ever after?’

‘I’m not interested in marrying you,’ she told him and she meant it. ‘What I want is for my daughter to have her father in her life. You don’t want a DNA test because having a child is going to affect your perfect bachelor lifestyle. Well, you don’t have to worry about me bothering you anymore. God knows I have given you the opportunity to know your daughter and you have chosen to reject her and insult me. No problem, but know this: the only way you would ever have access to Biobele is if you find yourself married to her mother and I won’t marry you even if my life depends on it.’

‘I am not interested in you.’

‘Okay. My daughter is better off not knowing you. I never should have brought her here.’

She opened the door and walked out of the kitchen. B.B followed closely. Oroma called to her daughter, trying not to fall apart before her intelligent little girl. Biobele looked from her mummy to B.B then she rose to her feet and took Oroma’s hand.

‘It’s okay, mummy,’ she said as though she understood what had gone on between her parents. ‘It’s okay.’

After mother and daughter had left his apartment, B.B sat on the couch in his living room deep in thought. He forgot all about the sleep he had been looking forward to. The girl, Biobele, hadn’t touched her drink, and he couldn’t forget the look she had given him before she left with her mother. He couldn’t explain it but the girl seemed to have been expecting a rejection from him from the start, and he felt bad that he couldn’t explain to her that he wasn’t rejecting her because of anything she had done but because she wasn’t his.

He was almost tempted to call them back and request for a DNA test as Oroma had requested for the sake of the child but he couldn’t fall for whatever trap Oroma was laying for him. He didn’t trust her not to have an agenda.

Read Episode 16 here - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-16.html

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by millieademi: 1:11pm On Jan 31, 2020
God, give me the patience and self-control of Oroma. I swear I would have slapped B.B at least once.

Nice update love.

Thanks.
Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 9:42am On Feb 03, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 15

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

Monday 19th April 2004
7:07am
Hostel A2, RSUST


‘Congratulations Soki!’

Soki smiled as her hostel mates congratulated her on her wedding.

‘Bookworm!’

They teased her about returning to school when she should be away on honeymoon with her handsome husband.

‘My degree exam is by the corner, girls,’ she responded good-naturedly. ‘My darling husband and I can always have our honeymoon after my examinations. It would be a double celebration as I would officially be a law graduate.’

Dienye had dropped her off a few minutes earlier. He had gifted her with a car but the papers were being processed at the moment. However, even if she had the car at her disposal, she was back to the hostel and didn’t feel the need to use a car within school. She could afford to stay on campus without a car since she had just a month to go before her examinations began. And from what she’d heard, the Degree examinations lasted only a week. She had already made plans to be home every Friday and be back to school on Monday and Dienye was fine with it.

She was glad she didn’t have to worry about completing and submitting her project and thus could focus on her examinations. She had prepared ahead of time, choosing three potential project topics during the first semester break in her Fourth year and taking time out to conduct research on them. She had gathered a lot of materials by the time she returned to school for the new semester. Once her supervisor approved the topic “Environmental Crisis, a threat to National Security“, Soki had immediately started work on her project to the surprise and delight of her supervisor. She had already submitted the bound copies.

She would be turning twenty two in July and all things being equal, she would make it for the August law school batch and be called to bar by November 2005 at twenty three. She also hoped to be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) long before she turned 40.

Smiling, she walked down the long hallway that separated the rooms on either side of her, stopping at Room 26 which was the last room on the left. She was greeted with excited screams by her room mates. It was a full room. Officially twelve students sharing three double bunks arranged in a u-shape but Soki loved the community arrangement. It was a really interesting room. They argued, fought once in a while, partied and prayed together. No one was perfect.

After exchanging pleasantries, the girls wanted full gossip. She had been vocal about her decision to wait until her wedding day before being intimate with a man and, trust the girls, they wanted to hear the whole story about her first time. She didn’t blame them though, in their position she would have done the same thing.

‘Classified information,’ Soki responded with a laugh.

‘Come on.’

‘Classified info, girls,’ she repeated, giggling at their disappointed faces. ‘However, the only thing I can tell you is that it was worth the wait.’

‘See love o.’

‘No be small thing.’

‘Girl, give us gist na.’

Laughing she headed for her wooden locker. The double bunks were arranged in a U-Shape. Her bunk was in the centre. Her bed mate Blessing wasn’t around. She was a science student and had a lecture fixed for 7am. Soki was glad her first lecture was for 9am.

She dropped her knapsack on the mattress and unzipped it, taking out the provisions she had bought the previous day. She filled her locker with the provisions, sorted out the books she needed for the day and threw them into the knapsack. She was already dressed for lectures in a white short sleeved blouse and black skirt that ended just above her knees. Her feet were encased in black two inch heel peep-toe shoes. She took a bike to the law faculty where she would receive another set of congratulatory messages.



6:17pm

38c Rumuola Road

B.B. Briggs pulled into his parking space at the side of Block C. He occupied a two bedroom apartment on the first floor of a duplex which housed four ‘two bedroom’ apartments with two apartments on each floor. The compound had a tight security and a mini tenants’ association which ensured that the premises was clean and well taken care of. One of the attractions of the apartment was the size of the living room and the bedrooms. The master bedroom was en suite and the other bedroom shared the convenience. The price was also good.

He was tired. He’d had a long day at the Court of Appeal, Enugu and had driven straight home once he was done, stopping briefly to have lunch. He hadn’t even bothered stopping at the office. The previous week had been very busy one, spent in preparing for his best friend’s wedding. He had driven to Enugu after the thanksgiving service and reception. While at his hotel, he had gone through his briefs of argument in the two appeals he was handling, taking down extra notes. He had slept late and woken up early to make it to the Court of Appeal before 8:30am. The Justices sat at exactly 9am and there were twelve sets of cause lists to be filled by counsel before the arrival of the Justices.

What he needed was a good sleep.

He took out his travelling bag from the boot of the Honda civic and locked the car. He went up the staircase to his apartment pausing when he saw a girl sitting on the staircase just between his apartment and that of his neighbour’s. She was dressed in a yellow top and blue jeans worn over black sandals. Her hair was plaited with black threads. She was reading a storybook.

She looked up as he approached. He recognised her from the photograph Christabel – Oroma, had left with him the day she came to his office last month. He had seen Oroma at Dienye’s wedding but had been too busy to ask her what she was doing there. Before the wedding the last time he had seen Oroma was outside her home when she punched her nosey neighbour. He hadn’t bothered seeking her out again.

He looked around but Oroma was nowhere to be found. How had she known where he lived? He wondered. Had she been stalking him? He had lived here for almost six years and he barely entertained guests in his home, so a lot of people in his circle had no idea where he lived and he loved it that way. And yet Oroma had found him!

‘Good evening, sir,’ the girl greeted, getting up from the top step.

‘Where is your mother?’ he asked without responding to her greeting.

‘She asked me to wait for her here,’ the girl responded.

She was seven according to her birth certificate but looked younger than that. He hoped her mother wasn’t trying to force her daughter on him! The girl did look like Nengi but that didn’t mean anything. Everyone had a doppelgänger. Oroma had taken advantage of him and she had also been a prostitute. Her daughter was probably fathered by one of her numerous lovers, if Oroma indeed knew which one.

He thought of dropping the girl off at home but he was curious to know exactly what her mother intended by her action. Besides, he was also tired and putting her in a cab might be dangerous. He didn’t want to risk anything happening to the girl. She may not be his daughter but she was a child and her life was precious.

He unlocked the outer door and held it open, inviting her in. She hesitated for a moment, looking down the staircase as though not sure whether or not to go in with him in the absence of her mother. And then she made up her mind. He dropped his travelling bag on the long couch in the living room. He yawned as he picked up the remote control and turned on the air conditioner. His unwanted guest stood watching him. What did you serve a seven year old in the absence of caprison and biscuits? There was no food in the house. Had Eseoghene, his current girlfriend being around, she would have stuffed his fridge with different kinds of fruits and the refrigerator with soup and stew so that all he had to do was make eba or boil rice or yam. But Ese was running a two week programme in Lagos.

B.B wasn’t good with children. He was barely ever around them. Ese, on the other hand was an elementary school teacher and good with children. He thought of Dienye who was always around children. He would have known how to engage a child in a conversation.

Why had Oroma left her daughter here?

He gestured for the girl to sit on one of the leather seats and walked to the fridge in the dining area hoping that there would be something in there. He found a large plastic bottle of jucee. He had forgotten about the orange drink which had been one of the few he had ordered for the last time Priye Daniel-Hart and a few of her friends had stormed his place from school.

He took out the large fruit drink and headed for the kitchen where he got a glass cup. He put the glass cup on a small tray and returned to the living room. He placed the tray on a stool beside the girl’s chair and filled the glass cup with juice. She thanked him but made no attempt to take the drink from the tray. Her eyes watched him curiously before focusing on the enlarged picture on the wall. It was his call to bar picture.

‘How was school?’ he asked her for lack of what to say. Had this been a court room, he would have been fired up but he couldn’t strike a simple conversation with a seven year old.

‘School was fine,’ she replied.

When the silence stretched for some time, Biobele looked at him and said: ‘I know you don’t want me here. I already told mummy it is okay if you don’t want to know me.’

‘I never said…’

‘I may be a child but I know a lot of things,’ she cut in politely.

Biobele was an intelligent girl. When her mother had finally broken the silence on her father and showed her his photograph, she had been excited because she was finally going to have a father like most of the children at school. She had quickly come up with a list of activities she could do with her daddy. The only male figure in her life was Uncle Dienye whom she loved very much. He had bought her story books which she read to the younger children at the orphanage. She had started the new term in a new school and was coping very well. Her mummy had told her that she had inherited her daddy’s intelligence. He was a great lawyer.

Her mummy and daddy had never been married but mummy had assured her that although her conception hadn’t been planned, having her was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

One of her friends in her former school had left school because her parents were getting a divorce. The news had been all over school. Biobele hadn’t known what the word ‘divorce’ meant until she asked one of the women in the compound they had lived in at the time and the woman told her.

She was glad her mummy had moved out of that compound. Living in a communal compound meant that you heard and saw a lot of things. They said all sort of things about her and her mummy especially about her not having a father. But her mummy had taught her to ignore their harsh remarks.

‘You are a special child and if they don’t understand that, it is their loss,’ mummy would always tell her.

‘And my father? Does he know I exist?’

‘I have made contact with him. I believe he would do the right thing.’

And here she was with him!

When he had come up the stairs and seen her, he had looked like he wanted to be everywhere apart from there. He had recognised her, most likely from the picture her mummy had chosen to show to him. Biobele had selected that picture herself from the few she had. She wanted her daddy to have the best picture of her. She had been looking forward to meeting him. Her mummy had singled him out at Uncle Dienye’s wedding but there had been no opportunity to talk to him. Besides, he hadn’t even tried talking to her mummy.

Biobele had asked her mummy a lot of questions after the wedding but mummy had clearly been covering up for him, perhaps to save her from the pain of rejection. But Biobele had understood the words her mother hadn’t said. Her father was yet to accept that she was his.

As much as Biobele had been looking forward to meeting her father, and although she would naturally feel really bad if he finally decided he didn’t want to have anything to do with her like some of the fathers of children she had seen pass through their compound, she was prepared for anything: rejection or acceptance.

‘Mummy wants us to get together but I won’t force myself to be your little girl so you don’t get to hate my mummy for the rest of our lives for doing this to you,’ she told B.B.

She didn’t sound like a child at all. Had life done this to her?
Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 9:44am On Feb 03, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 15

At that moment there was a knock on the outer door. Instinctively he knew it was Oroma. Relieved that he didn’t have to squirm under the child’s look, he hurried out to open the door. Oroma stood at the door in a flowing flowery dress. She was breathing heavily as though she had been in a hurry. He had judged her too quickly. He had actually believed she would not return for her daughter that evening and he would be compelled to let the child spend the night in his home.

‘Good evening B.B,’ Oroma said breathlessly. ‘I had no idea you would be back so early.’

‘Have you been monitoring my movement?’

‘Not exactly,’ she responded.

‘How did you know I lived here?’

‘I came here a week ago to drop a few things with one of your neighbours and saw you drive in. I asked and was told you lived in Apartment 4C.’

If her story was true, who was that loud mouthed neighbour? It had to be a woman. A man wouldn’t be interested in divulging information about another man while he was with a woman. Did she have clients around here too?

‘I don’t have a lover here,’ she told him, cutting his thoughts short.

‘I don’t remember saying you did.’

‘Your expression said it all. May I come in? Where is Bio?’

He reluctantly invited Oroma in. Biobele hugged her mother. B.B asked Oroma to follow him to the kitchen. He needed to talk to her alone.

‘Why on earth would you put an innocent child in the centre of all this?’ B.B demanded the moment they were inside the spacious kitchen.

‘She is your daughter and has every right to meet with you.’

‘I have told you before I will not take responsibility for another man’s child. If you are trying to extort money from me, this is not the best way to go about it. It is way too obvious.’ He drew his wallet out of his pocket, counted twenty five hundred naira notes and thrust it at her. ‘This is Ten Thousand Naira, and it is not for you but for the girl.’

‘She has a name: Biobele.’ Oroma said exasperatedly.

‘Whatever. Take this money and stay out of my life.’

Oroma looked at the money and hissed without taking it.

‘She is your daughter B.B. If you have any doubt, I suggest you request for a paternity test. You get to choose the doctor.’

‘No.’

‘Why not? What are you afraid of?’

‘I have no intention of spending my precious time and money on something so frivolous.’

‘Frivolous? There is nothing frivolous about accepting your responsibility. Biobele is your daughter…’

‘I hear.’

‘You were the first man I had ever been with, the only man I was with eight years ago.’

‘I hear you. I’m not interested. If you are looking for a man to rope into taking over your responsibility, I suggest you go to one of your numerous customers. Perhaps there is one of them whose wife hasn’t given him a child and who would gladly accept responsibility to salvage his male ego.’

‘What!’

‘You heard me. I know what you do for a living: prostitution.’

Oroma turned to ensure that the kitchen door was properly closed. She didn’t want her daughter hearing things like this.

‘She doesn’t know, does she?’

Oroma took a deep breath and silently prayed to God to help her deal patiently with this man.

‘She doesn’t know about my past and I want it to stay that way.’

‘Poor child. I am sure she had to deal with years of wondering which one of the numerous ‘uncles’ who came visiting, was her father,’ he taunted.

Oroma didn’t bother taking the bait.

‘I love my daughter and she knows that I love her. That is all that matters.’

‘And with the kind of example you would be setting for her, she would most likely lose her innocence before she reaches puberty.’

‘I am bringing up my child in the best way I can,’ she bit out, tempted to slap him. ‘And you have no right to say something like that to me!’

‘Don’t I? You’re the prostitute who is trying to force her daughter on me.’

‘Stop calling me that! I quit that profession a year ago.’

‘Oh good, clap for yourself,’ his tone reeked of sarcasm. ‘And for how long do you intend to be celibate, that is if you are? Until you find the highest bidder?’

He had no idea how low he had hit her below the belt! How could he understand how tempted she had been to go back to that cursed profession when she found herself unable to pay her bills? The pay from the job at the restaurant had been little and not enough to take care of basic needs but she had promised herself never again would she trade her body for money, no matter the sum or circumstance.

It had been like an addiction, something she had thought she couldn’t live without. At first she had gotten into profession because she was desperate but she had continued for some time, enduring the touch of different men and giving in to the lustful desires of her flesh. She had gotten a high from controlling the desires of men and being responsible for their pleasures. But no more! Her daughter was her life, her number one priority. Her desires came second and would gladly be sacrificed for the happiness of her precious girl.

She took inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.

‘This is not about me. This is about Biobele, the sweetest girl on the planet, and one any man would be honoured to call his daughter.’

‘I refuse to accept another man’s responsibility.’

‘I would gladly subject her to a DNA test to prove you are her father. If it comes out negative, which I seriously doubt, then I would pay you back the money spent.’

‘And how exactly do you expect to pay me back? You don’t have enough money and I don’t patronise prostitutes, not even the very beautiful ones.’

‘Stop calling me that!’

‘My mistake. Which do you prefer? Call girl? Lady of the night? LovePeddler? Harlot? Scarlet woman?’

‘None of the above. I have a decent job.’

‘That’s not what I heard from your neighbour.’

He couldn’t forget how Oroma had attacked her neighbour for revealing her secret to him. She hadn’t exactly denied that she was still a prostitute.

‘Assuming I believe your words that you now have a decent job, does your employer’s wife know about your ‘past’ life? I bet if she did, you would lose your job faster than you can say your name.’

‘My employer knows about my past and unlike you he isn’t judgmental.’

‘I was referring to his wife.’

This man was so different from his best friend. Dienye hadn’t judged her when she told him about her past life.

‘The only way out of this, B.B, is to have a paternity test,’ she said, bringing them back to the topic at hand.

‘And like I said, I will not waste my time and resources.’

‘I am giving you the opportunity to get to know her. I’m the only family she knows and she was so excited about meeting you.’

‘What about your own family?’

‘I was disowned the moment I was found to be pregnant. And so you and I are the only family she has.’

‘I want no part of this. You laid your bed so lie on it. I am not interested in a DNA test and the next time you bring your daughter here, I will have her taken to an orphanage where she would most likely be adopted by a family that would love her and keep her away from you and your selfish intentions.’

‘What exactly do you have against children?’ she asked exasperatedly,

‘You would ask me that simply because I wouldn’t fall for your lies? What exactly is your game plan? To get me to accept responsibility for your daughter, introduce you two to my family and have them of course convince me to marry you and we live together happily ever after?’

‘I’m not interested in marrying you,’ she told him and she meant it. ‘What I want is for my daughter to have her father in her life. You don’t want a DNA test because having a child is going to affect your perfect bachelor lifestyle. Well, you don’t have to worry about me bothering you anymore. God knows I have given you the opportunity to know your daughter and you have chosen to reject her and insult me. No problem, but know this: the only way you would ever have access to Biobele is if you find yourself married to her mother and I won’t marry you even if my life depends on it.’

‘I am not interested in you.’

‘Okay. My daughter is better off not knowing you. I never should have brought her here.’

She opened the door and walked out of the kitchen. B.B followed closely. Oroma called to her daughter, trying not to fall apart before her intelligent little girl. Biobele looked from her mummy to B.B then she rose to her feet and took Oroma’s hand.

‘It’s okay, mummy,’ she said as though she understood what had gone on between her parents. ‘It’s okay.’

After mother and daughter had left his apartment, B.B sat on the couch in his living room deep in thought. He forgot all about the sleep he had been looking forward to. The girl, Biobele, hadn’t touched her drink, and he couldn’t forget the look she had given him before she left with her mother. He couldn’t explain it but the girl seemed to have been expecting a rejection from him from the start, and he felt bad that he couldn’t explain to her that he wasn’t rejecting her because of anything she had done but because she wasn’t his.

He was almost tempted to call them back and request for a DNA test as Oroma had requested for the sake of the child but he couldn’t fall for whatever trap Oroma was laying for him. He didn’t trust her not to have an agenda.

Read Episode 16 here - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-16.html

1 Like

Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by skubido(m): 10:17pm On Feb 03, 2020
millieademi:
God, give me the patience and self-control of Oroma. I swear I would have slapped B.B at least once.

Nice update love.

Thanks.



Asin ehn, confirm resetting slap ooo


I'm body go soon tell ham



OP u too much

1 Like

Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 8:09am On Feb 04, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 16

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

Saturday, 24th April 2004
Oroma Estate

‘What on earth is the matter with you?’ Soki asked her husband of two weeks. ‘We have been married for two weeks and you have called me Nengi how many times?’

‘It wasn’t intentional, babe.’

‘Not intentional? Haba! Nengi has been dead for four years! That’s a long time ago.’

‘It wasn’t intentional.’ Dienye repeated.

He couldn’t believe that he had called her Nengi. What was he thinking?

‘I heard you the first time. I’m just wondering why you keep doing it.’

‘It was a slip of the tongue, babe. You don’t have to make a big deal out of it.’

‘So being called by another woman’s name isn’t a big deal? If the roles were reversed, would you have found it funny if I called you by my ex-boyfriend’s name?’

‘That’s different. Besides, you never had one,’ he reminded her.

‘Oho! Well, this is a big deal unless it formed part of the silent terms and conditions for helping me out when I came to you. You should have at least put the damned thing in the prenuptial agreement we signed.’

‘Soki, let it rest. It won’t happen again.’

‘I don’t like keeping things bottled up inside so I need to get this out right now.’

He rolled his eyes.

Only last week, Soki had complained about the life portrait of Nengi she had seen in the large sitting room her first visit to his home. She had expected him to remove it after they got married and had been surprised to find it still there after she returned from school. Nengi’s pictures were still around the house including pictures taken with Dienye. He even had a room he kept locked!

‘What’s in that room?’ She had asked him last Saturday.

‘It’s my room of wealth,’ he had responded. ‘You don’t want to go in there.’

‘Why not? What’s in there?’

‘A gruesome sight, that’s what. In it is a young man sitting on a box with money dropping out of his open mouth.’

‘Be serious, D.D. What’s in there?’

‘Some of Nengi’s things. I had to move them from the master bedroom and adjoining room.’

She shouldn’t have taken the fact that he had reserved a bedroom in their home for Nengi’s things for granted. Having his late wife’s things around the house was clearly messing up his mind. What other justification could there be for calling her by the woman’s name?

‘Perhaps the reason you why you keep making that slip is because there are so many pictures of her around the house. I feel like she follows me into every room I go to.’

‘Nengi and I built this house together,’ he bit out.

‘And I just waltzed in to take over. This is also meant to be my home, meaning I need to feel comfortable here. It was different when I came around as your fiancée but I am your wife. I don’t think it is right for you to keep her pictures lying around the place. They are in the smaller sitting room and-’

‘It doesn’t mean anything. I am married to you!’ he reminded her, exasperated. ‘You’re the woman who shares my bed and…’

‘Yes we are married but you still keep her pictures around the place. I won’t be surprised if it’s her pictures you have framed in your different offices.’

Dienye didn’t bother denying it. What was the use?

‘I know you loved her and all but I’m here now. Me, Nwasoka. It isn’t cool to keep on showing me your undying love for another woman.’

‘I admit that I’m still in love with Nengi, but I am trying my best to make this marriage work. You are not helping matters at all by blowing things out of proportion.’

‘Me, ke? Maka na m si na m agaghi aza afa nwunye gi nwulu anwu (because I said I wouldn’t answer to your late wife’s name)? If I let this continue, it won’t be long before you find yourself asking me to loose weight, undergo a cosmetic surgery and stretch my limbs further just to look like her..’

‘You don’t have the same facial or bone structure,’ he reminded her.

‘And if I did, would you have recommended the surgery?’

‘You are the wrong size and height, babe. Besides, this conversation is becoming too ridiculous for my liking.’

‘I look nothing like her.’

‘No. She was very tall and very beautiful.’

‘And I might as well be a plain Jane compared to her, abi?’

Dienye sighed deeply. ‘That was uncalled for. I shouldn’t have said what I did.’

‘But you were being truthful. Remember I have seen her pictures. You need to deal with the fact that Nengi is dead and buried. And I don’t want to fit into her shoes.’

She could tell from the way he tensed that her last words had hurt him.

‘This conversation is over.’

‘Nengi-’

‘Leave my wife out of this.’

She drew back her head.

‘Your wife? Then who am I?’

That was when Dienye realised what he had said.

‘I am exhausted. This confrontation has given me a headache.’

‘And what do you think it’s given me?’

She walked away, expecting him to call her back but he didn’t. She showered and changed into her pyjama top and shorts. Dienye came to the bedroom later in the night but he lay on the bed with his back to her, instead of cuddling her as he usually did.

___

Sunday, 25th April 2004
Harold Wilson Drive,
Borokiri, Port Harcourt.

Soki had Sunday lunch with her parents-in-law. She first stopped at the ‘Heart of the Child’ and stayed long enough to visit with the children who were Dienye’s second love. She had first visited as his fiancée and presently noticed that two of the children she had seen back then were no longer in the orphanage. She was informed that they had been adopted.

According to Dienye, he had conceived the idea of having a decent orphanage at the age of nineteen after he and Belema had rescued a baby they had found in a carton in the midst of a refuse heap on their way back from a party at a family friend’s home.

She dropped the gifts she had come with before heading to town to see Dienye’s parents at their home in Harold Wilson Drive. She had established a good rapport with them and so didn’t have to be anyone other than herself around them. After all, they knew their son hadn’t married her for love.

‘How are you, my dear?’ Nkemdilim Daniel-Hart asked her daughter-in-law while the younger woman helped her in the kitchen.

‘I’m fine, mum,’ Soki responded, grating the carrots for the coleslaw they were making. She had chopped the cabbage into short slim pieces. Done with the carrots, she found the salad cream and mixed the contents of her bowl together.

‘And your marriage?’

‘So far so good, we are trying to make it work.’

Nkem watched her daughter-in-law recalling the day Dienye had called to inform her and her husband that he was getting married again. She had thought he was joking because everyone knew he was yet to get over Nengi. Dienye was close-lipped about his reasons for getting married once more but it was clear that it wasn’t for love.

Soki found herself wondering what Nengi had been like as a daughter-in-law. During the introduction, Dagogo and Nkem Daniel-Hart had been amiable but the atmosphere had been a bit tense.

‘Mummy,’

‘Yes dear?’

‘What was Nengi like?’

That was the least question Nkem expected her to ask. She dropped the knife she using and turned to face Soki.

‘Let me give you an advice dear: don’t ever ask about the other woman. What you hear will hurt you especially when your marriage is not founded on love.’

‘I can’t help it mummy. I feel like I need to know more about her in order to be able to able to properly understand my husband.’

‘I’ll advice that you ask Dienye what he wants, instead.’

‘He won’t tell me.’

‘And as his mother I would tell you that he wouldn’t appreciate your snooping around for information about Nengi.’

‘Who’s going to tell him?’ Soki returned.

‘Who indeed?’ Nkem laughed. ‘Are you sure you really want to know about Nengi?’

‘Yes I do. What was she like as a daughter-in-law?’

‘Every prospective mother-in-law’s dream come true,’ Nkem replied. ‘Nengi, bless her soul, was family long before she got married to my son. They had been friends since forever. She was his dearest friend. They were so close that there were times she spent the night over here but never in his bedroom. She usually spent the night Ibierefagha’s bedroom. She was a good girl and well brought up.

‘When Dienye told me at 23 that he was ready to settle down with her, it didn’t come as a surprise. We felt he was too young but Dienye has always had a mind of his own. She was with him when he started the home and his businesses. She made a room alive just by being in it.’

Nkem paused with a smile on her face, obviously thinking of Nengi. ‘There was no dull moment with her. My husband adored her so much that you would think she was his first daughter. She frequented this place with Dienye and they were inseparable.’

‘How did she die?’

‘She was involved in an accident. She put herself in harm’s way in order to save a child who had been about to be knocked down by a clearly drunk driver. In the course of her fall, she hit her head on the side of the culvert and suffered severe trauma to the head. Her death was hard on Dienye but it’s been four years now. The consolation we had was that she died doing what she loved most – helping others. Unfortunately she died without a child.’

And I had to ask, Soki thought. They were talking about a saint here. One who was breathtakingly beautiful from the pictures she had seen of her and who had an easy smile. Had she been anyone but Dienye’s first wife, Soki would have wished she had met and known the woman. She had clearly been the perfect wife and the perfect daughter-in-law.

‘It’s too early in your marriage to start finding faults in yourself and in your marriage,’ a voice inside her head advised.

The voice was right. She was new to this. Circumstances beyond her control had led to them being together before either of them was ready. They no longer enjoyed that easy communication they had enjoyed before they got married. Reality had set in. Perhaps if they had gone on their honeymoon that would have helped. She had heard that honeymoons gave the newly married couple the opportunity to bond and in the absence of distractions.

The lovemaking was great and one of the things she looked forward to each time. She was financially stable thanks to him but she needed the Dienye she had known before her father’s problem with Nze.

‘Don’t let any of this bother you,’ Nkem told Soki. ‘The fact that you are different from Nengi is not a bad thing. No two people are the same just as no two marriages are the same. Every distinguishing characteristic is in itself an advantage. You just have to find out what works for you and Dienye and hinge on that to make your marriage work.’

Soki thought of telling Nkem about the pictures of Nengi which still could be found in different parts of the house. The wedding albums from 11 years ago were still in their small sitting room for anyone who cared to look. He hadn’t taken down their wedding pictures but had the ones he took with Soki enlarged and also placed on the walls in the sitting rooms. Dienye obviously didn’t see anything wrong with this!

Soki got recipes of his native food from his mum in order to prepare them for him. One thing he couldn’t fault was her cooking. She was a great cook who loved to practice new meals. Give her any ingredient and she would come up with a meal that would make you lick your fingers and moan with pleasure. She’d scored an A1 in Foods and Nutrition with the invigilators almost eating up her food. She had prepared goat meat pepper soup as an appetiser, ji akwukwu nni (yam and vegetable) with ugba, and pounded yam with ofe onugbu (bitter leaf soup) for the two main dishes that had been requested for, and the sweet for the day had been sweet pancakes. She had effectively managed her time and come up with the best dishes for the day.

She held back a laugh as she recalled the reaction of the students when she used ogili which she had gotten from her aunt in Obosi. According to her mum any ogili besides that of Anambra state was fake. The smell of the ogili had filled the food and nutrition lab to Soki’s joy and pride as an Anambra girl.

That evening, she had pounded yam and bitter leaf soup waiting for Dienye. They hadn’t spoken much after the confrontation of yesterday and she was tired of the silence.

Read Episode 17 here - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-17.html

1 Like

Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 10:56am On Feb 05, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 17

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

Thursday, 13th May 2004
RUSUT

And it was a wrap!

After five plus years as an undergraduate, Soki couldn’t believe she was finally done with her degree examination. She was so glad to be a law student, for final year students in other faculties still had pending examinations. Unless there was foul play, she was certain to graduate top of her class with a first class degree.

She took group pictures with her classmates, some of whom were popping bottles of wine. This would be the last time they would ever be together like this. Some of the students would be having resits and those who passed would end up in different law school campuses. There would be reunions but at no time would everyone attend it at the same time. It was a very emotional moment with long hugs and exchange of emails and home addresses.

She had packed her bags that morning, before leaving for her examination. Dienye had promised two days earlier to pick her up after her exams but around 5pm. It was a few minutes past 1pm so that gave her a few hours to celebrate with two of her closest course-mates, Ebitari and Ibukun.

They took a cab from school to Kingfishers along Olu Obasanjo road.

‘Finally we are graduates,’ said Ebitari.

Soki smiled at her course mate. Ebitari, tall, very slim and with a noticeable limp on her left leg courtesy of an accident that had claimed the life of her parents and kept hospitalised for months. Tari had been two sets ahead of Soki before the accident. After four major surgeries, learning to walk again, and having to rely on the charity of her mother’s relatives, Tari had lost two academic sessions and ended up in Soki’s set. She had felt really bad about returning to school at a time her course mates had graduated, but Soki had befriended her and encouraged her to focus on graduating from the school rather than what could have been. Soki was so happy for her friend. Tari had informed Soki earlier that if she graduated with a minimum CGPA of 3:00, her mother’s immediate elder sister had promised to foot her bills for law school.

‘Abi o,’ said Ibukun in agreement. ‘Just look at us. After many years in the University of Stress and Tension, we are finally free.’

The students of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology had nicknamed the school University of Stress and Tension because a lot of students were put through tremendous stress in order to graduate; and once in a while students were turned into 100m race athletes as a result of the hits or reprisal attacks carried out by rival cult gangs. It didn’t matter what part of campus the hit occurred; once there was a gun shot, everyone took off, half of the time running through lecture room windows and forgetting about the doors. Surprisingly, there had never been recorded any case of a student severing an artery while running through the louvers.

‘What’s left is for us to pray continually about our scripts and results so that nothing goes wrong,’ Soki added.

‘That’s very necessary.’

They ordered plates of jollof fried rice, peppered chicken, salad/moi-moi and packs of juice. Their conversation was loud and their laughter drew attention to their table but they paid no attention to the other persons present. They talked about the years they had spent in school, the various experiences they had both socially and academically. They talked about lecturers they would miss and those they definitely wouldn’t miss.

They were back to school by 4:05pm. When Dienye didn’t show up by 5:00pm as promised, she got worried and called him but his number was busy. It wasn’t like Dienye to be late and if he was running late for any reason he would have called her.

While waiting for Dienye, she bought drinks for her roommates and promised to visit them the next week. When by 6:45pm Dienye still hadn’t showed up or called her, she walked down to the back gate to pick a cab. She sent a text to Dienye telling him not to bother picking her as she would be taking a cab home.

Dienye wasn’t home by the time Soki arrived. One of the guards helped her get her things into the house. She looked around but there wasn’t a note from Dienye explaining where he had gone. He also didn’t call her. She unpacked her bags before undressing and getting into the bathroom where she had a quick shower. She dressed up in a light blue dress and black high heeled knee length boots. She applied a light makeup and picked up her black purse.

She had intended to take Dienye out to celebrate the conclusion of her examinations but since he wasn’t home, she would either get a take-away dinner for him or fix something when she returned home. She had a large bowl of stew in the freezer which she had made last Sunday.

She drove to Bovatti Restaurant, along the Old Aba Road. One slip that she had just graduated from the university and Soki had a number of willing and voluntary sponsors: young men and a few older guys. She found their attention amusing but she allowed herself to have a wonderful time, enjoying the flirtatious remarks and advances. After all, she was still a young woman.

She left the restaurant a few minutes past nine with the food she had bought for Dienye. Dienye’s BMW was missing from its parking space. She called his number once more but couldn’t get him. Where was he? Did he spend the night away from home any time she wasn’t around? Was he seeing another woman? No, she didn’t think that was the case. She also knew he wasn’t visiting his parents for she had spoken to them not long ago. He also wasn’t having a guys’ night out with Belema who was off shore. Or was he with B.B? She wasn’t aware of any JCI programme happening that weekend, or had he been invited for a training outside Rivers State for a training? She didn’t want to consider the thought that he might have been in an accident. God forbid! Someone would have called her if that was the case.

She ensured that the guards and the dogs had something to eat and then waited for Dienye in the large sitting room.

*****



9:57pm

Sapphire room

Riverglade Hotels

Omoku, Rivers State

Dienye lay on the queen-size bed in a white BYC singlet and navy blue jean trousers, with his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle. His green t-shirt was tossed over the back of a chair beside the bed in the large, air conditioned room.

‘Thanks once more D-Baby for picking me up from the park and bringing me here,’ the young woman with the red and gold braid held in a ponytail said as she closed the wardrobe. ‘Isn’t it my good fortune that your young wife isn’t around?’ she added teasingly as she turned to him. ‘Had she been home you wouldn’t have agreed to spend the night here.’

She walked barefooted to the bed, dressed in a yellow top with black spots and a tiny pair of black silk shorts that revealed her endless fair legs. She stretched out horizontally on the bed and placed her head on Dienye’s chest with the familiarity of a woman who had been doing this for a long time.

She was in Omoku for a two day seminar starting on Friday and had called Dienye the moment she arrived Port Harcourt. She hadn’t seen him in weeks, although they communicated as often as possible over the phone. She had served as a Corper in a company in Warri and had been retained after service the previous year.

‘Yes,’ Dienye responded. ‘Soki’s in school, that’s the only reason you get to have me here.’ He pulled playfully on one of her braids. ‘Besides, you should also be thanking me for having to endure the terrible network service here just to be with you.’

‘Special people things,’ Atili laughed, her laughter vibrating on his chest. ‘That’s called love.’

‘See your mouth,’ Dienye laughed in return.

‘So how is Soki?’

‘She’s fine. She’s rounding off her degree examinations tomorrow afternoon. I promised to pick her up in the evening. That should give her enough time to celebrate with her friends before I whisk her off.’

‘Wow, that’s great.’ Atili said, clapping excitedly. ‘That means your semi-married life comes to an end tomorrow.’

‘I don’t remember complaining. She comes home every weekend so that makes up for everything.’

‘I hope she’s launched the night attires we gifted her with.’ Atili teased, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

‘Fortunately for me, I married a decent woman,’ he said with mock relief. ‘She wears silk pyjamas…’

‘Shorts…’

‘No, trousers. Not every woman is like you, with all these your tiny shorts. I hope you are not getting those young Warri men into trouble.’

Atili laughed and playfully punched her eldest brother on the stomach.

‘Pyjama trousers, if I hear. I doubt if mum would use something like that let alone a modern day young woman like Soki.’

Dienye shook his head. Soki may not have launched the night wears beyond the lingerie she had worn on their wedding night, but that the nightshirts she wore were far from granny style.

‘You promised me gossip about those Warri boys,’ he reminded Atili. ‘Oya start the stories.’

Atili laughed.

‘I used to think I had a crush on B.B, and then I met this nice guy in Warri. He’s…’

They talked well into the night before they both agreed that Atili had to sleep in order to be up in time for her seminar and Dienye had a long drive back to Port Harcourt.

*****

12:16am

Oroma Estate

Port Harcourt

Soki turned off the television. Dienye was clearly not coming home that night. She went into the kitchen where she took the plate of food still in its plastic take away pack and put it in the refrigerator. She locked up and turned off the lights as she headed for the bedroom.

She couldn’t believe that Dienye had forgotten she was graduating that day. He had the memory of an elephant for crying out loud!

‘I refuse to be upset,’ she told herself, taking a few deep breaths and exhaling.





7:51am

Oroma Estate

Port Harcourt

Dienye pulled into his parking space. He’d left Omoku by 6am in order to get home before 8am and was happy there hadn’t been traffic on the way. He unlocked the door with his keys. At first there was nothing to show that the house wasn’t empty as he had left it, and then he heard humming coming from the kitchen.

Surprised, he headed in that direction. He came to an abrupt stop the moment he saw Soki. He clearly hadn’t been expecting her.

‘You didn’t have to rush back this morning on my behalf,’ he told Soki, pausing to take her into his arms and place a light kiss on her lips. ‘Or was your last paper moved?’

Soki stared at him. He had clearly forgotten their last conversation. And to think she had barely slept, worried about him! Taking a deep breath, she said, ‘I came in last night.’

‘Wow. I had to take Atili to Omoku yesterday evening,’ he informed her. ‘She’s here for a work related seminar. She also sent her ‘warmest greetings’ – in her words not mine.’

Another day, Soki would have smiled and asked how her sister-in-law was faring. But not this morning! She was upset. Had he recalled their conversation he would have called to let her know that he had to drive his sister to Omoku and as such wouldn’t be around, or even better, had his driver take his sister to Omoku. After all, Simon was available most of the time since Dienye loved to drive himself.

Rather than voice out her annoyance, Soki gently extricated herself from his embrace and headed for the small sitting room.

‘What did I do this time?’ Dienye asked as he followed her into the sitting room. She was clearly upset about something.

She rewarded him with a long silence as she picked the remote control and flipped through the channels.

‘You’ll have to talk to me sometime,’ he told her.

She gave him a look that said, ‘Don’t count on it.’ And he actually laughed!

‘We live in the same house, babe,’ he reminded her. ‘You can’t help but talk to me especially if you’ve missed me as much as I have missed you. Although I can’t for the life of me imagine what I have done wrong.’

When she ignored him, he shrugged and left the room, tossing over his shoulder, ‘Let me know when you’re ready to talk about what’s bothering you.’

Soki stared at the television screen, unseeing. There had to be steam escaping from the pores of her scalp. He’d walked away as though her anger meant nothing to him. Then again, what had she expected him to do? Go on his knees and beg her to forgive him for everything he had done, both past and present, and for the things he would do to her in the future.

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 10:56am On Feb 05, 2020
Episode 17 continued


She was surprised when he returned about half an hour dressed in a three piece suit and carrying a brief case.

Just like that, she thought. No ‘Why are you upset?’ This was definitely not working out as she’d thought. For a man who had been married for seven years, he certainly wasn’t that sensitive to a woman’s mood. Then again she wasn’t his perfect Nengi. Had Nengi been the one in her shoes, Soki had no doubt that he would have apologised without even asking what he’d done wrong or caring if he’d been at fault.

He’d probably return later in the day, eat his supper, watch the news and expect her to come willingly into his arms, knowing that she would. They both had their needs and she had been taught that one should never deny one’s spouse the delight of one’s body even in anger.

He announced to her that he had to get to his training firm and from there he would be attending a few meetings fixed for later in the day. He would be back a bit late.

Soki frowned when she heard the front door open and then close. She was still upset. She eyed the wedding album which remained in the sitting room. What would happen if she was to hide it? She thought meanly. Nengi had been Dienye’s closest friend and not just a woman he had married. Soki lifted her left hand and looked at her rings which seemed to mock her. He should be more sensitive about her emotions even if he couldn’t love her. They had been friends for crying out loud.

She hated the fact that he had to consciously stop himself from calling her Nengi. He did that especially when he got carried away in a discussion with her. It was probably reminiscent of his long conversations with Nengi. In situations like that he seemed to be seeing Nengi while talking with her.

Perhaps she was overreacting. This had nothing to do with Nengi. She had to cut him some slack.

He called her a few hours later to say that one of his meetings had been cancelled and so he would be back around two for lunch. She didn’t have such a long face by the time he returned, and he commented on this as they ate lunch.

‘I feel better now,’ was her response.

After lunch he was ready to step out again. He changed into his sports outfit.

‘I have a squash game with B.B,’ he told her as he laced his sneakers.

‘Can I join you guys?’

‘You don’t know how to play squash.’ He reminded her.

‘I could learn.’

‘I’ll teach you some other time,’ he promised.

‘Can I at least watch?’

‘You’d be bored to death, babe,’ he smiled. ‘Besides, B.B and I have a few things we need to discuss in private.’

‘And I’d be in the way,’ she finished.

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘But you implied it.’

‘You shouldn’t read meanings into my words, babe.’

He got on his feet and picked up his squash racket. He approached her and she lifted her face for his kiss. His lips brushed lightly against hers.

‘I’m glad you’re home,’ he told her.

He straightened up and began to walk out of the room.

‘You owe me a squash lesson,’ she called after him.

‘I guess I do. Remind me later.’

He had just reached the front door before she found herself racing out of the sitting room. She hadn’t told him she was done with her examinations.

‘D.D, hold on for a moment,’ she called after him just as he opened the door. ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’

‘We’ll talk once I get back,’ he promised her, shutting the door before she could say anything.

She didn’t follow him outside. It wasn’t necessary. She would tell him over supper. Her phone rang just as she walked back into the sitting room. She picked it up and flipped it open. She didn’t recognise the number.

‘Hello.’

‘Hi, Soki. It’s B.B.’

‘Hi B.B.’

‘Is Dienye there?’ B. B asked.

‘No, he just left but I’m sure you suspected that,’ Soki responded. ‘After all, we both know your best friend is always punctual.’

B.B laughed.

‘I actually called to say congratulations. I heard you wrote your final paper yesterday. Once you’re done with law school, I’m adopting you as my counsel.’

‘Don’t you mean that you would provide an immediate employment for me?’

‘I would be engaging you as my personal lawyer on a retainership basis.’

Soki smiled.

‘And what happens to your present lawyer?’

‘I’ll discharge him. After all, he isn’t good looking as you,’ B.B laughed. ‘Congratulations once more, dear.’

‘Thanks B.B.’ she smiled, and then curiosity got the best of her. ‘How did you find out?’

‘A friend’s younger sister is in your class. Samantha Ogbebor.’

She knew Samantha. In a class of 112, it was easy to know everyone even if you weren’t friends with them all. They chatted for a few minutes before he hung up. He had promised to send her graduation present through Dienye.

‘Oh dear!’ she thought.

She tried calling Dienye at once, not wanting him to hear the news from someone else. But she couldn’t get to him and it wasn’t something she could send via text.

She really should have dragged Dienye by his t-shirt and made him listen to her!

*******

Soki was on the phone with her dad when Dienye returned that evening. She could tell from his countenance that B.B had made good his promise to send her graduation gift through Dienye.

He looked at her for a moment and then walked away. She heard the master bedroom door open and then close. Rubbing a palm over her face, she quickly concluded her call.

‘I have to go now, daddy,’ she told her father. ‘I’ll call you later. Send my regards to mum.’

She left the sitting room for the kitchen to check on supper which was a pot of beans porridge and croaker fish. She had fried the croaker fish earlier and cut the ripe plantain to go with the porridge. She added the plantain to the food and closed the lid of the pot.

She left the kitchen and headed for the master bedroom. Dienye was in the bathroom. She hesitated for a moment and then left the bedroom. He joined her in the sitting room a few minutes later. She had already dished out their supper and served it in the dining room.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ he asked, accusingly.

Soki didn’t bother pretending that she had no idea what he was talking about. ‘I did tell you three days ago when you called me that I would be done with my examinations yesterday. You were even supposed to pick me up.’

‘And when I didn’t show up you didn’t deem it fit to remind me.’

‘I called you but couldn’t get through to you. Besides, you have the memory of an elephant. You barely forget anything and so I expected you to remember,’ she simply told him.

‘Well, I didn’t. I sincerely thought you were writing your last paper today. If I had known differently I would have made other arrangements for Atili.’

‘Not to worry, darling, I took a cab home. I sent you a message to that effect, didn’t you get it?’

‘I just got it this evening.’ He acknowledged. ‘There wasn’t much network service where I was.’

‘When I got home there wasn’t a note from you saying where you were.’

‘That’s because I forgot you were to return yesterday,’ he reminded her.

‘No sweat. I wanted to tell you about it when you were leaving earlier but you were in a hurry and so I decided to wait for you to return.’

‘You had more opportunities to do that before I left,’ he reminded her.

‘I was distracted,’ was her simple response. And then she added, with a sweet smile. ‘I took myself to Bovatti and the moment they heard I had just graduated, lots of persons fell over their feet in a bid to buy me dinner.’

‘And I am sure you basked in all the attention,’ he said sarcastically.

‘But of course. I’m a young woman.’

Dienye sighed deeply. ‘I should have been the one to take you out.

That was my intention.’

‘Incidentally, I had the intention of taking you out last night.’

They looked at each other for a moment and then burst into laughter.

‘I got you a graduation gift,’ he said once he stopped laughing.

His gift was a golden brooch that was a symbol of justice and came with a matching set of earrings.

‘Wow.’ She has never seen anything like it before.

‘Thanks,’ she said excitedly, pushing back her seat and rising to her feet.

She walked around the table to him and hugged him from the side. She kissed him. He stroked her cheek as he returned her kiss.

‘So you owe me a celebration dinner,’ he reminded her once they ended the kiss.

‘But of course,’ she smiled, returning to her chair and then she added slyly. ‘Eat up your food, my darling, you have some serious work to do tonight. Five days is a long time you know.’

She could have sworn that he blushed.

Read episode 18 here - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-18.html

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 9:00am On Feb 06, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 18

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

7:09am
Monday, 14th June 2004

Soki waited until Dienye had left the premises before searching his top drawer for the key to the designated ‘Nengi’s bedroom’. She had she had seen him drop the key earlier on. She found it, separated from a bunch of spare keys and hidden beneath a pocket book. Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it, she left the master bedroom and headed down the hall for that room. For a long time, she had been curious about what was in the room. She probably would have minded her business but Dienye had pushed her to this point.

He had spent the last 26 hours locked up in that room from midnight until early this morning, without food or water. She had knocked several times but without a response from him. She had brought his meals to him but he hadn’t opened the door, not even when she had brought his phone. He had missed several calls on the phone she soon realised that he had deliberately left in the master bedroom so as not to be disturbed.

A lot of thoughts had run through her mind. If he had been in a different room she would have thought he was having a private moment with God but there was no way he would have picked his late wife’s room for that purpose. She had heard whispers coming from the room as though he was in discussion with another person but he was alone.

When by evening he hadn’t come out of the room, Soki had called Priye to find out if the 14th of June was an important date in the Dienye-Hart family and she was informed that it was the day Nengi had died. That explained a lot. For how long had he been doing this? And for how long did he intend it to continue?

And then this morning he had returned to the master bedroom as though nothing had happened. She had pretended to be fast asleep as he bathed and dressed up quickly, picking up his phone and car keys and then leaving the room.

Soki unlocked the door and stepped into the bedroom. It was clean without a single cobweb. The bed was dressed with a pink and yellow bed sheets, two thick pillows with matching pillow cases and flowered comforter. She noticed the neatly packed paintings in the bedroom. She looked through them and found that they were mainly landscape paintings and the others were paintings of Dienye. On the dressing table were Nengi’s jewellery boxes, makeup kit, perfumes and other cosmetics. The room looked occupied. Was Nengi’s ghost living with them?

That’s a ridiculous thought, Soki told herself. There’s no such thing as a ghost.

She went through the neatly arranged stack of magazines she found in the room and stumbled upon Nengi’s burial programme. Without thinking, she sat on the bed and began to read through the programme, focusing on the biography and the tributes. By the time she was done, Soki felt as though she had been reading about an angel. In the short time she had lived on earth, Nengi had touched a lot of lives as could be discerned from the tributes.

Her life had been unjustly cut short. And not for the first time, Soki wondered if she had anything to do with it. After all, God must have known from the beginning that she, Soki, would find herself in the predicament of raising money to free her beloved father from the police custody and so had made Dienye free in order to be in a position to help her.

‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ a voice inside her head told her. ‘Soon you’ll be taking the blame for things that happened even before you were conceived.’

Getting up, she straightened the bed sheets and left the room, locking the door behind her.

At least Nengi’s pictures no longer graced her sitting rooms. It had taken Belema’s intervention for that to happen. Soki had talked to Dienye about how uncomfortable having the pictures there had made her feel and his response had been simple: ‘This was also her home. You can’t expect me to get rid of all her things just to please you.’

Belema had come visiting once he was back in town. Soki hadn’t been home but she had returned to the two brothers having a heated argument over the rightness of still publicly exposing Nengi’s pictures in the sitting rooms. Neither of the brothers had heard Soki come into the house and they hadn’t seen her just outside the open door of the small sitting room.

‘I know you aren’t over Nengi, Dienye, but you do not have to make it so obvious. It’s been four years. Let her rest in peace.’

‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

‘But you will.’

‘Do I need to remind you who is the older brother here?’ Dienye asked tersely.

‘Age has nothing to do with this. You are married now, you should concentrate on your new wife and let go of the past.’

Dienye glared at him.

‘What I do with my life is none of your business.’

‘Isn’t it? We have been and will always be a closely knit family,’ Belema countered. ‘The day you married Soki, you made her a part of our family. When you told me you were getting married to Soki, I was completely against it not because I felt she wasn’t good enough for you but because I was convinced that you weren’t ready to become emotionally involved with any woman. But you insisted that it was a done deal and I gave you my support you as your brother and friend despite my reservations.’

When Dienye said nothing, Belema continued.

‘Leaving Nengi’s photographs and your wedding albums here is tantamount to being completely insensitive to Soki’s feelings.’

‘She understands the circumstances under which we got married and…’

‘Just because she made herself collateral for the money she took from you that doesn’t mean that she stopped being a human being with emotions! You chose the option of having a permanent relationship with her when you could easily have settled for a payment plan from her father, so that means that her feelings must of necessity count even at this point.’

‘Nengi’s pictures do not affect Soki in any way and so will remain here.’ Dienye told his brother with finality. ‘And I won’t talk about this again. Let it rest.’

‘And why should I?’ Belema queried.

‘Let it rest. Soki understands and that is all that matters.’

‘With over five million naira debt swinging over her face like a pendulum, what else do you expect her to do, fight you on this? I am not Soki and so I won’t hesitate to send those pictures and the albums back to Nengi’s parents.’

‘You wouldn’t dare,’ Dienye glared at his only brother and the latter stood his ground.

‘Wouldn’t I?’ Belema returned.

It was like two Tyrannosaurus Rex having a face off.

‘Nengi’s things belong with her family. Had you still been single or had there been a child from your marriage, that would have been a different ball game, but you are married to another woman. There is no reason for keeping Nengi’s things here like a keepsake. It is sheer cruelty to leave her pictures for Soki to be haunted by and the Dienye I know wouldn’t want to do that to his Soki.’

‘You think I would deliberately go out of my way to hurt Soki?’

‘No, but that is exactly what you are doing, hurting her. You may not be in love with her but she doesn’t need to be constantly reminded by the physical evidence of the fact that you had been married to another woman before her, especially one you had been in love with. Even a woman who married you just to have access to your wealth would protest.’

‘I’ll think about it.’

‘Don’t think about it, big bro. Just get rid of the pictures and the albums and whatever else is in this house that belongs to Nengi. You can keep her memories but not as a souvenir littered all over the place. Focus more on building fresh memories with Soki. If you do not have the mind to get rid of her things, then I can do it for you. Every one of us loved Nengi, perhaps not as much as you did, and she would always be in our hearts, but you have to move on.’

Soki had been so grateful for Belema’s intervention. She had quietly moved back to the front door so as not to give any indication that she had been eavesdropping. She had opened the door and made a ceremony of shutting it once more to give the impression that she had just returned home.

*****

Presently she had her bath and dressed up in a pink long sleeved blouse and knee length black skirt and black shoes with low heels. As a way of keeping busy while waiting for her results to be released by the school and to avoid boredom from being alone in the big house, she was currently running an internship programme at B.B’s law office.

Ms Elizabeth, the lady Soki had met the first time she came to Dienye’s house, still came in three times a week to clean up but Soki handled the cooking now. She worked from 10am to 4pm which gave her time to return home early enough to fix their supper. Her internship involved conducting legal research, joining B.B or any of his lawyers to court every now and then, and filing court processes on behalf of the firm. It felt good being around lawyers and working with them. It gave her something to look forward to. Plus she loved the fact that she wasn’t given special treatment because of her relationship with her boss.

She left the office at about 4:12pm and got home by 5:16pm because of the heavy traffic at Rumuola and subsequently at 1st Artillery. Without traffic it should have taken her a maximum of ten minutes to get home.

Dienye came back a few minutes after she did. He headed straight for their bedroom. Soki wondered if she should wait until after supper to ask him about what had happened yesterday or talk to him before supper. She decided that it was better to talk to him now. After supper he might go out for a long stroll which he did every now and then and she might not get to see him until morning.

She waited for him in the sitting room at about 5:43pm. He had changed from his work clothes to a t-shirt and a pair of camouflage shorts.

‘Hi, babe,’ he said as he settled on a sofa.

‘Hi, darling,’ she responded. ‘How was work today?’

‘It was great. And your internship, how’s it going?’

‘I’m learning a great deal.’

There was silence and then she decided to raise the issue.

‘If it’s okay with you, I would like to talk to you about something.’

He looked at her.

‘Sure. What’s on your mind?’

She took a deep breath and inhaled before saying.

‘I want to know why you locked yourself all day yesterday.’

He looked at her as though trying to decide whether or not to give her an answer. He would rather be evasive than lie to her.

‘You missed Church for the first time. I need to understand-’

‘Sorry about that.’

‘What happened?’

‘It’s not important,’ he replied, picking up the television remote.’

‘It has to be important for you to spend the entire day in there without food or water.’

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 9:00am On Feb 06, 2020
Episode 18

‘Perhaps I was in a spiritual mood.’

‘I doubt that,’ she countered. ‘I don’t think you would be doing anything spiritual in Nengi’s room unless it’s something fetish and I know you’re not into things like that.’

‘Let it be, Soki,’ he warned her in a soft tone.

‘Why should I? My husband locks himself up in his late wife’s very neat and constantly-kept-clean bedroom for an entire day on the anniversary of her death and you want me to let it slide just like that? I need you to talk to me. Do I need to be worried that this would happen every 14th June?’

He sighed deeply.

‘I can’t make any promises for now,’ he told her truthfully, flicking through the television channels.

‘And I am supposed to be okay with that?’

‘Leave me be, Soki,’ he warned her.

She really should let him be but she found that she couldn’t.

‘You owe me an apology,’ she told him.

His head turned as though he had been struck by a cobra.

‘What for?’

‘You can ask me that?’ she asked incredulously.

‘It was just one night, babe. I’ll make it up to you tonight.’

She stared at him. ‘You think this is because we didn’t have sex last night? Seriously?’

‘I can’t for the life of me think of another reason,’ was his response.

Meaning that his locking himself up wasn’t enough reason for her to be upset. Yes, she had missed being with him yesterday but this was a serious issue.

‘You owe me an apology for what you did yesterday. Your action was most unfair to me as your wife.’

‘I don’t owe you an apology, babe,’ he returned.

‘Don’t you? I didn’t sign up for this.’

‘This conversation is over.’

‘Far from it.’

‘And I don’t have the patience to deal with your whining tonight.’

‘My whining,’ she repeated.

‘Yes, you’re whining. If I wanted to listen to a whining I would have gone outside to the dogs.’

‘What!’

‘I came home because this place is supposed to provide me with some peace and quiet.’

‘You started it,’ she told him. ‘All you had to do was either apologise or just tell me why you did it in order for me to understand.’

‘I owe you neither an apology nor an explanation. What happened has happened. Get over it, babe. You can revisit the issue if it repeats itself next year.’

‘You wouldn’t say that to me if I was your precious Nengi,’ she said petulantly before she could stop herself.

‘It always boils down to Nengi, doesn’t it?’

‘I can’t help it!’

‘Well, let me tell you about Nengi: she knew better than to whine or nag, two characteristics no wife should ever exhibit. She knew that a man’s home was his place of relaxation away from all the hassles of work; that when a man comes home in the evening he would appreciate a good meal; and that when you want to get something out of a man you should never get him upset.’

Soki realised that she should have waited until after supper.

‘You should try to be like her, you know.’

‘Don’t you dare compare me with her.’

‘Why not?’

‘I’m your wife and despite the circumstances under which we got married, I…’

‘I never said anything about the circumstances…’

‘But that’s why you’re treating me like this. Had we married out of love, you would have reacted differently.’

‘How am I treating you?’ he asked, turning fully to look at her. ‘I paid your bride price and bought the customary gifts without complaint. We got married at the registry and in church because you wanted it. I could easily have just paid a bride price to your father and made you move into my home as my wife. I give you fat allowances and I agreed to wait until you are almost done with law school before we start having children despite how much I want to have children. I come home to you every night; I let you know exactly where I would be; and I don’t restrict your movement. How many men in our ‘circumstance’ would have done that? I have been more than fair to you, babe, so don’t you dare talk about the circumstances under which we got married in that tone!’

‘All this just because I asked for an apology!’

‘If that is intended to make me feel guilty, it isn’t working.’

She sighed deeply.

‘Excuse me. I have to go prepare supper.’

‘Don’t,’ he stopped her. ‘I’ll do it myself.’

‘I am…’

‘I said I’ll do it myself.’

‘It’s my kitchen.’

‘Yeah right. Like you decorated the place.’

‘The next thing you’ll be telling me is that I have no right to be there.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’m taking care of supper this night.’

‘Have it your way.’

‘I intend to.’

He left the sitting room and Soki glared at the television as though it was the source of her annoyance. When she heard the bedroom door open and close, she hurried to the kitchen. There was no way he was going to fix supper when she was home. Another time and she would have thought it romantic, but considering their quarrel, she didn’t want him to have something to hold against her in the future.

A frown marred his handsome features when he returned and saw her in the kitchen putting food stuff together.

‘I told you that I’ll be taking care of supper,’ he reminded her.

‘You did, but I can’t let you.’

‘Stand aside.’

‘No way. I am your wife and I intend to cook supper.’

‘And I don’t want to eat your food tonight,’ he returned bluntly.

‘You think I’ll poison you just because we had a quarrel.’

‘No. Indigestion is more like it.’

‘I beg your pardon,’ she said indignantly.

‘I won’t have both of us ending up at the hospital for indigestion simply because you were raving and ranting while preparing our meal.’

‘You are also annoyed,’ she reminded him.

‘But more level headed. Now stand aside.’

‘I won’t and you can’t make me,’ she told him stubbornly.

‘Don’t make me repeat myself.’

‘Or you’ll do what?’

‘I don’t hit women no matter the provocation.’

‘Good to hear. But I’m not leaving this kitchen.’

‘Oh yes you are.’

One moment she was in the kitchen, the next he had put her over his shoulder fireman style and was carrying her out of the kitchen.

‘Put me down this moment, Tarzan!’

‘In good time babe,’ he responded.

He deposited her on the sofa in the sitting room they had vacated earlier. He handed her the TV remote, saying, ‘Now sit here and watch a TV programme like a good girl.’

‘If you touch one pot in that kitchen I swear I shall go to bed fasting.’

‘You can’t even fast to save your life, babe,’ he laughed.

‘I’m serious. I won’t eat at all.’

‘Okay. It would make my job easier,’ he returned.

‘I mean it.’

‘So do I. And I don’t want you within 50 metres of the kitchen.’

He walked away.

*****

Soki couldn’t concentrate on the channel she had chosen. She was hurt and fuming inside while Dienye was in the kitchen singing a track from the 70s. On a good day she would have laughed until she fell to the rug, rolling with her feet up and moving as though she was riding an invisible bicycle. His voice ‘no be here at all’. Off key was an understatement.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to eat?’ he called out to her from the kitchen.

‘No, and you can’t talk me into it.’

‘I don’t intend to.’

He fried some really ripe plantain and Irish potatoes and made an omelette to go with it. He microwaved the chicken drumsticks she had fried the previous evening to go with the dinner he hadn’t eaten.

He joined her in the sitting room with a tray of food and a bottle of wine. The food looked appetising but she told herself that she wouldn’t be tempted.

‘You’re sure you don’t want to join me?’ Dienye asked.

‘No,’ she replied.

‘You are being childish,’ he told her.

‘I don’t care.’

‘You are past the age of minority, I’m sure you were taught that at school. Now, are you or are you not going to join me?’

‘No.’

‘Suit yourself.’

He dug into his food. She watched the food, hungrily. He never said a word to her. She realised that he had every intention of eating the entire food and she was hungry. She was literally salivating and he was ignoring her. She quickly reached out and grabbed the plate from him.

‘Nekwa nwoke Bonny a! (See this Bonny man!) So if I leave you, you will finish the whole food, just like that.’

‘I thought you were making shakara for me.’

‘Go joor.’

He laughed, rising to his feet. He left the sitting room returning a minute later with another plate of fried plantain, potatoes, omelette and chicken. She stared at him open mouthed as she realised that he had actually fixed supper for two and dished out hers. She grabbed that plate from him. When he tried to pick one of the soft plantains with the new fork he had come with, Soki held the plate away from him.

‘You dey see yourself?’ he asked. ‘You ate part of my food and now you don’t want to share yours.’

‘You could have just told me that my plate of food was in the kitchen.’

‘See sense. Nwa Onitsha.’

‘Proudly nwa Onitsha,’ she amended, lifting one hand and bobbing her head.

As she concentrated on the food, he made as though to walk away and quickly grabbed the plate from her, taking off. She chased after him, the earlier quarrel temporarily forgotten.

Read Episode 19 here - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-19.html

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Ann2012(f): 9:53am On Feb 06, 2020
These two really need to work on their marriage.
The arguments are too much

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 9:10am On Feb 07, 2020
The Second Wife - Episode 19

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

7:09am
Tuesday, 29th June 2004

Soki locked up turning off the lights, minutes after Dienye had left the sitting room. She met him in their bedroom, laying above the red and cream coloured comforter on their bed, certainly not surprising despite the coldness of the bedroom. His eyes followed her movement as hesitated then began to UnCloth, initially tempted to just pick her night shirt and race for the bathroom as she did in the past, knowing that he would mischievously grab her night shirt before she left the room. She ignored him. He had hurt her feelings and owed her an apology.

Dressed in her nightshirt, she dragged the comforter he clearly didn’t need, from the bed. She settled herself on one of the leather armchairs facing the flat screen television. She didn’t bother turning it on.

‘You’re not coming to bed?’ he asked unnecessarily. It wasn’t as though he had an intention of touching her that night. In his present state of mind he could easily call her Nengi and that would be more like pouring fuel on fire.

‘No I’m not,’ she replied. ‘And no, I couldn’t care less if Nengi would have reacted in this manner in the circumstances.’

‘A pity.’ He made a tsk tsk sound.

‘And if you say a word about her, I will scream down this building,’ she threatened.

‘Although the building is insured, I’d rather not have to rebuild, thank you very much.’

‘Especially since you built this place with Nengi,’ she uttered sarcastically.

‘From its foundation,’ he agreed. ‘She was on architect and designed this house herself.’

It was a beautiful house; breath-taking in spite of the fact that it was not a storey building. She didn’t like the idea that Nengi in addition to decorating the house had also designed the building. It shouldn’t ordinarily be a problem but she now realised why a lot of women preferred to build their own house from the scratch with their spouses. It gave them a sense of ownership.

‘Her dream home.’

‘Yes. It’s a pity she didn’t live long enough to really enjoy it.’

‘Don’t remind me. Besides I’m not talking to you,’ she pouted.

‘You sound just like Ibimina.’

Soki stuck out a pink tongue at him and he laughed. ‘You even act like her.’

‘I’m not talking to you.’

‘You’ll lose weight.’

‘Point of correction, I’ll get really fat.’

‘Seriously, you want to spend the night on that chair?’

‘Yes.’

She snuggled into the chair. She wasn’t tall but the chair still wasn’t comfortable for anything more than a snooze.

‘I may have my needs, babe, but an unwilling woman isn’t exactly a turn on.’

‘Better. I am not in need of your touch.’

He smiled slightly. ‘And I can make you retract that statement.’

Her eyes widened then narrowed. ‘I’m stronger than that.’

‘Who are you trying to convince? You or me?’

‘No one. I might desire you but I have my limits.’

‘Okay. You do know you’ll catch a cold.’

‘I’ll treat it.’

He was silent for a moment. He could just go to bed and ignore her but he didn’t.

‘You should be more accommodating.’

‘Like Nengi.’

‘Your words not mine.’

‘But that’s where you’re going with this.’

‘If you say so.’

‘I don’t appreciate it when you compare me with Nengi, whether subtly or otherwise. It’s insulting.’

‘Insulting? You should feel honoured. She had a lot of virtues you should covet to possess, that is if pride would let you.’

‘I am not proud,’ she countered.

‘Aren’t you? You rejected my gifts over something so insignificant.’

‘Something insignificant!’ she repeated incredulously.

‘Yes.’

‘I am not interested in the gifts.’

‘Then I must warn you that if I take them back I shall never give you a gift in whatever form.’

‘You’re joking right?’

‘Do I look as though I am?’ he returned.

‘Just because I won’t accept a gift in place of an apology? All right, I accept the gifts.’

‘On second thoughts, I’ll just give them to someone more appreciating.’

‘You wouldn’t dare.’

‘Watch me. You rejected it earlier, remember?’

‘I’ll never forgive you if you do that?’

‘It wouldn’t make a difference. You are not exactly a very forgiving person.’

‘You have no right to say that to me,’ she cried.

‘Don’t I? Anyone else would have accepted the gifts for what they were – gifts.’

‘A gift can’t take the place of an apology. It’s like a bribe.’

‘Then I’ll keep my bribe,’ he told her.

‘All you just had to do was just apologise,’ she said exasperatedly. ‘It would have cost you nothing.’

‘I don’t owe you an apology.’

‘I give up,’ she said, rising from the chair and heading for the door.

‘Where are you going?’

’To one of the spare bedrooms.’

‘So it has come to that.’

‘Yes. I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘Good night. While you’re at it, you could work towards you staying there for good. I have had enough of your childish attitude.’

‘Don’t insult me. You’re the one letting this get out of hand.’

‘And you’re beginning to give me a headache. You can never achieve anything by nagging. Nagging is a very unattractive feature.’

‘I never had any reason to nag until we got married.’

‘And I have had more headaches in the last two months than I have had in all my life.’

She looked like she wanted to rip her short curls off her head in frustration.

‘I’ll do whatever it takes to pay you back…’

‘’You don’t presently have the means.’

‘Whatever it takes,’ she repeated.

‘Nze Maduabuchi will not help you out.’

‘Whatever. And when I do pay you back, I’ll be out of your hair and you can spend your nights with Nengi’s memories. I am 21, I don’t need to put up with this.’

‘I didn’t have to help you but I did,’ he reminded her.

‘And I am grateful. But you should at least treat me like I have emotions beyond being the one that satisfies your sexual need.

He inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled.

‘I respect your emotions but you are asking a lot of me if you expect me to profess undying love to you and treat you in the exact same way that I treated the woman I loved. I never made you such a promise and you knew exactly what you were getting into.’

She looked at him for a very long time and then she quietly walked to the bed and lay on her side without any further word. It was no use quarrelling with him.

Dienye left for Bonny in the morning and Soki decided to take matters into her own hands.

*****

2:34pm

Friday, 2nd July 2004

Dienye called Soki twice while in Bonny, the first to let her know he had arrived Bonny and the second to tell her he was about to leave Bonny.

Soki closed early from the office in order to fix Dienye’s meal before taking a cab to Belema’s 2 bedroom apartment in D/Line. She embraced her friend who was like a big brother, glad to see him and particularly glad that he was in town. She had to stand on tiptoes to hug her husband and this man was an inch taller than his elder brother.

He treated her to lunch and they talked about everything but except her marriage until the last moment.

‘How are you and Dienye getting along?’ Belema asked.

Belema clearly had sensed that something was amiss.

‘Okay, I guess.’

‘Is Nengi coming between you two?’ he asked. ‘I know you are aware of the argument Dienye and I had over her photographs and their wedding albums.’

‘How did you know…?’

‘I could tell from the way you returned my hug that day. You seemed grateful to me for something and I couldn’t immediately think of anything I had done in recent times.’

‘I didn’t realise that I had given myself away.’

‘You slammed the door like you were giving someone a warning,’ he smiled. ‘So what’s the matter?’

‘Do you think I need to be more like Nengi?’ she asked unexpectedly.

‘Did Dienye ask that of you?’

‘Kind of. Do you think I should?’

‘No. You are you and there is nothing wrong with who you are.’

‘But Nengi was a better sister-in-law.’

‘I am not making comparisons Soki. I admit I loved Nengi like a sister but I feel the same way about you. Nengi was a wonderful person, we were very close. I particularly loved the fact that she was caring, loving and kind to everyone and my parents adored her. But you are also special.’

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she snuggled up to him, her feet on the couch.

‘How special am I? I visit your parents and I feel like an intruder.’

‘Let me guess. You get uncomfortable because Nengi and Dienye’s wedding picture is still in our family house.’

‘I shouldn’t but…’

‘You shouldn’t. She was their daughter-in-law and a close member of the family so the picture will always be there unless they decide otherwise.’

He didn’t have to make sense.

‘I understand. Once, I was talking with your father and although I don’t think it was intentional, I saw him looking up at her photograph with a longing, like he wished she was the one seated with him.’

‘You probably misinterpreted his expression.’

‘I don’t know. I have this feeling that they feel sorry for me because I have stepped into shoes bigger than my feet. You know, like a size 36 desperately trying to fit into a size 45. I feel like I need to go the extra mile in order to be completely accepted.’

‘If you hadn’t been accepted, you would have known. How does my mum treat you?’

‘She’s nice.’

‘Then she likes you,’ Belema concluded. ‘If mum isn’t happy with you, believe me, you will know. She doesn’t bother to hide her feelings. In that regard, she takes after her mother.’

‘That’s a relief,’ Soki said. ‘I just feel like Dienye and I would be a lot closer if I were to be more like Nengi.’

Belema caught her chin in his right palm, saying: ‘You shouldn’t be hung up on Nengi, it wouldn’t do you any good. Be who you are and you will ultimately have Dienye’s love.’

‘I don’t want to think about Nengi all the time but everything in the house reminds me of her.’

‘Naturally, Dienye won’t build a new house just to please you. But you can add your own touch, something that makes you feel more at home.’

Soki looked away.

‘You’ve done that already, haven’t you?’ Belema surmised, a huge smile on his face. He looked so much like his brother but didn’t have Dienye’s sexy dimples. ‘That explains a lot.’

‘Your brother is going to blow a fuse when he gets back today.’

‘Letting out steam once in a while isn’t going to hurt him. What changes exactly did you make?’

‘I rearranged the furniture in the bedroom. Then I had the cabinets in the kitchen changed.’

‘Oh my God! You actually changed something in the kitchen? Nengi’s pride and joy.’

‘Do you think he will send me packing?’ she asked, concerned.

‘Of course not. You haven’t done anything wrong.’

At that moment her phone rang. One look on the screen told her it was Dienye. Soki quickly handed the phone to Belema. He flipped the phone open.

‘Hey bro.’

‘Belema,’ Dienye said in acknowledgment. ‘Do me a favour and tell her that if she can’t fix the damage she made, she should remain there.’

‘May I ask what she did?’

‘A lot. Just pass the message to her.’

Dienye ended the call and Belema handed the phone back to Soki.

‘You said nothing in my defence,’ she accused.

‘There was no need. After all, I am driving you home. Wasn’t that the whole aim of leaving your car at home?’

‘Sherlock Holmes,’ said Soki.

‘Let’s get going before he lets out enough steam to cause an arson.’

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by Oyinprince(m): 9:10am On Feb 07, 2020
Episode 19 continued


*****

They met Dienye in the hallway. He hadn’t bothered to change out of the clothes he had arrived in; and he looked downright furious. With Belema by her side, she found the courage to walk up to her husband and kiss him on the lips.

‘Welcome back, honey,’ she greeted, ignoring his glare.

Dienye gave his brother a nod of acknowledgment.

‘Where’s the fire?’ Belema asked.

‘Go and see what your little friend did to my kitchen,’ Dienye told his brother.

Belema headed for the kitchen and as Soki made to follow him, Dienye’s fingers snaked about her wrist and drew her back.

‘You have a lot of explaining to do,’ he told her.

Belema smiled as he walked into the kitchen. The three quarters of the white wall were covered with baby blue ceramic tiles with white swans for design; the cupboards and shelves were sprayed mahogany brown while the gas cooker, sinks and shelves had been repositioned.

Belema returned to the hall.

‘Well?’ Dienye enquired.

‘It’s different,’ Belema responded, quickly adding, ‘but in a good way.’

‘I don’t want different.’ Dienye told him.

‘Perhaps it was due for a change,’ Belema suggested.

‘It was okay the way it was,’ Dienye countered.

‘The kitchen as I recall belongs to the woman and not the man.’

Soki had two options: one, explain why she had made the changes; or two, remain quiet. She chose the latter.

‘That’s neither here nor there. She shouldn’t have made any changes.’

‘She’ll be utilizing it more than you ever would. Leaving the kitchen in the way and manner in which she would be more comfortable is a priority.’

‘And you are just being biased.’

Belema laughed.

‘As your wife, she has rights.’

‘With you supporting her I won’t be surprised if I come home unable to recognise my own house.’

‘I doubt if it would come to that.’

Belema’s phone rang.

‘Hi darling…No, I’m not home. I’m with Dienye and Soki in their home…I’ll be there as soon as I can…I love you too.’

‘I hope there’s no problem?’ Dienye asked momentarily forgetting the reason for his annoyance.

‘A favourite uncle of hers just came into town and he’s been asking to see me,’ Belema replied. He added, ‘About the kitchen, it’s okay the way it is, as long as Soki is comfortable with it. I’ll see you two later.’

Soki hurried to see him off.

‘Thanks a lot Belems,’ she told him as he unlocked his car. ‘But…’

‘I would have stayed longer but Anwuli needs me,’ he said cutting her short. ‘And if Dienye says anything else about the kitchen, just tell him he should feel free to change it if he doesn’t like it.’

‘He wouldn’t have the time.’

‘That’s the idea, Soks.’

Soki smiled and hugged him, saying: ‘You’re the best, Belems.’

‘Careful. You don’t want to leave a lipstick stain on my shirt, do you?’

‘Anwuli trusts you completely.’

He smiled at that comment. ‘Before I forget, promise me you will not make any further major changes without you two Dienye agreeing on it.’

‘Sure. I only touched the two places I utilize most of the time.’

She waited until he had driven out of the compound before returning to the house. Dienye was waiting for her in the hallway. He hadn’t gone to the bedroom to change out of his travel clothes.

‘Why did you tamper with the kitchen?’ he enquired.

‘A certain person once told me I hadn’t contributed to anything in there.’

‘And that justifies your action?’

‘Yes it does. I didn’t want to feel like an intruder while in there. And I wasn’t about to wait for your go-ahead before doing something about it.’

She picked up his travelling bag and walked past him heading for the master bedroom, fully aware that he was following her. If he was this mad because she had changed the kitchen arrangement, he would have a fit when he saw what she had done with the bedroom.

‘Don’t you dare walk out on-’ he paused.

‘You were saying?’ she smiled, dropping his travelling bag on the bed.

He stood by the open bedroom door, his eyes wide and his mouth open as he took in the new look of the bedroom.

‘What did you do to this bedroom?’ he asked her.

‘Let’s see,’ she started, curving the thumb and second finger of her left hand and placing it under her chin as though deep in thought. ‘I changed the curtains, got us a four poster bed and replaced the blue rug with soft red rug which I must add, came highly recommended and I was told went perfectly with the curtains. Not to worry, I didn’t change the rest of the furniture or the bathroom.’

‘Why on earth did you change the bed?’

‘We shared it with Nengi,’ was her quick response as she changed out of her clothes.

Dienye looked away to avoid giving in to the temptation of grabbing her and launching that bed with her. He was upset for crying out loud, and rightly so!

‘What else did you redecorate or rearrange in my absence?’

‘Well, I didn’t get to redecorate the sitting rooms.’

‘Stay away from those,’ he warned her and she laughed.

‘Sure. I have no intention of doing anything there,’ she assured him. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not wasteful. I moved the other bed to one of the guest rooms and donated all the bedsheets and pillowcases to an orphanage. Before I forget, they sent their thanks for your magnanimous gesture.’

She put on a sleeveless top and a pair of shorts.

‘You should have asked me first. You have no idea how much those things costs.’

‘I didn’t think you would mind, being a philanthropist and all,’ she batted her lashes at him.

‘Well I mind,’ he returned. ‘For crying out loud, if I wanted to give something to the less privileged I would buy it for them and not give them something I am using. Besides, if you’d asked, I would have informed you that I had the furniture including the bed changed before you moved your things here and I never shared them with Nengi.’

She arched an eyebrow.

‘Oh! Well, sorry about that, but the deed has been done,’ she simply told him, trying to walk around him but he blocked her path.

‘Tell me, is there any other room that you have touched in your desire to change my home?’ he asked tersely.

‘Our home,’ she corrected and then added. ‘Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to work on more than the kitchen and the bedroom.’

He frowned.

‘How much is all this costing me?’ he asked her.

‘Nothing. I made the payments from my account.’

‘And failed to heed to all the financial advises I gave you on making investments.’

‘Actually the cheque you gave me cleared yesterday and so there was more than enough to take care of this. Besides, it was worth the money considering the fact that I do not constantly have to feel like I am haunted by a ghost when I’m in here or in the kitchen,’ she returned, and then added. ‘I don’t know why you’re so upset. It’s not like I damaged anything…’

‘You changed my home.’

‘Our home,’ she reminded him once more.

He glared at her.

‘All right I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I intended to make changes to our home, but if I had told you, you wouldn’t have approved it.’

‘Only because it wasn’t necessary. You had no reason to make any changes.’

‘Not even if that was the one way I could feel like this was also my home?’

‘You should have talked to me about it,’ he insisted.

Soki could go on and on about why she was justified in what she had done but she didn’t bother. It wouldn’t make any difference.

‘Let’s not quarrel over this,’ she said, walking up to him.

‘Wasn’t that your intention when you made those changes in my absence?’

She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms about his neck and he stiffened.

‘I did what I felt had to be done in the circumstance,’ she said. ‘I missed you.’

‘Don’t bother trying to distract me. It won’t work.’

She sighed deeply and withdrew her arms from around his neck.

‘I’ll go heat up your meal,’ she told him, murmuring under her breath and ensuring that he heard it, ‘if I didn’t know better, I would have thought there was no romantic bone in your body.’

She went to the kitchen, feeling a sense of pleasure as she beheld her handiwork.

Better, she said to herself.

As she put his food in the microwave she heard him open one of the guest bedrooms, surmising that it was Nengi’s bedroom. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to be upset.

Like I would be stupid enough to take anything out of that room, she thought.

A few minutes later, she had his food on the tray, headed for the master bedroom. He was unpacking his travelling bag as she entered the bedroom, placing the tray on the table in front of one of the single leather chairs. He didn’t utter a word to her, his handsome face wearing a frown.

‘Food is ready,’ she announced unnecessarily.

He didn’t say anything.

‘You do know that anger makes it impossible for digestion to take place,’ she said.

He arched his head reflexively to look at her.

‘So I heard,’ she smiled.

He didn’t return her smile. She heaved a sigh.

‘I need to get a few things sorted out before supper,’ she told him. ‘Please eat your food.’

She left the room for the kitchen where she put a call across to Priye just to check up on her, while taking out the ingredients she needed for the night’s meal of boiled rice and ofe akwu. She hadn’t spoken to her sister-in-law in days. Balancing the phone between her right ear and her shoulder, she washed the palm kernels and poured them into a pot filling it with water from the sink. Turning on the gas from the cylinder, she lit a burner and put the pot of soup over the blue flames.

‘We need to hang out tomorrow,’ she said to Priye. ‘You know, an all-girl hang out.’

‘That would be great. What time?’

‘Noon. I’ll call Anwuli too. We haven’t had a real hang out in months.’

And they hadn’t, not since she got married. And no, it hadn’t nothing to do with Dienye who never questioned her movement. Done with her call, she washed the rice and put it on fire too before returning to the bedroom. The plates on the tray were empty but despite a full belly, the man in the room ignored her as she walked into the bedroom.

‘Really, Dienye, you can’t still be angry,’ she said exasperatedly.

‘I’m not angry, I am just disappointed that you would go behind my back to do this.’

‘I did it because I did not want to be constantly reminded of Nengi.’

‘Why are you so hung up on her?’ he asked her.

‘Excuse me? You are the one who keeps reminding me of her, trying to leave things the way they were before her death.’

‘And what is wrong with maintaining the status quo.’

‘You can ask me that?’

‘Of course.’

‘At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you are married to me now, get used to it.’

‘You think I don’t know that?’

‘Sometimes you act like you need a reminder. Like when you left her photographs around the sitting rooms.’

‘I took them out.’

‘Only because Belema asked you to do so.’

‘It doesn’t matter why I did it. What’s important is that I took the photographs away along with the albums.’

‘All right, I won’t make any further changes.’

‘Good, because I don’t want to come home one day and be unable to recognise my own home.’

‘I can’t believe we are still talking about this. I’ve just assured you that I won’t make any further changes, let it rest please. Geez.’

He looked like he was going to argue further but advised himself against it.

‘I haven’t seen you in two days,’ she continued, ‘we should be talking about your trip rather than spending time on something that would add nothing to either of us.’ She paused, then added, ‘I missed you.’

His frown relaxed although not into a smile but she was okay with it.

‘My trip went well,’ he told her, finally. ‘I have this two day medical outreach I am organising there for the last weekend in the month. I needed to meet with a few of the stakeholders and partners – chiefs, youth leaders and primary health care workers. We were able to conclude on a lot of things.’

‘Wow, that’s great,’ she said. ‘I would like to be a part of it, if it’s okay with you.’

‘Sure.’

She left the room to check on the boiling rice.
Read Episode 20 here - https://youngicee.com/2020/01/the-second-wife-episode-20.html

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Re: The Second Wife - A Romance Story by millieademi: 9:19pm On Feb 07, 2020
Thanks for the update, love.

Really, I want to be like Soki when I grow up. The resilience, patience and wisdom is uncanny for a twenty one year old. She's determined to make her marriage work and I think it can taking into consideration the fact that she and Dienye are friends. It makes things easier. This story reminds me of Yash and Aarti from Married Again. But it seems Dienye is more reasonable than Yash. I just hope Nengi wouldn't have to make an apparition before he realizes he ought to give Soki his total love.

But marrying a man hung up on another woman is a terrible thing. Especially when she's dead. Competing with memories whether good or bad can be quite herculean.

This kind of reminds me someone I know. His rapport with his ex is miles away from his relationship with his wife. Apparently, he married his wife to stick it to his ex for cheating. But then, his ex still comes around and they can gist from morning to night whereas he can barely relate with his wife.

Guys, I really wonder how you do it though. Your heart is with another woman while you are with one woman.

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