28 contd


And he hadn’t shown up for the wedding. The abuse had started once more from the wedding night and by the fourth month, Soibi had a miscarriage. The abuse continued with Soibi calling Dienye at odd moments to rescue her. He had been on one of those rescue missions the morning Nengi died and he wondered what would have happened if he had been home. Nengi would most likely have stayed back a little longer before leaving.

A year after Nengi’s death, Soibi and her husband had left Port Harcourt and they had lost

contact. He hadn’t realised they were back in Port Harcourt, but he would recognise her anywhere, even with her hair in disarray.

He ran after the average-height muscular man chasing after his wife, wielding a large stick and threatening to beat her to death with it. Dienye was able to cut him off. He pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it at the naked woman who had finally stopped running but who had been completely forgotten about her naked state until she caught Dienye’s t-shirt.

Soki had locked the car door and walked in the direction of the couple and her husband. She saw Soibi’s eyes widen in embarrassment when it dawned on her that she had run out naked into the streets. She looked like she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole! She quickly pulled on Dienye’s T-shirt. It ended just above her slender hips making her look like a woman who had just spent the night with her lover and chosen to put his shirt to fix him breakfast, that is, save for the trails of soap suds on her body.

The trails of soap suds and the semi-black eye told the story of a woman who had been dragged out of a shower, beaten up and who had run for her life without thinking about the state of her UnCloth or even caring about it, just needing to get away. Dienye’s muscles rippled as he faced the shorter man. A different time and Soki would have stood staring at her husband’s beautiful muscled body. But this wasn’t the time.

She approached the abused woman and stood by her side.

‘This does not concern you,’ Soki heard the man say to Dienye.

‘You ought to be ashamed of yourself, unveiling your wife’s unclothedness in public!’

‘She’s a useless woman.’

Dienye turned and told the woman, ‘Go home and change into your clothes, I’m taking you out of here.’

‘You’re going nowhere,’ Barisi yelled at his wife, grabbing her as she made to move past him, punching her.

Soki gasped, even as Dienye, infuriated, reflexively lifted the other man and tossed him halfway across the street. He went after the stunned man and grabbed him and punched him before looking over his shoulder to say, ‘Go, Soibi. Now.’

Soki looked at the two men, certain that Dienye was going to murder that man for

what he had done to Soibi but she found herself going after the older woman. Soibi and her husband lived in an apartment less than three minutes from where they had seen her. Without a word, both women hurried to get Soibi’s things sorted out and into a travelling bag. They only took the things she would need for the next few days.

Soki suspected that this was the friend Dienye had once told her about. The friend whose wedding he’d refused to attend because he didn’t want to become a witness to it. The woman who had been obsessed about getting married, age-not-on-her-side things.

‘She’s a good for nothing woman,’ Barisi swore, rubbing at his jaw where Dienye had punched him.

‘And you’re a fine one to judge, you fool. That woman loves you and all you do is turn her into a punching bag like she’s nothing!’

‘She can’t even have a child for me. Six years! Of what use is she to me. I love her but she’s useless.’

‘You have beaten every child out of her,’ Dienye reminded him. He was aware of three miscarriages before Nengi’s death. Lord knows how many more miscarriages Soibi had had to suffer and presently at her age she didn’t need any more of that!

‘You don’t know her like I do. You only dated her for a few months but I have had to live with her for six years. She makes me so mad sometimes that…’

‘And you have raised your finger at every man who has annoyed you, or is it just women you specialise in hitting? Does beating up a woman make you feel like a man? Is that the only way you can find release?’

Barisi looked around Dienye and made to rise but the taller man held him back on the ground. A little crowd had gathered, watching them. It wasn’t exactly a fight. A fight meant both men would have the opportunity to throw a punch or two. No, Barisi had been beaten. He couldn’t even hit the much taller man that had him pinned to the ground.

Dienye followed his eyes and saw Soki returning to his car with Soibi. Soibi had changed out of his T-shirt into a red and white dress. She held his t-shirt in her right hand. Soki unlocked the door and was tossing Soibi’s travelling bag into the car.

‘Please don’t kill my husband,’ Soibi entreated to Dienye, obviously ready to come to Barisi’s rescue.

Women! Dienye thought. He was fed up. Soibi would have to make a decision once and for all. For Barisi to chase her out to the streets, nude, that was the final straw.

‘Get into the car,’ he ordered her.

‘Please free my husband.’

‘Get into the car,’ he repeated, this time in a voice that brooked no disobedience.

Soibi felt herself moving as though in a trance to obey his command.

‘You’ll pay for this,’ Barisi swore. ‘I’ll have you arrested for abducting my wife!’

‘Go ahead and make my day.’

He walked to the car and slid into the driver’s seat. He fastened his seat belt and looked into the rear view mirror. Soibi looked subdued but she was looking in the direction of her husband who had just risen to his feet.

Soki passed him the key and he inserted it into the ignition and started the engine. He inhaled and exhaled, then repeated this twice before driving off. Both women were silent and Dienye liked it that way. He needed to think. He would take Soibi to a hotel just outside town, his own hotel would be the first place Barisi would come looking for his wife. He would pay for seven nights, that was the length of time he was giving Soibi to take control of her life.

By God, this was an intelligent woman who had been doing so well as an insurance broker before she got married to a man who was intimidated by her success. He had asked her to stop working as he would provide for them both and she had accepted simply because she wanted to have ‘Mrs’ as a prefix to her name! She had given up her life, and what for? A man who didn’t appreciate her. Not one bit.

Only a weakling would be intimidated by a woman’s success. A real man would want his woman to succeed at all times as this would reflect positively on his reputation. He had given Nengi every support she required and he would always support Soki no matter what height she wanted to achieve.

He joined the Aba Road and Soki thought they were headed home until he drove past the first artillery. She looked at him but he said nothing. He was clearly deep in thought. The only time he spoke to her was when he asked her to take his phone and he called out a number he wanted her to dial. She pressed the numbers and when it connected, she plugged the earpiece to the phone and handed it over to him.

‘Good evening, Jide. I’m fine and you?’ he was saying to the person on the other end of the call. ‘I would like a reservation. Yes, an executive room on the fourth floor overlooking the pool. Great. I’m on my way.’

Okay, so they were headed for a hotel, Soki surmised from his call. But where exactly? She didn’t have to think much about it because Dienye drove past Oil Mill junction and Eleme Junction and continued until they got to Oyigbo. He drove through the gates of large hotel.

Parking but leaving the engine running, Dienye turned to Soibi and said:

‘I am going to pay for 7 nights here and I expect that you will properly utilise it. Your meals will be taken care of and the serene environment will provide a good place for you to think of what you want to do with your life. You can either chose to make something out of your life, forgetting about your past mistakes and moving on or you can chose to waste your life for someone who is not worthy of you, someone who does not appreciate you simply because you are afraid of what society will say to and about you. That same society you are worried about will talk whether or not you leave your abusive marriage. If you leave they will abuse you, and if you stay back and something terrible happens, they will call you a fool for not leaving in the first place.

‘Society or no society, I am done chasing after you and saving you from Barisi’s aggressive behaviour. Should you decide to go back to him for whatever reason, I will wash my hands off you, Soso and you know that I will do just that. I don’t want to see you get hurt but if you decide that you would rather get hurt then I won’t be around to watch that happen. You are 42 years old but don’t look your age. You are a very beautiful and intelligent woman and if you give yourself the opportunity you will definitely meet a man who will genuinely appreciate you. Seven days is all I give you to take back control of your life. I won’t ask you to give me your phone in order to ensure that you don’t call Barisi and I definitely won’t ask you to do anything beyond thinking about your life, past and present and asking yourself what you want your future to look like. This will be your decision and whatever decision you make I will respect it. As your friend I have given you the only advice I can give to you, the ball is now in your court. You can choose to say to hell with me and get back to your husband or you can take my advice and do the needful.’

That being said, he turned off the engine and stepped out of the car. The ladies also stepped out. Soibi picked up her travelling bag and handbag. She hadn’t said a word and Soki couldn’t tell what was going on in the other woman’s mind.

They got Soibi settled in the executive suite on the fourth floor. Soibi hugged Dienye thanking him for always being there for her and promising to take charge of her life.

‘I’ll send you the number of the FIDA Chairman later in the new week. You can talk to her and arrange to meet with her.’

‘Thanks you so much. I really appreciate you.’

Dienye and Soki left the hotel for it was late. It was a long drive home. There was a bit of traffic around Rumukwurushi area but Soki was glad to be home.

‘Do you think she’ll go back to Barisi?’ Soki asked as Dienye shut the door behind him. She had deliberately not raised the subject on the way back.

‘She always goes back to him but I’m praying that this time she’s sensible enough to finally let go.’ Dienye responded. ‘Nothing good will come out of that marriage.’

‘I feel sorry for her. No woman needs to go through that. Had I been in her shoes, I would have died ten times over being caught naked in broad daylight!’

‘Well we both know that’s never going to happen,’ Dienye assured her.

‘I know. After all I know the man I’m married to.’

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, saying: ‘Thanks for being such a wonderful person.’

‘How thankful are you?’ he teased.

‘Lock up and I’ll show you how much,’ she told him, heading for the master bedroom.

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