₦airaland Forum

Duke

I clapped my hands fervently and swayed my body along to the music, as if that would ease the burden in my heart. I was in church for the first time in many months, and I avoided the stares of a female usher who ogled me. I was dressed in Khaki pants and a striped shirt that showed off my well-built body. My shoes and belt matched, and my perfume was heady enough to make a lover drowsy. But all of these paled in comparison to the heaviness I felt.

The worship leader continued singing as the pastor came to the altar. He was a smallish man with a smiling face, and he was dressed in a simple safari suit. He began to hum loudly and speak in tongues at intervals, and the congregation joined in frenzy. The whole atmosphere became charged, and the pastor asked us to pick a partner to pray with. I turned to join hands with the young man that was seated next to me, but the usher who’s been staring at me earlier appeared by my side, as if by magic, and snatched my hands away, giving the man a malicious look. The poor man went away to look for a partner, probably confused.
‘Everybody say father,’ the pastor exclaimed in a loud voice that belied his small stature. The whole church chorused in response, and the drummers and instrumentalist made accompanying sounds. He read out the prayer point and everybody repeated after him and began to pray in earnest. Unita was blackmailing me, and thoughts of Tolu, sad and heavy, made me pray in agony. I didn’t mean to offend her, I told God, and I asked him to forgive me and heal my home.
‘In Jesus name we have prayed’
‘Amen!!!!!!!’ thundered the congregation.
We sat down after some more prayer points and the pastor commenced his sermon.
‘I’ll be taking today about temptation’, he waited for a few seconds for the introduction to sink through, and a few people rewarded him with a deep ‘humph’, while others adjusted uncomfortably in their seats. Some members quickly brought out their notepads and started to jot down what he was not even saying yet.
I stared at the altar, a million thoughts running through my mind. What if I had never gone to eat at the restaurant that day? What if I hadn’t exchanged contacts with her? Where had I gotten it wrong?
My ears caught what the pastor said, ‘because temptation in itself isn’t a bad thing; it is bound to come. Even our Lord Jesus was tempted. It is yielding to it that is bad.’
‘Hallelujah Pastor, shoot me more!’ the usher who’d rushed to my side when we were asked to pray shouted, waving her hands in air. I shook my head, not amused.
Perhaps that was where I had gotten it all wrong. If only I had reminded myself often enough that I could not afford to sin against God, I wouldn’t be in this mess.
I made up my mind to get things back on track, with God’s help. At this point, I knew I could not do it on my own.
I listened with rapt attention to the pastor.




Tolu.

The guava trees that were planted for shade in our backyard were shedding their leaves. I sat under one of them, breathing in the heady scent of blooming flowers. A book I’d found in my mom’s library was in my hands, but I could hardly see the words. My mind was far, far away, thinking back to the days when Duke and I were dating. I remembered vividly one evening after lectures when we took a stroll to the butchery. I was putting on a black top with the inscription ‘Angel’, and he was singing Style Plus’s ‘If I could run away’ and demonstrating each line of the song. I was laughing so much and burying my head in his chest as we strolled along.
We chose a table close to the entrance and several guys coming in greeted Duke. A few girls too came over and chatted with him, but I concentrated on my bottle of Fanta and meat pie.
One girl came in and saw Duke and I eating and bantering. She stared hard at me and headed in our direction, then changed her mind and moved away to make her order.
‘Duke, do you know her?’ I’d asked, a frown creasing my forehead.
‘Errrr, I do. I know her. We are friends. I mean, we were friends’
‘And now? Because I don’t understand why she was staring at me like that’ I said, chewing my meat pie slowly so I wouldn’t choke. I never liked talking when my mouth was full.
‘She’s just a friend, Tolu. There’s nothing between us’
‘So what were the stare and the hiss about?’ I pressed. The girl was sitting not too far from us, trying to catch Duke’s eye.
He scratched his head ‘See, I used to like her way back, but I have moved on. You know you’re my angel now,’ he joked. I wasn’t finding it funny, and I told him so.
The evening had turned sour after that, especially since the girl had walked up to our table and told me that I was with the wrong man, and I’d regret it. I had shut her up and walked out on both of them. Duke ran after me, pleading and asking me not to let the girl spoil what we had. It had taken one look at his brown eyes and attractive face to forgive him, but my mood was sullen for the rest of the day.
‘Tolu, what are you doing here all alone?’ my mom caused me to jerk back into real time.
‘Nothing ma, I’m just enjoying the breeze,’ I smiled. She had kind eyes, and was the darling of many students in her lecturing days.
‘It’s okay then. Let me not disturb you too much,’ she said, walking away towards the house.
‘No mommy, I want to tell you something,’ I said, my eyes filling up with tears. ‘I am sorry I failed in marriage, and disappointed you and daddy.’
‘Oh dear, Tolu! How can you even think that?’ she rushed back, squatting in front of me and taking my hands in her own. ‘You haven’t failed us at all, not even in your choice of a life partner. This is a hurdle you’ll scale through, okay?’
‘But mommy, what did I do to him to deserve this?’ I started to cry. I had thought the pain would lighten with time, but it got worse each day. On TV, I saw couples in love smiling gaily at each other. In books and magazines, I read about love. It was tiring, and it got to me all the time.
‘It wasn’t what you did, or did not do, that matters. He made his decisions, and you were caught in it. Even if you offended him, he doesn’t have to go into the arms of another woman. Stop crying, Tolu.’
‘Okay ma. Thanks for taking me back in. You and daddy are the best parents in the world.’ I said, sniveling and rubbing my hands across my eyes.
‘Are we, now?’ She smiled, standing up and stretching. Would she ever grow old?
The wind blew her hair across her face, and she took it off. ‘You’re an outstanding girl, Tolu. Don’t worry, ok?’
‘Alright , mommy.’
‘Good. Let’s go in. The weather is becoming quite chilly.’ She stretched her hands towards me, and I put my hand in hers.
We went in together, going in through the kitchen door that opened into the backyard.
Seun was making ofada rice for lunch.
‘I’m famished o’ I said, patting my belly and yawning. I quickly washed my hands and went into the living room to wait for the food. I must have dozed off because a knock on the door made me jump up with a start. Daddy would not knock, and he was even busy in his study. I went to the door and peeped through the security hole. The people at the entrance were the last people I had expected to see. The woman raised her hand to knock again, and my heart started to beat faster. What were they doing here?
‘Oh, Tolu, you’re here. I was going to come and get the door,’ my mom came towards the door, ‘so who’s there that you don’t want to let in?’
I could not even make any sound. My tongue was as heavy as a bag of cement. Mom got the door and staggered back, then quickly put on a welcoming face.
‘My in-laws! You’re welcome, please come in,’ she pulled my mother-in-law close and embraced her. Duke’s parents and one of his uncles had come, and I didn’t know what to say or do.
I went on my knees the traditional way and greeted them. His mom avoided my eyes, but his dad rushed to my side, lifting me from my kneeling position.
‘My wife, how are you? See how this pregnancy has made you add a little flesh,’ he joked. We all laughed and bantered for the few minutes it took my dad to come out. My mom excused herself to notify the maid about bringing in refreshments.

Duke’s dad was a very handsome man whose age did not deter his agility. His neatly cut hair was combed and had a parting on the left hand side. I had taken to him instantly the moment we were introduced, and I preferred relating with him to his wife. She was always friendly but distant, like being open would contaminate her.
Drinks were brought in, and my dad cleared his throat. ‘We thank God you have come. Let us try and resolve this issue amicably so things can be back to normal.’
Things would never go back to being the same. I wasn’t the only one who was mothering Duke’s kids. I wasn’t the only woman in his bed, and normal had ended the day he had broken the vows we took.
‘Our son has apologized, actually, and would like his wife to come back home, ‘Duke’s mom nodded in my direction, her stern face breaking into an uneasy smile.
‘And what does he plan to do about the other woman?’ my mom queried.
‘He said they are done, and he will only be responsible for her children’
‘Children? He plans to father some more by her?’ my dad asked, puzzled.
‘No sir, she’s also expecting twins,’ his uncle replied.
I inhaled sharply, and the babies within me kicked again.
So Duke was in the business of impregnating women with twins. It was almost funny, but it was rather pathetic.
‘Well, that’s a strong man, if you ask me,’ my daddy replied, amused.
They talked back and forth about how I needed to go back home, but my mom insisted I needed to heal. Not just from the exhaustion of waddling around with a huge belly or the pains of labor, but the trauma of Duke’s affair and resulting children.
It was finally decided that for the purpose of proper care and to avoid the stress of traveling, I would remain at my parent’s until I was delivered of the baby. I would return home when the babies were 6 weeks old, but where was home?

softandmoist:
Bro, new update up. Please help us. Thanks so much.

Ok