It was one of those fights, and she said – Am I your wife?
And that stuck. It was the year 2,000 and I was in love with two women
Yes somehow I found myself in love with two women and almost ran mad running between Ogba and Shomolu trying to keep the women and not letting men trespass
My mother would be laughing at me and saying, I had sold myself to the devil and that is why I was running around like Cain after he killed Abel
To make matters worse, my mother had a relationship with the two women
One lived with us in Shomolu while Mena stayed alone in Ogba, and my mother and my aunt Eta were regular visitors there, sometimes spending nights to the chagrin of my Pastor Father.
So by the time, Mena said Am I your wife, we had dated for four years and she had already lost a baby
The baby had issues and the pregnancy was terminated and I watched her go through all that pain
My mother called me to a matter-of-fact meeting
Ini- she called me that – you already have two children here, shouldn’t you now reconsider your relationship with Mena seeing that you just buried a child
Coming from my mum who was a strong Mena person – by this time she had started calling her Nene, after Mena had bribed her very sufficiently with her favourite Mr Biggs Meatpie – was not such a light statement
I looked at her very squarely and said – Mummy, I will not turn my back on her. She just lost a child on delivery, after one or two miscarriage, I cannot and would not turn my back.
My mother looked at me with pride and said, what will you do with your first wife and I said, we will keep this secret and if it comes out, I will beg her
My mother hugged me and said – Ini dem no dey hide pikin. If Mena gets pregnant again, you cant hide it and I said mummy lets get to that bridge. Are you with me, I asked again and she hugged me and said, I am with you Ini.
Then Mena got pregnant again and I said oya lets go get married in Ibadan
She looked at me with pride but asked are you sure, what of your wife and kids and I said it wil be a top secret operation even my mother will not know
It was a military operation. Planned under secrecy and involved operatives from as far as Ibeno my mothers village and Ebu Menas village
Under the cover of darkness. We moved a bus load of village people from Ibeno, another busload from Lagos this time with a full troupe of dancers and two fierce Ekpe Masquerades
We stormed Ibadan, paid the fucking dowry, closed down a big field in Ibadan leaving the Ebu people opening their mouths in amazement as the masquerades and beautiful dancing damsels mesmerised the crowd
After it all, I came back to Lagos, went home to my first wife and quietly tucked myself in bed and slept off.
I had done the unthinkable. No body in our heritage had married a second wife, I was the first and the enormity of what I just did shook me.
Then the call came. Come now. I rushed to the Havana Hospital in Surulere and Mena was in the theatre
The Baby had come but had died. The second in a row and I was weak
My concern was for her. I looked at her tired eyes and said dont worry we will try again
She gave me a weak smile and slept off.
Now I had to be a man again. I Kissed her forehead, left the room and went to ask for the body of the baby
It was neatly put in a carton of indomie – I remember vividly as I opened it and looked at my son.
It was in the foetal position and was looking very peaceful.
I shed a small tear and covered it up with a white cloth, and took it with me to LUTH
They have a small baby cemetery or something like that
I got there and they asked me what I wanted and I said, I want to bury my son
They took the baby from me and asked if I was a Christian and I said yes and they did some christian prayers and blessed the child and asked me to spend a few moments with him and they took him away
I went back to the hospital and by this time, mena was awake and I hugged her and told her not to worry, that we will try again
She said No. She was tired and I said shut up, we will try again and she said no, this is the second and I said shut up, we will try again
I took her home, stayed with her and kept telling her that our son was coming
People tend to judge but i dont give a fuck about what society thinks cos nobody came with me to bury those two children. Nobody really saw her pain and her sorrow at night when she will cry her eyes out all night seeking for a baby
Nobody knew her sorrow, her anxiety and her fear that she would not be able to have her own child
She didn’t want to be aunty all of her life and the tears, pain, sorrow and loyalty to me made me stand at the risk of losing everything
Two years later, Alvin was born and at the same Havana Hospital and when I walked in and saw her cuddle the little bundle, I just knew that mena had finally fulfilled her hearts desire – she had just given me a Son.
Hmmmmm
End of the series.
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu