WIFE INTERNSHIP (3)

Days rolled into weeks, weeks rolled into months and the months rolled into years. Although Chioma was fully certain that her place as Nnamdi’s future spouse was established, she was getting worried because he had not still proposed or talked about any concrete marriage plans yet. Both of them were in the final year of their academic program in the university. Her microbiology course was a four years program in Esut while Nnamdi’s architecture was a five year program. By her calculations she had been living with him for close to three years.

Three years in which she had consistently warded off advances and proposals from other guys. Three years in she had gotten pregnant once for Nnamdi and aborted the baby. He had convinced her that keeping the baby would be an unwanted distraction to their education. He had taken her to a clinic to get rid of it. She had followed him like a meek lamb following the shepherd.

“Everything will be alright” the doctor had assured her before he injected  her with an anesthesia and rolled her  into the operation room. So it was; the act was done. The guilty feeling that came from the realization that she had willingly taken the life of an innocent baby had taken hold of her and she had spent gloomy days crying her eyes out. Nnamdi was around to reassure her that it was the best decision to have been taken. No one else would know, not even her parents.

Chioma had a new concern. Nnamdi was becoming increasingly secretive and was picking faults randomly at her. He complained about her cooking, about her wearing native dresses, about her hair, about her behavior, things he never used to complain about. This was all new to her. He still showed signs of affection for her but she sensed that he was hiding something from her, something he didn’t want her to find out….

“Chioma I will have a special visitor tomorrow” Nnamdi announced to her in a brisk manner on a Friday evening.

“Oh, who is the person?”

“A family friend”

“Okay, what time is the person coming?”

“In the afternoon. She will be coming over from Umuahia. She has a crucial business to conduct in Enugu here so she will be staying till Monday morning. I don’t know if one of your friends can accommodate you this weekend. You know we don’t have much space in this house! Besides this family friend will scandalize me to my parents and all my relations if she knows that I am living with a girl in this house. She is the type that does not keep secrets” Nnamdi said in a suggestive tone that indicated he didn’t want Chioma around.

The flames of suspicion quickly flared up in Chioma’s mind. What kind of special female family friend would be coming to spend two days in Enugu with Nnamdi? It was obvious Nnamdi didn’t want her to meet this lady for reasons best known to him. She could see the look of excitement in Nnamdi’s eyes, he was actually looking forward to this visit. Maybe Nnamdi was seeing another girl…..

“Nnamdi tell me the truth, are you expecting your new girlfriend to arrive tomorrow? Tell me now because it won’t be funny if you are lying to me” She said as she raised her voice in a menacing tone.

“How dare you accuse me of infidelity! I have been with you all these years and didn’t go after other girls, is it now that we are rounding up in school that I will start chasing other girls?” Nnamdi responded in anger.

“I am sorry dear. I will go to Daisy’s place tonight”.

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It rained all Saturday morning the kind of endless and annoying rain that was destined to fall throughout the day. It wasn’t a torrential rain but it fell just strong enough to discourage anyone who didn’t have a congent reason for venturing outside from doing so.

Chioma lay on a mattress positioned on the rug carpet in Daisy’s room. A wrapper was draped round her body in a bid to beat the cold weather. Daisy was up fixing a cup of tea for breakfast.

Chioma’s thoughts went back to Nnamdi. She was certainly convinced that he wanted her out of the way. His recent fault finding actions were ominous signs of a crack in their relationship. He was probably tired of the relationship. Daisy had advised her to apply caution and not be unnecessarily combative so as not to break up what she had built over the years.

The fear of the unknown kept gnawing in her mind throughout the morning. She just had to see the female family friend to confirm whether she was a threat to her peace and security and to determine her next line of action. Despite protestations from Daisy, Chioma braved the harsh weather in the afternoon and made her way to Nnamdi’s place. Fortunately a lone taxi was plying the route.

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They didn’t even bother to lock the door.

Chioma opened the door and walked in boldly. Her fears was confirmed when she saw a young girl sitting astride Nnamdi’s laps on the big cushion chair.

Chioma stood rooted at the spot staring at the scene that greeted her eyes.

“You don’t have a right to barge in like this. You should have at least knocked” Nnamdi said as he quickly recovered from the shock of Chioma’s entry. He quickly stood up to his feet.

The girl was the most beautiful girl Chioma had ever seen. Tall with a creamy complexion, a pair of penetrating almond shaped eyes, an exquisite long nose that tapered at the nostrils. She resembled a Barbie doll with her long yellow laps sticking out from her mini skirt. She looked not older than 20 years.

“I am sorry Chioma. It had to be this way. My hands are tied”

“Meet Ogechi my fiancée”

“Ogechi meet my friend Chioma”

Chioma stood speechless. What she heard was incredulous, almost unbelievable. For the first time the scales fell off her eyes and she saw Nnamdi for who he truly was. The love she had for him evaporated like petrol poured on the back of her palms. She had been misled and deceived all these years in the name of love.

“Are you telling me that this girl is your wife to be?” she asked him with her mouth wide agape.

“Yes, Ogechi was chosen by parents as my wife four years ago. She is the first daughter of my dad’s business partner. I thought you knew that our relationship wasn’t going to last beyond the four walls of this school”

“Darling what is going on here, who is she to you?” the girl Ogechi questioned Nnamdi with a worried look on her face.

“You lying scum, you cheat, you deceiver, how dare you!” Chioma seethed with rage as she walked menacingly towards Nnamdi who swiftly moved backwards positioning himself behind the couch.

“So you are the girl who has been forcing herself on my fiancée?” Ogechi interrogated Chioma waving her fingers contemptuously at the older lady.

Chioma boiled with anger. This self righteous girl was downright insultive. She turned and addressed her.

“This man here is my boyfriend. I have been living with him for close to three years in this very house! You are just coming out of the blues to claim my man. Who the hell do you think you are?!”

All hell broke loose.

Chioma screamed with wounded pride at Nnamdi

 “I hate you betrayer, you lying cheat. You had the nerve to sweet talk me into moving in with you when you knew you were never going to marry me!”

She rushed to his side and gave him a quick blow on the cheek. He recoiled with pain and shoved her aside. Her left toe hit the wooden base of the couch and she winced as the pain shot up through her body.

 Chioma tried to steady her footing on the ground. Her eyes fell upon a glass tumbler that was lying on a side-stool. She took it up and threw it at Nnamdi’s head. The loud thud and shattering of the glass tumbler indicated that the object had indeed found its mark on Nnamdi’s head. He slumped to the floor holding his head in his hands with a shocked look in his eyes. Ogechi shouted and rushed in to tackle Chioma. Chioma kicked Ogechi’s legs in a move to sweep her off the floor. The girl staggered and managed to land a piercing blow on Chioma’s stomach. Both ladies fell on the floor and engaged themselves in a fierce ground combat. Ogechi clawed wildly at Chioma’s face. Chioma got the upper hand and clamped down her opponent to the floor while trying to get her face out of harm’s way. Her right hand was locked around Ogechi’s neck squeezing with all her strength. It was a gruelling struggle. Chioma suddenly felt warm blood trickling down her left eye and loosened her grip as Ogechi’s long fingernails poked into her eyes. 

Nnamdi stood up from the floor and came in-between the two girls to separate them. He pulled Ogechi away to a corner of the room and ran back to engage Chioma. He kicked her several times while yelling out….

“Never you touch my fiancée again!”

“The b***h nearly strangled me” Ogechi cursed out as she rubbed her neck while breathing heavily.

“Get out of my house!” Nnamdi ordered Chioma who clung to him gripping his shirt with both hands.

“I will not leave this house!” She replied defiantly “this is my house too!” Her fighting power was in full force. She was up on her feet with her chest heaving. The anger gave her additional strength.

The commotion brought out a few curious neighbours who stared at the proceedings through their windows and front doors.

Nnamdi as if on cue ran inside the bedroom and brought out Chioma’s luggage and bags and threw them out of the door.

Chioma watched incensed as her bags were flung out. A destructive dark anger possessed her. She lifted up the side stool and brought it down with full force on the cuvet glass center table. The strike effectively split the table into two identical halves. Ogechi scurried towards her and gave a soft punch on the face. They grappled with each other and plunged once again on the floor. Grunting, sweating, their dresses torn into shreds exposing bare flesh. Chioma fought wildly as if her life depended on it. She was slowly gaining ground on the girl and in a short while was seated atop her. Chioma’s teeth sank into Ogechi’s exposed breast.

Ogechi let out a loud howl of pain and almost passed out. Nnamdi came to her rescue with a stout stick in his hand. He yanked Chioma’s up by her hair and brought up the stick in a hot fury to deliver a deadly blow to Chioma’s head. Fortunately for Chioma she dodged just in time as the stout stick landed on the floor.

“You used me for the past two years and you think you can abandon me just like that. I am no longer attractive to you! Do you know how many men I have turned down because of you?” Chioma sobbed. Her left eye had swollen up in size.

 She staggered on her feet and got to the cabinet where Nnamdi kept his dvd plates. She quickly opened the cabinet and threw out the disc tapes one after the other in a crazed spree. She stepped on them and broke them.

“How dare you destroy my Original Slim Shady Lp collection? Do you know how difficult it is to find them in the stores? I told you once that I am an Eminem Stan. I will show you how a Stan behaves! He dashed inside and came out with a kitchen knife and charged at her trying to pin her to the wall.

Chioma mustered all her strength and ran out of the front door followed by Nnamdi in hot pursuit. The chase was short-lived as Nnamdi had a change of heart retreated inside to attend to his wounded fiancée. The game was up.

The irony of her present situation struck Chioma’s mind as she stood drenched under the pouring rain gasping for breath. Two years ago she was rushing to get into the house, now she was running from the house, chased away by the very same person who welcomed her in with open arms. Pairs of eyes from the neighbourhood were watching her keenly from all directions.

Angela was right after all. She should have listened to her. All the years she had been doing wife internship for Nnamdi thinking that will make him love her more and cement her place in his heart as his wife not knowing that her value in his eyes was diminishing as the years went by.

How will she face her colleagues and friends in school after this, especially the toasters who labeled her as a proud and headstrong girl when she waved off their advances?

What will she tell them when they ask about her and her relationship with Nnamdi?

Bad news spread very fast in the campus and she will be the topic of gossip at all corners.

 Heartbroken, bruised eyed, wounded in spirit, sobbing and soaked by the rain Chioma shuffled across the lawn, dragged her things from under the rain and staggered in the direction of the main road back to Daisy’s small room.

THE END