By Femi Abulude
The school was on vacation and my husband,
Julius, had gone to work. I am a school teacher while my husband is a
management staff in an engineering company. I was re-arranging the bedroom when
I saw the briefcase he always carried to the office . on a closer look, his
office keys were also lying there on the table.
How did it happen? Julius was not the
forgetting type . what could have made him forget these important items? I made
frantic calls on his mobile phone but it
was switched off! This was also strange. Julius never switched off his phone. I
kept on doing my household chores.
When I was through, I tried his line
again, I got the same dead response. I decided to make a call to his office’s
switch board. The receptionist connected me to one of his subordinates. The
youthful voice that answered was enthusiastic.
“congratulations
madam! We would soon be on our way to your house.”
“please
I don’t know what you are talking about. Where is my husband?” I queried
him. He fired back, “madam, are you
pulling my legs?”
I was getting irritated. “young man, I should be the one asking that
question. What is going on?”
“madam, are you not the one that gave birth to the baby that we are
celebrating the naming ceremony today? We’ve …”
I dropped the phone and fainted. Only God
knew for how long I had been in that state. When I woke up,I started crying.
Julius and I had been married for over
twelve years without a child. He was my first serious boyfriend on the campus
and was the one who deflowered me. Our initial attraction to each other was the
similarity in our names. He was Julius while I was Juliet. Our love eventually
evolved and we were the reference point among our mates, some were even calling
him Romeo.
Pressure started mounting barely two
years after our wedding. The embarrasement and insinuations from my inlaws
could be better imagined. He was the only male child and second among his other
four siblings. These ladies had ganged up against me. My offence was my inability
to provide a baby for their brother. These my arch enemies and few other family
members were the ones who followed him home after the naming ceremony in the
evening.
Probably, the boy who spoke with me on
the phone had spilled the bean. This crowd did not come for settlement or
appeasement. They charged at me rudely. You would wonder if these ladies were
wives to some husbands.
“Juliet,
you are a wicked woman! You are a witch! You are not producing and you dont
want our brother to produce!” Do you want our father linage to end in our town?
…”
They were all talking at the same time. “ if
you want to die, go and commit suicide. This child has come to stay.”
It
was the most senior of them that was talking. I braced up myself. I made frantic
efforts to suppress the tears that were swelling in my eyes. I was not going to
cry in the presence of these unruly inlaws.
I answered them calmly. ”Congratulations. it’s a thing of joy.
This should not lead to quarrel. Where are my own share of the food and drinks
shared at the ceremony? Or have you forgotten your senior wife at home out of
annoyance?”
My unexpected response pull the sail out of their boats. They became
calm and were looking at each other. In their confusion, I fished out their
brother who was by the main door hiding behind them.
“Honey,
congratulations! I dragged him
towards the bedroom. He followed me sheepishly. I turned my head and stole a
parting look at the crowd of angry hyenas and closed the door and locked it
firmly from behind. It was Julius I had a word or two with and not them. This
is my home , when they are tired of waiting, they will go to their own houses.
