Differences – Episode 6

Other Episodes Of Differences

 

© Tunde Oni

Nneka walked into her house that day after assurance from the Doctor that her mother in law will be given enough care and well taken care of. She made a deposit of N500,000 which she could conveniently afford and decided to go home and decide the next course of action with her husband, Segun. Mama was yet to come out of coma and would not have noticed or missed her absence in the hospital she said to herself.

She was quite surprised to meet Segun actually sat at home brooding and she did not waste time raising the urgent matter at hand.

“Baby, I am so sorry about Funsho’s death. I still can’t believe it”, she said remembering her step daughter as the tears threatened to fall.

” Nneka, let me warn you, do not ever mention Funsho’s name to me okay? Do not even disrespect her memory. Now that she is dead, at least you don’t have to pay or complain about her school fees again and I hope that makes you happy” Segun said in anger.

“Haba Segun, how can you be so mean? Don’t blame me for any of this because you were the one driving”

” and who got me angry? Who made me go out and drive in anger, let me just warn you, my mother must not die. See that money you have that is making you suddenly feel like you hold the life of the world in your hands, my mother must not die else this marriage is over”, Segun said as he went into the bedroom and locked the bedroom door leaving Nneka to find somewhere else to sleep.

That night Nneka cried till she had no more tears to shed. She began to wonder where she could get more money to sort out both their house rent and the hospital bills. She called her parents that night to inform them of their tragedy but she refused to mention her marriage troubles knowing fully well her father was going to add more fuel to the fire.

The next morning alone in her office, she still had not found a solution to her problems. She had branched the hospital that morning before heading to work and was informed her mother in law had woken up during the night in excruciating pain. She was placed on enough pain medications to knock her out for a while. The doctor also advised that she had to be taken into surgery soonest to avoid complications.

Lost in thought, she was quite unprepared for Obinna’s playfulness as he walked into her office ready for his usual banter. Immediately sensing her downcast state, Obinna pulled her up from her chair and gave her a hug and once again Nneka burst into a bout of tears this time finding comfort in Obinna’s arms. As she finally gathered her emotions together, she opened up on her pains to Obinna’s telling him everything she had been going through with Segun up until this point.

Obinna could not hold his anger, ” wow, I swear babe, your husband is plain irresponsible. What kind of man is comfortable with his wife picking up his bills?”

” Obinna please don’t insult him, he is just going through a rough time” Nneka quickly said in his defence.

” No, please don’t even try to justify his actions. How can he not take care of you babe? I remember asking you on numerous occasions and you said you were happy, is this happiness? Obinna asked her. ” God you should be pampered ”

As he held her and looked into her eyes, they both seemed ready for the eventuality as their lips met in a kiss that seemed to have been two years overdue. As Nneka gave in to their kiss for a moment, she forgot all of the problems that was causing her pain. It felt too good to be true and as the passion and chemistry spread deep within her legs, she quickly pushed him away.

“Oh God, what have I done? Obinna we can’t do that. We are married for Christ sake” .

“I am sorry babe, but I am not so sorry I kissed you, my feeling for you hasn’t changed. Anyway, let’s leave that aside, so what do you want to do now or rather how much do you need to sort this whole issue out before we talk about what you want to do about that husband of yours”.

” My dad sent me 500k this morning to assist with the bills so I guess I need about N2.5million. It’s not fair to put this on you Obinna, you shouldn’t be paying my rent or my in-laws bills” Nneka said.

” Babe, forget about that now. You know I have the money so if it’s going to make you happy why not? I’ll get the money sent to your account, just text me your bank details” he said as he gave her a peck on her forehead and walked out of her office leaving her to breathe easier for the first time in two days.

As soon as she left work, Nneka was back in the hospital this time around with Toyin who came to support her as they took her mother in law to the theatre for her surgery. The doctors had made a decision to still do the surgery that same evening to avoid further delay. She texted Segun about the surgery time and he came into the hospital a few minutes later.

Three of them sat down in the waiting room and Nneka prayed her heart out to God to have mercy and keep her mother in law. She couldn’t imagine where she will go from here if the woman died. So she prayed and she prayed and she prayed as Toyin continually held her sweaty hands calming her down and Segun looked at her with utter disdain.

…to be continued