The Second Wife – Episode 19

The Second Wife – Episode 19

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

7:09am
Tuesday, 29th June 2004

Soki locked up turning off the lights, minutes after Dienye had left the sitting room. She met him in their bedroom, laying above the red and cream coloured comforter on their bed, certainly not surprising despite the coldness of the bedroom. His eyes followed her movement as hesitated then began to undress, initially tempted to just pick her night shirt and race for the bathroom as she did in the past, knowing that he would mischievously grab her night shirt before she left the room. She ignored him. He had hurt her feelings and owed her an apology.

Dressed in her nightshirt, she dragged the comforter he clearly didn’t need, from the bed. She settled herself on one of the leather armchairs facing the flat screen television. She didn’t bother turning it on.

‘You’re not coming to bed?’ he asked unnecessarily. It wasn’t as though he had an intention of touching her that night. In his present state of mind he could easily call her Nengi and that would be more like pouring fuel on fire.

‘No I’m not,’ she replied. ‘And no, I couldn’t care less if Nengi would have reacted in this manner in the circumstances.’

‘A pity.’ He made a tsk tsk sound.

‘And if you say a word about her, I will scream down this building,’ she threatened.

‘Although the building is insured, I’d rather not have to rebuild, thank you very much.’

‘Especially since you built this place with Nengi,’ she uttered sarcastically.

‘From its foundation,’ he agreed. ‘She was on architect and designed this house herself.’

It was a beautiful house; breath-taking in spite of the fact that it was not a storey building. She didn’t like the idea that Nengi in addition to decorating the house had also designed the building. It shouldn’t ordinarily be a problem but she now realised why a lot of women preferred to build their own house from the scratch with their spouses. It gave them a sense of ownership.

‘Her dream home.’

‘Yes. It’s a pity she didn’t live long enough to really enjoy it.’

‘Don’t remind me. Besides I’m not talking to you,’ she pouted.

‘You sound just like Ibimina.’

Soki stuck out a pink tongue at him and he laughed. ‘You even act like her.’

‘I’m not talking to you.’

‘You’ll lose weight.’

‘Point of correction, I’ll get really fat.’

‘Seriously, you want to spend the night on that chair?’

‘Yes.’

She snuggled into the chair. She wasn’t tall but the chair still wasn’t comfortable for anything more than a snooze.

‘I may have my needs, babe, but an unwilling woman isn’t exactly a turn on.’

‘Better. I am not in need of your touch.’

He smiled slightly. ‘And I can make you retract that statement.’

Her eyes widened then narrowed. ‘I’m stronger than that.’

‘Who are you trying to convince? You or me?’

‘No one. I might desire you but I have my limits.’

‘Okay. You do know you’ll catch a cold.’

‘I’ll treat it.’

He was silent for a moment. He could just go to bed and ignore her but he didn’t.

‘You should be more accommodating.’

‘Like Nengi.’

‘Your words not mine.’

‘But that’s where you’re going with this.’

‘If you say so.’

‘I don’t appreciate it when you compare me with Nengi, whether subtly or otherwise. It’s insulting.’

‘Insulting? You should feel honoured. She had a lot of virtues you should covet to possess, that is if pride would let you.’

‘I am not proud,’ she countered.

‘Aren’t you? You rejected my gifts over something so insignificant.’

‘Something insignificant!’ she repeated incredulously.

‘Yes.’

‘I am not interested in the gifts.’

‘Then I must warn you that if I take them back I shall never give you a gift in whatever form.’

‘You’re joking right?’

‘Do I look as though I am?’ he returned.

‘Just because I won’t accept a gift in place of an apology? All right, I accept the gifts.’

‘On second thoughts, I’ll just give them to someone more appreciating.’

‘You wouldn’t dare.’

‘Watch me. You rejected it earlier, remember?’

‘I’ll never forgive you if you do that?’

‘It wouldn’t make a difference. You are not exactly a very forgiving person.’

‘You have no right to say that to me,’ she cried.

‘Don’t I? Anyone else would have accepted the gifts for what they were – gifts.’

‘A gift can’t take the place of an apology. It’s like a bribe.’

‘Then I’ll keep my bribe,’ he told her.

‘All you just had to do was just apologise,’ she said exasperatedly. ‘It would have cost you nothing.’

‘I don’t owe you an apology.’

‘I give up,’ she said, rising from the chair and heading for the door.

‘Where are you going?’

’To one of the spare bedrooms.’

‘So it has come to that.’

‘Yes. I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘Good night. While you’re at it, you could work towards you staying there for good. I have had enough of your childish attitude.’

‘Don’t insult me. You’re the one letting this get out of hand.’

‘And you’re beginning to give me a headache. You can never achieve anything by nagging. Nagging is a very unattractive feature.’

‘I never had any reason to nag until we got married.’

‘And I have had more headaches in the last two months than I have had in all my life.’

She looked like she wanted to rip her short curls off her head in frustration.

‘I’ll do whatever it takes to pay you back…’

‘’You don’t presently have the means.’

‘Whatever it takes,’ she repeated.

‘Nze Maduabuchi will not help you out.’

‘Whatever. And when I do pay you back, I’ll be out of your hair and you can spend your nights with Nengi’s memories. I am 21, I don’t need to put up with this.’

‘I didn’t have to help you but I did,’ he reminded her.

‘And I am grateful. But you should at least treat me like I have emotions beyond being the one that satisfies your sexual need.

He inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled.

‘I respect your emotions but you are asking a lot of me if you expect me to profess undying love to you and treat you in the exact same way that I treated the woman I loved. I never made you such a promise and you knew exactly what you were getting into.’

She looked at him for a very long time and then she quietly walked to the bed and lay on her side without any further word. It was no use quarrelling with him.

Dienye left for Bonny in the morning and Soki decided to take matters into her own hands.

*****

2:34pm

Friday, 2nd July 2004

Dienye called Soki twice while in Bonny, the first to let her know he had arrived Bonny and the second to tell her he was about to leave Bonny.

Soki closed early from the office in order to fix Dienye’s meal before taking a cab to Belema’s 2 bedroom apartment in D/Line. She embraced her friend who was like a big brother, glad to see him and particularly glad that he was in town. She had to stand on tiptoes to hug her husband and this man was an inch taller than his elder brother.

He treated her to lunch and they talked about everything but except her marriage until the last moment.

‘How are you and Dienye getting along?’ Belema asked.

Belema clearly had sensed that something was amiss.

‘Okay, I guess.’

‘Is Nengi coming between you two?’ he asked. ‘I know you are aware of the argument Dienye and I had over her photographs and their wedding albums.’

‘How did you know…?’

‘I could tell from the way you returned my hug that day. You seemed grateful to me for something and I couldn’t immediately think of anything I had done in recent times.’

‘I didn’t realise that I had given myself away.’

‘You slammed the door like you were giving someone a warning,’ he smiled. ‘So what’s the matter?’

‘Do you think I need to be more like Nengi?’ she asked unexpectedly.

‘Did Dienye ask that of you?’

‘Kind of. Do you think I should?’

‘No. You are you and there is nothing wrong with who you are.’

‘But Nengi was a better sister-in-law.’

‘I am not making comparisons Soki. I admit I loved Nengi like a sister but I feel the same way about you. Nengi was a wonderful person, we were very close. I particularly loved the fact that she was caring, loving and kind to everyone and my parents adored her. But you are also special.’

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she snuggled up to him, her feet on the couch.

‘How special am I? I visit your parents and I feel like an intruder.’

‘Let me guess. You get uncomfortable because Nengi and Dienye’s wedding picture is still in our family house.’

‘I shouldn’t but…’

‘You shouldn’t. She was their daughter-in-law and a close member of the family so the picture will always be there unless they decide otherwise.’

He didn’t have to make sense.

‘I understand. Once, I was talking with your father and although I don’t think it was intentional, I saw him looking up at her photograph with a longing, like he wished she was the one seated with him.’

‘You probably misinterpreted his expression.’

‘I don’t know. I have this feeling that they feel sorry for me because I have stepped into shoes bigger than my feet. You know, like a size 36 desperately trying to fit into a size 45. I feel like I need to go the extra mile in order to be completely accepted.’

‘If you hadn’t been accepted, you would have known. How does my mum treat you?’

‘She’s nice.’

‘Then she likes you,’ Belema concluded. ‘If mum isn’t happy with you, believe me, you will know. She doesn’t bother to hide her feelings. In that regard, she takes after her mother.’

‘That’s a relief,’ Soki said. ‘I just feel like Dienye and I would be a lot closer if I were to be more like Nengi.’

Belema caught her chin in his right palm, saying: ‘You shouldn’t be hung up on Nengi, it wouldn’t do you any good. Be who you are and you will ultimately have Dienye’s love.’

‘I don’t want to think about Nengi all the time but everything in the house reminds me of her.’

‘Naturally, Dienye won’t build a new house just to please you. But you can add your own touch, something that makes you feel more at home.’

Soki looked away.

‘You’ve done that already, haven’t you?’ Belema surmised, a huge smile on his face. He looked so much like his brother but didn’t have Dienye’s sexy dimples. ‘That explains a lot.’

‘Your brother is going to blow a fuse when he gets back today.’

‘Letting out steam once in a while isn’t going to hurt him. What changes exactly did you make?’

‘I rearranged the furniture in the bedroom. Then I had the cabinets in the kitchen changed.’

‘Oh my God! You actually changed something in the kitchen? Nengi’s pride and joy.’

‘Do you think he will send me packing?’ she asked, concerned.

‘Of course not. You haven’t done anything wrong.’

At that moment her phone rang. One look on the screen told her it was Dienye. Soki quickly handed the phone to Belema. He flipped the phone open.

‘Hey bro.’

‘Belema,’ Dienye said in acknowledgment. ‘Do me a favour and tell her that if she can’t fix the damage she made, she should remain there.’

‘May I ask what she did?’

‘A lot. Just pass the message to her.’

Dienye ended the call and Belema handed the phone back to Soki.

‘You said nothing in my defence,’ she accused.

‘There was no need. After all, I am driving you home. Wasn’t that the whole aim of leaving your car at home?’

‘Sherlock Holmes,’ said Soki.

‘Let’s get going before he lets out enough steam to cause an arson.’

*****

They met Dienye in the hallway. He hadn’t bothered to change out of the clothes he had arrived in; and he looked downright furious. With Belema by her side, she found the courage to walk up to her husband and kiss him on the lips.

‘Welcome back, honey,’ she greeted, ignoring his glare.

Dienye gave his brother a nod of acknowledgment.

‘Where’s the fire?’ Belema asked.

‘Go and see what your little friend did to my kitchen,’ Dienye told his brother.

Belema headed for the kitchen and as Soki made to follow him, Dienye’s fingers snaked about her wrist and drew her back.

‘You have a lot of explaining to do,’ he told her.

Belema smiled as he walked into the kitchen. The three quarters of the white wall were covered with baby blue ceramic tiles with white swans for design; the cupboards and shelves were sprayed mahogany brown while the gas cooker, sinks and shelves had been repositioned.

Belema returned to the hall.

‘Well?’ Dienye enquired.

‘It’s different,’ Belema responded, quickly adding, ‘but in a good way.’

‘I don’t want different.’ Dienye told him.

‘Perhaps it was due for a change,’ Belema suggested.

‘It was okay the way it was,’ Dienye countered.

‘The kitchen as I recall belongs to the woman and not the man.’

Soki had two options: one, explain why she had made the changes; or two, remain quiet. She chose the latter.

‘That’s neither here nor there. She shouldn’t have made any changes.’

‘She’ll be utilizing it more than you ever would. Leaving the kitchen in the way and manner in which she would be more comfortable is a priority.’

‘And you are just being biased.’

Belema laughed.

‘As your wife, she has rights.’

‘With you supporting her I won’t be surprised if I come home unable to recognise my own house.’

‘I doubt if it would come to that.’

Belema’s phone rang.

‘Hi darling…No, I’m not home. I’m with Dienye and Soki in their home…I’ll be there as soon as I can…I love you too.’

‘I hope there’s no problem?’ Dienye asked momentarily forgetting the reason for his annoyance.

‘A favourite uncle of hers just came into town and he’s been asking to see me,’ Belema replied. He added, ‘About the kitchen, it’s okay the way it is, as long as Soki is comfortable with it. I’ll see you two later.’

Soki hurried to see him off.

‘Thanks a lot Belems,’ she told him as he unlocked his car. ‘But…’

‘I would have stayed longer but Anwuli needs me,’ he said cutting her short. ‘And if Dienye says anything else about the kitchen, just tell him he should feel free to change it if he doesn’t like it.’

‘He wouldn’t have the time.’

‘That’s the idea, Soks.’

Soki smiled and hugged him, saying: ‘You’re the best, Belems.’

‘Careful. You don’t want to leave a lipstick stain on my shirt, do you?’

‘Anwuli trusts you completely.’

He smiled at that comment. ‘Before I forget, promise me you will not make any further major changes without you two Dienye agreeing on it.’

‘Sure. I only touched the two places I utilize most of the time.’

She waited until he had driven out of the compound before returning to the house. Dienye was waiting for her in the hallway. He hadn’t gone to the bedroom to change out of his travel clothes.

‘Why did you tamper with the kitchen?’ he enquired.

‘A certain person once told me I hadn’t contributed to anything in there.’

‘And that justifies your action?’

‘Yes it does. I didn’t want to feel like an intruder while in there. And I wasn’t about to wait for your go-ahead before doing something about it.’

She picked up his travelling bag and walked past him heading for the master bedroom, fully aware that he was following her. If he was this mad because she had changed the kitchen arrangement, he would have a fit when he saw what she had done with the bedroom.

‘Don’t you dare walk out on-’ he paused.

‘You were saying?’ she smiled, dropping his travelling bag on the bed.

He stood by the open bedroom door, his eyes wide and his mouth open as he took in the new look of the bedroom.

‘What did you do to this bedroom?’ he asked her.

‘Let’s see,’ she started, curving the thumb and second finger of her left hand and placing it under her chin as though deep in thought. ‘I changed the curtains, got us a four poster bed and replaced the blue rug with soft red rug which I must add, came highly recommended and I was told went perfectly with the curtains. Not to worry, I didn’t change the rest of the furniture or the bathroom.’

‘Why on earth did you change the bed?’

‘We shared it with Nengi,’ was her quick response as she changed out of her clothes.

Dienye looked away to avoid giving in to the temptation of grabbing her and launching that bed with her. He was upset for crying out loud, and rightly so!

‘What else did you redecorate or rearrange in my absence?’

‘Well, I didn’t get to redecorate the sitting rooms.’

‘Stay away from those,’ he warned her and she laughed.

‘Sure. I have no intention of doing anything there,’ she assured him. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not wasteful. I moved the other bed to one of the guest rooms and donated all the bedsheets and pillowcases to an orphanage. Before I forget, they sent their thanks for your magnanimous gesture.’

She put on a sleeveless top and a pair of shorts.

‘You should have asked me first. You have no idea how much those things costs.’

‘I didn’t think you would mind, being a philanthropist and all,’ she batted her lashes at him.

‘Well I mind,’ he returned. ‘For crying out loud, if I wanted to give something to the less privileged I would buy it for them and not give them something I am using. Besides, if you’d asked, I would have informed you that I had the furniture including the bed changed before you moved your things here and I never shared them with Nengi.’

She arched an eyebrow.

‘Oh! Well, sorry about that, but the deed has been done,’ she simply told him, trying to walk around him but he blocked her path.

‘Tell me, is there any other room that you have touched in your desire to change my home?’ he asked tersely.

‘Our home,’ she corrected and then added. ‘Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to work on more than the kitchen and the bedroom.’

He frowned.

‘How much is all this costing me?’ he asked her.

‘Nothing. I made the payments from my account.’

‘And failed to heed to all the financial advises I gave you on making investments.’

‘Actually the cheque you gave me cleared yesterday and so there was more than enough to take care of this. Besides, it was worth the money considering the fact that I do not constantly have to feel like I am haunted by a ghost when I’m in here or in the kitchen,’ she returned, and then added. ‘I don’t know why you’re so upset. It’s not like I damaged anything…’

‘You changed my home.’

‘Our home,’ she reminded him once more.

He glared at her.

‘All right I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I intended to make changes to our home, but if I had told you, you wouldn’t have approved it.’

‘Only because it wasn’t necessary. You had no reason to make any changes.’

‘Not even if that was the one way I could feel like this was also my home?’

‘You should have talked to me about it,’ he insisted.

Soki could go on and on about why she was justified in what she had done but she didn’t bother. It wouldn’t make any difference.

‘Let’s not quarrel over this,’ she said, walking up to him.

‘Wasn’t that your intention when you made those changes in my absence?’

She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms about his neck and he stiffened.

‘I did what I felt had to be done in the circumstance,’ she said. ‘I missed you.’

‘Don’t bother trying to distract me. It won’t work.’

She sighed deeply and withdrew her arms from around his neck.

‘I’ll go heat up your meal,’ she told him, murmuring under her breath and ensuring that he heard it, ‘if I didn’t know better, I would have thought there was no romantic bone in your body.’

She went to the kitchen, feeling a sense of pleasure as she beheld her handiwork.

Better, she said to herself.

As she put his food in the microwave she heard him open one of the guest bedrooms, surmising that it was Nengi’s bedroom. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to be upset.

Like I would be stupid enough to take anything out of that room, she thought.

A few minutes later, she had his food on the tray, headed for the master bedroom. He was unpacking his travelling bag as she entered the bedroom, placing the tray on the table in front of one of the single leather chairs. He didn’t utter a word to her, his handsome face wearing a frown.

‘Food is ready,’ she announced unnecessarily.

He didn’t say anything.

‘You do know that anger makes it impossible for digestion to take place,’ she said.

He arched his head reflexively to look at her.

‘So I heard,’ she smiled.

He didn’t return her smile. She heaved a sigh.

‘I need to get a few things sorted out before supper,’ she told him. ‘Please eat your food.’

She left the room for the kitchen where she put a call across to Priye just to check up on her, while taking out the ingredients she needed for the night’s meal of boiled rice and ofe akwu. She hadn’t spoken to her sister-in-law in days. Balancing the phone between her right ear and her shoulder, she washed the palm kernels and poured them into a pot filling it with water from the sink. Turning on the gas from the cylinder, she lit a burner and put the pot of soup over the blue flames.

‘We need to hang out tomorrow,’ she said to Priye. ‘You know, an all-girl hang out.’

‘That would be great. What time?’

‘Noon. I’ll call Anwuli too. We haven’t had a real hang out in months.’

And they hadn’t, not since she got married. And no, it hadn’t nothing to do with Dienye who never questioned her movement. Done with her call, she washed the rice and put it on fire too before returning to the bedroom. The plates on the tray were empty but despite a full belly, the man in the room ignored her as she walked into the bedroom.

‘Really, Dienye, you can’t still be angry,’ she said exasperatedly.

‘I’m not angry, I am just disappointed that you would go behind my back to do this.’

‘I did it because I did not want to be constantly reminded of Nengi.’

‘Why are you so hung up on her?’ he asked her.

‘Excuse me? You are the one who keeps reminding me of her, trying to leave things the way they were before her death.’

‘And what is wrong with maintaining the status quo.’

‘You can ask me that?’

‘Of course.’

‘At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you are married to me now, get used to it.’

‘You think I don’t know that?’

‘Sometimes you act like you need a reminder. Like when you left her photographs around the sitting rooms.’

‘I took them out.’

‘Only because Belema asked you to do so.’

‘It doesn’t matter why I did it. What’s important is that I took the photographs away along with the albums.’

‘All right, I won’t make any further changes.’

‘Good, because I don’t want to come home one day and be unable to recognise my own home.’

‘I can’t believe we are still talking about this. I’ve just assured you that I won’t make any further changes, let it rest please. Geez.’

He looked like he was going to argue further but advised himself against it.

‘I haven’t seen you in two days,’ she continued, ‘we should be talking about your trip rather than spending time on something that would add nothing to either of us.’ She paused, then added, ‘I missed you.’

His frown relaxed although not into a smile but she was okay with it.

‘My trip went well,’ he told her, finally. ‘I have this two day medical outreach I am organising there for the last weekend in the month. I needed to meet with a few of the stakeholders and partners – chiefs, youth leaders and primary health care workers. We were able to conclude on a lot of things.’

‘Wow, that’s great,’ she said. ‘I would like to be a part of it, if it’s okay with you.’

‘Sure.’

She left the room to check on the boiling rice.

To be continued

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