One Night And What You Wish – 3

Please read part 1 here and part 2 here

Two days had passed since she discovered who got Idara’s pregnant, and while she felt a complete loathing for everything and everyone in her household, Toun Salami knew she had to play along somehow. It was a tall order, but she would manage. She wasn’t, after all, the first woman whose husband would cheat on with the housemaid. Neither would she be the last. Life had to go on.

The trio sat in front of the TV in the living room – she, Hide, her husband and their son Dotun – watching her favorite soap – Triumph of Love – which had stopped making sense. The soap ended and the musical top ten countdown that followed, featured Maye Hunta’s hit song Ekaette. The song told about a husband’s confession that he had slept with the housemaid who had become pregnant. Toun knew her anger could flare up any moment and the only way she knew to hide it was to start dancing to the beat. She even managed a smile.

Jide was irritated and even a little shocked that his wife could dance to a song like that. He snatched up the remote control and flipped the channel.

“Jide, why now?” Toun asked.

“Is that the kind of song you should be listening to as a married woman? Shouldn’t you be ashamed of yourself?” Jide returned.

“Oh really? When did the Devil become an angel? Toun retorted. “Or, let me guess…you haven’t been sleeping around, have you?”

Jide shifted uneasily in his seat.

“Wh…what did you say? He stammered.

But Toun wasn’t interested. She was gone before he finished his sentence. He heard the door slam and a few seconds later, the car being driven out.

“Oh my God” he sighed, his eyes settling on Dotun. “Did you tell your mother anything?”

But the young man was just as perplexed. “No dad,” he said, shaking his head vigorously.

Jide held his head in his hands.

Had Toun found out? From whom? Ekaette had sworn to never tell. Dotun had too much to lose if he did. So who else would tell?

Maybe this is all a coincidence, he decided. Toun knew nothing; he was over-thinking it. He needed a drink he decided, grabbed his keys and stepped out, all the while muttering to himself, “Jide don’t overthink this…”

Missed Opportunities

Her eyes brushed through each delicate finger on her left hand and settled on the ring finger. It was clad in the most beautiful adornment she had ever seen. She smiled. How unbelievable can life get?

On this day last year, she was broke, jobless, deserted and distraught. She had missed her flight to a job interview, hence lost the chance of a lifetime. The love of her life had eloped with his cousin, three days to their wedding. And her mother had a stroke shortly thereafter.

The man who was now shaving in the bathroom of their hotel room had spotted her at the hospital, while she cared for her mother. He wouldn’t rest on his oars until she agreed to be his wife, immediately conferring her with the erstwhile vacant position of vice-chairman in his group of farms.

The bathroom door opened and she turned. “Good morning, chérie,” he beamed. She smiled again, walked towards him and wrapped him with the warmest embrace. “Bonjour chéri.”

She was happy. True, she didn’t know what the future would bring and yes, she had been to the abyss and back but she knew that between missed opportunities and better outcomes, there was hope and despair, calm and disquiet, soreness and wellness, tears and  laughter. There was penury, want, loneliness. There was harsh reality. And then, there was life!