Arrow of Fate 🏹💘
By: Yusuf Abd’wasii
Episode 12
Abdulhakeem wanted his family name to continue, so he decided to marry. That evening, all his invited guests gathered to celebrate with us, I invited no even a human being because I was engaging no one.
First semester of my second year in university, I moved in with Abdulhakeem, from his house is where I’m going to school and also taking care of him as a wife.
Mrs. Maryam called and advised Abdulhakeem to make things proper, see my family and pay my bride price. But since I had no one, paying the bride price became a problem. It was glaring to Abdulhakeem that there was no one to pay my price to. Due to that fact, we proceeded with court wedding to consummate us, I found it difficult to even invite my course mates to my court wedding (what a shame). I pretended to be happy because I needed a place to call my own.
Hmm… A few months later after the wedding, boom, I can now picture myself in a lion’s den. One evening, Abdulhakeem came back from work, drunk and rushed to bed. He didn’t eat what I prepared for him, he claimed I cooked the dish he hate most.
That night, while I was doing laundry of his clothes he vomited on, I saw a used condom which fell down from his pocket. He had forgotten it inside his pocket and also a pack of condom with three pieces missing out of it. My head gyrate and now I’m seeing the reality, still I couldn’t say a word, I dare not because of his temper, so hot… My confrontation, that would surely lead to my bills unpaid.
I took the condom and placed them where he could see them as he wake up, having it in mind that he’ll apologize, but he didn’t, rather he opened the toilet closet and flushed the used condom then kept the unused ones in his pocket. My heart sank but I was mute. Who would I complained to, who? Mrs. Maryam…?
I do my chores and move around with a pieces of heart, I was speechless like a goat being take to an abbatoir to be slaughtered, Abdulhakeem is never worried if truly I was happy or not.
Hmm… Abdullah sighed and take a deep breathe then asked, ‘so what were you doing where I saw you, in the rain?”
I was a bit nervous and asked myself, was I talking to myself all along? Well, I swallowed it and answers him.
‘If you have been following my story well, you should remember I said that my decision to accept Abdulhakeem marriage proposal is the only reason why I was outside that night.”
“As I said Yes to his proposal, I knew my own desire was a No to him”
“So after the court wedding, what transpired?” Abdullah asked interestingly and eager to know how I landed where I was.
after the court wedding, the marriage seems, it’s just seems not really on. It seems to go on admiringly, but months later, I never stopped having my period as a visitor every month, I couldn’t get pregnant, and by this time, second year is ongoing and I can only define my marriage as Hell in a cell… I visited both private and general hospitals often that I became a regular customer, herbalist services were even rendered useless when nothing came forth and my visitor didn’t stop visiting.
by this time, Abdulhakeem had stopped paying my school bills as he claimed it’s one of the reason I couldn’t get pregnant. Then, is there anything I didn’t do to raise money for myself. Truly, when you know your foes, the direction of your prayers will be easy. That when I began to sell some kinds of detergents and bar soaps to help my education, that’s where I get to settle my handouts and petty things I needed money for, but as for my schools fees, I used my feeding allowance Abdulhakeem gave me.
Never once did Abdulhakeem hide his desire of having a bae of his own, he needed a child but I want his money for my school, we’re both positive and positive, how could that generate light? Truly, he had wanted to settle down before we met but none of his girlfriends had the materials he wanted. He never found love as part of criteria for marriage, I have a compound problem living with Abdulhakeem.
I still focused on my studies, I knew that would be the only solution to my problem, any day I didn’t have enough money for transportation, I would trekked some distance to pay less and my duties as a housewife was always intact, but that’s nothing to Abdulhakeem, rags and tattered clothes are what I wore. Sobs…