It’s difficult being an African (especially
if u stay in the white man’s land); It’s not easy pursuing success, and it’s
hard enough being a woman... If you can’t help with my burden, then please
don’t add to it!
...I remember it just like yesterday, and
it was years ago before we got married. My fiancé and i were talking about our
future and i told him what was next in action for me. I told him that my father
had decided i was the one to uphold the legacy of his companies. I was going to
manage his various companies as soon as i completed school. My beloved looked
at me in horror and said, “Are you sure that is a good idea? I will like to
start from the scratch, and will not like people to think u’re the one feeding
me...”. That statement should have jolted me awake, but like the fool in love,
i stayed asleep.
Any
man scared of a woman’s success is not fit to be called a MAN, nor is he for
her... The woman of today, has grown in intellect and reasoning. She is
educated and knows her rights. The woman today, understands her place in the
world and strives to make her values known. Today’s woman is strong,
hardworking and is not a liability to any man.
It’s been 8years after that statement was
made, married to the same man for 5years and i’m starting to think i made a
mistake. As expected, i’m swimming in money and i’ve managed my father’s
companies very well. I’ve also started a couple of businesses of my own and
they’re all doing well. My husband also has a job, but he doesn’t earn what i earn. I have been very careful not to make him know my true worth, especially
now that he’s showing his true colours. We live in a very comfortable and well
furnished duplex, and we have 3 cars in the garage (1 being mine). My husband
insisted we start a joint account to “strengthen
the bond between us”, and being the good wife i agreed. At first, i would
divide my profit from the companies in half and put it in this joint account,
as well as all the profit from my own businesses. I had to trust my husband, if
i wanted the marriage be forever and so turned deaf ears to all voice of reason.
I even went ahead and closed all my personal accounts. One day, 3years after we
tied the knot, my business was failing and i needed to save it with a huge sum.
I asked my husband to co-sign a check for our joint account and he blatantly
refused. Telling me i spent too much money on things that didn’t matter, and
that i wasn’t touching the account. At first, i thought he was joking but after
2 days of futile effort, i started to suspect something. I went to the bank and
requested a statement of the account, and to my amazement i saw that the
account was almost empty. He had been making online transfers from our account,
into another account. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, i realised i had been
the only one making deposits into the account.
How
could this have happened to me?
I couldn’t stop thinking back and trying to
figure where and how i had gone wrong. All i did was love him unconditionally,
all i did was trust him, all i did was have blind faith in him! I felt like
dying... My business was failing and i didn’t know what else to do. I developed
a nagging headache during that period, and had to be admitted at the hospital.
I had a crisis, my bp was high, and my heart rate was not stable. The doctors
kept warning me to take it easy, but who could i tell? I would be labelled a
fool and i definitely didn’t want to hear that line- I told you so! After
several weeks of being hydrated, and hospitalised, i started focusing again!
Doctor told me i had had a miscarriage, and my husband was the angel. He was so
caring, and sweet, and it actually looked like he felt my pain. At that point
however, the miscarriage was not painful, it was the fact that i had ignored
all the signs and went ahead to make the mistake that hurt! While growing up, i
remember sitting with my friends and saying i would never let a man use me, nor
would i cater for a man!. His deceit was the most painful of all; after all i
did to make it work, so i decided to confront him over the issue. Each time i
tried to bring it up or ask him though, was never the right time. He always
gave the excuse of being busy, and never had the time to talk.
Two years have passed and i’ve gotten over
it. I borrowed some money from my sister, with the promise to pay her back with
a 20% interest, and i saved my business. I opened a domiciliary account, and
created another account for my daughter. I bought a house, invested a lot for
my daughter’s future, and i decided not to make him suspect a thing. I kept
paying peanuts into our account every other month and i told him business was
bad.
We celebrated our anniversary a few days
ago and he was the man i fell in love with again, sweet and charming! Two days
after, his family marched to our house, led by his mother. They went on and on about how God had a
reason for everything, and how their son had behaved badly but the mistake had
already been done. Danger bells rang in my ear, but i never made a sound. They
told me my husband had taken a second wife and she had just been delivered of
her second son. My mother in law told me it wasn’t easy for HIM to shuffle between houses, and so i
should learn to live with the woman in peace. She then went ahead to say that
if i couldn’t, then i should leave her son’s house. The house i paid the bills? I looked at my husband, and he was just
sitting there, silent like he had no words to say. Two sons my head kept ringing, and i plastered a bright smile on my
face while imagining the worst deaths possible for the stranger i’ve called
husband for the past 5years. I thanked his family for coming and assured my
mother in law that i was good with the arrangement. I then went into the
kitchen to make lunch for them, and yes! I was tempted to end their miseries
that day but i wasn’t that sort of girl.
Con amor
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