Honey Badger 2

Sleep eluded her for days
She spoke with her children daily
and discovered that sending them
to him was the best decision she
had made in a long time
He placed them in private schools
and the community they were living
in was far better than hers
Her apartment gets so cold during
the winter that she would sometimes
leave for many days to stay with
some friends she made at the church
they were attending
There was also the issue of drugs
and other violent crimes New York
is renowned for
She was happy before she went to
Washinton, bit everything suddenly
became tepid when she returned to
New York
She knew there was a better life
somewhere and all she had to do was
walk into it
If only it was that easy
Her husband had always been easy
going, easy to talk to, easy to move
towards any direction she wanted but
at that time she was
richer, more ambitious, and headstrong
She was still all those things but
her husband had changed
He treated her with the kind of aloofness
that is usually reserved for the dead
If he had frowned, screamed, shouted,
cried or reacted to her in any way
other than the silence, she
would have known what to expect
It was as if she was a total stranger,
a nobody
While she was in Washington, she
deliberately left her room unlocked
hoping he would walk in and they would
have a talk
A one on one, heart to heart, friendly
or ugly chat
He didn’t even bother saying
good morning or good evening to her
His movement was known only to him and
his children
He didn’t introduce her to the housekeeper
as his wife or even as the mother of h
is children
He introduced her by her first name
The way one introduces a colleague or a
staff
It made her cry!
She started to write him a mail, but
she didn’t know what to say
She picked up the phone several times to
call, but what would the words be?
She decided to call his mother and other
relatives and begin a process of rebuilding
the damaged bridges
Perhaps they would help her make
the runway so that her plane can land
without a crash
The public relations strategy was quite
revealing
She learned that her husband fell sick
after she left with the children
He was so sick that he lost his job while
battling for his life in the hospital
She learned that it was
while he was recovering from the sickness
that the opportunity for him to join the
diplomatic entourage was made open to him
She also learned that her husband’s best
friend who had been in America for many
years was the owner of the property in
Washington
Her husband’s friend had become very rich
and it was through him that her husband
got a good job
Her husband was also given the house to
live in for as long as he desired
The butler and housekeeper came with the
house
Her husband had become wealthy but he
remained his frugal self and all he wanted
was to be close to his family
The worst thing she heard was what her
message did to him
How he cried bitterly after getting the
hasty mail she sent when she assumed he was
still the same unambitious man that she
loathed while they were married
She regretted sending that mail
It was the first time in her life that she
ever broke up with anyone she had been
intimate with and it had backfired badly
If only she had kept quiet and allowed
things to pan out naturally
It was all water under the bridge, anyway,
she needed to find a way forward
She needed to retake the seat she vacated
She turned to God in prayer and fasting
The heart of a king is in the heart of
God and God directs it wherever He desired
All she needed was a second chance
She wanted to have her marriage back
Settle down with the husband of her youth
Have her family under one roof
She called her mother and older brother
and asked them to please intervene on
her behalf
She called pastors too, both the ones
from her denomination and the ones from
wherever
She was desperate but nothing changed
He didn’t call and she didn’t call too
She spoke with her
children daily
She cried herself to sleep
She wondered why he was so silent, so
unforgiving
Days rolled into weeks
She continued her daily routine
Shoe sales representative in the morning,
cashier at a supermarket in the evening
and hairdresser in the late evening
Even though the children were not with her,
she still needed all the money she could
make to keep herself under a roof in
New York
The apartments were extremely expensive and
until she completes her course, she couldn’t
get a job in her preferred field
Five weeks after returning to New York,
one of her children mistakenly mentioned that
their father told them he might be getting
married soon
What!
She almost had a heart attack
Getting married?
To who?
She began to plot what to do
Her first instinct was to go and get her
children from him
She didn’t want another
woman to raise her children
She might also have to sue him for divorce
and get money from him so that they can move
to a better apartment and give the children
the kind of education they were getting in
Washington
She called a lawyer and they discussed all
her options
It was as if the walls were falling all
over her
She called the brother in Jeans and T-shirt
and explained her ordeal
She told him she had decided to find her
way to Washington, get her children and
then file for divorce
Her lawyer had told her the court might
grant her husband the custody of the
children as long as he was the one
providing for them without any support
from her
The lawyer also told her that once her
husband got married, her hope of getting
custody of her children would be reduced
to almost zero
She felt she needed to be smart and cunning
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt said
“Your heart is very proud and wicked.
Do you know that?”
She was shocked
Nobody had ever said such a thing to her
before but then when the elephant dies, all
sorts of knives comes for the butchering
She asked him why he said so
“Have you even told your husband you are
sorry?
Did you for once went on your knees and
cried on his laps?
Did you even send him a mail apologizing
for your tactless and heartless message?
You took away a man’s children, condemned
him to pain and sickness in Nigeria and
now you want to walk into his life without
taking responsibility
You were even praying, asking God to help
you further your callous actions
If this man is your brother, wouldn’t you
counsel him to prove his wife before
taking her back?
Please go and do the needful and stop
being a witch!”
Wow!
Wow!!
She bought a ticket and flew to Washington
the following day
She met her husband at home
He was playing video games with the children
and they were having a really good time
She waited until she caught his gaze
She went on her knees and started to cry
It was the last thing she thought she could
do, in front of her children…
Her husband dropped the gamepad and
approached her
He said “I knew you would come when you hear
I am planning to get married.
You have always found it easier to go to
war than say sorry!
I forgive you!”
He drew her to her feet and embraced her
He knew how much she suffered with him
in the early years and didnt think it was
right that she should not be a part of his
success when it came
He just wanted her to acknoeldge her
wrongdoing

Phew!

Learn to say sorry!

PS: Her husband really wasn’t getting married
He had always wanted her back
He knew her to be childish (since the day
he met her) and impulsive but she was his
choice and he loved her dearly
He wanted her to come to her senses,
like the prodigal son, thank God she did.

-GSW-