Idara held my hands and looked into my eyes with a deep
smile, kissed my hands and looked at me again and said “baby I am going with
you tomorrow to see your parents and make my intensions known to them” I was
filled with joy, I had waited for so long to hear just those words from Idara,
it was like a dream come true, I was so happy that I failed to notice the ring
at my front “will you marry me?” Idara
asked me, I looked at him and tears flowed down from my eyes, I hugged him
immediately and answered “I will, I will, I will…..” He held me tight and said “I love you” all
these happened on the 9th of October 2012.
October 10th 2012 which was on a Wednesday, Idara
and I went to my parent’s house in Asokoro Abuja. My mum and dad gave us a cool
welcome; I was tensed because it was my first time of bringing a man to the
house to meet my parents. My father sat down on his normal favorite chair close
to the window, he looked at me and asked “so what can we offer your
visitor?” Somehow I felt bad about the question
“why can’t this old man ask Idara the question instead of me?” I asked myself “oh dad anything” I answered, “okay dear food is almost ready, I
was in the kitchen before both of you came in, so have fun while I finish with
it” my mum said, I looked at her and asked “mum do you need my help?” She smiled and said “my baby don’t bother am almost
through” she went into the kitchen. “So young man what is your name?” My dad asked Idara “my name is Idara sir”
Idara answered “so what do you do for a living?” My father asked again “I am a business man sir”
Idara answered “wow! So what type of business and what relationship do you have
with my daughter? My dad asked “import and export of Nasco products and sir I
want to marry your daughter, am in love with her” Idara said, my dad looked at
me and looked at Idara and asked “how long have you known my daughter and what
state are you from? Idara held my hands
and said “I have known your daughter for a year and am from Akwa Ibom state” My dad carried the news paper that was on the
center table, opened a page and asked
“Nasco, those people in charge of Nasco milk and other products? Idara answered
“yes sir” my dad looked at him and started reading, I waited for his next
reaction and answer, my temperature was extremely high, I couldn’t feel my foot
on the ground again, my mum came out and invited us to the dining table, we all
went to eat, we ate in silence till my dad broke it “young man” Idara dropped his spoon and looked up to hear
from my dad “sir” Idara answered and my dad continued “ my
daughter can never and will never marry from any other tribe but Igbo, so your
request to marry my daughter is kindly impossible” I was shocked and looked at my mum to say
something, but she only continued with her meal “sir I love your daughter and I
promise to take good care of her” Idara said, my dad looked at him and said
“look for another” I was so angry and felt like stabbing my father with the
nearest fork, “dad, Idara is a good person and I love him” I summoned courage to
talk to my father, he only cleaned his mouth, stood up and left , “mum what do
you have to say?” I asked my mum, she stood up also and followed my dad. I
followed them upstairs and met them in the room, “dad why are you treating me
like this, why do you want to shift me away from my happiness?” I asked my dad,
he smiled at me and said “I cannot take away my only daughter’s happiness but I
want the best for her and that man in the sitting room can never be the best
for my daughter” I couldn’t hold my tears, I kicked the stool beside me and
said “I must marry Idara and I don’t care
if both of you support me or not” my dad looked at me and said “then you shall
not be my daughter again” my mum came closer to me, held my left hand and said
“we want the best for you, I don’t like that man, please don’t marry him” I
removed her hand from my hand and said “I must marry him” then I left them in the room.
October 13th 2012 at Idara’s house, Idara was
preparing to go to work, I came out and sat on the stool close to him, I held
him tight and said “baby I have a suggestion” he looked at his wristwatch, then
at me and said “am listening dear” I continued “let’s go into a blood covenant”
he looked up and screamed out “blood what?” I stood up from the stool and sat
down again “that is the only solution to this problem, if we do it like that,
they won’t have any cause to say no again” he stood up and carried his brief
case and said “we would talk about it when I come back” he hugged me and kissed
me, then left the house.
Idara came back in the night, I served him dinner and after
dinner, we went into the blood covenant and in it we promised not to leave each
other till death and if anyone leaves, the person would die of a terrible
sickness. I was so happy after the blood covenant and I felt so fulfilled. Idara carried me up from the dinning chair and
took me into the room.
October 24th 2012, I went back to my parent’s
house and met only my mum at home. She gave me her normal warm welcome even
though I thought she was pissed off with what happened 2 weeks ago , I sat down
and went directly into the discussion of my marriage with Idara “mum seriously
you and dad have to understand how much I love Idara” my mum smiled and said
“Idara is not good for you my daughter” I was so pissed with what she said, I
stood up from the chair and went to the television stand, rested my hands on the television and said
“Idara and I had a blood covenant” my mum stood up immediately and screamed out
“what! How dare you go into a blood covenant with that good for nothing boy?” I
was surprised “you don’t know Idara, he is a good man, he is a Christian and he
is responsible, mum, gone are the days when parents prevent their children from
getting married to someone from another tribe” I said to her. She came closer
to me, held my right hand and calmly she said “you have to break that covenant”
I removed her hand from mine and said “mum I cannot break it, please mum
understand me, I love Idara” she went back to her seat, and said “never my
daughter, go and break it” I left the house without further pleading.
3 weeks later 14th November, I went back to my
parent’s house. After much disturbance for my parents blessing, they finally
accepted, my mum looked at me and said “okay if that is what you want, you
would get our blessing but remember my daughter, love is blind and marriage is
an eye opener” I smiled and took a deep breath “finally, I love you mum” I said
and hugged her
November 20th 2012, very early in the morning,
Idara and I went out to prepare for our forth coming wedding; it was a joyful
thing to know that Idara would be forever mine. I went to a friend’s shop while
Idara went to his friend’s house Mr Adebanjo. In my friend’s shop, she taught
me so many things about marriage like how to give my husband the type of sex he
want and so on, she was raw in some cases like when she said “make sure you
give your husband a good blow job and suck out the sperm if possible and lick
it fresh” I felt irritated somehow but had to listen to her and also learn from
it.
CHAPTER 2
November 30th 2012, we went back home so tired
after the wedding, visitors went back that day and it was only Idara and I left
in the house. We went upstairs into our room to have our special wedding night
sex; Idara dropped his tired body on the bed and got ready for the fun. I
really enjoyed that night. My marriage was really fun.
7 weeks later, January 21st 2013, in the night, I
went into the bathroom to bath and when
I came out to have fun with my husband, he brought out a cigarette from his
pocket. I was surprised, I looked at him again to confirm if it was truly a
cigarette, “When did you start smoking?” I asked Idara, he smiled and said
“welcome to my life style, smoking is my hobby” I sat down speechlessly “ but
you told me, you don’t smoke” he dropped the cigarette into a plate and said
“because I wanted you into my arms” I replied him “you are such a pretender,
what else do you do, what else, I hate men that smoke” he smiled “then you hate
me or accept me like that, because I can never stop smoking, so come dear and
lets have fun” he said “am not in the mood to have sex, my urge for it is
gone” I answered, he started laughing
and went into pidgin “babe you never understand say nah wetin I want you go do,
nah sex I want and nah wetin you go give me” he said, I looked at him and
wondered where the Idara I knew went to. I got angry and stood up to leave, he
dragged me back, slapped me and pushed me down to the bed and sexed me
forcefully. I tried to struggle with him but to no avail because he was
stronger than me.
Two weeks later, on the 4th of February 2013, in the
morning, Idara sat in the sitting room with his laptop chatting and laughing. I
came out and asked him if he would not go to work, “is it your business?” he
asked me “am your wife and I have the right to ask” I said, he started laughing
and said “this girl never understand where she enter self” I was embarrassed
and I asked him angrily “why are you laughing at me fool?” he started laughing again
“am a business man, and I choose to go to work when I feel like” Idara
said. I was so surprised “Idara what is
wrong with you and why are you behaving so strange?” I asked him, he looked at me “this is the real
me, I acted for a year, my dear we are married and I can’t keep acting” he said
and brought out a cigarette and started smoking. I went into the room in pains and couldn’t
say any other thing to him.
Two days later, on the 6th of February 2013, I was in the
kitchen cooking and Idara came into the kitchen from the room, dragged my hair
and said “how dare you remove my packet of cigarette from the table, now where
is it?” I was so scared but had to reply “stop smoking, for Christ sake we are
married and I hate men that smoke” he carried the kitchen knife and pointed it
to my face and said “where the fuck did you keep it?” I pointed the dustbin “it
is in the dustbin” I said to him. Idara dragged me to the dustbin and pushed my
head into it and asked me to use my mouth and remove it from the dustbin, I
pleaded with him but he insisted, I brought out my head but he slapped it into
the dustbin, then I used my mouth and brought out the cigarette and he pushed
me straight to the room and had sex with me forcefully.
My heart was filled with pains, I had no one to run to, my parents warned me
but I never listened, I was blinded by love but when my eyes opened, all I
could see was sorrows all over me. On
the 10th of February 2013, I went to Mr. Adebanjo’s house. He
welcomed me warmly and asked me to sit; I sat down and went straight to why I
visited. “Since Idara and I got married, he has changed totally, he now smoke
and beat me blue black” I said to Mr. Adebanjo, he smiled and said “Idara is a
drug addict, he takes cocaine, he drinks and other things. I thought you loved
him that way” I held my breath “ I didn’t know he was into all those things”
Mr. Adebanjo was surprised “ how will you date a man for complete one year and
you would not know that he is a drug addict and also a drug dealer? He said. I dropped my hands on my head “but
he told me he was a business man, import and exporter of Nasco products” I said,
Mr. Adebanjo smiled again “what a business man, you are already into it, my
dear face it” he said. I left his house with my heart bitter and my hands on my
head.
That same day, I went to my parent’s house to tell them about
my predicament, I met only my Mum at home, I smiled into the house like there
was no problem, but my mum caught me in the act of pretence “you don’t look
alright” my mum said to me, I smiled again and said “just a little head ache,
but am fine anyway” she picked up a magazine on the table and asked “how is
your husband?” I couldn’t control my tears again, it flowed like a deep ocean
seeking for revenge, I couldn’t answer my mum but waited for my tears to dry
up, she dropped the magazine and concentrated on me, she asked again “Amanda
what is it?” I couldn’t look at her face, I felt embarrassed to even talk about
it, faced down, and my tears washed my cloth, I answered “my husband” she asked
again “what about him?” the sound of my crying voice came out so loud that my
mum couldn’t hear me, she came closer to me and tabbed me at the back “calm
down and tell me the problem” she said to me “if this is marriage I rather
remain single, but how can I be single again when I have been tied up in
bondage?” I answered her and used my palm to wipe my tears and continued “mum,
Idara is a drug addict, he was never an importer and exporter, Idara beats me
like a slave” my mum looked at me and was about to cry with me “you see why I
told you that marriage is an eye opener, that is why you have to calm down and
study your spouse, don’t get blinded by love, how many times did you take time
to study the man you want to marry? Hmmm Idara” she said, I wiped my tears with
my hands again and said “ oh my God am feeling so childish saying these things”
my mum carried her magazine up again and opened a page, then looked at me and
said “hope you are not thinking of a divorce because I will never allow that,
you were warned but you decided to go into the journey of no return without
reading the books leading to the journey” I was not thinking of a divorce
because that was another danger, I looked at my mum and couldn’t say a word
again, there was silence until she broke it “so what do you intend to do?” I
coughed and said “I can’t divorce him because we are into a blood covenant, mum
am doomed, am doomed” she smiled and said “my dear, go and solve your problem,
you asked for my blessing and I gave it to you, so go and enjoy the blessing,
don’t involve a third party in your marriage problem” she said and went into
her room. I carried my handbag and left the house.
CHAPTER 3
“Why are you coming back by this time?” Idara screamed out, I stepped back for a
defense and answered “I went to visit my parents” he came closer to me, dragged
me closer and said “how dare you visit your parents? I hate them, so you must
hate them too” for the first time, I answered “have you gone mad, how on earth
do you expect me to hate my parents?” he dragged me closer the more, used his
hands to drag my hair “how dare you call me a mad person?” he said and slapped
me and kicked me to the floor “you dare call me a mad person?” I struggled for
safety; finally I was able to escape from his grip and ran to the kitchen and
hid inside the store. Idara chased me till I entered into the store and locked
myself inside, he kept on screaming “Amanda come out here now” I cried till
there was no tears coming out of my eyes again. I stayed a while and could not
hear his voice again, I opened the door and peeped a little and I didn’t see my
husband. I tiptoed to the sitting room to rest rather than the bedroom and in
the sitting room, I saw my husband on the floor filled with drugs, I saw his
syringe and the drug container on the floor, tears dropped helplessly from my
eyes, I picked it up and threw it into the dustbin,
February 13th 2013, very early in the morning, I
woke Idara up and told him that I had something to tell him, he turned and said
“keep it to yourself” I pleaded with him, he still kept quiet, I talked without
considering him “look honey, you have to stop taking all this hard drugs, it is
not good for you” I said, Idara stood up, looked at me and asked “what did you
say?” I was scared of his next step “stop this smoking, drinking and hard drugs
habit of yours” I repeated myself “how dare you put your mouth into my
business?” I shifted my body a little “I am your wife Idara” he dragged me
closer “look fool, learn how to mind your business, your work in this house is
just for you to satisfy me anytime I need it” he said. I was so angry and
pushed his hands off my dress “you are crazy, do I look like a sex tool to
you?” I asked him, he dragged me to the kitchen and brought out knife from the
cabinet “repeat what you said” I had that boldness in me, I was so sure that he
would not use that knife on me “do you want to kill me? Try it, do it, I have
had enough of you in this house, when we were dating you were not like this,
and now you feel you want to kill me with the heat of your wickedness, you are
wicked, preten …” before I could finish
talking, Idara raised that knife to hit on me, I saw it coming down, but I
don’t know how it happened, I saw Idara on the floor with the knife deep into
his stomach, I knew I pushed the knife to his direction for self defense but I
didn’t know it went deep into his stomach “I didn’t kill him” was the only
thing that could come out of my mouth, I screamed for help and the neighbors
came into the house, they couldn’t believe my stories, they called the police
and that was it, I ended my story with my hand cloth filled with tears, the
investigator dropped his hands on the table and said “why did you not report to
the police that your husband was a drug dealer than killing him?” I used the
hand cloth to clean my nose “I swear, I did not kill him, I thought I was
trying to defend myself but I swear, it was not my intension to kill him” I
said “okay, till we meet in the court, take her in” the police man dragged me
into the cell.
March 14TH 2013, all ears waited for the judge to
give her final judgment, I prayed very
hard, I was so anxious, I was tensed, in fact, I was completely feverish, then
the judge looked up and said “why didn’t you leave the marriage?” I answered
“because of the blood covenant” she looked deeply at me and looked down again
and said “my final judgment” the court was quite and waited for her final
judgment “23 years imprisonment with hard labor” my life was meaningless to me again, I was 24
years and in the next 23 years I would be 47 years, the judge looked up and
said “what most girls fail to understand is that, life is a gradual process,
don’t rush into marriage because of love, be inquisitive to your spouse, and
also investigate well, take her away. The police carried me away to the cell
where I met my fellow sorrow filled prison mates.
End
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