“You have to leave this room. As our people say, when a new wife comes in, the old ‘cargo’ must vacate the bedroom so that the husband will have a taste of the new wine. You have to give my son the chance and space he needs to enjoy his new wife. That enjoyment starts this night and I don’t want you anywhere in this room looking at them and stopping them from expressing themselves fully. Please, pack your bags and look for another place to stay. Tonight is the night my son would have the taste of a real woman.” Nura’s mother-in-law said with a sarcastic smile on her face. She was intentionally creating heart-aches for Nura and she did not intend to stop. In fact, her original intention is that Nura would end up leaving the house in frustration.
“Mama, are you in any way suggesting that I’m not a real woman?” Nura asked with her head bowed. She was feeling ashamed because of the manner her mother-in-law spoke to her. She just finished making night food. She served everyone like a househelp. The new wife did not lift a finger or help in doing anything. She just sat at the dinning and waited for the food to be ready. When there was the need to fetch drinking water, it was Nura who ran the errand. Charles, her husband watched without saying a word in Nura’s defense. She became very tired after running around and decided to go to bed early. She was already on her matrimonial bed when her mother-in-law entered the room without knocking and started talking to her as if she was a child.
“Of course that is what I’m saying. You are not a real woman. You are just like a man living with my son. You have failed to prove that you are a real woman. If you are a real woman, why have you failed to bear children after ten years of living with a man in the same house? Why have you not conceived? You are as barren as the Sahara Desert. You are even more barren because even during hamattan, there used to be rainfall sometimes. But for you, there has never been any sign that you can conceive. I don’t know if you have used all the children in your belly for sacrifices in the coven of witches and wizards.” Nura s mother-in-law continued talking to her with a harsh, unfriendly tone. The words she was saying were hitting Nura like bomb. If she was not a strong-hearted woman, she would have collapsed out of shock, but she maintained her balance.
“I’m not God. And you are not God either. It is God who gives children. I know that at the appointed time, God will answer me and give me my own children.” Nura said. She was about crying but she controlled the tears. She started picking some of her things from the room. It was a painful thing to be chased out of one’s matrimonial room just because the person failed to bear children. The most painful part for her was that her husband watched as all these happened without saying a word. It was as if her husband was secretly talking through his mother. He was not saying the words himself but his mother was saying the things he would have said. Charles was not condemning his mother’s action, neither did he support Nura, he just watched the events unfold. Sometimes, he claimed not to know what his mother was doing, but he was always on available to reap the benefits of her actions.
“I pray you will be alive to see my harvest of blessings when the appointed time comes.” Nura said.
“When will the appointed time be? When? If you did not conceive after ten years, when will the time come? You did not conceive when you were younger, is it now that you are nearing menopause? Nura my dear, forget it. You will never be a mother. You can never bear children. I’m not sure you even have womb. I warned my son not to marry you because immediately I saw you, I knew you had ‘K’ leg. But he insisted. However, I’m here now to correct that mistake. Within the next nine months, the cry of a baby would be heard in this house. I’m sure by now you must have realized that your days in this house are numbered.” Nura’s mother-in-law said with a conspiratorial smile. She started arranging the room to her taste as she was the one who was going to sleep in it with her son. She removed the bedsheet and replaced it with a new one. The new one looked sparkling white.
“God will prove you wrong. Wait and see.” Nura said as she made to leave the room.
“Where has your God been since the past ten years?” Her mother-in-law asked harshly. Those words were very painful and Nura decided to use it as a prayer point. From that night, each time she wants to pray, she reminded God of the question her mother-in-law asked her.
“God, where have you been since the past ten years?” Nura would ask God in her closet. As she left the room, she met Charles and his new wife waiting at the door. They were waiting for the old woman to finish making the bed so that they would go in and enjoy themselves. It was a very painful sight for Nura, watching as another woman was walking in to take over her matrimonial bed but she decided to fight the new wife.
“So you are really going to keep quiet and watch your mother chase me out of my matrimonial bed? Are you really not going to stop her from doing this?” Nura asked Charles when she came out of the room.
“There is nothing I can do. We have discussed this. Please, you can occupy any other room, it’s a large building with plenty of empty rooms. Don’t feel as if anyone is chasing you away. It is just that you are no longer in the same room with me, but you are still my wife. Please, I want you to take this with good heart.” Charles said. What he said did not help. In fact, he made Nura more angry and pissed.
Although Nura moved her things to a new room, she did not sleep in the room that night. She came back to the room where Charles and the new wife sleept and stayed at the doorstep. She tried to see what they were doing from a small hole on the door. She also put her right ear on the hole and she heard as the new wife was making some noise as Charles was touching her. She was heartbroken and she cried all night.keep following Ocholongwa Jacob . Jesus loves you.
Watch out for episode 3.