I had barely finished with my house chores when I heard a knock at the door, I didn't bother to ask who was there as I knew already that it was Amaka the sisters coordinator and the only friend I have here in Lagos. I dropped the little napkin in my hands, adjusted my pyjamas and reached out for the door...
The sight of Amaka's smile and appearance very early as 9:30am made me remember when I was single and I wish I could just turn back the hands of time...
"hey Mrs, are you going to let me in or you're going to stand at the door for hours and keep staring at me like I'm one goddess"..... She said jokingly and it was then I realized I was lost in thought.
"oh sorry, please come in"...
She stepped in and walked directly into the sitting room while I followed her and I couldn't just imagine how lucky she is to be still single.
Amaka had barely dropped her bag and settled down before she bombarded me with series of questions...
"omolola, are you sure you are ready for this? Have you thought about this action of yours very well?...
I walked straight into the kitchen ignoring all her questions and in no time I was back into the sitting room with a glass of fruit juice and a tray of freshly baked chicken pie...
.." will you at least settle down and take something before borging my head with series of questions"... I handed over the glass of Juice to her and watch her as she carefully sipped some and dropped the cup on the glass centre table in front of her. While she sat upright to make herself comfortable the more, I looked directly into her eyes with a broad smile and I handed over the tray of chicken pie to her... " I made this for you cos I know that's your favorite"...
With a satisfactory smile, she collected the tray and bite the pie carefully... "Hhhmm, you won't stop acting like one nice lady. Thanks for this anyways, it's so yummy"... She said jokingly and we both laughed.
I finally sat down on the soft leather couch directly opposite the one she was sitting on with my two legs crossed and placing one of the small throw pillows on my laps... " Now back to your question Amaka, I am ready for this, I made up my mind about it long before now and I have decided to do it"
I looked directly at the big picture frame that was carefully hanged on the wall beside the 24inches plasma TV and warm tears rolled down my chicks...
"my marriage to Raph has been the biggest mistake ever, and I have decided to take it just the way it is and keep praying till the end of time. But I won't allow another lady out there make the same mistake I made years back. And that's why I called you here this morning.
Please Amaka, I believe in you and I trust you, that's why I need you to help me talk to every single lady out there on the essence of serious prayer and genuine conviction before saying "I do"... I stood up to lock the main entrance door to ensure that nobody comes in and I walked back gently to take my sit. I tried to pull myself together and control the trend of my tears and I looked directly at Amaka who is already in a sober mood with a pen and a book in her hands while she stared at me speechless, and continued softly.
..." yes, serious prayers and concrete conviction, don't get so carried away because he's a pastor. Fine, he can pastor a church so very well, but can he handle his family very well when no church member is in sight.
Oh, the brother prays and speak in tongues like the apostles of old, can those tongues speak very well to his wife when nobody is in sight.
Hhhmm, he sings and the host of heaven comes down, can his lordship bring down the presence of God in his own family.
Let them not be so overwhelmed because he preaches the Bible just the way it is supposed to be preached, they should find out if he can actually handle his wife just the way she's supposed to be handled".... I paused for a while, swallowing very hard and I looked at the far end of the sitting room where Raph's picture was hanged with a broad smile on his face and memories arised in my head again. I quickly adjusted and sat upright as I continued softly...
" don't be easily convinced because he speaks so gently, decently and softly to people in church, can he speak the same way to his wife and kids when nobody is watching.
Amaka, let every single lady know that they shouldn't be convinced with all these physical manifestation alone and feel there is no need for serious prayers and conviction about Christian brothers before saying I do.... Look, sweetie, you are still so very lucky right now, because you are still single and can still change and rewrite a whole lot about your destiny without anybody's permission, trust me, once you are married, you won't be able to change ordinary a TV station without permission"... I gently wiped the tears that were already dropping uncontrollably on my chicks with the back of my palm and I continued softly...
"my dear, enough of this teaching, I didn't call you here to lecture you, I called you here to share with you and every single lady the story of my life and marriage"...
I reached out for my handkerchief to dry my wet and swollen red eye balls and I sat uprightly putting on a little smile to draw Amaka's attention because I could sense it that she was already feeling sorry for me. I tried to maintain the smile as I continued my story even though I knew the smiles were going to fade away so very soon....
"Omolola Ajibade is my name and I said yes to Raphael Ajibade when I was in my finals during my university days. Ofcos, I have known him long before then. We attended the same student fellowship while we were on campus but he was a year ahead of me"... I paused briefly and I stood up as I excused myself briefly and I walked towards the refrigerator in the dinning room, I need to get some water cos it appears I might die of thirst any time from now....
See you 😘
to be continued tomorrow.