The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Love Stories

  • She took my son away, claiming I was not the father (1)

    I WAS with a client that afternoon when one of my phones rang. Normally, I don’t pick calls during meetings especially when with a very important client like Chief Eriga.

    But it was my mother calling, so excusing myself, I I took the call. What she told me spoilt my mood for the rest of the day.

    “Sunny, we can’t find Eddy!” she stated urgently. She explained further that my younger sister had gone to the school to take him home, when she was told that his mother had picked him up earlier.

    “Why did the school allow her to go with him? I remember instructing them that no one could pick him except my immediate family members. What kind of thing is that?” I stated furiously.

    Later, as I drove to my mother’s place at Surulere, I kept wondering what Julia, my ex girlfriend and Eddy’s mother was up to. Since she had the boy over eight years ago, she had not shown much interest in him. She had left him with my mother at barely six months old, stating she wanted to return to school to complete her degree programme.

    As it turned out, it was a lie. We learnt that the new man in her life, whom she had moved in with, was not keen on raising another man’s child. So, she had dumped the baby with my mother. For nearly four years, Julia never came to check on her baby or ask after him. Eddy was about five years old when she showed up one day, with the boy looking at her like a stranger, unable to recognise his own mother.

    That became the pattern over the years. She would pop in once in six months or so, then disappear again. What kind of mother did that to her own child?

    A mother like Julia, who cared more about her own desires and needs, whose sole purpose in life seems to be about catching fun and having a good time…

    ***

    Actually, I met Julia in the ultimate fun spot-  a nightclub. I was attracted to her from the start; she was friendly, beautiful and fun loving. That first night we met, she ended up at my house. She was a second year student at the Uni then. We would date for the next two years and it was two wasted years of my life.

    Okay, it was fun at the beginning and I loved her but as time passed, I discovered that being with Julia is like dating the whirlwind- you can’t pin it down. This is a lady with no sense of commitment, of sticking with one man. She had several boyfriends all over the place and she did not even bother to hide them from me.

    Sometimes, she would even bring her man friends to my house when I was away at work or business engagements took me out of town. We had so many fights over this.

    “What is it you are looking for with those guys? I give you everything-money, love, attention. What more do you want?”

    “Is that all there is to life?” she would retort, blowing cigarette smoke in my face.

    I stepped away from her to avoid inhaling the noxious fumes. That was another bone of contention between us- her smoking and drinking habit.

    Julia would wake up in the morning and the first thing she would do is to light a cigarette. Because of her, my house often smelled like a cigarette factory.

    “You had better stop this your smoking or it will kill you one of these days,” I would warn her.

    “A man must die by one thing or the other,” she would rejoin.

    My mother, on noticing some of these traits in her, called me one day and said:

    “Sunny, this girl that has been living with you all this while, what are your plans towards her?”

    “What do you mean, Mama?” I countered.

    “I hope you are not nursing plans to marry her? That girl no be am at all!” she said bluntly in pidgin.

    “What do you have against her, Mama? She’s not that bad once you get to know her well. She’s a nice girl,” I told her.

    “Nice girl? That one that smokes and drinks as if she works in a brewery! Anyway, I’m not surprised considering where you picked her from!” she retorted.

    I assured her not to bother her head about the issue as I was not intending settling down soon with her or any other lady.

    That was until one day I returned home to hear some surprising news from Julia…

    To be continued

     

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  • Deadly mistakes (1)

    (A young man who specialises in dating older women for money and gifts got more than he bargained when he met and married Rachel, a wealthy businesswoman)
     
     
    Dani met Rachel, a woman in her early forties at his friend’s brother’s wedding. They hooked up and started dating. Within three months of their relationship, Dani took advantage of Rachel’s situation and asked her to marry him as she seemed desperate to get married due to her age.
    He was in his late twenties which made Rachel think he was joking when he asked her to marry him. 
    “Rachel, will you marry me?” he asked her one evening at her house over dinner.
    “Marry you? What do you think people will say because of my age?” she queried.
     
    “Forget about what people will say. We love each other and that’s what matters most!” he stated.      
     “I don’t know what to say,” she said, pretending to be in a confused state of mind, but inside her she was happy and flattered because she didn’t believe that someone this young could ask for her hand in marriage. 
    “Let me think about it,” she said.
    “There is nothing to think about if you love me,” “Dani told her.
    “Okay, I will marry you,” she accepted his proposal.  
      
    Dating older women has for years, been Dani way of life. It was the life he chose to live, disdainful and shameful as it is. 
    Later that day, at a drinking spot where he usually hung out with his friends Mike and Paul, he revealed his intentions towards Rachel to them: 
    “I will be getting married to that woman very soon,” he announced. 
    “I don’t understand,” said Mike who did not know that Dani was referring to Rachel. 
    “Who in particular are you talking about?” Mike asked because he knew marriage was the last thing on his friend’s mind.
    “So you don’t know who?” Paul asked Mike sarcastically. 
    “Would I have asked if I knew who he was referring to?” Mike retorted with a frown.
    “It’s that ATM Card of mine,” Dani hinted, before stating:
    “It’s Rachel.”
    “What? O boy na wa for you oh! …you wan marry that babe? You no see her age, abi you wan die before your time!” Paul asked him.
    “Paul, you mean his mother?” Mike asked. “Because that woman cannot be called babe but mother. In fact, Dani, you can call her aunty if you can’t call her mother,” he stated jokingly, and they both laughed at the joke. Dani didn’t laugh with them because he did not find the joke funny.
     “Who cares about her age? The woman has over 100 million naira in one of her bank accounts and you are there talking about age. I don’t care about her age. As far as I am concerned, I want to be in charge of that account, directly or indirectly,” he boasted, adding: “And the only way I can be in charge of the account is by getting married to her in order to have full control of her and that account of hers,” he explained. 
     
     Paul and Mike, best friends since their childhood warned him of the consequences of getting married to an older woman, but he insisted that he would marry Rachel because her money was way too much for him to resist.
     About two months later Dani and Rachel got married. The wedding was the talk of the town; people from all walks of life attended it because Amanda was highly connected in society.
     Before their wedding day, Dani started taking local medicines which would make him unable to get Rachel pregnant. 
     
     He had other plans in store. She was not worried when she did not get pregnant, six months into their marriage; she felt it would not be easy due to her age. After the wedding, Dani kept seeing other women. He knew he had no feelings for Rachel; he was in her life just for the purpose of relieving her of her huge fortune and this he did judiciously. 
     He dated both old and young women, spent his time in beer parlours, nightclubs and many a time he brought more than one woman to their home when Rachel was on business trips and spent the night with them on their matrimonial bed.
     
     The second wife
    Thirteen months after the wedding, Dani got a lady in her early twenties pregnant and married her secretly in the court. He kept the new wife, Joyce, in another part of the country and supplied her all her needs with Rachel’s money. He lied to Joyce that his work took him to many places which would make it hard for him to stay home with her most of the time. In other words, he lied to her so that his life with Joyce would not interfere with the life he was having with Rachel. With time, his secret marriage to Joyce produced three boys.
      “Women are so gullible and most of them have nothing in their heads. In fact, my brothers, I can’t spend my life labouring for them simply because I am a man. The way I am leading my life is the best thing that could ever happen to any man; I get money from the ‘old hag’, use it to train my children while I enjoy myself without working,” he told his friends who disapproved of the sort of life he was living. 
     
     “Dani, you’re keeping one woman outside and you’re living together as a married couple, with another; what do you think will happen if Rachel finds out that you are fooling around with her?” Paul asked him at their new drinking place.
     “She will never find out unless you tell her or are you planning to do so?” Dani asked him.
     “How do you mean? I will not be the one to expose you. But you have to consider that woman because she has invested so much in you, physically, emotionally and financially and you’re treating her this way,” Paul said. “You know age is no longer on her side and it will be better if you told her the truth before she finds out on her own.” 
     
     “Don’t mind him Dani,” Mike said, adding: “He’s talking like a woman. So, you want our friend to keep waiting for that woman who has aborted all the children in her body?” Mike asked.
     “What are you saying, was it not his choice? He chose to marry her because of her money and the woman can’t give birth to children for him and he’s now running away. I am not part of this wicked act because we warned him not to marry her but he insisted on marrying her,” Paul pointed out.
     “You people are just taking paracetamol for my headache,” said Dani who saw nothing wrong with the way he was treating Rachel. “I have solved my problem and everybody is happy…why the noise about women and children?” My darling Joyce has given me three handsome and healthy boys which I will forever be thankful to her for the honour,” he proclaimed.
     “That is not what we are saying…nothing is hidden under the sun. I am just being concerned about you because women like Rachel can go the extra mile to destroy you if you ever mess with them,” Paul asserted.
    “Relax Paul…why are you always pessimistic? I have told you that the woman loves me with her life and she will never find out…she can’t do anything even if she finds out,” Dani insisted. 
    “How long do you think this black life of yours will last without either of the women finding out about your double life?” Paul asked.
     
     “Don’t worry yourself, my house in Lekki Phase ll is almost completed and if she finds out that I’m married to another woman, I will simply leave her. Anyway, by then I would have completed the house and I will move in. I have already opened a shop for my wife and very soon I will start working on my travel documents. Trust me she won’t find out,” he said.
     “If you say so,” they both replied.
    Dani started laughing in a mischievous way which baffled his friends. 
    “What is it?” Paul asked.
     “Well, I’m laughing because less than ten million naira is what is left in that woman’s bank account, the one I have access to, ” he told them. 
    “Bad boy! You mean you have drained her bank account like this?” Mike asked him.
     “She doesn’t know anything; she didn’t know that she entered ‘one chance’. She wanted a husband and I wanted money, after all they say nothing goes for nothing. We both have what we want from each other, so, we have nothing to lose,” he maintained.
    Dani thought he could accomplish his goals just as he had planned but the unexpected happened, catching him unawares…
    Names have been changed to protect Rachel’s identity and other individuals in the story.
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  • The birthday gift (1)

    (What do you do when your fiancé dumps you a month before your wedding? Do you lick your emotional wounds and move on or you plot vengeance? This is the situation Naomi, the protagonist in this story faces.)

     ***

    He promised me forever, that our love will last till the end and we would never be apart. I gave him four years of my life and what was my reward? To be dumped unceremoniously just weeks before our big day! Even now, over a year later, the memory of Thad’s betrayal still hurts like an open knife wound that refused to heal. 

    That day is imprinted in my brain forever when Thad told me he could no longer marry me because he had fallen in love with someone else. An old school friend of mine for that matter! What kind of man does that? He did not even consider my feelings or those of our families, friends and well-wishers who were looking forward to our wedding day. Or the four years we had been together as a couple whom our friends envied because of the great love we had for each other. Four years of love, devotion and care down the drain in a jiffy…

    I first met Thad in the second company where I worked after leaving school. He was already a manager then and was full of drive and ambition, traits that I find very attractive in a guy. Maybe that was what drew me to him because back then, I already had a boyfriend, Jeff. The only problem was that the relationship with Jeff had no future as he had made it clear to me that he was not ready to settle down anytime soon. 

     “Marriage is not for me; at least not now,” he often said whenever I asked where the relationship was heading. So, when Thad started showing interest in me, I did not think twice about leaving Jeff for him. From the beginning, Thad made it clear that he wanted me for a serious relationship and not ‘just for fun.’ He said he wanted a woman who would be supportive and help him actualise his goals and dreams in life.

    “I think I have found that in you, Naomi. So, will you be my girl?” he had asked that evening after one of our dates. We had been sitting in his car by the gate of my family home where I still lived back then. 

    I told him ‘yes’ as I had fallen for him then and a few months later, we became officially engaged. Thad wanted us to get married straight away as he did not see any reason to delay the wedding. I agreed with him but my parents were not too keen on our getting married less than a year after we met. 

    “It’s too soon. You just met him not too long ago. Take your time to study him, know him better. Men are like the chameleon, they can change anytime. So, be sure, my dear that he’s the one for you,” my mother advised. Based on that, we had to shift the wedding date till the following year.

    Later, other things happened to further delay the marriage. Thad lost his father whom he was very close to. It took him sometime to recover from the shock of his father’s death. I had to be there for him to console him as his fiancée. Then, Thad was nominated by the company for a management course in the U.S. He was away for about eight months and I missed him terribly. On his return at the end of the programme, things went back to normal and we resumed our plans for the future.

    We chose a date in April last year for our wedding, which was my birthday as I wanted it to be a double celebration. 

    The bombshell

    A week before Thad dropped his bombshell on me, I had gone for the final fitting of my wedding gown. My friend Winnie had introduced me to a lady who made exquisite bespoke wedding gowns in town. Her prices were steep but she was very good and her gowns were lovely. Her store was at Lekki and I had spent a long time there while she made some adjustments on the gown and veil. 

    “Have you put on some weight? Your waist looks bigger than the last time you were here,” she stated as she measured my bust and waistline with a tailor’s tape. 

    “Maybe I ate too much at the party I attended last weekend’, I said, laughing. I stood in front of the large mirror and checked out the gown. It was a strapless design with a bolero jacket to cover up during the church service. Apart from the small train on the skirt and some adjustments here and there it was almost ready. 

    “It’s looking good,” I said, spinning round to see the back. 

    “Just don’t put on more weight so it can fit properly especially in the bust and waist,” said the designer as she knelt down to check the hemline.

    “I need to do more exercises then,” I said, smiling. I was happy with the gown and our wedding plans too which were going well. It was stressful with all the arrangements, but I did not mind; at the end of the day, Thad and I would be together always.

    That evening, Thad came to pick me up for an outing we had. I told him about my visit to the designer as well as the caterer we had booked for the reception.

    “She wants the deposit by next week so she can make her preparations. We still need to make the booking for the hall at the events centre. I spoke with the manager yesterday and he wants us to come for the final inspection,” I said as we drove off.

    As I continued chatting about other matters concerning our nuptials, I noticed that Thad was a bit absentminded. Usually, he would be highly interested in what I was saying but that day, it was as if his mind was elsewhere.

    “What did you say?” he asked turning to me in the car. I had just asked about his mother but there had been no response from him.

    “You’ve not been listening to me, have you?” I said. “What are you thinking about?” I queried.

    “You,” he said with a smile.

    “I’m here with you so why would you be thinking about me?” I asked teasingly. 

    “Because you are looking really sweet tonight, baby,” he said.

    I laughed.

    “You always say that anytime I’m dressed up and we are going out,” I noted, caressing his cheek.

    Later that night, we were leaving his friend’s house where we had gone visiting when Thad’s phone rang. I sat in the car and waited for him while he took the call which lasted for a long time.

    “Who was that?” I asked when he joined me in the car.

    “Oh, just a friend I met during the training in the States,” he said, starting the car…

    To be Continued…

    Names have been changed to protect the identity of the narrator and other individuals in the story.

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  • Flora Forever (1)

     

    • A chance meeting through an accident early one morning in a street in Lagos would have a profound effect on Bari, the narrator of this story and the accident victim, Flora…

    It was about seven in the morning and I was on my way to work. I was running quite late so I was in a bit of a hurry. Maybe that was the reason I did not see the lone figure, a woman that suddenly dashed across the road right in front of my car. I applied the breaks as fast as possible to avoid hitting her. But it was too late. I heard a crunching sound and a cry of pain and I quickly parked and ran out of the car. Seeing the blood from a gash on her head, I initially thought she was dead. Then I heard her moan and she opened her eyes.
    “Are you alright?” I asked worriedly, my hand on the uninjured side of her head.
    She gazed at me without speaking, moaned again then closed her eyes. I was already late for work but I could not leave her lying there by the roadside. Besides, a few passersby had gathered and were asking questions. With their help, I placed her in the back seat of my car and drove to my family hospital. 
    She was admitted and I stayed for a while to ensure she would be ok. I later left for work after instructing one of the nurses I knew to call me if they needed anything.
    On my way from work that night, I stopped by the hospital. I was glad to see that she was awake, sitting up and taking some drugs. Standing by the bedside was a nurse as well as another woman I had not seen before.
    “How are you feeling now?” I asked her after the nurse had told her I was the one who had brought her to the hospital.
    Before she could answer, the other woman said angrily:
    “So you are the idiot that almost killed my sister this morning! Why can’t you these drivers look where you are going?”
    “Take it easy, sister. It’s not like that. It was actually my fault,” the lady I hit, stated. Then turning to me, she added:
    “Please, don’t take any notice of her. She can be temperamental at times…”
    “And what’s that supposed to mean?” demanded the sister.
    I spoke up then.
    “Madam, I’m sorry for what happened. It was an accident and not intentional.”
    That seemed to calm her down a bit.
    Later, I introduced myself to her sister and spoke for sometime with her.
     “I’m Flora,” she said, extending her hand for a handshake. I studied her for a while. The injury on her head had been bandaged and it didn’t look as if she was injured on any other part of her body. I felt relieved at that as I had feared that she could have broken a leg or other body part. 
    “I’m glad to see you sitting up and looking alright,” I said. 
    She smiled a little then laid back on the bed.
    Before leaving, I spoke to the nurse briefly about Flora’s condition along the corridor outside her room.
     “The doctor said the injury was not deep so she will be fine. But she has to remain in the hospital for a couple of days as we need to do an x-ray to ensure there are no internal injuries,” 
    she explained.
    It was three days later she eventually left the hospital. I felt responsible for what happened so  since it was a weekend and I did not go to the office, I took her home. She lived with her elder sister, Aunty Janet the one I met at the hospital. 
    In the house were two young girls and an older girl who looked a lot like Flora.
     I initially thought the children were her elder sister’s kids.
    But when we entered the house, they ran to her shouting ‘Mummy’ and embraced her.
    I looked at her in surprise. To me, she looked too young to be a mother, much less, a mother of two. I didn’t even know she was married as I had not seen any man with her at the hospital.
    “Mummy, where have you been? Did you buy anything for me?” the younger girl who looked about four stated.
    Flora smiled and patting them fondly, turned to me.
    “This is Uncle Bari. Say hello to him.”
    “Welcome Uncle,” they both chorused looking up curiously at me.
    I smiled at them then sat down on a chair.
    Aunty Janet and the older girl who was Flora’s younger sister, Patricia had gone to where I presumed was the kitchen as I could hear the noise of pots being opened and closed.
    “Thanks for bringing me home. You didn’t even have to. I could have found my way home easily,” she said, sitting on a chair to my right.
    “It was nothing. As I said, I feel responsible. What if something worse had happened? We won’t be sitting here chatting like this,” I noted.
    She nodded then said:
    “You are right. Maybe, it’s not time for me to go yet.”
    The elder sister brought some drinks later and Flora and I sat drinking for a while and chatting.
    I was curious about her and there were some questions I wanted to ask her. But I didn’t, as I felt it would be rude of me to be prying in her private affairs.
    I left a short while later, turning down her offer of staying for dinner with them.
     “There’s somewhere I have to be in the next 30 minutes,” I explained as she saw me to my car.
    As I drove off, I could see her from my side mirror, standing by the gate of the building and waving.
    I did not see Flora again for a while. I was busy with work and other things that took up my attention. But I called occasionally to check on her health and she always told me she was fine.
    It was about three weeks later, on a rainy evening when I ran into her again. I was returning home from a visit to a friend when I saw her standing at a bus top, taking shelter from the pouring rain. 
    I wound down the window on the passenger’s side and called to her.
     Seeing me, she ran towards the car and got in.
    “Where are you going?” I queried after we exchanged greetings.
    She stated she had gone to the market and was returning home.
     “The rain started without warning and I didn’t bring an umbrella from home,” she said.
     I enquired after the children. Then, turning to her, stated:
    “And your husband? I’m yet to meet him. Did he travel or something?” I asked.
    She remained silent and simply stared straight ahead through the windscreen.
     Then, to my shock, I saw tears streaming down her cheeks and onto the blue top she had on.
    “Is there anything the matter? Did I say something to upset you?” I asked in a concerned tone.
    She sniffed and shook her head.
    I opened the glove compartment and bringing out a hankie, gave it to her.
    She took it silently then broke down and began sobbing.
    I looked for a space close to a busy bus top and parked. 
     I sat, silent and waited for the weeping to subside.
    It was a full ten minutes later before she was able to get control of herself. 
     She wiped her face with the hankie and said:
    “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” she stated.
     “It’s ok,” I assured her. “If you are having any problem, you can talk to me. As a friend. I’ll be happy to help in any way,” I added, turning to take her hand in mine.
    She sighed then stated:
    “Thanks for the offer. But there’s nothing you can do. You see, it’s my husband or rather my estranged husband as we are separated…”

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