3 final
I’m not accepting Mr Thompson as my husband
That night, I didn’t sleep a wink. I thought of what the women said to me earlier. I wasn’t supposed to involve the police.
But on a second thought, I was right. Like, what should I had done? Applaud a man who shattered my dreams of becoming a lawyerr?, a man who separated me from my family, took away my innocence at a very young age and made me an orphan?. Or was I supposed to run away with stolen treasures?. while he continued to torment vulnerable villagers?, No!, that would not make me any different from the one I was trying to punish.
At the end, I convinced myself that I’m not a fool. I am a woman who wants the best for myself and my people.
But the women did not want to see reasons with me.
“Yes, he forced us out from our homes, but we have never gone to bed hungry”. One of them lamented.
I woke up one morning to empty bowels assembled by my doorstep, I almost tripped and fell.
“What does this mean?”. I wondered.
I moved them aside with one leg before I called on one of the servants.
“What are these bowls for?”. I asked.
“Your co-wives did drop them, they need breakfast for the children”. She said.
Before I could reply to that, one of the young women came out from her room, peered into the bowls and shook her head.
“Why have you not filled the bowls?, Hmm?. Our children are hungry, for crying out loud”. She cried.
“You have to calm down Elizabeth, calm down, let’s put heads together and figure out how to fix this problem”. I pleaded.
“Don’t expect anyone to put head with you, because you didn’t inform any one of us before conniving with those men to take away our beloved husband”. She said.
I felt bad again.
For days, I was having tough time thinking of what to do with all the women and children.
One morning, I went into the village to look around. Fortunately, I found a lot of farmers, looking for labourers to work in there farm for daily pay. But none was willing to employ a heavily pregnant woman.
Back home, it was hard, convincing the young women to work. At the end, I was able to get only three of them to go with me.
They got employed, but were so lazy to work. I had to sneak into the farms to do the little I could. At the end, we were paid very little money.
It soon became a ritual for them, getting jobs and leaving it all for me to do. We had little food for ourselves but the children ate to their satisfaction. And that was all that matter.
On the day Mr Thompson appeared in court, I was present, with the other wives as well as some villagers. I testified against him without regret. I saw the shock on his face when I responded to questions the lawyers were throwing at me with unadulterated English language. I could also see the look of admiration on the faces of the village women.
They all believed I was speaking in favor of the MURDERER!.. lolz
He was later sent to jail and was never heard of even to this day.
I put to bed the next month, to a beautiful baby girl.
I wasn’t able to work after I put to bed because of complications. Things became tougher those days as the women came home everyday with lesser money than the usual.
In order to ease depression, I gathered all the children and were teaching them how to read and write. I started with my two sons, then my stepchildren and before long, other women started bringing their children for me.
“I like the way you spoke with those men in court the other day, I want my child to speak like that too”. Many of them pleaded.
I saw that as another opportunity to make money, then I turned Mr Thompson’s cabin to a classroom.
My school continued growing and then I saw the need for a helping hand. I employed two more teachers among my classmates to help
Months later , a group of white missionaries came into the village and luckily for me, they took interest in my school.
More classrooms were constructed within the cabin (it was a very large building) and more pupils were admitted.
I empowered my co-wives to start fending for themselves too.
A year later, my school had grown into one of the biggest around the community. After then, I found favor in the eyes of one of the men and I was flown abroad to further my education, with the school still under their care.
I left my kids with one of the young women but they came over after a year and six months.
At the completion of my study, I came home for the first time in 7 years.
The women sang my praise.
‘A brave woman who brought an end to the trafficking of the girl child’.
Tears escaped my eyes. I never knew I was a heroin
My co-wives were also doing very well in their various businesses.
“We’re so proud of you”. They chorused
The police had the treasures but I have with me my dignity and pride. I felt so fulfilled that everyone were happy at last.
I’m not a fool after all.
The end.
Thanks for reading Joy Ifunanya’s story
