The love of an abuser
The story you are about to read is a work of fiction taken from my upcoming novel
Ahudiya was still hurting over the collapse of her marriage. She knew that her estranged husband was alive and well, probably with another woman. And she was right because her husband was with the woman he had always thought was best for him. The other woman had been a thorn in Ahudiya's flesh long before the war.
She knew when her husband started fooling around with those small Lagos girls. Her husband, John, had always had a thing for young, insecure girls. He liked to offer them hope, pretending to care about them while taking advantage of their innocence. And the girls worshipped him like a demigod, willingly satisfying his sexual and egotistical desires whenever and however he wanted.
The infidelity and the utter disrespect for their matrimonial bedroom contributed to the dispute in their marriage. But every time they fought, John always won. He blamed Ahudiya for not satisfying his desires and for trying to emasculate him with her independence and her opinions. So, to allow peace to reign, she let him fool around. But the matter became worse when John met Gloria.
Gloria was a very insecure young woman. She was the daughter of a housemaid. She never knew who her father was and grew up watching as her mother was constantly abused physically by her wealthy employers. Soon, the abuse was extended to the girl and this inevitably affected her self-esteem.
And then her mother suddenly died, even as her life took a drastic turn for the worse. She had to live with several of her relatives, many of whom didn’t want her around. One of the relatives was her uncle who lived in a low-rent neighbourhood at Ikeja, right next to where John and Ahudiya lived with their children before the war. It was here that John first noticed the girl and began to take advantage of her.
Unfortunately, Gloria fell for John’s antics. Young, naïve and in need of help as she was, her mind was boggled by the fact that a mature man, handsome man like John found her attractive enough to want to have sex with her. She was even most delighted over John's promises to take care of her.
She loved him and loved the idea of them becoming husband and wife someday. She began to spend a lot of time in his furniture store in the guise of serving as his secretary. Before long, they were sneaking into John’s house to have sex in the afternoon when Ahudiya was at the market. The girl felt happy and cared less about the fact that John was a married man. All she cared about was her happiness. She clung desperately to John and looked forward to the day he would make her his wife just as he had promised.
But when the war suddenly broke out, all of Gloria’s expectations came crashing. Within a matter of weeks, all the Igbos scrambled to cross the Niger Bridge to the eastern heartland, including John who gathered his family and fled Lagos. Gloria watched with tears in her eyes as he left, even as she feared she might never see him again. She wished she could have gone with him, but she could not because she was not Igbo. She was Tiv, hailing from the same place where the Head of State was from.
Staying back in Lagos without the man she loved wasn't easy for the young woman. Once again, she felt miserable. She could not bear to imagine what her life would be like without him. She believed nobody could care for her as much as John did. Her uncle had no plans for her…