chapter 48

FINAL chapter

Ifeoma smiled at the question Fikayo asked. She stood up and walked into her room.

Fikayo remained on the edge of his seat as he kept looking at the entrance expecting her to come out with luggages and all. Instead, Ifeoma came out of the room with a brown paper in her hands.

She sat down before stretching it forth to Fikayo who stared at it for a few seconds before handing over the baby to Amaka and then collecting the paper.He almost ripped it open in a bid to get the content out quickly. He read the first paper on top of over ten others:

To: Mr. OluwaFikayomi Johnson. From: Ms. Ifeoma Ogbonna.

Date: 22nd October, 2022.

Subject: Divorce from husband through court of law. Dear Client, It is to notify that your former wife had filed a case of divorce from you and from now onwards further future communications (internet, postal, cellular) will be sent to you only and the mutual account of bank will be solely held by you as she had withdrawn her portion of money from the bank. She made it clear that you will be no longer held liable of her pay or other personal concerns and if you do approach her for any financial affair, this court of law will take strict and firm action against you. For your safety, this court orders you to show compliance with its verdict and it will be appreciated. Best Regards,

Mr. Agbor,

22nd October, 2022.

Sweat suddenly gathered on his forehead as he went through the other papers which were full of other divorce documents.

"What... what is this about, Oma? I... I thought you were taking me back? Oma, please, don't do this to me, please." Fikayo went on all fours yet again.

Mama was confused.

Ifeoma's eyes glistened with tears before she began to speak, "I will never forget the beauty I saw when I first set eyes on you. I never get tired of telling you how handsome you were, often to your intense irritation. You were ambitious, it was infectious. You made me promises I never imagined you wouldn't keep. Life was exciting. We enjoyed nights out, exotic holidays, I felt loved and wanted. We married and had delay in childbirth. But then I soon realised that I wasn't your priority and never would be. I soon realized that I would always be second no matter what. I could have kept taking all that your mother dished to me, you never took my side but as if that wasn't enough, you went ahead to cheat and then rub it on my face. You know, I thought the moment you walked through that door to beg me, I would shout and scream and then put my hands in yours and we would live happily ever after. But then as I grew closer to my time to give birth, I thought about it all from the beginning.

Meals have only ever been cooked by me and you have never attempted to prepare anything, I have asked that you try but to no avail. I took it all with levity cos I thought you were the man after all. All I want is to be held, to be brought a cup of tea in the morning, to be told I am appreciated, to enjoy life's simple adventures with the man I am meant to share my life and my world with. You are irritated by any plans I make to ensure our free time as a family is spent as best we can together. We both work full-time and although I earn more than you do, you treat me as your intellectual, emotional, and marriage inferior. When your work day has finished, mine continues the moment I walk through the door of our house. Laundry, preparing meals, cooking three times a day when your mother is around, food shopping, and all other stuffs. The pressure is often more than I can bear. I want to scream: "Where is the man I fell in love with?" But then I soon realized that I actually fell in love with the man I thought you would be not the one you actually are. I mean, it was all glaring while we dated, but I still went ahead and that... that was an error on my part.

The slightest touch that speaks volumes, a kiss on the neck which induces the saddest feeling within me simply in the knowledge that, that was enough, that love was enough.

I am scared that my children will be raised in a world where it is acceptable to allow a mother to do everything, where the woman should take all sorts of nonsense all in the name of marriage and where a woman can be constantly drained emotionally and psychologically and still keep taking it. It isn't acceptable now and should never be considered so.

I am so sad. For you. For me. For our children. For the life that we were meant to have together. But I can't stay for the sake of the children, I know it would only prolong an increasingly unbearable agony. I always thought I was unbreakable, but continuing down this road will surely break me, it almost did. Please don't let that happen. Please let's just hold our hands up, admit defeat and walk away as friends. Please, don't expect me to go into that relationship where I almost lost my sanity and where you watched as a spectator when all of it were being thrown. Don't expect me to go back into a marriage where my respect was trampled upon and I had little support from you."

Tears streamed down Fikayo's eyes as he listened to his wife. He could tell that her mind was made up but he knew he should try harder. Maybe, just maybe, she'd change her mind and come back to him.

"Baby, I'm so sorry. Really, I am. I promise to change, you know how much I love you. I'm so sorry, it was mom, i also allowed my friends to lead me astray. I'm so sorry, baby, please, don't do this to me. I'd die if you don't come back to me, please."

"You lost the chance to change, Fikayo. Don't get me wrong, honestly, you were loving and caring on your own way, you loved me and I did too, I still do, as little as the feeling may be, it's still there. But honestly, I can't go back to that. No, I deserve better, of that I'm sure. Your mother hasn't even for once apologized for everything she did which means she doesn't even think she did anything wrong and would still go back to doing it. If Sewa's issue didn't turn out the way it did, you might never have looked back. You didn't call, you didn't care to get the root of the matter, you discarded me immediately like trash. In-fact, you're here because she told you to be here, you still can't decide on your own and I don't think you ever will. It's not your mom's fault, Fikayo. Take the blame and move on with your life. You allowed it and that's a fact. I'm not perfect too but I know that I deserve better than you. I wish you the very best, I honestly do. But I'd rather be a single mother than go back to being your wife. You have access to our kids, trust me, that's fine." Ifeoma concluded.

Mama started to plead after that but Ifeoma's mind was made up as she stood up and left the living room, carrying one of the twins with her. Amaka took the other twin from mama and followed her. Mama called after her.

"She said she's not doing again, abi what is it na! It's time to leave!" Bola snapped at the woman as she glared at them both."She was even so kind to you, it pisses me off! Leave jor!"

Fikayo took another look at the papers in his hands and then turned to glare at his mother as if to say, "this is all your fault" before he then stormed out of the building.

"We'll come back for our children! The man owns the children after all! We'll be back for them!" Mama shouted.

"If you cross your boundary, mama, I'll pour hot water on your body!" Bola threatened.

Mama didn't stop shouting as she left the building. Her son had zoomed off in annoyance.

Ifeoma stared at empty space, she was sure that she had taken the right decision and she was proud of herself.

"Peace and greatness, here I come." She whispered as she rested her head on the pillow.

THE END...