HOLY
TAMAR
‘Scrrrrrrrh!!!’
the tires of a dirty shuttle car screeched nearly hitting a man passing on the
pedestrian road, its yellow and brown colour would make a perfect blend with
the ground if it were to be matched. Its interior blew a repugnant smell and
the hand of its passengers seemed to be clothed with handkerchiefs; some to dry
off sweat and some to shield their nose from the stench in the air.
It was 5
O’ clock when the sky was approaching the eventide’s visage, a time most
secondary school teachers like her gets the liberty to return to their abode
after a routine of classroom sessions. As Ruth, a 5ft5 tall and fair lady in
her late twenties alighted from the cab, she stretched out a five hundred naira
note to the driver, who immediately flared up; his dark thick hands were
visibly shaking and his sweaty forehead contracted to make a River Niger and River
Benue.
‘Haven’t
I told you that I have no change? What’s the meaning of all this?’ he expressed
himself swinging the note in annoyance.
‘Sorry sir,
but that’s about three two hundred naira notes on your hand’ she replied in
defence, unknowingly fuelling the driver’s anger.
‘So what
are you insinuating, that I’m mad or what? You must be very stupid’ he started
blasting in abusive orals as he alighted from the cab.
‘abi eleribu leleyi ni? Emi o ma na eleyi pa’
‘E ma
binu, I’m sorry’ Ruth begged covered with shame.
‘Driver
please forgive am’ a passenger also stepped out of the cab and begged on her
behalf.
After
much plead, the driver calmed down, Ruth refused to take back her change and
she walked towards the street en route to her husband’s house.
‘If not
for my husband’s refusal to pick me from my work place, I wouldn’t have had to
experience this kind of humiliation. Where have I missed it O’ Lord!’ she
soliloquized.
Their
cordial relationship as lovers at the initial stage of their nuptial journey
was without a fault as they both express their feelings without keeping
anything hidden and perhaps there was a secret that would later be uncovered. She
had met David in a church program at Samonda area of Ibadan two years before
they fell in love and finally made it formal in a well celebrated marriage.
Her hope
that their marriage will lead to the climax of their love was however buried in
the hope of a revival, nothing last forever so they say. Their love dwindled
few months after they’ve tied the conjugal knot. He no longer cared for her, he
found faults in all she did and whenever his action was questioned, he would
beat her into pulps. Whatever his reason was, no one knows but he would cry and
get lost in himself.
‘Good
evening dear’ she greeted David as she got home with the readiness to receive a
warm greeting or perhaps another round of beating. Her expectation was however out
of point as he shook his head and threw some pictures at her. In it were the
unclad images of her with one of her spiritual fathers in her formal church.
‘What do
you have to say holy Tamar?’
‘Jesus!
Oh my God!’ she exclaimed, totally abashed.
‘Why did
you keep this away from me? Despite the love I have for you...’
‘I...I..
am very sorry’ she cut in with tears in
her eyes.
‘Why! Why
have you done this? You should’ve informed me’ he sobbed
‘I wan...wanted
to tell you but I was...was...af...afraid you’d le...lea...leave me’ she
stammered incongruently. She held him by the legs and poured out her heart on
the case as it were. Few years before she met David, she was violated by bro Solomon,
a 6ft5 tall fair guy who took advantage of her being his church daughter as she
was coined and conned to be as regards her acceptance of new faith.
The night passed and the daylights brought them a
new surge of revival; indeed, love covers all things.
© Oladoyin Micheal 2019 (Prof. Mike Breeze)
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