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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781504955256 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 07/23/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 112 |
| File size: | 97 KB |
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The Unfaithful Spouse
By Destiny O. Emmanuel
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2016 Destiny O. EmmanuelAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5049-5524-9
CHAPTER 1
The Unruly King
* * *
It was a blissful day as usual in Imoku community. The community was quite a large one, but many of the houses were mud houses with raffia roofs. Only a few houses were covered with zinc, of which the king's palace was one. Goats and chickens strayed freely. Several children also ran freely with only their pants on, and some were nude, with their fingers in their mouths. The rural dwellers were notable farmers, fishermen, and craftsmen.
King Zamadora, the ruler of Imoku community, was in fluential, feared, and respected by all in the community and its environs. To the community dwellers, the fear of His Majesty was the beginning of good judgment because of his tyrannical rule. He was also seen as the final arbiter. He had just ordered the execution of Ladi, the drummer, for having dared to chat with his only daughter under a mango tree.
After the execution, the inhabitants mourned for countless days. The community was quiet. Everyone felt his absence, especially the children. Ladi was a good storyteller. He often gathered little children underneath the big mahogany tree at the back of his house for moonlight tales. Occasionally, some of them dozed off while listening. His children, three boys and two girls, also enjoyed their father's stories.
His Majesty had summoned Ladi that ill-fated evening and had ordered his messenger and two of his palace guards to bring him to his palace. Immediately he was notifies, he knew he would not see the dawn of the following day, the reason being that he had faced the king's court the previous day and was found guilty. He entered and picked his cap with the thought that it would be sent back to his wife after his execution. His wife wept bitterly as he was set to go with the king's messengers. She beseeched him not to go, but to no avail.
"Who will take care of us, my husband? Please do not go with them," Yoma begged.
"My dear, the gods of our forefathers will protect you and my children," Ladi replied as he tried to encourage his wife. Yoma held him by the leg while the children clung to him. They held on to him in tears and loud cries as the warriors dragged him away to the forbidden forest, where he was to be executed. The community dwellers watched helplessly as he was being dragged away.
After a long wait that seemed like eternity, his cap was sent to his wife. She wailed and wept uncontrollably. The women sympathized with her. Mama Bonboy lent a hand by preparing a sumptuous meal, which she declined. But her little child, who seemed not to understand the tragedy that had befallen her father, ate hungrily. It was a cold and grief-stricken night in the neighborhood. Even the birds refused to chirp and the cocks crowed in a sorrowful rhythm. The moon was ashamed of the king's act and refused to smile on the community. Yoma cried till dawn.
Soku, the famous but poor fisherman, was sad when he learned about the unfortunate incident.
"Oh Death! Why have you come to take away a good man from us?" he lamented as he entered the deceased's small compound.
He sympathized and tried to console Yoma. After a while, he brought out the two big fishes he had caught and gave them to her. Mama Bonboy accepted the fishes on behalf of her bereaved friend. Ladi's wife could only nod to acknowledge his kind gestures.
Soku, on getting home, wept bitterly and cursed the king silently. Soku and Ladi had been very close before his death. His wife, Mira, consoled and begged him to eat, but he refused. He retired to bed and was deep in thought until the wee hours of the morning when he finally fell asleep.
Soku was a very simple man with a good heart. His wife was tall and dark-complexioned with perfect straight legs. She had a pointed nose and looked like a Fulani. Her eyes were light brown and mysterious like the quiet waters of a deep, glittery, morning stream. But she was an arrogant woman and always ready to foment trouble with anyone at the slightest provocation. In spite of her horrid character, her husband's affection for her grew daily.
Soku woke up at a time when the morning sun was smiling up in the sky. He looked worn out and worried.
"Is this the time your mates do wake up?" his wife asked in a scornful voice.
He made a great effort to sit up on the bamboo bed, yawning emphatically while his wife watched him with disdain.
"Woman, have you no respect for the dead?" he asked courteously.
"What has that got to do with us?" she asked angrily. "Let the dead be and the living with themselves."
"Woman, can't I have peace in my own house anymore?" he flung back at her. He stood up, picked up his chewing stick from the edge of the small window that made available little ventilation, and stuck it in his mouth. He was still for a moment as if trying to decide on what to do next and then walked out to the backyard.
"I am talking to you and you are walking away?" Mira snapped.
Some minutes later he strolled in and demanded his breakfast.
"I am very hungry. You know I did not eat last night. Please, can I have some food?"
"Why not eat me? Eh! Eat me," she hissed, "so the whole world would know that you are hungry."
"But I brought some fishes home yester-night," he said defensively, looking into his frustrated wife's eyes.
"Fish! Did I hear you say fish? You are not even ashamed to say you brought some fishes home," retorted his wife.
"I know it is not my fault for the fact that I did my best," her husband fired back.
"So, you did your best? Hmm, I can see." At that, she sprang on her feet and seized her husband by the wrapper he was tying. "Look at me, I am getting emaciated, and God knows I was fatter when you married me."
"Fatter indeed. In fact, you were fatter than a broom stick," he said frowning as he tried to loosen her grip.
"Look at you, say whatever you like. Sooner or later, I will find another man. You fool!" she cursed.
He was angry and smacked her violently on her left cheek. She screamed wildly and fell violently on the clay pots on the floor. She stood up and grabbed her husband's wrapper again, as she hurled insults at him. He ignored her and made an effort to walk away, but she would not let him. Before he could do away with her hand from his wrapper, she had spat in his face. This infuriated him, and he slapped her again and again until she let go of him. She leaped at him. They both exchanged blows, and he forced her hold off and pushed her on the bamboo bed.
"I do not blame you. If not for my father that forcefully gave me to you, I would not have been married to you. You are a shameless man!" she thundered as her husband hurriedly left the room.
CHAPTER 2The Secret Romance
* * *
Mira cried as she made her way to the palace to allege Soku. She met the king in a meeting with his chiefs. Without listening to her, King Zamadora ordered his guards to bring Soku to the palace, dead or alive.
The guards obeyed and immediately left for Soku's house, where they found him relaxing on his cane chair. He was surprised to see them moving like warriors set in battle and advancing toward his compound. Before he could sit up, they had pounced on him and beaten him black and blue. His eyes were swollen and bloodshot. His body ached as he wailed in agony for mercy. He shivered with the fear of the unknown as he was being dragged in the mud along the footpath to the palace. Passersby pitied him because they feared for his return.
On arriving at the palace, he greeted the king and lay on the ground faced down. He was surprised when he caught a glimpse of his wife kneeling down before the king. He wondered what his wife might have done wrong to the king. He was too frightened to lift his head up. When the king finally spoke, he could not believe his ears when he learned that it was his wife who had reported him to the king. One of the chiefs asked Mira to continue from where she had stopped.
"And he punched me on the face and on my breast and kicked me in my stomach and —" she sobbed as she reeled out her own part of the story.
"But you told him what a married woman should never utter to the man who struggled to pay her bride price. You said that you would look for another man. It's never said," one of the chiefs who were present rebuked her.
"Not even when he is, in spite of everything, your husband," another chief cut in.
"Oh, come off it. You are all old fools with gray hair," King Zamadora shouted at the chiefs. "Is that how to pass judgment?"
The chiefs chuckled, looking down on the floor with dropped shoulders. They were not surprised at the king's action toward them.
"And you, what audacity have you to beat your wife? Under no circumstances should you lay your filthy hands on her again, or I shall have you stripped naked and flogged at the village square."
Soku looked up and immediately dropped his face again to avoid any eye contact with the king.
"You are an irresponsible idiot," he said, pointing his horsetail emphatically at Soku.
Mira smiled mischievously as she covered her face with her hands, pretending to sob.
"Now, you can go home. She will be right behind you," he concluded. "More so, she needs treatment."
The chiefs glanced at each other in a familiar way. Soku jumped up. He prostrated before the king again and again. There was a look on his face that turned Soku cold, and he moved silently backward until he was out of sight.
A few minutes later, King Zamadora discharged the chiefs and afterward ordered Mira to come with him to his private room. He sat down majestically on the bamboo bed covered with fine white linen. He was dazed by her looks. He patted the space beside him on the bed for her to sit. She was skeptical about what to do.
"You are beautiful. Has your husband ever told you that? Do you know you are pretty?" He cajoled with a beaming smile.
"Thank you, my lord," she responded with an uncomfortable smile.
"Have you been told before that you are a fallen angel from heaven? Come on, move closer, my dear, and I will make you one of my queens. Come and sit on the bed with me! My gracious cherub," he persuaded.
There was no response from her. She stared at her big toe as if she were seeing it for the first time.
"Are you shy?" he asked softly.
Quietly and slowly, she walked toward the king and sat beside him.
"I have been doing the talking since, not even a word from you. Why not say something?" he asked romantically, taking her hand and caressing it lightly.
"My lord, I am your subject. Do with me as you wish," she uttered softly.
"I yearn for you to be my companion. I had dreamt about you before the gods of the land brought you to the palace," he pleaded with a passionate voice.
She smiled and nestled closer to the king. The king lay with her and afterward, she wrapped her wrapper around her slim waist and walked out of the palace unnoticed.
Soku waited patiently for his wife to return that cold evening till midnight when he fell asleep. The sound of Mira opening the door woke him up.
"My sweetheart, I am so sorry for all that has happened," he apologized, but his wife would not listen to him. She hissed and walked straight to the bed.
Her husband did all he could to restore peace between them but to no avail. Soku invited some of Mira's family members and relatives to mediate between them but she would not compromise.
The amorous affair between the king and Soku's wife turned out to be an occasional schedule. She sneaked in and out of the palace to satisfy their sexual urges at any available opportunity. Each time Mira visited the palace, she often demanded for one thing or the other. It was either she requested for some amount of money, or she wanted a particular cloth she had seen on one or two of her friends. The king always granted her requests.
Ughele community was a confluence district to Imoku. It was time for the Ogoje festival, which was often celebrated yearly. The dwellers of Ughele community were getting prepared for the forth-coming festival with much enthusiasm. Each time it was being celebrated, people from all walks of life came from far and near to join in the festivity. It was always an interesting occasion. There was always enough to eat and drink. Palm wine was always in excess, and the careless drinkers would not hesitate to get intoxicated. The bachelors used the opportunity to find their future partners on this memorable day, so also the spinsters. A large number of Imoku indigenes moved to Ughele for the festival.
Soku could not resist the temptation of being there. His wife refused to go with him. He had pleaded with her the night before to accompany him, but she stubbornly turned him down. Her mind was miles away on her hidden agenda.
The celebration lasted all night, and everyone watched in admiration. The dancers and wrestlers entertained everyone in attendance. The masquerades plummeted in an extraordinary acrobatic fashion. Soku and others danced and cheered. He had merely drunk two cups of palm wine when he dozed off.
He awakened when nearly everyone had left the arena of the gala. At the sound of the first cock crow, he jumped up, cleansed his eyes with the edge of his dirty cloth, and shook his head.
He walked unsteadily to his cousin's home in Ughele. He was warmly received. He had his bath and chatted with him for some time. His cousin prepared him a sumptuous meal for breakfast. After the meal, he hastily left for home.
CHAPTER 3The False Allegation
* * *
Soku greeted some men on his way home as he walked past them.
"Good morning, my people," he hailed.
"Good morning," they responded cheerfully as he walked away.
"Is that not the man sharing his wife with the king?" asked Johnny, the community drunkard.
"Ha! It is not from my mouth you will hear that the king farted," one of the people walking by exclaimed.
"How do you mean?" others asked in whispers.
"My ears have not heard that the king farted," the oldest among the group whispered and walked away.
"Let him go. He is at all times frightened of the king," one of the young men said and urged Johnny to give them details of the clandestine affair.
Johnny felt very important. He majestically leaned on a nearby tree. By now everyone was quiet and keen on listening to him.
"You all know I have to see the end of the palm wine at Mama Akpan's place before I leave each day for home." He paused and staggered backward and forward as if he was being controlled by the gentle early morning breeze.
"Yes? Yes?" One of the gossips encouraged him to go on with his gist.
"As I left Mama Akpan's kiosk to go and see my concubine — do not inform the king that I have a secret lover, or else —." He stopped momentarily and looked at his colleagues with one eye closed.
"Or else, he will make you another scapegoat and behead you," Adisa, whose wife was a bosom friend to Mira, joked.
They all burst into a rapturous laughter.
"You who cannot feed your beautiful wife let alone keep a concubine. You are going to die very soon," teased another.
"That one you called my wife is too lazy and arrogant for my liking. She does not know how to cook "oporoko" soup. And to make matters worse, she is so filthy. She is —," Johnny complained.
"I am scared of our king snatching my lover from me with his wealth and position," he finally said.
They all laughed again.
"As I was saying, before this housefly interrupted," he said sarcastically, pointing at the first man that interrupted him and waving his right hand as if he was waving a fly off.
"Continue with your story," they chorused as if nothing interested them about him.
"Because when I arrived at my sweetheart's place, she was not around. After waiting for a while, I decided to take the footpath at the back of the palace leading to my house." He stopped again and looked from one person to another and finally rested his eyes on Adisa.
"What then happened?" they all asked, anxiously waiting to hear more.
"I saw Soku's wife sneaking out of the king's private room through the backyard," he said. "She was tiptoeing like a cat in the dark."
"Oh no! Poor Soku. Some women nowadays are not trustworthy," Adisa said pityingly.
"If you trust a woman and she is unfaithful, she will lead you to an untimely grave. After all, our king is wealthy while Soku is not," the drunkard added.
"Yes! Most women are unable to resist material things. If wealth grows on trees, some greedy women will get married to monkeys," Adisa reiterated.
They all laughed and had pity on him. As they were about to part for the day's work, Johnny looked at Adisa and smiled mischievously. Adisa asked what the sudden mischievous look was all about.
"Birds of the same feathers flock together," Johnny answered.
"Yes! Evil communication corrupts good manners," Maye said and walked away.
At once, Adisa's mind flew to his lovely wife at home. He thought of locking her up in her room, so that the randy king would not be able to see her, let alone have an affair with her. He carried this thought in his mind until he got home. His wife greeted him as soon as he arrived, but he did not respond. He went straight to bed. He had a sleepless night thinking about his wife, and he woke up with anger in his heart.
The next day, his wife dressed up, ready for the market, and as she bade him goodbye, he stared at her for a minute, from her hair down to her toes and finally said, "Good-bye."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Unfaithful Spouse by Destiny O. Emmanuel. Copyright © 2016 Destiny O. Emmanuel. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Chapter 1 The Unruly King, 1,Chapter 2 The Secret Romance, 15,
Chapter 3 The False Allegation, 29,
Chapter 4 The Expensive Joke, 43,
Chapter 5 The Secret Plot, 53,
Chapter 6 The Confrontation, 65,
Chapter 7 The Judgment Day, 77,
Chapter 8 The Boomerang, 89,