I was beginning to get irritated. The woman simply does not understand what I am going through with MD. “Tell me, Aunty Meg, what makes him notorious? What makes him a terrible person?”
I almost shouted at her.”Anita, you know I cannot see you taking a wrong step that could backfire and not try to dissuade you from taking that step,” she said more quietly this time.”Listen to me, you see that James you’re seeing so is a chronic womaniser, a very randy and reckless man. All he does is move from one joint to the other carrying different kinds of women, is that the kind of guy you want to be seen with? And he is not even in the same class with MD.”
I shook my head in disagreement. “It’s not about class, Aunty Meg, it’s about what will achieve the desired results.”I went further. “And for crying out loud, the guy is not that bad. He is a fine guy and a lot of people respect him in the area.”Aunty Meg looked curiously at me. She appeared stunned by something I said. “Did you just say he is not a bad guy and that people respect him in the neighbourhood? You even said the guy is fine, abi?” She asked, her gaze settling deep on my face”Anita, listen to me, if you’re not careful, you will get yourself into big trouble o!,” she warned.”It’s like you really like this guy o, you really fancy him, don’t you? Be honest with me, you really like this guy, right?”I stayed silent for a few seconds. I knew what Aunty Meg wanted to hear. I knew what she was looking for, so I wanted to choose my words very carefully.
“Okay, Aunty Meg, do you really want to know how I feel about him?” I asked her, gazing straight into her eyes.She nodded, a look of complete consternation on her face. “I like Prince James, he is a really cool guy and I have no problem with him being my friend,” I answered, choosing my words very carefully, or is there a crime in that?” I’d thrown at her.She almost didn’t let me finish. “Of course, there is a crime in that!” she’d fired back at me, her voice growling hard at me you would think she was my mother.
“You are a married woman for Christ’s sake!” she shot at me.“Excuse me?” I shot back. “Did you say married?”She looked speechlessly at me. At first, the import of my response was lost on her. Then, suddenly, she got it.‘”Come on, what’s the difference!” she retorted. “Does it matter whether you are officially married or not? You are the mother of his only child, a boy for that matter! What else do you need for you to know you guys are as good as married foe Christ’s sake?”
I flashed her a big smile. It was big wry smile, the sort that told you that you’re probably not making any sense at all.“No, Aunty Meg, there is a very big difference!” I shot back at her, my voice laden with indignation. “I am not his wife, his wife is at home with him right now as we speak. She is the one he recognises as his wife, not me, not any other woman! Except of course if you want me to be deceiving myself, which I definitely won’t!”Aunty Meg was quiet.
She knew I was right, there was no way she could try to make me see things differently, I had spelt things out for her as brutally as I possibly could.“Okay, I hear you, you’re not officially married, right? I hear you,” she gave up. But not completely. “So, you like this Prince James guy because he’s cool, right?” she asked.I nodded, a triumphant smile of victory on my face.“Do you know even know what he does for a living?” she quizzed me. “All the money he throws around, driving big cars and spending money like its going out of fashion, do you know where he gets them from?”I shrugged. “I hear he’s into imports,” I replied, my voice low and unsure.“Imports my foot!” she returned. “Don’t tell me you believe all that nonsese! The guy is a big time criminal, take it or leave it!”
I felt I had had enough. I knew what she playing at. I understood the game she was playing perfectly. She wanted to do everything she could to make Prince look like aterrleerso disuade me from going ahead with my plan. But she was wasting her time. My mind was made up. MD must pay for making me go through all the pains and heartaches he was putting me through.“Okay, ma, I have heard you very well and I thank you,” I said to Aunty Meg.
“But I will not change my mind about him, he is not a bad guy, that I am very sure,” I said to her with a voice laced with a bit of malice.“And I do understand that you’re trying to protect me and keep me from trouble but I can assure you that you have nothing to worry to about, I will be fine Prince,” I reurher.“You will be fine with a criminal? An armed robber? A drug baron?”
Aunty Meg returned, her countenance looking combative.”Oh. My God, Anita, what has come over you, this girl? Who is doing this to you?”I shrugged. “It is common sense that has come over me, Aunty, nothing more than that. And nobody has done anything to me, I am the one who has just realised that I should stop deceiving myself, MD is only taking me for a ride, he can never find the liver to go against his wife’s wish and marry me as his second legally married wife, never! Except of course, if he finds out that he’s about to lose me completely!”
“And you don’t think that could be counterproductive?” Aunty Meg cautioned me for the umpteenth time. “What if he becomes so disappointed with you that he does not want to have anything to do with you again? Have you thought about the possibility?”I was silent for a few seconds then nodded. “Yes, I have thought of it, it’s a possibility, but it’s a risk I am willing to take, I need to do anything and everything I can to make that man come back to his senses!”
That was when Aunty Meg gave up. She had done everything she knew she could do but no luck, I had made up my mind.“It’s okay o, Anita, it’s your life and you’re already an adult, you can choose to liver it any way you want,” she added.“Thank you very much, Aunty Meg, for your concern, I appreciate, I really do,” I said to her. And without waiting to see if she had anything else to say, I reached for my phone and began to call Prince James…
…To Be Continued
