He was silent. I was not willing to let the matter be. He just stirred up the hornet’s nest.”How could you have forgotten so quickly how sternly your wife warned me about ever thinking I could take her place? Have you forgotten?” I asked him, raising my voice this time. That woman threatened me. She made it clear she has no problem with me bearing your child. She made it clear she has no problem with my child and that she would love my child and show him love as best as she could. But she warned that I shouldn’t think of taking her place, otherwise she would show me the stuff she’s made of. Now, is that the woman you want me and my child to move in with?”
MD was still silent. He wasn’t saying anything. He knew I’d got him boxed into a corner. “You need to talk, MD, you have to answer me,” I demanded for his response. You started the subject, so let’s talk about it.” The man was at a loss for words. He turned away from me as though he was searching for a response somewhere in the air and then he turned to me. “But that was a long time ago, my dear, it was a long time ago and a lot has changed since then,” he said quietly but his voice lacking conviction. “A lot has changed, you say?” I’d shot back. “So, what has changed? Tell me what has changed?””My wife has changed, “he returned.”How has she changed?” I retorted almost immediately.”She has slowed down. She has matured. Maybe she now realizes she should’ve handled things differently,” he answered. And from the look in his eyes, I could see he was getting slightly emotional about the whole thing. “How do you know this?” I’d asked him, surprised to hear the things he’d said.
“How do I know this?” MD had thrown back at me. “She’s my wife for crying out loud, so I should know.”I shook my head. “No, MD, it’s too big a risk to take. I won’t risk my happiness and that of my son to join you and your wife in your house!”
I have heard so many tales about women who do horrible stuffs to their step children. Although Aunty Elizabeth does appear to have mellowed down and accepted the fact that I had become MD’s wife and the mother of his only child and that nothing could change that, I still couldn’t trust her. She has been acting very friendly and caring, but I know it would be a different thing when I move into the house with her and MD. No, it is definitely not a good idea.
“MD, can we please change this subject?” I pleaded with her. “What you are asking of me is too much for me to deal with. Why don’t we just continue living the way we’ve been doing?”
“Because I’m no longer comfortable with the arrangement.”, MD said.
“But, why?” I asked him.
“Because it no longer makes sense to me that my family is not living with me.”
“I don’t get you, MD, why would you suddenly become uncomfortable with an arrangement that has not gone faulty so far?”
MD sighed exasperatedly. “Listen, dear, you may think nothing is wrong with that arrangement now, but the fact remains that something surely would go wrong with it at some point and that’s what I’m trying to avoid here.”
He was barely making any sense to me. “Okay, MD, so like what exactly do you think could go wrong?”
“Anything, dear, anything,” he’d thrown back.
“Like what?” I repeated.
He looked into my eyes frantically like one desperately seeking the support of a loved one. “There could be an emergency, Anita. Something could go wrong and you may not be able to reach me on time or that I may not be able to get here in good time. God forbid, you or my son could need my help and then it takes me forever to get here, what happens then?”
He was waiting for my response but I didn’t give him any. I still wasn’t convinced yet.
“Go on, my dear, I’m listening, I’m sure you’re not done yet, there’s still something you haven’t mentioned yet.”
MD stared at me with a puzzled look on his face. “And what could that be?”
“You haven’t mentioned the real reason why you want me to move into the house,” I told him, looking him straight in the eyes.
He shook his head slowly. “What exactly are you talking about?”
“Come on, MD, you and I know the real reason why you’re suddenly finding an arrangement that’s worked perfectly for us faulty. It’s because you don’t trust me…It’s because you suspect that every time you’re not here with me, somebody else comes into the house to share me with you, right? Is that what you’re thinking?”
To be continued….
