OK THE TRUTH, THE FUTURE

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I was quiet. This woman had never spoken so intimately with me like this before. What exactly is she getting at? I’d wondered.
“Look, I know it’s not my business but I think you need a young man to set your youthful body on fire. MD is a nice man but he has a wife who comes first in his life before you even though she has given him no child. He is no longer a young man himself, servicing two women properly might not be something his old body can carry.”
“So, exactly what are you getting at, Aunty, I still don’t get you?” I said to her.
“All I am saying is, are you truly enjoying your relationship with MD? Are you truly happy?” she continued. And before I could say a word, she added: “what you need is a young man, a young man like Doctor Bambi’s son, who will make you feel young again!”
I turned to look at her. The expression on her face showed she wasn’t joking, she was serious. I honestly didn’t know what to make of what she just said. Why would Aunty Meg think of me as someone who would cheat on MD? Is it that she does not believe my story that the pregnancy I went to abort belonged to MD and that I wasn’t just ready for another baby yet? Does she know about Jerry? I was puzzled and greatly confused too.
“Aunty Meg, let me ask you, what makes you believe I would want to cheat on MD with a younger man?” I asked her.
“So, are you saying you won’t cheat on him if you get the chance?” she’d thrown back at me.
“You have not answered me, Aunty Meg, what makes you think I will like to cheat on my husband?” I repeated, looking into her eyes.
“Listen, Anita, you’re a young girl, I am much older than you,” she’d begun. “I know you and I have taken time to study you. I can see you’re struggling with yourself inside of you. You still want to be free. You still want to hang out with young guys like your mates do. But you’re trapped because you’re married. You cannot have the kind of fun your friends are having. I also know that you have a young boyfriend, though it’s been a while I saw him…”
I was stunned by that. “Aunty Meg, which young boyfriend are you talking about?” I’d shot at her, trying very hard to compose myself not to give myself away.
“I am not a child, Anita, I know what I am talking about….”
I had a feeling Aunty Meg already knew something she was holding back from me. Could it be she already knew the pregnancy I’d gone to abort didn’t belong to MD? Did she suspect I already had a lover somewhere?
“Aunty Meg, let me ask you something, is there something you know that you’re not telling me?” I turned to her, looking her straight in the eyes.
“Something I know? Like what?” she’d retorted. From the look on her face, it was difficult to tell if she was being truthful or not. Her face had a dead pan expression that seemed hard to read through.
“I don’t know, but you’re sounding as though you know me more than I know myself, or more like you know I already had a lover somewhere so you’re merely encouraging me to go on and have some more,” I told her, my voice laced with anger.
“Oh, please, Anita, stop sounding like that. Stop sounding like a naieve young lady,” Aunty Meg responded. “All I am trying to do is to help you get through a difficult phase of your life. You are too young and pretty to be married to a man that does not live with you. It’s nothing but absolute loneliness and it can be terribly frustrating. There will be times you would long for the warmth of a man and he won’t be there for you. He will be back at home in the arms of his main wife. And you are just like any other woman, you have blood running through your veins. So, it’s always going to be extremely difficult for you to cope as a young lady with the many nights of loneliness and desperation….Or am I not making any sense to you at all, Anita?”
I sighed heavily. “I will be lying if I said you’re not. You are making sense of course,” I answered, looking away from her. It was as though she knew exactly what I was going through all this while and why I still had to keep my relationship with Junior.
“It’s been very tough for me, Aunty” I’d continued. “You have no idea what I have been through in the last few months. The loneliness, the desperation sometimes can be strong sometimes. But then again, my conscience worries me endlessly. MD has been a wonderful person. A good man. A great husband and father. Cheating on him feels like betraying him, like one stabbing him in the back. But it’s been so, so tough, Aunty,”
We got home and I was still overwhelmed with the issue Aunty Meg had raised. But I was trying to get off my chest.
“There is also something important I need to discuss with you, Anita,” Aunty Meg said as we stepped out of the car.
“What’s that?” I’d wondered what she had up her sleeves this time again.
‘Have you discussed about your future with MD?” she’d asked.
I was lost. She wasn’t making sense to me. “My future? What future are you talking about?” I couldn’t understand her.
“Your future with MD and that of your child,” she replied. “If something happens to him today, are you and your son well taken care of in his Will? Does he even have a will yet, and if he does, are you in that Will and well taken care of? This is the only way you can be sure that his wife and family won’t shut you out of whatever should be yours if MD drops dead today! So, the question is, if something happens to him today, are you sure you have been well protected and taken care of?”

…to be continued