“Get out of my life!” he yelled. “You are the reason for all the bad luck in my life.” This had been ongoing for some time now. He no longer had an interest in his wife due to the pleasures he found outside of his marriage. His wife cried and pleaded several times, but to no avail, even though she had done nothing wrong. He moved closer to her and gave her a warning, “I am on my way out; when I come back, I don’t want to find you anywhere around my house.” Then, he walked away and slammed the door behind him.
After he left, she made up her mind that this would be the last straw. She gathered all her things and left the house for good. Several hours later, he returned home and felt excited when he saw neither her nor any of her belongings. “Hmmmmmm, at last, it’s finally over. Freedom, here I come,” he rejoiced. Immediately, he picked up his phone and called his ‘miss right’ or should I say… ‘miss luck.’
An hour later, an elegantly dressed lady appeared at the door, and he welcomed her into the house. Two weeks later, all the plans for their marriage were set, and invitation cards were distributed. It was a court wedding attended by a few friends and family. All the necessary documents to validate the ceremony were signed and concluded. Most of his close friends declined to attend the wedding. Refreshments were served, and the ceremony was concluded within an hour. The then couple travelled to Obudu Cattle Ranch for their honeymoon. After the honeymoon, the newlyweds returned home, and the husband was facing financial difficulties due to the expenses incurred during the wedding and honeymoon.
A month later, the new bride asked for money to fix her hair, nails, and buy some things from the market. He had no money to give at that moment. He pleaded with her to wait until the end of the month when he received his salary. She insisted on needing the money immediately, and her frustrations boiled over into insults. “How can you tell me to wait? I can’t live a life of misery. If you weren’t man enough, why did you propose marriage to me? Do you want me to suffer until the end of the month? What kind of a man are you? You can’t even take care of basic needs for a lady. You could afford to spend on me before, but now you’re suddenly broke?” she complained. He pleaded repeatedly until she fell silent.
When he received his month’s salary, he immediately gave her the requested sum. Without gratitude, she snatched the money from his hand and left. He sat there and contemplated his life. “What have I gotten myself into? I have no peace in my life anymore. What kind of marriage is this? My former wife never yelled at or insulted me. Whenever she needed something and I couldn’t provide it immediately, she waited patiently until I could. No matter how small the amount, she accepted it with humility and gratitude. Could this be karma catching up with me? I was warned before the marriage by some friends, but I ignored their advice. In reality, my former wife never did me wrong; I was simply deluded.”
Still lost in thought, she returned all dolled up and smiling. “How do I look?” she asked. He simply replied, “Fine,” and went to the room. Three days later, she approached him and said, “Darling, I need money to buy a friend’s wedding asoebi (uniform). The wedding is next weekend, so I need the money in two days to get the material and make arrangements with a tailor. It’s just 25,000 Naira.” He had to borrow the money from a friend and give it to her for the sake of peace. This pattern continued for a while.
Six months into the marriage, he couldn’t bear the constant demands any longer. She filed for divorce, and he agreed, as he could no longer find peace at home. He lost half of his property to her. She took her share of the property and left, content. Back to square one, he started making arrangements to reconcile with his ex-wife, since they hadn’t formally divorced. All attempts to reach her failed, so he visited her family home for reconciliation. There, he received a divorce letter from his ex-wife, informing him that she had married someone else and moved to Canada. With a shattered heart, full of shame and regret, he left the family home, saying, “I will never find a wife as respectful and peaceful as your daughter. Please help me beg her for forgiveness.” It’s true that we often don’t realize the value of what we have until we lose it.
Read – Our Father – A Short Story by Siphiwokuhle Mavundla, Eswatini
