‘How would I forgive a hubby that wished me dead?’

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This is a story of a woman who is  bitter at heart because of what her husband did to her when she needed him most. That was a man who  married her when he had nothing. He grew up in the remote village of Uturu, in Abia state and couldn’t go to school because he wasn’t interested in education. He dropped out of school when he was in primary four and manned his late father’s petrol station. And because he was still very much young then, he was given the kerosene section of the business which was still in the same petrol station to man. And he was doing it so well that he left school and concentrated in that business.

“But when we got married Adolphus whom I love to call Adol, my husband,  was still feeding from the little money his father portioned to him from kerosene sales. His father married two wives and Adolphus’ mother was the second wife. The sons of the first wife were busy going to school when my husband dropped out of  primary school. When he married me, we came to Lagos together and the business he started for himself was the one he knew too well-kerosene business. Before his father died, he willed his petrol station to his first son and rest of his properties to sons of his first wife, but my husband was left with nothing. His father said he disobeyed him by not going to school and that he would not be able to manage any business well because he was an illiterate. That was his reasons. So, life became tough for us, the money from kerosene wasn’t enough for a decent living in Lagos. So, I had to go look for a job. I read Business Administration from one of the universities in the country. I got a job as a marketer in a company to sell Forever Living products, got people to register under me and with that I was able to scale through because I had enough down-liners which enabled me got a car and traveled to America where I stayed for some months before I came back. So, all the money I was making, I gave to my husband because I needed him to be a man and provide for his family.

“If I had left him the way he was, we wouldn’t have had peace in our marriage because he was always grumbling and complaining about what his late father did to him. My car I gave him and life started changing  for both of us. When he was happy, I was also happy because I shared from his joy. So, he had to start another line of business and that was steal business. He started buying steals from his friend who was importing them and gradually he too started importing his. He made his first millions from steal business. That was when he stopped grumbling. We built our first house in Lagos together, had three children and all was going on well until I became ill,” she said.

Laurencia became so ill that hospital was her next abode. “I was always going to the hospital for treatment. I had all the medical tests my doctor requested and eventually he told me I had cervical cancer, a terminal ailment. When my husband heard that, he gave up hope on me. He wasn’t coming regularly  to see me at the hospital. It was my younger sister Rosa who took it upon herself to be  bringing food and ensured that I didn’t smell. I was having an issue of blood from my cervix, so I needed a thorough cleaning. Rosa was an angel God used to help me. When I was eventually discharged to go home to my fate, Rosa was there for me. Adolphus my husband was busy gallivanting with his new found love Naomi who happened to be his confidential secretary. Naomi would cook for him and at times he would sleep over with some reasons that he had too much work to do in his office,  that he couldn’t come home. I never nagged him. I needed to be well first. Rosa and I were praying, believing God for healing. But the one that broke me down was the text messages Naomi sent to him. She was asking my husband who thought  I was going to die when I would give up the ghost. The rest of the message showed that my husband went to her and told her what my doctor said about not being able to survive. I cried myself to sleep. When he came back home after some days, I confronted him with his text messages from his phone he forgot at home. He had numerous phones because he was a great lover of phones. He wasn’t apologetic, he shouted at me and walked away. The next thing he said to me before he left the house was ‘how do you think I would come close to you? You bleed from there,’ he said, pointing at my legs.

“I knew the part of my body  he was referring  to. But  I didn’t need him to sleep with me, I just needed him close, his comforting words, his prayers so to say,” she said.

When her illness was getting worst, her mother came. “Three of us were having vigils every night. My three children were in  school. Two in the university and the last one in secondary school was in boarding house. But they were calling regularly to find out how I was fairing. But Adolphus was busy with his business and Naomi. He made Naomi’s house his safe haven. He said his house was crowded with my people just because of  my mother’s presence  and my younger sister. We continued praying until God revealed to me in my dream that my ailment  wasn’t cervical cancer. I intensified prayers and something strange happened.”

To be continued.