STALE LOVE
‘Useless woman, you're leaving my house today. I regret the day I met you,' he bellowed, with fiery eyes.'Please, nnanyi, calm down. I can explain,' a visibly shocked Ada managed to mutter. But Uche would have none of that. At long last, he had found the perfect excuse to employ in putting away his wife of three years. He didn't want any explanations. He just wanted to hold on to what he believed, or rather pretend to everyone else that he believed his allegations were right. Just yesterday, he had seen her with her boss at a restaurant. He saw him-the boss- brush her face and wipe the corner of her mouth with a piece of serviette paper. At first, he was shocked beyond words. Could Ada be cheating on me? he asked himself. Part of him wanted his assumption to be untrue because if really Ada was unfaithful, if she was warming another man's bed, if she had been fooling him all the while, then it would be a blow to his pride, a ruinous punch to his ego. To his own surprise, and in a sudden twist from his previous wish, he hoped it was true. It would be the perfect excuse to finally get rid of her. He could get her out of the way for good and place Sandy as the new queen of his home. She already was the queen of his heart and she could be his official woman if he played his cards right. He had long fallen out of love with Ada. Did he ever love her at all? Perhaps it had been infatuation, a temporary flutter of emotions. It was a pity that they had gone all the way to the altar.
'Adaeze, why are you in a hurry? You've not known that man for long. Marriage na serious mata ooo,' Ada's mother had said, holding her ear and stamping a foot as if for emphasis.
'Mama, I love Uche. He loves me too.' She was certain he loved her. Just the day before, as they sat over dinner at a gorgeous eatery downtown, he had said he couldn't live without her. He always had the right cloying word to sweep her off her feet.
'Ada, my daughter, you're doing things in a rush. I'm scared for you. I'm very uncomfortable with this. Please, let's wait a little more before you get yourself hitched.'
'Oh, Mama. This is what I really want... to be Uche's wife,' she had said staring into her mother's eyes, eyes that were older than hers and had watched events upon events unfold for almost half a century.
As she pleaded with her husband who was bent on putting her away, she vividly remembered that day and how Mama had tried her best to make her slow down. But she had been head over heels in infatuation with Uche, her reasoning had been clouded by her blazing emotions. She should have waited a little more to see his true character unveil.
'I saw you with my eyes. He was caressing you, playing with your face,' he said as he paced the room.
'Honey, please, let's talk this over. This is a case of misunderstanding,' she pleaded as the accumulated tears in her hazel eyes threatened to flow. But he didn't want to know if it was true or not, he just wanted her out of his way.
Ada was used to her husband trying to pick out faults but this time it was just crazy- no, heartbreaking. He should have known that she wasn't capable of being a slut. It was depressing that after moving past all the guys who tried to win her golden heart, after getting married to Uche unsullied, he would lay such a demeaning accusation against her.
‘I give you 48 hours to get yourself outta here. 48 hours.’
‘Uche, I will go. But…,’ she paused to wipe the tears that betrayed her, ‘…you will beg me later. Only it might be too late for you then.'
