DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
EPISODE 7
Officials of the Federal Safety Commission who saw when the accident happened rushed to the scene of the accident and rushed Shana to the hospital. When they saw that there was no injury and that she may have pas-sed out from shock, they tried to revive her and when they got to the hospital she was put on be-d rest and with drip for she was very weak. The doctor on duty called her husband after Shana called out the number of her husband. He was just about to go out for his lunch break when his phone began to ring. It was an unknown number, thinking it was a customer calling, he ignored. When the caller persisted, he picked the call.
Femi: “Hello, who is this?”
Caller: “Is this Mr Femi Johnson?”
Femi: “Yes, how may I help you?”
Caller: “Your wife was involved in accident this morning. Your attention is nee-ded at New Life hospital”.
Femi: “What! My wife? What happened to her? I hope she is fine? Hello? Hello? Can I speak with her?”
The caller had alre-ady dropped the call and he was confused not knowing what to do. He decided against going for the lunch and decided to drive to the hospital to see his wife. When he got to the hospital, he was led to the pri-vate ward where his wife was alre-ady awake.
Femi: “Sweetheart, gosh that caller scared me. I thought something terrible had happened to you. How are you?”
Shana tried to sit up but Femi helped her to lie back. “Don’t bother getting up”, he got up and sat beside her on the be-d and took her hands in his own. “How did it happen?”
Shana: “I don’t know, Ifemi. All I know is that I was driving and then a car ran into me, all I heard was a crash, I got scared and closed my eyes. When I opened it, I saw myself here on this hospital be-d”.
Femi: “Sorry, I have told you to be more careful anytime you are driving. Where were you going to that early in the morning?”’
Shana appeared dumb for a while and then she regained her s-en-ses. “I was coming to the hospital for the pregnancy test we spoke about yesterday. Oh my God, my baby. Did I lose my baby? What happened to my baby?”
Femi: “Calm down, nob©dy said anything happened to your baby”.
Shana began to scream and kick and the nurses on duty ran in to her.
Nurse: “What is it, madam? Oga, what did you do to our patient?”
Femi: “I don’t know. We were just talking and suddenly she got hysterical asking about her pregnancy”.
Nurse: “Calm down, madam. We didn’t want to tell you about the pregnancy until your condition is more stable and until your husband comes around”.
Shana: “I am stable alre-ady; I couldn’t have been more stable. And here is my husband, so tell me what I nee-d to know”.
Nurse: “Sir, are you her husband?” she asked Femi.
Femi: “Yes, ma’am. I am”.
Nurse: Okay. Excuse me, I will be back in a few minutes. She returned carrying a folder with the name ‘Shana Johnson’ boldly written on it. “When your wife was brou-ght in, we carried some series of test on her and we discovered that she is 9 weeks pregnant. However, we noticed that your wife has unstable blood pressure and that is why she pas-sed out of shock this morning. This can be dangerous for the baby, and so we advise that you take good care of her and avoid anything that will trigger her blood pressure.
Shana heaved a sigh of relief when she heard the doctor confirm that she was pregnant. Femi too was glad and he couldn’t hide his excitement. He gr@bb£d his wife on the be-d and hvgged her. “It has been confirmed, sweetheart. We are going to have our own baby!” he was grinning from ear to ear.
Shana insisted that they discharge her that day but the doctor refused saying he was going to observe her blood pressure for 48 hours.
Two days later, during lunch hours, Femi c@m£ around to the hospital to take his wife home after she called him on phone to inform him that she had been discharged. From the hospital, they drove to the VIO’s office where the car she had the accident with was parked. When Shana saw the damage on the car, she began to weep for she had a soft spur for the car being the gift Femi had bought for her a day after their wedding.
Femi: “Why are you crying, sweetheart?”
Shana: “Look at my car, Ifemi. It is such a wreck now. I had hoped that I will drive my child around in this car someday”.
Femi: “Wipe your tears, my dear. It’s just a car, what if you were the one who was injured? Would you be here crying over a smashed car? Listen, you are carrying my child, the first fruit of my loins and I can’t watch you cry. Tomorrow is Saturday, work free day. We are going to the car dealer, pick any car of your choice and it is yours”.
Shana: “You want to buy another car for me? In this period of recession?”
Femi: “Recession is just a word where there is a will. Remember that your hubby is a bank manager?” he tea-sed her.
Shana: “Like any car I want?”
Femi: “Yes, I will buy you any car that you want, again and again and again”, he hvgged her. Somewhere, a young single VIO officer was watching them and praying for God to give her a man like Femi who loved his wife so much.
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Femi called his parents and broke the good news of his wife’s pregnancy to them. His father was more than glad because he was beginning to get worried over his daughter in law’s childlessness.
Shana on the other hand called her mother and she spent hours on phone talking to them on phone.
Shana: “Mum, there is a little problem however”.
Mrs Banjo: “What problem, is it with you or with the pregnancy?”
Shana: “It is with me. I was involved in a minor accident recently but I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to scare you. During my stay at the hospital, the doctor diagnosed that I have an unstable blood pressure, like I have high blood pressure and that may affect the pregnancy if I am not careful”.
Mrs Banjo: “High blood pressure? You never had that before you got married. How old are you that you will have high blood pressure? Have you been thinking? Is there anything that I nee-d to know?”
Shana knew that the cause of her high blood pressure was linked to Femi’s infidelity and his keeping late nights but she didn’t want to tell her parents because she knew that his attitude could cause problems for the two families. She was determined to keep whatever she was going throu-gh in her home to herself alone. As a woman, she would build the home of her dream alone without the help of her extended family.
“Are you there?” her mother’s voice c@m£ throu-gh the receiver.
Shana: “Yes, mum. I am fine. I don’t know why my blood is fluctuating. Probably because it took me so long to conceive”.
Mrs Banjo: “I have told you not to worry about that. God gives children anytime he wishes. Why do you have to bother yourself when Femi doesn’t even care about that? That gentle man loves you more than life and he is faithful to you so why should you allow the del@yin your conceiving affect your blood pressure? Anyway, thank God you are pregnant now, plea-se take care of yourself before I come”.
Shana: “Okay, mum. Love you, bye”.
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Since the hospital confirmed that his wife was carrying his child, Femi had returned to the faithful husband that he was before he began to seek solace in the arms of other women. He had been avoiding Licia like a plague and wouldn’t even pick her calls. That day, she paid him a surprise visit in his office.
Femi: “What can I do for you, Licia? This is a bank and I don’t entertain unofficial guests”.
Licia: “Unofficial guests? Is that what you call your real deal now? Femi for more than a month now you have been avoiding me. You won’t visit me and you won’t pick my calls. What did I do wrong?”
Femi: “Listen, you didn’t do anything wrong okay? I am just tired of this extra marital affairs thing. I am concentrating on ma-king my wife happy”.
Licia: “You must be kidding me, Femi”.
Femi: “I am not, the earlier you get used to this status quo, the better. In fact, get yourself your own husband, it will do you good”.
Licia: “You are not serious, Femi. In fact, you are just kidding. You think you can use me and dump me just like that? Like seriously? Do I look like a woman that will allow a man sl!pthrou-gh her th!ghs just like that? After using me to satisfy your de-sires you now want to go back to your wife? Where was your wife when I was working ha-rd on my be-d to satisfy your hvge S-xual appetite? Femi, you will come back begging, I promise you that”.
Femi: “You are beginning to constitute yourself a nuisance in this premises. Get out before I ask the security guy to throw you out”.
Licia: “I will go but mark my words, you will come back begging”.
Femi: “We shall see to that, get out!”
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(Hmm… nawaooo! Trouble sleep, yanga go wake am! I hope we are learning from this STORY)
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
EPISODE 8
Shana was confined to staying at home after she returned from the hospital. It wasn’t really a new thing for her because she had been used to stay at home prior to the time of the pregnancy. When her pregnancy was in its 6 th month, she began to go out for shopping with her husband. That Saturday, Femi took her out to ‘Little Mee Children’s Shop’ for another round of shopping.
Shana: “Is that necessary? We have shopped enough and I am still placing orders online so why should we go for another shopping?”
Femi: “We will continue shopping until our child is born and even after that, we will continue shopping. Our child deserves all the good things of the world”.
Shana: “Hmmn, it is good to have a bank manager as a father o, our baby is very lucky”, she tea-sed him.
Femi helped her to get dressed and they drove to the shop in the new car he bought for her. She offered to drive but he wouldn’t hear of it.
Shana: “I miss driving, Ifemi. Can I at least drive this time around?”
Femi: “No o, you can’t drive”.
Shana: “Why can’t I?”
Femi: “Because I don’t want you to inconvenience my baby in the wo-mb. I will be driving you anywhere you want and if there is any nee-d for me to get a driver for you, I will gladly do that”.
Shana: “Okay o, I have heard, our daddy”. She ran her f!nger throu-gh his l@ps where he was seated at the driver’s corner.
Femi: “Yes o, ah, this one that you are tou-ching my th!ghs, don’t put me in the mood for anything o”.
Shana: “Anything like what?” she win-ked.
Femi: “You know now, those things we used to do before you got pregnant”.
Shana: “But seriously, Femi. We haven’t made love since this pregnancy thing started. You know it is not wrong for us to do it right?”
Femi: “There’s absolutely no way we are gonna make love until you give birth”.
Shana: “Why?” she asked with disbelief in her eyes.
Femi: “Because I don’t wanna hurt my baby in there. You know how much of a rou-gh rider I am. I don’t want my baby to be crying that daddy’s rod is hitting his head or eyes or even ear. Don’t want a deformed child”.
Shana: “Hahaha. You will not kill me o, Ifemi. Go away jor, you don spoil finish”.
Femi: “Na you spoil me o, my first name was Innocent before I met you”.
They got to the shop and Femi did not spare any effort in buying all the baby things that caught his fancy. Shana was not finding it funny because they had alre-ady bought some of these items over and over again.
Shana: “No, we don’t nee-d that flannel. We alre-ady bought about ten of that. No, Ifemi, we don’t nee-d anymore b©dy and sleepsuits. We bought more than twenty alre-ady”.
Femi: “Relax, iya abeji. This is daddy shopping for his child, okay”.
Shana: “But we keep buying newborn sizes as if the child will remain a new born forever. Let’s wait till the child grows before we buy more things”.
Femi: “Shopping is a continual thing, babe. When that time comes, we shall shop more”.
They had just finished shopping and were waiting on the POS for their payment when Licia walked in. Femi was shocked when he saw her because he hadn’t seen her since the last time he s£nt her out of his office. She had called him several times after the incidence and he had refused to pick. He knew that Licia could be troublesome and he didn’t want her to meet his wife for fear of her reaction. Licia’s face lit up immediately she saw him.
Licia: “Look who we have here, my own Femi. I told you that you can hide but not run away”. She tried to hvg him he moved out of her reach.
Femi: “Hi, Licia”.
Licia: “What is that? Won’t you at least give me a hvg? After you haven’t seen me for a while? By the way, what are you doing in a baby’s shop?”
Femi: “What else can I be doing here if not to shop for my unborn child?”
Licia: “I see? So, your wife s£nt you to shop? Are you her errand boy now? So, the Femi that I treat like a king in be-d is now some local woman’s errand boy? Tufia!”
Femi: “Keep your voice down, Licia! This is a public place and as a woman, you shouldn’t be running your mouth anyhow”.
Licia: “I will run my mouth anyhow and anywhere I want. Why didn’t you think of all these before you worked your way into my be-d?”
Femi: “Licia!” he raised up his head and saw his wife coming in from the diapers corner of the shop. He had wanted to make the encounter with Licia as brief as possible before his wife c@m£ back but it appeared that his plans were beginning to fall ap@rt when he saw the scowl on Licia’s face when she saw his wife walking towards them.
Shana: “Sorry for keeping you waiting, Ifemi. I saw so many diapers products there that I didn’t even know which one to choose. Anyway, I finally settled for this hvggies after the sales woman told me it is made in the UK. That is what my brother’s wife used when she had her first child”. She noticed that Femi was not concentrating.
Shana: “Who is this lady beside you? A colleague or a customer?”
Femi: “Oh, don’t mind me, I was carried away trying to calculate an amount. Yes, she is my colleague. Can we go now?”
Licia: “Not so fast, Femi. So this is your wife? Wow, I finally get to meet her, interesting. I must say that she is not looking bad. Even with the pregnancy, she looks stunning. So tell me, why are you cheating on her? I mean the way you are all over me, one would think that your wife is one ugly of a woman”.
Femi was trying to plead with her with his eyes but she pretended not to see it and kept on running her mouth.
Licia: “The almighty Femi can no longer talk? Have you suddenly gone deaf and dumb?”
Femi: “Licia!” he thun-dered attra-cting the attention of everyone in the mall.
Licia: “You mean ‘Real deal’ that is my name, remember?” she was determined to taunt him and expo-se his excesses before his wife for the way he treated her.
Shana: “Oh, so this is the Reap deal that has caused me so much pain? Femi, you brou-ght me out here to shop for our baby and you still have the guts to call your mistress to meet us here. Is that how much you hate me?”
Femi: “No, I…I…didn’t…”
Licia: “Madam, did he tell you how I used to make him scream on be-d like a little child? I used to make him go on so many rounds that he had to beg me for mercy. And oh, he loves the way I move my we-t ton-gue up and down his abd0m£n. That is where the pas-sword to his S-xuality is. And by the way, he said your honey pot is not as ti-ght as it used to be, I think you should work on that. Remember it is going to expand more after you give birth, that will completely s£nd Femi away”.
Shana: “Oh my God, Femi! You took my secrets out to your mistress? I can’t take this anymore. I am done with this marriage. You can go ahead and fv¢k all the women in the world since I am now too wi-de for you”. She stormed out of the mall leaving the things she bought behind. Shana could not see Licia’s face because she was wearing a large hair facinator that covered her face. She wished she had seen her face just to know what she looked like.
Licia: “Hahahahah, I told you that you cannot use me and dump me”.
Femi: “You have succeeded in ruining my day, thanks to your big mouth. Do you know that my wife has high blood pressure? Do you know that what you just said can ruin our pregnancy? What if she harms herself? What if she reports me to her family? Do you know the kind of enmity that will cause between us? You will pay for this, I promise that you will”. He ran out to go after his wife.
Licia: “All those big vocabulary, na you sabi. I no dey do jazz o but by the time I am throu-gh with you, your marriage would be a thing of the past and your job will no longer be yours. Na my mouth I go take ruin all your reputation for this Nigeria. In your next world, you will never un-derestimate the power of a woman”.
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Question: Is Shana doing the right thing by threatening to walk away from the marriage?
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 9