"but mama,he's my husband,I vowed to be by him in good times and bad times,till death do us part"
"so you want my son to die okpehia?"
"that's not what I mean mama,mama please dan Allah"
Even though I was under the influence of the sedatives,but I could hear their voices faintly outside the male ward of the specialist hospital in Maitama.
It was my fourth night in the general ward,the very kind female nurse told me I was in the intensive care unit for a whole week before I was transferred here for the final phase of recuperation.
I was brought in unconscious and bleeding from the ears and nose. "broda,na god save you o",the nurse echoed in her deep Yoruba ascent as she conducted her ward rounds earlier,just to remind me of how lucky I was to be alive. I could only offer a faint smile in acknowledgment as I beckoned on her to help adjust the pillows behind my back. The constant beeping of the dialysis's machine was hitting my brain so hard,how I wish she could switch it off for a little while. I hated hospitals right from when I was a kid,the sight of needles was so scary,not to talk of that nasty bitter taste of chloroquine! Those trips to the hospital back then were the worst part of growing up and so I made it a duty to live healthy just to avoid hospitals.
"your people are outside,you know its not visiting hours yet so I cant allow them to enter till six and its just after four now" the nurse said as she turned to close the door behind her " but as you be correct person(a title I earned only after giving her some cash my boss dropped when he came yesterday),I will allow one person to enter first". Still holding the door handle,staring at me waiting on me to give the permission,the choice of who amongst my "people" outside was a puzzle I hadn't yet decided. "Ok",I replied faintly without stating whom among them.
As the door swung back and forth behind her,my heart raced faster,goose bumps covered my entire body,who will she pick?how will the other respond? Those questions in my head worsened my head ache. But I was helpless.
It started since my early childhood days,as the only son, my mother took me every where with her. We weren't rich but comfortable,there were no domestic staffs so my mother and I did everything together. My father being a custom officer was hardly around as he was transferred almost on a yearly basis,even though he came around as often as he could,my hero and friend was always going to be my mother. She took me tro and from school daily holding my hands all the way,even when I complained of other female pupils making fun of me,yet she wouldn't bulge. Not even the pleas of my father to allow me attend Federal Government College Porthacout yielded any results years later as she claimed she will be "alone" in the house,I finally ended up in Government Secondary School Warri and not as a boarding student. My mother was happy seeing me every day unlike her brothers kids who were away in school and were permitted to visit once every month.
But my big break came during my National Youth Service Corps program. All efforts by her brother Uncle Omoh to influence my posting failed and I was posted to Kaduna State. Ofcouse my mother was deeply saddened and worried. On sighting the call-up letter,my mother asked if Kaduna was part of Nigeria as she has never travelled out of Warri all her life.
I had to attend two night vigil prayer sections in our church as prayers were said specifically for my "safety" from northerners who she said loved their cows more than fellow humans.
All those doctrines quickly faded away when life proper began in Kwoi village,Jaba local government area of the state. The people were nice and peaceful, they had so much variety of fruits and green vegetation unlike in Warri where the oil spills and gas flaring had damaged so much of the natural habitation leaving behind patched scanty lawns . It was a combination of lush green valleys and imposing mountains all around Kwoi, a replica of images in my Geography textbooks back in secondary school. The natural calmness made me change my mind against getting a rejection letter to head back into the city. The air so clean and fresh,I remember looking out for traces of oil on the tree leaves and didn't see any! How lucky can a people get I asked myself? No wonder they look so healthy and i didn't even see as many cows as my mother preached! "she should visit this place someday" I thought as I walked to the community secondary school where I was fondly called "oga korfa" an easier option for them as my name Rukvewe was hard to pronounce for most of them.
I remember it was public holidays in November,the weather was freezing and visibility was almost at zero meters, I looked out of my window to see the mountains but it was impossible that day and so I decided to take a walk around the village that evening to Aboki's shop-the tea seller popularly called 'mai shayi' when I saw her buying oranges down the street. I couldn't help myself so I walked right up to her. "sannu" I said,trying to speak the general hausa dialect I was taught. When she turned to see who greeted,I was swept off my feet by her beauty, a true example of northern masterpiece. Her round piercing eyeballs looked up at me with curiosity,I repeated the greetings again"sannu",just in case she didn't hear it the first time. " I heard you the first time and straight away I knew you're not from here" her ascent was that of a properly schooled lady and that got me even more inquisitive. "good evening,my name is ....she cuts in "oga korfa" with a spice of sarcasm added to it. "my younger brother speaks of the new corper in there school called oga korfa,you must be the one right?" Yes I am,but my name is Rukvewe I said proudly. The rest they say is history.
Three years later I proposed to her immediately she finished her bar exams from the Abuja Law School as part of the batch from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. Throughout our relationship my mother made no attempt to hide her disagreement about my choice. She prefered Okemute,a long family friend of ours and had been making advances to her on my behalf."she's well groomed in our culture and ways,her cooking is fantastic,am sure you will love her". That's my mothers testimony of her whenever she called trying to convince me of her choice of bride for me. "you know am your mother and I want the best for you my son,my crown prince,my jewel and star". Hmmm.....
I couldn't tell her of my engagement to Simnom not until a month later when I visited for the Xmas holidays from my base in Abuja. As expected,she was broken,she cried and shouted for days. According to her,I was supposed to pay an official visit to Okemutes family compound on new years eve with kolanuts! My mind was made up,I love Simnom and will definitely marry her. My father gave his blessings and we got married seven months later. "let them live their lives,we have lived ours" my father will always say whenever my mother threw a tantrum.
Two years after we got married and my mothers stand hadn't changed. Her visits were always a testing period. " you don't feed my son well enough,he's losing weight"."your banga soup is not thick and who told you I eat oha soup you put inside microwave to warm?tufiakwa".She didn't grow up eating out kind of food,give her time to perfect it. I tried protecting my wife as much as I could but my mother was relentless.
"how long will it take her to learn?tell me how long,is it untill am in the grave? I want to see my grandchildren before i die. If only you had not conspired with your father against me,Okemute would have given me triplets by now cos our women are very fruitful not this ones who follow their animals around in the bush". I was caught in between the two most important women in my life. I love both of them so dearly and will give everything for both of them to live peacefully but it wasn't happening. Simnom will cry deep into the night," i explained to you and you agreed before I took up that job,three years before I can have kids,why cant mama understand?why can't you make her understand?should I quit my job just to make your mother accept me? I only have one year left to cross that threshold but I will resign if that will save my marriage". My consolation chit chats were no longer having the desired effect anymore. Both of them expecting so much from me and its obvious am disappointing them both.
My mother was convinced a hausa girl was not an ideal wife for her son,"one day you will steal my son far away from me" she barked.
My productivity at work was been affected,I was beginning to lose concentration. The last being my shambolic presentation at the stakeholders meeting last month. "Mr Rukvewe,get your acts together or you might just lose your job" my boss as we walked towards the parking loft. My world was falling apart,I have to do something and fast too.
This has to stop I said to myself as the car engine roared to life. I was going home to tell my mother a piece of my mind and that is final,am never going to divorce my wife-final!. They were so engrossed in their argument inside the kitchen they didn't notice I had entered the living room. Not until Vera the house maid greeted me did they realise I was around.
My wife stormed out of the kitchen,ran past me and headed straight outside towards the gate. I ran after her,but slipped as I was about to grab her hand,my Italian shoes weren't designed for racing on foot obviously. That allowed her gain some yards ahead of me,by the time I got up she was already outside the gate.It was dark already and not concentrating fully on events happening around me but solely on catching up with my wife,I didn't see the bike coming. By the time I realised it was too late! He did try to avoid a collision but it was too close. The impact threw me some good meters in the opposite direction,instantly everything went black!
Three days of been in coma,various tests and examination I finally regained consciousness but everything was foggy and vague. One week later I was strong enough to leave the intensive care unit,but diagnosed with a collapsed left lung.
"if I could survive that accident,then surviving family issues should be child's play" I said to myself. Just then I heard the bell ring indicating the start of visiting hours,I have been off for almost two hours. As the bell stopped,I heard footsteps approaching,as I lifted my gaze towards the door,my wife entered accompanied by my mother. Apparently something good has indeed come out from Nazareth, the events of the past days has caused a paradigm shift, they agreed to settle and accept each other after the Doctor warned them my survival was hinged on it. Now I have the two of them not just loving me but also each other.
I pray the love grows stronger even after I'm discharged but for now I will enjoy every second of this new found paradise
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