After they were able to pull Mama Kemi off the lady whom her husband was cheating on her with, the lady took her heels with her little strength. Mama Kemi got hold of her husband and another hullabaloo erupted. It took several people, Nancy and Wumi inclusive, to separate both of them. Everyone in the flat thought that was the end of the marriage until the next evening when they saw Mama Kemi coming back into the compound from her shop. Nancy and Wumi were outside when she walked in.
"Mama Kemi, good evening ma. How was market today?"
Nancy stood up to meet her. She needed to talk to her about the issue. She might not be married, but she had watched, heard, and seen different marriages over the years. Also, her mother's advices and counselling also helped her develop different notions about marriage.
"Aunty Nancy, good evening. Market was good o, we thank God." She replied with a smile. Her busybody morale was conspicuously low. She paused when Nancy approached her.
"Ehn, Mama Kemi, I just want to tell you to exercise patience on this matter. I'm not saying you should accept nonsense, but please, settle it amicably because of your children."
Mama Kemi exhaled and gave a dry smile. "Thank you, Aunty Nancy. I'm actually not going to display more than I had done yesterday. Also, I stayed back because of my children, I don't want them to grow in a broken home. I'd rather raise then with an adulterous husband than raise them alone with different men hitting on me. Thank you en."
Nancy hugged her gently. Mama Kemi needed it. Hugs help to heal too. She greeted Wumi as she left them for her own flat. Nancy came to sit beside Wumi where she stood up from.
"You know, she's a warrior, for staying back after catching her husband with his side chick. If that was me, my divorce letter would have been printed by now."
"Wumi, life requires patience sometimes. There's no marriage without its own flaw. No marriage is perfect."
"Abeg Nancy. Talk about imperfection from another perspective not from adultery. I loathe it with every fiber and bone in my body."
"Listen, women stay in their marriage because of their children..."
"So, because of children, make I kill myself abi?"
Nancy laughed, "not that, babes. There are limitations. But because of your children, you'd want to endure anything in marriage."
"Speak for others, not me o. How will children help heal my betrayed heart?"
"They're not there to heal what your husband has broken, they're there to fill the space so you don't feel empty. Waking up to seeing your children, energetic, playing with you, and you preparing things for them is enough to help you forget how badly hurt your heart is."
"What if I've lost interest in taking care of everyone just because I needed time to heal? Babes, this works from different perspectives, really. I, as a person, can never stay back with a cheating husband all in the name of staying with children. Never."
"So, if you leave, what will you do outside? How do you think your children will survive without you?"
"Who said I'd leave them with the nonsense husband?"
"How will you raise children without a father figure in their life?"
"Damn, girl! I will raise them with full chest. Are you joking, baby? I'm a man and a woman, I will raise them myself."
"It's easier said than done sweetie. You know, that's part of my argument with you yesterday. You said love supercedes, in some scenarios, love doesn't. Look at Mama Kemi, do you think her love for her husband is still there? She's sacrificing her broken heart for her children."
"Baby girl, you're not getting it. I stand on my ground, love supercedes because it's her love for her children that made her sacrifice her broken heart to stay back with her children. As for me, my self love supercedes and that's what will make me sacrifice the marriage to give myself enough self worth. Sacrifice and love walk hand-in-hand. Without love, letting people go won't be easy."
"Babes, you know you're contradicting yourself? You said it yesterday that a love isn't supposed to be if it means letting someone go."
Wumi laughed and Nancy joined her. "ohhhh God. You like stressing my brain. Now, look at it from this perspective: you met a guy, you fell in love. Then, one thing led to another, you found out you were the side-chick. You confronted him, he had no hint of remorse. For your self-love, self-eorth and self-respect, you let him go. That kind of love wasn't meant to be. But if you had legalized the relationship and it had turned to marriage, then sacrifice would come in. You'd either sacrifice the marriage and let it go or you sacrifice your broken heart to be with your children, in your words. Do you get it now?"
"Nah..." Nancy shook her head. She wasn't ready to accept defeat. "You said that Que Sera, Sera, what will be, will be. The first sample of love was meant to be and also not meant to be. We meet people for a reason: each person we meet comes to influence us either negatively or positively..."
"You're already going philosophical." They both laughed again.
"Honestly, arguing with you is tiring. But I love it. I've missed our arguments."
"That reminds me, the issue of Dave Wilson which I wanted to tell you yesterday..."
"Of course, yes. I'm on ears now."
Wumi adjusted herself on her seat. "Listen babe, I'm not saying this to scare you or something. Also, I don't know if it was the real Dave Wilson you met or someone impersonating him because I once read that he hasn't been in Nigeria for over nine years. Nevertheless, if he was the one you saw, I'm not discouraging you, but you might want to rethink your affection for him."
"Before you even say what you read about him, I'm discouraged already."
"Don't feel like that. Now listen. Back then, I read that he had bipolar disorder and inherited it from his parents..."
"Bipolar?" She was bewildered.
"Yes."
"My brain isn't functioning currently. Abeg, pass me my phone." She got her phone and went straight to the dictionary app on her phone. She input the word and read the meaning to herself. "Okay, okay, okay."
"Chill, girl."
Nancy looked up abruptly, "I am chilled. Continue."
"Nancy, I need you to calm yourself because I've not even reached the climax and you're already trepidating. I can't imagine you still tremble at trivial things..."
"Trivial?" She leant closer and whispered to her, "I'm in love with this guy. Despite my skepticism, my heart still longs for him, somehow. Please, continue."
"Alright. So, I read that his disorder was severe, somewhere around disorder II or so. He even..." She also leant closer to whisper, "...has suicidal thoughts."
Nancy clamped her mouth with her palm in astonishment. She couldn't imagine someone as a bit pizzazzy as Dave in a condition like that.
"Well, I also read that he had series of mental problems like being depressed for too long, not being interactive with everyone in school, injuring one of their pets at home, anxiety attacks, and even psychosis."
"Alright. I've heard enough, Wumi. It's okay. I don't want to hear anything anymore. And you believed everything posted online? Isn't it social media? Believe everything at your own detriment." She was getting exhausted, the more Wumi revealed, the more her mental energy got draining. She needed to erase the part of her memory that's documenting it.
"Girl, have you forgotten that I studied Mass Communication in school? I have legit sources that don't fabricate stories for money. How did you think I got to know that the poster got fired? He was my source. He didn't publish the part that said he had psychosis though, he told me that privately. Dave was taken to a Therapist in America when he was fifteen. He kept pleading with his dad not to separate him from his sister and their oldest nanny. It was a sympathetic sight."
"Wumi," she finally said after a brief pause. "I'm speechless."
"Me too."
"You don't get it. My heart is racing more than The Flash and it's heavy with tears. I feel extremely sorry for him. It must have been exhausting. But when I saw him, he appeared normal. He never showed any sign of such."
Wumi brought her mouth to her ears and whispered, "he has amnesia."
Nancy held her dropped jaw. "All these, only him? Can life be any more brutal? Wait, how did you know?"
"Informants."
"C'mon, shut up jor. I don't believe it."
"Well, I've said my own. But I'm not discouraging you, the ball is in your court."
That night, the whole discussion kept replaying in Nancy's head nonstop. She couldn't sleep; she wished to hear from the horse's mouth or horse's relative. Again, she longed more for Tina to come. Before then, she needed to calm her racing heart which was still longing for Dave.