Song of the Chapter : Pak n go by Kizz Daniel
A W E E K L A T E R
TIMOTHY OBIADULI WAS a failure. Chidinma didn't even know why she was marrying him. She felt like crying her eyes out; all the dreams and plans she had, he dismissed. Fine, call her selfish. But ever since she was a little girl, she had always planned that special day. The dress that made her look like royalty, the dream destination wedding that made angels stop and watch, the huge diamond ring she would show off. Everything.
When Timothy proposed, Chidinma was shocked because, in all honesty, they had never dated. Timothy came from the respectable Obiaduli family and she had known him since the seventh grade when she moved to Canada with her aunt. With him knowing her predicament and both families wanting to join forces, this marriage seemed perfectly reasonable.
More like her mother had always wanted Chidinma to marry her friend's son.
Chidinma had to admit, at first, she felt no love towards Timothy. But, over the year that they were engaged, she fell in love with his smooth baby face, light brown kinky hair and brown eyes.
The only mistake; allowing him to have his way in the wedding planning. The Igbo traditional wedding that was expected was canceled because Tim said that those things were too old school. Next, he collected the meager 10-carat diamond engagement ring and needed to return it to get his money ($67.55) back with the promise of a bigger ring after marriage. Then, he wanted a very small wedding at a Lagos courthouse, with the reception at Tastee Fried Chicken.
She had a headache just thinking about it.
Timothy even refused to do the Ndidi tradition at the introduction and the last couple that refused to do it, well, their marriage was the failure of all failure. Chidinma would know, because she was the product of that marriage.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" One of her best friends, Lolade Fashola, asked, standing beside her in the mirror. The plain white midi dress, courtesy of Tim's wishes, that hugged her curves and stopped at her knees was not the ball dress she had dreamed about. Chidinma even had to do her makeup herself as Tim didn't want someone like that in. She sighed and patted down the soft cotton fabric of the dress.
Chidinma was settling. Not settling down. She had to. After all which man would want-
"Yeah, babe. We can call it off, blame it on Lagos traffic," Imani added softly.
"I love him, guys. I want this, I-" Chidinma started but was interrupted by Tim bursting in, face drenched in sweat as he panted. Lolade, Imani and Fatima Yousef, her other best friend, tried to block his sight of Chidinma.
"What are you doing? You're not supposed to see me until the courthouse-" She started again but was interrupted by a gut-wrenching statement from Tim.
"We need to talk,"
Her heart clenched in fear as the room went quiet. Her best friends looked back at her scared expression, then left her view to sit on her bed.
"I can't do this," Tim stated, "I don't love you and you don't love me. We're two separate people and we can't get married. I know I proposed first..." As Tim continued his clearly memorized speech, Chidinma was slowly falling into a black hole of nothingness and the rest of his speech faded into a faint buzzing.
"How dare you?!" Imani yelled in rage.
"Who the heck do you think you are?" Fatima followed, jumping off the bed in anger.
"Abi, you no get sense?? 'Can't get married' Thunder fire you and your mama, idiot! By force or by fire, you must marry her today oh!" Lolade finishes, holding Tim's white dress shirt with a threatening glint in her eye. (Pidgin: You don't have common sense, right? May thunder strike you and your mother dead. You must marry her today oh!)
Chidinma was quiet on the floor. Her heartbeat was all she could hear, and her blurry eyes sought a dirty corner in the room to calm her rising anxiety. Thump, thump, thump. As she raised her head, her tear-filled eyes harbored nothing but resignation.
"Who is she?" She asked quietly. The girls didn't understand the question, but she knew Tim longer than them; women were his weakness. Tim was quiet, trying to choose his words carefully. But his words were so clear, that there was no rounding them.
"Harlina,"
The other girls burst into clamor as they yelled. Harlina was a girl from Dubai that Chidinma had also known from Grade 7. The extravagant 27-year-old was supposed to be Chidinma's maid of honor as she was the closest to both her and Timothy.
"I traveled to Dubai a few days after proposing and we met. It's been going on for about a year," He continued sheepishly as Lolade screamed "Ewo! Ah! I go kill person oh!" in the background. (Pidgin: Hey! I will kill someone today.)
"Get out," Chidinma stated quietly, and Timothy opened his mouth to argue, "Get the fuck out of my face, bastard!" She screeched, throwing her fake bouquet at his back, her aim perfect. He left and Lolade shut the door with a glare and rushed to her crying friend.
"I can't believe," Chidinma said through hot tears and snot, "that Harlina would do this to me."
"I can't believe that Tim would cancel this shitty wedding-" She continued, getting angrier as her tears seem to melt off her makeup, "-and even worse, I can't believe I fell for that idiot!" She finished in a yell. Lolade, Imani and Fatima shared a look with each other and stood up to leave.
"Where are you people going?" She asked them with a suspicious look.
"We have some things, or people to attend to," Fatima said mysteriously, a confident look on her face.
"We'll be back in maybe 30, 35 minutes. Should not take too long," Lolade added and as Imani closed the door to let the sad bride drown in her tears, she popped her head back in.
"How do you like your cheating dick? Chopped or Fried?"
Chidinma chuckled with a sad smile.
"Fried. With a side of sausage shawarma and cold Fanta," she replied. And then, after her reply, all the lights in the house went off. As Chidinma's mother screamed for the gate man to turn on the loud generator, she sobbed.
"Even NEPA does not want me to get married,"
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When Chidinma arrived back in Los Angeles two days later with her best friends by her side, she was just exhausted. Her friends kept giving her looks of worry, expecting her to burst out sobbing in border control. Chidinma rolled her eyes at their dramatics.
Internally, she was considering whether to do a church thanksgiving to commemorate her being free from Timothy's cheating clutches. If there was anything the Ndidi family did not allow, it was liars and cheats. The minute her mother was informed of Timothy's infidelity, Faith Ndidi went to the Obiaduli's with Timothy's cheap-ass dowry. She dropped that shit at the front gate, throwing Igbo insults at them. Then, she drove off in her Range Rover, muttering curses.
Ah, what a sight it was.
Chidinma and her friends arrived at her townhouse from the taxi, because they all insisted on making sure she did not kill herself. Their watchful gazes followed her diligently, even as she wanted to go upstairs and change out of her clothes.
"I'm fine, you guys are overreacting," Chidinma exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. Then, she turned too quick on the stairs, her feet slipping on the dark hardwood.
It only took a second to tumble down 10 flights of stairs, landing at the bottom with a dull thud. Chidinma groaned in pain, holding her head that seemed to catch her fall, feeling her vision blur. The girls rushed over to her, terrified.
"Oh my God, are you okay?" Fatima inquired, in a soft voice, concern filling her gaze.
Imani snorted, "If you die, can I have your car?"
Chidinma was about to reply when she raised the hand that was holding her head, which was slightly wet. Blood filled her palm and her line of vision and the room went silent, gaze on the bloody hand.
Then, they started panicking.
Then, Chidinma fainted.
Then, her best friends panicked even more.
POSTED ON: THURSDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2019
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thaank you all for reading. it warms the depths of my heart for sure.
Question.
Favorite song atm?
ada