THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN – Part Three
“Please. Please. Please. I beg you in the perfect name of Allah. Please give me a second chance. I promise not to do that again.”
“It’s late. As far as my mother’s life is concerned, I can’t give you a second chance. Do you know my mother is lying in the ICU battling with her life with the aid of an oxygen? And you want me to forgive you, never!” Marwan said obstinately.
“Please forgive me. Mama will not die but live. Allah will grant her complete healing. I will pray for her everyday.” Aneesah pleaded for the umpteenth time but all her plea fell on her husband’s deaf ears.
Marwan packed three boxes and carried them to the car. He pushed Aneesah away as she held onto his leg.
He zoomed off before Aneesah could get outside.
Marwan got to Aneesah’s house and offloaded the three boxes. He knocked on the door and didn’t bother to wait for any response. He dumped the bags outside the door and walked away.
Aneesah’s mother opened the door and found three bags with a letter on the upper bag. She was astonished. She didn’t understand what was going on. She picked the letter and read. Marwan explained everything that happened in the letter. He also informed Aneesah’s mother that he was done with her daughter.
Madam Ewatomi clasped her hand on her head and cried bitterly. She called Aneesah immediately and asked for the name of the hospital where her mother-in-law was hospitalized.
Madam Ewatomi rushed to the hospital immediately. The nurses told her she couldn’t enter the ICU. She waited patiently at the reception. She looked around for Marwan’s family members. She didn’t see any of them. She continued waiting when Aunt Bola emerged from outside.
Aunt Bola hissed upon seeing her. Aneesah’s mother begged for forgiveness on behalf of her daughter but aunt Bola lashed out at her.
“You don’t need to beg for forgiveness. We should have known that bad behaviour runs in your family when we heard the gist that you also divorced three times. Your behaviour was so bad that your three husbands couldn’t keep you but threw you away like a piece of trash. Like mother, like daughter. Bunch of badly behaved people. A woman has a bad character but laments that she’s not lucky with marriage. How will she be lucky? Show me your mother and I’ll tell you the kind of daughter you are. Show me your mother-in-law and and I’ll tell you the kind of wife you have. Your daughter is not welcomed in our family again. The day I set my eyes on her will be the day she’ll be buried.” Aunt Bola insulted Aneesah’s mother at the reception in the presence of patients and visitors.
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Aneesah’s mother felt embarrassed. She wished the ground would open and swallow her. Her eyelids were filled with hot tears which cascaded her cheeks. She dragged her feet in shame out of the hospital. Since that day, she didn’t step foot in the hospital again. She decided not to interfere in the matter again.
Aneesah returned to her mother’s house when Marwan and his family wouldn’t accept her back after plea upon plea. She even went as far as sending dignitaries to beg them to no avail. Aunt Bola swore that she wouldn’t step foot in their family again. Marwan wouldn’t want to see her either. Aunt Bola told her there was nothing to consider in her since she didn’t even bear them a child.Aneesah however went to the hospital everyday to see her mother-in-law till the woman was discharged a month after the incident.
After Mama was discharged, Aneesah went to the house but she wasn’t allowed in.
Her mother was making life difficult for her as well. Her mother fed her with insults and hot words for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday.
“After all my plea for you to endure, you still misbehaved. You’re a disgrace. My case is clearly different from yours because in all my three marriages, I never misbehaved,life just happened. Even at that, I begged you to borrow a leaf from my story so that you won’t end up being a divorced woman. But you not only disgraced yourself. You also disgraced me. Your mother-in-law’s sister had the nerves to insult me with my past. But I don’t blame her, I only blamed you for being an unfortunate child.” Aneesah’s mother poured hot words on her.
She did insult her everyday. Aneesah had cried so much to the point of sickness. When her ill health was persistent. She went to the hospital. She received the good news that she was 8 weeks pregnant. With joy in her heart, with high hope that the child would reconcile them, Aneesah raced to her husband’s house to inform him of her pregnancy. But to her dismay, he told her he doesn’t want anything to do with her. He told her he would collect his baby when he was born and totally free her from the marriage. Aneesah wept bitterly. She begged him to no avail. She sent people to beg him and his family but they were bent on not having anything to do with her anymore. Aunt Bola even said a bad woman would give birth to a bad child. Marwan only said he would send money to her every month to take care of her pregnancy. He told her that was all he owed her.
Aneesah’s mother wasn’t making life bearable for her either. Even with the news of her pregnancy, she continued to torment her. Aneesah decided to leave home. Her younger brother with whom she shared a father schooled in OAU Ile-ife. Abideen was the only one that understood her and was willing to stand by her. Abideen told her to come to Ife. With the little money she had in her account, Abideen helped her to rent a self contained apartment. She relocated to Ife to start a new life. Some weeks after her relocation, she secured a job with a private school in Ife.
When her pregnancy was four months old, she started antenatal clinic. She was told to do a scan. The scan revealed she was carrying triplet. She picked her phone happily to share the good news with her husband. She logged into WhatsApp.
“I want to tell you something.” She typed but he never responded. He blocked her number from reaching him on WhatsApp, phone calls and messages.
He also blocked her on all social media platforms. She cried bitterly but she was still hopeful that the three beautiful babies would reunite them eventually.
Her brother was everything to her. Life can’t be so hard without one person always staying through. Her husband and his family abandoned her. Her own mother abandoned her but her brother, Abideen, became her backbone. She also did not lack money as Marwan credited her account with 50k every month.
Abideen ensured she ate regularly and also not missed her antenatal. He visited her everyday and ensured she doesn’t over think.
Days rolled into weeks, weeks into months and the journey of nine months came to an end.
Marwan slept and dreamt of Aneesah being in a pool of blood with babies soaked in blood crying for her attention.
He got up terrified. That dream melted the resentment he had for her. He had a gush of emotions. The affection he once had for her returned from no where. He was worried about her all of a sudden.
He quickly got his phone and unblocked her everywhere that he blocked her.
He put a call across to her and Abideen was the one who picked the call.
“Where’s my wife?” Marwan asked.
Abideen hesitated before responding. He felt nothing but anger towards him for all he’d made his sister go through.
“She’s in the theatre. She just delivered three baby boys.” Abideen informed while Marwan screamed.
“Which hospital is she?” Marwan asked eagerly.
“She’s in OAUTHC, Ile-Ife.” Abideen informed reluctantly.
“Ife?” Marwan marveled and quickly added, “Alright, I’m coming right away.”
He said and ended the call. He rushed to the bathroom to have an express shower. He got out hurriedly and got dressed. He informed his family of the good news. They were all happy for him. He took to all his social media handles to break the news of his triplets. Within minutes, there were over a thousand reactions. He smiled proudly and grabbed the steering wheel. Off he went to bring the mother of his triplets home. The fight had ended. It was time to reconcile.
After Abideen ended the call with Marwan, he called their mother. Madam Ewatomi screamed happily on the phone. She set out on a journey to Ife immediately to see her daughter and her three grandchildren.
Marwan and Mrs. Ewatomilola got to Ife about the same time. They met Abideen on the floor weeping like a child. Aneesah could not make it. The operation was complicated. However, the three babies were hale and hearty.
Marwan burst into tears. Mrs. Ewatomilola burst into tears. They both cried uncontrollably. They lamented amidst hot tears. They wished they had done things differently.
Abideen stood up to them angrily. He spoke angrily to them amidst tears.
“Eni oki n shey ojo ekun eyin mejeeji. Why are you crying now that she’s gone? I thought her offense was too big to be forgiven. She lived her last days in pains and loneliness, in regret and agony. She wished for both of you to draw her closer after reprimanding her but that never happened till she breathed her last. The pregnancy was so complicated. She needed warmth from the man that put her in the family way but she never got it. She spent days in the hospital due to complications and waited for your calls everyday but she waited in vain. Even when the doctors were running helter skelter to save her life when she was bleeding so much, she had nothing to say except that both of you should forgive her. It’s too late to cry when the head is off.” Abideen said amidst tears.
Marwan and Madam Ewatomilola cried bitterly.
The triplets reminded Marwan of Aneesah every day of his life. He stared at them with guilt filled eyes. He was never there for their mom when she was undergoing the pains of pregnancy. He left her to bear it alone, now he hated himself so much. He learnt to always forgive his loved ones while they’re still breathing
What is that offense that is too hard for you to forgive? Forgive now when you still have your loved ones around before they become a painful memory instead of a sweet one.
****The End*****
THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN Part Three