The twins were
about two years old when the incident that nearly brought my life to an end
occurred. It was a call from my clearing agent that started it all. I remember
it was early in the morning as I was preparing to take my wife who was pregnant
again to her antenatal and to see her doctor before heading to my office.
Paddy, my agent
called to break the terrible news that my goods which had arrived that week at
the Port at Apapa (Lagos) had been seized by Customs!
"What
happened?" I shouted, slumping heavily on the bed at his words.
Sherri,
who was fixing her hair turned from the dressing mirror, looking at me
worriedly. She dropped the hair brush and rushed to my side.
"Honey,
what is it?" she asked anxiously, placing her hand on my shoulder.
I placed a
finger on my lips to silence her as I listened intently to Paddy on the phone.
The more he spoke, the more worried I became. This could not be happening to
me, I thought suddenly feeling dizzy.
The call ended
and I jumped up from the bed. Picking up my car keys, I headed for the door.
"Dear, I
have to go! There is an emergency at the Port! Will explain later!" I
said.
"But Dan,
what about my antenatal and the appointment with the doctor? We were supposed
to see him today, remember?" she stated, coming after me to the living room.
"Sorry,
dear, it has to be rescheduled. Tony will drop you at the hospital before
joining me at the Port. You can take a taxi back home when you are done.
There's some money in the drawer in the bedroom. I've to go!" I said, hurrying
out.
I still remember
the events of that day like it just happened recently. I remember rushing to
the Port to meet my agent who gave me the full details of what led to the
seizure of my goods.
The matter is a
criminal offence so I can't really give the full picture
but just a brief sketch. It
turned out that my business partner and friend, whom we often import goods
together had added some 'contraband' items to his own consignment without my
knowledge.
When they were
discovered during routine checks, my goods were seized along with his since
they were shipped together. What saved me from being prosecuted was that my
partner confessed he acted alone without my involvement. That however
could not save my goods
which were confiscated and auctioned off.
The bottom line
is I lost everything- my goods, my money even my house. I had used it as a
collateral to get a loan from the bank
which I added to my own
funds to import the goods. It was a short term loan and when the time to pay
came and I could not meet up, the bank took the house, cars and other
properties to settle the amount I had borrowed.
I was back
to 'zero'- no home, money, nothing! As you can imagine, it was a terrible time
for my family and I. We were nearly homeless, so we had to squat with my
younger brother Tony
who had moved to a small
apartment after my marriage for a while. It was while there that Sherri gave
birth to our daughter Dina. With her arrival, things became tougher as there
was an extra mouth to feed.
Tony had a
fiancée who made it clear we were not welcome in their home. To avoid further
insults from her, I borrowed some money from my brother who still had some
savings with which we moved to a one bedroom mini-flat in another part of
town.
At the
beginning of our problems, my wife supported me and was understanding. But
after sometime ,
her attitude began changing. Either she was always complaining about the
cramped space we lived in a seedy environment or that I was not giving her
enough money for baby food or to buy clothes for the children.
"The twins'
clothes need changing as they have outgrown them. Dina's baby food is finished.
I need money," she said one day.
"But
dear, you know I don't have any money. The N5, 000
I borrowed from Larry three days ago, I gave it all to you. Don't tell me you
have spent everything! You have to be more prudent with your spending now
because of our situation!" I stated.
"What? Are
you now questioning me about how I spent 5k? What is N5, 000?
Is that money? Is that what your mates give their wives?" she stated in an
angry tone.
"How
can you talk like that, Sherri? You know when we had money, I used to give you
thousands of Naira for your clothes alone! So, why are you...?" I started
saying before she cut me short.
"That was
then, this is now! Now, you are messing up big time. You are no longer living
up to your responsibilities as a husband and father. Instead of going out to
'hustle' like other men, you sit here all day complaining about my spending
habits and watching stupid football games. Nonsense!" she shouted before
going into the bedroom to pick up the baby who had woken up and was crying.
From the
way she spoke, one would think I was simply lazying around all day long at home,
doing nothing. It was not so. I
went out nearly every
day to look for ways of
restarting my ruined business but it was tough. There was simply no money and
none of my friends were ready to give me loans to start again.
Only very few
like Larry were supportive and gave me some financial assistance with which we
bought food and other necessities. I even thought about getting a job
no matter how small
at least to get money to
feed my family. But jobs were scarce and all the places I had gone to for work
informed me there were no vacancies.
Broken family
Sherri's
attitude worsened with each passing day. It got to a stage
she stopped giving me food
at home, stating that the food was meant for her as a nursing mother and the
children and I had to go out and 'sort myself out' as she put it. I had to make
arrangements with a woman who ran a local restaurant, a 'buka '
near my house to be eating there at least once a day on credit or I would have
starved. I would settle her whenever I got a little money from my friend,
Larry.
"Apart from
not giving me food, do you know she doesn't allow me to sleep with her
anymore?" I said one day when I went to see Larry at his office in Ikeja.
"Why? She
is your wife! Why would she deny you sex?" he enquired .
"I don't
understand Sherri anymore o !
The woman has changed so much! Her excuse is that she doesn't want to get
pregnant again as we don't even have money to feed the three we have
already," I replied.
"That's not
a good excuse. Has she not heard of contraceptives? Anyway, I will advise you
to take it easy with her. Some women are like that. They can't cope with
difficult situations; they expect things to be going smoothly all the time.
Life is not like that. Life is like a road that is full of bends and bumps. You
just have to learn to negotiate the rough parts when you get there," Larry
said.
"You
are right, my brother. And thanks so much for your support. I don't know how I
could have coped without you," I stated.
Larry
smiled, stating that it was the least he could do for me considering how I had
helped him in the past when I had money.
"You
did the same for me some years back when I had problems in my business. I have
no choice but support you now," he said.
"Not
everyone remembers the good one had done them. Afterall ,
you are not the only one I helped, but where are the others? No where! Some
hide when they hear that I'm in their offices or homes to see them. That's
life!" I said bitterly.
Later, we
discussed some business ideas. My mood brightened a bit when he told me about a
good business partner of his in Asia who was considering sending goods to me on
credit.
"I
told him you are a reliable person and you always pay your debts. We are still
discussing; I hope it works out," said Larry.
I prayed
this opportunity would work out as it could help a lot in my efforts to bounce
back to reckoning.
I got home
that day feeling much better than I had been in a long while. At home, I met
the twins sleeping in the bedroom and my wife was no
where in sight.
'Where
could she have gone?' I wondered as I went to get some water from the fridge.
Shortly
after, she returned with a large 'Ghana-must-go' bag in her hand.
"Where
did you go, Sherri? The boys were all alone in the house! That's not good at all!"
I said.
She
ignored me and went to the bedroom. Thinking she was in one of her bad moods, I
left her alone and sat watching TV in the parlour .
The sounds
of the baby crying woke me up early the next morning. I looked at my watch to
see it was just past six o'
clock . Sounds were coming from the parlour so I went there. There was a
suitcase and some bags there which Sherri was about taking outside the house.
"What's
going on here, Sherri? Where are you taking those bags to ?"
I asked.
"Are
you so daft? What does it look like? I'm leaving!" she announced abruptly.
"Leaving?
To where? You never told me you were travelling to see your family?" I
said, thinking she was going to the village to visit her old mother, a widow.
"I'm
going away! I'm done with this marriage!" she said, grabbing one of the
bags.
It
then dawned on me that this was no ordinary journey. She was abandoning me!
"But
dear , it hasn't come to that! Things are not so bad that you will just
walk away like that from our home, our marriage!" I said.
"That's
what you think! As for me, I can't take this anymore. I have to leave before I
go crazy!" said Sherri.
"Please, dear, don't go! I need you now more than ever! Please stay! You
are my life, my world! What will I do without you?" I said pleadingly .
"Stay
to do what? Starve to death? I can't o !
Let me go and try my luck elsewhere since you can no longer take care of
me," she retorted.
I tried to
stop her
but she pushed me aside and
dragged all the bags outside. A strange man I had never seen before came and
took the bags to a waiting car which my wife entered with the baby in her arms
and they drove away, leaving me all alone with the twins...
What next? Join us at 4pm today for the final episode of Dan's story!
To be
continued...
Names have been changed to protect the identity of the narrator and other individuals in the story.
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