Untangled by Roselyn Sho-Olajide and Peace Habila-Okwoli
“Who killed papa’s wife?” Dan, who just turned 7, asked his mother, Jamila.
“Shhh” , She whispered while trying to calm his body that was already quaking in fear.
“Are we going to die too, mum?” He added with tears rolling down his eyes.
That morning, when everyone was accounted for, it turned out someone was missing. At first, what threatened the peace of each soul in the house was the strange aura that hovered over the house creating fear and numbness.
The latest bride was missing.
Nene, the first wife and the matriarch of the family braced up and went to knock on the bride’s door. After several persistent knocks from Nene and a stone walled silence from the other side of the door, the family had to put their disunity aside to check if the young woman was alright.
Their fear heightened when their eyes saw what words are insufficient to describe.
….
Five months ago, it was a beehive of activities in Chief Akande’s villa during the Yuletide Season.
The loud music playing on the gigantic room theatre drowned the voices of conversations going on among pockets of people in the 20-bedroom house. Nine of Chief Akande’s fifteen children had come home for the celebration—five out of which had already had their own families.
Toddlers scampered around. Some adults were trying to stop them from getting into harm’s way. The delicious smell of baked pastries, stew and meat permeated the air in one of the spacious living rooms where some of the family members had occupied that late afternoon.
The boisterous gathering had drowned the sound of Chief’s SUV when he entered the premises. Chief’s loud voice cut through the thrum of activities in the living room. “Ha! Is this a marketplace?” Chief said with a smile that came from his heart and soul as he appreciated the sight of his family uniting together for the first time in a long time.
“Welcome Daddy,” Johnson, the firstborn who flew in from America with his family said.
“We did not even hear the sound of your car, dad,”Nneka, the daughter of the second wife said.
“How would you have heard when the place sounds like a Tsunami is happening. I have an announcement,” Chief said.
Everyone was hurriedly called to the large living room so the family could hear what Chief had to say.
“I am getting married in three weeks,” Chief announced to the family while grinning from ear to ear.
For a few second, all the air left the room.Nene the first wife, sprang up as though she sat on a spring, her expression inscrutable.
“Did I just hear you right?”
A bedlam ensued as everyone was talking at the same time.
Jamila, the fourth wife who was known for her lack of patience and sharp tongue, blurted out, “this isn’t fair.”
“Enough of this nonsense!” Chief thundered. “Is it because I told you?
I am not seeking your approval nor do I need any validation from you.
I am just informing you.
Whether you like it or not, I am getting married in 3 weeks. Anyone who cannot accommodate my new wife is free to go.
It is my money and my house.”
With that, Chief walked out leaving his family appalled at his decision.
In those few minutes between when Chief walked from the living to the bedroom upstairs, an idea started forming in Jamila’s mind. She won’t allow Chief to marry more wives. He had married one after her and that was enough. She won’t let that happen.
….
Three weeks later, Chief married Uduak in a flamboyant ceremony. With Chief’s 6 wives, each ceremony was better than the previous and the wives kept getting younger.
The garden in the sprawling compound was decorated in an array of colours. A live band played, while a banquet was laid out for everyone to eat and drink to their fill. Chief did not spare expenses in organizing his sixth wedding.
Right from the wedding day, Jamila, Chief’s fourth wife was uncomfortably friendly with Uduak. It bothered the other family members since they knew that Jamila never liked the idea of Chief marrying a sixth wife.
“What is it with Jamila?” Susan asked while craning her neck to look at Jamila who was spraying some Naira notes on the young bride who was dancing her life out
Jumoke looked at the direction Susan was looking at. “Oh, you noticed too? I don’t know what she is up to this time around, but whatever it is, I have this sinking feeling that it won’t end well.”
…..
Uduak’s soul was housed in a body that was elegantly built. She carried herself with confidence and grace. Her lips weren’t loose and so she lazily counted her words .But that wasn’t offensive in any way because her words were mostly enveloped in a cloud of smiles. Her presence kept Jamila on her toes as the rivalry game tightened leading Jamila to change her wardrobe.
The day the family lawyer arrived at Chief’s house, the whole house was tensed. It was clear to the other wives that the new bride had won a spot in Chief’s heart. That also sent Jumoke and her son on a hunt for a copy of Chief’s will in the subsequent weeks.
“Jumoke, what are you always looking for in Chief’s room? Take it easy, you will wound your poor heart”, Jamila cautioned her co-wife.
“Well, I found something and I am determined to change the narrative,” she replied.
“ Do you know that chief has willed half of his estate to Uduak? When did she arrive at this house? Why the rush?
I will definitely remove her from this house,” Jumoke ranted.
“What are you two scheming?” The oldest wife interrupted and scattered the little conference that had just begun.
A week later, Uduak’s lifeless body was found in her room. It looked like she struggled with whoever did this to her. Her bedding looked manhandled yet she looked peaceful in her eternal sleep. She didn’t change into her usual nightwear. Unlike her, she died wearing Iro and Buba. It was strange and everything around her passing looked carefully thought out and nicely executed.
Chief wept like a child whose puppy was taken off his hands by a bully and since other members of his household expressed more of fear than pain, he felt his life too was in danger. He called the police to report what had happened. That was the right thing to do considering the crowd related by blood living with him.
When the police arrived, tension clouded the house. It appeared like everyone and everything had a hand in her death.
Then the interrogation began.
Why did you kill her, Chief? The officer asked.
Ah! No. I didn’t kill her. I like fine women.
She is pleasant to the eyes, even in death. I couldn’t have.
“So who did?” The officer asked again.
“I have 5 other wives it could be any of them.” said Chief.
Each wife was interrogated and each had a stain on her white.
….
Uduak could still remember her visit to the hospital just like yesterday—it was a few months before she met Chief Akande.
Uduak was too forgetful and would sometimes struggle to remember her way home when she went to work, market or church. Then this severe, persistent headache as though someone was using a jackhammer in her head.
She visited one of those small clinics around her house that smelled of disinfectant and had barely enough room for five people in the reception.
“What are you doing here fine lady,” Dr. Mike asked her when it was her turn to see him in his small office that was not bigger than her small kitchen.
“I don’t understand it doctor, I have this severe headache and it is slowly killing me.”
“I suspect you have Typhoid and Malaria.
I will write out drugs for you to buy.”
A few days after taking the full dose of antimalarial and Typhoid medication, Uduak was back to the hospital. This time the headache had gotten worse.
“I will refer you to a teaching hospital to see a neurologist.
You will need to do a Computer Tomography(CT) scan to know what exactly is causing the headache.
I hope it is not what I am thinking.” Dr. Mike told her.
The neurologist at the teaching hospital was one middle-aged woman who was very nice to Uduak. She still asked her to do a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan which would give a clearer picture of what was happening in her brain. She shivered when she remembered how cold it felt when she was asked to enter the coffin-like machine. How the technician tried to make her feel at ease through the one-hour test.
Soon, she was back at Dr. Esther’s office. The office looked beautiful with a family picture that was obviously Dr. Esther with her handsome husband, and three children dressed in the same attire and with another picture of the couple alone.
Dr. Esther smiled when she entered the office.
“It is like you are still cold, ma’am?
We apologize for making you go through this, but it was necessary judging by the severity of the headache.”
“It is understandable, Doctor,” she responded in a voice that she could barely recognize as hers.
Dr. Esther showed her the X-tray and pointed at something on the image. “There is a mass in your brain. It is a big tumor that is located in the left frontal lobe, crossing the midline.”
Did Uduak hear the doctor well? It was like she was standing on a mat that was swept from under her legs and she was falling. No, this was not happening. She was only dreaming and would wake up soon.
A few minutes passed but Uduak was not aware of it. Her brain was a jumbled mess of rapids thoughts.
“Excuse me, ma’am. So sorry, I hate to say this to you, but the tumor is inoperable”. Dr. Esther’s voice snatched her from her reverie.That knowledge was a secret she was determined to take to her grave.
…
The pain that Sunday night was excruciating. Thankfully, Chief was not spending the night with her. She had been able to hide her pain well since she moved into Chief’s house. OxyContin had been numbing the pain each time it started.
She didn’t know how long she was going to live, but she would enjoy Chief’s wealth until the final call. That was the only reason she had accepted to marry a man old enough to be her father— money was the only motivation.
She rolled from side to side as the pain persisted. She swallowed one of the pills and took a long swig of the only bottled water in the room. The relief was instant and she smiled as she rolled over to sleep. But then the pain came back and had become a spasm ricocheting from her head to her neck, down to her shoulders.
She needed another pill, but the problem was that she was told at the hospital never to take OxyContin without water or it could be fatal. Well, it was only one pill and she needed it badly. She could not stand up to get some water from her private restroom. The pain was unbearable. She quickly took one of the pills, chewed and swallowed it.
….
A bottle of OxyContin was found on her nightstand; a bag filled with medication without prescription was also found hidden in her room.
“Chief, at this point, we may need to take the corpse for an autopsy. That will be our easiest way out. In the meantime, none of you is expected to leave town,” the officer said as her body was moved into the waiting ambulance.
Jamila wailed at the sight of the cold body. She shouted and chanted, calling on Uduak to kill and disfigure her killers. Other members of the house who were familiar with her dubious ways were at this point certain she knew more than she was admitting. Jamila’s restlessness increased within the week as other members of the house avoided her like a shadow of death.
“Chief, Good morning”, the caller greeted in a low tone.
“Good morning, DPO,” Chief replied.
“The autopsy is out. I am sorry, she had a brain tumor and was on medication.
She overdosed on a painkiller. You may need to come over for the paperwork.
Please accept my deepest sympathy.”
“Thank you, DPO. I will be there shortly,” was all Chief could say.
“But we need to investigate who owns the poison that was found in the house.
We will visit tomorrow,” the officer explained.
“The Police will be here tomorrow to pick the owner of a bottle filled with poison found here,” Chief announced to his household through his vocal cords that were partly eaten by grief.
As Chief was trying to explain further a loud sound startled everyone. Jamila had fainted.