Nightmare (5)

Though she was not asleep when morning came and Edmund with it, his loud knock startled her from her deep thoughts, thoughts which she knew should not be in the mind of a married woman, not to talk of a newly married one.
She was thinking maybe she could run away and start her life anew, right after she had thought that maybe she could file for a divorce from Edmund, on the grounds of withheld information.

“Hope you are all packed? The truck won’t wait for long,” Edmund said immediately she opened the door, walking past her to the bedroom.

“Well, good morning to you too,” she said, hoping he’d calm down. “And what truck are you talking about? Are we moving the hotel? We don’t need a truck, it’s just three boxes between us; a taxi would do.”

“I am not in the mood for your annoying sarcasm,” he said, killing her hopeful banter. “And we are moving, that’s why we needed a truck. I told you I had work issues; well I have been transferred to Enugu. All our things from the house are in the truck, remaining just our things here.”

Adaeze had tuned off at the word ‘moving’.

“You are joking, right? Please tell me this is a prank.” As she spoke, she knew it wasn’t. She felt her heart begin to beat faster.

“Joking about what?” Edmund asked, not even sparing her a glance, but kept on packing his things. “Do I look like a comedian?”

“Edmund, we are moving, and this is how I get to know?” she gave a nervous chuckle. “I have a life here, Edmund. I have my work and my family here. I am supposed to be your wife! You don’t just… just take such decisions without a discussion with me first,” she was spilling angry tears. “I’m not going anywhere.” She ended as she sat on the bed.

She wondered how she could have been blind to Edmund’s madness. What she had taken for ambition and a love for excellence had obviously been a serious case of control issues.

“You have no choice. You are my wife, and you do as I say. Didn’t your Bible tell you that?” He asked from behind her, and Adaeze could feel his gaze on her back.

Feeling a little thrill that he had at least stopped packing and was looking at her, she turned to retort “Well the Bible also said that you should love your wife! This is not how…”

Her retort was cut short when Edmund swiftly pressed a cloth over her nose. “I knew you’d be difficult,” he said, as she slowly lost consciousness. “So I came prepared. By the time you wake up, we’ll be home.”

Everything went dark.

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Adaeze slowly woke up to voices which she didn’t totally understand, and smells which were so bad, she gagged. Her mouth was so dry, she couldn’t speak.

She knew what had happened, and could only hope Edmund didn’t plan to kill her, not that she didn’t deserve it for being so stupid and not listening to her mother’s counsel.

She wondered how long she had been unconscious.

She realized that she had been placed on a mat on the hard floor which was getting increasingly uncomfortable as her consciousness heightened. She tried to lift herself up and realized she couldn’t gather any strength. Her whimper must have alerted Edmund because she heard his voice as he approached her from behind.

She was so weak, she couldn’t even turn to look at him. She couldn’t speak either, or she would have shouted, asking Edmund what she did for him to treat her so. She still hoped to wake up from this nightmare which was quickly turning into her life.

“You are finally awake, I thought I might have to beat you out of unconsciousness,” Edmund said as he rounded so she could see his feet. It took too much energy to gaze up to his face, as he was standing. He was not even kind enough to squat and speak to her, so she could at least spit in his face. That would give her a little pleasure even if he planned to kill her.

The thought of never seeing her family again brought tears to Adaeze’s eyes. How could she have been so blind to this? She wondered. It was too soon in her marriage for the mirage to clear. It was too soon for her to have regrets, it was all too soon, but now she would have to pay with her life for a single mistake.

“You have to listen attentively to what we are about to tell you,” Edmund was still speaking. Then he suddenly picked her up, roughly, and placed her in a plastic seat. She attempted to spit in his face before he stepped away, but her mouth was really dry, and she could not even work her tongue for a little spit.

Adaeze had never felt this helpless in her whole life.

“As I was saying,” Edmund continued, “we are going to give you a chance to not misbehave and draw attention to us. This is my family house, and we will soon move away from here, but you will have to get pregnant first. I refuse to be seen as a man who doesn’t have a child.”

Adaeze didn’t feel any thrill in her discovery that she was right in her deduction about Edmund’s situation. She now understood that she was with the devil himself.

Edmund’s continued words brought her back to the present. “When my mother is certain that you are pregnant and past the critical stage, then I will come and pick you up and back to our own house. In the meantime, you’d stay here.”

As he spoke, his mother walked into view. She was the same woman whom Adaeze saw a few times and during the wedding, but this time she was as she truly was in all her wickedness. Gone was the woman whom Adaeze had hoped to take as a consolation in her marriage as a mother figure until her mother came around to accepting Edmund totally, and in her place was a woman obviously devoid of a conscience; she was laughing and assuring her son that his wife would be pregnant before he knew it.

Edmund called out, and some men walked in, about five of them. Even before Edmund explained, Adaeze knew what their purpose was. It was baffling how sure she was of everything before they happened, but she had not been able to see that she was getting married to the devil.

“Don’t give these men trouble, or else you will be beaten as they deem fit. I have given them permission. One of them will get you pregnant, and make your dream of becoming a mother a reality so be grateful to them,” Edmund said, with a wicked smile as he bent at the waist to look into her eyes, and Adaeze got the opportunity she had been praying for.

With the little energy she could muster, she sent a little spittle onto his face, and though it was a minute amount, she felt a little satisfaction in seeing Edmund really angry, even though the slap he gave her was almost excruciating, temporarily blinding her.

All through the time they courted, Adaeze worked hard not to annoy him, and so finally getting the opportunity, though small, was a reward to Edmund for his wickedness.

Before he could send her another slap, his mother held him back, reminding him that it was daytime and they had neighbours.

Following orders, two of the men pulled her up and were dragging her to an unknown room when her mother-in-law gave an angry, disappointed shout at Adaeze’s soiled clothes.

Adaeze had never been so happy to see her menstrual flow.

Previously Published Here

Nightmare 1
Nightmare 2
Nightmare 3
Nightmare 4

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