I came back on Sunday afternoon; it was one of the hardest trips of my life. The attention I got because of the clutches alone was insane. People advised me on what to eat and what not to eat, how to put my leg and the kind of drugs to take, even the position I should sleep. I mean was I going to sleep in a position that would hurt the leg? It was very exhausting but I sucked it up; I didn’t want to be rude to anyone even though I came close a number of times. I was so glad that Ashezi was at the airport on time to pick me up.
I couldn’t resume work because of my ankle. I did resume so that they would see my ankle with their eyes, gave them a doctor’s report and gave me a sweet two months sick leave. My mother gave me the house driver to drive me everywhere I wanted to go. She was sad that I couldn’t go to work, I feel like she believed I was very sad that I was not going to work for two months.
The day my sick leave started, I had a lot planned for myself; I wanted to take myself to the movies, have lunch in a café by myself and just go around town being a girl about town with clutches but it didn’t go the way I imagined it would be.
I went to a nearby pastry shop to buy cupcakes. While I was there, I got a lot of looks and pity; it all killed my morale to be out so I decided to go home. That day was torture because I was bored as hell; I tried to disturb Ashezi and Lota but they were working and did not have my time.
The next day, I was determined to not be bored; so I disturbed Ashezi and Lota until they gave me the attention I deserved. I had forgotten how fun it was to just be at home chatting with friends on WhatsApp; well back in the day it was Blackberry messenger.
We chatted about everything under the sun, I soon realized that we hadn’t talked like this in a while and I am sure that they realized it too. We talked about silly things making fun of each other; I don’t know how we started talking about Ashezi’s relationship. It suddenly became serious
Ashezi has been in a relationship with a guy named Jude for the past three years; funny enough she hardly talked about her relationship and Lota and I hardly asked questions especially unwarranted questions. This day was different; it was as if a special wave came upon her that day. She bared it all for us on the WhatsApp group and the shock that followed paralyzed my fingers for a good thirty minutes.
She talked about how she felt stuck in the relationship because it didn’t look like they were heading anywhere. She confessed to doing everything he wanted just to make him propose to her. I was afraid to ask her the things he made her do but I did anyway.
She told us that she engaged in a threesome with him because it was what he wanted for his thirtieth birthday, she confessed to us that most weekends when we did not see her she was at his mother’s house cooking and cleaning including mother’s day; she also told us how almost everything she did was to please him including what she wore and her hairstyle. Her major excuse for doing everything he wanted was because she didn’t want him to be angry; like she was afraid of him or something.
It was a lot to take in; I couldn’t believe everything my friend was going through. There was no way we would have guessed that Ashezi was the type of person to live her life for a man just because of marriage. I asked her if she was getting pressure from her family to get married and she said the pressure was an understatement. “I was disowned for three months because of this marriage issue,” she said.
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I was astonished to the point that I started to question our friendship; if she was really one of my best friends, why didn’t she tell me… tell us all of these? Why did she pretend as if everything was perfect between them?… with her and why now? Why did she decide to tell us now? What did she want us to do with the heartbreaking information that she had given us?
Lota didn’t say much on the chat, either she was too shocked to say anything or she was too busy with work. I told her that I wanted to sleep, something to end the chat because it was becoming exhausting. She asked me for advice on what to do but I had nothing to tell her, I was still processing the information she poured on us.
The answer to her situation was simple, Jude was obviously not the person for her but who will tell her? Definitely not yours truly; besides Ashezi was starting to seem different to me. The independent, intelligent, ambitious girl who did not care about societal pressures and pleasing people was a mirage.
I decided to watch a movie to take my mind off everything Ashezi confessed but it didn’t work so I called Abdul my friend. He was happy to hear from me as always, I told him everything that had gone down both in Lagos and what Ashezi told me about her relationship. He asked to come and see me and I agreed, within twenty minutes he was outside my house. I carried myself and my clutches with excitement to open the door just to meet another surprise. He came with his girlfriend. How did I know it was her? Their picture was his WhatsApp display picture. My life.