When mother and son eventually came out of the room, I saw a confused look on my husband’s face. Sensing trouble, I just sneaked into my room without uttering a word. He came in after me, and demanded to know why my mother took me to see a herbalist for his sake.
I was dumbfounded. Was that what his mother had told him? Or was it just a first attack so that I would not be able to tell a lie if I was actually guilty? Could it be that my mother-in-law had set a trap for me with the menstrual fluid torture she had made me pass through? These were the questions I was struggling to find answers to when my husband shouted again and ordered me to talk in two minutes.
I told him that there was nothing like that, and asked where he got such information. I reminded him that my parents were pure Christians who would never go against the will of God even in the face of difficulties. I knelt down before him and told him that I had begun to enjoy his changed lifestyle until this moment when it looked like the world was coming to an end.
I expected him to kick me away or hurl abusive words at me, but he did nothing of such. He just lay on the bed, face up, and appeared not to be listening to what I was saying again. Soon after, my mother-in-law called me into the room and told me that I could not stay married to her son because I had employed tactics other than what she taught me to turn him into a moron. She said she would break the spell and prove to me that she gave birth to her son.
I told her that I had only been fasting and praying, that I had never done anything bad in my life, much less to my husband, the father of my child. I reminded her that even in the face of the trouble she gave me over using my menstrual fluid to cook for my husband, I refused to do so. At this point, she said that if I had not done it, and he changed towards me, I would still need to do what she told me because my husband’s life was at stake. She then said, almost unbelievably, that if I refused to do it, she would encourage my husband to marry another wife, who would do it, without any trouble.
I did not understand the whole matter again at this point, but I knew she had deliberately poisoned my husband’s mind because she saw that he had changed positively towards me, and she did not want that. She added that if I ever told my husband that she told me to add anything to his food, I would not live to see the next day. I became really afraid, and blamed my parents for not allowing me marry the man of my choice because of
religion.
Everything that was happening in my house supported the fact that many things were tied around occult practices. That day, throughout, my husband refused to eat anything, though he was not nasty. He played more with our son, and answered me with monosyllables. The next day, before going to work, I dashed to my parents’ house and told my mother all that was happening. Unlike her, she said I had to leave my husband, not withstanding the child between us already. She said the woman was evil and might harm me if I did not dance to her music.
My mother said, because she was my husband’s mother, she could invoke anything on him and it would come to pass. She pleaded with me on behalf of everybody, to forgive them for not allowing me to marry the man I wanted to marry. She, however, decided to confront my mother-in-law before accepting defeat. She visited our house on a Saturday, when she knew that everyone would be at home. She then asked to speak privately with my mother-in-law. When they left the living room, my husband asked, ‘what was that for?’ I only shrugged and continued with what I was doing.
Soon after this, we heard shouts from their direction. My mother-in-law was shouting at the top of her voice and my mother was also answering her, though not so loud. I was afraid. I thought that the end had come in our
marriage.
When my mother-in-law got to where my husband and I sat, she started shouting, “Why would you take your daughter to a native doctor, and why would you tell her to cook my son’s food with her menstrual fluid? You people want to turn him into a moron and a wretched man, God would not allow, that was why He exposed your secrets to me.”
At this juncture, it had become almost impossible for anyone to believe me if I had revealed that it was actually my mother-in-law that was forcing me to do that to her son. There was no one to confirm my story. Accusing fingers were pointing at me. I did not know how to wash myself clean of the allegations because I had refused to tell anyone except my mother, not even the nanny who appeared to be truly
concerned.
As I was thinking of what to do, I remembered that I opened up to the man I was supposed to marry and his wife, when they came to visit me in the office. On impulse, I picked up my phone and dialled my ex’s number. When he picked, I put the phone on speaker. I asked him to tell me what I told him when he came to visit me with his wife. He repeated everything, right before my husband, and kept on asking if I was okay. But my mother-in-law said we had arranged it, while she kept on insulting my
mother.
That night, my mother insisted that I should follow her home because my saftey could no longer be guaranteed in that house. She said she could not unravel what exactly my mother-in-law was up to and that we must play safe. I took my son with me and no one objected. It’s over a year now. I’ve not heard anything from my husband and my mother says I should forget about them and move on with my life; that my own husband will come at the right time.
It’s so frustrating, but what do I do?
Concluded
