THE UNHOLY PRAYER

THE UNHOLY PRAYER

Episode 1

It was a sunny afternoon at the beach, the wind blowing through her hair and the sun kissing her neck ;she felt peace. Closing her eyes as she lay on the sand, facing the sun head on, she smiled and for a moment she was happy.

it lasted but for a moment.

“Jemima …..Jemima……wake up!!!!”

she opened her eyes, she wasn’t at the beach, she was not even happy

“Jemima!!” The voice called out again, even more forceful than before shaking her aggressively.

“Yes!!, I’m up what is it?”. She answered angry that her beach was interrupted

“You sleep too much, ah ah, it’s 5 am can’t you see, you lazy woman! I’m traveling this morning, won’t you pack my bags?”

The snap back to reality was rude and harsh. Of course she wasn’t at the beach; she hasn’t been there in 10 years.

She is Jemima and her life is painful, she is a 35 year old woman married to the worst man that ever lived Tayo for 14 years , with 3 sweet children, she got up from the bed soaked with sweat, no light, NEPA struck in the middle of the night.

“Ohhhhohhh” she grumbled under her breath, now she would have to do everything in darkness.

It took her less than two hours to pack his bags, prepare his breakfast and ready the kids for school, she was used to it, she had done it almost everyday for 14 years.

“Nice”,she said to herself as she stood at entrance of her kitchen looking at her work, her children Sammy and Shindara dressed in their uniform ready to go to school.

“Go and tell you daddy bye bye”, she said to them.

“okay mummy”, they answered skipping to the bedroom.

She followed closely behind, watching them, Tayo did his good bye handshake with them and dropped a few notes in their palms, the excited kids ran out of the room comparing notes.

She waited till they had left, closing their bedroom door

she said “ Don’t you think as your wife I should be given a little heads up beforehand when you are traveling….it’s not right that you just wake me up in the morning with that news, I don’t know where you are going, how long you will be going for… come on Tayo… who does that?”

“Aunty leave me alone, I am a businessman, I don’t have to tell you anything, are you not my wife?? If I want to wake you up by 12am I can, why do you want to know when I’m coming back ehn… you don’t want me to catch you Abi” he answered, his voice slightly elevated.

“Catch me doing what Tayo”, she rumbled, obviously irritated.

“Abeg shift jare”, he pushed her out of the way, dragging his box, “some wives don’t see their husbands for months you are here complaining better do your duty, silly woman” he said as he got out of the bedroom.

In few minutes she heard the front door open, and the sound of his car driving off, if it was two years ago she would have followed him out of the room to continue the argument, making sure he heard her but today she couldn’t be bothered.

“Two more weeks” she said to herself.