I always dreamt of living in a big city like Lagos, somehow I felt stuck in my small village. The only time I left my village was whenever I went to the city to buy fabrics and tailoring materials for my store. I was working hard and saving up money to actualize my dream. The dream of becoming a city girl.
The desire to live in Lagos stemmed from my love for home movies where I constantly watched young girls in their fine clothes, guys in posh cars, nice houses in beautiful and serene environments and all kinds of fancy stuff. Everything appealed to me and I wanted this kind of life.
My dream became a reality when a young widower from Lagos came looking for a wife in the village. We were introduced by a mutual friend and we hit it off immediately. It was a perfect arrangement. He wanted a wife and I wanted to live in Lagos… this was my ticket to the life of my dreams and I didn’t even have to touch my savings to make this happen.
Within a short time, the traditional marriage rites were performed and I became Obi’s wife. I couldn’t sleep the night before we left the village because I was excited.
On our way to Lagos, our car broke down a couple of times so we arrived our destination very late at night. It was dark when we got to what would now become my new home but I could tell that this was not like the houses in the movies. Well, it wasn’t bad but it didn’t meet up to my expectations.
I was in this already so I had to make the best of the situation. I tried to settle into married life in a new town with a man I barely knew.
Lagos was not what I imagined. It is noisy, rowdy and dirty and everyone always seems to be in a hurry. Then there’s the language barrier. It beats me how people are able to cope in this madness. My husband didn’t make things any easier because he was a very busy man. He was out of the house very early in the morning and back home late at night. We rarely had time to bond or get to know ourselves.
Three months later, he informed me of his son’s health condition. I knew the child was sick but I didn’t realize the extent. He had an appointment with his neurologist in America and they were leaving in a few days. Obi arranged for me to attend evening classes so that I won’t be bored. I asked how long he’d be away and he said, “it won’t be long”.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been four and a half years since my husband left for America. He makes excuses about the medical system in Nigeria and the fear of bringing his son to suffer here so he’d rather stay back in America until the boy is fully recovered, now the problem is that he doesn’t know how long this might take.
Anyway, I’ve been busy. I got part-time admission at the University and I’ve met people who showed me the other side of Lagos. The one I have always dreamed about. I also began to attend auditions for movies and I was getting “waka-pass” roles until a producer recognized my talent and I started getting bigger roles especially for movies in my dialect.
My husband is so upset about this and he wants me to quit acting and focus solely on school. I have no problem joggling the two at the same time and I don’t think he has the right to tell me what to do.
He has given me an ultimatum to either do what he says or incur his wrath. I think his threat is coming a little too late because I just found out that I am pregnant and I am definitely having this baby.
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