Itohan was coming home when she met one one of her neighbours at the front of the house. He greeted him but he didn’t respond. Itohan taught that he didn’t hear so she reached out to him again.

“Dennis I was greeting you. Good afternoon.”

“Itohan what is your problem? Must you greet me?” Dennis snapped.

“Dennis what is matter? Are we quarrelling?”

“May the mouth you use to ask me that question twist. You are not ashamed of your self.”

Itohan stood and was watching Dennis.

“The next time you attempt to greet me, I will deal with you,” Dennis threatened.

Dennis please don’t be offended. What is the matter?” Itohan enquired

“The matter is that you are a hypocrite. I heard that you are pregnant. Is it a lie?”

Itohan could not utter any word. Tears flowed freely from her eyes.

“So you cannot talk again. Were you not the one that was preaching to me, telling me that fornication is sin. Your preaching even made one of my lovers to leave me. This is pay back time. I am watching your stomach. If it later becomes true that you are pregnant, sorry will be your name in this compound,” Dennis threatened.

Itohan managed to drag herself to the room. She wept bitterly when she got inside. Everything seemed to be collapsing around her.

She thought about the whole situation. If she has a good job, she might have preferred to to rent another apartment and forget about Eric.

The challenge was that the meagre income from her teaching job cannot take care of such expenses.

In the midst of her confusion and not knowing who to turn to, she decided to invite Zina. When Zina arrived, she was surprised to see her eyes red from weeping.

“I.T what is the matter? I hope it is not Eric?”

“Who else would it be, if not Eric? Have you seen where your advice landed me? I have been turned to a laughing stock” Itohan lamented.

“What exactly is the matter? What did Eric do to you.”

“Eric has refused to pay my bride price. The worst is that he is saying that I will live with his mother till I give birth. As I am coming back now, Dennis my neighbour poured insult on me because of the pregnancy. It means that the news is every where.” Itohan narrated in tears.

“Eric will pay your bride price. Remember that money is not a problem to him. As for living with his mother, that is not supposed to be a problem. Remember that his mother is your mother too.” Zina consoled her.

“Zina, you are not understanding me. You are aware of the challenge I had with my parents. How will they feel when they discover that I am pregnant out of wedlock. The worst is that the man is not even ready to take responsibility by coming to pay my bride price. Ha! I have become a laughing stock.” she cried.

“It’s okay. Please stop crying. Why not have a heart to heart talk with Eric?”

“My sister, I have tried my best. I also reported to his mother. But there was no positive result. Now they are insisting that I must go and live with his mother. Are you sure that Eric does not have a wife? I’m suspecting that they just want me to give birth, afterwards they will take my child and throw me away,” Itohan lamented.

“No! I may not understand everything that is going on now, but I know that Eric want to marry you. I am convinced about that. Move in with his mother, then you monitor things from within. That you living with his mother cannot prevent you from visiting his house anytime you want. The truth is that you are not going to live with his mother too long,” Zina said firmly.

“I think that you are right,”Itohan corroborated.

“Of course. You are free to visit him. Do you know that the things he is doing now might be a test. They might be trying to see your reaction.”

” Wow! Why have I not thought of this. Zina I think that you are right.”

“In fact, let me tell you the truth. Eric is already planning your traditional wedding. The clothes that both of you will wear are ready,” Zina told her.

“Are you sure of this?” Itohan asked in a surprise tone.

“Yes I am very sure. Infact, I am part of the planning committee. Eric that I know will never hurt you. Immediately you pack to his mother’s house. He is going to meet your parents the next day.”

“But why would he do such without letting me know?”

“He want to give you a positive surprise. He is not happy of how the pregnancy issue went. So, he planned to do something that would wipe away your tears.” Zina assured her.

“Zina, I like this news, but it is hard to believe.”

“Why would you not believe it. Is it not the same Eric that bought car for you? ”

“Where is the car? He is yet to hand it over to me,” Itohan said in doubt.

“Can you drive? Have you forgotten that he promised to get a driver for you, when you get to his house.”

“But he is delaying my coming to his house. Does it mean I will not get the car until I give birth?”

“You going to his house immediately after the traditional wedding. He does not want you to pack to his house, until after the marriage rites. My dear, positive surprises are waiting for you at Eric’s house. I am not supposed to spill the beans. I just did this so that you will stop crying.”

Smiles hovered on Itohan’s face.

“Zina, thank you so much for this good news. God bless you. No wonder all his family members where being hostile. I think they were trying to hide the information from me.”

“Exactly. Eric warned all of us not to let you know. He even begged me to look for ways to make you to stop crying without telling you his plans. ”

“Wow! Zina you are the best. God bless you”

“And you too, my dear friend,” Zina retorted

Because of the information that Zina gave to Itohan, she became very happy and started making plans to relocate to Eric’s mum house.

She visited Uloma to inform her about the payment of her bride price and traditional wedding.

When she got there, Uloma was not around, she had to wait with the security personnel.
She saw a car approaching and the person on the steering looked like Uloma. Another person was sitting beside her. Itohan thought it was not real because Uloma doesn’t know how to drive. But on a closer look, she discovered that it was Uloma.

“Ulo baby, when did you start driving!” Itohan shouted in excitement.

“My dear, I am still learning,” Uloma answered.

“This car is very new. Is it your mum’s car?”

“It’s actually new. Mum bought it for me last week. Though I tried to convince her that I don’t need it but she insisted that I must have it,” Uloma informed her.

“Ulo you are lucky. I am happy for you,” Itohan said in tears .

“Thanks. But why are you crying,” Uloma asked with great concern.

“When I see the things that God is doing in your life, it bring tears to my eyes. I wished that I waited on God. I wish that I didn’t allow Eric to deceive me. Car is one of the things he used to deceive me. Now see the kind of car that God gave to people that wait on him. Can you compare this to what Eric bought for me?”

“I.T I don’t want you to live your life in regret. Forget about what has happened in the past and face your future. Hand over your present situation to God. He can still work out something good for you. Please forget about the past,” Uloma advised.

“Sis. It is hard to forget. The shame is too much. Lots of people are aware that I am pregnant. How do I hide my face?”

“It has already happened. Life must move on. Plead for God’s forgiveness and move on,” Uloma told her.

“Thanks Sis. You always been a support system to me. God bless you. My major reason for coming is to inform you of the payment of my bride price and traditional wedding. I will like you to be there.”

“Wow! Congratulations,” Uloma shouted in excitement.

“Thanks, I’m so happy. At least it will save my face a little,” Itohan said mirthlessly.

“That is very bold step from Eric. I am happy to hear that,” Uloma chipped in.

“When is the date?”

“I am not really sure for now. The organizers have not told me the date?”

“The organizers of your traditional wedding have not told you the date?” Uloma asked, while wondering what Itohan meant.

“Yes. It is actually meant to be a surprise for me. That is why I didn’t know the details,” Uloma explained.

“Is it your parents that are organizing it?”

“No. It is Eric, his family members, friends and Zina.”

” People are organizing your own traditional wedding and you are not involved. Is it how it is supposed to be?” Uloma asked.

“Eric just want to do this in a different way. He felt that I have passed through some stress recently and he wanted to spring up a surprise that will make me happy,” Uloma struggled to explain.

“If all these are going on, why were you lamenting when you saw my car? Don’t I deserve good things too?” Uloma asked.

“Ulo, I am convinced that I have made a mistake, that is why I am lamenting. There is a deep fear in me that all is not well. For example, how can someone’s traditional wedding be planned without her knowledge. It sounds odd. If all is well, I could have asked questions. But here am I, fear would not even all of allow me to ask question. I am even praying that it will be true. Ha! I miss Stanford,” Itohan lamented.

“At this point what you should focus on is how to make your marriage work. Thinking about Stanford will do you more harm than good. Try and be focused.” Uloma advised.

“Thanks so much sis. Concerning the payment of the bride price, I am planning to send message across town my parents so that they can prepare,”Itohan informed her.

“Why do you want to do that?”

“I don’t want to take them unawares,” Itohan explained.

“Do they forbid positive surprise? Please leave them out of it, for now. When you get full details from Eric, you can inform them. Remember that when they give them the information, they will ask questions. It will not be nice to give them the kind of answers you gave me. They are elders and will not be comfortable if you didn’t give them proper explanation.”

“You are right sis. I will keep the information for now.”

Tears filled Uloma’s eyes as she was watching Itohan. She was not comfortable with everything happening but didn’t know how to tell her.

She was looking so unkept and Uloma wondered if Eric was not giving her money She kept fighting the urge to ask her. But later she decided to ask.

“I.T I hope you have money to take care of your needs?”

“My dear, things are really rough. Taking care of myself is really a challenge. The sickness of the pregnancy made me to resign from the teaching job. Since then, I hardly eat 3 meals per day, ” Itohan lamented.

“Even in this condition? Why didn’t you tell Eric?”

“Eric is having challenges in his business. That is the problem. He is trying to get his goods out from the seaport.”

“I.T, I am not comfortable with your explanation, but your well being is of the uttermost important to me for now.”
She picked her phone and transfered a huge sum of money to Itohan.

“I have transferred some money to your bank account. You will be getting that amount monthly from me till you are delivered off your baby,” she informed Itohan.

“What! God bless you. Are you telling me that I will be getting this huge amount monthly? I can’t believe this. Uloma, you are now a big woman. May God continue to bless you and your new parents.,” Itohan prayed.

In the evening, Eric came with a car and helped Itohan to pack her load and they moved to her mother’s house.
Eric stayed for a while and left for his house.

Immediately he left, his mum invited Itohan for a discussion.

“I want to welcome you to my home, as my son’s wife. Though most of the good things I heard about you turned out to be false, yet I will accept you.”

“Mummy please what are the things you heard about me that were false? ” Itohan asked.

“The day that Eric called me on phone to tell me about you, he said that you are born again. Even when he finally brought you here, I told them that you are pretending. They said it wasn’t so. Now, everything is out,”

“Mummy what made you to have such a conclusion about me?”

“I thought you said that you are pregnant? Are you supposed to sleep with a man that you are not yet married to? Is that what they teach in your church?”

Itohan bowed her head.

“All the same, I have accepted you. But you have to abide by my rules. Your actions will determine my reactions to you. If you obey me, you will surely enjoy me. But if you decide to disobey me, you will experience the worst side of me. I hate laziness; you have to be up and running. If you abide by these rules, we will not have a fight.”

Itohan appreciated her when she finished talking. She was not bothered by everything she said. What was in her mind was her traditional wedding.

She couldn’t really sleep in the night because of excitement of what would be happening the next day. She woke the next day and quickly had her bathe. Afterwards, she went to her mother in law’s room to ask her the kind of water she needs for bathing so that she could put water for her to bathe.

Then she inquired about what she wanted to eat and prepared it for her. Eric’s mum was so happy because of how Itohan was behaving. She didn’t know that Itohan was trying to do her best since she though that she was not going to live with her for a long time.

Itohan waited through out that day But Eric didn’t come.

The next day, she also waited till evening but Eric was no where to be found. She decide to call him on phone and invited him to come.

“My dear, you look stressed. it’s like the preparations for this occasion is really stressful. Please take it easy,” Itohan told Eric with smiles.

“What are you talking about?” Eric asked as he looked at Itohan for explanation.

Initially, Itohan didn’t want to talk. But later, she answered,” I know that you didn’t want me to know, but I have gotten the information about the surprise traditional wedding you are organizing for us,” she said in excitement.

“Please, I don’t know what you are talking about. How can I be organizing traditional wedding without your knowledge? Have you forgotten that traditional wedding takes place in the bride’s home?”

“But that was what Zina told me.”

“She gave you that kind of ridiculous information and you believed her. Both of you are high,” Eric snapped and walked out in anger.

Watch out for the next episode