STORIES
THE LOVE I THOUGHT MARRIAGE WOULD GIVE – Part 9
The knock on the door was quite hesitant. I wondered who it could be this early on a Tuesday when I would ordinarily have been at work. How many people know I am on leave that would warrant visitors? I just finished speaking to my mum so I knew she was not at my door. I peeped through the window and saw a man with a parcel in his hand. I knew I was not expecting any delivery but I hesitantly opened the door.
“Good morning madam, are you Mrs Esther Dike?’’
‘’Yes please”
‘’You have a letter”.
“I am not expecting any message but it’s fine anyway”
‘’Please sign here’’, he said as he handed me a form to append my signature. I quickly signed and said my goodbye already tearing the letter open as I closed the door. It took a while for my mind to register what I was seeing. I could not process it.
“Good morning madam, are you Mrs Esther Dike?’’
‘’Yes please”
‘’You have a letter”.
“I am not expecting any message but it’s fine anyway”
‘’Please sign here’’, he said as he handed me a form to append my signature. I quickly signed and said my goodbye already tearing the letter open as I closed the door. It took a while for my mind to register what I was seeing. I could not process it.
King had gone to court to file for divorce based on irreconcilable differences and I was being served a notice to appear in court. How can he be asking for a divorce? I really thought things were finally going to get better after I spoke to my mum. She took steps to see King but even though they had not seen, she had told him about the miscarriage on the phone. I haven’t heard from him and I wondered if he was not even worried about the miscarriage enough to call me. I was still waiting on that for the past two weeks but this court notice is just beyond me. I was shocked and absolutely confused. What reason could King possibly have to divorce me? I am definitely the victim in this marriage and if I am still toughing it out, why will he want to give up? I was too confused; I decided to call him on the spot. I just need to hear his thoughts. I was quite surprised that he picked on the first ring;
‘’I see you got the notice.’’ There was so much bitterness and disgust steaming from those words but I decided to keep calm and get what I need.
‘’King, why? Why do you want a divorce?’’
I was not prepared for the burst of laughter that came from him after that, I actually had to take the phone off my ear a bit. ‘’Are you seriously asking me why? You must be kidding right, Esther?’’
‘’King, I am not kidding, I need to understand why you suddenly want a divorce?’’
‘’Oh I see, well I’ll explain it to you in plain language. I will not stay married to a murderer’’
I was not prepared for the burst of laughter that came from him after that, I actually had to take the phone off my ear a bit. ‘’Are you seriously asking me why? You must be kidding right, Esther?’’
‘’King, I am not kidding, I need to understand why you suddenly want a divorce?’’
‘’Oh I see, well I’ll explain it to you in plain language. I will not stay married to a murderer’’
I could not hold back the tears that slipped down my face but surprisingly my voice was strong, ‘’I did not mean to kill them, King. I blame myself already for the miscarriage’’
‘’Shut up Esther, just shut it. You think I’ll fall for all that garbage you told your mother? Don’t you have any conscience? Lying to your mum you had a miscarriage when you actually killed my babies. I heard they were twins. You killed two of them!”
‘’I did not King, I really had a miscarriage’’. Even as I said it, I knew he would not believe and my heart broke with that revelation.
‘’Now that you have your reason, can you get off my phone?’’
‘’Please King wait. Please do me a favour. I want you to come home for a while.’’
‘’Why will I want to do that? Are you high?’’
‘’Please, for old time’s sake. Please just do me this last favour even if it’s over for you. I just want us to see.’’
Grudgingly he answered, ‘’fine, I’ll see you tomorrow evening and I will be leaving on Sunday. I’ll use that time to pack my things but just know that once I leave on Sunday, the next time we’ll see will be in court in 3 months.’’
‘’I did not King, I really had a miscarriage’’. Even as I said it, I knew he would not believe and my heart broke with that revelation.
‘’Now that you have your reason, can you get off my phone?’’
‘’Please King wait. Please do me a favour. I want you to come home for a while.’’
‘’Why will I want to do that? Are you high?’’
‘’Please, for old time’s sake. Please just do me this last favour even if it’s over for you. I just want us to see.’’
Grudgingly he answered, ‘’fine, I’ll see you tomorrow evening and I will be leaving on Sunday. I’ll use that time to pack my things but just know that once I leave on Sunday, the next time we’ll see will be in court in 3 months.’’
He ended the call and I just sank into the sofa. I did not even realize I had been holding my breath. I debated calling my mum but I knew she could not help me. It was left to me to save my marriage by myself. No matter how wronged or sad I was feeling, I knew I had just four days to save my marriage and I did not even know where to start.
Tomorrow could not come soon enough…