The Familiar

“Your body can’t take this anymore, especially in this condition”.

“You almost lost the baby. Take a look at the results of the laboratory tests conducted on you”. He said, handing over a sheet of paper to her.

“There’s no form of infection nor is there any sign of harmful bacteria or virus in your system”. He continued.

“Your condition is due to psychosomatic stress. In other words, your psychological condition is beginning to take its toll on your body mechanisms which was why you almost lost the baby”. He elucidated.

She sat there, starring at the doctor like she had no idea in the world what he was talking about.

“I need to have a word with Segun about this because with the way he’s going, you may soon become history”. Dr. Johnson concluded.

Dr. Johnson has always been a close friend of the Adewales’. Segun Adewale was more like a school son to Dr. Johnson while they were in school.

He (Dr. Johnson) was there from the very beginning when Segun married Ronke. He was the chairman at their wedding reception and had remained close to the couple.

He’s also aware of the ‘animal’ Segun had turned into few months into his marriage to Ronke. He couldn’t believe his eyes the first time he saw Ronke so battered by Segun, her husband.

She had come to his office with tales of Segun’s brutality and of course with a black eye and diverse bruises on her body as proofs.

Dr. Johnson had subsequently reprimanded Segun about the issue, making him see reasons, or so he thought, about how a woman was meant to be loved and cherished, not battered.

Segun was a fair complexioned and handsome half caste. He was born of a Nigerian father and a Canadian mother. He had a master’s degree from the University of Toronto and was also a very successful computer programmer in a leading IT corporation named micromild communications.

A cursory look at him could easily give him away as a refined, gentle, innocent and unassuming personality. And you know what? He knew how to say “I’m sorry” with so much ‘affection’ and ‘remorse’ that you could feel like the Lucifer himself if you refused his apologies.

When the doctor was through examining Ronke, she stepped out of his office only to find her tormentor-husband on bended knees with flowers and gifts begging and asking for her forgiveness, but unfortunately for Segun, she had had enough of him.

She wasn’t going to risk her life and that of her unborn child anymore. This was her fourth pregnancy. She had lost the previous three due to her husband’s indiscretions but this time, she was determined to keep and protect this one, from Segun’s callousness.

Therefore, she got into her car, ignoring his pleadings and drove away for good. She was already packed up before she headed for the doctor’s office.

She would do without him. After all, she was a successful banker herself. She had thought.

A few weeks later…

The bank Ronke worked for had been gracious enough to effect her transfer to the new city she had requested to be transferred to.

After work hours on a certain day. She wasn’t in the mood to go home. Go home to whom? She wondered.

It was high time she sent for her mum to come around and be with her, because being alone in her condition was beginning to take its toll on her and besides, she was almost due to deliver her baby. Moreover, her mum had been all worked up about her lone relocation to another city, despite her condition and emotional state. She reasoned.

Being unready to leave her office yet, she decided to relax a little bit, but while she was trying to do that, her mind drifted to the past.

She suddenly remembered Phillip.

Phillip was a guy that spared no affection for her. She had dated him before she met Segun. Phillip treated her with love, respect and adoration. She was his world and had all his attention.

Though she enjoyed being with him, a part of her resented him. Somehow, something inside her couldn’t relate with all the love and affection she got from Phillip. She remembered how strange it felt sometimes, about Phillip’s devotion to her. She had tried to manage it and she seemed to have done a good job of it for a while but…

If only another ‘Phillip’ could cross her path again. She would make the most of it. She sobbed. Tears rolling down her cheeks.

She should never have dumped Phillip for no just cause. She reprimanded herself. She remembered the look of disbelief and hurt on his face the day she told him it was over and felt so guilty about it.

In the midst of all this emotional roller coaster, Ronke remembered her mum and her intended visit and immediately something occurred to her.

Her mum had divorced her dad for almost the same reasons she’s about divorcing her estranged husband.

She recollected how her dad would come home heavily drunk and if her mum dared confront him, she was sure to get a good battering.

Is this some sort of a vicious cycle? She asked herself…

Fleshing it out.

Ronke experienced mental and emotional abuse as a young child because she grew up seeing her mum (her first model of a woman) being violated, abused and disregarded by her dad (her first model of a man).

These experiences formed a part of her subconscious thoughts, hence from there her values were formed which determined her idea about the ‘normal’ way a woman ought to be treated by a man.

Therefore, even though she hated her dad so much, and had sworn to herself several times that she would have nothing to do with men with any iota of semblance to her dad, she still found herself gravitating towards such kind of men.

This was because being treated that way was familiar and ‘normal’ to her, subconsciously. As a result, if any man treated her differently by showing her love, regard and affection, it felt awkward, unreal and unfamiliar to her.

To be continued…

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