I followed my husband to the river that night, after our neighbour secretly told me that my husband always sIeeps with another woman in the middle of our community river every night.
“Follow your husband to the community river tonight,” our next door neighbour, Miss Benedicta had confessed earlier that afternoon when she came for our usual two hours prayer meetings.
“Every night, that’s where he goes to sIeep with his mistress.”
“My goodness!” I exclaimed in disbelief.
“You mean to tell me that my husband, Michael, goes to the river, just to cheat on me? Is that what you’re insinuating?” I asked amidst shock, doubt and curiosity.
“Vanessa my friend, I’m not telling you this for you to believe me…if you don’t see him sIeeping with his mistress around 2am, call me a pig.” she stated, boldly, her gaze firmly on me.
“So if you think I’m lying, just follow him tonight. Make sure you don’t let him see you. And, also,” she said, shifting closer.
In a whisper, she mumbled quietly, “No one must know I told you oo.”
I forced out a smile.
“Sure, sure. No one will know.” I had to say that so she wouldn’t think I didn’t believe her.
Deep down, I was confused.
Yes, Michael, my husband, always left the house every night, and he had never told me where he often went.
Many times I’ve tried to know. I’ve asked him countlessly, but each time I did, he had his way of manipulating the conversation, diverting the topic into something else.
This had been going on for a while.
Aside from our next door neighbour, Benedicta who always shared my feelings, no one knew about this. I didn’t know who else to complain to, despite the many times Benedicta had asked me to tell our pastor, which I’d blatantly refuse.
But in all of these, I never imagined or conceived the thought that Michael could be cheating on me. This was because he was a business man, and was always at his shop.
He never had the time to give attention to another woman. Never!
This was until the day Benedicta made this confession to me.
So that night, I made up my mind to follow him to wherever he used to visit every night. I was ready to uncover the truth.
Around 8pm, he returned from his business center. I served him his dinner after he had his bath. Then I went to our bedroom, pretending to have slept.
When it was 11pm, the usual time he often sneaked out of the house, I got up from the bed.
I wore my big black hoodie, the one that covered my face and made me seem anonymous.
Then I followed him through the half Moon darkness.
Trailing after him wasn’t an easy one, especially when he kept turning his neck to look back, as if he knew someone was behind him.
“Where is Michael really heading to?” I found myself asking this question each time he took a new turn.
Until we arrived at the path that led to the river.
It was at that point it occurred to me that what Benedicta had told me was actually true.
Reaching the river, I stopped walking.
I quickly hid under a big almond tree without minding the danger of what lay ahead. From there, I’d be able to see whatever that would happen inside that river.
But just then, I felt something crawling on my feet like a millipede.
At once, I felt my heartbeat increase, as cold chills accelerated down my spine.
Immediately, I couldn’t hold myself any longer as I let out a loud scream, and Michael wasn’t not too far from where I was.
I followed my husband to the river that night, after our neighbour secretly told me that my husband always sIeeps with another woman in the middle of our community river every night.
I hid behind the almond tree to have a proper view of my husband, because I didn’t want to draw his attention to me.
Just then, I felt something crawling on my feet like a millipede.
At once, my heartbeat increased, as cold chills accelerated down my spine.
Immediately, I couldn’t hold myself any longer as I let out a loud scream, and Michael, my husband, wasn’t too far from where I was.
But my hands were quick to cover my mouth.
Through the darkness, with the aid of the shallow moonlight, when I managed to look at my leg, I found out it was the tip of one tiny rope hanging on the body of the tree.
“Mtheeew.” I heaved a sigh of relief and returned my gaze back to the river.
That was when I saw it;
Michael had turned back suspiciously. His eyes were searching right, left and centre for where the sound had stemmed out from.
“God, please blind his eyes,” I prayed silently, my chest beating terribly hard against my breastbone. “This man must not see me.
Immediately I finished praying, it was as if God actually answered my prayers, because Michael began to walk towards the river.
Then I saw him pull off his shoes.
Thereafter, he began to say some things I couldn’t hear properly; from the distance, it sounded more like incantations or a creed from an 0ccult group or something.
Instantly, I started to feel an unusual cold breeze; it swept softly across my skin.
It caused the centre of the surface of the water to ripple vehemently.
It was at that moment the feeling of both curiosity and fear slapped me on the face.
Shortly after, I saw a woman appear right inside at the corner of the river. She was clad in a blue gown. Her hair was sparkling dark. Around her both wrists were diamond bracelets.
She was dåmn gorgeous; I couldn’t help but admit.
For a moment, I found myself drooling over the gown, because I hadn’t seen a gown made with such beautiful jewelleries in my entire life.
The moment Michael saw the woman, his face lit up with a smile, as if he knew her before then. I didn’t know, but somehow, I felt something strange pierce through the middle of my chest. Maybe that was what people in-love termed as ‘jealousy’. It was accompanied with a surge of anger that saturated my heart.
I wanted to go right there, probably to drag Michael away, but I couldn’t muster the courage.
The woman gestured for Michael to go and meet her.
Believe me, Michael didn’t behave like he lacked experience. It was as if he knew she was gonna ask him to go into the river.
At that moment, the words of Benedicta, our next door neighbour, replayed in my head.
“No, no!” I yelled within my thoughts. “This can’t be happening.”
Right before my eyes, Michael, the man I called my husband, stepped his right foot into the water. I thought he was going to stop there, but he didn’t.
Then he dipped his second leg into the water.
The woman stretched her hand towards him, which he grabbed almost at once.
Together, they began to walk towards the centre of the river, and before I knew it, they were nowhere to be found.
I felt goosebumps emanate from my body, as shock steamed through my soul. They had vanished from plain sight.
I followed my husband to the river that night, after our neighbour secretly told me that my husband always sIeeps with another woman in the middle of our community river every night.
Right before my eyes, Michael, the man I called my husband, stepped his right foot into the water. I thought he was going to stop there, but he didn’t.
Then he dipped his second leg into the water.
The woman stretched her hand towards him, which he grabbed almost at once.
Together, they began to walk towards the centre of the river, causing the surface of the water to ripple and before I knew it, they were nowhere to be found.
I felt goosebumps emanate from my body, as shock steamed through my soul. They had vanished from plain sight.
The moment I saw this, my hands and legs became numb; infact, it was as if I stopped feeling my entire body.
I wanted to stay there and wait till I saw my husband come out, but something whispered into my ears that I should return back home as soon as I could.
Sluggishly, in a pool of my own shock and bewilderment, I dragged my feet and journeyed back.
The atmosphere was nothing but cold; I don’t think I’d have been able to survive it if I hadn’t worn that black cardigan.
When I got home, I couldn’t even concentrate; I couldn’t think straight.
Gently, I immersed my buttocks into one of the sofas and like a movie, the image of Michael and the river woman began to replay in my head.
Those were the last things I saw before dozing off.
The next morning, it was the sound of a knock that woke me up.
“My love, Please open the door,” came my husband’s voice.
At once, I jerked off from the chair.
“So this was where I slept off last night?” I heaved a sigh as I motioned to the door.
“Michael, where are you coming from?” That was the first thing I said the moment I opened the door for him.
“Where did you spend the night?” I asked again, yelling this time, as anger surged through my veins.
“Vanessa, when did you lose your manners? Is this the good morning you’re supposed to say to your husband?” He asked, glaring at me.
“I go to my shop early every morning, return in the evening and go to another work all through the night, just for us to live happily without lacking anything, and all you could do is ask me where I’m coming from?” He fired, coming close to me.
The intense anger I felt in the last few minutes was suddenly replaced by an unexplainable fear.
Maybe it was due to how much I reverenced and respected him. Who knows?
Little by little, I began to shift back; I didn’t want his hand to touch me.
“Have you lost your mind? How dare you question my movement?” He thundered vehemently, sending cold shivers down my spine.
He was still coming closer, and while I was still shifting back, I jammed the wall. It was at that moment my eyes met something in between my husband’s hands.
“Where… where did you get that from?” My lips trembled. I didn’t know when I said that, because the next thing that happened almost made me pee in my pånts.
I followed my husband to the river that night, after our neighbour secretly told me that my husband always sIeeps with another woman in the middle of our community river every night.
My husband was still coming closer towards me, and while I was still shifting back, I jammed the wall. It was at that moment my eyes caught something in between Michael’s hands.
“Where… where did you get that from?” My lips trembled. I didn’t know when I said that, it just came out, because the next thing that happened almost made me pee in my pånts.
In his hand was a white soap; it wasn’t just any type of soap. This one was different.
It reminded me of the folktales my grandmother often told us when we were children.
One of those nights, there was this particular one she narrated that I still can’t forget in a hurry.
It was the story of Amanda, the most ugly girl in the Umuka village.
The easiest way children and villagers described her in the village was by how ugly she looked. So because of this reason, no man wanted to associate themselves with her, talk more of marrying her.
The whole villagers made jest of her.
Many times, Amanda cried, she got depressed, she became so lonely and all to herself.
But one day, while Amanda went to the river to fetch water, she met a beautiful lady inside the water.
At once, fear enveloped her; she was about to run when she heard the beautiful lady’s voice.
“Stop there, Amanda!”
Amanda was shocked. She turned back immediately.
“How…how did you know my name?” She stuttered.
“I am Olamiri, the goddess of beauty and luxury. I see how the people around you laugh and make caricatures of your look, but I have come to change that.” The woman’s voice thundered.
Then she gestured for Amanda to go and meet her.
“Take this soap!” She said, stretching it towards Amanda.
“Bathe with it for seven days… do not miss a day. And you shall be the most envied of this community.”
Immediately Amanda collected the soap, the woman vanished into thin air.
Fear couldn’t let Amanda stay. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
According to my grandmother, after Amanda used the soap for seven days, she miraculously transformed into the most beautiful girl in the village. People who never wanted to associate themselves with her, now wanted to be her friend. That was how Amanda got married to one of the bravest hunters the community ever had.
It was the soap in my husband’s hand that reminded me of this story.
That soap wasn’t ordinary. Never!!
At that moment, I began to ask myself.
“What kind of man have I been married to?” This question began to linger within my thoughts, as fear crept into my soul.
Michael gave me one last glare, then he quickly rushed inside our bedroom with the soap in his hand.
I didn’t bother to follow because I already knew he was going to hide it.
But that very morning, I made up my mind to follow him inside that river the next time he would be going. Maybe If only I knew what would happen, I wouldn’t have made such d3adly decision.
The second night I followed my husband to the river, was to see the woman my husband always sIeeps with in the middle of our community river every night.
After my husband, Michael returned from the river that morning, I saw that white native soap in his hand. It was at that very moment I made up my mind to follow him inside to the river to see everything for myself.
Michael gave me one last glare, then he quickly rushed inside our bedroom with the soap in his hand. He thought I didn’t know where he got it from. He thought he could fool me, but he was wrong.
I didn’t bother to follow inside the room because I already knew he was going to hide it.
A few moments later, he got dressed and left the house to his shop.
Throughout that day, I was so restless. My gaze never left the black wall-clock hanging inside our sitting room.
Around 2pm in the afternoon, Benedicta, who was our next door neighbour and also my church member, knocked on the door.
“It is time for our prayer meeting.” She mumbled quietly, her face beaming with her usual contagious smile.
I allowed her inside, then we prayed and prayed like we always did, then she left.
I heaved a sigh of relief when I heard the 8 o’clock alarm.
“Michael should be on his way by now…” I had completed my statement when I heard a knock on the door.
I was expecting to hear the usual “honey I’m home” from him, but I didn’t.
“My love, you’re back,” that was the first thing I said when he stepped in, forcing out a smile.
But he didn’t even say anything to me. I wasn’t surprised at all, especially as we had a clash that morning.
He just removed his shoe and stockings, then had his bath.
I served him his food, thinking he would treat it the same way he did to my greetings, but he ate it.
In my mind, I was like “let him quickly finish this food and start going to that river.”
Exactly 10pm, Michael wore his usual red robe and walked out of the house.
This time, I was very prepared.
I didn’t waste time at all.
I wore my black hoodie and rushed out of the house.
As I trailed after him, I slowed down at some point. There were times I had to wait for him to go farther away from me before I continued moving.
About a few moments later, we got to the river.
I stopped at the Almond tree, and waited for him to go first.
Just like he did the last time, he began to say some inaudible words. But this time I listened more carefully.
“Oh beautiful gatekeeper of the ancient cosmos, your servant is here again. Please allow me in.” Those were the things he said.
Immediately he said that, a woman clad in a blue raiment came out of the river.
She stretched her hand towards him, which he grabbed at once. Then they vanished into the water.
I took in a deep breath as I stepped out from my hiding place.
Motioning towards the river, I felt my heart accelerating rapidly with each second that passed.
“Oh beautiful gatekeeper of the ancient cosmos, your servant is here again. Please allow me in.” I repeated the exact things my husband had said.
To my greatest surprise, the same woman appeared again on the top of the river, gesturing for me to go to her.
Somehow, the fear in me suddenly disappeared. I didn’t know why.
By the time I got to her, she held my left hand and pulled me into the water.
If only someone had told me that following my husband to that river would be the worst idea, I would have listened.
