MY SECRET chapter 1 by Temi Akintade
MY SECRET by Temi Akintade
"Wash the hair well you are not scrubbing my scalp," I complained for the umpteenth time. My hair was rough and I decided to make it into another style since I was free that Saturday and Ken my billionaire husband had complained about the roughness of the hair.
"Cash Madam! I'm scrubbing it." The skinny girl with a highly pimpled face said. She was the one handling my hair.
"If you were scrubbing it well I would have been feeling it."
She intensified the scrubbing. I could feel her fingers in my hair, scrubbing my scalp senseless. Soon she was done washing it was time to dry it. It was when I was sitting under the dryer that I knew that Nkiruka one of my nosy neighbour was pregnant for her gateman.
"Are you serious?" I asked. There was no way I was going to ignore this hot gist. "You mean she did this right under her husband's nose or while her husband was away in the U.S?" I asked another lady who was having her nails fixed. She was the one who brought the gist.
"I am! My younger sister once worked in their house as a house help. Even the source of her husband's wealth is not clean. I heard he used his hair for rituals and that is why he is never without a cap or hat."
"Chai" we chorused. It was typical of a saloon filled with women to never stop running their mouths. They would always get their mouth occupied with gist just as it is now.
"So many women cheating in their marriages and still going to church raising holy hands thinking that God cannot see their sins." Another woman who was waiting to wash her hair contributed. I quickly scanned get and realized that she had no jewelry on so it was difficult to tell if she was married or not.
"I even heard she prefers her gateman to her husband when it comes to bed matters." The originator of the gist chipped in.
"Eeheh abomination!" I clapped and laughed at the same time. I was happy that the secret of my arch-enemy was exposed. I really should keep shut. Maybe I should have kept quiet when another person's matter was discussed maybe just maybe, I wouldn't have driven to Allen avenue to demand an explanation from our women leader.
"All these married women going about bringing shame to womanhood. What about the story of one woman who slept with her brother-in-law all because they use to be lovers. Now, all her 5 kids are not for her poor husband but from her brother-in-law.
All of them screamed. But I froze!
"Abomination! Abeg who be that woman? Where you hear this gist from?" The lady making my hair asked.
"From one sister from my church. She says she hear am from another usher wey dey close to their women leader."
I froze again.
The lading fixing her nails spoke again, "I remember the yeye woman name. The woman wey born 5 children for her husband brother."
"Wetin be her name?"
"One, cash madam. Na her nickname be that."
My eyes and that of my hairstylist met in the mirror and I knew that my 13-year-old secret was out in the open. I received a text immediately from my husband's brother who was living with us. He said that my husband had taken the kids to the hospital for a DNA test.
Officially I knew I was doomed. I picked my car key and phone, then I rushed out of the saloon with my hair half-made. I ignored all the people's shouts of "madam where you dey rush go?" And drive away in rage.
I needed to see the women leader and I didn't care if I sent both of us to our early graves that day. I drove to her house but I was told that she was in the church. So I drove to the church instead. On getting there I met her on the pulpit. I walked straight to the altar ignoring the questioning gazes of the people then I slapped her.
She raised her hand to also me back but I pulled off her head-tie to expose her wig. I removed her wig and she pulled at my hair. That was how we continued to fight even the church members did not attempt to separate us instead they took our pictures. I wasn't sure how the fight ended because I just opened my eyes and found myself in a white-walled room. At first, I thought that I was dead but when by the time I heard the sound of people, I realized that I was in the hospital.
The first person's face I saw was that of my husband before he opened his mouth to speak, I fainted again...
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