A Breath of Different Air - conclusion

Photo credit: African hairstyles

Audu gradually reduced his trips to Abuja and the year eventually came to an end. 

Audu had hoped Meso would change her mind and come home to Niger state for the Christmas holidays at least. 

Meso did travel to Niger state for Christmas which made Audu very happy.

On the day that Meso arrived with the children, Audu was the happiest man on earth and the highlight of the day was when Meso fed him in the only way that she could feed him. He couldn't get enough of her as he kept asking for more like Oliver Twist. They say make-up sex is the sweetest and Audu and Meso's was no exception. He loved her even more and begged her not to go back to Abuja.

His wife's stubborn side was strange to him; he knew she had it in her but not to the extent that she exhibited. So when she accepted to stay back in Minna, it was an unexpected victory for him.

Audu went by himself to get the rest of his family's property and ensured that the landlord leased out their home immediately even though their rent was still running.

He couldn't take chances and had to make sure that nothing would ever make Meso want to go back to Abuja. 

He met his estranged friend Innocent and his wife Aida as he placed the last of their things in the truck he rented. It was only because of Aida who was obviously happy to see him that he said a word to them. 

Innocent told him that from the look of things it appeared that he won after all and he didn't seem too happy about that.

Audu almost flared up at Innocent again but decided to let it go; in his mind he knew that their friendship was over. 

A few months into living together again as husband and wife, Audu began to get suspicious of his wife: she was often jumpy especially whenever he walked in on her unexpectedly. She also intentionally guarded her phone jealously. 

She appeared scared most times and was also often lost in her thoughts. Audu knew that something was happening and he began to watch her closely. 

On a certain day, when he could no longer ignore the signs that something was wrong with his wife, he decided to go home early to have a chat with her. 

When he got home she wasn't back from her factory which was just a block away, but he found her phone on the couch and as he stepped out to meet her in her office, he picked up the phone to take to her and the text message alert he saw was both confusing and scary; it read, "Meso you are playing with fire".

He took the phone to his wife and showed her what he saw. Meso suddenly looked like her world had crumbled on her. She sat down and wouldn't say anything. 

Audu asked her to unlock the phone, she gently lifted her phone from her desk with an " it's all over" look; she unlocked the phone and handed it over to Audu whose hand was out waiting for the phone. 

He asked Meso if there was anything she would like to tell her so he wouldn't have to go through her phone. There was no response from her and so Audu went straight to that text and as he read other messages from the same sender he was more confused. 

The number was not saved and so had no name which made it impossible for him to identify who it was. 

The sender consistently threatened Meso to do all she could to return to Abuja or be exposed or even die. Earlier messages from the sender encouraged her to stay in Abuja and later applauded her for being tough and standing her ground on not moving to Niger state.  

There was an external influence after all that caused so much trouble for his family. Audu went from being gentle to furious and he began to raise his voice. He asked Meso to let him know who it was but she wouldn't say. His wife was cheating on him, the lucky bastard who got the most desired girl wasn't so lucky after all, 

Audu dialled the number and the person picked at the first ring, "Meso I miss you, I can't do without you, I've lost so much weight since you left, remember our oath, if you break it, you die, I haven't touched Aida since you left and I can't, until I do it with you" that was when Audu was sure that the voice he heard belonged to Innocent. 

"Innocent is this you" and the phone cut off. Audu's head was spinning and the tears rolling down his wife's eyes told him that it was a real situation and not a scene from a movie. 

When he found his voice, he asked Meso to explain.

Innocent started molesting Meso when she was only eight years old. He made her make a promise under a tree that they would always be together and if she broke the promise she would die by a tree falling on her. That threat stuck in her young mind and she grew up believing that she was under a real oath made under a mysterious tree that had the power to kill her. 

All the times she lived in his house, she was like a sex slave to Innocent, she did it with him almost every day. She hated what he did to her as a child, touching her breasts which were nothing but just nipples and making her touch him in funny places. But she got used to it and he began to make her promises of a better life in the city. 

He often came into her room in the night and when Meso told him that she was worried Aida would find out, he confessed to her that he drugged his wife every night. He always put a pill in her green tea that he made her drink before going to bed, that explained why he would spend over an hour out of their bedroom in the night and Aida would not notice. 

Aida almost caught them one evening though; Meso was cooking and Innocent walked into the kitchen and grabbed her from the back, pulled up her loose gown and had his way, he had just pulled out of her when Aida walked into the kitchen, she had a suspicious look on her face but said nothing. 

Even after she got married, he still would not leave her alone. She wanted to stop but he kept threatening to expose her and also reminded her that it would end badly for her; Audu would send her back to poverty and the wrath of the evil tree would catch up with her. He was exonerated because he never wanted out, Meso felt trapped and so continued with the incestuous affair. Innocent was her mother's only sister's first son.

Audu couldn't help himself as he cried out loudly like a baby. He couldn't go to work and so he took a sick leave for one week, by the third day he made a trip to Abuja where he confronted Innocent.

Innocent was a shadow of his old self, he looked sick and disoriented. Audu confronted him in the presence of his wife Aida, who was calm through the whole discussion, she told Audu that she knew that something was going but lacked the strength to face the ugly truth. 

Innocent did not deny it instead he started screaming at Audu accusing him of taking away the only one that gave him real joy, he went from screaming to crying like a baby and Audu knew that sitting in front of him was a sick man who needed help. 

As Innocent begged him in tears to bring Meso back to Abuja, he walked out trying to figure out how to carry on with his life, he was completely uncertain about how to handle the situation. One thing was certain though, he had to confirm the paternity of his children. 

Meso was a victim of sexual abuse and molestation which is still prevalent in our world today. Audu is learning to live again after the DNA results showed he fathered his children. It has been a tough process but he had to stay strong for Meso who suddenly realises that her life was almost ruined by someone she trusted the most. 

If Audu and Meso work through this situation together, maybe they can both actually get a real breath of different air!