Wanjiku stared in mute exasperation at the figure of her husband shamelessly sprawled out just beyond the doorstep in his own piss. The unmistakable whiff of alcohol and urine lingered in the air. She briefly wrinkled her nose then swiftly got accustomed to it as she approached but ultimately hesitated to act. She pondered whether she should move him today or leave him out there to sober up and come in by himself and clean himself up.
As she did this, she recalled the last time she’d had enough of his antics an left him out there. She still had discoloration and scars from the beating he gave her the next day. He was a bitter man when he was hung over. She debated on whether she was ready to face the assault he would rain down on her as a result of her ‘negligence’ and despite her apathy toward this situation, she opted to avoid trouble.
As she dragged his limp heavy body, now naked, into their bed, she barely paid any mind to the smell of cheap perfume mixed in with the urine and alcohol. She had long since grown numb to his shenanigans with other women. That was most likely the remaining traces of a barmaid. She decided that’s who it must have been because those college ndogo ndogos wouldn’t settle for anything less than designer perfume.
How many years had it been? She was now 75 and tired. She had met him right out of secretarial college. Now she was retired and so was he at 81 but elderly as they were, they were still relatively young. Young enough that instead of sitting down to wait for grandchildren and death, whichever came first, they should have been considering what type of investments to make as they would be alive for a while yet.
But no, Njogu see, Njogu spend. Apart from the hardware store he had spent a small portion of his pension on, everything else he had went into the wooing and maintenance of these other women. She used to be humiliated by it, especially at church, but by now the scornful judgement she would face from fellow women church goers had long since turned into weary sympathy as no doubt their own husbands, now also retired, ran around trying to find something to throw their pension money at with all of this newfound free time. Between sports pesa and barmaids and hungry-for-life college girls, all they could do at this age was watch.
Lately, he had been staying out longer and longer, at times disappearing for months at a time. No call, or texts, just silence. She used to panic when they were younger as he could have died somewhere, and she would go to the police and check hospitals. But she soon realized that it was easier just to call. If the number was not in service, then that meant he had switched it off, which in turn meant, he was shacking up with someone. It had happened twice before and both times, an illegitimate child had come into existence. But it would only be for a few weeks at a time. He had been doing it again, but this time he would go for months. This realization was what had finally killed the last of her emotions.
Her own children were so fed up with these shameful escapades that they didn’t come home anymore. Especially with the last half sibling they had gotten from a girl young enough to be their child. Her initial reactions were obviously, jealous. But those had disappeared. Now when those women came around here with those brats looking for money she would actually serve them tea and send them off. It didn’t mean she accepted them as cowives. No… She had just realized at some point, that they weren’t the problem.
This recent woman however, had been taking up all his time. It was uncharacteristic in the sense that, she had never seen him so invested in an affair. This was the first time she was seeing him after nearly 5 months. Prior to that he had become unusually cold and distant (his usual attitude was hot tempered and imperious)
He had become mean and insulting; embarrassing her in public and in front of people they knew repeatedly. Even they found it unusual. Just last week, both baby mamas had come crying to her about how he wouldn’t take their calls or pay for this and that now, as if she was their mother. They had met a stony silence and left. But all this was adding up to paint a certain picture. This new one was clearly different. But as storming the love nests had never been her style throughout their marriage, she did what she always did, which was to wait. Eventually the truth would reveal itself. It always did.
And two days later it did. He asked for a divorce.
This had shocked her because for all the marital drama they had had, the idea of him wanting a separation had never come up. If it was going to happen, both of them had expected that she would be the one to decide to leave. However when she was younger the energy she would have used to leave and start over had been spent trying to change him. As they got older, the will to fight and/or leave was exhausted. Besides, at her age, where was she going to go? Both her parents had since passed on and frankly, all she had now were her wayward husband and her children.
That he would do this at this point in their lives… Who was she? She didn’t wait long. One month after packing his bags and leaving for good for the other woman she got a call from one of the in laws she was on good terms with. Apparently, they had had a traditional wedding. It was a woman named Mumbi. She was older that the typical mistress he went for, but still quite young, at 48. She was a single mother of 5, never married, all her kids were still in school, the eldest in final year of college and apparently, she was heavily pregnant.
When she heard this, she understood. Younger girls chased him for his money but none actually wanted to stay with him. With the exception of the two who got pregnant, many would eventually move on to younger men for commitment. That’s why his girlfriends changed so often. An older woman had fewer options, especially a single mother of five. It was only obvious that once she met a man ready to stick around and spend money on her and her children, then she would try and sink her claws. And she had succeeded.
Wanjiku, was in shock. However, interestingly, she wasn’t as shaken up by it as she had expected herself to be. Psychologically, she guessed, she had reconciled herself with the idea of becoming a widow, because, if disease didn’t get her husband, his drinking would have. They were just at that age. Now that she had all the facts she looked at her situation, but felt nothing.
Nothing but anticipation
He had a big pension, but it wasn’t infinite, and the money from the hardware store only seemed like a lot because they only had themselves to worry about. He had left her for a woman who still had children to pay for. She would suck him dry and he would come crawling back. She chuckled to herself at the image of him doing so. But even then she had already made up her mind not to take him back. In the process of growing used to his absences, she had realized she didn’t need him.
Entitled as he was, she was sure he would try to force his way back in the house under the pretext that it was ‘his’. But she was prepared for this. Her children had been sending her money, and at her age and in her predicament at the time, she had saved it for when disaster struck because her husband wasn’t. Her intention was to use it sparingly and wisely for both of them but now that he was out of the picture, she only had herself to worry about. She was going to take everything, and move.