“Bew ak Hebate!” Part 8 (Vain pride and Prejudice)

By Amie Sillah Njiils She stooped before her niece and begged her. “I am ashamed of myself; we are both very weak towards each other. You are right, I thought I have forgotten him after five years. Your uncle Abraham is a wonderful husband and father but we melted when we came face to face. But I’ll go away to make your marriage work, I’ll be damned if I break up this expected union; I am very sorry.” Njiils hurriedly left. Siga She is a ‘panka’, aggressive person especially when she is fighting her right. “It’s up to you to make amends. If you don’t I’ll expose you to the whole congregation, you cheat and liar!” She rushed to her fiancé but he pushed her away. Lams “I don’t love you and can’t marry you. Njiils is my life and she has already explained to you our history. Prof tricked us to distrust each other and thus initiated the temporary split. When we found out the truth our feelings and love for each other surged. We are just inseparable and I am very sorry for disappointing you. What is better for me to tell you now or keep it a secret and continue to be an adulterer? Please forgive me, my heart and soul is with her.” He rushed and shut himself in his bedroom. Siga She is stunned and flabbergasted. “What will happen to my mom and her friends? What about the public and my friends? Lama has killed me, how can I withstand this disgrace and save my face? I’ll fight them, I’ll not give up!” She rushed to the bedroom, pushed the door but it was bolted, she then left. Njiils She visited Lams and discussed seriously with him. “Sweet heart for the sake of the love you have for me, let’s let go! We are hurting our loved ones.” He swept her off the floor, took her to the bedroom and they had fun. Her protest was very weak. Lams laughed with sarcasm. Lams “We are irresistible to each other, please stop the pretense. Sunshine the mind is willing but the heart is weak. We belong to each other, let the world talk. Where Prof, the ‘bew’ and ‘hebate’ fail who will succeed?” Njiils She went packed her luggage found her husband at the sitting room and came to him. “I am very sorry but I am going after my heart. It will never work between us with Sunshine around. I’ll work out the custody arrangements and your daughter can be made available to you whenever you wish.” Abraham wept bitterly; “I still love and can never replace you in my heart with anyone, goodbye sweetheart, may the lord be with you.” At Lams House Njiils came with her luggage and rushed past Siga who was stunned by the happening as if in a movie. Njiils “Sunshine! You are correct, we are meant for each other, we have to stand as one to tell the world our story. Let’s go, I am ready!” The duo ran past Siga who stood motionless watching them; after they were gone she proceeded to the church as her last bastion to fight her case since she considered her uncle a lame duck weakling. At the Church She walked to the pulpit and with bitterness and disgust she narrated her story; her Uncle Abraham stood beside her speechless and staring. Siga “The heart of man is wicked! Look at Uncle Abraham here, serene, god-fearing, a good role model of a father and husband to his lovely wife Aunty Njiilan Abraham. My lovely devoted aunty is flirting with my fiancé Lams and duo shamelessly intends to elope and marry each other. What sort of Christian brethren/sistren would do such a betrayal to fellow Christian brother and sister? I rest my case.” The Duo They arrive in time and Njiils rushed to the pulpit to tell her own side of the story. Njiils “She is right her story is correct.” The congregation exclaimed. “Let me explained our side of the story, we knew each other before we met these two people. Prof, my father, rejected my fiancé because of class. He arranged rich suitors but I rejected all. He later played tricks on us when I travelled for my Masters programme, he, my elder sister and her husband forged marriage pictures from other marriage albums and made it look as if they were taken from our wedding ceremonies. We believed it and that caused the temporary split. After five years of marriage I thought I have grown over him but when he arrived with his fiancée we could not hold ourselves together.” She knelt before her husband and begged him; “Abraham! Forgive me but you have to understand; you are a good father and husband but my heart is with him.” Abraham marched out and left the church. She spoke to the congregation again. “Let me be blamed, the other partners are innocent. I am not asking for your forgiveness but your understanding, what I ask of is for you to put yourself into our shoes. What is better, to hide from our partners as adulterers or come out to the open to express our true, genuine love which was thwarted because of society’s vain pride and prejudices? I rest my case.” She rushed out and the duo expressed genuine, sincere love by passionately lip kissing in front of everyone. The congregation transfixed into their chairs fascinated as if watching a romantic movie. For five minutes they watched as the duo disentangled from each other and rushed to a waiting transport which drove them away. Meanwhile sympathisers came to Abraham who stood at the church door with Siga and gave them courage. Congregation members “It is painful but Njiils’ father caused it and will take all the sin committed by the duo; why should they call themselves devout Christians when they still harbour such vain pride and prejudices? Are they not hypocrites? The heart has no cure when it comes to romance. True love they say will never die just like ‘old firewood no hard for catch.’ They agree with the lovers they would have been worse hypocrites to deceive their partners and continue to frolic, because as already said, these two people are inseparable, look at the extent the billionaire father went but to no avail. Let them be! What cannot be helped must be endured.” To be Cont]]>