THE IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE

CHAPTER 3 THE CONFESSION

CHAPTER 3

THE CONFESSION:

Ummmm Liam's mother sighed, Baba years back she started, when I got married to my husband Liam's father, my marriage was sweet our home was filled with joy , but 5years into the marriage everything changed, because I can't conceive my husband never bothered me and always tell me to wait for God's time,

but my mother in law never seized to call out our childlessness, she will come every morning to disgrace me and call me barren woman, I would cry every day nonstop, my happy home became sorrows, my mother in law would threaten to bring in another wife that will give my husband children, but my husband will console me and promise to never take another wife…

One day I went to visit my mother in the next village, I was there for a week on getting home, I met another woman in my house, shocked I asked my husband who she was , and my mother in law came and said she is the the new wife , I was shocked, in pain and almost lost balance,

I shook my husband expecting him to say something, but what he said crushed me.

He said, let's give it a try just maybe if she gives birth you will also be blessed with a child also , after all children brings blessings, I was trembling I couldn't withstand it anymore, so I fainted,

The new wife would call me names, insult me and would even tell me why should I sleep in my husbands room when it's my turn to sleep with him , telling me since have been sleeping in his room I have never conceived,

Few months later she began pregnant, that's when , everything dawn on me , I am the main problem, the insult started, my husband shifted all the love to her, my husband please her and anytime she insult me my husband never talks or correct her, I started getting weary, God what have I done to deserve this from you, I will often cry myself to sleep,

My husband's second wife gave birth to 4 children but my 20yrs of marriage I have no kids to show, one day I was busy cooking outside, when her second child threw the ball he was playing to my pot of food and everything poured out, I scolded him for playing his ball towards my food , I was just telling the boy to be careful next time while I pack up my wasted food from the ground,

when his mother stormed outside and started raining curses at me , calling me, childless witch and I want to kill her child, as if that wasn't enough my husband came outside, thinking he will settle the whole issue, but his words stab my heart, Lima's mother couldn't continue are story and started crying. Mum it's okay please Lima and her husband console Mama while urging her to continue the story…

My husband's response was you shouldn't have kept your food where the kids were playing, I was about telling him I have been cooking in that same spot for years, but words fail me , I couldn't say a word, I just packed my pot inside and stayed in my room for 3days without food nor water, the fourth day I packed my bags and told my husband, I'm going to meet my mother. He just nodded without saying a word to me.

Lima's mother took a deep breath and continued her story. "I went to my mother's house, and she could see the pain and hurt in my eyes. She asked me what was wrong, and I told her everything. She listened patiently, and when I finished, she said, 'My daughter, I know you're hurting, but you can't stay here forever. You need to go back to your husband and face the music.'"

"But Mama, how can I go back to that woman and those children?" I asked her.

"My daughter, marriage is not easy, but it's not over yet. Go back and try to make it work. If it doesn't work out, then you can come back home," she said.

"I took her advice and went back home. But things didn't get better. The woman and her children continued to make my life miserable. One day, I had enough. I packed all my belongings and went back to my mother.

Mama mama I cried out her name, mama I'm fed up ,help me I'm so tired , I cried holding my mother's leg , she stood up and all she said was, take your things inside, we will talk about it tomorrow.

Lima's mother took a deep breath and continued her story. "The next day, my mother called me to her room and said, 'My daughter, I know you're suffering, but I have a solution. I've been talking to a spiritual leader, and he has agreed to help you. But it will come at a cost.' I was desperate, so I agreed. That evening my mother took me to an old looking man, putting on pure white with beads on his neck, people often call him Baba Olokun, he worships An ocean called Olokun , we entered his house it was all white and there sat big mud pots filled with water, we entered and sat down, Baba Olokun ask my name and I told him, then he said I will definitely give birth, I was given a water to drink and he said that was all , I looked at him and my mother and she nodded. Baba is that all , I asked concerned.

He replied, yes but a man will come visit you..

I didn't really think of his last words, so I headed home with my mother. Lima's mother wiped the tears from her eyes, her gaze distant as she recalled the past..

"A few days later, a man came to our house. He was well-dressed and spoke with an authority that commanded respect. He introduced himself as a servant of Olokun. He said that the deity was pleased with my offering and that I would soon conceive. But then he repeated Baba's earlier word. 'a man will come and visit you.' He explained that I was to go to a secluded stream outside the village at midnight in three days. He said a man would be there, waiting, and that man would be the vessel for Olokun’s gift. That was the 'cost' the Baba had mentioned. That my husband's heart was sealed against me, and the only way my womb could be opened was by receiving a gift of life from the river itself."

Lima gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, and Emmanuel’s eyes widened in stunned horror. Lima’s mother avoided their gazes, her voice now a low, shameful whisper.

"I fought it, my children, I swear I did! I cried and pleaded with my mother. But she kept reminding me of the humiliation, the years of pain, the new wife and her four children. She made me feel that my life was over without a child. So, on the third night, I went. The man was there. He... he came to me under the darkness of the night, at the stream. And then he left. I was filled with dread and guilt, but also a desperate, fearful hope."

She stopped speaking and buried her face in her hands, her body shaking with sobs. Lima knelt beside her, wrapping her arms around her mother.

"Two weeks later, I felt sick. I went to the nurse, and she confirmed it. I was pregnant. I was terrified, but so overjoyed I almost forgot the shame. When your father, Lima, saw my growing belly, he was ecstatic. He apologized for all his neglect and came back to me. The new wife was sent away. My mother-in-law was silenced. When you were born, Lima, she was quiet, peaceful, and a true child of the river. Everyone called you a blessing, a miracle. And I never told a soul."

Lima and Emmanuel sat in stunned silence. The air was thick with the weight of the confession.

Emmanuel found his voice first, his tone gentle, though laced with disbelief. "Mama... you mean... Lima is not my father-in-law's biological daughter?"

Lima’s mother lifted her tear-streaked face. "She is my child! And the man who raised her, your wife's father was the only father she ever knew. The secrets of the spirit world are complex, my son. The traditional man sealed the agreement for fertility, and the cost was hidden from me until it was too late. But I am telling you now because Baba Olofin, the new healer, is a diviner. He read the story in Lima's hand, the spiritual debt you have inherited from me. It is why you are both struggling to conceive."

Baba Olofin, who had remained silent throughout the confession, cleared his throat. "It is as your mother says. The spirit that gave her life is now the spirit that withholds life from you, his descendant. The price was not fully paid. Now, the debt has passed to you, Lima. And it demands the ultimate sacrifice to be appeased."

Emmanuel stood up, his heart pounding. "What ultimate sacrifice? What are you talking about, Baba?"

Baba Olofin fixed his gaze on Emmanuel. "The spirit of the river, Olokun, demands that its child, Lima, fully return to its fold. The price for your fertility, the debt that you must pay, is that Lima must become a priestess of Olokun. You must both renounce your foreign god and serve the river god completely. If you do not agree to this and perform the full ritual of dedication, the child you long for will remain a distant dream."

Emmanuel looked from the unyielding eyes of the Baba, to the terrified, tearful face of his wife, and then to his mother-in-law, whose old shame had now become his family’s new burden. He was a choir master, a head usher, a Christian man who believed children were a gift from God not a bargain with an ocean deity.

"This... this is not what we agreed to!" Emmanuel’s voice trembled with fear and anger. "We came here for healing, for prayer, not to abandon our faith!"

Baba Olofin’s face was impassive. "The healing is in the surrender. The prayer is in the ritual. The debt has been shown. Choose, my children. Choose the path of the river, or continue on the path of barrenness."