‘I thought I’d overcome the weakness. I wanted to get married, to try again. But now it’s your right to ask for a divorce. You are free. You are free. You are free. I’ll do anything you ask, my daughter.’
What could I have possibly wanted from him other than what I’d thought was finally within my grasp? It looked like he was trying to force a smile to accompany the words that were coming out of his mouth, but his impotency now exposed, this was no longer possible. He could only twist his mouth into a frown.
By saying ‘you are free’ three times he had effectively divorced me. And by calling me his ‘daughter’ this meant I was now like a daughter to him. Mother used to say a woman’s freedom was subject to her male guardian – father, brother or husband. If a man tells his wife she is free th
