Chapter4
1101 Words
The Return
Jennifer felt uneasy. Why must everything about their love be hidden? Why must she fight alone to keep them together?
Terry left quietly days later, just as secretly as he had come. Only Jennifer, Judy, and the registrar knew of their union.
“You are my wife now,” Terry had whispered before boarding at the airport. “I will make things right this time, I promise.”
That night, she lay on her bed, staring at the certificate. She imagined herself one day unfolding it in front of Terry's mum. She pictured the day her visa would be approved, the day all her sacrifices would finally make sense.
The Fall
Terry returned and got deeper into business. With each job, his fear grew smaller and his greed grew larger. He told himself it was only for a while.
Then came the night everything collapsed.
“Aunty Jennifer, there is a problem,” a call from Terry's sister early in the morning to Jennifer. “What problem? She asked her. “I just got a text message from someone who claimed to be Brother Terry’s girlfriend that he had been arrested,” she replied, Jennifer.
Jennifer was confused. Girlfriend? How? When? Arrested for what? These were questions that could only be answered by Terry.
“I gave him everything,” Jennifer sobbed. “I forgave, I waited, I married him in secret, and now this? How much pain can love ask of me?”
Judy held her tight. “You cannot keep breaking yourself for him, Jennifer. At some point, you must live for yourself.”
But Jennifer's heart refused. After all, marriage is for better and worse.
Immediately, Jennifer called the lawyer who helped her retrieve some of her money from the school. She also informed Terry’s mother immediately and contacted Terry's girlfriend abroad.
Things were getting messy for both Terry and Jennifer. Terry’s parents were involved and asked to pay some money. Jennifer, on the other hand, tried to assist in the little way that she could. Terry’s foreign girlfriend was not helping matters; she was ready to rip him off the moment she realized he was still with Jennifer.
“I heard you both have been together for years. He is a cheat, and I do not want anything to do with him. You can have him once he is out of jail.” Terry’s foreign girlfriend placed a call to Jennifer.
Prison walls
Prison was nothing like the outside world. The air was heavy with sweat, and the walls were damp. Days turned into nights, and nights into endless waiting.
At first, Terry was filled with anger at Chima for luring him and himself for being foolish. But as weeks turned to months, anger gave way. A few months later, the case had been in and out of court, and Terry managed to contact Jennifer from prison. They prayed together, laughed together, and still made plans together. “My love, I know I have wronged you a lot. I shouldn't have treated you badly. I am so sorry. Please wait for me, I still love you, and I know I will be out in no time,” Terry assured Jennifer during one of their calls from prison.
Guilt consumed him. He knew that she was suffering for his sin.
Terry became a better person, and Jennifer worked harder than before. Spent all the money she had been saving. None of Terry’s friends wanted to be involved with him and his problems.
The Battle at Home
“Jennifer, you shameless girl,” Terry's mother called her the moment she heard of the secret marriage.
“Good morning, ma.”
“Don't good morning me. So it is true? You tricked my son into a secret marriage like a thief in the night? You used charms to bind him? Look at you. You think this makes you his wife?”
Jennifer trembled but forced herself to talk. “Ma, I didn't trick him. Terry wanted it.”
“My son is rotting in prison. You are the reason he is suffering. You brought him bad luck,” Terry's mum replied.
“I stood by him even when everyone turned away. What have I done to you, ma?”
“You will never be my son's wife,” Terry's mum thundered. “Not today, not tomorrow, not ever,” she ended the call.
From that day, she never stopped tormenting Jennifer.
She told everyone who cared to listen that Jennifer trapped her son. She went as far as threatening Jennifer's mother to warn her daughter to stay away from her son.
Jennifer told Terry about all she was going through and how she had been treated badly by his mother.
“She is my mother, don't worry, I will handle it.”
“So you think reporting me to my son will stop me? Will Terry beat me? You'd better tear that certificate, or I will never let you have peace.”
Jennifer shook her head and replied, “I will not tear it, I will wait until Terry returns. If he wants that, then we can proceed.”
“You will regret this. By the time I am done with you, you will wish you had never met my son,” Terry's mum said.
One evening, Judy visited Jennifer. She met Jennifer, sitting alone, crying.
“Jennifer, how much more of this can you take? She is not going to stop. Love should not hurt this much.
The battle with Terry's mum did not stop. It grew worse. But so did Jennifer's resilience.
Terry spent 2 years plus in prison, and Jennifer never accepted any other suitor. People mocked her, but she wasn't bothered. Instead, she worked more, moved to a new city, and started saving up again. She got new clothes for Terry, got a new apartment, and started putting things in place gradually.
“When Terry comes back, I want him to be comfortable, and I do not want him to start from scratch,” Jennifer said to her friend.
The Release
When he stepped out of prison, it was different. He was free again, but not the man he once was. He was full of regret and shame.
All he could think of was going home to Jennifer.
Would she still love him unconditionally?
Terry boarded the flight back home. He left his country with dreams. He was returning with scars.
But Jennifer was waiting patiently to receive him back. Little did she know that the change was just temporary.
- Writer
