IN HER SHOES

                                    

            Margaret was stunned upon hearing from her maid, Helen, that it was a Thursday. She had lost a track of the days and thought it was a Wednesday.  Ever since she got married, everyday had always looked like every other day because she did the same things every day, it was a life of boring routines. Still in doubt, her eyes rolled over to the calendar on the wall of her room and surprisingly, her maid was right. She wished it was a Monday or Tuesday or at worst a Wednesday, Thursday was too close to a Saturday. Soon, she would see his black face again. Chief would mount on her like a lion on its prey once he arrives on Saturday. He had made her feel like he had married her just to satisfy his sexual craving. His hunger for sex was so insatiable that it kept her wondering why he was never tired, since he had other wives and concubines warming his bed. Chief had chosen to live his life the way he wanted regardless of anyone’s empathy, but he refused to let her live her life. He made her quit her job, pushed away her friends and chose every where she went to. He was also responsible for ruining the relationship she had with her family, although, she had expected that seeing her husband was older than anyone in her family.

            “Who is that?”Margaret asked once she heard a knock at her door. “Come in,” she added and Helen walked in with shuffling gait. Quickly, she lifted her feet as Margaret looked pointedly at her.

            “Madam, aunty Tosin is here to see you,” Helen said.

            “Tosin Adekanye?” Margaret asked as Helen nodded in affirmation.

            Helen walked out of her room in a shuffling gait again, but at that moment Margaret cared less about her noisy feet. She had someone sitting in her living room that she had to impress. Quickly, she scrutinized all the clothes in her closet in order to find new clothes Tosin had not seen on her. After she had picked a red Ralph Lauren top she had bought 700 dollars, she picked a white skirt worth 100 pounds and then a pair of Gucci slippers. Then she moved to mending her gloomy face after she had covered her body deceitfully with very expensive attire. She applied a Mac foundation to cover the tiny pimples dispersed all over her face and hide the eye bags beneath her eyes also.  The Mac foundation would also help her conceal the worry and regret written all over her face. She knew it was crazy and weird to dress so well just to welcome a friend seated in her living room but she had to pretend that she was happy despite the fact that her heart was bleeding. She needed no one to mock her for marrying an old rich man.

             Margaret wasn’t surprised to find Tosin staring at every nook and cranny of her sitting room just like it was her first time visiting. She stood still on the stairs as she watched Tosin’s long neck move here and there. As her glance coincidentally collided with Margaret's, Tosin composed herself quickly, hailing her friend as she walked down the stairs into the sitting room.

            'See how you look beautiful and expensive,' Tosin said, smiling.  'Iyawo Olowo,' she added and Margaret smiled.

            Margaret laughed heartily after Tosin mentioned that she wished that she was in her shoes. But within her, she wished she was in Tosin's shoes. She wished she was still a single lady who had the opportunity to choose a spouse. If only she could turn back the hands of time, she would choose rightly, affluence would most certainly not be her basis of choice. She would rather choose a man who would spend time with her and respect her feelings even if he was a church rat. Gone are those days when she thought magnificent houses, flashy cars and vacations to many beautiful cities in the world  could give her happiness. She had already realised that they were just vanity.

            “Will you be able to attend Tinuola’s wedding?” Tosin asked.

            “Chief and I will be travelling to Las Vegas a few days before her wedding. From there we will be going to Dubai. I wish I could attend her wedding, but you know we go to Las Vegas every Christmas. It has become a family tradition,” Margaret said buoyantly.

            “Ma-a-a-rgare-e-e-t, you are enjoying o...Hmmm, whoever says that it is bad to marry a married man is a big fool. If I find this type of opportunity that you have, I will grab it instantly.”

            Margaret laughed out loud again.  If only she could tell her that she had covered up her worries, regret and early morning tears applying a Mac foundation and putting on classy wears. She wouldn’t tell her that she was suffering and smiling. And she wouldn’t let her know how she shared her husband with five different women and many concubines. However, she wouldn’t mind having Tosin in her shoes. Maybe if she found someone in her shoes, she would have someone to share her problems with.

            “Amen!” Margaret exclaimed after Tosin prayed wholeheartedly, that she would marry a man like Margaret’s husband.