The Rejected Stone - S01 E07

4 months ago

The Rejected Stone - S01 E07

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 7

The Rejected Stone, Episode Seven

"I want to take you to the village for Christmas. I hope you are excited about it? Just me, you and my mother. Titi will stay in the city alone with no one to keep her company. She will stay here and languish in loneliness." Madu said to the new wife. She was not happy about it. Madu expected this kind of reaction because she only arrived the city a few days ago.

"I have not even spent up to a week in the city. Why are you rushing to take me to the village? love it here and I'm not missing anyone in my family. I was thinking I will stay in the city for at least five years before setting my foot in the village. Why are you taking me to the village for Christmas? I'm not going with you." The new wife said. Her face did not look like someone who would go to the village even if she was dragged with a rope like a goat.

"Relax my love. You have already taken over my heart and no one else can replace you. You are the queen that has occupied the kingdom in my heart. You know, I have not gone to pay the dowry on your head. It is only proper that I take you to the village so that I will use the opportunity offered by Christmas to carry wine to your people. You only followed my mother to the city to live with me, but your bride price has not been paid. As a responsible man, I feel it is the right thing to do for me to go and see your people and tell them that I'm now the husband of their beautiful daughter. In fact, I intend to organize a traditional marriage once we get to the village. I want to marry you properly so that you will have respect in the eyes of your family members and the entire village. Now, what do you think?" Madu asked. He has successfully used sweet words to entice his new wife and she agreed to follow him once she heard the mention of traditional marriage.

In Africa, a woman is not considered properly married until a dowry has been paid on her head. To run after a man who hasn't paid bride price on a woman's head is considered shameful. Young ladies usually don't like this. It is a respectful thing that your husband took wine to your family before you followed him. This is why the new wife was happy to hear that Madu was going to see her family which was not done before she joined him in the city.

"I will be glad to go with you. Thank you so much my king for honouring me this way. When I arrived in the city, I wanted to ask you when you are going to see my family, but I was scared that the question would get you angry. Today, I'm the happiest person in the word. I can now be officially addressed as the latest bride in town." The new wife said with pride in her voice. She stood up from where she was sitting and started pacing around the living room like a child that just received a big chunk of meat.

"So, when are we travelling?" The new wife asked with a broad smile on her face.

"We are travelling tomorrow." Madu said.

"That is so sudden. How do I prepare myself? It's a wedding and we need more than a day to put things in order." She said.

"My darling, don't worry yourself. I don't want to stress you and I don't want you to be worried. I have called your family in the village and they have been putting things in order since last week when my mother told me about you. Also, I have a hired a top-notch catering and event planning company to handle everything. You don't even have to lift a finger. You are the bride and you deserve to be treated like a queen. So, relax. Just go in there, pack your bags and get ready for tomorrow's journey." Madu said to the new wife. She stood up excitedly to leave the living room but Madu held her back. Within a twinkling of an eye, Madu flipped out an engagement ring from his pocket and extended it to the new wife.

"I wanted to make this official and propose you properly. Will you marry me?" Madu asked, kneeling down. The words did not even come out from his mouth before the new wife collected the ring and put it in her finger by herself.

"Are you asking me? Yes of course, I will marry

you one million times. You are the husband of

my dreams. I can't image my life without you in

it. I wonder where you have been all these while.

Now that I have finally found you, I don't want

to ever live without you." The new wife said as

she hugged Madu. She rushed into the room

and started packing her bags. Madu told her to

pack all her bags and to keep the whole thing a

secret from Titi who he said would be jealous of

her and didn't need to know.

The next morning, Madu, his mother and the new wife set out for the village. It was a twelve hours drive and by the time they arrived, they were all very tired. They passed the night in the house Madu built in the village.

Words have already gone round in the village that Madu was coming to get married to a new wife.

"Go to your family. It is our tradition that will come there and get married to you. After the traditional rites, you will now be handed over to me. I told you not to worry that everything has been handled." Madu said to the new wife. She packed her bags and left to her family house.

"See you tomorrow my darling." Madu said.

"I will miss you my love, but I'm glad that our forever is just about to start." The new wife said.

The next day, everyone gathered at the family house of the new wife who was gorgeously dressed like a queen. Indeed, Madu is rich and he put a lot of money in the wedding even though he had only two days to pull it off. Relatives from Madu's family were also present and everywhere bubbled. Soon it was time for the bride to identify her husband among the crowd of young men. She was given a cup of palm wine and she danced out into the arena.

She looked splendidly beautiful. When she came into the arena, Madu signaled to the DJ that he wanted to say something. He said he wanted to praise the beauty of his wife. This was an unusual request because the groom usually doesn't talk even after he has been identified by the bride. The elders objected but Madu insisted. Instead of the occasion to scatter, he was given the microphone.

"Thank you for the opportunity to speak. The statement I'm about to make is so important that it could not wait." Madu said. He paused a little, coughed and continued.

"Before this wedding ceremony would continue, I want to ask the bride an important question." Madu said and paused again as if he wanted what he said to sink into the hearts of everyone present. At that time, the new wife was standing in the middle of the crowd with the cup of palm wine in her hand. She was scared but could not do anything about the situation.

"I want the bride to tell the village who got her pregnant." Madu said. At the mention of pregnancy, the cup of palm wine fell from the new wife's hand and broke into tiny shards. She was physically agitated and even the crowed could see fear all over her.

"She came to the city to meet me, but she was already pregnant. How can she bring another man's pregnancy into my house? She came to ridicule me in the eyes of my friends and family. Or is it because I'm childless? I'm only childless, not desperate. I'm a responsible man and I found what she insulting. My mother told me about her and I accepted her into my house. I was prepared to cherish her as my wife until I found out she was pregnant for another man. This is why I have brought her back to the village to hand her over to her family. I didn't come here to marry her, but to use her to set an example. If what I'm saying is a lie, she should say so in public. Please, am I telling lies against you? Are you not pregnant? Is the pregnancy mine?" Madu asked. One microphone was taken to the new wife, but when she opened her mouth to speak, she collapsed.