THE UNBELIEVABLE

 

Photo by Specna Arms on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/@specna_arms_4s

No matter how hard I tried to avoid them, I was always attracted to military men, and I ended up marrying Jim, a high-ranking officer.

The day I lost him; I felt like the whole world was over for me. I hadn’t even enjoyed my marriage for so long; I was only 4 months pregnant for him when he left. It was devastating.

My mind went back to how it all started; since my childhood, I just had this attraction towards uniformed individuals; maybe because of the films I watched, or that I suddenly became strangely obsessed with them. 

My institution of study happened to be close to an army barracks and on one of such busy days, while I was going back to my lodge from the school, I met him.

He was sitting under a stout tree with another uniformed man; their guns lying on the ground close to their feet. The duo kept discussing in raised voices. I overheard and understood what they were saying, perfectly. It was about women and money; a normal thing for guys to talk about.

“Guy, you dey craze o, things don hard, I no fit dey spend anyhow on woman again o”

“Wetin you dey talk sef, shey na woman go dey spend on you?

“Those creatures can literally see you struggling and still ask for more,” the other guy said

“Not all of them bro, some are actually different from the rest”

“Different indeed, just dey play” the other guy replied, and then their attention was shifted towards me as I walked briskly past them, my eyes scanning the environment for a commercial motorcycle (okada) 

“Excuse me!” A voice said to me, and I stopped to see who it was. One of them walked up to me and we exchanged pleasantries. The whole moment he spoke, my eyes were looking downwards. He introduced himself as Jim and told me how pretty I was. He also introduced me to his close friend John, who he had been sitting with, under the tree, and then he asked for my phone number; promising to call at night. I slept well that afternoon and charged my phone fully, awaiting his call. And he finally called. 

When I found out that he wasn’t even married as I had suspected earlier, I became even more excited. To me, my dreams of dating a military man were coming true. Jim made me feel on top of the world. I’d never felt so loved before; maybe because it was my first-ever serious relationship or that it was just because I was dealing with a uniformed man, a reality of my dreams and obsessions.

Every weekend, after classes and a stressful week, I would visit him at the lodge where he stayed with his close friend John. I would cook and help them clean up.

“Wifey!, wife material!” They both would hail me, and as usual; my head would swell like a frog.

Then I would dish out their food and eat on the same plate with my lover. 

Later on, he would take me out to entertain me. We could go to a beach, or a cinema or somewhere quiet and peaceful to enjoy nature; Jim was just a joy giver. 

During my birthdays, he would surprise me with gifts until my cheeks hurt and tears rolled. 

Every time my birthday was approaching, I would start having goosebumps because I didn’t know what Jim had in stock for me. It was always a banger.

And when the day finally arrived, I would receive something more special than my previous birthday gift. I couldn’t help but jump up happily and hug him. He would only smile and wrap his huge arms around me.

We dated for three years until we finally exchanged our marital vows. By then I’d just graduated from the university a few months back, while he had been promoted to a higher rank in his field. 

By the end of our eventful honeymoon, I looked at him with joy and appreciation. I whispered to him. “I love you, Jim, thank you”. 

And a few seconds later he replied. “Thank you for choosing me.”

—————————————————————————-

One day he went to war and never came back. The moment he left home that morning, I had this strange feeling that something wasn’t right. I immediately hushed any negative thoughts aside and comforted myself.

“He will come back to you; don’t be scared, Kate”

The war was situated at a border between the country and a neighboring one; they’d been tasked to arrest and capture the foreigners who were terrorizing and trying to colonize an area along the border.

“Kate, we’ve been asked to bring them back alive,” he told me that morning.

“How?! They’re with weapons too, someone can get killed” I barked, feeling so uncomfortable. If I could secretly sign a resignation letter on his behalf, I would have done that, as early as, after our marriage.

“I’ll be back Kate, I’ll come back to you, baby,” he said and pulled me close to himself.

With the intensity of such a task, I could only hope for the best, and pray earnestly for him. 

That evening I waited patiently at home for him to come back so that I could tell him that I felt his baby moving inside me. Then I would wait for him to bend and press his ears to my belly as he would always do, and say loudly “I believe it’s a boy, I know it’s a boy” 

But Jim never came back. 

Some minutes late into the night, I was called by the barracks where he worked;

“We’re so sorry to inform you that…”

I didn’t hear the rest of what was being said. All I could remember was that I’d picked up a call.

“Hello, madam are you still there?”

“Hello, Madam…”

I let the device fall to the floor and then I went to a corner of the room and began sobbing. I knew it was bad news, something terrible had happened to Jim.

The last I could remember was that I was sobbing. I opened my eyes and found myself in the hospital. John his best friend, sat close to me. He had come to sympathize with me when he discovered that I was lying unconscious on the floor. I had passed out twice.

“You need to calm down Kate,” he said, holding my hands.

He explained to me about the news which they received concerning the mission. 

Jim’s camp had been raided and burnt, and there was no trace of any survivor, neither did they hear from Jim.

That was how I lost Jim, with his 4-month-old son inside me, It was a moment of darkness in my life.

Five months later, I had Fred.

I promised myself to take care of Fred with all I had, and I made sure I did. He looked like Jim and constantly reminded me of him. Watching him grow gradually, I knew that he would ask of his father one day; I was not just prepared for that.

———————————————————————

(Fast-forward to four years later)

One evening I took Fred out to buy some fruits. He was already used to staying indoors; In fact our lives were just; his school, my place of work, church and home. Sometimes John would visit and say hi. We would chat and laugh, and then he would go home after eating a sumptuous meal prepared by me. He wasn’t married, so he had no one to prepare such a sumptuous meal for him. 

At some point, I had to tell him to reduce the way he visited because Fred was already calling him dad. 

After we bought the fruits, and on my way home with Fred who had just clocked four, I met John. He had gone to visit a friend.

“Ah! Kate!” He exclaimed with his usual excitement, then he came closer to hug me.

“How are you doing John?” I asked him, with a little smile on my face, as I stared at his handsome looks and his well-ironed uniform, not listening to whatever reply he was giving me. I still had this attraction for uniformed men.

“I’m good, How have you been too?” He asked. After a few seconds, he tapped me into consciousness. I wondered what had carried me away.

I jolted to consciousness and then replied.

“I’m pulling through; John, I’m okay” There was so much concealed under the reply. 

“Is everything alright, Kate?” He asked and I nodded.

Honestly, I was beginning to miss his company too.

I knew that he wanted to ask further on how I had been coping all alone with Fred but then he just nodded and I appreciated the fact that he did. 

“Where are you coming from?” I asked 

“I went to see one of my guys, his mum came visiting and invited me to come eat with the family”

“You haven’t married, that’s why you’re perching from one house to another, eating everybody’s food” I taunted him and we both burst out laughing.

Sometimes we blasted each other with words and that made me like his company the more. 

“Young lady leave me alone, my time shall come” he said to me as he grinned from ear to ear.

“Time indeed, pray you don’t get fired from work. I wonder which officer on duty leaves his duty post because of food” I said, pointing towards the uniform which we wore.

Those words brought him back to reality.

“Gracious, I sneaked out of the office, I have to be on my way” he said to me.

He hugged me tightly.

“I’ll call you later today alright?” 

“Okay John,” I said.

During the hug, I felt his warmth, his sympathy, his confidence and the sweet fragrance which he had sprayed on his clothes. “Kate, you should stop misbehaving,” My heart said to my brain.

The whole moment we discussed and finally hugged, Fred sat on a wooden support by the side of the pathway, watching us. He was yet to understand what was happening.

“Mummy, can we go now?” The little boy asked impatiently.

“I’m sorry my love” I said, smiling shyly and then I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him along.

That night, John called me and asked if we could hang out with my son, and that was how it all started.

——————————————————————

After the demise of Jim, I had already concluded that the world had ended for me; but it hadn’t, just like I thought. It was just starting, only that it was without Jim this time.

I saw myself enjoying John’s company. I didn’t know what was happening or how it was happening, but it was just happening. 

He suddenly resurfaced again, coming over frequently to visit and to also play with baby Fred who was almost clocking five. John would buy us foodstuff and still promised to buy more when next he came around. I tried to pause and process my feelings towards John and found out that I was growing affection for him.

A year later, we began dating officially. Fred was already five, and still called John ‘Daddy’

With John, I gradually eased myself the pain of losing Jim though It never left completely because I still had Fred and saw him every day of my life.

The following year, on a fateful day, John proposed to me. It was exactly five years since Jim had left. 

That afternoon at the restaurant, I sat, perplexed and shocked, staring silently at John as he knelt in front of me with an engagement ring.

“Yes I will marry you, John,” I said In tears; I brought out my ring finger and he slid it in, to the amazement and cheers from the little crowd which gathered. Fred sat quietly at one side of the table as he scoped some portions of ice cream into his mouth. He would pause at intervals and stare at the both of us then go back to scoping the portions of ice creams into his mouth.

“Thank you for bringing back my happiness” I whispered to John and then he kissed me.

But the worst was yet to come.

———————————————————————-

In the early hours of the morning by 2:00 am, my phone rang loudly.

I woke up when it was ringing the second time. I hissed irritatingly and looked at the wall clock. I wondered why someone would want to disturb me at such a time of the morning. I wasn’t expecting John to be calling by such time, so I reached out to where the phone was plugged in.

It was a strange number calling, this vexed me the more. I let it ring severally, and then, Fred woke up. After ten missed calls, I finally picked up the phone, and while on the call, I patted the young boy to sleep.

“Is this Kate?”

“Good morning, who are you and why are you calling at such a strange time?” I didn’t give an answer to whether I was Kate or not. I was more interested in knowing who it was.

He told me that he worked at the barracks, and apologized for the disturbance.

“It’s not in our nature to disturb people this way, but we would want you to come to the barracks immediately”

My heart skipped a beat, and the first person that came to my mind was John. Was he safe? Had something also happened to him? Was life trying to be unfair to me again?

“Officer, What’s the issue? Is everything okay?”

There was abrupt silence as the officer tried to give someone else the mobile device, to speak to me.

And then a strange but familiar voice spoke.

“Kate, Hello Kate, it’s me, none of us was killed, we were ambushed and carried away. It’s me, Jim”

I paused and took a deep breath. It wasn’t real, it all sounded like a joke; a prank which was well pulled off, on me. I only smiled and encouraged myself to calm down, then I cut the call.

I immediately dialled John’s number, and the moment the call went through, he declined it. He was also awake by that time.

I called John again, but he declined the call again.

“Jim is back” he texted, a few seconds later.

I was still trying to process everything when Fred tapped me. “Mummy I can’t sleep, what time is daddy coming tomorrow?”

He was referring to John.