Click here to read the first part of the story.
The next morning.
The doctor looked at her intently and asked,
"What do you say happened to your back?"
"Errm, I... I... I... Please doctor, just treat me,"
Manka'a replied, trying to escape giving a constructive answer.
"Madam, that looks like a burn." The doctor was resolute.
"How did fire get to your back and leave a scar?"
Manka'a got wary of trying to cover up for Tamiya. She had to choose between telling the doctor the truth and cooking up a story. She had cooked up story when Tamiya beat her until she couldn't walk properly. At the hospital, she told the doctors she had fallen down a 20-stair staircase. She had cooked up a story when Tamiya tore her clothes and she had to run to her sister's house in a shredded oufit. She told her sister that she had gotten into a fight with a neighbour. Now that she had a burn on her back, she was out of story-cooking ideas. She resolved to tell the doctor the truth.
"My husband, my husband... he put a hot iron on me."
Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke. The doctor observed a moment of silence as though he was asked to observe a moment of silence in honour of a dead person. He opened her 20-leave hospital book and scribbled her "illness".
"Burn on the back. Assaulted by husband."
After having some medication prescribed and some rubbed on her wound, Manka'a returned home.
At home, she had to cook, hand-wash a pile of Tamiya's clothes and remove weeds from her vegetable garden behind the house. She started with cooking. Fufu it was. Tamiya's favourite. She gathered some wood and placed in the middle of three stones in her outside kitchen made out of bamboo sticks. She boiled some water and placed the corn flour in. Then she skillfully turned a wooden stick round the corn batter in the blackened pot, occasionally stopping to use her index finger to wipe drizzles of sweat off her face.
When the fufu was properly cooked, she started wrapping scoops of it in little plastic bags. Then she heard footsteps approaching her. It was her friend Bih. Bih hardly had time for greetings. Her visits often came with new tales.
"Manka'a, Tamiya is in the bar drinking with a girl. I hear people say she is his new girlfriend."
Manka'a was livid. As she struggled to stand, the pain on her back made her stagger. She looked at Bih suspiciously and asked,
"You, sure?"
Bih nodded in affirmation. Manka'a instantly lost the little peace she had left. She waited for Tamiya that evening by the door of their living room. He entered the house in his infamous khaki pants which he often wore to his carpentry workshop.
She immediately attacked him,
"Who is that girl The girl you were flirting with today? You didn't even call to ask me how I was feeling after you gave me a wound. You were there drinking with a girl? Eh Tamiya? Eh?"
Tamiya looked at her the way Donald Trump looks at his opponents in presidential debates.
"I can drink with whoever I want. I can do whatever I want. I am the man. I am not your mate. You hear!"
His voice went up with the last phrase.
Manka'a hobbled towards him and struggled to land a slap on his cheek. It didn't sound the way she envisioned it. She wanted the sound of it to echo in his ears. But the pain she was feeling on her back, led her to deposit a semi-slap instead.
Tamiya immediately gathered both of her hands in his one hand then he used his other hand to give her three consecutive fully-solid slaps. She screamed, let herself out of his grip and ran out of the house. She entered into the house next door where she begged for solace.
Pascaline, her neighbour took her in, looked her door then she turned to Manka'a almost angrily and said,
"If a man keeps beating you, why don't you leave him go somewhere far away? Do you want him to kill you first?"
With one hand on her cheek, still trying to digest the slaps her body had taken in, Manka'a said,
"Where will I go? Marriage is for better or for worse. My children need to grow with their father."
There are many Manka'as and Tamiyas out there. Then there are the Pascalines who keep wondering why the Manka'as live with this. And there are the doctors who are indifferent towards this. Domestic violence is a real thing, people. What would you tell Manka'a?
Anonymous says
Finally part 2. Thanks Sis. I would tell Manka'a it is not her fault. That she is fearfully and wonderfully made and does not deserve this. Also, domestic violence is not ok and she needs to leave the home along with her children either back to her relatives or safe place. Also report it to police as she has evidence (the burn on her back). There is no price for peace.
Precious Nkeih says
Sadly, many Manka'as think it is their fault. They grow to loose self-esteem and hardly find the courage to seek help. Thank you for adding your voice to this. God bless.
Lilian Mupang says
Whaoooo Precious seriously, l bow l give you red feather mami, in short l repent from my first reaction in part one.
Saying its painful will certainly be an understatement because to me it's more than just painful. But the reality is this, with God all things are possible and prayer is the only solution. Manka'a this is what l have for you sweetheart, get down on your knees and pray like you've never done before. In short behave like Abraham. Talk God's words back to him; remind him of his word, the Bible declares in Ps.138:2 that he exalts His word above every other thing. And watch how he'll do it in your life. Patience, Perseverance and Prayers pays off big time l know what l’m talking about.
Mama says
Really? So you expect her to keep praying till he kills her abi... she needs to get out of that marriage now and pray from afar. I will show her stories of women who were killed by domestic violence...the for better for worse vow is not for only women and no man has a right to abuse his wife...
Shasha Rshan says
Wow, okay just started following this story and I am off to part 1 and can't wait to catch up. hurts ot see women in that situation. Hurt is even an understatement.
http://www.rshanphonsi.com
Precious Nkeih says
It is painful, Shasha. Enjoy the read.
Joy2Endure says
I will tell her marriage is to be enjoyed and not to be endured. For better for worst is good where there is love not when there is a boxing ring and punch bag. I think this Better for worst thing has to be revisited because many today recite it by rote and then their spouses are forced to become the Manka'ahs of this world. Great and entertaining piece to shed light on a delicate situation.
Precious Nkeih says
Thank you, sis!
For better for worse doesn't mean,"do your worse and expect your spouse to stay." This for better for worse thing has been so abused.
Splendor says
Get counsel, file a complaint with the state counsel. If all that doesn't change him, then get a hut in his compound and stay with me children. Get a farm and sell my produce in the market.
Precious says
Thanks for the advice, dear.