Stepping Into Maggie’s Shoes

Episode 11

The Engagement was a super Sucess, I was looking very beautiful in my Engagement attire. Julius was looking dapper as well, even though I was responsible for the wedding Financially, to the point of buying his sisters and parents’ attires.

A day before the wedding, Julius had broken the news that we had to stay in his one room self contain apartment for a while as he was yet to secure the 2 bedroom flat I gave him money for. At first, I wasn’t happy with the development because I was not planning to live with my sister in law, but I felt I should overlook it and focus on the wedding. I encouraged myself that after the Engagement, I would settle down and look for the apartment myself. We planned to have our Church Wedding much Later. All we planned on doing was to have the Engagement and a pastoral Blessing.
My mother wasn’t happy through out the process. I had given her the shock of her life when I got back home that Monday and told her Julius was ready for the engagement.
You could see fear, unhappiness on her face. She tried talking me out of it, telling me even if I wasn’t going to marry the Apostle, I should at least be calm enough to let God give me someone better than Julius, but all that fell on deaf ears..

I had a special guest at my Engagement ceremony that left my mouth opened. Apostle Ray came for the wedding and Even blessed us…

After the engagement ceremony, we went to a cheap hotel for our honeymoon for two days. On getting there on the first night , Julius pecked and kissed me a bit, but begged me he was so worn out he could not make love to me, but he promised we were going to have fun the next morning. He slept off.

I told myself not to take the matter seriously as he had been working tirelessly in the past 6 days for the preparation of the Engagement.
I woke up the next morning to discover Julius was not in bed. I checked the toilet, but he wasn’t there, I checked the doorway, he wasn’t there either. I went back into the room and searched for my phone. I dialed his number, and thankfully it rang…

“ Hello, Baby” he said in a low tone
“ Julius, Where are you?”
“ At the hospital… I am sorry, I got an urgent call, I thought it was nothing serious, that’s why I didn’t wake you up” He said

“ What’s wrong?”
“ Grand Mummy just suffered a stroke”
“ What?”
“ I guess the excitement and stress of the wedding was too much for her…”
“ Which of the hospitals?” I asked as I was literally shaking
“ General Hospital, Ikeja”
“ Ok, I am on my way”
That was the beginning of my marital Journey with Julius.

We spent a lot of money on his Grandmother’s illness, we had to spend the money for the apartment on her treatment. My bank account suffered, I spent all I had, I took money from my business and spent it on her illness. I even went further to borrow from my friends to pay her hospital bills…
For those two months, Julius did not even touch me romantically. We couldn’t make love, as he was not emotionally balanced. Also his sisters living with us was not helping matters. There was no way we could make love without them hearing our sound…

My Grandmother in law was finally discharged and I got another shocking news from Julius…
“Happy, Grand Mummy is going home with us, she cannot return to her place, she has to be catered for and she needs to take an injection on a weekly basis.”
“ You mean in the same SMALL apartment?, Where will she be sleeping?” I asked very shocked at that suggestion
“ In our room, I will vacate the room for you and her, I will manage in the living room with my sisters”

I had to say something…

“ Julius, what is happening?, since we got married, you haven’t touched me!”
“ Touch you?.. With all that has been going on? My Grandmother is dying and all you can think of is Sex…Is it that you don’t have feelings? My Grandmother was hale and hearty, but the rushed impromptu wedding you forced me into shot her B.P up and resulted in a stroke and all you are thinking about Happy is Sex, Sex!” he said looking at me like I was a devil..

I broke into tears, as it hurt me that Julius was turning this table against me. Despite how I had pumped my money and energy into his Grandmother’s sickness, he had the nerve to talk to me that way…

Julius hissed and pushed me out of the way…
Julius got a cab to take his Grandmother home, he made his Grandmother lie down in the back seat, while he sat down in the front seat with the driver. I was planning to find a space in the taxi but he punched me with this words…

“ You have to take public transport, I won’t want to inconvenience mama” I stood transfixed on a spot as I watched the taxi zoom off. Julius had left me stranded, with no money.

I called a friend of mine who lived in that area, I had to lie that I lost my purse. My friend said she was out of town but used a mobile App to get me a taxi to pick me up from there to the house.

Obviously, Julius and his sisters were not expecting me to return that early as they were talking seriously about me…
“ I told you the girl was possessed, now you can see all she has done…Can’t you see she has a bad leg, she walked into your life and on that same day of your wedding, My Grandmother developed a stroke”
“ The day she came to propose to you here on Monday and bribing you to marry her, what did I tell you brother after she left?”
“ I know what you told me, You told me, Only desperate girls give men money to support the man in paying their dowry, but the truth is I had a plan!”

“ I know!, but it seems the witch girl has found out your plan and is bent on aborting it” said Kate, Julius’ sister.
“ I now believe she is a witch and that’s why I am trying to be very smart in my actions so I don’t have blood on my hands…”

“ You better act fast before she finishes you, especially with her psychiatric problem”
I was torn into a thousand pieces, I was shaking and crying at the same time. My legs couldn’t move. This level of betrayal was beyond me…