Good day everyone, we have a new short story by Esther Ajidahun( her name should be familiar). There is no sequel to this story so please enjoy, share, comment and subscribe.
Dilemma
Standing at the entrance of the Cathedral, many memories were rushing through my heart, emotions of all kinds. I had lost my mother at a very young age, and I barely knew her. My father refused to get married again and just took me as his only priority in life; after all I was all he had left. I went to the best school, and he took good care of me, made me the type of woman he wanted me to be. I graduated with a medical degree and he could not be prouder. He loved taking me out on occasions and I could pass for his wife. He would talk so much about me to his friends and this made him so happy. I love my dad so much but he is not just the best dad to me even if he thinks he is, because he satisfies all my needs except my emotional needs and he does not allow me to make my own decisions. He does not even care how I feel about so many things. All he wants is for me to become what he wants. He decides everything and wants me to be focused and have a good career. Well, I guess it is because he was too hurt by my mum’s death that he decided to channel all his emotions into my life. He does not even want to talk about it, that’s how bad it is. I’m a doctor today but I’ve always wanted to be an actress.
In the medical school, I went to a charity event and there was this guy that caught my attention. He cared for the kids and showed a wonderful type of love to them. I just kept smiling to myself and forgot about it. After a while, he came up to me and introduced himself. He said he admired me and he really said nice things. He cracked a lot of jokes and I kept laughing. Then, we left the event together and talked all the way back to our different destinations. I felt like we had known each other for so long. The connection was fast. That was it. I fell in love with Fred; he is the sweetest guy I have ever met. He just completes me. He became my confidant and in all, my jewel of inestimable value.
Fred works in a big company as one of the branch managers, and he is comfortable. I was so excited to tell my dad I’ve finally found the man I was going to get married to ‘my Mr. Right.’ When I went home for the semester break, I talked to him about it and he was so uninterested and just tuned off. When he couldn’t take it anymore he told me to my face ‘Kathy, you’ve trailed away, this wasn’t the way I trained you.’ Wow! Come on what is he saying? Do you train someone not to fall in love or what should I think? Maybe there’s something more to it, I thought to myself. He continued, ‘you are out of plan and this is totally wrong, you have to face your studies squarely and become the medical doctor you’ve always wanted to be….’
He kept on talking for a long time, and all I could come up with was that he didn’t even want me to choose the man I would want to spend the rest of my life with. He has it all planned out, the particular age, time, person and all of that. Why would my dad have my life planned out for me even up to the point of having a husband? At that time I was in my final year, graduating in a few months. I didn’t know what to do, I had argued and argued and then nothing came out of it. No close friends around because he won’t allow it. At that point, I felt alone, down and miserable. This one thing I really wanted so much and I was really sure about turned out to be something that was absurd to my dad. I love my dad so much and won’t want to hurt him, because that would kill him and I have no one else.
Fred was really heartbroken when I told him I couldn’t continue with the relationship anymore. I did not know what explanation to give but then I had to tell him the truth. He was so shocked and really understood my predicament. We decided to let it be. We could not just dissolve the relationship like that because we really loved each other. Our relationship kept going stronger day by day and I did not tell my dad all this. It was a secret. I graduated from the medical school that year and finally I became a doctor my father’s greatest dream.
Two years after my medical school, I was already a practicing doctor and 25 years old. My dad never brought up the issue of me getting married. Fred couldn’t wait anymore and really wanted to know what was up and if I had convinced my dad and all that. I was scared of bringing up the topic, but I decided to say it and was ready to face whatever would come out of it. He still didn’t agree and we fought this time and eventually he said if that was the case he could only allow me to marry Carl. Carl, but why?
Carl is my dad’s friend’s son. I never liked him because he was so proud and annoying. He boasted about every little thing. I snapped back and said I wasn’t going to marry him. First of all, I don’t love him. I love Fred. Then he said ‘if you have to marry that is it and if not stay single and that is even better for you to be a successful woman’. The worst was that he threatened to kill me if I married Fred and this time he said he meant every word ‘I will kill you and nobody will know. I made you what you are today and can do whatever I want to do’. I turned to see if he was still my father because he wasn’t the same person I knew anymore. He had changed drastically. What has come over him? I cried my eyes to sleep and eventually I had to tell Fred and that there was nothing I could do. It was a hard decision I had to make. I made Fred go away because I feared he could get into trouble, and the last thing I wanted was him being dead.
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, I wasn’t myself anymore. My dad did not seem to care. All he cared about was seeing me do his will and not minding if I was happy or not. We went for occasions together, meetings and events with his friends. We wore this look that all was fine outside but we both knew there was war going on. As if that was not enough, on one of the occasions when we got back home he said that he wanted me to get married as soon as possible. I guessed his friends were talking him to it, and also maybe he had business deals with some of his friends and I should make sure I step up my game with Carl. I told him I wanted to remain single because he gave me that option so why the change of words. We argued about this again and this time he became so furious and gave me the beating of my life. I was so scared. Since I was born, that was the first time he laid his hands on me. What could have gone wrong? Mum where are you? Maybe if you were here things would have been better. I was so confused. I had no one to run to and I feared for my life.
Eventually, I agreed to date Carl and he was so happy, that at last what he had boasted about came to reality. He had been disturbing me since we were in high school but I always turned him down. My dad was so excited and soon Carl proposed and my dad being so excited carried on with all the wedding plans I had zero interest in. On one of our dates in a restaurant, an argument ensured between Carl and me, just a simple argument and then before I knew it he slapped me and beat me until people came to my rescue. It just has to be a bad dream but it was not. He apologized on our way back and said it was a mistake that would not happen again. I just blamed myself because I got myself into all these. Wedding date was fixed and people were looking forward to it, a relationship that was abusive with apologies that meant nothing anymore.
On a Rainy Saturday afternoon,
Here I am with my dad by my side ready to walk me his one and only child down the aisle. He had smiles beaming all over his face, too happy than I was. I’m about to get married to a man I don’t love, who beats me up at every slight opportunity and who still claims to love me. If I don’t, my dad has threatened to kill me. A voice interrupted my deep thoughts and my Dad said Kathy are you ready, now it was real I could hear the hymn and the church rising, waiting for me to walk in. This is the time to make a decision, the time is now!
door opens….
here comes the bride, here comes the bride…..
