My father has been living with a strange woman for 18 years now. This strange woman stole my father after four children from my mother.
My mother was devastated. She cried, begged but things got worse. She went to church, fasted and prayed but the strange woman stood strong.
Things were bad at home. My father denied us. He said he wasn’t sure he was our father. He refused to pay our school fees because we were all girls. He was married to mom for 14 years.
And in those 14 years, mum had six children but lost two. The two she lost were boys ironically. Dad claimed my mom was a witch who has refused to give him heirs to carry on his family name.
Things were already rocky at home before this strange woman came into the picture. She was an uneducated young girl my paternal grandmother brought to Lagos for my dad.
She was tall, fair but mean. She did as she was told. She was obedient but slimy too. She would pretend to be nice whenever dad was around but insult my mom and us when he went out.
Strange woman started controlling my father. She told him to stop wasting money sending us to school since we were all girls. My dad agreed. He told us that we were on our own if we wanted to go to school.
While all these were happening, mum was always in church. She was told by her pastor that the devil was after her marriage. Her pastor told her that the strange woman needs to go.
He assured her that God would kill the strange woman so that peace would return to her marriage once again. Mom was always praying for fire to descend on the strange woman and consume her.
It was a messy situation until dad threw all of us out the house three years later. We suffered. We went hungry. We were wearing old clothes of family members and friends. Things were tough but we survived.
It’s been 18 years since dad allowed a strange woman to steal his heart and they are still living together. They have three boys together. But is that woman really a strange woman?
Didn’t my mom’s pastor say she would die? Didn’t he assure my mom that God will strike her down for destroying the peace in my family? Didn’t the church declare sudden death on her? What happened?
My dad has been living with her for 18 years now and she’s still alive. As an adult, I have come to realize that there’s nothing like a strange woman. A woman can only come between couples if a husband allows him to.
Sorry for my long epistle. I just needed to say this. Thanks for allowing me unburden my heart.”
From one of my readers. She wishes to remain anonymous.
