Me and Ritah were the best of friends and everyone in the community admired our friendship. There was no place I would be that you wouldn’t find Ritah. She would come to our house and help me out with the chores and after we were done we would go and do the chores at her house as well. We went to the market together and attended church services together. She was always the first person to know if I was dating a boy or not. She would tell me everything about her. I was like the pot for her secrets and she was the pot for mine as well. We loved each other so much that we saw each other like sisters.
After high school, I was getting married to the man of my dreams and love of my life. We didn’t actually fall in love at first sight. When he first approached me, I was with Ritah and we were going to the well to fetch water. The road to the well was a bit lonely. As we were moving, a car stopped and parked near us, and a young gentleman who was driving the car came out. “Can I have a word with you?” He said. “Yes, how may I help you?” I gently replied. “Have been seeing you around the village ever since I came back from the city and I sincerely think you are the prettiest girl in this village. I would love for you to be my wife.” He got on his knees and asked me to marry him. I was shocked and scared to say yes until Ritah persuaded me to say yes. She convinced me that he was a nice person.
Everything was good and Ritah was happy for me. I saw this man for a while when I found out I was pregnant. The first person I told was Ritah for she was the person I trusted most and she had seen me vomiting. After I told her everything, she convinced me to inform my fiance. I was so scared because I didn’t know how he would react to this news. “Just call him and tell him everything will be alright,” Ritah assured me. And she was right. I called my fiance immediately and told him the news. He was so excited and told me to inform my parents that he was coming to see them about the wedding.
So we had to rush our wedding before the pregnancy started showing. My fiance didn’t waste time. That evening, he picked me from the village and took me to the city to live with him as we planned our wedding. I asked my fiance to allow me to bring my best friend Ritah into our home so that she could help me out with the arrangements. “It seems you love your Ritah so much,” said my fiance. “Yes, I love her so much, she’s like a sister to me,” I replied to him. “Alright if that’s what you want, then she’s more than welcome,” he replied with a warm smile.
That night, I called Ritah so excited to let her know that she was coming to the city to live with me so she could help me with the wedding arrangements. She was over the moon on hearing this news. We couldn’t wait to see each other. It had been only two weeks without seeing each other but it felt like months and months. Ritah helped me with the planning and everything was going well. She helped with booking the makeup artist while I booked the people in charge of food. We went together to get our nails done .
On my wedding day, Ritah came very late and I was worried. But she arrived and apologized and we continued organizing and doing makeup. She asked me if I could give her my dress so she could try it on just for a little time. I couldn’t refuse my best friend in the world, so I gave it to her and she tried it on. Without a doubt she looked good in it. My soon-to-be husband walked in the room and saw her in it. “Wow you look lovely, I mean the dress looks good on you but will look more spectacular on my soon to be wife, of course.” Then he added to me, “I will be waiting for you my love, don’t be late.” My husband winked at me with a smile and then left, shutting the door behind him.
It was a traditional marriage so I wore the best kitenge dress anyone could imagine and the color was perfect because it was my favorite, pitch with some white on it. I had tried on dozens of dresses and I knew that this was the one for me. My pregnancy was too early to be seen so my dress fit me well.
After the wedding was done, I thought Ritah would be going back to the village since her father was seriously ill. But there was no sign of her leaving anytime soon. As her friend, I asked her when she would be returning back to the village to attend to her sick father. “Are you trying to chase me out of your house or what?” answered Ritah in a serious tone. “No, my friend, how can I chase you out of my house, you’re my best friend, I was only concerned about your father,” I replied to her calmly. “Since when did you start being concerned about my father? And how is my father your business?” replied Ritah in a rude tone. “Am sorry my friend if I offended you in any way, I was only trying to be concerned,” I replied. She got up and left me in the living room.
Day by day she became more disrespectful to me. She spoke to me rudely and sometimes she didn’t reply when I tried to talk to her. Little did I know that she was seducing my husband behind my back.
To be continued….
3 February, 2023
