Thread by @GbengaWemimo

She didn't see that far into the future when she decided to pitch her tent with the rich but married engineer
She was 24
Young, plump, and beautiful
She had tried dating young single guys but for her, it seems they were all bones and no flesh
They were unable to offer anything

of value apart from empty words and instant gratification in form of sex and infidelity
The three guys she had dated since she was 16 all cheated on her and practically used and dumped her
The first one, the one she would call her first love got her brain so tangled up that she

stole her mother's money for him and allowed him to do all sorts to her in the name of love
When she caught him cheating, she looked the other way because she didn't want to break up with him and be alone
It took her two years to get the message
She was a fool and he was milking

naivety mercilessly
The other guys asking her out borrowed her some wisdom simply because they wanted to get into her pants
She didn't see that at the time
She dated the one she felt cared the most
That one slept with her once and walked away
Just like that
She was to him just

another girl to add to the number of his conquests
Her mother was raising her and six other children all on her own at the time
Things were tough, and her older ones all left home right after secondary school to live with relatives and learn a trade or pick up a job
Her mother

encouraged her daughters to do quick and get married
It was the only way her mother could outsource her responsibility legally
Her older sisters got it on time
The two of them got married before the age of 21
Their marriages were horrible and they were piss poor
She saw this and

was determined not to tow the same line
She really wanted to do better, make something of herself
but without an education (She had to stop after secondary school) the only way to do that was to marry rich
Rich people wouldn't allow their children to bring her sort home as their

intended
They ensure this by keeping their children in fancy schools and jobs that kept them away from the streets where they could meet her kind
The aspiring guys she kept meeting on the streets were users and dumpers
She set her sight on a proven gold mine and dig it as much as

she could before the curtains were drawn
She made friends with ladies like her who knew the way
They invested heavily in their looks and shared among themselves several tricks of seduction and pleasure
They introduced her to herbalists and spiritualists who would fortify her and

give her the advantage she needed
The preparation took her six months
The problem of the rich is what to spend their money on, they must have thrills a mundane life cannot offer
This was the hole she and her friends set out to plug
Not as prostitutes but as mistresses with an eye

on becoming second wives or baby mamas
It wasn't conventional but it was an option
It offers the same benefits of marriage apart from the negative perception of the society which had always been hypocritical
That was how she met the engineer
He was rich and had been married for

twenty-two years
His three children were in the University and his wife was already growing some white hairs
She made him feel youthful and happy
He couldn't get enough of her
He got her a well-furnished apartment & she became the destination of his business trips
His wife didn't

suspect anything until she had her first child, a girl
Having a girl was a problem at the time
A girl child cannot inherit anything in their culture but a male child will have a stake in his father's inheritance
She was caught in between two difficult decisions
Keeping the affair

secret by doing a quiet naming ceremony attended by a few relatives from both side or rolling out the loudspeakers to announce to the world that she was dating the rich man and should be treated with the respect and dignity that befitted that status
Her mother told her to lay low

the wise do not rush into life's battle but her friends and herbalist told her the naming ceremony was a wedding she never had and she should see the naming ceremony as an opportunity to announce her arrival on the societal scene
She made her choice
They had the mother of all

parties where six cows were slaughtered and the whole community fed
Inevitably, the news got to the engineer's wife
The engineer's wife had a choice
To take her effrontery as a slap on the face or get into the mud with her
She was ready for anything thrown at her but nothing

happened
She got pregnant again
This time she had a baby boy and became even more confident
She told the engineer she wanted to leave the rented apartment and move into his mansion as his second wife
The engineer always did her bidding
She had bound him to her will through the

help of her herbalist
The engineer told her he will make the necessary arrangements within two weeks
One week later, on the very day she was supposed to upturn the engineer's life by holding the naming ceremony in his mansion, the engineer died.
He fell ill and was rushed to the

hospital
He didn't survive that night
That was it
His death stripped her of everything
Her apartment, her lifestyle, her hopes and aspirations
She had started lobbying the engineer's family members to push her case when she was told that the engineer's wife had sold off all his

properties and relocated to the UK
The woman didn't even dignify her claims by meeting with her face to face or exchanging a word of greeting or insult with her
She left her worse off than where she started from
Within a year she was back in her mother's house with her two kids

She cried and lamented but she had to survive
She had just turned 30 when the engineer died
She went back to the drawing-room
Within a year she had gotten herself another man
He was also married and rich
His marriage was not a happy one and she made herself his place of bliss

He got her an apartment and rented a shop for her
When she was with the engineer, all she did was
She had no investment, no business, nothing
It was one of the things she regretted the most
She could have secured her future with all the resources that came her way but she didn't

This time she was determined to milk the cow for present and future purposes
The only assets she had with the engineer was gold and pieces of jewelry
She sold almost everything paying off debts and feeding herself and her children after the engineer died
The new man was quite

generous
He was from a polygamous background and didn't see much wrong in being with her
He was also desperate for a male child
(His wife had already given birth to seven girls) and had promised her heaven and earth if she would give him a son
She didn't waste any time getting

pregnant for him
Their relationship lasted five years
She gave birth to two girls
He walked away after the second girl
She was never married to him and all she got were the things she got while she was with her
She was 36 years old when he walked away.

Backlash (To be continued)

@threadreaderapp compile

Backlash 1 - gswmi.com/read/backlash-…
She told the engineer she wanted
to leave the rented apartment and
move into his mansion as his
second wife
The engineer always did her bidding
She had bound him to her will
through the help of her herbalist

Backlash 2 - gswmi.com/read/backlash-…
The first was obese and continued
to eat like a glutton instead of getting
back in shape
The second was dating only married
men because they give her less stress
It wasn’t the reality she desired
She believed her children were
bearing the