Gosh! How do I always get myself in all these messy situations? My nosiness had finally gotten me into trouble.
I mentally scolded myself for always being in the wrong places at the right times; the previous night it had been Bayo and his one night stand that I bumped into, today it was Jumai and Abdul with their marriage wahala (Nigerian slang for trouble).
Eventually I gathered up the courage to lift myself off the floor and face both of them.
“What were you doing behind the door?” Abdul asked in the most unfriendly manner when I finally stood up. It was almost as if he was considering hitting me too.
“I was just about to knock on the door when Jumai opened it and I fell,” I lied, the look on their faces told me they weren’t the least bit convinced about what I said. “I’m sorry,” I added quickly. He gave me the nastiest look I’d seen in a long time, shook his head in disgust and walked into the bathroom slamming the door behind him. As the popular saying goes, “if looks could kill I’d have died on the spot”—I was left in the room alone with Jumai.
She ushered me out of the room and followed behind me. “Babe I’m really sorry,” I said again once we were out of the room. “I came to call you to join the rest of us when I overheard your conversation with Abdul and got carried away eavesdropping,” I explained honestly.
“I guess you’ve heard what you wanted to hear,” she hissed.
“You should never let any man raise his hands to hit you,” I said calmly. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about this?” I asked.
“Because I would never betray my husband! I was raised not to wash my dirty linen in public,” she snapped.
“Confiding in others about your problems is not betrayal,” I replied gently.
“If you’re here to preach a sermon on how to handle my marriage, I’m not ready to listen,” she warned, “You’re not qualified to preach such a sermon yet,” she added sarcastically.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that last statement,” I said, rolling my eyes. “If only you would swallow your pride, I can help you,” I offered.
“How?” she asked.
“I heard you mention diabetes while you were arguing, I think you need to know what the condition is all about to help you understand what’s going on with him,” I continued.
“Ok, I’m listening,” she said.
“Diabetes is a condition that affects the body’s ability to regulate sugar levels in the blood, inevitably leading to high blood-sugar levels,” I began. “Your body produces a hormone called insulin which helps to control blood-sugar levels, but the lack of this insulin hormone in the body or the body’s inability to respond to the hormone causes diabetes.”
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“So how does that cause the problem he currently has? I’m getting bored of this lecture already,” Jumai asked, frowning.
“I’m glad you asked,” I replied quickly, rushing to explain myself before she turned off.
“There are many complications that can occur when diabetes is not properly managed, some of them include stroke, heart attack, kidney disease and even blindness. Erectile dysfunction is one of the complications that occur in men but it can be treated,” I explained.
“Really it can? How do you treat it?” she asked excitedly.
“We’ll start with drugs, then if there’s no improvement there are other options that can be explored. We’d also have to control his diabetes with appropriate drugs and life-style changes, like exercising regularly and eating a more healthy diet,” I explained.
“Hmm I really hope it works,” Jumai replied, pondering over what I just said.
“It will” I assured her. “Just convince him to come over to the hospital with you then we can discuss it further,” I added.
“That’s not going to be an easy task but I’ll try my best,” she said with a huge sigh. “Thanks for offering to help,” she said, hugging me.
“I’m your friend, it’s my job,” I said, patting her back. “But please don’t let him hit you anymore,” I added.
“I know he doesn’t mean to hit me when he does, I think he’s just frustrated about the whole thing,” she explained.
“Still, that’s not an excuse to hit his wife,” I insisted, pointing a warning finger at her. “Let’s join the others, there’s plenty gist for you!” I said, pulling her to our room. At the mention of the word “gist” her eyes lit up, and she followed behind me excitedly. At least now you can see where I get the “nosy spirit” from—all my friends love gist, starting with Jumai down to Oby, so you can’t really blame me for the embarrassing situation that just happened some minutes back. Birds of a feather flock together…I’m sure that’s why Jumai was not too surprised. Of course I wasn’t going to mention anything about it to the others, it was a confidential issue and it was my responsibility as a doctor to respect that.
“Finally! What took you so long?” Yemi asked when we entered the room.
“Jumai was wasting time,” I lied.
“Better late than never,” Jumai added, sticking her tongue out.
“Ok so I’ve decided my sister is going to be my maid of honour so the battle for that position can end now,” Charly said looking at Oby and Jumai, who seemed unpleasantly surprised to hear the news; the look on their faces was priceless, they were like wounded puppies waiting to be consoled.
“Better luck next time,” I said, bursting out laughing.
We decided to go down and have breakfast at the pool while we continued the wedding plans. I suggested the idea of a beachside wedding to Yemi and she loved it already. We were talking about colours and décor, while Oby was chatting away on her phone. She seemed so engrossed in the conversation I couldn’t help but wonder who she was talking to, then…
“Oh my gosh!” she suddenly shouted, covering her mouth with her hands. We all turned to face her.
“What is it?” Yemi asked.
“Emeka has just been arrested!” Oby announced.
“Who cares,” Charly said, rolling her eyes, “he can rot in jail for all I care.”
“No wait, this is actually more serious than it sounds,” Oby said, “he was caught red-handed doing ‘the deed’ in the office with one of his colleagues!”
“The fool!” Charly continued, “so that was why he broke off his 7-year engagement with you.”
“I always knew there was another woman in the picture,” I added.
“There is no other woman in the picture,” Oby replied, “he was caught pants down in his office with his fellow male colleague!”
“A MAN?” we all shouted, looking shocked.
“Yes, a man!” she repeated, “maybe that was why I was never good enough for him?” she added, hanging her head in shame.
– Written by Dr O
Find out what happens Next Later in the Evening….