A friend to remember

19: Trouble in Paradise.

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Sheila could not stop thinking about what she heard from that neighbour. The way Denise didn't see fazed by the statement made her more mad. How could someone do that a child? What was going through Grace's head? She shook her head and drove out of the estate unto the main highway.

Sheila thought about ithe fact that she was going back to that house where Elene was present. She did not want to go.

"Do you want to eat boli?" she asked out of the blue. Denise blinked, "boli? Hum... yes, I... I have not eaten in long time now." she answered. Sheila smiled, so that was what they did, for the entire day, they walked around stores, talked enjoyed the Nigerian street food and entered Balogun main market.

One day, Sheila Could breath in air, coming from the slums of Porthcourt, she was very lucky to have met Shettima. They fell in love quickly and enloped. Shettima's family was against marrying a woman like her, poor, from another tribe and a hardcore Christian. Shettima even stopped going church and started attending church services for her sake something that infuriated his family so much that they threatened to cut him off.

Elene especially hated Sheila because of how much Shettima fought his entire family just for her. He was willing to give up his inheritance if it meant living in peace with Sheila. He did after his enlopment with her. His family was livid and wanted him to anull the marriage but he refused. On top of that Sheila was already pregnant with their first child.

When Shettima left, it was difficult for them. They had to move to a smaller apartment in Ikoyi, something that Shettima wasn't used to. Born with a golden spoon in once mouth would afford you so much luxury that you would not realize how privilege you are.

But Shettima persisted, he started his oil and gas company from scratch and started using all the connections he had to try to make it difficult. The industry being monopolized didn't afford him many luxury, he did everything he could but there was only so much one man could achieve. Then the straw that finally broke the carmel's back was her miscarriage.

Sheila remembered that day vividly. It felt like a dream. A nightmare. She was in sleeping the apartment when she woke up to a sharp menstrual pain, but it was more. No one to call for help, she bleed out on the bed and unto the carpet of the house they rented. Times had been difficult for them. Shettima tried to support them but it was just too painful, it was just too exhausting to run around.

When his father died, he was still handed his inheritance that was worth millions of dollars, something he never expected. He father had been so mad at him while he was alive that he refused to see him even while he was sick and was going to die.

Elene infomed him that his father didn't forgive him even in death. A reality so painful that he felt a stab of pain anytime he heard anything like that. Shettima loved her no doubt, he did everything for her, out her and her needs first but sometimes she needed a break. She wasn't born into wealth, she did not know how it felt like to constantly be scrutinized by the public.

Sheila felt so suffocated at first. She had been welcomed back into the family when Shettima had taken over his father's company and merge his small time company. Elene never hid her hatred, In fact she made sure Sheila knew that she was never going to be accepted into the family. Eighteen years later she was still going on about how Shettima could take a second wife.

By religion Shettima could but Sheila never once doubted her husband's fidelity to her, he loved her as much as she loved him even though they had their differences. It was just that she did not have thick skin to handle the pain that came with Elene's insult.

"Are you alright?" Denise tilted her head. She had things on her mind too. Going to that house reminded her so much of Dunni and what she lost. Dunni was an important part of her life, and she never knew she would bury her, well not this early. Having a sister that loved her was so much of a teaching experience.