…Continued from last week.
Listen; there isn’t anything or anyone as sly or deceptive as an adulterous married man whose end goal is just sex. Korede promised me a nice time, and that’s what I got. But, don’t worry, I didn’t offer myself up to be devoured in bed, “not until I know the truth,” I solemnly decided to myself.
It was the day before he was meant to return back to his work-laden life. I had forgotten my detective assignment and gotten carried away with the fun of hopping in and out of Ubers, joints and cinemas when I noticed the tan line on his ring finger. “There’s definitely something missing,” I thought to myself.
“Hey, babe, why is there a tan line on your ring finger?” I asked him, ready for war.
His face and countenance stiffened. “I don’t understand what you mean, love.”
Oh! He definitely understood me, but since he was playing dumb, I decided to break it down to nursery terms.
“As in, what I mean is, when some someone wears a ring on his or her finger for a very long time without taking it off it leaves a marked line when the ring is removed,” I slowly explained the obvious to a grown and educated man.
He laughed, tilting his head backwards, in an attempt to figure out his next lie. “Now I understand. Yes, there used to be a ring, because I used to be married.”
“Wait, What?!” I screamed so loud that the Uber driver stepped on the breaks out of fear. “How the hell am I just finding out that you’re divorced? Is this a joke? Couldn’t you have told me about this when we started dating, Korede?” With tears and frustration welling up inside me, I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the car.
Korede chased after me kneeling, begging and declaring his undying love for me repeatedly which drew unwarranted attention towards us. His excuse was that he was afraid he would lose me if I knew the truth and he wasn’t ready to “go through life without me”.
He seemed genuinely sorry, besides, I was already in love with him so I forgave him. That night was the climax of our relationship; we went back to his hotel room and made love to each other. It was beautiful.
The next day he was travelling back to Ondo and I was so distraught that I held on to him tighter than a Koala bear holds on to trees. I passively pleaded for him to stay but I knew that was asking for too much; life had to go on. So later that day, we went to the park and said our passionate goodbyes.
Back at home, while basking in cloud nine, I received a phone call from Ada.
“Babe, how far? You won’t believe it, I’m so happy ehn…” I started to spill the gist of the weekend to Ada with so much gusto. But she was unusually quiet so I stopped talking to confirm if she was still on the line.
“Hmmm, babe you mess up o! Why would you sleep with him?” She started chiding me and I was shocked. “Shebi I told you to wait and allow me to investigate this thing well,” she continued “This guy is married with two children, madam! And you just gave him what he has always wanted.”
The blood drained from my face and my moment of happiness was replaced with heartache. Ada sent me the pictures of his family and the link to his wife’s Facebook account. He was married, after all. Not divorced; married!
I tried calling him several times but he didn’t pick up. I tried reaching him on WhatsApp, but he blocked me. I couldn’t try social media either because he blocked me there too. It was then that I realised I was played and like a fool, I fell for a conman.
So tell me, wouldn’t you say men are scum, too?