WRECKED 31 30

He'll have to leave her. Divorce her," Afsat said as she walked " into Jubril's study. It seemed as long as a lifetime to Afsat. A lifetime of hope and despair as she watched her son deteriorate. The rumours about her daughter-in-law, Kuku, were not even whispered anymore. Eventually, the scandal had to break and that moment had come. Kukoyi was being named as a respondent in a divorce.

Mustapha was not working in the bank anymore. That had been impossible for the last one month. His relapse into alcoholism, after his release from the home, had made him unemployable.

Jubril looked at her. "He can't do that," he said.

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"How can you say that? After what she has done to him?"

"He's done it to himself, mother. He's a hopeless drunk and you won't admit it. He can't function anywhere. That's why she has affairs. I don't blame her."

"Affairs?" Afsat exploded. "She's slept with more than a dozen men, including her best friend's husband. Stella is divorcing him, by the way. I even heard from the servants that while I was on pilgrimage, she used to leave the house at odd hours."

"You may listen to servants," he retorted. "I don't. If your son is an alcoholic, it's not anybody's fault…"

"Jubril, I believe if he gets rid of her, he'll stop drinking. I know he will."

"Maybe. But I don't want him in the bank again. It didn't escape my notice that he wasn't doing anything because his Head of Operations was covering up for his inefficiency."

"He's your brother, Jubril!"

"There's nothing in him I recognise. Mustapha will not cost me my bank. Now, if you'll excuse me, mother. I have work to do."

Jubril saw the beautiful hands with heavy gold rings clench like a vice. "Mustapha is having liver problems. He blacks out. He's not even thirty yet. I will not sit down and watch him die. I'm going to see Anaya."

****

"Stop crying," Anaya said. "For God's sake stop it. It's not doing any good."

It was all going wrong. She had accompanied Afsat to Mustapha's home in Maiduguri. Afsat was int-hearted and determined to get rid of Kuku and save her son; prepared to bully, to threaten. But it ended with her helplessly enmeshed in pity and horror. It was an unfair contest; Anaya knew Afsat was no match for Kuku Rufai. Anaya saw that it wasn't in Afsat's nature to trample the defeated. And there was utter defeat and despair in the weeping girl.

"Don't lie to me!" Afsat had flared at Kuku when she pretended her innocence. "One affair my foot! You've been cheating on Mustapha since you got married. You've made my son an alcoholic, you've destroyed him and you're not going to go on doing it. You've had your chance. Now you're going to get out and stay out of his life!"

"I won't." The moment of defiance was short-lived and pathetic. "I won't leave him. You can't make me."

"Oh yes, I can," Afsat threatened. "Mustapha will listen to me. If I tell him to get rid of you, he will do it. I will tell him he is killing himself for nothing. I'll tell him what you really are."

"He knows," Kuku said. For a moment, Afsat and Anaya stared at her. Kuku's tears began to ow and she seemed to shrink into herself. "He knows about me. I can't help myself. I've tried and tried, but I can't stop. I thrive on the love and attention of men…"

At last Afsat managed to stem the torrent of confusion. She was trembling. "There must be something," she said. "There must be a cure."

The answer was a whisper, "There isn't."

Kuku continued, "Please, I love him. I don't expect you to believe me, but it's true. Nobody else means anything to me. Let me stay with him. I beg of you, give me one more chance."

"One more chance to do what, get into another dirty mess like the last one?"

"I won't," Kuku protested. She made a visible effort to calm herself. "I won't ever do that again. I just let it happen because I wanted it and there wasn't anyone else. Stella was my best friend. I felt so terrible all the time but once I started I didn't know how to stop."

Afsat looked from Anaya to the swollen, wretched face of Kuku. She looked helpless sitting there. I never imagined I could pity her, Afsat thought. I came here full of anger and contempt to drive her out, but I can't.

Anaya said coldly, "You must know that if Mustapha doesn't stop drinking, he'll be dead before he's thirty-five. If not before. I suggest you keep yourself under control and help him sober…"

"Yes," Afsat broke in. "If he drinks again because of you, then you're out. He's returning in two days. You'll both go for a trip…take a holiday to Dubai. Make sure he is happy, understood? No second chance. Never. Just this once."

Afsat and Anaya stood up to take their leave. "What about Jubril?" Kuku found the courage to ask. "I hope he isn't mad at me, too. I'm sorry about Mustapha having to leave the bank."

Anaya's tone was cold. "Don't be concerned with my husband. Think of your husband."

Chapter end