The Philanderer

The first time i went to the local mall after moving to the biggest city in Kenya. Kaiden was chatting with his friends and suddenly all eyes were on me. I was the new girl in the estate. After a successful interview, i got the job in Nairobi which was a new town for me. I knew very few people and making friends found a number in my to do list.

I met him severally at the mall but ignored the woman intution of a bad guy syndrome in him. Yes, i went for several dates and enjoyed his company. Kaiden has perfected the art of coniving and i became part of his statistics. We fell in love but it dawned on me that i was alone in the relationship.

The days went by and closer we became. Kaiden treated me like a queen i was. I knew i made it as my tradition dictated that a woman needed to be with a man for her to earn some respect. He took me out to places i had never been too and silly me, i thought that indeed i had found love. As we entered the second year, i became blind to his actions.

The punching bag i was, did not question any fault or wrongdoing lest i get another blow. We moved in together with Kaiden and things got worse, he would bring women to the house, reciepts from hotels where he changed women like clothes and only supernatural power protected us from contracting serious STIs. I bore the pain for a little longer and it became worse each day with a new twist to it. The art of gaslighting was real and isuffered alot that y self esteem was thrown to the dogs. i felt useless, unwanted, insane and with no confidence to speak in any forum and even in a group of three.

One evening as i nursed my burnt leg caused by him pouring hot milk on me, my phone rang and here she was, a lady with a tired and scratchy voice. Nelima, she called, i responded and inquired who it was. Kaiden had left his second wife in the village, she was heavily pregnant with no means of attending prenatals leave alone preparing for the birth of a child. We had a home in the village and the entire family hid it from me that as soon as i left for Nairobi, Akinyi would come back from wherever she had been commanded to dissapear to. This act was to avoid meeting me and destroying Kaiden's new found marriage. I knew of the second wife that evening, the same way she had found out of a first wife who was rescued by her kin.

The family considered me as their cash cow hence frustrating Akinyi who was made to take a loan from the Arab world where she used to work and come back to Kenya to live happily ever after. Poor girl could not go back as she was was to repay the loan advance to her by her employer's bank. The money was not invested in any project, she had no job and has not been remitting any instalments.Her life was in shambles. Kaiden continues to perfect his act of gaslighting to poor beautiful and innocent souls who may not suspect.

The pain that has been caused to me is unexplainable with my beauty fading away. Wait, i need a come back.

#comeback #short story #bad guy #poetry #opinon #fiction # nofiction