She was working in a reputable firm where she was earning an income far above the husband so she was supplementing the housekeeping money. In fact, she shouldered more responsibility than the husband did.

After 10 years with no child, she conceded to pressure to leave her demanding job. She resigned and rented a shop to do the bidding of those who felt her inability to conceive a child was because of the demands and stresses of her job.

Afterwards of giving up her job, conception was still a mirage. Her husband was often sighted with different girls all over beer joints. He was reckless enough to bring those girls to joints near his home where concerned neighbors told his wife.

It was not as if the wife did not know that he was philandering with girls. She had treated several STDs in the past. Something passed on to her by her husband. I wondered why she still agreed to sleep with her husband knowing she would always be infected, her response was that she needed to because she was trusting God for her own child. It did not make sense to me but I accepted her explanation.

She once caught her husband romping with a girl in her own car he drove out that evening.  She just stood transfixed; she was not shocked but rather pained that she knew the girl and they parked near the house where neighbors would see and gossip afterwards!

Then she conceived at last but an STD flushed out the pregnancy. A very painful loss, which sent her into depression. Considering the number of years she waited, it was a huge blow to her that her cheating husband had given her an infection that had killed her baby! The medical personnel particularly the nurses were incensed with him. They descended on him with angry words; he shook the angry words away as a duck would shake water from its feathers while on dry land.

Eventually she got pregnant; yet again, she treated STD with the pregnancy. It was a miracle she did not have a miscarriage. She had twins. After the twins, due to STDs, she suffered four more miscarriages before she took in again and had a baby. The last pregnancy terminated inadvertently.  She had self- medicated with the drug her husband had given her when he was infected again. She bled on and off for months.

I wondered when this woman would be wise enough to close her legs. She was lucky that she did not get the big one! I wondered if she was waiting to get the dreaded disease before she knows that her husband was a ticking bomb.

The last time she came visiting, she was still with her husband tagging along with her three children.

I guess as individuals, we all have what we can tolerate in marriage but evidence of infidelity to the point of being infected is not one of them for me!

picture of Chlamdia virus, one of the STDs.