Albert took me to a lavish restaurant on the outskirts of Ide. He looked adorable in casual pants with a simple t-shirt and a jacket. I had on a fitted navy-blue dress, gold accessories, and red sandals. The wait staff were courteous, serving course after course of tasty dishes. For entrée, I had a pasta dish with an assortment of seafood and vegetables, and we also tried the popular nkwobi entrée.
While we ate, Albert regaled me with stories about the fires he had to put out as he slowly took on the affairs of the kingdom, and I shared the progress I had made with the wedding planning. A man and a woman walked hand-in-hand into the restaurant, and the man reminded me a little bit of Okem, especially as he kissed the lady on her forehead before he took his seat. They sat two tables away from us. Out of curiosity, I glanced in their direction at intervals, innocently pondering their status—if they were married, dating, or if they were just friends. I guessed I had glanced one too many times when Albert cleared his throat.
“Why do you keep looking at those two?” he asked with creased brows, his eyes piercing through mine.
“I don’t know. It’s just...” I said, shaking my head.
“Then focus,” he said, slowly pointing his middle and index fingers back and forth at eye level.
“I’m sorry. That guy reminded me of Okem. I can’t say what it is exactly, but when they first came in, I thought I’d seen a ghost.”
Albert was quiet from then on. I realized something had gone terribly wrong when he grabbed my hand forcefully and walked into his room when we got to the palace.
“You embarrassed me today,” he said, the moment he shut the door behind us.
“How?” I asked, stunned by his accusation.
“What was the point of that stupid display at the restaurant—behaving like a common tart? All because of that vagabond you insult my status,” Albert berated me. “After everything I’ve done for you? After all this time since Okem left, not to mention our engagement that captivated the whole kingdom, you dare to bring up your servant boy as though I, Albert, am of no consequence.”
“What the—”
The words were barely out of my mouth before his hand flung forward and landed on my left cheek. The cracking sound and the vibrations, starting from my temple and spreading all the way to my jaw, left me in a senseless daze. I stared at him wide-eyed as my hand slowly swept across my stinging face.
“Albert,” I screamed, as a rage crept through my body.
“Shut up, or I’ll do worse than slap you,” he hissed as his entire body shook.
I froze to the spot, unable to cry as I tried to make sense of the attack. The only evidence that I was alive was the sound of my heart thumping in my chest, threatening to burst. I had never experienced such fury, not from him, my father, my grandfather, Okem, or any male I’d ever encountered. As he spoke, he pointed angrily at me. I remained still to avoid further assault. At the time I did not think to flee, I could not think anything. All I wanted was to understand the reason for the outburst. It had to have been for much more than the incident at the restaurant since the Albert I knew would never resort to using his strength to subdue a woman.
“Don’t you have any shame? How can you, my fiancée, engage someone to look for a man, one that used to be your help? Don’t you have respect?”
He spat his words as his eyes bored through mine. As I opened my mouth to respond, he threw a brown envelope, identical to the one Amah’s uncle used to mail the results of his search for Okem at my feet. When Albert visited our home the day before, Ifedi, had accidentally handed him my mail when she gave him the RSVPs. A fatal error, only I didn’t realize how fatal such an error could be until then. My head still reeling from the slaps I received, I picked up the envelope and slowly walked to the door.
“If it weren’t for me, you’d be nothing,” Albert continued. “His own family is so poor they discarded him for your grandfather to train. He may have lived under the same roof as you, eaten the same food as you, and learned some manners along the way, but he was always and will always be a nonentity. Your status as my bride to be has elevated you beyond what you can ever comprehend, and you dare sully that by mentioning that degenerate in my presence? Don’t you ever insult me like that again! Remember, you caused this. If you hadn’t brought him up, none of this would have happened. Come let me drop you off!”
I walked behind him on the way to the garage. After we got into the car, he paused with his hand on the ignition and sighed. I could feel the heat coming from him, and I was sure he could hear my elevated heartbeat. We rode in silence until he pulled into my grandmother’s gate.
“Goodnight,” he said, in a voice so soft and calm, that no one could have guessed what he had just put me through.
I shut the door quietly without responding. As soon as I stepped into the house, hot tears ran down my face. What just happened? I asked myself repeatedly. The throbbing in my cheeks told me it was real. I held my face, which by then was devoid of any feeling as it had grown numb from the assault, and walked to my room. What I’d just experienced left me in despair. I felt like I was falling into a deep dark hole, my internal organs
