Free The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin

nail for her to confess.”
    “Well, in recent months, I myself have been hostile to the young woman but only because of this question of her barrenness. Her unwillingness to submit to my earlier solutions also hardened my heart. I have not been warm to her. It has always been hard for me to hide what is inside. I think perhaps my wives noticed this and copied me.”
    “So they want you to send her away and you think it a reaction to your unhappiness.”
    “I know they do. They said so in my presence, in her presence.”
    “Why have they not attempted to mediate? From whatyou’ve always said about your first wife, I had come to believe she was of a more agreeable temperament.”
    “I would be lying if I said she wasn’t. That woman knows every thought that enters my head. She knows when I am thirsty and when my belly is full. She knows I have been disgruntled about Bolanle and I suspect she just wants to relieve me of my troubles.”
    “But planting juju is excessive. Why use a hammer to swat an insect?” As if to illustrate his point, Teacher elegantly flicked a fly from his shot glass.
    “It must have seemed reasonable to her given how displeased I’ve been. I agree with you though. It was as if Esu himself came to dine in my house yesterday evening. I tell you, I could have killed Bolanle.” Baba Segi folded his arms and shook his head.
    “Listen, Baba Segi, perhaps you are partly to blame for what has happened. Your partiality is the cause of these problems. Women do not hesitate to become cannibals when they are hungry. That is why I have never kept one. Some people laugh about this behind my back but what they don’t know is this: he who does not have a head has no need for a cap.”
    “Indeed.”
    “But back to the trouble in your household: it is my belief that the solution lies with you. And I can tell you that her being educated is not helping matters either.” His finger rapped on the side of his glass.
    “I don’t understand.”
    Teacher took a sip from his whiskey and winced whenhe swallowed. “What I mean is that she is different. It may well be that your other wives are slightly uncomfortable about this. They may think it gives her an edge.” Teacher chose his words carefully.
    “What sort of edge? I do not sleep with any one more than the others!”
    “It is more complicated than that. It could be that they are envious.”
    “That, I can rule out.” Baba Segi was afraid that Teacher would suggest that he too was prone to such.
    A smile tickled the corners of Teacher’s lips but he didn’t submit to it. “If you are sure that this is not the case then it all lies in your hands. Treat your wives equally. Blacken the kettle as you blacken the pots.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
QUEEN
    W HEN A PLAN DOES not go right, you plot again. One day you will get it right. One day you will be able to damage the person who hurts you so completely that they will never be able to recover. I have told Iya Segi this on several occasions. I keep telling her that we need to find a permanent solution but she does not have wisdom. She says we should continue to humiliate Bolanle until she runs away. “Let us cut her feathers,” she says.
    Well, the bird has shown that she can fly without feathers. I knew we should have gone for her throat. We should have bled her into a hole in the earth!
    Yes, I said finally. I have suffered too much in my life to let that rat spoil it all for me. So what if she is a graduate? When we stand before God on the last day, will He ask whether we went to university? No! But He will want to know if wewere as wise as serpents because that’s what the Bible says we should be.
    If we let Bolanle ruin us, then we would all have failed before God. I reject failure in Jesus’s name. I will not fail. The prophets in my church have seen that this rat has an evil spirit. I can’t say God has not revealed it to me too. He shows Himself to all who serve Him in spirit and in truth. I’m glad Iya