adminSOFIA is about to go to court to stand trial for the murder of her husband Nyati. She says the hour she has been waiting for for the past six months is at hand. She has not slept for the past two days. She marvels at the distance one can cover in the mind even though the limps are manacled in unbreakable chains, backwards, receding into the past. These journeys have enabled her to take a relook at the nuances of her decisions and actions.
She has been able to identify the main players whose decisive roles have determined her destiny. She acknowledges that events at times make us mad. She admits that her maddest moment of her life must have been that moment when she agreed to become Nyati’s eighth wife. She says she should have found the courage and moral strength to refuse trapping herself into such a loveless marriage.
How then did she finally marry Nyati? Sofia tells us that her father had become so desperate in his attempts marry her off to Nyati that he had even gone to the extent of threatening her and her mother with eviction if she would not comply with his demands. Her mother had joined him in persuading her to accept Nyati’s marriage proposal. Joseph Takundwa had told his wife Fatima to tell Sofia that he would not tolerate pregnant prostitutes in his house. He gave them an ultimatum that if she did not want to get married properly, then both his wife and her daughter Sofia should leave his house.
Her mother said to her: “Consider the fate of the child you are carrying before anything else.” Even when Sofia said she did not love Nyati and asked how she could marry a man she did not love, her mother was adamant that she was not talking about her but the child she was carrying and that was what she had to consider first. Sofia said Nyati did not deserve to have that child after all. Her mother reminds her that there is very little they can do now and Nyati loves her very much.
Sofia’s mother is singing a different tune now. She reminds Sofia that Nyati has already bought a flat for her and even the maternity dress that Sofia is wearing was bought by Nyati. There is no doubt that Sofia’s mother is taken up with materialism. She is looking at the properties Nyati has bought for Sofia and pays little attention to her feelings. Sofia is aware that Nyati does not love her. But her mother is blind to the realities of life. Materialism has blinded her.
Sofia’s mother says: “You think that he would have bought all these things if he didn’t love you? You must count yourself lucky that you at least are getting married to someone who can afford to look after your children. A lot of men are disowning such pregnancies nowadays.” Will Sofia win the war against materialism? Her father Joseph Takundwa is driven by materialism more perhaps than his wife. He is materialistic and teams up with Nyati in committing all the evil acts because he wants to be rich.
There is nothing wrong with Sofia becoming Nyati’s eighth wife as long as she is going to get material value from Nyati. Takundwa says Sofia is very lucky indeed. Nyati was talking about buying her a very expensive flat with everything inside — TVs, fridges, stoves, everything. The flat was to be bought the following morning. Takundwa said Sofia should realise how lucky she was to get married to such a wealthy man. He is ignorant of the fact that money cannot buy love. He ignores Sofia’s feelings about the whole issue.
When Sofia’s mother asks Takundwa if Sofia was going to be the eighth wife he says that does not matter at all. He takes the traditional route saying after all the youngest wife is always the favourite in a polygamous marriage. The other wives are too old and useless. All these are Takundwa’s feelings not those of his daughter. When his wife brings him to reality asking what if Sofia refuses to marry Nyati.
Takundwa is very blunt in his response: “How can she refuse? Unless she is not normal. Only a mad person can refuse such a thing.” When asked what if she does not love him, he goes: “Love? If this love that you are talking about is not the same thing as madness then she will realise that she does not eat love. Will love buy her such an expensive flat? He was already teaching her how to drive. I am sure you realise what that means. I know that all his wives drive brand new cars. You think that ‘love’ will buy her a brand new car?”
The response to many attempted objections to what Takundwa was saying was blackmail. When Sofia and her mother were threatening to report Nyati to the police for raping Sofia, Takundwa uses blackmail to stop them. “Now, let me tell you something for nothing you two. You are about to make the biggest mistake that you have ever made. If you want me to die today, right now, then go ahead and report to the police. I will hang myself today if that is what you want to happen.”
Sofia’s mother seems to be indecisive. She cannot stand firmly with her daughter as all the time Sofia decides to do something she advises her that they should talk to her father first. This is evident when Sofia wants to report Nyati for rape, she says they should talk to her father first. But we have seen that all these times they get no joy from Takundwa except threats.
Sofia tells us of her first encounter with Nyati at her father’s house in Mufakose. When Nyati asked her to come forward and greet him, Sofia says there was something about this man that she did not like right from the word go. He looked at her the way a dog looks at a piece of roasted meat. Those were the eyes of a puff-adder that is about to strike. At that moment she felt her father’s hands pushing her towards Nyati.
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Online Reporter