Suicide, Again?!!

Louis doesn't want to accept the fact that his marriage of twelve years had suddenly come to its very end. Ava had been his companion since these years. And it seems death was the wicked demon behind the sudden death of people in that aspect. Could death really be blamed? Why? Ava had committed suicide. He hung herself on the fan and committed it. Death didn't come, she invited it. To all and one, Louis believed his family had caused the death of his dear wife.

For the past twelve years of their conjugal bliss, she never conceived. They had thought she was the reason. But Louis knew she wasn't. He knew he was the cause. Maybe he didn't devote enough time for them, or probably he is too harsh on her, or worst still she had lost interest in the ' take as one soul' oath they took. Who knows.

Today is different, his mother had called him to the meeting of the elderly people in the family. He has a strong hatred for the head of the family. Apart from the fact that the man used to smell garlic which he had a strong aversion for, he is a man who never stays on a word. When he wanted to marry Ava, the man had strongly believed that she will make a good wife and an uncompromised one as such. But after three years without the fruit of the harvest, he changed his tune to what might as well had caused why she had committed suicide.

"It's three months into Ava's death. You should remarry." The old man said as others look on.

Louis knew the man won't stop until he gets what he wants and that others won't even contribute, at least he is the head of the family.

Damn. He knew it.

"This is Benita. I handpicked her for you. She is a very fruitful person. She will give you an heir." He blurted out.

Louis didn't say anything. Nothing will ever matter.

He waited as Benita was brought out.

From her physical appearance, she is thrice as beautiful as Ava. She has ebony skin that seems to glitters. She is all time beautiful and can even be mistaken for a celebrity or a high-paid model.

Louis's face lightened up and the wrinkle of satisfaction lurks around the corner of his mouth. He almost leaks his saliva. She is a woman to kill for. But what is he to do with her? Bed her? What?!!

She seems to be the timid type. Till they finished discussing, she never raised her face to look him in the face. They went home together.

Now, it's been a year now and their union is never consummated. To Louis, nobody can replace Ava in his heart. But judging by the look of things, Benita always had the intention that her marriage to Louis was too early for a man that just lost a wife. She never makes herself available for anything in the house except to clean the surroundings, cook, and fetch water. In fact, they're sleeping in different rooms. They hardly talked. They eat separately and they were like two worlds apart each with their reasons for staying aloof.

As much as Louis wants them to be together, Benita always has the other view of every situation. She never understands the kind of husband she was married to neither did she wants to find out.

Three years after, the family began to poke nose wondering what the problem was with the new wife. It was then the full view of the situation hit her in the face. Does she have to act like a wife? But how? She knew little or nothing of the said husband. Neither did she wants to know. She hates to be given away like a charity. But that's how she dimmed herself. Now, who is she to tell? She was once a harlot in the local brothel. The secret no one knows. But somehow, she felt so sacred. She didn't see any reason why she had to behave so worthlessly in front of the man she was sold off to.

But when the old man came that day she felt a lot different. 

"You can't disappoint me, Benita. You need to give our son his heir. That is what we want from you."

 

That evening when Louis came back, he knew something had changed. The settings of the house and the aroma of the soup. When he entered the room, and that confirmed his suspicions. Benita was half-naked on his bed. The bed she never for once step onto. She looked at him seductively as if to say " come and let me give you want you to want."

For years now, Louis had never felt wanted. He undressed and they had hot intercourse. She was crying during the sex.

That night, Louis felt all whole again and it seems Ava had resurrected. He wanted her to sleep in his room overnight, but she declined. He watched her left the room. Louis smiled himself to sleep. And he only prays there should be no daybreak so he can travel in the new fantasy he found himself. That is what he had wanted. But he never said it and she never asked.

When the morning came, he was eager to be out of bed. He prepared hot tea with toast bread and headed to her room. He wanted to start his life afresh with her. He wanted to make her feel wanted. He is tired of making her wait. He wanted to feel her again and tell her he is sorry for making her wait for so long. He knew it's a new long tiring year, but he is ready now. Fully ready.

Her door was ajar and he walked in with a smile on his face. The smile soon formed into a wrinkle and then solemn. He dropped the cup of the beverage all of a sudden and the content split on the floor. What has she done? She was dangling down with her legs in the air. The ceiling fan had been cracking about to fall. Just like Ava, she had committed suicide by hanging. And on the same fan.

1. How is the relationship between Louis and Ava?

2. What was Benita's view of Louis?

3. Why did Benita committed suicide?