COPYRIGHT © TM DAVID-WEST. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this short story is to be copied, printed or used without prior permission of the writer TM David-West (AKA PrettySpicey).

“How long have you been seeing him?” Again. My head reminded my battered heart to add again, but I could not muster the effort.

“A month or so.” Ama didn’t look at me.

She’s been avoiding my gaze since this conversation started. Well, longer really. She hasn’t quite been able to hold my gaze for a month or so.

“Why?”

It was what I didn’t get. What I couldn’t get—why she would leave me for another man. She has left me, hasn’t she? Having sex with another man, being unfaithful to me—that was leaving me, right?

I thought so. But I was confounded, so I could be wrong.

“He made me feel better.”

It was a defiant retort. It wounded me. It said I was not enough. I was not better.

“In bed?”

I shouldn’t ask maybe but I had to know.

“Yes. And in every other way.” Then as if to make it clear it was my fault, Ama added. “He was more generous too. He understands my needs and always makes provisions for me. He is never full of excuses.”

Like you. That was the part she left unsaid. He, the man she’d been unfaithful with, was never full of excuses like me. He understood her needs… what were they really?

“So it is about money and intimacy then?”

My head hurt. My heart hurt even more. And my pride? It was shattered. Torn to nothingness by the unfaithfulness and callous words of my girlfriend.

“Don’t make it sound cheap.” Ama glared at me.

She had always had a loving look, now she glared. Of course she’d been sullen most of last week. That was when I’d suspected—and then snooped.

“You mean it’s not cheap, you sleeping with another man behind my back?” I stared at her.

So beautiful. Maybe too beautiful. Was that why it had happened, because she was too beautiful? Were beautiful women fickle as some of my friends do say? Would I have fared better dating an ugly woman? Or one just plain to look at?
I did not know. Not at present when I hurt so much.

“You’re playing the victim here and making me out to be the villain.” She was sulking now.

She made a habit of sulking instead of taking responsibility for her actions. It used to make me want to pet and placate her. Now, it just left me astonished.

“I am playing the victim? Am I not the victim then? Am I not the one you cheated on?”

She was selfish. I saw that clearly now. Selfish, self-centred. Self-absurd. Why had I not seen all these before? Blinded by love… lust?
“I did not cheat on you, Muna.”

“You did not?”

“No, I didn’t.” She insisted defiantly. “I only made a different choice. We’re not married, so cheating does not apply. You have not even met my parents, proposed marriage to me and you’re talking about cheating.” She let out a long hiss.

And I stared at her. So unfaithfulness applied only to married couples? That was her belief... or her excuse? She had a right to cheat on me because I have not yet proposed to her, I have not yet met with her parents, we are not married, I am not generous and I am not good in bed. Those were her excuses—multiple of them. I felt so weary.

“You’re unworthy of my love.” I murmured. If it was love I felt for her, then she was unworthy of it. “As you have cheated on me, so another will cheat on you.”

“Ah, please don’t curse me oh!” She snapped a hand over her head to reject the curse.

But it wasn’t a curse.

And I told her this. “It’s not a curse, Ama. It is karma. What goes around, comes around.”

She glared at me, hissed, snatched up her handbag and stomped out of my house.

I curled into my seat, closed my eyes and tried to soothe my broken heart.


* * *


“I want to know who that LovePeddler is that you’re cheating on me with.” I clapped my hands in his face.

Anger burned through me. But it was the pain of betrayal that was more poignant.

“Get a-hold of yourself, Ama.” His tone was disgusted. His expression even more so.

That look of pure disdain, cast in my direction, wounded me deeply. When had I become a thing of such repugnance? Tears pricked behind my eyes but I defiantly held them back.

“Why would you do this to me, Owans?”

Even as I asked, somehow I knew he’d have no real answer for me.

“Do what to you? Do you own me?”

Did I own him? No. But I thought we were in a relationship. That meant belonging to each other at some level, didn’t it?
“I gave everything to you. I gave up what I had for you.”

“And what did you give up?” Owans sneered. “That you left that miserable boyfriend of yours? Is that the sacrifice you are whining about? Please don’t be melodramatic, Ama. We both know you left him because he couldn’t afford to satisfy your greed for the good things of life.”

“No!” I was horrified that he would think me greedy.

But I was, wasn’t I? I had left Muna because of my desire for more—more money. More sex. That was greed, right?
And now it had backfired on me.

Karma.

I cheated on him, now Owans has cheated on me.

“Maybe I was greedy. Still I loved you.” I think I did. In my own way. “I cared for you. You should not have cheated on me.”

“Cheated?” Owans laughed mockingly. “That particular crime only applies to committed lovers, Ama. We were only friends with benefits. And now even that is over.”

My own words tossed back in my face.

I looked at Owans and I realised sex and money wasn’t everything. They were useful, pleasurable even, but they weren’t everything. Love mattered more. Respect was worth more.

I lost both—because I was unfaithful.

Visit http://lifeandspices.com/ for interesting stories like House on the Hill; The Marriage Ultimatum and our latest blog series Key To MY Heart.

And also visit the "TM David-West" category on Okadabooks to purchase her eBooks. Hope you have a good read.

prettyspicey,

I have loved your novels both on nairaland and okadabooks. you are a very gifted writer.

can you reduce the price of most of your novels on okadabooks?

I honestly want to buy them but the price is scaring me. I have managed to buy few so far.

pretty please.

Teespice:
prettyspicey,

I have loved your novels both on nairaland and okadabooks. you are a very gifted writer.

can you reduce the price of most of your novels on okadabooks?

I honestly want to buy them but the price is scaring me. I have managed to buy few so far.

pretty please.

Thank you, Teespice. I unfortunately cannot reduce the prices on my eBooks. They are npt exorbitant. They are actually rightly priced. I cannot imagine selling a novel of 96,000+ words which I spent 2 years (on and off) writing for anything less than #700. Or another of 78,000+ words for less than #600.

When pricing my eBooks, genre, number of words & POV is taken into cognizance and despite all of these, I strive not to overdo it.

What is purchased for #175 is a mere 14,500+ words and when compared to the novels like Unconventional Proposal or For Better, For Worse, it is actually pricier but buyers fail to recognise these.

While I thank you for your patronage and would desire you, and all, to purchase all my works, I cannot belittle or under-price my works to satisfy my desire for sales or readers desire for cheaper eBooks.

May God help us all, Teespice.

PrettySpicey:


Thank you, Teespice. I unfortunately cannot reduce the prices on my eBooks. They are npt exorbitant. They are actually rightly priced. I cannot imagine selling a novel of 96,000+ words which I spent 2 years (on and off) writing for anything less than #700. Or another of 78,000+ words for less than #600.

When pricing my eBooks, genre, number of words & POV is taken into cognizance and despite all of these, I strive not to overdo it.

What is purchased for #175 is a mere 14,500+ words and when compared to the novels like Unconventional Proposal or For Better, For Worse, it is actually pricier but buyers fail to recognise these.

While I thank you for your patronage and would desire you, and all, to purchase all my works, I cannot belittle or under-price my works to satisfy my desire for sales or readers desire for cheaper eBooks.

May God help us all, Teespice.

thanks for clarifying the ish about the pricing. I totally get your drift.

I had no idea certain things had to be put into consideration for the pricing.

don't be offended.

Teespice:


thanks for clarifying the ish about the pricing. I totally get your drift.

I had no idea certain things had to be put into consideration for the pricing.

don't be offended.

No offence whatsoever taken, teespice. You made a request and I strove to provide you an answer with reasons as concisely and honestly as is possible. Neither of us should be offended. The pricing of any good in the marketplace is done with many factors taken into consideration... that is the simple truth or maybe fact.

Thank you again.

All the books are totally worth the price and more!