Warreń | Global Citizen

THE LOAN THAT DESTROYED HER MARRIAGE Her husband bought his second wife a car while she was still struggling to pay the loan she took for his business. The car hurt, but what he said after hurt more. She had been married to Dan for eight years. When they married, he was an accountant and she was a nurse. They were not rich, but life was okay. They paid rent, took care of the children, and still remained with something small. Then his electrical materials business started going down. Customers delayed payments, he lost money on a supply contract, and soon he was borrowing just to keep the shop open. The man who used to come home laughing became quiet. Some nights he would just sit outside until midnight, thinking. One evening he told her he needed one million shillings to restock. He said if he got enough stock, the business would pick up again. He had already asked two people and they failed him. Then he asked her to try a loan through her workplace. She kept quiet because she knew what it meant. The money would be cut straight from her salary every month, and they had two children in school. But this was her husband. She could not watch him lose a business he had built for years. They talked for two weeks. He promised once business picked up, he would take over the payments and she would not carry it for more than six months. She believed him and took the loan. The first months were hard. After the deduction, she barely remained with enough for transport and food. Sometimes she called her younger sister and borrowed ten or twenty thousand shillings just to reach payday. She told nobody apart from her husband because she did not want people saying Dan was depending on his wife. The money helped. Within a year, business improved and he opened another shop. But Dan slowly stopped asking about the loan. When she reminded him, he would say, Mary, you know how business is. Let me settle a few things first. By the third year, she was still paying while his business was doing better than ever. He bought himself a new car and started travelling to Nairobi. Then about eight months ago, he told her he wanted to marry another wife. She cried, but he said he had the right. He married Grace, a twenty seven year old who had worked in a boutique. She did not go to the wedding. After the wedding, he rented and furnished an apartment for Grace. One Friday, she got her salary alert and looked at what remained after the loan deduction. Her daughters school had sent a reminder about fees. That evening she asked Dan to talk about the loan, and he said they would talk on Sunday. But before Sunday, she saw a video on WhatsApp from his cousin. Grace was standing beside a brand new car with a big ribbon on it, laughing, and Dan was handing her the keys. She watched it three times. When he came home, she asked, Dan, did you buy Grace a car. He said, Yes. Why. She told him she had been asking him to help clear the loan for almost three years. He said, Must you compare yourself with Grace every time. What I do for her is none of your business. She asked, Dan, when you needed four million shillings, whose business was it. He did not answer. She said, I am not asking you to buy me a car. I am asking you to pay back the money I borrowed for you. He said, Mary, nobody forced you to take that loan. You did it because you wanted to help your husband. Why are you now behaving as if I owe you. That night, she opened her old WhatsApp chats and found the messages where he promised to pay her back, the bank receipt, and a voice note she had forgotten. She sent it to her younger sister. Her sister called and asked if she still had all the loan papers. She said yes. Her sister said, Good. Because I think it is time you stopped talking to Dan as his wife and started treating this as money he borrowed from you. TO BE CONTINUED.