Wedding ring? Over my dead body!
Story By Thiyam Ningol, Africa

*

“Christ, please think it twice. Your bet looks like a wedding ring.”
“It is my bet. Why you worry about it.”

Christ and John had been playing poker for many years along with their friends. In the beginning it was a casual, time pass game with friends. On few occasions Christ found luck in the games. He had won quite handsome amount of money. It boosted his interest to play more often.

Everytime he won the game, he would buy drinks for everybody. All present in the premises would know that Christ had won on that day.

Slowly his victory started attracting admirers other than his fellow friends. He was frequently greeted warmly and fondly by ladies who were not known to him before. Whatever he won, he ended up spending in the same casino.

His wife Lucy noted the changes in Christ’s behavior. When asked, she was provided with the same monotonous answer –business meetings. Once in a while he would shower their children with expensive gifts. The explanation given was “successful meetings, big bonuses, love for my children. Any more questions?” Lucy would keep quite not because Christ had succeeded in fooling her but she would not bother to waste time by listening to other lies.

Lucy knew her husband loved poker. Sometimes a faint imaginary connection between poker and the so called “big bonuses” swept past in her mind but she waved it off. She concentrated in the welfare of their children.

She managed to open educational insurance policies for all the three children. They were sent to boarding schools. She did not like them to be distracted by the little encounters between her and Christ. Christ was very concerned about their childrens’ education; very dutifully and generously he always paid school fees in time.

Sooner than Lucy expected, Christ started showing signs of disturbances. Small matters annoyed him quickly. He started preferring solitude. Previously he used to follow Lucy even in the kitchen; help Lucy in the kitchen choirs, joke and tease her. Of late even his appetite started getting affected. He would just nibble the food and make lame excuses.

Lucy tried to enquire if anything was bothering him. The answer was “No”.

Even the children noticed the changes in their father’s attitude. They were home for holidays. They had not been entertained; they had not been punished for wrong doings; they had not been asked about their studies. Their time for returning back to school was approaching.

After repeated reminder by Lucy about the school fees, he managed to hand over the required amount with a shaky hand. He did not escort the children either.

It became worse after the children had gone back to their schools. Daily he came back late, sometimes as late as 4 am. He was always late to go to the office. Very often his boss had telephoned to check if he was still at home. Lucy herself started loosing concentration at her work. She noticed that some items from the house were disappearing.

Christ had taken the VCD player to the mechanic. Lucy thought it was working perfectly, but Christ claimed the head was dirty. Two weeks had passed, the VCD player had not been returned.

One day, late in the evening somebody who claimed to be the mechanic came and demanded the TV set from their house. Lucy revolted. Christ gave out the TV without a word and asked the man to disappear from their sight as quickly as possible. Lucy then realized the reason for Christ’s change in attitude and bizarre behaviour.

She requested Christ to stop playing poker for the children sake.

He promised to stop but that night he did not come back home.

After two days, while they were taking breakfast together, Lucy noticed that his wedding ring was not on his finger. She opened her mouth wanting to ask something but before she could ask Christ stood up and walked out from there.

Silently Lucy went to see a lawyer but could not get any help. She would not be able to afford the fee needed for investigations. She started hiding some of her ornaments and other valuables. They argued and quarreled bitterly. At the end Christ asked her to remove her wedding ring.

“Wedding ring? Over my dead body.”

They fought physically. The ring would not come out easily. It had stayed in Lucy’s finger for the past 15years, it had become a part of her body. Christ bit her finger. Lucy picked up whatever came in her hand and hit hard on his head. He was angered further by the blow. He pushed her violently. She lost balance, fell down backward and hit the concrete floor with her head. Christ heard the loud popping sound as if a coconut has fallen from the tree.

Lucy stretched out her hand to Christ. Christ grabbed the hand, bit the finger again till it bled and loosened the ring. Lucy did not move. Christ managed to remove the ring from Lucy’s hand over her dead body.

The victorious Christ walked away heading towards the casino to try his luck.