THE STRUGGLES OF LUM-LIMUNGA

Lum-Limunga thought her constant pleas, notes stuck in Atangana’s pocket and now her rage, screaming and telling family and friends all about how evil Atangana was would make the man adjust his evil ways. But they didn’t.

Even after she became a drama queen, bawling and telling anyone who had ears that she had become a slave in her own home, Atangana didn’t move an inch. He didn’t take any step to make his relationship with Lum-Limunga better.

Even when inquisitive neighbors asked him why he had chosen to treat his partner so poorly, he didn’t even agree he treated her poorly. All he did was call her names. Bad wife. Delusional. Terrorist. Ambazozo. And now, he called her “victim”.

Atangana maintained that Lum-Limunga was being manipulated by some of her family members abroad who hated him and didn’t want their relationship to work. He said she was simply a victim of circumstances.

But what about the fact that she had being neglected? What about the fact that she wasn’t even allowed to speak her own language? What about the fact that he never gave any of the money made from Lum-Limunga’s businesses to her? What about the fact that though she had to beg for bread in order to have breakfast in her own home? Atangana didn’t address any of these issues.

All he did was put a concealer over the blemishes in their relationship.

“All these people keep telling our wife to be nagging to us because they do not want our relationship work. Those people do not wish us well. They are evil!”

That was all Atangana ever said when someone asked him about the specific problems Lum-Limunga cited in their relationship.

Meanwhile, any time Lum-Limunga tried to talk against him, he hurt her so bad. Atangana shot Lum-Limunga’s brother just because he came out one day to say, “Atangana, let our sister go!” Che, Lum-Limunga’s brother hadn’t come to attack Atangana. All he came to say was “Let our sister go!” He had no gun in his hand. All he had in his hand was the nkeng, the plant that symbolised peace in his village. He came to protest against the mistreatment of his sister but he came peacefully. Atangana didn’t get the peace memo. All he did was reach for his gun and shoot him. That was how Lum-Limunga lost Che.

Che is not the only person Lum-Limunga lost in her tussle with Atangana. Her sister, Nalova was dragged in the mud, put in a car and whisked off. All this because she was seen around the vicinity were Lum-Limunga challenged Atangana one day.

Atangana had a group of thugs he could call to beat, maim or kill anyone who dared come out to fuss against his unscrupulousness. Most of his boys spoke Cerf, his native language and they detested anyone who spoke Silgne, Lum-Limunga’s language.

This same group of thugs had locked Lum-Limunga’s relatives in a dark place – a hidden room in Atangana’s basement, where they were fed watery rice once a day. Some started loosing their sight because of their prolonged stay in darkness.

Atangana knew all of this but did not care.

All he cared about was to seek more ways to show their neighbors that he and his woman were doing okay while in fact they were not. He started greeting them in her language (something he never did before) to proof to them that he spoke Silgne. He started buying matching outfits for them to show that they were in a couple in love and unity.

Meanwhile, Lum-Limunga kept telling him that she didn’t want to live with him anymore. She was tired of the master-slave association with Atangana. She wanted out, or at least a positive move from Atangana if he really wanted her to keep living with him.

Atangana didn’t want her to leave. Yet he didn’t want to work on their issues.

Read the first part of this story: How Lum-Limunga’s Problem Started

To be continued…