Janice Bordeaux is an American woman from New Orleans, who lives and works in Chicago. WANDA ARRINGTON AKOREDE Janice and her cousin Melinda share an apartment. They are both young and ready for love and marriage. Janice finds her true love when she meets a Nigerian name Olufemi (Femi) Adegoke, who is completing his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. Janice is employed at the University as an Administrative Assistant. They meet at an Africa party and romance blossoms. They become engaged and get married despite their cultural differences. Olufemi is from an upper class Nigerian family. He has lots of money and takes Janice on an extended honeymoon in Europe. They plan to settle in Nigeria afterwards. It is upon their arrival in Nigeria, that the other side of Femi is revealed. He kept from her the fact that he was already married. You see in their culture, it is legal to have more than one wife. But for Janice, this was culture shock! Devastated and distraught, Janice tries to live in their culture, rather than return home. Her love for Femi is very strong and she hopes that one day he will come to his senses and see that she is all the woman that he needs. But being faced with a very strong and male dominated country and living in a strange and sometimes overwhelming country, she finds it difficult to deal with her husband’s infidelity. She feels cheated. He should have told her about his other wife, and she
would never have married him. Omolola (Lola) is Oulfemi’s Nigerian wife. She waits two long years for him to complete his education and return home to her. She had not bargained on him marrying an American woman and bringing her home. She had planned to have a family and enjoy the fruits of his success upon his return to Nigeria. Instead she was forced to share him with Janice. Omolola knew that her husband has taken another wife before they arrived in Nigeria. It was part of their culture for a man to have more than one wife. Several of her relatives were actively living in polygamy. They tried to live together, each woman sharing their husband equally. But Lola was not satisfied with their arrangement and schemes to have Olufemi to herself. She uses any means at her disposal including juju (witchcraft). While Janice who is innocent in this is losing the battle to maintain her marriage. Consequently, Janice catches Olufemi and Lola in bed together and decides that she had had enough of their culture and polygamy and leaves for America. But she takes with her their unborn child; she is several months pregnant. So the tie is binding.