The fear of Kunle coming back home made Ireti scared all the more, she was living like a stranger in her own house. No, Kunle had never laid a finger on her, but he did much worse than that.
She was almost non existent to him. He barely recognized her, not because he was blind, he just didn't see her.
Even when her friend asked her to put on a sexy lingerie and serve him food wearing them. He just walked into the house, asked for his food, ate it and went to bed. She wept all through the night and he never bothered to ask her.
Sometimes he verbally abused her when she tried to impress him with her dressing.
"why are you dressed like this?"
"I knew you were going to like it."
"Like what? You look like a pig wearing pampers. You are 28 and a mother, stop trying to form sexy, you are not, you irritate me!"
So on this very day, after being away to Georgia on a business trip, her heart was racing when he called to say he was at the airport.
She made his favorite meal, dressed her kids up and also made sure she looked good for him.
The knock on the door made her pulse race faster but she tried to keep a calm face. She opened the door and welcomed him, he answered and hugged his kids as he lifted them up. He gave her a side hug and entered the room.
"Should I boil water for you to bathe first before you eat?"
"I'm not hungry, just get the water ready."
"But you called to say I should make your favorite meal and I spent close to...."
"Look woman, I had a very long flight and I didn't come back to listen to you rant about food. Yes, I asked you to cook the food, is it your money? I'm not hungry!"
He looked at her from head to toe.
"And what is this you are wearing? This your campaign of trying to be sexy is beginning to annoy me, do you think any man is going to admire you this way? You look like an upcoming prostitute."
Ireti's chest was heavy and hurting as she left him to fix water for his bath . She couldn't imagine it was the same Kunle who begged her consistently for three years to date him, the same kunle who knelt down at the popular "Balogun Market" to ask her to forgive him because she got angry over something, the same Kunle who cried the day she accepted his proposal.
Kunle could never take his hands off her, he was so into her and never let her out of his sight, not even for second. Whatever happened? Where did she go wrong? What did she do? Is there another woman?
He entered the bathroom, ignored the fact that she was crying,
"Can you leave the bathroom now, or you want to see my nakedness?"
He hadn't touched her for six months, so she wasn't surprised when he made that comment. She smiled as she walked out of bathroom.
"Mama, I am tired! I am... Your son is obviously tired of me and does not want anything to do with me. My own husband has not kissed me for 7 months now, not to talk of making love to me. Mama, I'm tired!"
Her Mother in-law consoled her and begged her not to leave for the sake of her kids, she promised to talk to talk to Kunle so as to hear his own side of the story.
Kunle was at the bar with his friends one day, when a lady walked in with a guy who turned out to be her husband. She had scars all over her body which came as a result of her being burnt by fire. Her face looked horrible but he noticed something; how her husband called her beautiful, how he played with her and kissed her in public.
He was lost in thought for a moment and so many things began to flash through his head.
His friends had advised him not to show his wife too much love and also to deny her sex sometimes so she would always want him, but he went the extra miles with his.
He watched this couple display so much affection in public and a tiny voice spoke to him to run back home to his wife.
"Doctor, I came as soon as you called, what happened to my husband?"
"You have to take it Ireti, he was involved in a ghastly motor accident, but he survived. He might not be able to use his legs for a very long time but he surely will at some point."
The doctor led Ireti to Kunle's ward and there he was, covered in bandage, from his waist down.
"I'm so sorry my wife, I'm sorry for everything, I will understand if you decide to leave after everything, but I promise I will change."
She wiped the tears from her face and sat beside him.
"Kunle, I'm not the kind of woman that runs away from challenges. Yes I contemplated putting a knife through your stomach, I thought about ending my life on numerous occasions because of the emotional wreck you turned me into, but when I think of how much you used to love me and my kids, I just knew I had to pray the more and increase my faith. Kunle, I love you, I swear I love you, and your attitude didn't change my feelings for you, not even for a second. I didn't leave you when you were torturing me, I'm not going to leave you now that you need me. Atleast, with this accident, you will stay one place. Doctor, I hope he can still perform oh?"
Doctor Steve laughed so hard that everyone turned around to look at him, even Kunle couldn't hold it.
"Ofcourse he can, infact, he will need more of it, it's part of his therapy."
"Have you heard the Doctor? Kunle have you heard? You have to take this therapy seriously oh."
Doctor Steve smiled and moved out as Ireti and Steve locked lips so passionately, that they gave one of the gonorrhea patients an erection in the process.
"You get gonorrhea and your thing still de stand, c'mon allow that tin sleep joor, sinful man!!!" One of the nurse barked!
