©️Opeyemi Akintunde
The only thing that made sense for us to do was to get married. We went to the Federal Registry and we got married. We paid people at the Registry to stand in as our parents. On getting home, things were not as friendly and intimate as before.
We were very official towards each other. Being Married felt like work to us. Sex time for me was once in a while, whenever I wanted to ease myself of sexual emotions, I would get home and just say to her…
“ Can we have sex, please?” It was a courteous and cautious relationship at first.
“ Ok!” Leni would answer “My Room or yours?’ Was her usual emotionless reponse
Depending on my mood, we had it anywhere , although I saw it in Leni’s eyes she wasn’t enjoying it.
Eventually, she gave birth to the baby who turned out to be a boy. There was no arguing the paternity, he looked a lot like me. We named him ourselves; We named him Greg. Shame made us cut off from Aunty Yemi and Shalewa. I insisted we blocked their numbers… Aunty Yemi however paid us an unxepected visit and she couldn’t hide her disapproval of the marriage we had.
She had seen the Court Wedding Picture we put up in the Living room…
” Pregnancy is not enough reason to get married, you both have taken wrong steps.. You didn’t pray to find out if this was God’s will” She preached and kept preaching but it all fell on deaf ears. Leni felt ashamed and kept saying…
” That is what F.D wanted”
” What about you? Is this what you want, or better still is this the marriage you deserve?” Aunty Yemi asked
” What I want? Aunty Yemi, Life has never given me what I want, so I am done thinking or fighting for what I want. I just flow with life. I take what life brings my way…” Leni replied hopelessly
Aunty Yemi had left our home defeated. She was dealing with a stubborn husband and a hopeless wife.
After Aunty Yemi left, I told Leni…
” If you want this marriage to work, Cut off all interferences” and this became my threat to her on several occasions
I thought things were going to get better between us, but it only turned worse, because the love I had for her could not measure up to the pressure of caring for the family. Maybe If I loved her a lot, I wouldn’t see her as a burden.
Unfortunately, that was the case. I did not love her enough to bear the pressure marriage brought.
“ You need to get a job” I remember blurting out once
“ I have a job I am doing!”
“ Do you call that online business a business? Where you sell five products in a month and make peanuts”
“You told me not to get a stable job, so that I can help you with the fashion Business” Leni replied
“The Fashion Business that has not started, or let me put it the right way, the Fashion Business vision you crashed with your unplanned pregnancy” I said madly
“ F.D!” Leni didn’t expect that from me
“ Yes! You have something contrary to say” I challenged her into silence.
It was obvious the marriage was not right for us …
We continued living like Cat and Mouse, we were just living together. Leni started working as a serial house cleaner. She went from home to home cleaning and washing just to bring something home. We shared the responbility;she was in charge of our feeding in the house , while I gave money for Roland’s school fees and Baby Greg’s care.
I didn’t care about her welfare and honestly on random occasions I felt guilty about it, because when we managed to go out together, I was always shy to walk with her. I will purposely walk some steps ahead of her.
I can never forget a day when we were coming back from the hospital, Baby Greg had been ill, so Leni had not taken her bath for two days.
As we walked side by side , I saw the look on people’s faces. She looked terrible. To avoid the embarrassment , I crossed to the other side and said to her…
“ Don’t walk beside me, everyone is looking at you strangely, the fact that a child is sick does not mean you shouldn’t take your bath”
Through out the walk back home, I kept insulting her from the other side of the road and she kept walking without a single tear dropping but I could tell her heart was wailing..
Don’t blame me! I was a sad man.
However, Joy came back into my life when Baby Greg turned two. I had received a text message that changed everything…
“ My Husband is Dead, Can we Pick up from where we stopped…Precious”
To be continued…
