DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
EPISODE 13
Femi st©pped in Ceddi plaza and bought beverages and fresh fruits for his wife. He also thought of buying some household groceries but he thought against it because he didn’t want to give his mother in law any reason to suspect that he had been maltreating his wife. He was determined to put up the show of the best husband during the course of her stay and that he must achieve.
Immediately he got into the compound, he wore on a fake smile and walked briskly to his room.
Femi: “Hello, wifey” he shouted at the t©p of his voice when he got upstairs. “Your baby is home!” he shouted again because he wanted his mother in law to hear him.
Shana was in the sitting room watching the live nominations show of Big Brother Naija when she heard someone calling out to his wife, she had disregarded the voice thinking it was her neighbour calling out to his wife because she couldn’t remember the last time Femi had used such sweet words for her.
Mrs Banjo: “Is that not your husband’s voice?” She asked her daughter after she heard Femi voice from outside.
Shana: “Femi calling me like that?” she had forgotten her resolve to put up positive appearances about their marriage.
Mrs Banjo: “Yes? What is strange in that?”
Shana: “Nothing, mum. Don’t mind me, I was carried away by these Big Brother housemates. I will get the door”, she managed to say and ran out.
“Welcome, Ifemi. How was work today?”
Shana was shocked when Femi drew her close and hvgged her. Then he k!$$£d her lightly on herl-ips and carried her in his arms to the sitting room. “I miss you, baby. All day at work I was thinking of you. Did you miss me?” he shouted at the t©p of his voice for his mother in law to hear.
Shana: “Erm, yes. I miss you”, she fumbled. She knew that Femi was merely pretending just to impress her mother and she felt like breaking his head. Here was someb©dy who ha-rd ly answered her greetings when he returned from work k!ss!ngand hvgging her simply because her mother was around. Someone that had been spending the nights out telling her he missed her. “Missed indeed! This my husband must really think that I am foolish”, she thought.
Mrs Banjo turned around to see her daughter in her husband’s arms and all the fears that she had been entertaining about her daughter’s marriage flew away.
Mrs Banjo: “Look who we have here, the best son in law in town”.
Femi carefully dropped his wife and gave her a pe-ck on the forehead, then he walked to where his mother in law was sitting and l@ydown flat before her as a sign of respect.
Femi: “Good evening, mummy. Wow, it’s a plea-sant surprise to see you. I didn’t know you were coming”.
Mrs Banjo: “I decided to pay you people a surprise visit since you wouldn’t come to see us”.
Femi: “Ah mummy, it is not so o”.
Mrs Banjo: “How is it then? Ko ye mi o”.
Femi: “It is this bank job o, it doesn’t give me time to do the things I want. Only last week, my wife and I were planning on going to spend the weekend with you and dad. Isn’t that so, baby?” he turned to stare at his wife.
Shana: “What?”
Femi cast her a warning glance and she knew that she had to cooperate with him for her own good.
Shana: “Yes, mum. We wanted to come, don’t mind me, I am always carried away by this Big Brother Naija show”, she lied to cover up.
Mrs Banjo: “Femi, if banking job will not allow you visit us, then your wife who doesn’t work shouldn’t have a problem visiting us often. She is our only daughter, we miss her. Even her brothers who live abroad find time to see us every year”.
Femi: “I un-derstand mummy but I am too attached to my wife. I can’t stay a day in this house without seeing her that is why it is difficult to allow her travel out of my sight”. He lied.
Mrs Banjo: “Oda, mo ti gbo. Enjoy yourselves”.
Femi: “But wifey, why didn’t you tell me mummy is around? I got some fruits for you, I would have bought more if I knew she was in town”.
Shana knew that Femi didn’t buy the fruits for her and so she muttered inaudibly and excused herself to set the dining area”.
Mrs Banjo: “You are such a caring husband, Femi. My daughter couldn’t have made a better choice. I bless God the day he gave you to my daughter. By the way, why isn’t your wife working yet? I think now is the perfect time for her to get a job so that she can take her mind off the miscarriage she just had and before you know it, God will bless you two with another baby”.
Femi: “I have been telling her to give me her CV so I can get a job for her but she said she doesn’t want to work until she becomes a mother. I know what to do, I will just do the CV myself and get her a job”, he lied again.
“Ah, Femi!” Shana who was listening to their conversation didn’t know when she shouted his name and the glas-s cu-p she had in her hands fell down.
Femi: “Are you okay, love?” he ran to her.
Shana: “Yeah, I was shocked when the cu-p fell down”, Femi knew she was lying.
“How can he lie so perfectly? Maybe that was how he lied that he loved him in the first place”, she thought. She knew that Femi, the snake that he was had crawled his way into her mother’s heart and so even if she complained about his ill treatment towards her, nob©dy will believe her because he had always pres£nted their marriage as the best to outsiders.
====
Licia drove after Femi when he left the house with the intention of trailing him to his house in her car. She knew that he was going home and she wanted to go and bur-st his bubble before his mother in law who was the reason why he left her hanging. She was successfully trailing him until she discovered that she had a flat tire. She disregarded the warning on the dashboard of her car and continued to drive, it was risky but what was at stake was equally important to her. Other cars that were pas-sing by notified her of the nee-d to st©p and take care of the affected tyre but she wouldn’t listen. Suddenly the car st©pped moving and it took great efforts to move it out of the road.
Licia: “$h!t! Oh fv¢k, this tyre messed me up big time mehn. Femi has escaped. Oh holy”, she cursed un-der her breathe. “Today is your lucky day, Femi. Tomorrow will be mine”, she shouted and kicked the tyre so ha-rd that she had to retrieve her leg for the pain she felt.
====
Shana was expecting Femi to continue to put up with his kindness when they retired to their be-droom that night. Femi rolled over to the other side of the be-d and as usual covered himself with his duvet, shutting her out of his world. Shana drew near and wra-pped her hand round his w@!st.
Femi recoiled from her t©uçh as if he had been t©uçhed by a python.
Femi: “What is it?”
Shana: “I want to feel your warmth. It is cold”.
Femi: “If it is cold then get up and turn off the AC. Am I your warmer?”
Shana: “I just had a miscarriage, Femi. I nee-d to be comforted my husband”.
Femi: “There you go again. Miscarriage, miscarriage, miscarriage, that is all we hear in this house. Did I cause the miscarriage? Oh because you managed to get pregnant once, someb©dy will not hear word again. There are some women who are younger than you who have 7 to 8 children and above. Have they killed their husbands?”
Shana: “Are you the one saying this? Are we not in this together? Is it my fault that I can’t conceive whenever I want?”
Femi: “Of course it is your fault. I put a baby in there and you couldn’t even keep it till 9months. Ordinary 9 months. And yet you want me to keep wasting my sp-erm on you, no way. I don’t have semen to waste, I am not getting any younger”.
Shana: “Femi!” she was crying profusely.
Femi: “It is not your fault. Because I sle-pt in the house today that is why you have mouth to talk, let your mother go back and we shall see how comfortable this house will be for the two of yours”, he left the be-d and sprayed his duvet on the ground and l@yon it, warning his wife not to come close to him.
Shana got up, determined to tell her mother all that had been happening to her, she was crying and she couldn’t bear the pain alone anymore. “Even if it means going back to my parents’ house with my mother after I narrate everything, I will rather do so before this man wrecks me psychologically”, she said.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
EPISODE 14
Femi quic-kly got up and gr@bb£d Shana by the w@!st.
Shana: “What is it? You said I should leave you alone, I have. Why are you now holding me?”
Femi: “Where are you going?”
Shana: “I am going to sleep in the guest room with my mother”.
Femi: “Why would you do that? This is our be-droom”.
Shana: “The room is too toxic for me tonight. I nee-d a change”.
Femi knew that she wasn’t telling him the truth about why she wanted to go to her mother’s place. He knew that her mother would convince her into telling her the issues they were having should he allow her step out of the be-droom with her eyes red and swollen from weeping. He had to switch on his charm if he must keep issues of his marriage away from their families.
Femi: “Baby, don’t tell you are angry over this little misun-derstanding that we had”.
Shana: “You call your mocking my inability to get pregnant anytime we have S-x a little misun-derstanding? I mean, you call your saying you are wasting your semen on me misun-derstanding? If this is a little misun-derstanding, then I don’t know which one is big misun-derstanding”.
Femi: “Common, now. Someb©dy cannot joke with you again? I was only kidding now”.
Shana: “No, you weren’t. I know the look on your eyes anytime you are joking, that look was not there today”.
Femi: “Okay, e ma binu, shogbo?”
Shana: “Femi the way you are treating me is not fair. I am your wife and I deserve some respect from you. I…”
“Shhh”, Femi said and hvgged her.
Femi: “Okay, I won’t sleep on the floor again. Why should I sleep on the floor when our matrimonial be-d is there?” he took her to be-d and drew her close but Shana wanted more. She wanted intim-acy with her husband. She was S-x starved and she wanted to use the opportunity of her mother’s visit to get all the S-x she could from her husband, who knows, luck may smile on her and she may end up pregnant again. She began to stro-ke him on his che-st, which was his plea-sure sp©t.
Femi was disgusted by her t©uçh but he had to pl@yalong.
Femi: “Baby, can we just sleep tonight? I had a very hectic day at work and I nee-d to wake up very early tomorrow morning”.
Shana: “Ife, I want you plea-se”.
“God, I am doomed tonight”, he thought.
Femi: “I thought you would nee-d some time off after the miscarriage”, he wanted to discourage her.
Shana: “Its my b©dy, I know when I want something”.
Without any word or forepla-y, Femi mounted his wife. Ever since he started slee-ping with Licia, ma-king love to his wife appeared like a monumental task to him, something he would rather not do but for the situation on ground. Licia was the perfect one for him, she knew how to t©uçh the right places at the right time, she had the perfect control over his ‘mumu bu-tton’. When she t©uçhed him, he experienced plea-sure in sp©ts he never knew could give him so much plea-sure. Shana was super good too, de-ep within his heart he knew that his wife could give him all the satisfaction that he was getting from Licia but the fact that she was finding it difficult to give him a child was a great turn off for him. This thought affected him anytime he wanted to get inti-mate with her, he would always find himself having weak erection around her and most times he couldn’t even last in her for five minutes, she never complained but he knew that he was failing in his duties to her but he didn’t mind so long as Licia was there to make up for what he was missing with his wife.
Shana wanted S-x but she wanted it to be de-ep, she didn’t just want them to have S-x, she wanted her husband to make love to her, love ma-king with him was one of the best things that ever happened to her. It was an avenue for their souls to connect, which was exactly what she nee-ded. She was beginning to detest Femi for all the pains he was putting her throu-gh but she knew that if their souls could connect as it did the first time they made love in his car in front of their father’s house, the fire that used to burn in her heart for him will be rekindled. In her de-ep thoughts, she didn’t even notice when Femi undressed her and p@rted her legs. She only felt him f0rç£ his way in, it was painful because she was dry. He nee-ded to have pla-yed with her to put her in the mood for the guest her v@g!n@ was about to receive.
Shana: “Take it easy, Femi. It hurts”, she screamed from un-der him.
Femi: “What hurts? Are you a vir-gin, why are you sounding like this is the first time you are being fv¢ked?”
Shana: “Femi!”
Femi: “Okay, I am sorry! I will ride gently. I thought this is what you have always wanted”. He continued to ban-g her at the tempo he started. Shana was p@n-ting and struggling for breath un-der him, this wasn’t what she had expected and she could not hide her frustration.
Few minutes later, after eja-culating, Femi withdrew from her and ran to the restroom to clean up himself. He was disgusted with his wife and himself and he wondered how and when he had grown to hate her that much.
Shana curled up to her side of the be-d, she had her blanket over head and she was weeping, more from psychological pain than from the pain she felt in between her legs.
====
Two months later, Femi was getting close, pretty close for comforts with Nana the new banker that was employed in their br@nch some months back. He had never been inti-mate with her but he knew that it won’t take too long for him to have his way with her. The girl was damn h0t and he knew that she wanted him as much as much he wanted her. He was being careful because he didn’t want to risk tarnishing his image in the bank.
“Hello, Mr manager”, he looked up from his computer screen, it was Nana, the very person that was causing him to be restless.
Femi: “Hi, Nana. It is not yet time for lunch break yet”.
Nana: “Of course I know that it is just past twelve, I was missing your face so I c@m£ to see you”.
Femi: “That is serious o, the thing you are looking for, you will see it one day o. You look stunning, I must confess”.
Nana: “I am inviting you to my house for dinner after work tonight. You don’t wanna miss what’s on the menu for you”. She win-ked at him and left the office.
====
After her mother left, Shana and Femi went back to the normal status quo of strangers in their homes. Femi was ha-rd ly at home during weekdays and weekends and whenever he c@m£ home, he would change into a casual wear and leave home. He was frequently spending the nights out and each time she tried to complain, he would get violent and hit her. Her b©dy bore marks of Femi’s punches and she was a shadow of herself.
A knock on her door brou-ght her out of her reverie. She checked the time, it was some minutes past 6, she wondered if Femi had decided to come home early for dinner that day but she knew that would not be possible. She went to the door and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Ayomide standing at the door, dressed in a white shi-t, and looking so innocent. She didn’t know when she ran into his arms and began to weep.
Ayomide was taken aback, he wasn’t expecting such reactions. Shana recollected herself and led him into the sitting room wiping her tears.
Ayomide was surprised to see Shana looking tattered with bruises all over her face. She was a shadow of herself and his heart went out to her.
Ayomide: “Shana, what is wrong with you? I must confess that you don’t look good”.
Shana: “I am fine”, she replied turning away and wiping the tears that was forming in her eyes.
Ayomide: “You are crying. Oh my God, this is serious”, he walked up to her. “I am sorry I have not been around for you the way a friend ought to. I am sure Femi would have told you that I have not been to Nigeria for the past five years now. I actually c@m£ home yesterday to start my marriage process. My fiance’s family are based here and that’s why we want to have a Nigerian wedding”. He observed that she was not listening to him and so he took her hand in his.
Shana lost control of herself and began to cry. Ayomide took her in her hands and began to console her, he was stro-king her hair and encouraging her to confide in him. He raised up her face to give her a reas-suring pe-ck on the cheek when the door opened and Femi walked in.
Femi: “What! My brother and my wife doing it behind my back in my house? Oh my God. Shana, you didn’t see anyb©dy to give your cheap b©dy except my brother? And you Ayo, what are doing k!ss!ngmy wife in my house? So, you can’t even wait for me to die before you inherit my pr©st!tût£of a wife?”
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 15