FOURTEEN
Nkiru hadn’t had s*x for weeks now. She had the urge but Kola had shown no interest. He would lay like a log every night. He was simply indifferent. Nkiru wriggled restlessly as she lay in bed before she pulled her quilt over herself for some warmth. It was six in the morning. She had stopped having her morning devotions. She was tired of talking to a God who simply wouldn’t have her time. Kola had often refused to eat breakfast or anything in the house. Most times he would grunt or nod at every conversation.
Something told her to rise up and pray and go make breakfast for her husband even though he wouldn’t eat. She struggled up, yawned and rubbed her eyes. She knelt and mumbled some words of supplication to God, more like a compelled act than voluntary. She picked her way to the kitchen. She could hear Kola having a shower in the bathroom. She made some toast bread and fried eggs with tea and set it on the table. Kola was in the bedroom for some minutes before he came out dressed in a black fitted shirt that gave out the structure of his broad chest well-tucked into a tight brown chinos trousers. He looked smart. Nkiru swept him look and smiled.
“Good morning baby.” Nkiru greeted with a soft voice.
“Morning.” Kola answered with the usual grunt.
“Breakfast is on the table.”
“I am not interested.” Kola mumbled angrily.
“What is eating you up?” Nkiru was about to flare up. ” I am the one that lost the job, yet I tried to make provision for food with the little money left with me. You hardly drop anything before you leave. You will still be acting like you are the god over everything about my life, feeling so big for me. What is really your problem this man?”
“My problem is I want a divorce. Can’t you see this marriage is not working? It is four years we have been married and living together like this.” Kola barked back at her.
“Sometimes, I wonder the kind of devil you are. You made me have an abortion when we began to date. Now the babies aren’t coming, I lost my job. Now you want a divorce. I should have seen it. You are indeed worst than the devil himself.”
“You keep talking about that abortion . At least we have been to different hospitals and the doctors said there is nothing wrong with both of us. See, I am not talking about the babies that aren’t coming. I am simply tired of this marriage. I want a divorce! Think about it!” Kola concluded and stormed out of the house. Nkiru flopped into the sofa with a surge of dejection rousing deep inside of her. She began to cry. It seemed nothing would ever worked perfectly in her life. Everything had simply been topsy-turvy. She cried for long. The urge for s*x she had simply vanished. She had nursed the urge to have s*x all over the night. She had slept n***d in bed with Kola, touching him with every sensitive part of her body. She would used her bum to rub her d**k but the thing simply wouldn’t j**k up. Nkiru felt there must be something wrong with her man. Kola was a sexual being with a giant d**k. He would make her scream those early years or their marriage. But the feeling and sexual warmth of those years had suddenly died. She had told him often with words of mouths that she wanted s*x. He would only hiss and went about his business. She had stopped asking, instead she tries to seduce him. But one thing was simply a fact about Kola. If he wasn’t getting it from her, then he was getting it from someone else. Kola was a man those days who wouldn’t do without having a regular s*x in a week. He wouldn’t hold it. She couldn’t count the times he had begged for a blowjob in the kitchen. Nkiru would blatantly refuse, telling him s*x is not food. He would come down to a hand job, just a hand job. He would beg passionately. Nkiru shook her head as memories of those days kept flooding her mind.
She made the breakfast, hoping he would eat. She would have sat by him, watched him eat then say it into his ears that she simply wanted to be ravished. May be that could have worked. Nkiru sniffed and cried. She cried for long, sniffing and snorting.
********
Nkiru had napped off minutes later. It was 11: 0 clock in the morning. She ate the breakfast Kola refused to eat and had a shower. A thought told her to go visit Kola in his office with his best delicacy. That could work. She told herself. She got herself back into the kitchen and made Eba with Egusi soup. That was his favourite. She dished the soup into a food flask and wrapped the Eba into another flask. She put the two into a basket and covered it up with a napkin.
“At least she has nothing doing. They will both stay and do business together in that office today.” She said to herself. She dressed up wearing her tight jeans that shot out her bum. Then a Gucci shirt that mirrored the size of her b****t. She adjusted it many times before she went into the ritual of powdering and lidding her eye brows and lashes. She packed her hair gracefully as she stared at herself before the mirror. She had a feeling that her marriage can’t fail. It seemed to be extraordinary for her to feel that way. Kola told her he wanted a divorce. But sincerely she didn’t see anything like that coming to past. There seemed to be a force, bigger and greater fighting for her. This same force had given her an unusual strength.
She eventually stepped into the sun. Few eyes from men around peered at her. They wondered what a beautiful woman with such pretty face and body structure. She found a taxi, did a minute bargain before she was driven off. Nkiru got to Kola’s office and found the Secretary staring at her with a glow of shock. Her table was some yards away from Kola’s office. It had equally been a long time she visited the place. Nkiru smiled at her while she rose to greet.
“How are you doing?” Nkiru asked her.
“I am fine ma.” She smiled wryly.
“Is your boss in office?”
She hesitated for a while and gave a look of uneasiness then a shot sparked from her eyes before she began to twitch her mouth.
“He was around some few minutes ago. I don’t know whether he had gone out.”
Nkiru walked to the door and turned the knob many times. It was locked. She brought out her phone and called him. He refused to pick. Nkiru went to a seat and sank into it tiredly.
“Let me call him for you.” The lady said. She held her phone for some minutes to her ears and there was no conversation.
“May be he is busy.” The lady concluded. “You can wait for him.
Few minutes later Kola stormed out. He was probably not aware of Nkiru’s presence. He had only his singlet on, over his trousers. He thought it was a lady who was coming to drop a cheque from the last business transaction he made. Nothing in the world suggested to him Nkiru could visit his office without his notice. A sheer look of surprise blew up his face.
“Why are you here?” Kola stammered.
“Is it bad to visit you?” Nkiru smiled. “Besides what are you doing in your office that you have only your singlet on?”
Kola didn’t answer. He kept staring at Nkiru with sheer surprise. She rose and paced into her office. He tried to stop her but later retreated. His secretary was smiling behind shrewdly at the event that was about to unfold.
Nkiru got into his office and found Lara n***d. She was only in her bra. Her jeans was used to cover her laps. The air was tensed with odour. Everything suggested to Nkiru that they just had s*x. She was rooted on her spot dumbfounded. Her mouth went open. Kola was behind her, probably waiting for her to burst out in anger.
“Who is this Kola?” Nkiru eyes were red, indeed there was a red shot of anger flickering in those eyes.
“Ask her yourself?” Kola said faintly
“Are you crazy or something? So this is what you do? Oh my God!” Nkiru cried. Lara refused to talk. She was busy pressing her phone. She didn’t make any move to dress herself up or something. Nkiru stormed out, got her basket of food and went back home. She got home, laid herself in bed and cried.
“Indeed men are the worst creature on earth. If I was told Kola could do this to me, I wouldn’t believe. I wouldn’t believe he could be cheating on me with that thing.
Good! So what have I gained? I lost my job, my husband and above it all I am barren. Indeed, I don’t see anything special about this God we cry to. He is as good as dead. There is nothing worth living. I am a loser” Nkiru told herself and cried.
You can’t lose everything.” The tiny voice told her again. ” I have told you I will never leave you nor forsake you. The only problem is you stopped praying and that gave the devil the chance. It is a battle. But rejoice because I have won it all.
Nkiru refused to believe what she heard. That was just her mind consoling her. She brought out her phone and began to watch porn. She hadn’t done that in years, not since she became converted. She enjoyed it, pleasuring herself. A thought told her to get a vibrator. She agreed. She felt she wasn’t going to subject herself to any man anymore. No, not in this her present life.
To be continued………
ยฉ Emmanuel Erondu, 2019
