……….. …… guess who `we’ saw at the airport ke? Sorry I meant, guess who ‘I’ saw at the airport. Etim was actually doing the checking in, while I was just looking around. From ahead, I heard the person speak Yoruba so loud with a thick familiar Ibadan accent, asking people to allow him on the line ‘cos his flight number was being called. I decided to stretch out my neck a little, hoping it wasn’t who I was thinking. I saw the short and slim man looking so nicely dressed. Lo and behold, it was him, the ‘bring-me-your-palms-guy’. Yes Baba Buray’.
“What can he be looking for at the airport and on the same day I am leaving the country?’
A coincidence? Knowing what I know? No way?
I tapped Etim on his shoulder, “can you remember my asking if you knew any Baba Buray?’
He frowned. “Yes.”
I looked everywhere around my shoulder in fear. “What if I tell you, I just saw him now? He’s also leaving the country?”
“Where?” He said, bored. I pointed at the direction I saw him.
Etim forehead wrinkled. “Who is Baba Buray? ‘Cos I can’t remember anyone mentioning him.
“Never mind.” I waved it off, remembering that technically, it was still my wedding day, and it wasn’t a good time to relive those Ibadan moments.
It was fun all the way in Barbados, I cannot capture it in words, but I’m sure those pictures would do justice.
Two days after we got married, we had just had dinner outside our rented beach hut. I decided to take a warm bath (I was always told to get yourself prepped for your man, all neat and fresh, `cos you just never know. I stepped into the shower and dropped my bathrobe on the toilet seat. Few minutes later, I came out of the shower, pulled open the shower glass, and I saw Etim resting by the edge of the door, legs crossed, robe in hands. With a shy smile on my face, I tried covering my body up with my hands. like it’s possible
“Would you kindly pass my robe?”
He didn’t say a word, but smiled back. “Oh! Now, you’re getting shy on me?”
Eyes closed, I summoned courage and back-walked towards him to get my robe. I got to his front with my head down, facing the direction of my bare feet outstretching my hands for my robe. He smiled and threw it back on the toilet seat. As I turned towards my left to get my robe from the seat, he grabbed me, folded his arms around my chest and whispered into my right ear.
“I’m now your husband Joolz. I know this is still new to us, but could you please bare all to me? I’m not asking that you go about the house naked at all times… Though I don’t mind. He whispered. I smiled. “But I’m asking that we shouldn’t be shy to be naked in front of each other when we can…”
With my chin resting on his folded arms, my lower right lip being bitten in by my teeth, I felt my heart racing. I couldn’t utter words properly, with my eyes still closed. I heard my response soft and faint like a toddlers’ voice.
“I’m shy.” He didn’t say anything. I just felt his lips on mine, from the edge of the bathroom door to the bedroom, fierce yet gentle. Suddenly I began doubting if my husband had more than a pair of hands as he seemed to touch me everywhere at once. I tried to calculate how long before I burst out an audible sound and trust me, it didn’t take so long before we began writhing in each other’s arms. Skills. That is only what I can attribute the ways at which Etim touched and loved me. When we hit a crescendo, I just let go. Allowed myself scream, shiver and sink.
Two weeks later, we left the resort city of Cancun for Michigan, come on, you didn’t expect us to spend all two weeks in Barbados, did you?). Anyway, Trevor Kupoluyi was in town too and he came to pick us up from the airport. We headed to an unfamiliar location, unfamiliar in the sense that it wasn’t the route to Etim’s house I’m supposed to move in with my husband, ‘cos we’re now married right?. Pardon my asking, I just love to be reminded every now and then. Well, we approached Sioux drive, and I remembered this was the place Etim proposed, the place DS wanted our opinion on.
Are we moving in with DS? I thought to myself. As Trevor drove into the garage and helped us in with some of our luggage, I had this confused look on my face and pulled Etim’s shirt from the back.
“Why is he lifting our boxes in?”
He didn’t answer.
“Are we supposed to be moving in with DS ni?”
Oh! So it’s true what people say about getting married and the husband beginning to show some funny sides’ ehn. Well done!
As we stepped into the house through the garage, the first thing I saw on the left was an attached washer and dryer. Okay, laundry room. I understood. Coming out of the laundry room to a hallway, I started seeing familiar stuff on the floor, but before I could say a word, he looked at me and with an ecstatic voice, said
“Welcome to our new home.”
WHAT? Oh my God! WAIRRAMINIT! “You mean all these while you were lying about this being DS’s house?”
I walked around the house with joy splattered all over my face. “It’s beautiful. It’s so big and beautiful.” When I saw our room I just ran to him and gave him the hug and kiss he deserved. All the guys were back too TK, Bolaji, Clarence and Edidiong. They had helped to move in some of Etim’s stuff. DS was in the UK on official duty for two weeks.
I finally moved in all my movables into our new home, and started to arrange the place. I was away from work for close to two months due to the fact that I have a great boss. I resumed back at work, and started adapting to the fact that my status had upgraded from girlfriend or fiancée to wife. This sure meant I had someone I was now tending to. It meant that I was responsible for someone other than Tofat. Cool, but to be quite honest with you, I’m loving some moments and I’m not gbadun{ing} others. I’m loving the fact that I call someone my husband, loving the fact that he helps in making dinner some times. I’m loving the fact that I can cuddle up all day on the couch with him. I’m loving the fact that we take walks together all the time. Kai! I’m loving that someone pays the bills, oh yes I’m loving that so well, buuuuuuuuuttttt. …….. I’m not loving the fact that I have to press the toothpaste a certain way. (OCD tinz.) I’m not loving the fact that he loves his egusi soup so badly that I can’t afford to store it up in the freezer when I cook it in large quantity, Etim loves his soup FRESH! I’m not loving the fact that the light in the closet has to be on when we go to bed (switch all the lights off is my policy). I guess asides that, for now, I can say I’m loving my newly `minted’ married life.
Few weeks to Thanksgiving, I got a call from Nigeria, telling me I need to get ready for what was coming and the person hung up. How did this person get my number? I immediately called back, but the line was switched off. I then remembered the calls I received while I was in Nigeria. I went into my room, began searching for the SIM card I used in Nigeria, finally found it, slot it in and behold it was the same number. What am I going to do? I can’t start keeping secrets from my husband; also it’s not everything one tells her husband, right?
What a dilemma…..… Decision made, Etim has to know about it.
When he got back from work, on the dinner table, I brought it up and he asked to see the number, he didn’t recognize the number, asked me a few questions. All my answers were “I don’t know”.
“How long has this been going on and why did you keep it away from me?”
“I didn’t take it seriously. I ignored it.”
The next day I heard him speaking with his mother on the phone and asking if she had been calling me with a strange number, and from his response her answer sure was NO. Oh Lord, this man will not put me in trouble with his candor with people, but thank God he didn’t disclose the details of what was going on. He cleared his mum from the whole mess and I was left to figure out who it was in my head. As hard as it was, It was time to involve my mother…………………
Thanksgiving was approaching so I thought it to be the best idea to play a thankful host to a couple of close friends and family, especially those who came to Naija for my wedding. I called Semirah to let her in on the preparation. Along the friends we invited, was Bundo. Sorry, but I had to make amends with her plus I miss our friendship; but most importantly I was doing it for closure. She accepted the invite almost immediately. Semirah had not spoken to her since the whole incident went down so there was this cold shoulder from both sides, but I was not going to ask or force them to get back to their usual chatty selves. After dinner I decided to make a toast so I picked up a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from the cooler, pouring its contents into everyone’s wine glass, it was my day. My husband, friends and family were everywhere around me. I was excited. I was running after Semirah with the bottle, terrifying her I was going to force some alcohol past her lips, it was just me having my fun time and after I had given Semirah a hot chase, I just settled in a corner enjoying the feel of the wine and absently reading the inscriptions on the bottle, then I turned towards the study and there he was. DS, he was staring at me as if I had done the unthinkable thing of stripping in the presence of everyone. It got so intense that I had to check to confirm I was with clothes. His eyes did another rove all over my body before doing a return trip back to my face, making sure both our face met. As if to boldly say. Yes, I just had a good, rude look. Eh! When he stood up, I lost all control that the bottle dropped, smashing. Everyone came over to check if I was fine, especially the way at which I looked terrified. I looked around, DS had escaped. What unnerved me the most was that I couldn’t even picture a definite emotion on his face. It was a mix of lust, hate and envy.
Haaaaa!
I spent the days prior to the 25th laughing and hanging ornaments on the tree with my husband. I love the times I spend alone with him, especially when we work on projects together. The way he instructs me and takes charge of things just adds allure to the word submission especially to the feminine ears. Christmas was finally here, it was my first Christmas as Mrs. Omojolaade Ubon-Israel and it was awesome. I had Semirah, cousin Solabomi and my brother in-law over and I made the food with Bomi and Semirah talking away. Two months after Christmas, my mother in law called and I overheard Etim telling her to calm down, and that she was going to be a grand mum in about 7 months time. Well, with the way I calculated the pregnancy, it seems to me that I wasn’t pregnant after the whole Barbados episode (wouldn’t it have been great to say I knew the moment our first child was conceived?). Well, the older Mrs. Ubon-Israel became the definition of the word sweetly expectant to just her unborn grandchild, caring less about me. She became a constant caller of my number, always calling to check on her unborn grandchild, and telling me what to eat and what not to eat, how great Folic Acid is for the baby’s growth and then pestering me to find out what sex the baby is. Imagine?
Each time she asked, I always directed her to her son, who never gave her an answer `cos he didn’t know either. It was too early to determine the sex of the baby, but I told Etim I felt they were twins. As anxious parents to be, we decided to take the first step and set up a doctor’s appointment. After hearing our baby’s heartbeat and seeing the tiny life within me for the very first time, I was the most excited being on earth. I started imagining changing diapers and being called the mother of a child. Whenever I remember the times my mother dropped me off at school, I just start crying. Oh my……I’m going to be playing that role pretty soon. Every piece of paper you see in our home could be seen with my writing, as in I had sketches of how I want the baby’s room to look like, and I had lists of what I wanted to get for the baby. As per first time mum. I loved the extra pampering, stomach rubbing and massage I was getting from the excited dad to-be. I called my parents to inform them, my brother surprisingly was the most excited and then my mum wanted to come over immediately. How grateful was I to have Semirah as a friend, words cannot begin to express how happy she was for me. The same day I told her about it, she stopped by my house that evening with a brown bag filled with baby stuff; my favourite was a grey and blue onesie that had “MY AUNT ROCKS” on it.
Twelve days after sharing my news with friends, I got a text from Bundo asking if we could do lunch over the weekend. I accepted and we met over at a café. She hugged me really tight.
“I’ve missed you.” She mumbled.
When I’d arrived at the table, I wasn’t expecting a hug since we haven’t gotten comfortable with each other yet, but I didn’t mind patting her back. She sat down and explained why she asked me to meet for lunch. She wanted to know if I wasn’t still pissed with her for dating FF.
I smiled, the smile not quite reaching my eyes that I’m sure still shone with hate. “Sweetie, there are no hard feelings whatsoever.”
“No hard feelings Jola? We sit here in silence, we can’t even comfortably look each other in the eye yet you say `no hard feelings? Will you be a lot more sincere with me?” She scolded, reminding me of my mother.
How about that for mending walls?
“It was you who almost ruined my wedding Bunds, you who rattled to my husband before even letting me know. It was you who fed over my leftovers, now it’s this same YOU wearing the all-clear look and accusing me of being quiet.” Okay, by this time, my voice was everything but civil and everyone was starting to glance at our table.
She didn’t say another word and for a while I knew she was digesting the whole of it. I wasn’t myself, wasn’t this damaged person Bundo has made me look like. How can I even see my friend and not shout in delight? Or scrutinize and admire the new things she wore, her complexion that now shone, what new products she was using, where she made her hair, what man she was seeing, what new stunts her parents were pulling as per getting her a man and all sorts we use to conveniently discuss? Why did she have to ruin it all? I sighed. She did too in response and I just knew we had somehow reached an impasse. I picked the glass and downed the water in a bit of a hurry that my eyes hurt and my chest felt uncomfortable.
“I’ll very much like to leave now.”
She, for the first time that night, gave me a straight look in the eye. Her face was harshly pulled back and her eyes looked a bit teary. Demo. Semirah would say, I know, but I felt really sad for the discomfit we both were feeling.
“Can we… ermmm have lunch some time again?”
With the disaster this one turned out to be? I almost asked.
“Yeah.” I whispered. “Bye”
I got home to Etim and he asked if I was not too tired to go with him to Trevs’ house. I dropped my purse, changed my blouse and stepped into the car with Etim. Few minutes after we arrived at Trevs’ house, I got up to use the restroom. As I pulled down my underpants to pee, there was a stain, but it wasn’t red, so it couldn’t have been blood. I immediately pulled up my pants, couldn’t pee again and called Etim aside to tell him what I saw. He asked to see the stain so we went into the restroom and I showed him. As I rose up my face to look at him, I could see his Adam’s apple bop like he just swallowed something in difficulty.
Oh no!!!!
AmOy
Photo by Bambino si
Pearls & Oysters 