IMPORTANT NOTICE

Meeting Marcos Unachukwu marked a watershed in my deprived family’s existential reality. He was a kind and caring man who decided to take us under his moneyed wings. When he first proposed to marry me, I didn’t know he was a man with a complicated temperament until I moved into his apartment. After battery, he is suddenly contrite and profusely apologetic. Running for my dear life one such furious night, I fell into the arms of Kunle, a stranger and Marcos co-tenant.

The price of happiness is a sturdy resolve

I struggled to get loose of the stranger’s grip, but Kunle was a man with a firm grasp. I tried relaxing in the trunk of the stranger but I knew my beloved Marcos would be trailing me into the dark night. The noise of generating sets on the outside made sure I could only hear a faint roar of Marcos. He was in his furious element again, and this shielding stranger didn’t appear surprised by it. Marcos failed to approach where I stood, and the stranger led me away. I was in tears when I crossed the threshold to Kunle’s apartment. I knew Marcos would soon come acting contrite and expressing regret. Why would such a fine man be plagued with a fiend bout of mood swings? He had every reason to be angry on that night, but not chase me out of the house with a hot iron plate. I had forgotten to accomplish a shopping list he made the day before and he had need of spray starch at the time he erupted.

Once inside Kunle’s apartment, he found a place for me on a sofa. The stranger didn’t say a word, but the soft couch could soothe my nerves and relieve my tears. He offered me a glass of iced water and I sipped it to relieve my tremor. I asked to use his phone and he brought a desktop phone closer to where I lounged. He excused himself and left the apartment. I dialled my mother’s line without success, but got Annuli my sister on her mobile phone. She said my mother had left home for a vigil that night. It was a weekend, and I had mind to return to my family home the next morning. I had to run from Marcos or die before I’m due. While the flurry of thoughts played out in my head, Kunle returned to his flat with a frightful Marcos. Marcos came straightway to where I sat and before long; there was tears in his eyes. He was on his knees as he pleaded I return to the apartment. Looking into his eyes, I felt pity and hate for the man I have come to love and trust in a few months. To resist from relapsing into another spell of tears, I pushed Marcos away from me, and left for the apartment. When I woke up the following morning, I had a black eye. I gathered a few of my personal effects, before leaving for my mother’s place. Marcos was still in bed when I left, but he showed up in my family home a few minutes after I arrived there. I returned with him on my mother’s advice. The young man needed help, my mother said, and she wanted me to fix him up.

My opportunity to play a one-up must have come within reach when Marcos was transferred to Abuja. He was redeployed to head a fledging branch of our bank in the capital city. He was a hardworking fellow and deserved the promotion. It was a tough decision for him, but I tried to make him see the silver lining in the cloud. I would join him in Abuja, as soon as he settled in. His fears were eased and I was jubilant. The beatings didn’t stop, but I took solace in the knowledge that I won’t make the mistake of moving to Abuja with him. I would bid my time and when thing began to unravel, I would return to my mother’s place.

My best laid plans were soon improved by Kunle’s advance. Soon after Marcos left for Abuja, the familiar stranger invited me to a quiet dinner. He began by apologising on behalf of Marcos for the pains he had caused me. Kunle said my relationship with Marcos wasn’t the first he had intervened. The last girl whom Marcos told me their genotypes didn’t match had left him for the same reason of domestic assault and battery. Kunle confessed he had tried his best with Marcos in anger management without success. Kunle seemed genuine in his concern for Marcos, but he also wanted me. When I reminded him of his ties with Marcos, he only laughed. He was convinced, he said, that I wouldn’t bear with a violent Marcos for long. He was right, but he needn’t toss his opinion in my face. With much charm and seduction, I succumbed to the stranger who first saved me from Marcos. Kunle was willing to move apartment once I requested. I left Marcos apartment for the last time on a day we had planned my own relocation to Abuja. I changed my phone lines and showed up in Kunle’s new apartment with much delight. In a few weeks, Kunle and I will be tying the marital knot. Indeed, the price of happiness is a sturdy resolve!