FLIRTATIOUS ; ( Part 19 & 20 ) – OPEYEMI AKINTUNDE

PART 19 “FLIRTATIOUS”
Opeyemi Akintunde

Shalewa and Leni had left the house the next day; I didn’t know what they said all night in Leni’s room, but their conclusion was for her to relocate to the orphanage under the guise that she wanted to be with Shalewa while she was in the country. I didn’t have an opinon in the matter.

A week after they left, I came home to find Leni and Shalewa back at the house. The moment I saw them, I knew something was wrong…

“Don’t tell me you are pregnant after just one time with you?’ I said madly

“ You also testified that it was just once with Marcus, Let’s say Leni is very Fertile” Shalewa replied sarcastically

“ No.. I am not responsible for that Pregnancy, it should be the Segun guy” I said

“I never slept with Segun” Leni refuted

I knew she was saying the truth, leni never lied to me.

“ Leni, Why? Why did you get pregnant for me?” I asked

The question sounded stupid but I knew what I was trying to say… I was trying to make her know that this Pregnancy was a setback, with the pregnancy, she won’t be able to marry the man she deserves, because where on earth was she going to get a man who would marry a single mother of two..

I left the house crying…

*****
Aunty Yemi was disappointed to say the least…

“ So what are you planning to do?” She asked with her head bowed

“ Get Married!” I replied

I had thought about it and I knew that was the only way I could help Leni. I had to cover her shame. I knew I was not marrying her out of Love but out of responsibility.

I was marrying her because she was pregnant of my child.

“ Is that What God wants for you? Listen, the fact that a lady got pregnant for you is not enough reason to marry her if she is not the will of God, and likewise Leni, the fact that a man got you pregnant does not make it compulsory for him to be your husband, at least you know that from Marcus…” Aunty Yemi stated her reservation

‘Aunty, I will be having two children out of wedlock, Aunty I have no family, I don’t have money, I don’t have a great certificate, which great man will want to marry me? Let me make do with F.D. I know he doesn’t love me that much, but at least I know him.” Leni said

“ If you both plan on Marrying based on the reasons you are giving , I am afraid you both are making a terrible mistake.” Aunt Yemi said

“ Take a week and you both go to separate places of prayer to go pray asking the Lord for his will concerning this matter…” Aunty Yemi stepped out obviously heartbroken…

******
Shalewa’s stay was quite short; apparently our issue didn’t encourage her to stay as long as she wanted to.

When she was leaving, Shalewa had specifically asked me to ride with her to the Airport without Leni. I thought she was about to give me the lecture of my life, but throughout the journey to the Airport, she sat quietly with tears flowing down her face. I held her hands telling her we were sorry for disappointing her.

When We alighted at the Airport, she asked us to sit a while …

“ For the past few years, I had been praying to God for a go ahead with you, from the first time I saw you at Mrs Abrahamson’s house, I liked you. As we became closer, my feelings for you grew and I kept praying to God for a go ahead with you, but in the last few weeks, God kept telling me to come back to the country as He wanted to show me something.

I guess we both know what He wanted me to see. I would have loved to be your wife F.D, but I guess things can’t be. Please take care of Leni…” Shalewa gave me a long hug and I kid you not, I was numb.

I couldn’t reply. I sat there watching how she walked away from me. She wove goodbye to me saying…

“ I will be praying for you”….

PART 20 “FLIRTATIOUS”
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. S3x time for me was once in a while, whenever I wanted to ease myself of s3xual emotions, I would get home and just say to her…

“ Can we have s3x, 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”