In the Loving Arms of Servitude

19. Mr. Balogun

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh! Bros-B, you don comot?" one of the security guards at the gate echoes at Femi while he drives out of the cinema compound.

"Yes o... Chairman, I salute!" he replies collegially, afterwhich another guard also bids him farewell, "My oga!!!.. See you tomorrow! Greet madam for me oo!"

"No wahala." Femi responds, before finally driving out of the premises.

It is about 11:30pm. Unlike some other employees who work till dawn, Femi gets to leave work early. Although frankly, he does not even know where he is going to right now. He should head home. But home is barely ever 'home' these days. Aside from his son, there is no one else he would be going home to. Amara hardly ever gives him significant attention. She is either working, praying or doing other things that do not involve him. The truth is, it has been months since they've been together. She always makes up one excuse or the other; tired, in her period and whatnot. It has been so frustrating that he has even stopped trying. The last thing he wants is to seem like an overbearing husband or a lascivious man. So he has decided to let her be.
Sometimes, Amara spends the night in Tobi's room, seemingly to avoid him. And poor Femi would keep rolling in their bed all night in frustration. She wasn't always like this though. Back when they were still newly weds, life was much sweeter. They were much happier and very much in love; at least, that was how it seemed. The problem must have begun when they started having difficulties bearing children. Or did it?

Oh children! The glue that holds many Nigerian marriages together. One can only imagine the fate of some couples, were it not for the children surrounding their tables. Just like Femi and Amara, many couples are living as acquaintances, whose sole purposes are to perform their duties, as specified in the handbook of gender stereotypes. Rather than love and the desire for commitment to responsibility, some marriages are borne out of mandate by situation, family, culture or social status. However, when the rains come, the major consequences befall only the parties involved and the innocent children birthed in the union, not the extended family or friends or competitors or society or other sources of immediate pressure. Only the couple suffers.
A traditional society where culture, family and religion have made 'having children' the alpha and omega of marital union supports the unimaginable social stigma against barren couples; wives to be exact, since for stereotypic reasons, they are still perceived to be the major culprits and therefore, pay the major price.

Femi sighs.

Indeed, Amara's battle with his overbearing family and their expectations of her may have broken her spirits; they may have shattered the love she once had for him. But could it be that she never loved him at all? Or maybe she has simply grown tired of him. Maybe his performance is poor.
Femi's performance is not poor.
The more he ponders about his withering marriage, the more he despises Amara and her overly pious nature. 'She believes that she is doing God's will.. that she is a paragon of untold virtue.. tsk-tsk! And the most annoying part is.. she never sees anything wrong with her actions.' Femi thinks to himself.

A few weeks ago, after millennia of abstinence, Amara tried to throw herself at him, expecting him to welcome her with open arms, as though he were some hungry dog, whose master finally decided to throw a dry bone. After all, he was looking for sex, wasn't he? She therefore decided to indulge him. But in annoyance, Femi spurned her. And since then, they've been at bitter odds. In a way, he prefers this. At least, he won't have to keep acting like everything is alright. The only thing that truly breaks his heart is that Tobi has to witness all this drama. The last thing he wants is for his little boy to get caught up in this mess.

Femi is a gentle man, an upright man and a religious man. He does not want to cheat on his wife. That is one of the things he had promised himself he would never do. But truth be told, he has conceived the thought several times, although he is yet to act on it. Many women at church and at his workplace have made advances at him, but he has continually evaded them. Young girls as well, hardly ever let him be, as they keep hovering around him like bees to a hive. And the kind of entertainment business he runs doesn't make things any easier. Both staff and customers tend to get a little too friendly at times. Femi seems to be prime game for any accomplished gold digger. He is young, handsome, successful and now, neglected. It would take some divine intervention to keep him from eventually falling into their clutches.

Just last week, he had an encounter at his office. A young and astonishingly beautiful employee of his tried to seduce him. And she was so subtle about it, that he could not accuse her of anything, without getting himself into a stickier situation. All he could do was stand, watch and pray that she wouldn't come closer still, because heaven knows, he would not have been able to resist the urge to grab her in that state he was in.

'Dear lord!...What am I turning into?', he scolds himself within.
He hates what he is becoming. He has never felt this way in his entire life; so frustrated, angry and needy, all at the same time. And it is not just about the sex. There are so many other ways in which Amara has stopped being his wife. She is never available and she never cares. She never talks to him. She doesn't even smile at him anymore. These days, she only smiles whenever she is looking at Tobi or when she is with Cynthia, her best friend.
'Is her husband not supposed to be her best friend?'
'Cynthia this! Cynthia that!', Femi echoes within.
She is all Amara ever talks about; that is, when they even talk. He likes and respects Cynthia a lot. But he cannot seem to help but feel jealous whenever he sees Amara doting on her every word.

'Even now, it is almost midnight, yet Amara hasn't even called to ask when I'm coming home. She never calls! She never even acts concerned!'
Whenever Femi arrives late, Amara simply bids him welcome from the sofa, and continues relishing her late night soap operas, while he goes in to rest in the bedroom. Only Uju, who recently arrived at their house even bothers to ask him whether he will eat dinner or not.

As Femi drives on, sour feelings of distaste and repugnance begin to pervade his mind even more. Therefore, he echoes within himself,
'You know what?... I'm not going home tonight. This is Lagos. I'm going to have some fun.'
Afterwards, he picks up his cell phone and dials Olu's number.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GLOSSARY
"Oh! Bros-B, you don comot? "- "Oh! Mister-B, are you leaving?"
"Yes oo!.....Chairman, I salute!"- "Yes, I am.... Big bro, I greet you!"
"My oga!!!.....See you tomorrow!......Greet madam for me oo!"- "Thanks, Big boss!!!.... See you tomorrow!.....Please, extend my greetings to your wife!"
"No wahala"- "No problem"

✨Thank you for reading! Please remember to vote if you liked this chapter.✨