Mr Columbus

                      
   Lolade threatened to seize my car key if I don’t get her car fixed. I thought she was bluffing, until that morning when I was running late for work and I found out she already took my car for grocery shopping.

Lolade is my wife and I love her very much, very much that will get any African family worried,  Especially a Yoruba family. But everything was fine, at least by me. But at moments like this I feel like spanking her. She surely knows how to get on my nerve.

“ why! Why! Why on earth will she go out with my car, when she knows  very well I will be running late for work?”  I exclaimed to myself.   

of course I knew why, I was just looking for a way to vent out my anger. Lolade does not act without warning first, its been two weeks i kept promising to take her car to the mechanic.

“why does she even need the car, she’s pregnant and should stay at home and allow me do the work, but no she wants to be running here and there, this is among the reason I don't want to fix her car”  I said to myself in distress. I was so furious then I realized i was getting more late by standing there doing nothing, I took a cab and went to office.

Fortunately for me I made it on time for my meeting. It was a brief and lucrative one. We finally secured a multi million naira deal. I am an architect who works for an architectural firm. we have been working towards this deal for months, and we finally signed it. We were to renovate three amusement parks in the state.

After the meeting, I went to my office dancing in excitement. I reached for my phone, i couldn’t wait to tell Lolade the good news. Then it occurred to me that i was mad at her. “ a little couple’s misunderstanding shouldn’t hold me back from telling her a great news like this now” I thought to myself. Then I concluded that it would be nicer if I told her in person.
I sat down and stared at her picture on my desk. I took it and smiled at it.

LOLADE OLUWAFUMI ADEKUNLE SHITTU, that was her full name. She’s not just my wife, but my day one friend and backbone during our university days. She supported me financially and emotionally when times were hard. Our bond grew even  stronger when iya shukura (my Mother)  passed away. Shukura is my elder sister and my parent’s first child, followed by me Femi, and then our last born Kayode, iya shukura's favorite. My mother’s biggest dream was to see her children’s success.

“God will bless you all my children, you shall not suffer in this life, you all shall prosper in the name of God. And I will reap the fruit of my labour.” She will say and we will answer with a sound “Amin” . this prayers is mostly said at dinner time, when we gather around the lantern or candle light to eat whatever she prepared for us.  iya shukura, Maa mi(my mother). My deepest pain is that she never enjoyed the fruitfulness of her hard work.  She died when I was still struggling to finish my tertiary education, she spent her last kobo, to see we never lacked basic things. Today I am a millionaire and she's no more.

I went home later in the evening pretending to be angry with lolade. But the aroma of her cooking wiped any sense of anger I had in my mind. Not that I was actually angry with her but now it will be hard for me to even fake it. She does this everytime she makes me angry, she knows very well how much I love food, and that was her way of apologizing. I entered the living room and dropped my bag, then She came out of the kitchen smiling, her beautiful brown skin was glowing, and her killer smile exposed her amazing set of teeth that drives me crazy, she looked so beautiful and gorgeous. But I still retained my frown, trying to restrain myself from being cajoled by her charm.

I tried very hard but couldn’t hold it anymore as she hugged me, looked into my eyes and said “ Ifemi  am so sorry” at this point I was on the Verge of smiling. Then she poked every part of my body playfully, something we called jakulkuli. That was my weakness and the reason I don’t allow her get close to me when am angry.