MR AND MRS

Eze dipped his ball of akpu into the bowl of soup, and put it into his mouth, immediately making a face. He turned to his friend Ibe, who was eating his food and scrolling through his phone at the same time.
“O boy, who cooked this food?” he asked whispering.

 Ibe looked up at his friend “My wife.. why are you asking?” he said looking into his friend’s plate.

“hmmm nothing” Eze said, as Nkem walked into the dining room carrying another serving pot. She smiled at Eze, and offered him more soup. Eze declined with a vigorous shake of his head.


Eze walked into Ibe’s office and Ibe nodded at him while pounding away on his keyboard. Eze sat down and waited for Ibe to round up his work. When he was done, Ibe looked at Eze and said
 “ So what is it you want to talk to me about?”

“I just want to ask you some questions. You are my friend, and we grew up together. So please humour me. You have been married for eight months now and you are relatively new to the game. When I come to your house, I see you cooking and cleaning. The one time I taste Nkem’s food, I can hardly swallow it. Please tell me what exactly her duties are in your house, because I cannot understand it” Eze said looking at Ibe.


Ibe scratched his head, and looked at his friend. “I understand what you are saying, but….”

“No but, she is the woman, those things are her duties. She doesn’t even have children yet. I don’t know why you are encouraging all those things. Let her be the woman. You are the man so be the man” Eze interjected. Ibe just sat there, staring at him.





“Baby what is wrong? Don’t you like the food?” Nkem asked Ibe. He had been staring morosely at the plate before him.

“I am tired of eating noodles…. Is there nothing else you can cook? Everyday noodles” Ibe responded, pushing the plate away and standing up. “I am going out, don’t bother waiting up” with that, he walked out of the house, banging doors behind him. Nkem sat there, looking shocked and confused. But you love noodles, she thought to herself.

Ibe removed his shirt, and threw it on the chair. Then he sat down and started removing his shoes.
“Honey look at the time, its past 1am, I have been worried” Nkem said standing up from where she had been sitting waiting.

“I told you not to wait up didn’t I?” Ibe responded
“Since when did I start going to bed without my husband? And especially not with the way you stomped out of here. What is bothering you love” Nkem asked

“Look, like you pointed out, it is late and I have an early morning so I really can’t partake in your interrogation goodnight” and with that, Ibe headed for the bedroom. Nkem picked up his shirt and shoes, and followed him.



Nkem looked at her phone again, just to be certain her eyes were not deceiving her. she had just gotten a text from her husband, saying he wanted pounded yam and bitter leaf soup. Ibe knows she has never pounded yam in her life, and he had promised to teach her with time.
Moreover, he wasn’t a man that liked pounded yam. She wondered what exactly was going on with her husband the past few days. She dialed her cousin Uju’s number.


Nkem felt really proud of herself, as she set the table. She had really outdone herself, with her cousin’s help. She stood and waited while her husband had a taste of his dinner.

 She watched him, expecting a complaint and when none was forthcoming, she smiled and went into the kitchen. She came back and sat down and they had their meal in silence.


“Honey are we still going to the club tonight?” Nkem asked after a while. Ibe looked up at her, smiled and said “Yes we are love”



The music was loud and there were scantily clad women all around gyrating to the tempo of the music.
Nkem and Ibe were in a corner, sipping on their drinks and dancing with their bodies grinding on each other. Ibe was speaking into his wife’s ears, and she was laughing at whatever he was telling her. They looked so good together, and obviously love each other.


The next day, Ibe sat down and was thinking about his conversation with Eze.
"Why would you take your wife clubbing? That should be a time for you to have fun, enjoy yourself. She belongs at home, how many men do you see bringing their wives to the club? C’mon, take charge” Eze had said.

Ibe shook his head, he had never been a fan of going clubbing, until he met Nkem. She made dancing fun for him, and it was their way of having fun together. If not for her, he really wouldn’t even go clubbing. He thought about how happy they had been dancing and gossiping at the club and wondered since when it became a taboo to take his wife clubbing.



Ellen sat on their couch, crying and Nkem did her best to console her. “So I am tired of your friend, I want a divorce. I can’t endure the cage he calls marriage anymore” she said between sobs.

Ibe was looking at Ellen, and wondered about what he was going to tell her. Eze seemed to have all the answers to his marriage with Nkem, and here his wife was, crying for a divorce. He wondered what happened to the perfect picture Eze always painted to him.

“Your friend treats me like a slave. Ibe look at me, was this how I was when I married him? He doesn’t take me out, wouldn’t even let me go out for leisure on my own. Won’t help with the chores, or the children. He expects me to be in the kitchen cooking for him and that is all my life has become. I am done. I have talked, cried, begged to no avail so I came to tell you. I don’t want to do this anymore” Ellen said. Ibe saw the resolve in her eyes, and knew that Eze had lost a good woman.


When Ellen left, Ibe sat back and thought about all the advice Eze had been giving him, and how he had blindly followed them. He looked at his wife, and smiled remembering the advice the priest had given them on their wedding.


“No two marriages are the same, do not allow strangers tell you how to live with your spouse, do what makes both of you happy and as long as you are happy, don’t listen to the world and their opinions. Your home should be your priority”


Later that night, while Nkem slept Ibe looked at her pretty face, and his heart melted. He remembered what makes her noodles tastier than all other dishes he might sample outside, what makes him willing to be with her, even in her imperfection.
He made a resolve to never listen to the opinions of third parties, against his wife no matter how ideal their marriage may seem from afar. It was going to be the both of them and whatever makes them happy. He held his wife, and thanked God for giving her to him.


LIFE IS A CHOICE MY FRIEND
SO CHOOSE WISELY
ENOUGH SAID