‘Divorce me or die!’

With Sunmola Olowookere
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It was in the dead of the night. The weather was cool and most residents have gone to sleep. It was a weather for cuddling and romance and most couples would have been making ample use of the opportunity.

However for Akeem and his wife, it was a different story entirely. They were having a serious fight. The husband was demanding for a divorce. He held a sharp knife to his wife’s and was demanding that it was either she write him a letter stating that she was divorcing him or die by his hands.

The wife, Olayemi was sobbing quietly so as not to awaken their daughter who was sleeping peacefully and unaware of the storm raging in the room. Her face was swollen from the several beatings she had taken from her husband.

He had been demanding for a divorce for long and she had refused him saying that they were together for better or worse.

Despite the fact that the worse in their union outweighs the better, she still loved her husband. However as the sharp knife glinted in her face she realized that it was time to let go of her stubbornness or have her jugular cut off.

She told him “I am ready to write the letter of divorce. How do I write it? You know that I am not so learned”.

He looked her over derisively “now can you see why we cannot go on together? You do not fit someone of my social standing. Don’t worry I will write it by myself.

That was how the marriage disintegrated. He wrote the letter and add for good measure that if she continues to be adamant, she was toying with her life as he hates her with passion.

During the melee, the mother-in-law who woke up due to the disturbance came out to join them.

She spoke “now that my son has come to his senses, let me tell you the truth. You can not continue to use the glory of my son. It is over now so you may leave so that my son will get the bearing of his life leave my son !”.

The wife was shocked beyond words. She had always thought that her mother-in-law supported her. To now hear her utter such debilitating words was too much to swallow. Her throat was thick with unshed tears as she looked at her disbelieving her ears.

Ever since they came to live at her in law’s house because they could no longer make ends meet, the elderly had been very caring and this had made her to continue with the marriage though she derived no joy from the union.

Hence hearing her mother-in-law asking her to leave was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

She decided to append her signature to the letter and left the house for her parents’ house along with her three year old daughter. She knew that she had nothing to lose as she had been the one taking care of the child’s need.

However, her brother who was her guardian felt that she had not done enough to hold on to the marriage and took her back to  her husband’s family house.

It proved to be a very bad mistake as the husband made good his threat and nearly beat the living daylight out of his wife when he got provoked over some of her words. Her brother was shocked that he could still beat her in his presence.

He tried to hold him back as he beat his wife as he would beat a man of his stature. He was however too angry to hold back and he faced the brother restraining him and began to beat him too. The brother too gave as good as he got.

It was a terrible fight as both the wife and mother-in-law shouted for help. They had tried to pacify both men but they were too angry to listen to anyone.

By then, residents that were attracted by the shouts had intervened and broken up the scuffle. They both panted heavily and cursed at each other as they were separated. The brother took his sister and left in a huff. He refused to listen to residents’ attempt to settle the issue amicably for them.

He said “if he could attack me in that manner, only God knows what my sister has been going through since in this terrible house. We are not many and our parents are dead. I don’t want to lose her too. I was the one who brought her here against her wish so that I could settle the issue for them once and for all, now see what happened”

The residents too were shocked at the scene that met their eyes. Both brother and sister had their eyes swollen and their clothes tattered.

That was how they left and the marriage seemed to be over.

Marriage is a sweet experience when the  fire of passion still blazes and the embers of desire are glowing in couples hearts. However when the love goes sour, it becomes a different story entirely.

Some people can go an extra mile to get rid of a partner that has become an encumbrance to their freedom.

She was adamant that she no longer want to go back to the relationship so that she would not lose her life at the hands of her husband. Residents too seeing the state she was in were not certain if the marriage could still work.