Tina stood in the kitchen still soaked and dripping with water. She couldn’t take it anymore she had tried to condone his behavior for years but each year he became more aggressive. All she could think about is leaving the house with her children and start over somewhere else. She was too ashamed to tell anyone what she was going through. She took a mop and cleaned up the water that poured on the floor. She avoided him like a plague through out that day.
The next morning she woke up to see a note beside her, in Mathew’s handwriting.
“my love, I beg your pardon from my heart. What happened yesterday was not my intention, you know how much I love and adore you. You are the most important thing in my life. We have been together for years and I don’t want to loose your companionship
. You are my queen and my world revolves around you. Just stick with me and don’t give up on me, walk beside me. I love you and please forgive me.”
She took the letter and read over and over again. She shook her head sadly, Tina was already used to receiving apology notes from Mathew, but he never changed, he just behaved well for few days and resumes his beastly nature later. She folded the note neatly then got up from bed, she stretched and yawned, she looked at the clock it was 6am, s calm Sunday morning it was. She knocked on the doors of her children’s rooms making sure they were up so that they would make it to church early. She got into the kitchen to see if she could make lunch before going to church. The Mathew family had the habit of not eating breakfast before leaving for church. She got to the kitchen and saw Mathew already making lunch. She looked at him and knew that this was the many stunts he pulled for her not to leave the marriage for good. For some days he would act like a sheep and other days he would pull of the sheep clothing and show the wolf he really is.
“goodmorning” she said. He turned to look at her and grinned,
“goodmorning darling, how was your night?”
“fine. What are you doing?”
“making lunch”
“since when did you start doing that”
“today”. She looked round the kitchen and saw a small frying pan, at that moment she felt like using it on his head, but she shook the thought off .
“thank you” she said instead
“for?”
“helping me cook lunch”
“oh, you are welcome”
“so are you going to church with us today”
“nope, I have so much to do. I need to finish up a job before tomorrow”. She sighed and got back to check if the children were already getting ready for the church service. Mathew never followed them to church except it was a festive seasons like Easter and Christmas. He preferred staying at home; he claimed it was the only time he had to have a quiet time alone.
Tina and the children were all set for church and they hurried downstairs to beat time. Mathew sat in the living room watching television.
“Tina, did you see my note”
“yes I did”
“so am I forgiven”
“I have no choice Mathew but to forgive you”
“Obviously you don’t have a choice”. She ignored him as she and the kids hurried out of the house.
He stretched on the sofa as soon as they were out, “home alone at last”.
The message preached in church was about endurance, not giving up easily on an unbelieving spouse. She felt the message was for her and that encouraged her to be more patient with Mathew, one day, just one day, he might change. The church service lasted for three hours and they were on their way home. On getting home they met Mathew lying carelessly on the sofa with the remote almost falling off from his hand.
“walk slowly so as not to wake your father up” they all almost tiptoed out of the living room, if he woke up suddenly that day would be bad for everyone. She got to the kitchen and served food for her children, she called them to eat as quiet as possible. She sat down at the dinning with her kids and ate slowly. Mia frowned,
“its too peppery”
“sorry darling just eat it, daddy made an effort to cook so you have to appreciate his effort by eating it, do you understand”
“yes mom”. Williams didn’t bother if it was peppery or not all he was concerned about was that his stomach needed food. They finished eating in silence, she asked Mia to wash the dishes and Williams to arrange his room before they settled for a Sunday nap.
She got to the sitting room to check him, he was still in the same position, she contemplated waking him up but wondered what he reaction would be like. She braced herself and tapped him.
“honey, wake up”, he mumbled something inaudibly, “wake up honey”,
He groaned and opened his eyes slowly, “what is it?”
“go into the room and sleep better”. He got up and looked around him, his eyes were red shot from so much sleep.
“when did you guys get back”
“not too long ago”
“errr, have you considered leaving me alone anytime”. Her heart beat shot up, she knew she had considered leaving him alone several times.
“no I have never”. He got up and touched her face, “good, don’t ever think of it, I would be empty if you leave me alone”
“I won’t leave you alone” she assured him.
“I’m sorry. I am starving I need to eat”. She asked him to wait at the dinning as she got into the kitchen to serve his food. She served the food quickly. He took a spoon and frowned.
“for Christ sake this food is peppery”
“for heavens sake why are you complaining? Aren’t you the one that cooked this food, we all managed to eat it”
“what nonsense couldn’t you do anything to reduce the pepper, its just too spicy”.
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