Tomorrow's tide

"Can we meet after work?" He asked.
"Yeah sure" I replied.
I had reduced my life to Work and Home ever since Brian called it quits. In as much as i did not build my life around his, I had placed a significant amount of importance and attention on him. Brian was not rich, in fact he was just trying to relocate to Lagos and his contract with his former employer was over. His financials did not matter to me. He was bright and smart and that was the main attraction. I had always been in love with 'brains'. Ultimately, that would be my downfall. That will be a story for another day.

After promising to go out and entertain myself, I agreed to hang out with Dave after work. I had met Dave through a mutual friend a couple of years back. Dave picked me up after work and we had drinks, caught up on old times till it was quite late. It felt strange and yes, liberating, to have been able to stay out this late. It had been a long time. He dropped me off at home and waited for me to get into the house before driving off(hmm, a gentleman, i see). That will set the pace for a couple of nights to come; have drinks and dinner after work till late and then home.

Few nights after that, Dave invited me to his place. I accepted and after our usual drinks, he took me to his place. He started kissing and touching and the rest is history....He dropped me off and waited to make sure i got into the house before driving off. Twice, we had that routine. Dave and I went out to a couple of other places with his friends but no more intimacy.

On this last night, we had met again and went over to his place. After our usual drinks, the touching and kissing started again....I did not have a problem kissing Dave but for a couple of weeks now, I did not want to be intimate(that's like closing the barn after the horses have all run off)...Persuasion by action had never been a stronger force than it was today. I was forced to remember that trying to stop a guy from doing a 'home run" was like holding up an umbrella on a top-speed bike while it's raining in Lagos(the wind will 'mess' up that umbrella and probably snatch it away from your hands or disfigure it)...but i insisted and refused.

We got into the car and i started thinking to myself all through the drive home..."was sex going to be my payment "currency" for the drinks and movie and dinners we've been having?" "Did i not have the right to decline his advances?" "Could i not just have an evening with a friend without the pressures of wanting to have sex?" "We are not dating so does that make us sex partners and me no better than the mistresses of the noble peerage of Britain who had to pander sex for being 'protected'?" ...Alas we are home and no, i had not yet found the answers i seek...Dave does not kiss me goodnight nor does he say much. I step down and walked to the gate and when i turned, Dave was driving off....He had not waited to see if i had gotten into the house. I stood at the gate and watched the car's headlights till  it disappeared from view...

I wonder if there will be a "Can we meet after work?" tomorrow.

The Beginning of the End

"Oge! Brian! stop running around."
"Brian, stop pulling your sister's hair"
"Darling, hurry up. We boarding already."
I think to myself, "gosh! cant wait to get home..these kids will be the death of me..."
I look over to where he stands and i start getting pissed.."I wish i could just go and snatch that newspaper out o his hands. Cant he see i need help with these kids?"
I walk over to him, "Why would i have to come and beg you to help me keep these kids in line? All you've been doing since we got here is to read that dang newspaper"
He looks at me like iv got PMS and says nothing, looks at Brian and says "I see you pulling your sister's hair again and i'm taking away your football. Make sure Junior doesn't stroll away" and turns back to his paper.
I sigh in frustration and allow the lady to search my bag.

I sit down to close my eyes and that's when it starts
The violent shaking,
The raised voices
The oxygen masks dropping overheard
Junior starts wailing,
Oge starts whimpering
Brian looks at him with eyes wide

It's getting worst
The pilot's voice echoes in my ears
I look outside my window
We seem to be close to the ground
I stretch out my hand and hold his

I look over at my kids
Their eyes mirror mine
I look over at him; my husband
Words, Thoughts, Apologies all scramble for a place on my tongue
I see my thoughts in his eyes

In that time of realization,
Words are not needed
We become I
I become Him
One mind, One thought

I look into my kids eyes, one after the other
Memorizing their faces and features,
I look into my husband's eyes
And I mirror his thoughts for my kids to see
'I love you, in this world and in the world beyond'
And I live to see the terror fade away in their eyes

Nothing else matters

Indelible print

He leaves imprints on my skin
His lips are familiar with every crevice on my  body
His eyes are intimate with every strand of hair on my skin
His fingers map out every curve of mine

The river rushes to meet the sea,
Compelled by its own moving force
Betrayed by its very nature, it cannot stand still
A force beyond its knowledge

His hands, as faint as the gentle breeze
firm like the grip of a warrior,
His palms...oh his palms, not soft but edged with calluses
His voice, resonating like sparks deep within my core

His skin, as sinful as the bronzed-tinged skin of the Egyptian princess,
His chest, rippling with unleashed strength of a tiger on a hunt
His legs, molded, sculpted like the works of the great craftsmen
His feet, perfection in itself like a painting of Micheal Angelo

He cries, makes me cry
He strides away in anger, leaving me bereft
He hurts, hurts me too
He closes up in pain, leaving me all alone in the cold

He wipes the tears off my face and makes me laugh
He wraps himself around me, vowing never to let go again
He cannot undo the hurt but he stays to share the residue of the hurt
He opens himself to me, scared that i may inflict damage yet deciding to stand in all his naked glory

My man
He is not perfect but he is mine and i am his.