Life With Tutu

  I got married to ‘ Madam', two decades ago. I had just finished bagging a masters degree in Mechanical engineering from the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland. Father had insisted I come home to run the thriving mechanical plant we had in Nigeria. I was not tempted to stay back, I found the life in the UK, cold and unyielding and so as soon as I was done, I found my way back, to Nigeria. I was naïve around women, I knew little about them being a reserved and introspective person. I was an only child and generally I amused myself.  Father and mother thought it wise I settle down with a girl from ‘ a good family’, before taking on the reins of the MD/ CEO of Kinetics. And so, the search for a suitable bride begun. Not long afterwards, I was introduced to a lady, the daughter of my father’s old friend. The family  had just relocated to Nigeria from the States. That was how I was introduced to ‘ Madam' and encouraged to cultivate a relationship with her. I was however indifferen

  I know I’m drunk, but I just can’t stop drinking. I had planned to get drunk anyway, to escape what cannot be escaped. Sometimes we deceive ourselves, live in denial. Try to run away from what cannot be escaped. It was just a one night stand It was just a fling An attempt to escape from my unhappiness and disillusion. I know it isn’t possible to have it all. Heck, who does? At least, not in this world. Maybe in the world to come. I hadn’t planned to live my life like this. I hadn’t planned to be unhappy. I am a good person, a good man by all standards. I do not think I deserve the cross that is hanging so heavily on my neck. No one does. It is said you must lie on your bed, the way you’ve laid it. I had laid mine well. I had done the needful. It just had not worked out, the way I planned. I stare fixedly at the clock on the wall, adjacent my table. I have difficulty focussing on the hands of the clock ‘Can it be 11: 30pm?. But, I haven’t been here long!’ I try to count the bottles on