QUESTIONS TO ASK 3

Some weeks later, she took a Friday off from work, went to the market and bought all sorts of foodstuff, she went home, made varieties of soups, stew, even ground beans for moimoi and akara to last for the next 2 months, thankfully there were only 2 mouths to feed. She was so tired when she finished but she felt so fulfilled. At least all that was left was to make swallow, rice, yam or any other thing. It was much easier than going to the market from work and making soup everyday.

She arrived a bit late from work the next Monday, he was home already. She immediately entered the kitchen without pulling off her work clothes, microwaved the Ogbono and stirred semovita. 20 minutes later, food was served.

She called him to eat but as she turned to leave she heard him say, "this soup is stale". "I made it just last week Friday and put it inside the refrigerator and light has being regular so it couldn't  have spoilt". She immediately tasted it, it tasted fine to her. She couldn't understand why he had said it was stale.

He didn't finish eating it, Instead he went to drink garri. She didn't know what to do. 

He claimed that all through his childhood, his mother had cooked fresh food for the family. So why couldn't his wife do the same. She wanted to point out that his mother was not working but he wasn't even listening.

The next day, he called her parents to report that his wife gave him spoilt food. She was confused. She didn't say anything, her parents told her to be patient. 

She reverted to making fresh food. It made her so tired, she didn't have a 'me' time. Her work was suffering, 2 queries in the last 2 months.

 He was happy.

She couldn't take it anymore, she decided to employ a chef. At least he could have the fresh food he wanted so much. She thought it was a brilliant idea, alas, she couldn't have been more wrong, he was having none of it, "how can you bring a stranger to our home, in our first year of marriage" he complained. She answered that she was not finding things easy. She had to cook every morning and still go to work then come back and cook.

He replied that that was her job as a woman. She pleaded with him and then he said it, he said the undoable, he told her to quit her job. She was speechless, he walked out on her. she began to cry.

They had just being married for 5 months but she was fed up. She couldn't cope anymore. She remembered her childhood. Both her parents were lecturers at the university, they later became professors. Her father gave her mother a 100% support. He went as far as making meals for the family, assisting in the house chores. He would even wash the dishes. 

Her mother had never been a market person so she always bought things in bulk so they hardly ever went to the market. Why was her case so different? Why couldn't her husband understand. 

He didn't care about her. All she knew was that she would never quit her job.

She remembered how on Sundays, her father took the entire family out to a fancy restaurant to eat, she had suggested it to her husband but he was having none of that, "why should I go to a restaurant to waste hard earned money? Imagine buying one chicken lap for N2,000, when that money will be able to buy like 3 whole chickens" he replied her. She accepted it like that.

She kept on striving, he kept on demanding. She prayed, she fasted, he stayed resolute. He wanted his fresh food.

Was he being difficult? He really wasn't asking for too much. At least he wasn't asking for lunch. One of his colleagues at work always had lunch brought for him by his wife EVERYDAY. Of course he wouldn't mind that but he was being considerate because of her job. All he wanted was good breakfast and dinner. He had at least coped with bread and cereal so he had tried to be patient. He was not used to this life. He grew up seeing his mother cook for the household, when his sisters grew up, they helped their mother. Their home was a happy one. Why was his case different.