Mr. & Mrs.

Being a married couple is more of a girl's dream than a guy. Fairy tales including the Walt Disney classics suggest from the wedding day, the couple lives happily every after. In reality, that was far from the truth and most people have come to accept that. I see couples in my neighbourhood with smiles and their beautiful kids being so carefree and I say to myself, "this couple must be really really happy". I saw a couple one morning, the husband was holding the hands of his two daughters as he walked them to school, while the wife was few steps behind with their school bags. If I didn't know better I would have thought all was well, that that was a happy family.

Months earlier, I had seen the husband returning from work in his car. I can't say what the time was but I'm guessing it was probably two hours to midnight. Barely 10 minutes had passed from the time the guy parked in his compound when I saw him running out with only his boxers on and his wife chasing after him. This wasn't a late night jogging exercise, his wife was determined to beat the hell out of her husband as she rained curses during the chase. The street was empty so the guy had to run until he saw people come to his rescue. It took great verbal and physical persuasion to calm the wife. Apparently the husband had been a punching bag all this while. That was when this Mr. & Mrs. actions made more sense, he had taken the "role" of the wife. I remember one time he was driving home, and as his car approached his house which was one away from mine he began to slow down. His hands weren't on the steering wheel but his phone. As he drove pass I noticed he was deleting messages and call logs. Probably he had something to hide but with a wife that could beat the sh!t out of the husband, it was best to hide everything.

There are some Mr. and Mrs. that you don't need to know what goes on behind closed doors to know they weren't meant to be together. It felt as if the girl couldn't wait for Prince Charming to save her so she settled for one of her captors. I knew this Mr. before the Mrs. came along and I didn't like him. He was one of those who was no doubt accomplished in the business world but his personal life sucked because he sucked personally. He got tired of the girl and wanted her to leave but he knew that won't be as easy feat. Getting married was as easy as saying "I do" but dissolving the union wasn't as easy as saying "I don't" or "I'm tired of you" OR "Move ahead!". She was one of those Mrs. that had nothing outside their matrimonial home to fall back on. So whatever bullshit the Mr. threw at her she was ready to swallow it. During her pregnancy he deprived her of so many things in an attempt to frustrate her to move in with her mum for that period but she didn't take a step. When the Mrs. delivered, while others bought gifts, he bought a new lock...the girl's mum came to their home to stay for a while but he kicked her out. He wanted it to be the other way round where the girl would stay with her mum. He intended to change the lock during that period but this Mrs. sensed it and didn't move an inch. The only way she would leave her matrimonial home was if he killed her.

One other Mr. & Mrs. lasted 2 years in my area along with their marriage. The Mrs. was from a wealthy/influential family, even her dad was a commissioner while the Mr was...let's just say he had a family. That wasn't the only contrast, the Mrs was also on the fat side which would make people question why the Mr got married to her. It was either he had a taste for big women or the money. The wife got pregnant and travelled to America leaving the husband alone in the house. This Mr didn't hesistate to take full advantage of being home alone. He was so promiscuous that by the time his wife was to arrive after delivery, his mother went door-to-door to plead with neighbours not to allow the Mrs know of her son's behaviour. The cracks in the marriage finally led to the failure when she found out. The Mrs moved out of their home when she couldn't stand seeing the guy and the Mr decided to also move his things out. Their home remained empty for weeks. During that period, I walked in and saw what was left of the marriage. Both Mr & Mrs had taken with them what they brought into the home and left behind what they both shared. In their scattered bedroom was a typed note on the floor with other pile of papers. It was writted by the wife to the husband. The title was "20 Things I Would Do To Make You Happy". It was a list of things the wife wanted to achieve to satisfy the husband and included things like losing weight and always respecting him. It showed the Mrs was determined to make the marriage work but I have to admit, I might not know if she fulfilled the remaining items on the list but I do know she didn't succeed in shedding the weight.