Read Episode 5 Here “Finally, the third musketeer is getting married”, my oldest brother Femi said. Me and my two brothers had gone out to lunch. My immediate older brother Dayo had just come back from Canada. He had been away for almost 2years on a course. It was the first time in over 10years that it would be just the 3 of us together alone, no parents, no significant others, no friends. Just us, it felt really good. I didn’t realize how much time had taken its toll on our sibling relationship. Brother Femi, although many years older had to be the coolest brother in the whole world and despite the drama that had come with him over the years, I still loved him deeply. Dayo and I were closer as were also closer in age. He was and is the ultimate Big brother, he’s the one person that knows practically everything about me, and including the first day I had sex. That was the one person I trusted to keep my secrets. 2years away, even though we chatted almost every day and i had missed him silly. “Who did Aishat finally commit to o, that’s how that girl didn’t marry me” Dayo said, digging into his Ila Alasepo. “You this unserious human being, you guys would never have worked out” I said in reply. “You better look for wife elsewhere” Brother Femi put in. “But seriously, who’s the lucky guy?” Dayo asked “It’s one Timehin guy o, she met him when she went to Canada after she had Khameel.” I said in reply. “Oh Ok, when I went to see her then, she mentioned him in our conversation but nothing important, she was going to dinner with him or something” Dayo explained. “The guy looks like he has a good head on his shoulders though” Brother Femi said as he washed his hands in the bowl of water on our table. I brought out my phone to show Dayo a picture. He took a look and immediately washed his hands, took the phone from me to have a closer look. “Ahn ahn, na the guy be this?” he asked My heart raced, a million things running through, I said a quick prayer, no ugly revelations, God please. “Yes he is the one, ki lo de o?” I asked eagerly. “This is my guy na, Timi, we played basketball together every Sunday at some leisure club I joined. Na confirmed guy o. Really cool guy. Now it all adds up.” He said excitedly. I heaved a huge sigh of relief, I was super charged, ready to turn all the way up. To be honest, Aishat’s fears had started to rub off on me, but now, my wedding planning antennae was high up there. Dayo went further to explain how Timehin had mentioned a girl he met and had fallen in love with, how he had also mentioned her son and how that wasn’t a problem for him as he was really in love with the girl. But he had gotten busy with school and Timehin had gone back to Nigeria, so they had kinda lost touch. I couldn’t wait to tell Aishat, but first, I’d have a one on one with Dayo and squeeze all the information he has about Timehin out. I was almost certain there was nothing to fear because knowing my brother, he would have spilled any dirt without mincing words. We talked some more about other things, each of us relating our current life situations and plans for the immediate future. My brothers were worried about the delay in my getting pregnant, they tried not to express how much, but I could sense it. They each had their calming words and encouraged me not to get discouraged. We talked about Dayo finding a wife and settling down and Brother Femi’s family too. Being with them was all the comfort that I needed, nothing like your own family, flesh and blood. It runs really deep and God had blessed me with an awesome one. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* “This is why one needs to live a life of integrity, I mean it’s not like you can be at a 100 all the time, but lead a decent life. It’s such a small world and you never know who knows you.” Hakeem said as we drove into the hospital car park. “Honestly, things like this have always kept me in check, the good or evil you do will follow you miles around the world. I’m happy in Aisha and Timehin’s case it’s for good, that girl can’t take any more heartbreak abeg, she deserves the best of hearts and I’m happy for her with this one.” I replied. After lunch with my brothers the previous day, I had gone back to the office but closed early as I started to feel funny. I took a long warm bath and went straight to bed. I didn’t even realize when Hakeem came in. “Hey baby” He dropped his bag on the floor and knelt down by the side of the bed I was on. He placed his palm on my head. “You’re warm. What’s wrong?” “A little weak and a slight headache. If it persists, I’d see the doctor tomorrow. Maybe I just need to sleep; it’s been a busy past couple of days.” I replied, sitting up to hug him. I felt better already seeing him, but I won’t admit that. I was in need of some TLC and I was very sure of getting the best from him. “Are you sure you don’t want us to go now?” he asked pulling me up and holding me into a tight hug. I felt so much at peace being in his arms. I was hopelessly in love with this man, hopelessly in love. I wanted nothing more than to give him at least a child. I said another silent prayer to God, maybe the one millionth prayer in the last 2hours. *Sigh*. “No Hakeem, I just want to be like this till morning”, I said holding on to him tightly. It must have been close to 10 minutes,...
Rihanna: Born 20 February 1988 in Barbados Jay: Born 30 April 1988 in Lagos, Nigeria About 60 days apart, she came out earlier to work my spirit animal. Rihanna is a lot in personality what I’d most likely be under different circumstances. I love her, period!!! Back to why I’m here, everyone has been buzzing about her latest collaboration with the legend Manolo Blahnik and me I’m just here sipping tea trying to digest the whole “shoetiation”. Last year, I thought they killed it together with the launch of the Denim collection that had Jennifer Lopez rocking a pair in her music video. [caption id="attachment_42139" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] J Lo[/caption] [caption id="attachment_42140" align="aligncenter" width="840"] Rih rih[/caption] I saw this new collection and I'm totally taken. These pieces are in a class of their own. Nude, PVC and precious stones in 3 varying styles. This is what happens when 2 artists come together, #Issacreativeexplosion. EVERY woman would want a pair of one of these, tell me why not, call them over rated and I’d show you a hater… This post should make you think again. OMG, drool with me, but I have to go now. Peace, Love and Work (Get it? Work work work work work) Xoxo Jay...
Read Episode 4 "You know, I'm worried about Ai" I said to Hakeem as I sipped on my mint tea at my parents breakfast table. It was my Dad's birthday and we had all gathered for breakfast after attending the early morning service at his church earlier. We were waiting for my brother and his family who weren't able to join us for the service. My Sis in law Moji always looked stunning and I was eager to see what the days theme would be. "What's the situation with her and her new guy?" Hakeem asked in reply. "Well, I know she likes him but it's this her fear of commitment that is a bother. For how long will she live in fear?" I answered, genuinely worried about her. I've known Aisha for donkey years. She is a beautiful woman with a heart of gold. As tough as she appeared to be on the outside, on the inside, she was just a little girl looking to be loved. I can't really blame her for her fears, she's had many unpleasant experiences in life. She met him while she was on course in Canada after the incident with Khameel, Ahmed’s late father. Timehin, an Itsekiri man from Delta state was one of the calmest guys I had ever met. I remember the first day she introduced us and I kept thinking how soft spoken and polite and well behaved he was. For me, he checked all the required boxes to qualify as husband material, but my friends thought I was being too quick to accept him. Something in my spirit just felt right about him. It had been about 7 months since they had been seeing one another, although without any titles, and I had not seen Aishat any happier. She seemed to come alive every time she was around him. Ivie had travelled to have her baby and during our last lunch date before she left, we had discussed at length concerning Timehin. “What’s holding you back, you wouldn’t even accept the girlfriend tag?” Ivie asked Aishat as she dug into her burger. Her appetite had trippled in her last trimester and she really didn’t care much. Aisha sighed, “Honestly, I wish I knew girls. I have become so paranoid and all these thoughts keep creeping on me. What if another family shows up, what if he’s a wife beater, what if he has mental disorders?, what if he is”… “Common Ai, what if he is just God sent for you to wipe away your tears and bring sunshine back to the dark clouds that have followed you the most of your life. You need to snap out of this and not let a good thing pass you by. I can’t force you to commit to him and I won’t watch you fall into wrong hands. I’m the queen of paranoia, see what I put Hakeem through, that is even someone we all grew up together with. I don’t have bad vibes about this guy and that’s very rare. He’s been open so far about his past. Look at you, you look so happy and relaxed when you’re with him, see how hot you look knowing you’re going to see him from here. I say think about it well.” I cut her off in almost one breath. “I hear you loud and clear, I hear you” She answered, and faced Ivie changing topics to delivery dates and baby talk. Breakfast with my dad and the rest of the family went well, we ate and laughed and toasted to many more prosperous years. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable in the dress I wore and was eager to get out of it. In the past few weeks, my clothes seemed pretty snug especially in the bust area. I had had to cut down my food portions some more. It seemed to turn Hakeem on a lot because all he wanted to do was make love to me. I was almost starting to avoid him, but he would hear nothing of it. I couldn’t exactly complain as the sex had been amazing, every session was a hit. As I whispered to him that I needed to get home and undress, he had a silly smirk on his face and gently guided my hand to his crotch area, I almost choked on my wine. *************************************************************************************************************************** “Damn Salewa, what have you done to me?, I can’t get my hands off you, he said as we cuddled after our second round since getting home from my parents place. “I hope you remember we have people’s children in our care” I said, gently releasing myself from his hold. “If you weren’t enjoying it, you wouldn’t be moaning so loudly” He replied, trying to start up another raunchy session. I got up almost immediately and hit his hands off my breasts. Let’s talk business and maybe just maybe I can do that do that you like me to do, I winked at him and walked away moving my derriere seductively towards the bathroom. The squats were paying off nicely. “We don’t need to talk baby, I’d write you a blank cheque, just come back here” He said looking lustfully after me. “Ashewo, kuku kill me” I stuck my tongue out at him and went into the bathroom to clean up. Since my epiphany of LADY COBBLER the other day, I had told Hakeem about it and we had been praying for direction. What I basically had in mind was a set up that provided shoe cleaning services, shoe repair and shoe revamp. Hakeem thought it was a great idea and was all up for it, although he wanted me to have a showroom to retail luxury footwear on the side for both men and women. We talked about it some more and projected start up figures, we wrote down the goals and broke them down into steps. It was going to cost a lot but we planned to take it one step at a time. After that, we had lunch with the kids and set out to go and swim with Sister Moji...
We went all out for her with a tiffany blue theme, lots of glam, beautiful gifts and a generally lovely time with friends and family in Aisha’s house. She deserved all the love.
Eddy was doing all he could to make things better with her – shopping sprees, lunch dates and date nights and very recently, a brand new Mercedez Benz G-Wagon.
“I’m happy to see that things are going on well with you and Eddy, giirrrrllll that G-baby is the real baby” I said, having a light cocktail with Ivie on the night of the baby shower.
She smiled “It’s nice to have all these things Salewa, I love the life of luxury. But you see, ‘things’ don’t cover the matters of the heart. You know, I still struggle with forgiving Eddy fully. I mean there are days I can’t stand the sight of him, days I don’t believe one word he says, days I just want to be lost in his arms cos I love him so much. It has only been the grace of God and now I’m learning to take it one day at a time and pray for God to restore things or at least take the bitterness and anger away completely” She said as she tried to get up while using my shoulders as support.
I remembered that conversation with her and I can’t help but wonder how many other women carry such baggage in their hearts. It must be a lot to deal with yet we still had to carry on like all is well. Life!!!
Ivie was due to travel in a few days to have her baby. She would be travelling with Eddy so they could spend some time together. Hakeem and I had offered to take Osas in with us while they were away. It would be a full house for us as we were also going to have Ahmed, Aishat’s son and Hakeem’s niece, Tara. Hakeem had been given 2weeks off work, it had been almost 20 months of work non stop for him and his boss had asked him to take time off.
I was starting to think of what I could go into, Hakeem was still insistent on me starting up my own business in preparation for when our babies come. Hakeem, he was indeed God sent to me and I could not thank God enough for the wonderful gift of him. Sometimes I wondered what I did to deserve a good heart like his.
“Hey baby” It was Hakeem, we had a lunch date and I had been waiting for him at Bukka Hut.
I got up to give him a hug “Hey you”
“You look beautiful babe, I love this dress” He said, looking me over as he took out a seat for himsel
Read Episode 1 Here “Hey beautiful” I rolled over and opened my eyes to see Hakeem standing over me, I sat up and met his lips as he tried to reach for mine. “I’m going out for a run and I’m not going without you, so get up, freshen up and let’s go” He said as he bent over to tie his laces. I threw my head back on the pillow and grabbed the duvet. “I don’t feel up to it, besides it’s 5.30 in the morning and it’s Saturday, can I at least sleep for one more hour?” I mumbled. “No lover, you can’t sleep for an hour, we need to keep you in shape, remember we had body goals early this year “ He replied as he took the duvet off me and pulled me up again. I dragged myself out of our king-sized bed and made for the bathroom. Was this Hakeem’s way of telling me I was getting fat? I knew I had added a few Kg’s but I wouldn’t get on the scale to know just how many. My clothes were getting snug around my midsection and thighs, but because they still fit, I didn’t think anything of it. I sat on the toilet seat to take a leak and on cleaning up with the tissue paper, it came out blood red. My heart shattered into a million pieces. I was really hoping this would be it. The snug clothes, I had been consoling myself that it is because I had gotten pregnant I was putting on weight. Now, another month, and yet another visit from Aunt Flo. Why me, why? I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. “Salewa, come out now, it’s been almost 15mins”. I heard Hakeem call out for me. I couldn’t bring myself to answer, the tears were uncontrollable. After 3 knocks and no response, he came in. He squatted in front of me, I tried to avoid his eyes. “You can go ahead Hakeem, I need to be left alone” I said. He heaved a deep sigh, got up and sat on the edge of the bath. “What is it this time Salewa” He said staring at me. I lost it In my head. “What do you mean by what is it this time?, first you wake me up and indirectly tell me I’m fat and need to run at 5am, now you’re insinuating I’m a nag. Do you know how frustrating it is to see your period every month for almost 3years of trying for a baby, do you know the …?” He cut me off “Stop being so f^^ng selfish all the damn time, stop it, just stop it” He was almost yelling, he paused and struggled to control his tone. “Do you think this doesn’t affect me as much as it affects you, have you ever stopped to ask me how I’m holding up? Do you think I like that we can’t get pregnant and have our own children almost 4years after?” His voice got louder with each sentence “It’s always about you, how you feel, me holding you up, looking out for you, walking on egg shells around you. Stop it Salewa, please just stop it” he stormed out of the bathroom and the last thing I heard was him slamming the room door. I have known Hakeem for more than 20years and I have never seen him that upset with anyone. I broke out in fresh tears. Will this be the beginning of the end of our marriage? Hakeem can now yell at me and slam the door on me? I took a long warm bath, crying the whole time. I picked out a loose fit dress to hide my flabby stomach and a pair of sandals and packed an overnight bag. We obviously needed some space from each other. I was very sure my mum will not let me stay in her house, besides I wasn’t ready for any sermons. I was already thinking of a hotel close to the house I could spend the night. I called Aishat first, I needed my girls. Aishat had a son, my god son. She had met this guy one time when she had visited her parents. Khameel was one of those spoiled northern guys from a very wealthy home but he loved Aisha to bits. She liked him as well but wasn’t ready to commit to marriage. That had brought a rift between her and her father, who had threatened to cut her off his will. Eventually, she came around and was able to overcome her commitment fears. The plans for the wedding started and we were all so excited. A week to the wedding, we had gone to Dubai to buy her jewelry. We got back to the unfortunate news that Khameel and some of his friends had gone clubbing and he had overdosed on cocaine and passed away before help could come. It was a dark period in Aishat’s life. She went through many stages and phases of denial, confusion, hopelessness and betrayal. Then she found out she was pregnant. She had her baby, Ahmed, in Canada and stayed back for a year and 6months. She went through counseling, got a diploma in business administration and returned to Nigeria to continue with her business. For her, she was done with love or trying to have a family. She had decided to remain a single mother and raise her son to the best of her ability. “I can’t just believe Hakeem yelled at me, I can swear I saw hate in his eyes. He was like a different person guys” I had just finished narrating to Aisha and Ivie what had happened that morning. After I called Aishat and she said she was home all day, I had called Ivie who also said she was free and we decided to meet at Aisha’s house as no one was in the mood for public appearances. “I can’t even start to say I understand what you’re going through, but you also need to cut Hakeem some slack. These things don’t affect just us the women. They...
