Assaulted
1525 Words
Nathan
Sprinkling her mother’s remains has taken a toll on my wife. She is very quiet on our way back to the apartment. She sits on the couch and blankly stares into nothingness. I wish I can know what she is thinking. I wish I can take away her pain. I take her feet and place them on my lap and massage them.
“I know that I can never replace your parents, but I promise to be by your side till death.”
“Thank you,” her voice is faint and heart-breaking.
I recall how I felt when I lost my parents. It’s a void no one can fill. Hers is worse because she had so much more going on at same time.
“No, Babe. Thank you for accepting me as I am,” I counter and she raises her eyebrows.
“As you are? How exactly do you think you are, Nathan?”
“Are you going to be mad if I answer truthfully?” I ask while flashing her a sheepish grin. “You almost bit my head off after our wedding,” I add. She was really mad that day when I called myself a worthless, useless, cripple.
“Fine, I won’t be mad,” she concedes but I still thread lightly and say as minimal as possible.
“I am a useless cripple.”
She sighs and holds my hand.
“You have been my comfort since the day mother passed. You stood up for me against my uncle and you made sure that my mother was buried with dignity. That is not something someone who is useless can do, Nathan.”
She speaks with so much tenderness, I have no doubt that she means what she says.
“I will try to see myself as you do,” I tell her.
“Do that, and you are disabled, not a cripple. The disability does not define you. You are Nathan Lord, not a useless cripple.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
She shakes her head and gets on her feet. I can guess where she is going. I grab her hand.
“Where do you think you are going?”
“It’s almost night time. I have to prepare our supper.”
That exactly what I thought. An open book this wife of mine. I pull her to sit on my lap.
“Don’t worry about that. Someone will deliver our supper.”
She looks suspiciously at me. “The same friend, huh?”
I nod and flash her an innocent smile. “He owes me a lot. Like his whole career kind of a favour. You just relax, it’s been a long day.”
“I know that it’s early to say this, but you are a great husband, Mr Lord.”
I can’t help but rejoice at that.
“And you are just perfect, Mrs Lord.”
She blushes and avoids my eyes.
The next three weeks, Amari is called for day and night shifts at different hospitals. I spend most of the days with Mrs Gail and Isaac. Mrs Gail fills me in on Amari’s parents, her childhood and all the gossip about the residents.
“Don’t tell your wife. She does not like gossip,” she warns every time she leaves.
By the end of the third week, I know most of the older residents. They visit and bring me all sort of welcome to the neighbourhood gifts. I am really touched by their generosity. Most of them really have nothing, yet they give so wholeheartedly. I now have shirts and suits to wear for church services, thanks to the old men. I also get a lot of scones from the old ladies.
“Are you sure you are not cheating on me with these ladies, Mr Lord?” Amari teases when she finds fresh scones on the kitchen island. “It was muffins yesterday,” she adds.
I pull her to my lap and kiss her neck. I am glad that she has been getting shifts, but I miss her madly when she is not around. I am thrilled that she came back earlier than usual today.
“I assure you that my wife is more than enough.”
I can feel her breathing picking up before she turns her head, wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me. She moans when I hold her in place and intensity the kiss. This woman is going to be the end of my lies.
My spear is rising when the door opens and James budges in.
We are both breathless when we break the kiss and look at him.
“Amari?” he looks shocked to see her. I guess he was coming for me.
“What are you doing here, James?” Amari asks and makes no attempt to get off my lap.
“I…” the i***t stammers.
“You what?” Amari snaps while I bury my head on her neck and kiss her.
“Never mind,” he says and storms out.
Amari lets out a sigh. “He is up to something. You need to be careful and keep this door locked when you’re alone.”
I know that she is right, but my pride won’t let me lock myself in. I can’t hide from that i***t.
Amari is called for another shift the following morning. It is just after ten in the morning when James budges in exactly like he did yesterday. He scans the place around, most likely checking if Amari is around. I should call for help, but I want to know how far he is willing to go.
“Can I help you?” I ask.
“You do not belong here. You need to go.”
I can’t help but chuckle. “This is a free country. I can stay anywhere I want,” I respond and see his nostrils flare before he clenches his fists.
“Cocky, huh? Who the f**k do you think you are?”
I just stare at him and that seems to fuel his rage. In a split second I am on the floor and his seventy kilograms weight is on my chest.
“Amari is mine! You don’t just show up and take her!” he roars and repeatedly punches my face.
I can’t move with his whole weight on me. Throwing him off requires me to have some strength on my legs, which I currently don’t have. All I can do is try to block his punches, but a lot still land on my face. I can feel blood pouring out of my nostrils.
“Amari is my wife. She will never be yours,” I respond, earning myself a flood of punches. s**t! This guy is like a possessed freak!
It’s a good ten minutes of him punching and cursing at me when someone speaks outside the corridor. That’s when he stops.
“Leave Amari or else,” he warns before fleeing.
I am left on the floor, bleeding and my whole body felling like I have been run over by a train.
It takes over an hour to get myself to sit up and call Isaac, who arrives withing twenty minutes and helps me clean up. He is fuming but not surprise that James did this. It turns out that he is a known bully. I literary beg Isaac not to call my wife. The last thing I need is Amari leaving work early because of this.
He insist on taking me to the emergency room, where I get stiches on my face and some pain killers.
I am in bed and can hardly open my eyes when Amari returns. She looks at me, leaves the bedroom and returns with ice, which she places over my swollen eyes.
My vision is blur but I can tell that she is livid. I assume that Isaac told her what happened because she does not ask.
“Talk to me,” I plead when she leaves and returns with food and insists on feeding me.
“You did not want Isaac to call me.”
Her voice is devoid of any emotions. That somehow sends chills down my spine.
“You were at work, I did not want to disturb you.”
“Disturb me? My husband is assaulted, injured and seen in the emergency room and I have no idea. You are my responsibility, Nathan. How would you feel if I got injured and called other people instead of you?” the obvious hurting in her voice tells me that I should have let Isaac call her.
I let out a sigh. “I did not think of it like that,” I confess. I would be sad and demasculinised if that happened.
She gets up and takes out a bat from the top cupboard.
“Where are you going?” I enquire when she heads towards the door.
“I am going to teach some i***t never to touch my husband again.”
“Amari!” I shout behind her, but she is gone.
Damn it!
- Writer
