Chapter Fourteen.

There was no moment to spare. Dele rushed for the door with Tiwa tailing him. A quick turn to the back revealed a scene from many people's nightmares.

The kitchen had a great many fumes. Inhaling the stench made Tiwa cough repeatedly, but the couple did retreat on their advance to their kitchen.

'What did you do?' Dele could hear Tiwa's voice from behind him.

'I put the beans on fire,' Dele sighed.

He did not mean it to be literal, but it was. Of course, he had forgotten about the beans he put over the fire. Now those legumes looked like coal. His mind was on overdrive. The pot was still over the fire.

Dele did not think twice about trying to move the pot away from the flames, his mistake being that he did not notice that Tiwa wanted to take a similar course of action.

Dele did not see that Tiwa's hands, protected by a small cloth, were about to land on the pot's handle. Dele kicked the pot just as her hands were about to hold it.

Her scream tore through the night's silence.It was too late once he realized what he had done. Tiwa was holding out her hands, screaming.

'I'm so sorry' Dele tried to make his way towards her.

'Leave me alone!' She screamed between tears.

'I am sorry.'

Tiwa did not respond to him with words. Her sobs were a signal to the pain she was suffering.

'Stay here.'

He directed her to sit down on a nearby kitchen stool. They had both forgotten the pot and its content on the ground. The fumes of smoke were still present, but that was the least of his worries. Tiwa was hurt, and it was his fault, again.

Dele rushed to get water. Tiwa already had her hands outstretched, so he used this opportunity to pour the water over her wounds. The water was cold because he had gotten it from a porous clay pot. Tiwa winced multiple times as the water ran over her hands.

Her loud cries had subsided into evident sobs.The light from the fire let him see the intensity of her injury. Her wound stretched from the farthest edge of her right thumb to the tip of her little finger. 

The small cloth had offered her some sort of protection. It could have been worse. Thanks to the rag, her palms were unharmed.

The wounds on her left hand were a lot less severe.

'You just have a knack for injuring me,' Her tears had not stopped flowing.He looked into her eyes. It was then that guilt washed over him. Sixteen years ago, he had injured her from playing. Again, it was not intentional, but he could not deny the part he played.

He quickly rushed inside to get kernel pomade. He then squatted before Tiwa. Tiwa let her hand dangle between her thighs while she rested her head against the wall.

He carefully took the less damaged left hand and rubbed the palm kernel oil. Tiwa winced. Taking on the severely injured had was scary.

He touched her hand, and she made a move away from him.

'Tiwa, please. I'm sorry.' Indeed he was.

He went on to take the injured hand again. Tiwa did not shift as she had done earlier, but it was clear she was in great pain.

Dele gently rubbed the oil over her afflicted hand. He knew he should not apologize again. Doing so would probably anger Tiwa, having the opposite effect. Tiwa's eyes remained closed as she rested her head against the wall.

It did not take long for the stress of the smoke to come over Tiwa. She began to cough. The fumes were choking him too, but Tiwa was worse.

'Let's go inside.'She did not answer him. She continued to cough.

Desperate times call for severe measures.She was already injured, and Dele was not going to let her suffocate. Dele slide an arm under Tiwa's knees, and the other went behind her back. He lifted her swiftly. This time he got a reaction from her.

It was a scream, but it was not the same as before. It was one of shock. Tiwa's expression was shocked, and the dried tears on her face looked out of place with it.

'What are you doing?' Her eyes were wide, despite that she did not resist him. She felt like she was flying in his arms.

'I'm taking you inside.'

Dele could feel Tiwa's stare drilling through his face. The trip to the house was a short one.He gently laid her on the bed, all the while, Tiwa's gaze never wavered from him. Her stare only made him feel even more guilty. He felt inclined to apologize.

'You know I did not mean to hurt you,' he spared her eyes a glance. He laid in front of her propping himself up with his elbow. Her silence was taking a toll on him. Tiwa just sat there observing him.

Dele lowered his head and stared at the adire that adorned their bed.

'I just wanted to take the pot off,' he summoned the courage to look her way again.

'Tiwa, please say something,' her silence was killing him. He expected some nagging. Yelling would have done something, but not this silence.

It was a not a usual staring contest.

Dele changed his posture and sat up with his back facing her. He continued to feel her glare burn holes through him. He turned slightly and found that Tiwa folded her arms across one over the other. She carefully placed the right hand on top.

For the umpteenth time that evening, Dele did as his mind told him. He angled his body to his wife and advanced towards her. Slowly, he moved towards her post. Her eyes followed him.

'Tiwa, please...'

His was a few breaths away from her when she finally broke her silence. 

'Stop apologizing to me.' Her proclamation caught him off-guard.

'It would not change anything,' she shrugged. Her calm would have been a relief if her stare was not as intense.

He looked down away from her gaze. He wanted to go against her wish of not being begged.'Tiwa, I want you to know...'

She interrupted once again, this time shocking both of them with her next words.'You are not horrible to look at,' Tiwa voiced her thoughts to her dismay. Instantly, the air in the room changed.

'Tiwalola!'

'What?'

Here he was fixing the perfect apology for her, trying to make things better. And she was looking at him.

'I know I am very handsome, but you were scaring me,' he offered her a response with a chuckle. Of course, the compliment bloated his pride.

'I never meant to say that out loud,' This time it was Tiwa avoiding Dele's eyes and smile. She was happy she had broken the tension, but her hand was still numb.

She was angry with him at first, but on thought led to another, and there she was ogling her husband.

'I also think you beautiful,' Dele said.

She was not used to receiving this kind of compliment, but Dele did not know. Tiwa deciphered his statement as just a kind response. Dele said this with a shy smile, which made it even more unsettling for her. She never meant to spew out her thoughts, but it had happened. And then, her husband had called her beautiful.

This night was an unusual one.'That does not change the fact that we need to find something to eat,' Tiwa rolled her eyes. She had somehow found a way to change the topic.

'I'm sorry about dinner.'

'Dele stop it. Don't apologize again. or I'll be provoked.' The firmness of her voice proved that she meant what she said.Dele sighed in response.

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'When you are cooking Moi Moi, no boiling is involved. Only steaming.'

Dele did not understand the difference between the two concepts, but he was mesmerized by Tiwa's voice. She was not always this vocal. Tiwa was a quiet person. The bossy side of her was foreign, but pleasant, nonetheless.

Tiwa was lecturing her husband on the art of making Moi Moi. It was late into the night, but the constant rumbling of both their stomach would not let them go to bed.Tiwa had gestured how to wash off the skin of the beans. Her wounds would not allow her to do it. The next was the grinding.

Dele bent over the grinding stone. He had been trying to grind the beans, pepper, and onions to a smooth paste. He was making progress, but it was slow. His face was tight.

'Isn't it enough?' He wiped his forehead with his wrist. Tiwa was struggling to hold her laughter. She knew he was not a lazy person because he was always on his farms, but from the look of things, cooking was not his forte.

'No. It is not. We are making Moi Moi, not akara. It has to be very smooth.'

'Let us make akara then.'

'You know we agreed that you'll be doing the cooking now.' She smiled a sarcastic smile at her reminder to him.

'Yes, but...'

'Besides, even if I wanted to help you...' Tiwa finished her statement with a small nod. She nodded towards her injured hand. Dele sighed out of frustration.

'I'm tired,' Dele whined.

'Are you not the one that woke me up, complaining that you were hungry?'

Yes, he had. They attempted to go to bed, but he had to speak out. Tiwa was also hungry, so they went out to look for food.

'Don't slow down. We still have a long way to go.' She informed him coyly.Dele's arms slumped.

There was more to come with Dele's torture.

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The morning had come, and Dele was ready to take his leave to his farm. He woke up later than usual because of last night's events, but he knew he had to make it to his farm.

Dele stood over his wife and stared one last time. The man then looked at her hands. His observation made him conclude that the burns were going to leave a scar. He sighed at that realization.

He took his satchel and was already at the door's rim when he heard her.Her movements and her yawn were audible enough for him to hear.He watched Tiwa stretch a bit before sitting up.

'Morning, I was about to leave,' Dele was crossing the door when her words caught him off-guard.

'Where do you think you are going?'She made the question sound like rhetoric.

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Please vote and comment. It won't kill you!

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What's up Rosies!

It's presently 12 minutes after 1:00 AM. I'm really happy to have this chapter out there for you. I'm going to start working on the next chapter immediately.

This is what moi moi looks like

It is traditionally steamed in leaves, but nowadays, people used what ever container they prefer. my mother prefers the leaves.

Yes! We still use these leaves. 

I have a lot to say but I will hold me peace. Click on the external link if you want to know more about moi moi.

Mwah.

Bye bye, from a really sleepy rosiemiracle. 😋😪😫

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I am dedicating this chapter to @RuqyyahBello. You're a darling. Thank you for reading my book and voting. God bless you.