Chapter Nine

'Am going!' Wale shouted at  Dele. 'Call me back when you have better drinks'.

By now Kola was calm but Wale was far from it. Tunde rubbed his friend's back to help him remain calm.

Dele was speechless.

Wale stumped away with not much of a good bye while Tunde and Kola remained.

'Don't mind him jo. He is just upset that he is bad on his luck right now' Tunde, once again. tried to explain Wale's behavior.

'I am sorry, I bought the wine today. Even just brought it home' Dele apologized.

'That's alright, We would be heading home now' Kola declared. He was not ready for a repeat of the fiasco.

...........

Dele just watched as his friends walked away from his compound. He himself had tasted the wine. It was not usual. That was an underestimation. 

The wine was nonsense.

Before long he decided to take things up. He was going to visit the wine seller. 

Dele packed up the scattered cups and the wine keg. He was already imagining the strong conversation he was going to have with the vendor when he walked into Tiwa.

Tiwa was with a wide smile on her face. 

'Why are you smiling?' Dele asked with a puzzled expression. His expression reminded Tiwa of what just happened. Again the previous scenes replayed in her head, she could not hold herself back.

Tiwa was laughing so hard tears were in her eyes.

'You should...' laugh 'You should have seen your faces' Tiwa continued to laugh. This time it was Dele's turned to be frustrated with his spouse's amusement.

'I just bought it today' Dele whined. Tiwa was catching her breath when Dele made this statement she was too exasperated to respond.

'I am going to see the seller' Dele affirmed.

'What?' Tiwa was stunned by this reaction.

'I will be back soon' Dele was full of declarations this afternoon. Before Tiwa could develop a response, he was already gone. Keg in hand. 

Of course, she felt bad for the vendor but how was she supposed to confess? Ultimately, Dele was suffering, that in itself was enough.

.....................

Tiwa spared another glance at the meal set before her. It was not her meal but where was this man. Haggling the quality of wine should not that this long. 

It was already evening and the mosquitoes were not having mercy on her.

Is this some sort of retaliation?

After all, yesterday, she had not returned at this time. Not being ready for Dele's issues, Tiwa decided to pack up the food but that was not before she took a huge go at the pieces of meat in his plate. She had taken the dried fish for herself, not meat, but not any more. 

She planned to go to the market the next day. Tiwa was sighing in satisfaction as she ate when she heard grumbling. She looked up to see her husband.

Quickly, she washed her hands and advanced towards him. Instinct was that she hides that she just ate the second to the last piece of meat they had in the entire house.

'What happened?' She asked her husband as though she was interested. She was not.

'Can you believe....' Dele gave explicit explanation everything, even while standing. It was as if he was re-enacting everything that happened with his words. Tiwa on her side was not ready for this sort of reply.

Today she learnt that her husband was the talkative one between the two of them.

Dele was still talking when she interrupted with 'Do you want to eat?'

He replied a quick yes before continuing to explain the facial expression of the woman's husband, who was the wine tapper. Apparently, the woman was the vendor for the man's business.

When Tiwa recalled there was no meat, she did not worry. Dele was probably too immersed in his story telling to notice.

.....................

He was frustrated. 

After he ate. He sat alone after Tiwa made the excuse of cleaning up. HE had released most of his anger by talking to Tiwa. Surprisingly, her reaction of just what he needed.

She did not tell him to keep quiet. Neither did she act as though she wanted his tongue cut-off. His father was good at making those expressions. She just listened then replied with 'hmm' to signify that she was still following.

In the mean time, Tiwa was happy her husband was done with his ranting! 

To cut Dele's long story short, the woman refused to exchange the wine for another. She also refused to give Dele his money back.

No, she did not hate him for ranting. She was just surprised that so much could come from this man.

Maybe this tended to happen when he was frustrated or something.

I hope he is not always like this

Today was indeed the first time, in their one month old marriage, that they spoke to each other this much. More than the morning greeting. More that the night greeting. More than the call to a meal. A lot more than before.

..................................... 

Tiwa came back and her husband was not outside.

He must have gone inside.

Ready to sleep Tiwa walked into the house. One lamp was turned on. It provided enough light. Tiwa could see Dele lying on the bed.

His position was supine, with his arm covering his eyes. He looked calm so she assumed he had gone to sleep. From his description of today's event, she guessed he would be tired. It was not normal to spend half the day arguing with a market woman, and yet upon the struggle still lose the argument.

Tiwa assumed wrong. As she fussed around looking for a wrapper to strap around herself. Dele spoke, interrupting the almost, perfect silence of the room.

'I still cannot believe what happened today' There he goes again!

Tiwa took a deep breath as she took of her buba. Back towards her husband. She quickly strapped the wrapper to her chest. She then wrapped her hair with a scarf.

Concurrently, she turned her back to him as he removed his arm from his eyes.

'My money just wasted. Only God knows if the other kegs are the same' Dele stated

Coming to bed, she looked at the man. 

And I thought women were the talkative ones

She thought this with wonder as she looked at the man. Lying on her side, adjacent to him she could see some details on his face with the almost dim light. Strong jawline and his soft eyes. His lips that refused to stop vomiting words.

'What about the wine that you wanted to give me. That one was good' Tiwa gave an opinion. She was good at pretending this whole situation was not her fault.

'Yes but...' Dele was about to resume his ranting when Tiwa slapped his mouth shut with her hand. He too was lying on his side, thus it was easy to reach.

Lying opposite each other Tiwa tried to comprehend her position. Her hand was holding her husband's mouth shut while they stared at each other. None of them really understanding what the other was doing.

'ghdnknsnf' Dele squeezed nonsense out of his mouth. He was about to use his hands to set himself free when Tiwa released his mouth.

'I have never seen a man who can rant like that' she started shakily. Dele's brows scrunched at this statement.

'What are you trying to say?' Dele asked

Tiwa let out a sigh, trying to calm herself before she continued. Right now, she was acting without thinking. Just letting the confession come out. He might stop talking about how annoying his encounter was if he had another topic to rant about.

 'There was no need for you to hassle that woman'. Dele was ready to retort when Tiwa finished her explanation

'I was the one who contaminated the wine. I put salt in it'

Shock was clearly written across Dele's face.

'You what?' He barely finished his exclamation when Tiwa interrupted him again.

This time not with her words but with her lips.

Yes, she initiated a kiss!

..........................

She just did what?

Way to go Tiwa, way to go. Dele's gonna be so...

Sincerely, I am not sure what Dele's reactions gonna be. Comment what you think is gonna happen.

Don't forget to vote.

...........................

Hey lovlies, 

I am sooooooo happy you guys like my book. Trust me when I say your comments and reactions are my driving force. 

I am so happy that I can make you happy.

Don't forget to vote.

I am dedicating this chapter to @moyin_oluwaa. Thank you for reading my book and voting. I hope I continue to make you happy.