One domestic abuse too many

"Welcome back, dear. How did your day go?" was all she asked before his huge fists connected with her face. Next, he seized her blouse and hauled her against the wall, and with saliva spewing from his mouth, bellowed, "I've always told you to be on the lookout around 7.00 pm, since you know that's when I arrive! Do you know I've been knocking for the past three minutes?" That said, he reared back and gave her a slap so hard it snapped her head backwards.

Surprised by the assault, Lucy could only whimper in pain and mutter a string of apologies. Through her tears, she noticed her husband was deciding whether or not to continue with the onslaught. But apparently opting for the latter, he rushed back outside, slamming the door in his wake.

Just then, her cell phone rang. It was on the sofa beside the paperback she had been reading before her furious husband Onome knocked at the door.

"Hello," she managed to croak.

"Hi, Lucy," replied her best friend Lola. "I just decided to check up on you. Are you okay?"

"No I'm not. Onome just beat me black-and-blue," she admitted amid sobs.

"Oh, sweetheart. Again? But I've told you to leave that man! He'll kill you if you're not careful. Remember how he promised he'd never hit you the last time?"

"But I love him, Lola. Besides, you know it took me a while before settling down, unlike you. I can't just throw it away. What will people say?"

"I'm not asking you to divorce him. Just stay away for a while for your own safety, maybe that'll bring him back to his senses. I'm sure the violence will only escalate because he's taken to drinking."

"That's no option, Lola. But thanks for your concern. I'll talk to him when he comes back and he'll calm down. You'll see. It's just that he's been having a rough time at work lately. And don't forget I've not given him a child yet. He only started drinking after my last miscarriage."

"Okay, dear," Lola grudgingly replied. "I still have my reservations, though. So please be careful. I don't want to say 'I told you so'. See you at work tomorrow"

Onome and Lucy were two lost souls who met at a party organised by a mutual friend. Theirs was the proverbial match made in Heaven before all hell started breaking loose. He was an upwardly mobile banker who had just been ditched by his fiancé for another man; while she, a journalist, had all but given up hope of ever finding the man of her dreams at 38.

When they struck up a conversation, the duo discovered they shared an interest in reading, watching movies and making friends. They had above-average IQs, and were on the fast track towards the peak of their respective careers. Naturally, they tied the knot six months afterwards, at a church wedding which many of their relatives and friends admitted was second-to-none.

But before long, things took a dramatic turn. Onome was accused of complicity in a financial scam at his workplace. And even though he was later absolved of blame, things never quite went back to normal. He was passed over for promotion twice, and because they seemingly abandoned him when he needed their support, lost many of his friends.

Lucy, conversely, maintained a steady climb up the career ladder, but was unable to conceive two years into the marriage. When she eventually did, the whole process ended up in a miscarriage after five months. That was when Onome figuratively threw up his hands in despair and turned to alcohol for succour from his disappointments.

A couple of months after the previous domestic assault, Lucy was at her workplace cafeteria with a male colleague. The handsome but irresponsible bachelor had been making passes at her for quite a while, even though he knew she was married.

"Look, Phil. I can't have anything with you. I'm married" she declared firmly. "I'm only having lunch with you out of courtesy. Go find some other lady for a fling!"

"C'mon, Lucy," Phil urged. "Why not play along? Besides, I've heard that husband of yours is a monster."

"That's none of your business!" she retorted. "Now stay out of my life! As far as I'm concerned, this lunch is over."

Just then, Onome strolled in, and from the look on his face, Lucy knew the afternoon would be a disaster.

"Onome, wow! What are you doing here?" she asked tentatively with the beginnings of a smile. But Onome didn't so much as dignify her query with a reply. He overturned the table which bore their unfinished meal of pounded yam and stew, after which he gave Lucy a resounding slap.

"So this is what you do when I'm not around, having lunch with playboys of all sorts?" he shouted. "I just decided to stop by and take you out for lunch, but was told by your colleagues you were here. I never knew you were cheating on me!"

At that point, the restaurant was in disarray, with some of the workers half standing up, and others speaking in hushed tones. They obviously did not want to get embroiled in what was fast becoming a domestic dispute displayed publicly.

"But Onome I've never done any ...," Lucy tried to reply before Onome hit her again. That was when Phil roughly seized him by the shirt and pushed him back. "Why don't you tackle someone more your own size?" he said. "Your wife is one of the most responsible women I've ever known. I've been making passes at her for the past two months and she's been turning me down, telling me she's married. If cohabiting with a monster like you is what she calls marriage, then I think she needs someone else who'll show her real love."

With that, the twosome got into a bloody fight which left Phil relatively unscathed but cost Onome a rib and an eye. When the attack got a little too overwhelming despite bystanders' attempts at getting them to ease off, Phil had seized a fork with which he pierced Onome in the eye in an attempt to quell his uncontrollable rage.

Amid blaring sirens and a sea of onlookers, Onome was assisted into an ambulance an hour afterwards. While cradling his wounded body on her lap at the back of the vehicle, Lucy made a life-changing decision. "This is one of my worst nightmares. I should have listened to Lola when she advised me two months ago that things could only get worse," she said to herself amid tears. "As soon as Onome recovers, I'll file for a divorce. Going forward, I'll never let my heart rule my head in any relationship ... that is, if I do have one after this."

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