Short Story: The Perfection That is My Life by Adedoyin Ademola

Marriage, what a strange concept, am I right? A man and a woman living together under one roof till death do them part. Gosh, that must be so exhausting. Where is the fun in that?

Well, I can relate to being married and losing my freedom as I became Mrs. William on a faithful Saturday, we had a wedding at a church in Lagos, and I can remember the look on my mother’s face as I went home with my husband, Frank. I can remember everyone’s faces, the smiles and the laughter they all shared, but I don’t remember myself smiling. I love my husband, but losing my freedom was a prize I wasn’t initially ready to give until I realized being married wasn’t too bad. 

My husband and I moved to an apartment in the Surulere in Lagos; we both chipped in to pay for the apartment and beamed with pride when the landlord gave us the keys to our apartment. 

“Here you go Mr. and Mrs. William,” he smiled as he spoke with us. 

I looked at my husband, and he smiled at me. Frank held my hand and led me to our new home. This was the day before our honeymoon. 

Now we are back from two weeks of lovemaking on the lovely sandy beaches of Morocco, and it was indeed a magical time; I felt alive and so in love. But back to the reality of living as Mrs. William, I am now expected to take care of my home and my husband, have kids and take care of them while also taking care of myself. I know I am up to the task; after all, I did watch my mother do the same when I was still a girl. 

Frank wants me to be a stay-at-home mom; he brought it up as we settled into the apartment on our first night; I had just finished taking a shower and was lying in bed with him. 

“Toke, I think you should stay home and take care of our house while I become the sole breadwinner of the family,” he said as he pulled me closer into his arms. 

“I beg your pardon?” I asked, blinking rapidly. 

“I mean, I don’t want you to be out there struggling; I want you to sit your pretty body at home and tend to the chores and whatnot that the women do. I want you to be stress-free for me,” Frank said. He moved his mouth to my neck and started to chew on it gently; he knew kissing my neck always made me weak. 

“Frank this is unbelievable,” I pushed him away. 

“Baby, I just want the best for you. I will give you whatever you want,” He pulled me back. 

I looked at the man I fell in love with and remembered my mother’s words before I left her house, “Always obey your husband; his word comes first.”

“Okay, Frank, I will do it if it makes you happy.” 

“Of course, it makes me happy,” He smiled and pulled me in to make sweet love to me. 

After that, I spend my day the same way; I wake up at dawn, pray and prepare a bath for Frank; I make his breakfast while he bathes. Frank would eat breakfast while I stared at him lovingly as a wife should. He leaves home every morning by 8:00 am after he plants a kiss on my lips. 

I then retire to the bathroom and take a long shower; after all, I have nowhere to be. After showering, I dress up and head to my kitchen to get breakfast. After breakfast, I retire to the bedroom with a book until I fall asleep. At precisely 2:30 pm, I wake and resume my watch in the living room. What watch, you might say? 

Oh goodness, I forgot to mention my little habit; Spying on the neighbors. Although I wouldn’t necessarily call it spying because their business is literally in the open for everyone to see. 

I take down mental notes of what happened that day and relay them to my sister, who still lives with my mother. She is one of the things keeping me sane in my life. I tell her everything that happened during the day while my husband’s dinner cools off. Today, I had a lot to tell my sister on the phone. 

“Tomi, remember the flat I said was opposite our flat?” I asked her earlier this evening when I called her on the phone. 

“The one you said her husband looks like a midget?” Tomi asked. 

“I didn’t say, I just said he seemed like one,” I said, sniggering. 

“Same thing.”

“Well, today, as I looked out my window, I noticed he brought home a woman.”

“A woman, his wife you mean?” 

“No, this wasn’t his wife, I have seen her a couple of times. This woman was a lot younger than his wife and it can’t be his daughter either because as far as I know they have no children.” 

“So what do you think? He is having an affair?”

“He certainly is because why else would he be kissing her on the doorsteps of their flat?” I said as I leaned further into my chair. 

“No way,” Tomi gasped. 

“Yes way, they went into the flat and didn’t come out after an hour, her hair was rustled which means she was up while he laid there and grunted,” I explained. 

“How do you know this Toke? What are you like a sex therapist now?” 

“Tomi, I am all alone in this flat all day, I need to indulge myself in some things. So I read a lot, you know immense stuff,” I said. 

“Toke, I have to go now, Mommy is calling me.” 

“Okay, I will talk to you later. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Tomi.”

I heard a click and sighed; Toke wasn’t supposed to go for about thirty minutes, so I was alone in this house until my husband returned. 

A gust of wind came in from an open window, and I went to the window; I caught a glimpse of white in the compound and strained to see what it was. A bunch of people in lab coats were talking to a person who looked like Frank; what was he doing with them? 

They handed him an envelope that he folded under his arm, he shook a couple of them, and he started to make his way to our flat while the people in the lab coats left through the gates. 

I ran from the window to the door to receive Frank; he greeted me with a hug while I took his bag and the envelope with him. He was a little tired today and headed to the shower. 

I stayed behind in the living room; Frank must have forgotten I had his bag and the envelope. 

Well, curiosity got the best of me, and I plopped down on a couch and opened the envelope. A sheet fell out, and I picked it up to read it 

FILE NUMBER: 52446
EXPERIMENT: EFFECT OF SOCIETY AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT ON GENETICALLY ENGINEERED HOMO SAPIENS.
DURATION: 27 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AND 7 DAYS (STILL COUNTING)
SCIENTIST: MR FRANK WILLIAM
SUBJECT NAME: XEA34, ALSO KNOWN AS TOMI
DATE OF BIRTH: 23/10/1995

Remarks: The experiment subject has been taken from the initially placed environment and is now isolated. The subject is under clock surveillance, and noticeable changes have started to manifest. The subject shows a continuous pattern in behavior; the subject never breaks from this pattern. I can conclude that the subject is back to its initial purpose, which is to observe and record any activity in its immediate environment. 

The subject has no idea of her origins and perceives herself as a regular human. 

I must say this experiment was a success, but I will try to change the subject’s pattern of behavior by suggesting she get a day job to see how she will react to the change of scenery. 

SIGNED: F.William 15/02/2022. 

Oh, Frank, you fool. I thought as I stood from the couch; I put the sheet back in the envelope and walked toward the rooms to meet Frank in the shower. 

Of course, I knew all along. How dare you think I would think of myself as a lowly human. 

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