Chapter 41—Why We Broke Up

Korede stood at the door for a moment, wondering what she was doing at David’s front door. Yes, he was hurt but it didn’t mean she had to leave Esther’s house at such an odd hour to see him. She counted herself a bit lucky for the Lagos road which got a lot busier at night. A part of her wondered if it was because she cared about him more than she’d want to admit. Or maybe it was because she was willing to risk everything for him.

She shook the thoughts off her head. At the moment, she didn’t care. She had to see him.

She knocked on the door twice but didn’t get any response. She sighed. Then she tried again and again until she assumed he wasn’t home after all. She leaned back on the wall opposite David’s door, deliberating whether she should leave or wait a little longer. She opted for the former, not wanting David’s neighbors to make any speculations concerning her visit. More importantly, Mide had a lot of explaining to do.

Finally, she braced herself to leave.

“It’s open.”

She heard his weak voice. Turning the knob, she realized the door really was open.

“David,” she called as she entered the living room. He was nowhere in sight.

“In here.”

She followed his tired voice into the kitchen. Upon getting there, her eyes first traced the trail of the pair of shoes and shirt lying on the floor before sighting his frame shirtless frame seated on a high stool and resting slightly on the counter at the center of the room while he held a bottle of liquor on one hand.

“Oh my God, David,” she exclaimed in worry. She could see red bruises over him, mostly around the chest area. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” he answered with his face down.

“No, you don’t look fine,” she retorted. “Why didn’t you go to the hospital?”

“I said I’m fine,” he muttered.

She tried taking the bottle from his hands, but he gripped it tighter.

“Haven’t you had enough already?” She glared.

David raised his face slowly to stare back at her and she was able to get a proper look of his left eye. It was swollen and purple just above his cheekbones.

“Oh my God,” she gasped. Touching the side of his face, she asked, “What happened?”

David was a bit dazed by her touch, and before he could answer, she rose to her feet. “We need to get your wounds treated now. Do you still keep your first aid kit in your bathroom?”

“Sure,”

“Okay, I’ll be right back…Let me boil a little water first,” she added and moved on to turn on the stove.

After setting the kettle on the stove, she headed out of the kitchen to retrieve the first aid kit. She came back with the only items she could find when she opened the small drawer on the bathroom shelf: a pair of Band-Aids, a bottle of methylated spirit, a wad of cotton wool, and a clean piece of cloth.

“Okay, sit up,” she said, setting the items on the table. “And give me that!” she added, snatching the bottle from his hand.

She started by cleaning the wound on his face with a swab dipped in the spirit. “Hold still,” she said each time he winced and recoiled at the pain.

“That’s why I need my whisky.” David made an effort to smile, but it only made his face hurt more. He grimaced again.

“That’s why you should stay still,” she replied just before she finished cleaning the wound.

They both soon fell into a wave of silence. David studied Korede as she struggled to keep her concentration while she applied the Band-Aid. He noticed she tried her best not to use more fingers than necessary to avoid touching his face. She didn’t care when she was cleaning the wound so why was she now? David blamed it on the lingering silence.

Even after she was done, they said nothing but gave each other stares until the water boiling on the stove was starting to sing out loud, breaking their suspenseful gaze.

David harrumphed and smiled. “Looks very bad, right?”

Korede chuckled and moved on to set the kettle down. She was about to pour some into a bowl before he spoke.

“Can you hold on for a moment? I think the water is a bit too hot,” he added.

She studied him for a brief moment. He looked more stable than when she walked in earlier. Dropping the bowl, she answered, “Okay. Now you can tell me what happened.”

She took out another stool and sat close to him.

“You’re here, so I’m pretty sure you know what happened,” he said.

“I know Mide did…this!” Her eyes scanned bruises all over him once more. “But what I don’t understand is why.”

He grimaced at the pain in his chest as he reached for the bottle again.

“Why didn’t you go ask Mide?”

“He wasn’t picking my calls.”

“Neither was I.”

“But I had to make sure you were okay.”

David looked at her for a moment before he made a grunting sound. Then, he took a sip directly from the bottle in his hands.

“You should really stop the drinking,” Korede continued.

“It’s helping me numb the pain,” he murmured.

“Fine, then just tell me what happened while you drown yourself in alcohol.” Korede raised her voice in impatience.

David let out a short laugh. “You know you got quite the guy with Mide.” He raised the bottle at her in a toast. “He’s such a good actor too. Can you believe he can switch from a charming and kind man to a more arrogant and sleazier one when he is around certain people…like you, for example.”

“I don’t understand,” Korede stuttered. “What exactly are you driving at?”

“That part is for Mide to answer, not me?”

Korede narrowed her eyes in anger. “Seriously?” she exploded with a glare.

“Yes. All I can tell you is that he is playing you Korede, and you better watch out before you get deep into something you can’t get out.”

Korede was rendered speechless by his words. He was speaking in riddles, but she could paint a mental picture of what he was trying to say.

“I-I don’t believe you,” she stammered.

David scoffed. “Sure. It’s my word against his. But my little advice for you is before you walk down that aisle with him, ask him the real reason why he wants to marry you.”

Korede’s began to feel her legs shake. David had never lied to her once, and he didn’t seem like he was lying now. Still, she decided it was best if she heard from Mide too, as he said, before jumping to conclusions.

“Was that why he beat you up?” she asked “He beat me up because I became too emotional about something that wasn’t my business. I mean, you made it clear to me that evening. Mide was the one you loved and wanted to get married to.”

Before Korede could think of an answer, he continued “So I began to ask myself: why did I care so much that I allowed myself to get the beat down of my life? Then, I realized I didn’t understand how you could leave me and settle for such a guy.”

Korede didn’t respond.

“You left me without giving me a good reason, and you went for an eccentric playboy billionaire. Bravo!”

He knew he was going to make her cry, but he didn’t care. He had to let all his emotions out now.

“So why’d you do it, huh? Why did you choose to end us?”

“I did it because you were going to do it, okay?” she exploded.

David frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t remember that night?”

“What night?”

“The night I wanted to see you and Azeez, but I called saying something came up.”

“Oh…and so?” David raised a brow.

“We were perfect together, David. All of our friends envied what we had. Yet, you were still insecure…I overheard you telling Azeez that night how you weren’t sure about us. I was certain you were going to break up with me sooner or later, and I wasn’t going to wait until the time came. But I’d be more broken if you did it, so I did it first.”

Korede’s words took David back to that night. It was the night before their breakup. They had been drifting apart for a while, so after dinner, he and Azeez had seated on the living room couch while he went on blabbing on about his insecurities and fears of not Korede being Korede’s soul mate. He felt stupid immediately. It was his fault, yet he blamed her all this while.

Then ,he remembered something.

“Love isn’t enough…You heard those words from me.”

The tears began to flow uncontrollably down Korede’s cheeks now.

“I did break up with you, but I was broken too. By the time I realized I was wrong, you weren’t speaking to me or any of my friends, and I had to do what everyone said I should do: move on.” Korede sniffled. “So don’t play the victim card here.”

David banged his fist on the table in rage. It was his fault Korede was open to Mide’s manipulation. If only he could turn back the hands of time and make amends. If only he could fix his mistakes and right his wrongs. Maybe Korede wouldn’t be crying bitterly in his kitchen around midnight.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be playing the victim card at all. Maybe I am the villain of this story. Maybe Mide is better than I am…Just forget what I said and marry him. He was the one you chose after all.”

“What? But you said you love me…and I—”

“Damnit, Korede, just marry him and leave me alone okay?” he yelled.

Korede gaped as more tears flowed from her eyes.

“I think you better leave now, too. I don’t want people to start speculating, especially Mide’s aunt,” David muttered.

Korede sniffled. She was about to pour out her heart to him before he shut her up. She was about to tell him he was the one who made her happy, that despite how things had changed he was the one she still loved. Maybe she would have jumped on his bruised face and kiss him too but now it didn’t matter. He didn’t want her anymore.

“Okay, then. Goodbye, David.”