**Thalia
“Since you lost your job nine months ago, I've been the one taking care of the bills without pressuring you. I told you to take your time and get a good-paying job. I funded your account weekly, yet you squander it on several women, and I still pretended I wasn't seeing all that…”
I slammed the divorce agreement I had gotten ready on the table and crossed my arms.
“Dante, I didn't want to bring this into light, but I don't think I will stand you taking your chicks into the hotel, and also watch you f**k my best friend on our matrimonial bed,” I added, my voice loud enough for anyone out there to hear.
He's done enough, and I had endured it.
“Get the f**k out of that bed and sign this paper!” I yelled at him, whose eyes on me hadn't shifted since I came in. “Then you can have as many women as you want.”
“But Thalia, you caused it. How long will you work and not get back home to take care of your husband? I always told you to dress feminine; being a mechanic isn't for our gender, so you….
That brat I thought was my friend. She called me her other half just because she wanted to get close to my husband. “One more word from you, Freda, and I'm throwing you out of this house naked. Dare me!!”
She pressed her lips together, and I could see how enraged she became.
“Should I drag you down to sign this? Ain't feeding an asshole like you, so Freda can continue from where I stopped. I guess she never knew I was taking care of our bills.” I retorted, glaring at the demon I called a husband.
He glanced at Freda, and then back at me, “Give me another chance, Lia. She seduced me, and I wouldn't fall for it again.”
Freda smacked his head hard, “Who the f**k seduced you? Are you not the one who complained of your wife being too busy to satiate your s****l urges, and because you'd had eyes on me, I should come be with you while she's at work? You promised to get me a bike too, so what the f**k is wrong with you?”
I seriously wasn't in the mood for all those nuisances, so I just grabbed the paper and pen, went closer to the bed, and placed it there. “Sign it right now, then pack up your things and leave my house. I paid the lease, and unless you pay back the money to me, you will leave instead.”
“How did I not know you were this stupid?” Freda growled and pushed him off her, causing him to groan. I guessed his stinky joystick was still in her. “She was taking care of the whole bills, causing her to overwork, yet you called me over to f**k when you had nothing in your name.”
I turned to her, “And if he had?”
She froze for some time, “Who cares if he's married? You think I really work in a textile company? I don't, and it's men like your husband that fund my lifestyle,” she snapped and began putting on her dress.
I couldn't even say a thing because I was ashamed on her behalf. If I beat her to a pulp, it would be a waste of energy.
The fact that I always believed for good three years that she was working in the textile company some miles away from here even made me more foolish. She's been my best friend for ten f*****g years, and this was it? What was the essence of having a friend when they would hurt you without even feeling remorse?
And then, there was the dickhead I was feeding despite him being the man of the house. We'd been married for just two years, and he insisted he wasn't ready for a child, and then he lost his job. What if he didn't even truly lose his job? If Freda never had a job, then he could still have his job but didn't want to take care of his responsibilities.
My mum was sick, and I was the one taking care of her, paying the caregiver I hired for her. Yet amongst all, I still didn't mind and hadn't pressured this man.
“Lia, please, you can't just believe your friend when I am your…
I smacked his face heavily, and he fell back into the bed. “The audacity to still want to be my husband after everything. Are you nuts? Pick up that pen and sign this. You knew I was a mechanic when you came to me, and you also knew I would work overtime if I carried the whole bills on me…so you had no right to cheat.”
Freda steupsed behind me, and I turned around to see her walking to the door. “Until your death, Freda, don't ever cross my path, or I'll make sure you lose your teeth,” I warned her, and I was sure she heard me well before she vanished from my sight.
The jerk I married had already signed on the paper, his hands trembling.
“I should have broken up with you after two years of relationship, if I were able to see the future. You are a waste of time.” I growled at him while he fidgeted out of bed. “Take every single thing that's yours and don't make a fuss if you don't want the neighbors making fun of you.”
He did as I said, because he knew what followed if he refused.
I had respected this man, and I would swear this was my first time raising my voice at him and even slapping him. I trained fighters aside from my mechanic job, and he saw all that before we began dating. But not for one day did I ever intimidate him with my aura or strength.
Dante was financially stable when we met, so I didn't think I would ever take over his responsibilities. Even when it all happened, I loved him a lot and didn't mind. No one, not even my mum, knew the burden I took for him, waiting so he got back to his feet. And this was what I got in return?
I didn't want to sob. I just watched him like a bouncer until he picked up his damn things he bought before we got married and his car key, then left. Through the window, I watched him drive off the compound, then I walked straight to the door and changed the passcode first.
Since we married, I had bought almost all the house properties we needed, because he didn't have much. I didn't care at that time, and now I wondered what went on in his mind all through these years of being with me.
“It's all good that we didn't have a child, or this could have been hard to decide,” I muttered to myself, taking the necessary things I needed so I could return to the workshop. “My kids should have a father figure, but I don't think I even want a man or a kid in this cruel world.”
Finally, the tears I didn't want to shed came rolling down my cheeks. I would take the divorce agreement to my attorney the next day as it was getting dark already. I needed to return to the workshop to finish up the work I had at hand.
If I didn't get back to take the bolts I had gotten and forgot while heading to work in the morning, I wouldn't know what was going on. How long had they been f*****g? Yet Freda came to my face and smiled sincerely like everything was okay, and Dante would act as the loving husband he had always been.
I hoped that this day would not come since I prepared this divorce agreement two months ago after one of my apprentices sent me a photo of my husband and a woman in the hotel he went to with his girlfriend.
“Not now! Not now!!” I told myself, getting out of the house. I didn't have to cry over him and just move on. I just needed to drink, and I'd forget everything, but I still had a lot of work to do.
Why are men like this? I dated two men before Dante, and they all cheated, so I thought he was different with every loyalty sign he shoved to my face. Who knew it was all camouflage? I just hated how far I'd gotten with him, the love we shared, memories together, and the promises we made to each other.
My belly churned in disgust and climbed onto my bike. With my helmet on, I rode off back to the workshop.
When I arrived, two apprentices had left, and I was left with the only girl amongst them. “Could you get me something before you leave?” I requested, and she nodded. I gave her some money to get me a drink with my bike, so I went back to work immediately.
She returned, dropped it, and waved goodbye. I didn't bother looking at her because my vision was now clouded by my tears.
‘I hate you so much, Freda. If you didn't do this, you would keep me company right now.’ I thought, my chest so heavy as though it would burst anytime.
I couldn't even complete the task and gave up, grabbed the drink, sat on the floor, and began drowning myself away. There were three bottles, and I was going to empty them, even if I would have to sleep off there.
While I drank, I prayed to get tipsy so I could forget about Dante and Freda. I just wanted to focus on myself right now. But a motorcycle rode into the compound that moment, and the rider alighted, pulled away his helmet, and hung it on his bike.
I had emptied two bottles already, and I wasn't sure I could attend to the man. I tried to speak to him, but hot tears pulled down my cheeks, and I only heaved.
He said nothing as I expected and just got back to his bike, sat on it and crossed his arms while glancing around.