Stay in Berlin
angrily.
"You might have to get rid of some items. My place isn't very spacious and--" Kayode continued, as if he did not hear her protests.
"No way! I am not getting rid of anything. For the love of God, I just travelled all the way from Nigeria to come here. We haven’t even left the airport and you're already bossing me around. Do you know how difficult it was for me to reduce everything I own to just a few bags? You have no idea how much stuff I had to give away, and even throw away. Things I have acquired over the last 20-something years, just because I got married. And you're here giving me a stupid excuse about the space in your apartment. Why didn't you tell me that before I came, ehn? All my things are going into that house. Every last one! Nonsense!"
Remi got into the front passenger seat of the car, fuming. Kayode finished putting away the luggage in the trunk and sat in the driver's seat. His face betrayed no emotion. No anger. No pity. Nothing. With his eyes glued to the steering wheel, and without turning to Remi, he said:
"For the record, I am not your husband because we are not married. That ceremony you people had in Nigeria is of no consequence to me, whatsoever. You are still Remi Bajulaiye and I am Kayode Coker. Until we are married here in Germany, please do not refer to me as your husband. Got it?"
Remi did not answer. Her heart was full but her mouth refused to cooperate. She just turned away from him, her body trembling with sobs. She was convinced that she had married a monster.
They drove home in silence for about twenty minutes, and when they finally reached Kayode's apartment, he opened the front door for her and let her in. He lived on the second floor of an apartment very close to the eastern part of Berlin's center. The apartment itself was furnished like a typical bachelor's pad, and Remi could tell with just one glance at the kitchen, that Kayode hardly ever cooked. She was not surprised. She helped him with some of the lighter bags, and after showing her the room that would become her bedroom, he retired to his room for the night. By now, it was almost 8:00 pm.
Remi was both hungry and exhausted from her long trip. She decided to just lie down on her bed for a few minutes. By the time she opened her eyes again, it was 2:00 am! And the hunger pangs had more than doubled in intensity. Kayode had not shown her around the kitchen, so she had to get acquainted with the kitchen supplies and food stuff on her own. With all the stumbling around and crashing into objects she did before finding the light switch, she was surprised the neighbors were not beating down the door. The electric stove was quite easy to use and Remi was cooking her first meal in Berlin, in no time at all.
She made herself some pancakes and scrambled eggs within a few minutes, and sat down at the breakfast table to enjoy her meal. That was when she saw it: a desktop computer sitting in a corner of the sitting room. She had expected to see a laptop, but certainly not a desktop computer. As she ate her meal, a thought occurred to her.
"I hope he hasn’t locked the computer with a password," she thought, as she washed up the dishes and went off to use the computer. Unfortunately, it was coded with a password. However, as Remi tried to unlock the computer, the password hint that kept re-appearing was the phrase "What is my love in Yoruba?"
"That's easy. Ife Mi."
She was right. That was the password and she logged into the computer. She went straight to look in the "My Pictures" folder, but was sorely disappointed to find just the generic wallpapers that came with the computer. She kept searching different folders, but came up empty each time. You see, Remi was convinced that there could be only one reason why the Kayode she thought she knew in Nigeria was so different from the man she met in Berlin: another woman. She was hoping to find proof of this other relationship on his computer. No such luck!
After seeing the same Koala bear hanging from a tree for the 15th time, that morning, Remi decided that it was time to temporarily abandon her mission and switch to more fun activities. She opened a browser window and went to Bella Naija's website. Something about visiting a website that connected her back to Nigeria was so endearing that for those 35 minutes, she almost forgot that she was on another continent. She saw pictures of events she had attended in person just weeks before. And then something strange happened: she started nodding off to sleep! So, Remi went back to bed, after shutting down the computer.
A few hours later, Kayode tapped her gently and woke her up. It was around 6:30 a.m. and he was leaving for work. He left her some money, a spare key for the front door, a phone card, and a cell phone for her use. The phone card, of course, was to make international calls, because, as he said, he knew she would want to call back home to let them know she had arrived safely.
Just before he left her room, he turned around and said:
"I'm sorry about yesterday. Let's just learn to live together in peace, okay?" And without waiting for a reaction from her, he was gone.
Whether Kayode's apology was sincere or not, Remi could not tell. At least, not from the look on his face. Since her eyelids were still heavy with sleep, she succumbed to the pressure and went back to sleep. She did not wake up again until 11:00 a.m.
Remi was naturally adventurous, but something about being in another country where English was not the official language scared her. She had read somewhere that some Germans spoke English, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before she would be forced to learn the language. So, she made plans to broach the topic with Kayode when he got back from work. Meanwhile, she called her family back in Nigeria to tell them she had arrived safely in Berlin. However, she carefully left out, especially from her mother, the details about how Kayode had discredited the traditional wedding, and the argument the day before. Here's why.
The day before the traditional wedding ceremony, Mrs. Bajulaiye, Remi's mother, had called her aside and issued a serious warning: no matter what happened in Berlin, Remi had to work out any disagreement or unforeseen circumstances with Kayode.
"Ile oko n'ile e o, Remi," her mother kept repeating to the point of irritation. At the time, it had made no sense to Remi, why her mother would keep telling her that her husband's home was her home. Of course she knew that. Why was it being drummed into her head as if she was a two-year old?
It took her coming to Berlin to realize the gravity of her mother's warning. She had to make this marriage to Kayode work. She was no longer welcome in her parents' home for anything other than a short visit. As far as they were concerned, Kayode's home in Berlin was now their daughter's home too.
But with Kayode being so cold and unhelpful, she was at a loss for what to do.
"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, right? Today, we shall see." And she tried it that very day. Instead of going out to explore her new neighborhood, she stayed and cooked. Kayode just happened to have the basic ingredients lying around in his freezer, and with some of the spices she had brought from Nigeria, a simple meal of fried rice and fried chicken was ready in no time. Unfortunately, there was no plantain lying around, so there was no dodo.
By the time Kayode came back from work, there was a piping hot meal waiting for him, and Remi was ready to serve him. But she was shocked at his reaction.
"What's that smell? Have you been frying something?"
"Yes, I have. I made a special meal for my darling."
"What did you make?"
"Fried rice and chicken."
"Fried this, and fried that. Oh, so you want to kill me, abi?"
"Kill you ke? What do you mean? I --"
"So you don't know that fried foods are unhealthy. You want me to die of a heart attack before I turn 40, abi?"
"You must be an ungrateful ass! I spent the last few hours, slaving away in this kitchen just to feed your sorry ass--"
"Where is all this bad language coming from? I have never heard you use such foul words. So you've been pretending abi? You clearly lack home training and your parents--"
"Leave my parents out of this! I'm not the only one
who is full of surprises. What is wrong with you? I have no idea who you are anymore. You're definitely not the person I was expecting to meet here, so tell me, between the two of us, who is the pretender?"
"You better stop shouting at me. Nobody yells at me in my own house!"
"House? House? Don't make me laugh. You call this small carton a house? Have you seen the big mansions your mates are building at Lekki?"
"Why didn't you marry one of them, ehn? Gold-digger!"
"Which gold do you have, Mr. Berlin? Oya, show me the gold. And you dare to open your mouth and call me a gold-digger. In your life, never you ever--"
Remi made as if to slap Kayode but he stopped her. It was at that moment, when she came face-to-face with him, that she realized for the first time that his eyes spoke volumes. Even though his face was generally expressionless, she could read his emotions by looking into his eyes. The heart searches for words to convey its anguish, its struggles, hoping to give these words to the mouth to deliver. But sometimes, the words pass from the heart to the eyes, leaving the mouth hungry and deeply dissatisfied. In these moments, the eyes do the talking. Kayode's eyes spoke of a deep and serious internal struggle, which threw her off guard. It was clear that he was waging a battle against himself.
After threatening to call the police if she tried anything