“In the bed all day, bed all day, bed all day
Fucking and fighting on
It’s our paradise and it’s our war zone
It’s our paradise and it’s our war zone…”

It was about 11:30 pm, and as one would expect, the streets of Accra were quite empty. Ferdinand was in his Camry, happily singing along to Zayn’s “Pillowtalk” as he made his way home. Yet another night of grand satisfaction. Nothing excited him more than making that regular pit stop at the home of Miss Kirania, his ‘nasty girl’. She knew exactly how to turn him on and tune down his stress levels. She was just what the doctor ordered, in his eyes.

“Miss fucking Kirania! Damn, that girl is good for me,” Ferdinand murmured to himself as he made the right turn on the Spintex Road just before the Papaye Restaurant. “Nastiness. Conversation. Excitement. Fucking freakiness! Chale, what else could a nigga want?”

He had been with a lot of girls in his lifetime. Some were unforgettable in various ways, others were the extreme opposite. With Kirania, she belonged in the former category, and in a very positive way. Ever since he saw her pictures on Instagram that one evening, there was only aim.

To get that girl under the sheets.

Sure, she wasn’t the only one whose Instagram profile was filled with eye-watering photos of her showing off her body in the sexiest of dresses. But she was his target. He was drawn to her naughtiness and her self-proclaimed ‘nasty girl’ title. So he made his way into her DMs.

For about a month, she aired his chats. No surprises there; he wasn’t the only thirsty dude trying to get a piece of her. But he stayed relentless. Eventually, she decided to just engage this ‘hungry nigga’ and see what he was all about.

That was about two months earlier. Now they were in the steamiest and most passionate of affairs, with Ferdinand literally desperate to find his way into her home every other day. He loved everything about her: from her love for wearing anything that failed to fully cover her fit boobs, which she admitted were the result of breast augmentation, to her absolutely freaky nature, which made for extremely steamy sessions.

No doubt about it, Kirania was one unforgettable woman.

But now, as he was a few minutes away from arriving at the place he called home, it was time to deal with one forgettable person.

And oh goodness, how he despised dealing with her!

*****

Mrs. Princess Danso was seated on the couch, her eyes fixed on the television screen, although her attention was nowhere near what was on it. 

It was 11:52 pm and as usual, Ferdinand wasn’t home.

She had tried calling earlier to inform him that one of the lights in the living room was no longer working. And as usual, he rejected the call.

Wherever he was, he had no intention of speaking to her.

As usual.

At this rate, it should have been normal, but it was still hurtful.

Three years. Three years of absolute hell.

Ever since she and Ferdinand had stood at that altar and exchanged vows to cleave to each other, life had been one hell of a nightmare. The sweet man she had known before then had suddenly turned into this manipulative, unfriendly, and downright horrible person who seemed to derive joy from making her as unhappy as humanly possible.

​For the love of God, how did it get to this? ​she briefly wondered to herself for the gazillionth time as she shook her head. There was no logical explanation under the sun that could rationalize his behaviour toward her. None whatsoever.

When they started dating after her parents hooked them up, he was a gentleman extraordinaire. It was like his life’s mission was to make her life comfortable. Whether it was opening the car door for her, helping her put her high heels on, or holding her hand at all times in public, Ferdinand did all he could to make her feel like she deserved the world and more. “Babe, your name is Princess, so woe is me if I don’t treat you like one,” he’d always insist.

After twenty months of dating, they got married in a simple but lavish garden wedding ceremony. Nicely attended by family and a couple of friends, it had been such a joyous day for her. A day she believed was going to be the gateway to the sweetest of ‘happily ever afters’.

About two months into the marriage, however, the problems began.

Suddenly, Ferdinand constantly claimed to be busy at work, coming home as late as 11 pm. He barely wanted to spend any time with her, eat her food or even get intimate with her; the beautifully furnished bungalow he had proclaimed would be their sanctuary and home was now more like a hotel to him, and a lonely building to her. Her attempts to find out what was going on were swiftly snuffed out by Ferdinand, who always claimed he was tired and didn’t feel like talking.

With time, his attitude became colder and colder. It wasn’t long before he was shouting down at her and losing his cool every time she tried to spend quality time with him.

As to where those sudden shows of hostility suddenly popped out, she had no idea. She had complained to her parents, but they had a pretty high impression of Ferdinand and thought she was just trying to bail out of a ‘beautiful, God-given marriage’ for devious reasons. They sent her back and warned her to do her part to make it work.

Then the real back-breaking straw came along.

Princess took seed after one of their very few moments of intimacy. This was the best of news for Ferdinand, and his excitement was plain to see. He just could not wait to become a father.

His attention was all on the unborn child, though. The way he gushed over her belly and pretty much ignored the rest of her made it apparent to her that in his eyes, she was just a carrier, not a wife. There were a couple of times when he would yell at her not to do certain things, claiming ‘Don’t do anything that will harm my child’.

So when tragedy struck, and she, unfortunately, lost the baby after two months to intrauterine fetal demise, Ferdinand was convinced that she killed the baby out of sheer jealousy and a desire to get back at him. Even though the doctor told them that this was just an unfortunate occurrence beyond their control and that they needed to support each other through this low moment, Ferdinand claimed he knew deep down that she was responsible for this.

The memory of him snatching his hand away from hers as they left the doctor’s office, and his snarling statement “You make me sick!” had been burned deep into her memory, and it was one painful memory that followed her everywhere she went.

And since then, life had been hell.

Imagine having to balance the heart-breaking loss of your baby with facing the daily ire of your husband who thinks you deliberately killed that baby.

Ferdinand now came home whenever he wanted, never touched anything she prepared, and barely responded to any call or greeting from her. If he ever did communicate with her, it was to insult her or warn her about something. The princess he once claimed he’d do anything for was now lower than the dust of the earth in his eyes.

And as he had yet to arrive home, she knew he had gone to see another woman. Ever since the miscarriage, she had not so much as seen his nakedness. She had been banished to the guest room long ago, and that privilege had been snatched from her and was now given to all those girls he slept with.

From a princess to a pariah. That was the unfortunate title of Princess’ love life.

And the most painful part of it all was that there were no red flags to warn her of this hellhole. Ferdinand had not behaved in any way during their courtship that made her feel uneasy; he was the perfect gentleman who promised her the world and a few more. So this was a turn of events she just could not put her finger on.

The door opened, and he entered the living room.

She looked up in surprise. She had been so caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t hear him enter. She looked at him for a moment, then lowered her head.

She could feel the glare of contempt and disgust from his eyes as he walked by her, letting out a big ‘Mtcheewww’ as he made his way to the bedroom.

Princess looked up to the sky and shook her head.

Another day of living in hell.

As usual.

Hmmm, poor Princess. She’s not in a happy place at all. Why is Ferdinand treating her that way? Is there something we don’t know? Hmmm…