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Not a husband Let’s explain
Today we are gathered here. In this house which is currently mine. The reason even I don’t know. I was just staying at Masato’s house and bought it. Then I told Ariel, Mona and Shizuka about this house. They came soon and started questioning. But I did leave the house to prepare for the guests. In that time, my now neighbor, came to visit. She is someone I was avoiding but being neighbors, it was bound to happen at some point. I gave up and just went with the flow.Then Monga showed up with Rachel. That wasn’t the end of it and someone new came as well.I didn’t want him to stand the door so I brought him in and now we are here. Thankfully, Masato has big table which is why everyone is sitting at the table.I don’t want to announce the seating order as it would be chaotic.Now let’s focus on today’s agenda. “So Matthew, why are you here?” I ask Matthew. The young guy with a refreshing smile and a handsome face. He is Monga’s son and Rachel’s older brother. He is a bit tan but that
Not a husband A trip down the memory lane-1
I know this will sound kind of weird but I will tell my backstory first. Because, the author can’t unravel it little by little and telling it will help prevent any misunderstandings. Everyone is gathered here. All the related and unrelated people are here.So where to begin? I think and I should start from the very beginning. Of course not everyday but a summary from my past would be better. I will be the narrator.My birth was normal. I think it was normal. The earliest memories I have are of my parents. But that’s not something so memorable.My parents more or less unqualified to raise a child. Why did they decide to give birth is a mystery? Even I haven’t figured it out.It was probably when I was four, my father hit me. And not just hit, he HIT me. Imagine, a four year old being slapped at full force by an adult. It wasn’t so nice. Worse than that was that my mother was cheering him on.My mistake was that I had eaten a candy. I got that candy from someone but I can’t remember who
Not a husband A trip down the memory lane-2
There are some inconsistencies in my memory. I can’t put it together but I feel that my memories are a mess. So where was I? Ah…the mystery lunchbox.I started getting a second lunchbox from someone other than Ariel. Just having one lunchbox was enough to give me strength but the extra one boosted my strength.I started feeling even better. Probably because I got twice the food. I never tried searching for the person who gave me the other one. If someone is helping you discreetly, just accept it. Don’t be a jerk and try to find the person.My first year of middle school wasn’t very exciting. I ate only at lunch. Because no food was waiting for me at home. My studies were not going well. Probably because I am an idiot. I never tried to study for once.I barely got the passing marks and continued. But many things changed. The once prim and proper Ariel is now a delinquent. And yet, she cooks me those meals.How did I understand? The taste changed midway through. The lunchbox I used to g
Not a husband A trip down the memory lane-3
I won’t bore you saying anything about how my parents ran off on me. They just ran off with my every single penny. I was penniless in every sense. When I was wondering what to do next, the loan sharks came. And I was taken to their boss.Some crazy things happened and I was to be married to his daughter. I tried to delay it and possibly break it however Mona spilled cold water on my plans.I thought she would flat out reject me and I will be free to leave on the condition that I pay the money. I was fine with paying the loan back yet Mona chose to marry me which made things even more complicated.After the registration, I handed the registration papers to Mona. She is free to do whatever she wants with it. I only kept the plant that we got. It was a Cherry tree. I can’t let the tree die.We were taken to our new house but I didn’t feel like sleeping in that house. I used a tree branch as my bed.I know I skipped a little there. But it really was nothing more than Mona’s mother and me
Not a husband A trip down the memory lane-4
A month had passed since I came to Egypt. One thing I understood is that this place has mainly two sides. But that’s true for every country. However the day and night of this country is totally different. The daytime is busy. Everyone has something to do. They are always rushing to places. But the night is different. Those very same people go out and enjoy themselves. The night is awfully colorful. I found a work.I work as a porter at the port. It’s physically challenging. But the pay is decent if you know. The next job I have is during night.I work as a server at a local bar. That job is for information gathering. You find a collection of people at the bar. If you hear everything, you will know many things.I was barely going by. I had a room to myself and I cooked for myself. It was fulfilling. Facing many people and getting to know many people. But one day, it all changed.That day was like any other day. However the night was different. The bar owner was on edge that night.“O
Not a husband A trip down the memory lane-5
It has been 2 weeks since I became a captive. Every day has been full of torture. Not day but night.I was treated normally during daytime and was given free meals. I even became friends with the macho dudes. But at night, they helped Margaret torture me.The torture methods varied. The first day was light torture. And it kept escalating. Last night, I was shocked for two hours. The tingling sensation made my body numb. I would have died if the voltage was higher.Before that, they beat the living hell out of me with metal bats. My ribs were almost broken. But my bones are cracked more or less.I was able heal pretty quickly and my pain tolerance has improved. They stabbed me and gouged my body with knives as well.Looking back at those, I feel that I have grown. I didn’t even scream which made Margaret kind of mad. “Dude, are you really human?” One of the macho dudes asked. “I am a bonafide human.”“You don’t seem human to me. No one has survived more than two days. But you are in
Not a husband A trip down the memory lane-6
My new journey began with Masato. It had only been a few months but I experienced so many things. It took a month to fully recover. But the scars were permanent. My body looked like a chopping board.“Akito, what will you do now?” (Masato)“I did say that I will go with you. So anywhere is fine. Just take me with you.” “Fine. Let’s go deep into the continent. We are in Egypt now. But you will not be safe here. Especially because Margaret is here.” (Masato)“She sure is a nutcase. But tell me, why exactly everyone obeys her?” “She wasn’t like this. But everything changed when she volunteered in an experiment. After that, she changed. Her mental condition worsened by the day and she became what you saw today. Her husband sent her here because she could hurt her children.” (Masato)“She has children?” I knew she was married from her ring but for her to have children…her husband must he something.“Yes. Her son is two years younger than you. Her daughter is 7 years younger than you.” (
Not a husband Akito, a person shrouded in mystery
(Mona POV)Akito, my husband, is telling us his past experiences. How he was and how his fate was a joke. He told us all of his misfortunes and it sounded like self-mockery.It is true that his life was not easy. His parents didn’t love him. He had to fend for himself and then he was sold to the government to be a Guinea pig. I can’t say I sympathize with him or feel his pain but his experiences are not normal. How can one man suffer this much?After his survival from that experiment, he started working only to find himself knee deep is debt. His debt became the reason for our marriage. My father was the lender and his family, unbeknownst to him, was the debtor. After our kind of one sidedly forced marriage, he left. My mother drove him away like she was afraid of him. It was all a mystery until he started to reveal the truth.His experiences only get worse. He went to Egypt in a cargo container. He survived there by eating garbage. He was finally settling down when he was targeted