"Hey, lazy asshole, get out of bed right now!" Brenda squealed and hit Derek with a piece of cloth slung across her neck.

Derek struggled to lift his face, his eyes were still dreamy and his vision blurry but he could tell how enraged his wife was.

In a short while, a second dagger was shot at him. "Your mates are out there working hard to fend for their family, while you lay aimlessly, drooling."

"Drool!" Unfortunately, for him, he had some drool reflecting from the corner of his mouth.

Derek had spent the whole of the previous day job hunting, stuck to his side was his CV and his dusty, untidied, and worn-out shoe, with a shabby set of clothes, to which he had trekked the whole of Dominican.

Going from company to company, from the big giants to the SMEs yet all his searches were futile.

Everything seemed as though it was a planned rejection.

Having faced several rejections from relatable companies, he switched to little restaurants, small stores, and delivery work, yet he never got one.

It was either, he got employed and the next day his appointment got terminated for no just reason. 

All this placed him in the circle of tough times, neither was his wife helping matters.

Once upon a time, she was the sweet loving woman he fell in love with, but three years after their marriage she turned into a wild dog.

Sometimes she turns wild, and a second later, she's a sweet lover. 

"The whole house is empty, what do we feed on? Your mess or intestines?!" Brenda yelled out. 

Derek widened his eyes instantly, and he told. "What… what…t about the food we received a week ago?"

Brenda shot him a sinister grin, mockingly she blurted. "Food you say?! Aren't you ashamed of yourself? We receive food from my mother, isn't that supposed to be a slap on your face?!"

She turned her back against him, forgetting her coy, and blurted. "Derek! You are not worthy to be called a man!"

Her words hit him hard, never had she gone as far as to insult him. Nevertheless, he stomped to his feet, having those words hovering in his head, he told.

"Brenda, you know I've tried hard, you can tell how much I desire to get a job, but it's not wor…"

"Then go meet my mother!" She exclaimed.

"How many times would I say this?" On several occasions, Brenda had suggested meeting her mom for a job, but Derek had refused.

To him, it was as though his pride was being trampled on. Asides from that, he took it as an absolute insult to seek help where he never was accepted.

Brenda was his childhood love, they grew up together since he was raised by the Reids.  

As time rolled by, their little love grew into something bigger, and the flame of their love couldn't be covered.

Both of them had made their intentions known to their parents, but rather than agree, they were against it.

Unable to leave each other, they fled and got married against the wish of her parents.

A year later, her parents got to discover their whereabouts, the couple apologized, then it seemed as though they were forgiven, the whole pressure of leaving Brenda started again, and here they were still facing it more terrifically.

Just two days away, Mrs. Reid had called and threatened to come for her daughter soon. Although a part of him was confident Brenda wouldn't leave him, the recent Brenda speaks a lot of difference.

Derek tried wrapping her into his embrace, but she fired back. "Don't touch me, go get a job!" She blurted and walked out.

It pained Derek to feel empty, no one was on his side, including his once-loving wife. 

For the first time in his life, he felt like falling into the ground and the earth was closed up on him.

"I'll have to do something about this." He said to himself.

***

"Get the heck out of my house, or I call security!" As suggested by Brenda, Derek had put his pride away, picked up his shirt, and without taking a bath, he stormed out of the house.

One thing he never wanted was to lose Brenda, it seemed as though he was on the verge of losing her, and as such he was prepared to do anything to gain her back.

Anything which includes, soiling his pride as he did now. 

He visited the Reid, getting notified that Derek was the visitor, Mrs. Reid had ordered that Derek crawl from the mansion gate to the doorstep.

At that order, he felt like turning back, but his wife's words came back to him. "You are not man enough!"

With that, he went on his knees, he had thought that if that's what would cost Mrs. Reid to offer him a job, then he was in for it.

Under the scorching sun, on an empty stomach, he crawled for nearly half an hour till he made his way to the doorstep.

He reached the doorstep and shut his eyes at first as it seemed as though he could pass out anytime soon.

Derek got to the door, and pressed the doorbell, while he clutched tight to his aching knee. Five minutes passed before the door got opened, and instantly, he was greeted by cold juice, splashed all over his face.

Derek struggled to wipe the juice off, enraged to at least see who the culprit was, only to get greeted by a slap.

Then it dawned on him that Mrs. Reid was the culprit.

She kept wailing loudly, hurling insulting words at him, but she never got to listen to his reason for coming over.

In a flash, she was on the phone calling security, before Derek could say bingo, he found himself beaten and dumped right at the gate of the mansion.

Tired, broken, and depressed, he found a place to lay his butts, while he had a series of thoughts filming through his mind.

Derek couldn't tell how, but what he knew so well was, living in the last 24 years of his life, had never been so hard as what he faced presently.

He was grateful the Reid's had taken him as their son, but on another thought, he wished they left him to the cold hands of death.

While he pondered on this, his phone beeped, he refused to check but it beeped again.

He checked through, only to find Brenda's message.

"I've got something very important to tell you," her text read.

Just about to call her, another call came in. It was someone he knew, but his heart thumped hard, and his hands trembled heavily.

It was just one of those who never allowed him some peace with Brenda. At first, he cuts the call, but the call was continuous, after the fourteenth time, he picked.