By Bunmi Sofola
LARA had often moaned that someone else had got the life she was supposed to have. We were mates at the secondary school and have remained close decades after we left. A fairly brilliant student, we were all mildly surprised when she opted for matrimony. Within the spate of a decade, she’d not only had four children, she’d become fat and frumpy. It didn’t help that her husband’s clerical job didn’t pay much to keep the family above the breadline. In the end Lara resigned her low-paid job and trained as a caterer.
“It was the best move I’d made so far,” Lara had said. “After running a modest canteen, I was extremely lucky when one of our mates in school helped me get the job of running the canteen in her office. It was a big one too and the responsibilities were challenging. But there were perks too – it meant the difference between paying the school fees and putting decent meals on the table.
“You would think Lere my husband would appreciate the extra money. The business centre he set up when he was retrenched wasn’t bringing in much and that really frustrated him. When we argued, he said lots of things – that I didn’t know when to shut up, that I looked like the back of an elephant. He even complained I came home reeking of kitchen fume.
