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The Couple Next Door
What I learnt from an abusive marriage next door — A short story
Three months ago, after a terrible incident that remains vivid to me, I would have sworn to anyone that this couple should divorce or separate with immediate effect.
It was a near-death situation. Chances are we would come home one day and someone might be dead. If you have heard stories of a man killing his wife or a wife killing a man, this was one of those cases waiting to happen.
It’s either we would wake up one day to hear that the man has killed his wife or we would hear that the man died mysteriously in his sleep.
When did it all start, one cannot say. But apparently, it started way before I moved in next door to them.
You would hear insults being hurled at night.
“Arrant nonsense! Arrant nonsense!” The woman would yell, and the man would also hurl insults and threats back.
The first day I heard it, I was disturbed. But I soon understood that this was a normal occurrence for the couple next door.
No questions asked. No remarks were made. The other neighbours said this was the norm. And it is best they were left alone.
