20/08/2025
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Chains of the Hustle part 1
Tunde and Amaka were once like any young couple in love—dreams bigger than their pockets, promises bigger than their reality. They thought marriage would bring peace, but soon the rent, food, and bills started shouting louder than love.
Tunde couldn’t find stable work. He watched friends flaunt new cars and gadgets, money pouring in from hookups and online scams. “It’s fast money,” they told him. He resisted at first, but hunger has a way of bending a man’s pride.
Amaka, beautiful and sharp-tongued, also felt the pressure. One night, after crying over an empty kitchen, she whispered to Tunde, “What if I do hookup, just for now? We need money.”
His chest tightened. The thought of other men touching her burned him inside. But he was tired of being poor, tired of seeing her suffer. So he nodded.
At first, the money came like rain. Amaka returned with cash and gifts, Tunde played his online scams, and together they pretended life was sweet. They ate well, dressed fine, even helped their families once in a while. Neighbours admired them, not knowing the truth.
But in the quiet nights, cracks began to show.
Amaka often cried in the bathroom, scrubbing herself as if to wash away shame. “I feel dirty, Tunde,” she said once, her voice shaking. He wanted to hold her, but guilt froze him. After all, hadn’t he allowed it?
Tunde, too, carried his own torment. Sometimes, when Amaka was out, he stared at the door, imagining her laughing with another man. His scams also weighed heavy—each time he tricked someone overseas into sending money, a voice whispered, What if someone did this to your sister?
Their marriage became a house built on money but cracked by pain. Love was still there, but it was weak, smothered by secrets and lies.
One night, after Amaka returned from a hotel, she dropped the cash on the table and broke down. “This is killing us, Tunde. We’re not living… we’re just surviving.”
For the first time, he admitted what he felt: “I hate it. I hate what we’re doing. But I don’t know another way.”
Silence filled the room. They both knew the truth—money could buy food, clothes, even respect in the eyes of outsiders. But it couldn’t buy peace.
And peace was what they had lost.