KISMET (Episode Nine)
An hour later, Femi was seated in the computer room. He had already received the details about the two numbers in his mail; the blackmailer’s name was actually Roger Brown and he lived at Aggrey Road. Femi had sent out two officers: one to the three banks to get an account statement and another with a warrant to arrest Roger Brown.
KISMET (Episode Eight)
Femi’s eyes went from the gun in his hand to his eyes which looked red. If Femi did not know any better, he would have thought Jide had been crying in the bathroom.
“You have no idea how many times I’ve tried to use this on myself”
Femi was relieved. He got up and walked cautiously towards Jide.
“Just give it to me” Femi said and carefully removed the gun from his hand.
KISMET (Episode Seven)
Chief Emeka was having an affair?
Femi was short of words and even thoughts. He took out a pen and a piece of paper and wrote:
Victim’s life
KISMET (Episode Six)
Femi tried to make sense of what he had just read; of the letter he was holding in his hand. The late Chief Emeka Okafor, a hypocrite? It did not quite suit his profile. He thought the man had a clean slate, loved his family, was even God fearing. He stared at the writing on the piece of paper. The letter could be from any one.
KISMET (Episode Five)
Femi turned on the tape recorder and faced the young woman seated before him. He inhaled deeply and smiled at her.
“Miss or Mrs Catherine?” He asked as she snorted and looked away. “Okay, I’ll just call you Catherine” he said but when she did not reply, he continued. “Tell me about your relationship with your fa-”
KISMET (Episode Four)
Femi stood waiting patiently for Pamela, Chief Emeka’s secretary, to scrutinize his I. D card She handed it back to him and rose to her feet.
“You know we can’t really trust people these days” she said and led him to Chief Emeka’s office. She opened the door to his office and walked in with Femi behind her.
KISMET (Episode Three)
Before Femi could reply, Godwin was out of the car and making his way towards the house. He did not try to stop him; he alighted from the car and followed him.
“What are you doing here?” Godwin asked the moment he set his eyes on his middle aged uncle. His eyes looked red as if he had been crying but Godwin knew he was pretending.
KISMET (Episode Two)
Ujunwa Okafor sat in the living room with a blanket over her shoulders and her son sitting on the arm of the sofa with his right hand on her right shoulder. Her eyes were red and swollen. She had been the first to see his lifeless body. He had remained so still in his chair with his head tilted back. The sight of blood on his neck had made her know something was amiss.
KISMET (Episode 1)
2:00pm
Chief Emeka Raymond Okafor briskly walked into his office with his secretary trailing behind him and using laboured breaths to inform him of his next meetings. His P. A walked at his left, as brisk as his employer.
FLAMES OF VENGEANCE (Episode 20)
Forgiveness, I was torn within, I didn’t know if I should forgive Ladidi or not, what she did was unimaginable, what I also did was unfair, how can a human being do that to another let alone a wife to her husband, its no consolation that she suffered through it all, it was no consolation that she spent 5 months in jail, that she was away from the kids, I was still bitter.
‘One of you must be a bigger person.’ Nafisa’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.
‘Why does it have to be me, she destroyed my life of all things a sex video, Nafisa a sex video haba!.’
‘You’re not entirely blame free, she went overboard but if her family or yours know of this, you know it will be worse than what happened to you.’
‘I don’t know Nafisa, don’t know if I can love her like I used to.’
‘You still feel something for her, think of your kids, your reputation.’
‘Did she think of all that?’
‘Asad please let it go for Allah’s sake, to err is human to forgive is divine.’
What Nafisa said touched me but I also remembered all the good days Ladidi and I shared, our bond not that strong but was still there, our kids, most importantly I knew I still loved her beyond reasoning, how I still felt love for her after what she did baffled me.
What she did was not justifiably but I knew the desperation and helplessness that drove me to hit her sevseral times to land her in the hospital most of those times and into her friend’s arms must have driven her to do what she did, I knew, Nafisa too knew and am sure even Ladidi herself knew that I would forgive her. When we got back to the ward Ladidi was missing.
I just hope she hasn’t done anything drastic, I prayed for her safety I just wanted her back and put all that happened behind like a bad dream.
The nurses saw a fair woman clad in a black veil leaving the hospital it was Ladidi because Nafisa’s veil was missing.
Looking frantically in every nook and corner of Porthacourt streets for Ladidi, we asked people and got her trail, narrowly she had missed being hit by a trailer, I had caught her just in time and we both fell on the side walk out of harm’s way, she looked scared and flustered yet so so beautiful.
***************************
The air in Nnamdi Azikiwe airport was most welcoming, it felt so good to be home, away from scheming, conniving, planning, hospitals, jail. I found new peace in forgiveness and acceptance.
I felt absolved of all my sins, after Asad forgave me, when I left the hospital and ran into a trailer and Asad pushed me just in time, I knew he was back, I made a decision to look after my husband, my kids, my family.
The blue walls were not welcoming, I proceeded to the bed, the frail looking creature was looking away she seemed oblivious to the fact that we were in the room, Asad nudged me I swallowed and called her name.
‘Nadia .’
She looked at me, her eyes hollow, life had obviously been hard, I felt a rush of guilt and relief that she was not dead, she was still breathing.
‘I’m sorry for what happened, I wish I could change it.’ Silence, Asad left the room.
‘I slept with your husband…. Several times.’ She said.
‘I know, and am responsible for your predicament.’ I said back, her eyes told a story, I can’t interpret but I understood.
‘Will you forgive me?’ I asked and I meant every word I said, I wanted to be fully absolved of all my sins.
‘I think we’re even.’ She said smiling weakly.
The world is a strange place, months ago all I wanted was revenge and my heart burned with the flames of vengeance, I thought I would get fulfillment in my quest to destroy Asad but I found peace only in forgiveness.
You gain nothing from revenge only hurt, am sure my attitude must have driven Asad to do the things he did, Asad was learning to be a new person so was I, we would learn to live differently away from scorn and deciet, away from our old selves.
I hope and pray to God that this new path proves to be fruitful to us.
I sincerely thank all my readers who took their time to read and comment on this series all the way. Thanks so so much, we shall meet again one way or the other.
Thanks for Reading
FLAMES OF VENGEANCE (Episode 19)
My reflection was not what I saw when I looked in the mirror, I saw a broken woman, a woman who had lost everything.
My sister Mina fussed over my veil.
‘These pins sef.’ She said bending over to pick the pins that fell.
‘Mina just drape it, it’s not like this is my first wedding.’ I said tiredly and I was tired of everything, life in particular.
‘Considering everything Nadia, you should be thankful to God.’ Mina said and she was right, but the past can’t just be wiped away, the thing is its still there.
‘Yes I know Mina, but I can’t help it, I know I’m lucky though.’ I said smiling.
I was lucky to be marrying my childhood sweetheart, even after I betrayed him for my selfish motives.
Whore, bitch, home wrecker are common names given to women that slept with other women’s husbands, adultery is never justifiable for whatever reason, but everything has a reason and there is a story behind every individual.
My life was not perfect, but it was good and I felt good, my middle class parents were ambitious so they sent me abroad for both secondary and tertiary education.
I got a half scholarship at a very expensive school and my parents worked their ass off to pay the remaining tuition, everything was good and could have remained so until I met Ladidi whom I actually mistook for an Emirati, I was surprise to find out that she was fully Nigerian.
We became friends, more like I became her slave but with huge benefits, soon I began to fantasize about being like her, I imagined what it would feel like to cruise in sport cars, wear expensive clothes and use expensive gadgets, my dreams took flight and it landed me in a place of wants and I became a wanna be , Ladidi called me her friend but would intimidate me, manipulate and use me to do her dirty jobs, but I got paid with expensive cast offs.
Soon I became a different person, I would do anything to be among, lie, cheat, and other infamous things, all to live Ladidi’s lifestyle. We went to different universities, while I continued in London she proceeded to the states. After graduating she got married, her wedding was a splash and her husband, hand picked was a greek god, the toast of every woman, but she had him, her wedding was highly beneficial to me, I traveled with her for her shopping and I met Alhaji Burugu though older than my father became my husband, I left Sani my childhood sweetheart for him because he offered me the affluent life I wanted to live.
I still felt inferior to Ladidi, she did a good job at that, letting people know they were beneath her, she was so arrogant I began to feel spite for her.
One day I met Asad whilst it was raining heavily, he gave me a lift, his gaze kept lingering to my dripping clothes, then he pulled over at a hotel, and I thought my dreams of being with him would finally come true, but I was wrong, he got my clothes to the drycleaners, 2 hrs later we were out of the hotel and nothing happened.
My relationship with my husband hit the rocks from day one, it was not a joyous ride as I had expected it to be, after my divorce I met Asad again and this time I used my charms and played my cards right by blaming him for my divorce, somehow with his guilt and my determination an affair brewed and I nurtured it with all I had.
Many times Asad tried breaking free but I wouldn’t let him, he funded my life and gave me an edge over Ladidi finally, all her yanga and her one in town husband was sharing my bed.
It all began when I saw a writing on my mirror, you bitch, your end is near. I went to call Asad but it was gone, Asad had attempted to break free ealier and assumed I was making it up, then the hallucinations and itching began, my life became a living nightmare with me missing time.
My mental health was degrading rapidly and Asad took it as I was trying to trap and distanced himself from, he had began to feel some sort of loyalty towards his wife for whatsoever reason I didn’t know.
I received a text that Asad was involved in an accident, why would I receive the text when am not his wife, but due to my impaired mental state I jumped into my car and drove off, upon getting on jabi Lake bridge I heard a loud bang and swiftly my car overturned and the water advanced towards me, terror seized me and I passed out.
I woke up in a lot of pain, time eased the physical pain I felt but the emotional pain did not lessen, it increased in time with awareness that I was alone.
I heard it all, about the video and all the calamities that befell Asad, I wished to stay in the hospital forever, the day Asad came he told me he had been hospitalised all the while, he apologized, he came along with an old friend of mine, Sani.
Sani and I had agreed to marry when I left him Married some else for riches, a decision I lived to regret in time, this time Asad and Sani had talked, he had been widowed sometime ago, he agreed to marry me and move out of the country for a while.
‘Nadia.’ A voice called me out of my thoughts, there was no how I will not recognise that voice, the voice responsible for all my woes. I looked at her, ladidi had lost weight but still as beautiful as ever, I was a fool to try to compete with her.
‘I’m sorry, I wish I could change it. She said, her husband had nudged her and left us to talk,
‘I slept with your husband.’ I said, I wanted her to hurt to hear it from me, at least for once she should be the victim, she seemed unperturbed, like I had said nothing.
‘Several times.’ I added, but her expression was cool.
‘I know and am responsible for your predicament.’ She said, I should have known that she always had the last laugh, she knew and plotted against me.
‘Will you forgive me.’ She asked.
‘I guess we’re even.’ I said,
Dubai airport was hot and humid as usual, that was our new home with Sani and I hope our future is better, I had nothing to hide he knew all about me and still accepted me.
‘Are you okay?’ Sani asked.
‘Yes.’ I nodded and he wrapped his hands around my shoulder and we proceeded into our future.
Thanks for Reading
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Thanks for Reading
Click here for Final Episode
Click here to go back to Previous Episode
FLAMES OF VENGEANCE (Episode 18)
The pungent smell of urine reeked, I felt sick from the stomach but nothing was to there to throw up, I felt a poke from behind and I steadied myself to avoid falling into the bucket that housed the natural waste of all inmates.
‘Barbie doll carry dah tin joor, abi you tink say na ya papa aus.’ Danger yelled and my heart leaped in fear, I quickly carried the bucket to its destination.
Karma is a strong thing, one thing was sure, it will surely catch up with you and in the most mysterious ways, the ways you least expected. All I can hear is barbie doll this, barbie doll that from all corners, that’s the name Danger gave me upon sighting me.
‘Dis wan resemble barbie doll o!’ She had said and that was it, months ago.
Its been long, I stopped keeping count,and stopped hoping someone would come to my rescue.
Life is strange, I had known nothing but luxury ever since I could remember, I’ve been here sometime but I can’t get used to it, not the smell that makes me sick, Danger’s yelled that makes me super intense nor the food that I’d have nothing without. Am living my worst nightmare, my whole world had turned inside out and am wishing I took different decisions.
When I discovered Asad’s philandering I decided to destroy him, but you can’t play with fire and not get burnt, you also can’t pay fire with fire all you get is more fire and eventually everyone gets burnt.
The last thing I remember is boarding a plane and next I find myself on a hospital bed, police officers, men with NDLEA on their jackets and doctors stood by my bedside with very horrid and scaring expression on their faces and I just knew karma had caught up with me, just didn’t know it would be that soon. I began screaming for my kids but to no avail.
Later I was faced with series of questions later which I couldn’t answer, somehow I was accused of drug trafficking and I was not surprised.
I was given an option of jail term or to spill the beans of my operation, where we I got the drugs, where I sell and whom I sold too, I had ended up with loads of drugs in my blood, while poisoning Nadia I got enough to be classified as an addict. I had no information and I ended up in jail living my worst nightmare.
The worst part was not knowing where my kids are left with my illiterate maid.
I cry myself to sleep every night, that’s when Danger the leader in our cell has slept and it wasn’t my turn to fan or massage her.
‘Barbie doll.’ A Warder shouted from the gates and I jumped up.
‘Yes.’ I answered.
‘Na shahanaaz be ya name?’
My heart stopped and I just stared, someone had come for me, I didn’t know if I should be happy or sad, images began to crowd my mind, how will I face up with my deeds.
‘Answer abi cat don catch ya tongue.’
‘Yes’
‘Ehnn wic kin name be dat, go come mek u come tell me the meaning.’ Danger said as I followed the Warder out.
Reluctantly I walked behind the Warder my heart beating wild in anticipation of who I will see, every step was heavy with my deeds, my wrong decisions my mistakes, my sins.
I’ve never visited the visiting room before, no one visited me, I thought I was dead to the world, I accepted that my life would bleak out awaiting trial in this cell.
The room was small, I was welcomed with the smell of my own perfume, a wave of sensation I can’t explain waved through me as I saw Ladi and Nafisa and I remembered all the days I spent in the hospital, it was always Ladi and Nafisa that were there for me, they were still the ones I had rated lowest, my jail term taught me who matterd and it was those who were there at your lowest.
Tears ran down my cheecks as I saw them, Ladi quickly got up upon sighting me, a look of confusion and fear plastered her face, but she wearing my perfume was the least of my concern.
Nafisa came forward and hugged me, I broke down in tears but I kept glancing at Ladi, asking her with my eyes about my kids she nodded and I understood they were fine.
I knew Nafisa knew what I did from the way she kept on looking at me, she was going through the formality of me leaving jail, I wouldn’t have stayed that long even if I was sentenced, but I was awaiting trial all the while and somehow the case was dimissed.
When we left the prison premises, Nafisa looked me and asked.
‘How come drugs where found on you?’ I didn’t answer, if she had any evidence and lead she would have surmised that my contacts with drugs was from me poisoning Nadia carelessly with hope destroying evidences by burning her house.
‘I don’t know how you’re going to take this.’ Nafisa said.
‘What, how are my kids?’
‘They are fine but I can’t say the same for your husband Asad.’
My heart beat increased, I try not to think about Asad, he was wrong but I was worst, I don’t know if he’ll accept me back after knowing all I did, and Nadia she did not deserve what I gave her.
‘He suffered a heart attack and died.’ Nafisa said, Ladi who was suppose not to understand english let everything she was holding fall to the ground and I slumped.
When I woke up, I was on a hospital bed yet again, Nafisa was there so was Ladi. I held Nafisa and wailed.
‘I didn’t want Asad dead, I just wanted to teach him a lesson, I can return the money.’
‘What of Nadia? Nafisa asked.
‘It was only her, I didn’t know what came over me when I poisoned her and made her car tumble, Nafisa am sorry.’
‘And the video?
‘That was to punish them not kill Asad.’
Asad’s ghost came for me, I saw it advance from the door, I tried to scream but I couldn’t my voice had left me. The ghost sat beside me and kept on looking me.
‘Ladidi.’ He called, the voice seemed human.
‘Asad am sorry.’ I said shivering.
‘Why?’ He asked.
I touched his face, then his arms I felt the flesh.
‘He’s alive.’ Nafisa’s voice came.
The cat was out, my sins were out from my own mouth. I came down from the bed on my knees.
‘Asad please forgive me, I was carried away.’ I begged holding his legs, he stood up and jerked his legs away.
‘If I forgive you what of Nadia, would that restore her life, Ladidi what you did was inhumane.’
I sat on the floor and Asad left the room, and I knew my life was over, if Asad left me I would be better off in jail with Danger terrorising my life, but how could he want me back I was a murderer.
I heard hushed voices of Asad and Nafisa, but I knew Asad won’t accept me and my kids if they grew up and heard their mother’s story, how she schemed and dseigned their Father’s downfall, how she suffered them for months in a hotel room with the maid they would hate me, I can’t commit suicide God would reject my soul but I could leave and repent elsewhere.
Thanks for Reading
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Ifeoma did not know what she felt after hearing Nonso’s words. She wanted to lunge at him and tear him to pieces but she was too weak. He ...
