By Femi Abulude
There was not much
for me to do in the office on that day, being the last working day of the week
and of the month I hit the road. Surprisingly too, the road was free of the
usual traffic jam. It was therefore an easy ride home listening to my favourite
music.
I was about 500
metres to the bus stop that branched to my house when I sighted this pretty
lady at the bus stop. Before I could get to her, she had started flagging me
down. I slowed down my vehicle and rolled down the side glass. I packed beside
her. She begged for a lift and I signaled for her to enter. She did and that
was the genesis of my predicament.
After the initial
pleasantries, where she said she was going was about two bus - stops after my
own. I offered to drop her there. Her next statement startled me. “Don’t tell
me you are going home straight. What would a young man like you be doing at
home at this time of the day? Helping madam with household chores? “She teased”.
I stole a glance at
her beside me. This girl really has guts I thought.
“Come of it, men like
you should have a social club to retire to at the end of a day work” she
continued. “If you don’t mind a friend of mine has a small drinking joint down
the road. We can branch there and get to know each other better. “This lady was
un-usually too forward” I mused. Curiosity took the better of me. I followed
her like a walking zombie. Her name was Nkiru.
When we got to her
friends place, it came out to be a Beer Parlour. But unfortunately, the place
was not too far away from the shop of one of the elders of our church. After
settling down, I told Nkiru this. She called her friend whom I later knew was
called Mama Asuquo and discussed briefly with her. She came back and said Mama
Asuquo would follow me to the fuel filling station near the joint. This was
where I packed my car. When I came back, they had re - arranged our sitting
position.
Mama Asuquo served us
drinks and pepper soup. Nkiru topped her own with Nkwobi. This lady could drink. Within a spate of one hour, she had
drunk three bottles of big stouts. She disclosed that she was a single mother
of two. She worked as a secretary in a factory but presently she was jobless.
She confessed she was
befriending her expatriate boss, who was taking proper care of her. When the
man went back to his country, a black man took over from him. This man who was
privy to the relationship between her and the Indian lover man wanted them to
start a relationship as well. This she refused vehemently. Since that time, she
knew no peace in that place. He eventually sacked her on flimsy excuse of
inflating the cost of an electric kettle she was asked to buy. Her immediate
problem was how to solve her house rent which would due in few days time. “Ah!
This lady can talk!” I thought. My warning signal kept on beeping but I refused
to listen.
When it was getting
dark she suggested we change our location. The next port of call was a hotel.
By this time I was a getting tipsy. One thing led to the other and I slept with
her. Nkiru was a maniac on bed. I got clumsy as everything was moving too fast
for me. When we were going, I gave her N10, 000 ( Ten thousand Naira only). She
accepted it, thanked me and told me not forget the house rent she said was
N150, 000. I was silently praying that the cup should quickly pass over me. I
would run away from Nkiru, she would never see me again. We parted.
How wrong I was!
Nkiru refused to go. She started calling me on phone. When she realized my
intension was to dump her, she started sending text messages even at odd times.
My wife started getting suspicious, but I parried all her insinuations.
Unknown to me, Nkiru
had traced me to my church member’s shop. She had spilled the bean to this
elderly man. The man called me on phone and said there was a serious issue he
would like to discuss with me. I almost fainted. I plucked up courage and went
to the man. He went straight to the point. He expressed his disappointment at
my indiscression. He explained what Nkiru told him. He said her types are home
breakers whom responsible men should always steer clear of. He advised that I
should settle her because she had become very desperate.
That was how I had to
eat the humble pie and call Nkiru. I begged her. She hit her roof and started
calling me names; threatening hell and brimstone. After much begging and persuasion
she agreed to take N50, 000.
Few months later, I
started feeling some burning sensation all over my body. My wife also
complained about the same symptoms. When we could no longer mange it again, we
decided to consult our family doctors.
He conducted series
of tests and told us to come back for the results. The doctor later confirmed
that we were suffering from syphilis.
Spontaneously, my
wife and I chorused, “WHAT!” the doctor repeated “Syphilis!” my wife asked “How?”
I could not ask the same question. It was definitely through my unprotected
coital relationship with Nkiru.
A shot at Nkiru had
landed me and my wife in fatal trouble. Who knows if the children are safe too?
My wife’s question; “HOW?” kept echoing in my brain. How? How? How?
Sola
gentle in her presence but when she was not within hearing shot, we called her
Sola mental! She was very erratic. You could never predict her next move.
