Friday, 27 February 2015
What do you See?
NEWS NUGGETS FEBRUARY 28
News: Vanguard Newspaper:
2015: With me as governor, Jonathan can’t lose in Bauchi – Yuguda
+Stop your supporters from killing policemen, NHRC tells Jonathan, Buhari
+‘Why Obasanjo is having issues with Jonathan’
+Jonathan’ll not sack Jega but… – FG +B-I-Z-A-R-R-E: How a cleric poisoned client, chopped off his hands, head, private parts
+Enugu Gov’s aide in soup for allegedly impregnating student
+Alleged money laundering: S’Court okays eX-plateau Gov, Dariye for trial
+Over 1m cards yet to be collected in Lagos – REC
+Uduaghan’s education story: How he changed Delta schools
+Jonathan to kick-start N700b Abuja City Centre project
+Boko Haram raid villages after Chadian offensive
+General Elections: Be vigilant, group advises Nigerians
+A tear for Ebonyi
+2015 polls: Lagos Group launches campaign for change in govt
+Jonathan parleys with Tompolo, Ayiri, others
+Eaglets seek redemption against Guinea
+Sports journalists blast NFF over Keshi
+Fuel scarcity hits Abuja, as long queues surface in petrol stations
+2015: X-raying the gains, losses of postponed polls
+Keshi: I have been offered ‘a slave contract’
+Jail breaks: NPS beefs up security in prisons across Nigeria
+How I’ll transform Delta – O’tega Emerho
+Pillars will play like wounded Lions — Emordi
+Synagogue building was constructed without govt approval — Engineer
+Mourinho: I trust referee Taylor
+Ogun PDP asks Court to disqualify Kashamu over alleged drug trafficking
+If I were Jonathan, I ‘ll crack Nigeria – Agbakoba
+Garba: I’ve picked best players for AYC
+Kunle Afolayan, Rita Dominic, other nominees battle for Malta’s N1m prize
+Certificate Saga: Farmer drags Buhari to court
+Fathering children I cannot take care of remains my greatest regret —Felix Liberty
+CAF Confed. Cup: Wolves pounce on Bobo Dioulasso
+Akwa Ibom 2015: The hurdles before Emmanuel
+Inside story of #iBelieve Concert: Ambode was instrumental to my coming into limelight— Ice Prince.
+We will recover all territories from Boko Haram – Jonathan
+Doctors in protest march over murder of colleague
+How Tinubu plot to become President if APC wins – PDP
+Funke Akindele, Charles Inojie,Helen Paul dazzle in Mr Potosky
+INEC cléars air on card readers, accreditation
+Bizarre: N4.3b spent to prosecute Ibori – Senate
+2015 elections : The card reader and ballot box ‘stuffing’.
2015: With me as governor, Jonathan can’t lose in Bauchi – Yuguda
+Stop your supporters from killing policemen, NHRC tells Jonathan, Buhari
+‘Why Obasanjo is having issues with Jonathan’
+Jonathan’ll not sack Jega but… – FG +B-I-Z-A-R-R-E: How a cleric poisoned client, chopped off his hands, head, private parts
+Enugu Gov’s aide in soup for allegedly impregnating student
+Alleged money laundering: S’Court okays eX-plateau Gov, Dariye for trial
+Over 1m cards yet to be collected in Lagos – REC
+Uduaghan’s education story: How he changed Delta schools
+Jonathan to kick-start N700b Abuja City Centre project
+Boko Haram raid villages after Chadian offensive
+General Elections: Be vigilant, group advises Nigerians
+A tear for Ebonyi
+2015 polls: Lagos Group launches campaign for change in govt
+Jonathan parleys with Tompolo, Ayiri, others
+Eaglets seek redemption against Guinea
+Sports journalists blast NFF over Keshi
+Fuel scarcity hits Abuja, as long queues surface in petrol stations
+2015: X-raying the gains, losses of postponed polls
+Keshi: I have been offered ‘a slave contract’
+Jail breaks: NPS beefs up security in prisons across Nigeria
+How I’ll transform Delta – O’tega Emerho
+Pillars will play like wounded Lions — Emordi
+Synagogue building was constructed without govt approval — Engineer
+Mourinho: I trust referee Taylor
+Ogun PDP asks Court to disqualify Kashamu over alleged drug trafficking
+If I were Jonathan, I ‘ll crack Nigeria – Agbakoba
+Garba: I’ve picked best players for AYC
+Kunle Afolayan, Rita Dominic, other nominees battle for Malta’s N1m prize
+Certificate Saga: Farmer drags Buhari to court
+Fathering children I cannot take care of remains my greatest regret —Felix Liberty
+CAF Confed. Cup: Wolves pounce on Bobo Dioulasso
+Akwa Ibom 2015: The hurdles before Emmanuel
+Inside story of #iBelieve Concert: Ambode was instrumental to my coming into limelight— Ice Prince.
+We will recover all territories from Boko Haram – Jonathan
+Doctors in protest march over murder of colleague
+How Tinubu plot to become President if APC wins – PDP
+Funke Akindele, Charles Inojie,Helen Paul dazzle in Mr Potosky
+INEC cléars air on card readers, accreditation
+Bizarre: N4.3b spent to prosecute Ibori – Senate
+2015 elections : The card reader and ballot box ‘stuffing’.
WAR START!!!!!!
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These type of new war equipment just landed at our airport to support our military..its now fight to finish..Welldone Mr President..if they have not politicised this war and stopped countries from selling arms to us through their propaganda..we would have finished this insurgency in record time..Thank you CHINA AND RUSSIA for your support.
ATHLETES FOOT
Athlete’s foot is a
common fungal infectiAthlete’s foot is a common fungal infection of the foot.
An itchy red rash
develops in the spaces between your toes. The affected skin may also be scaly,
flaky and dry.
The medical name for
athlete’s foot is tinea pedis.on of the foot. An itchy red
rash develops in the spaces between your toes. The affected skin may also be
scaly, flaky and dry.
What causes athlete's
foot? Harmless bacteria and fungi live naturally on your skin, but if these
organisms multiply, your skin can become infected. A group of fungi called
dermatophytes is responsible for athlete’s foot. Dermatophytes live in and feed
off dead skin tissue. Your feet provide a warm, dark and humid environment –
ideal conditions for the fungi to live and multiply. Athlete's foot spreads
very easily. It can be passed from person to person through contaminated
towels, clothing and surfaces. The fungi can survive and multiply in warm and
humid places, such as swimming pools, showers and changing rooms.
Treating athlete's
foot Most cases of athlete’s foot are mild and can be treated at home using
self-care techniques (see below) and antifungal medication. With effective
treatment, athlete’s foot usually only lasts for a few days or weeks.
Antifungal medication clears the fungi that cause the infection. It's available
as: creams sprays liquids powders tablets
NEWS NUGGETS
NEWS NUGGET- 27TH FEB
THISDAY- Jonathan in Baga, Mubi, Boosts Morale of Troops.+ Buhari in London, Says He’s a Reformed Democrat.+ Nigeria Listed Among 20 Fastest Growing Economies.+ APC Senators Allege Plot to Sack Jega Next Week.+ Police Recover Baby Sold for N300,000 by His Father.+ Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition.+ Senate Begins Move to Create Parallel Budget Office.+ House to Probe Rice Importers.+ US Issues Travel Advisory on 2015 Polls.+ NNPC: Rising OIL PRICE will Encourage Investment.+ Honour Triumphant Soldiers, TUC Urges Army Chief.+ FG Saves N2.1bn from Ghost Pensioners, Promises to Offset Outstanding Arrears.+ Oshodi Mayhem: Police Arraign 18, Dismiss Political Undertone.+ LASU Refunds Fees to Students.+ Rivers: Medical Doctor Dies in Kidnappers’ Den.+ Mbu Urged to Ignore Distractions, Persistent Criticisms by Politicians.+ Judiciary Workers Threaten Fresh Sanction against Defaulting States.+ Synagogue: Collapsed Building was Built to Standard, Says Contractor.+ NLC Poll: South-east, South-south Unions Protest Lopsided Allocation of Delegates.
THISDAY- Jonathan in Baga, Mubi, Boosts Morale of Troops.+ Buhari in London, Says He’s a Reformed Democrat.+ Nigeria Listed Among 20 Fastest Growing Economies.+ APC Senators Allege Plot to Sack Jega Next Week.+ Police Recover Baby Sold for N300,000 by His Father.+ Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition.+ Senate Begins Move to Create Parallel Budget Office.+ House to Probe Rice Importers.+ US Issues Travel Advisory on 2015 Polls.+ NNPC: Rising OIL PRICE will Encourage Investment.+ Honour Triumphant Soldiers, TUC Urges Army Chief.+ FG Saves N2.1bn from Ghost Pensioners, Promises to Offset Outstanding Arrears.+ Oshodi Mayhem: Police Arraign 18, Dismiss Political Undertone.+ LASU Refunds Fees to Students.+ Rivers: Medical Doctor Dies in Kidnappers’ Den.+ Mbu Urged to Ignore Distractions, Persistent Criticisms by Politicians.+ Judiciary Workers Threaten Fresh Sanction against Defaulting States.+ Synagogue: Collapsed Building was Built to Standard, Says Contractor.+ NLC Poll: South-east, South-south Unions Protest Lopsided Allocation of Delegates.
Thursday, 26 February 2015
The Maid 12
The Maid 12
Kalu put the mattress back on the bed, spread a green bed sheet on it, then Yemi sat down.
She watched as he arranged the room he had scattered over an hour ago.
“So you wanted to steal my money?” she asked.
“I was borrowing it.” Kalu replied
“Does this look as if you wanted to borrow it?”
Kalu stopped arranging the shoes and turned to Yemi. “I needed some money urgently. You were busy with your boss, so I had to search for it.”
“If you want this money, you can have it.” She threw the money at him. “I have suffered too much in this house and this money is the least on my mind. I am going for bigger fish.” She got up from the bed and entered the bathroom. A moment later she returned wrapped in a white towel. She picked up the black bag. “Don’t even try leaving this compound. I told Sadique to set the dog on you if he sees you near the gate. You will remain here until I am ready to release you.”
Kalu’s mouth hung open in shock. “You can’t do that to me,” Kalu protested. “I have to be at the church this morning. You and your boss have delayed me enough.”
Yemi ignored him and shut the door to the bathroom.
“I am not your prisoner!” Kalu shouted.
The maid peeked out of the bathroom. “Do you want to come in here and take a warm shower with me or do you want to keep shouting like a barbarian? What will it be?”
Kalu’s eyes lit up like a hungry dog thrown a juicy bone. He kicked off his shoes as if they had been invaded by a colony of vicious ants, rushed to the bathroom door and started taking off his shirt.
” Mischeew!” the maid hissed. “I knew you would like that. I was just teasing you,”the maid said and slammed the bathroom door shut in his disappointed face.
********
“You said you didn’t want her to ruin your life. I will not allow you touch that woman again!” Segun shouted at his friend. With nose flaring, eyes bulging, arms swaying, Segun was ready for a fight.
Gbenga would never get into a fight with his friend, but this was about his pride, his manhood was being put to the test. He would never allow Segun steal Yemi away from him.
“Yemi is carrying my child. I have decided to make her my second wife.” Gbenga said without really thinking about it. If Yemi was good enough for Segun, then she was good enough for him.
“What about your position in Church?” Segun asked.
“I don’t care what the church thinks. I am going to take her in as my second wife.”
“Have you lost your mind? You will become the laughing stock of all your friends. The church will totally disown you. Nobody will want to have anything to do with you.” Segun warned.
“I don’t care. Yemi is mine. My friends can think whatever they like but I am not letting her leave with my baby in her womb.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Segun asked. “Do you want to throw everything away because of a…a maid?”
“Now she’s a maid? How convenient. A few minutes ago when you had her in your arms she wasn’t ‘a maid.’ Tell me Segun, how did it feel holding her in your arms, kissing her, do you want to tell me the truth? Did she feel like a maid then? You want her for yourself, don’t you? You want to take MY Yemi away from me!”
Segun sat on a chair looking downcast. He lifted his head. “What about your wife? What are you going to tell her?”
Gbenga sat opposite his friend. “I will tell her the truth. The maid is carrying my child. I will not throw that child into a rubbish heap or murder it in an abortion clinic. I will do the responsible thing. I will marry her.”
“You don’t have to marry her. Just take responsibility for your child.” Segun said.
“Why shouldn’t I marry her?” Gbenga sat forward in his chair. “Is she too good for me to marry?”
Segun shook his head with disappointment. ” You are going to make the greatest mistake of your life if you marry Yemi. If you try this you will lose Shade.”
“Is it my fault that Shade hasn’t given me a child after so many years of trying? I am tired of waiting for a miracle to happen. I am tired of visiting fertility clinics with my wife and being prodded like an animal in their examination rooms. I am tired of consulting pastors who promised to perform a miracle. God has finally answered my prayer and the answer is the baby in Yemi’s womb.”
The back door to the kitchen opened quietly and Sadique the gateman slid out of the kitchen into the garden. He entered the gatehouse, brought out a phone and made a call. “Good morning ma. It is me Sadique. You said if I heard anything I should call you immediately. Yes ma. I heard something just now. The maid is pregnant.” He listened for a few seconds. “I don’t know who owns it. I will find out ma.” He said and ended the call.
**********
Ngozi almost held her breath as Shade lifted the cup of coffee to her lips and took a sip. Shade kept on talking about some of Ngozi’s escapades in the university. Ngozi shook her head, pretending to listen to what her friend was saying but was actually waiting for the drug to kick in.
Suddenly Shade dropped the cup clumsily on the table and the dark liquid spilled on the white table cloth.
“I don’t feel too well,” she raised a weak hand and touched her forehead. She tried to stand up but fell back on the chair.
“What is happening to me?” she asked, alarmed.
Ngozi was expressionless as she watched her friend struggle with the effect of the drug.
“Ngozi, help me!” Shade stretched out her hands towards her friend. The drugged woman held on tightly to the dinning table cloth, pulled it down with her and crashed to the floor, cups and coffee pot falling down on her.
Ngozi waited for her to stop moving then stood over the still figure on the floor and smiled.
“I thought you were never going to drink that coffee. You almost gave me a scare.” She kicked Shade on the side. “That was for wasting my time this morning. You just kept prattling like a fool and I thought you would never stop. So glad you’ve shut up so that I can think!”
She tried to lift the drugged woman from the floor but she was too heavy.
“This is why I don’t like fat people. How do you expect me to get you on the bed?” she asked.
She managed to drag her near the bed and left her on the floor.
“I will be back to deal with you later.” She looked around the room to make sure she left nothing behind. She put the room’s electronic key in her bag, put out the ‘Do not disturb’ sign outside the door, took the elevator downstairs, got into her car and brought out her phone.
“Listen carefully. I don’t want any loose ends. The maid has to go.” She listened for a few seconds.
“No you idiot! I meant you have to get rid of her. I don’t care how you do it but you must kill the maid today!”
To be continued.
Kalu put the mattress back on the bed, spread a green bed sheet on it, then Yemi sat down.
She watched as he arranged the room he had scattered over an hour ago.
“So you wanted to steal my money?” she asked.
“I was borrowing it.” Kalu replied
“Does this look as if you wanted to borrow it?”
Kalu stopped arranging the shoes and turned to Yemi. “I needed some money urgently. You were busy with your boss, so I had to search for it.”
“If you want this money, you can have it.” She threw the money at him. “I have suffered too much in this house and this money is the least on my mind. I am going for bigger fish.” She got up from the bed and entered the bathroom. A moment later she returned wrapped in a white towel. She picked up the black bag. “Don’t even try leaving this compound. I told Sadique to set the dog on you if he sees you near the gate. You will remain here until I am ready to release you.”
Kalu’s mouth hung open in shock. “You can’t do that to me,” Kalu protested. “I have to be at the church this morning. You and your boss have delayed me enough.”
Yemi ignored him and shut the door to the bathroom.
“I am not your prisoner!” Kalu shouted.
The maid peeked out of the bathroom. “Do you want to come in here and take a warm shower with me or do you want to keep shouting like a barbarian? What will it be?”
Kalu’s eyes lit up like a hungry dog thrown a juicy bone. He kicked off his shoes as if they had been invaded by a colony of vicious ants, rushed to the bathroom door and started taking off his shirt.
” Mischeew!” the maid hissed. “I knew you would like that. I was just teasing you,”the maid said and slammed the bathroom door shut in his disappointed face.
********
“You said you didn’t want her to ruin your life. I will not allow you touch that woman again!” Segun shouted at his friend. With nose flaring, eyes bulging, arms swaying, Segun was ready for a fight.
Gbenga would never get into a fight with his friend, but this was about his pride, his manhood was being put to the test. He would never allow Segun steal Yemi away from him.
“Yemi is carrying my child. I have decided to make her my second wife.” Gbenga said without really thinking about it. If Yemi was good enough for Segun, then she was good enough for him.
“What about your position in Church?” Segun asked.
“I don’t care what the church thinks. I am going to take her in as my second wife.”
“Have you lost your mind? You will become the laughing stock of all your friends. The church will totally disown you. Nobody will want to have anything to do with you.” Segun warned.
“I don’t care. Yemi is mine. My friends can think whatever they like but I am not letting her leave with my baby in her womb.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Segun asked. “Do you want to throw everything away because of a…a maid?”
“Now she’s a maid? How convenient. A few minutes ago when you had her in your arms she wasn’t ‘a maid.’ Tell me Segun, how did it feel holding her in your arms, kissing her, do you want to tell me the truth? Did she feel like a maid then? You want her for yourself, don’t you? You want to take MY Yemi away from me!”
Segun sat on a chair looking downcast. He lifted his head. “What about your wife? What are you going to tell her?”
Gbenga sat opposite his friend. “I will tell her the truth. The maid is carrying my child. I will not throw that child into a rubbish heap or murder it in an abortion clinic. I will do the responsible thing. I will marry her.”
“You don’t have to marry her. Just take responsibility for your child.” Segun said.
“Why shouldn’t I marry her?” Gbenga sat forward in his chair. “Is she too good for me to marry?”
Segun shook his head with disappointment. ” You are going to make the greatest mistake of your life if you marry Yemi. If you try this you will lose Shade.”
“Is it my fault that Shade hasn’t given me a child after so many years of trying? I am tired of waiting for a miracle to happen. I am tired of visiting fertility clinics with my wife and being prodded like an animal in their examination rooms. I am tired of consulting pastors who promised to perform a miracle. God has finally answered my prayer and the answer is the baby in Yemi’s womb.”
The back door to the kitchen opened quietly and Sadique the gateman slid out of the kitchen into the garden. He entered the gatehouse, brought out a phone and made a call. “Good morning ma. It is me Sadique. You said if I heard anything I should call you immediately. Yes ma. I heard something just now. The maid is pregnant.” He listened for a few seconds. “I don’t know who owns it. I will find out ma.” He said and ended the call.
**********
Ngozi almost held her breath as Shade lifted the cup of coffee to her lips and took a sip. Shade kept on talking about some of Ngozi’s escapades in the university. Ngozi shook her head, pretending to listen to what her friend was saying but was actually waiting for the drug to kick in.
Suddenly Shade dropped the cup clumsily on the table and the dark liquid spilled on the white table cloth.
“I don’t feel too well,” she raised a weak hand and touched her forehead. She tried to stand up but fell back on the chair.
“What is happening to me?” she asked, alarmed.
Ngozi was expressionless as she watched her friend struggle with the effect of the drug.
“Ngozi, help me!” Shade stretched out her hands towards her friend. The drugged woman held on tightly to the dinning table cloth, pulled it down with her and crashed to the floor, cups and coffee pot falling down on her.
Ngozi waited for her to stop moving then stood over the still figure on the floor and smiled.
“I thought you were never going to drink that coffee. You almost gave me a scare.” She kicked Shade on the side. “That was for wasting my time this morning. You just kept prattling like a fool and I thought you would never stop. So glad you’ve shut up so that I can think!”
She tried to lift the drugged woman from the floor but she was too heavy.
“This is why I don’t like fat people. How do you expect me to get you on the bed?” she asked.
She managed to drag her near the bed and left her on the floor.
“I will be back to deal with you later.” She looked around the room to make sure she left nothing behind. She put the room’s electronic key in her bag, put out the ‘Do not disturb’ sign outside the door, took the elevator downstairs, got into her car and brought out her phone.
“Listen carefully. I don’t want any loose ends. The maid has to go.” She listened for a few seconds.
“No you idiot! I meant you have to get rid of her. I don’t care how you do it but you must kill the maid today!”
To be continued.
The Maid 11
The Maid 11
Yemi heard footsteps approaching the room. She adjusted her dress in a wanton manner, exposing her thighs and laid back on the bed, pretending to be asleep. Segun entered the room closely followed by Kalu who was holding a glass of water. Kalu didn’t like the way Segun looked at Yemi’s legs, but his mind was on the loot in his pocket and how to escape from the house without being caught.
“Here, have some water,” Segun said.
Yemi opened her eyes and drank some water. “Thank you,” she noticed the bulge in Kalu’s pocket and gave him a curious look. Kalu hurried to leave the room.
“Kalu please wait a moment.” She put a hand delicately on Segun’s hand. “Please let Kalu wait for me in the living room. I want him to take something important to my mom.”
Segun turned to the young man. “Could you wait in the living room. I will be with you in a moment.” Kalu left the room and shut the door behind him.
“Ooh!” Yemi moaned in exaggerated pain.
“What’s the matter?” Segun sat down beside her.
“I feel some pain on my shoulder where Gbenga held me.”
Segun touched her face gently. “That animal will never touch you again. I will make sure of that.”
Yemi sat up in bed, her dress moved exposing some cleavage. She saw the longing in his eyes, the slight trembling of his lips, the way he touched her and she knew he was like a ripe guava fruit ready to be plucked into her basket. If she didn’t make a move now, this opportunity could be lost forever.
“Mr Adeniyi.”
“Please, call me Segun,” he smiled.
“I want to thank you for what you did upstairs. Standing up for me as you did, almost hurting yourself when you broke down the door to enter the room and rescue me. Confronting Gbenga and putting up a fight for me.” She touched his upper arm. “You are a real man, so…so strong.”
Segun smiled like a teenager holding hands with his first crush. “It was nothing.”
“But it was something. You did a lot for me. A lesser man would have ran away from the situation but you fought for me.” She leaned forward and removed an imaginary lint from his shirt. Yemi had taken the liberty to douse herself with Shade’s Channel number 5. Segun breathed in her perfume and sighed.
“I wouldn’t put it that way,” he managed to say, his senses subdued by the seductive scent caressing his nostrils.
“Please don’t be so modest.” Yemi paused and looked into his eyes. “What can I do to repay your kindness?”
Segun swallowed hard. He looked around and saw that the door was shut.
Yemi’s face was mere inches away from his face. “I will do…anything to show my gratitude,” she said, touched his thigh and moved closer to him. She noticed that Segun’s breathing had quickened like an obese man taking a brisk walk on a Saturday morning in an attempt to burn some unwanted fat. She also noticed that his eyes were on her lips and cleavage.
She looked into his eyes, lustfully, tempting, daring him to do something.
Suddenly Segun leaned forward, pulled her close and kissed her. Yemi let him. She pressed into him gently and kissed him back. She opened her eyes and looked at his face. His eyes were shut, caught up in the throes of forbidden pleasure, like a man in the heat of contrite prayer.
The moment lingered.
Heavy breathing.
Hands exploring, touching.
More heavy breathing.
Seemed like an eternity.
“What on earth is going on here?!” Gbenga burst into the room.
Segun detached himself from the maid and stood up from the bed.
“Gbenga, I can explain. This is not what it looks like,” Segun adjusted his shirt which was badly creased.
“Then tell me what it is because I don’t understand why you should touch the woman carrying MY child!”
“Who told you she’s carrying your child?”Segun countered.
Yemi watched with satisfaction as the men faced off against each other. She didn’t bother to adjust her dress and cover her indecently exposed thighs. Gbenga’s eyes roamed over her body like a space probe lost on the moon, wandering aimlessly on the barren lunar landscape. She saw the jealousy and anger in his eyes. She knew that when a man’s mind was under the dark cloud of jealousy, he would act not out of reason, but out of irrational, uncontrolled emotion. After what he just saw, Yemi knew that no matter what it took, no matter the price he had to pay, Gbenga’s warped emotions would never let her go.
********
Ngozi reached for the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. She added some milk and stirred it slowly. Shade starred at her. Ngozi ignored her and took a sip of the coffee she just made. Ngozi was manufacturing a lie so big that even Shade would find it impossible to resist. A lie so bold that it could only happen in the movies. A lie based on the truth of her former reckless escapades. A lie so complex, so huge, so staggering that it would be impossible to investigate and authenticate its veracity, and even if Shade tried, she would only meet with a dead end.
Ngozi looked into her cup and sighed. “Last night, I was with the US ambassador to Nigeria. I slept at his residence in Ikoyi,” she lied with a straight face.
“You did what?”
“I know you’ve cautioned me about my life style, but there are some things that only God can do, and changing me happens to be one of them. I have been praying about this for a long time, I guess He is taking His time to work on me. But these men will never let me rest!” Ngozi lamented.
“My goodness! Ngozi, you haven’t changed. Where was his wife?”
“Minding her own business elsewhere I guess.”
“You mean to tell me that you slept with the US ambassador?”
Ngozi sipped the coffee and nodded.”Yes, I did.”
Shade looked relieved. “You are such a bad girl.”
“Guilty as charged,” Ngozi laughed.
“You are so dangerous. Married women should watch you very closely.” Shade warned.
‘You have no idea’, Ngozi thought.
To be continued
Yemi heard footsteps approaching the room. She adjusted her dress in a wanton manner, exposing her thighs and laid back on the bed, pretending to be asleep. Segun entered the room closely followed by Kalu who was holding a glass of water. Kalu didn’t like the way Segun looked at Yemi’s legs, but his mind was on the loot in his pocket and how to escape from the house without being caught.
“Here, have some water,” Segun said.
Yemi opened her eyes and drank some water. “Thank you,” she noticed the bulge in Kalu’s pocket and gave him a curious look. Kalu hurried to leave the room.
“Kalu please wait a moment.” She put a hand delicately on Segun’s hand. “Please let Kalu wait for me in the living room. I want him to take something important to my mom.”
Segun turned to the young man. “Could you wait in the living room. I will be with you in a moment.” Kalu left the room and shut the door behind him.
“Ooh!” Yemi moaned in exaggerated pain.
“What’s the matter?” Segun sat down beside her.
“I feel some pain on my shoulder where Gbenga held me.”
Segun touched her face gently. “That animal will never touch you again. I will make sure of that.”
Yemi sat up in bed, her dress moved exposing some cleavage. She saw the longing in his eyes, the slight trembling of his lips, the way he touched her and she knew he was like a ripe guava fruit ready to be plucked into her basket. If she didn’t make a move now, this opportunity could be lost forever.
“Mr Adeniyi.”
“Please, call me Segun,” he smiled.
“I want to thank you for what you did upstairs. Standing up for me as you did, almost hurting yourself when you broke down the door to enter the room and rescue me. Confronting Gbenga and putting up a fight for me.” She touched his upper arm. “You are a real man, so…so strong.”
Segun smiled like a teenager holding hands with his first crush. “It was nothing.”
“But it was something. You did a lot for me. A lesser man would have ran away from the situation but you fought for me.” She leaned forward and removed an imaginary lint from his shirt. Yemi had taken the liberty to douse herself with Shade’s Channel number 5. Segun breathed in her perfume and sighed.
“I wouldn’t put it that way,” he managed to say, his senses subdued by the seductive scent caressing his nostrils.
“Please don’t be so modest.” Yemi paused and looked into his eyes. “What can I do to repay your kindness?”
Segun swallowed hard. He looked around and saw that the door was shut.
Yemi’s face was mere inches away from his face. “I will do…anything to show my gratitude,” she said, touched his thigh and moved closer to him. She noticed that Segun’s breathing had quickened like an obese man taking a brisk walk on a Saturday morning in an attempt to burn some unwanted fat. She also noticed that his eyes were on her lips and cleavage.
She looked into his eyes, lustfully, tempting, daring him to do something.
Suddenly Segun leaned forward, pulled her close and kissed her. Yemi let him. She pressed into him gently and kissed him back. She opened her eyes and looked at his face. His eyes were shut, caught up in the throes of forbidden pleasure, like a man in the heat of contrite prayer.
The moment lingered.
Heavy breathing.
Hands exploring, touching.
More heavy breathing.
Seemed like an eternity.
“What on earth is going on here?!” Gbenga burst into the room.
Segun detached himself from the maid and stood up from the bed.
“Gbenga, I can explain. This is not what it looks like,” Segun adjusted his shirt which was badly creased.
“Then tell me what it is because I don’t understand why you should touch the woman carrying MY child!”
“Who told you she’s carrying your child?”Segun countered.
Yemi watched with satisfaction as the men faced off against each other. She didn’t bother to adjust her dress and cover her indecently exposed thighs. Gbenga’s eyes roamed over her body like a space probe lost on the moon, wandering aimlessly on the barren lunar landscape. She saw the jealousy and anger in his eyes. She knew that when a man’s mind was under the dark cloud of jealousy, he would act not out of reason, but out of irrational, uncontrolled emotion. After what he just saw, Yemi knew that no matter what it took, no matter the price he had to pay, Gbenga’s warped emotions would never let her go.
********
Ngozi reached for the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. She added some milk and stirred it slowly. Shade starred at her. Ngozi ignored her and took a sip of the coffee she just made. Ngozi was manufacturing a lie so big that even Shade would find it impossible to resist. A lie so bold that it could only happen in the movies. A lie based on the truth of her former reckless escapades. A lie so complex, so huge, so staggering that it would be impossible to investigate and authenticate its veracity, and even if Shade tried, she would only meet with a dead end.
Ngozi looked into her cup and sighed. “Last night, I was with the US ambassador to Nigeria. I slept at his residence in Ikoyi,” she lied with a straight face.
“You did what?”
“I know you’ve cautioned me about my life style, but there are some things that only God can do, and changing me happens to be one of them. I have been praying about this for a long time, I guess He is taking His time to work on me. But these men will never let me rest!” Ngozi lamented.
“My goodness! Ngozi, you haven’t changed. Where was his wife?”
“Minding her own business elsewhere I guess.”
“You mean to tell me that you slept with the US ambassador?”
Ngozi sipped the coffee and nodded.”Yes, I did.”
Shade looked relieved. “You are such a bad girl.”
“Guilty as charged,” Ngozi laughed.
“You are so dangerous. Married women should watch you very closely.” Shade warned.
‘You have no idea’, Ngozi thought.
To be continued
The Maid 10
The Maid 10
“Where is it?” Kalu asked himself and wiped the sweat off his tired face. He stood in the middle of the room, his hands on his hips, looking around at what he had done. The Maid’s room looked like a hurricane had just blown through it. The mattress and pillows, the drawers of the dressing table and their contents were scattered on the floor. Yemi’s shoes were strewn all over the room. The wardrobe had been thoroughly ransacked. Yemi’s designer bags were turned inside out. He climbed the wooden frame of the bed and carefully examined the four corners of the frame. There were no hidden compartments.
“Woman, where are you hiding your stash?” he asked as he carried the mattress off the floor and leaned it against a wall. He entered the toilet, lifted up the top of the water closet and looked inside. He was met with disappointment. There was no cash stash.
“Somebody help me!”
He stopped for a moment and listened to Yemi’s desperate cries for help coming from the main house. “That’s none of my business,” He said, his heart firmly set on finding the money the maid hid in her room.
He came out of the bathroom and looked around the room. His eyes settled on the mattress. He knelt down and began to examine it. He brought out a knife from his pocket and tore at the fabric sown around the mattress like a butcher flaying a goat. He made a hole in the mattress with the knife, stuck his right hand inside it and began to feel around. His hand touched something and he stopped. He inserted both hands and brought out a black nylon bag.
“You may be smart, but I am smarter than you,” he congratulated himself and opened the bag. Naira notes tied in two bundles welcomed his greedy eyes. “Yes!” He took out the money from the bag, put the notes in his pocket and stood up. He picked up Yemi’s picture in a glass frame off the floor. He had the expressionless look of a man who had nothing to lose. “You think you are better than me because you work for this people? You are not!” he threw the frame against the wall with all the strength he could muster. The frame cracked and the glass shattered. A piece of glass grazed his cheek and drew blood. He brought out a white handkerchief, dabbed the spot and looked at it. He threw the blood stained handkerchief on the rubble he had created, stepped on the bed and walked out of Yemi’s room.
***************
Segun grabbed Gbenga and threw him off the bed.
‘Thud!’ Gbenga landed hard on his buttocks. He scrambled to his feet and tried to get back on the bed. There was a desperate look on his face. His eyes were wild as he grabbed Yemi’s leg on the bed. Segun held Yemi and kicked at Gbenga until he let go.
“This girl will not destroy my life,” Gbenga shouted as he struggled back on his feet. His eyes were covered in a demented haze.
Segun struggled with his friend and kept him from touching the maid who was sobbing on the bed.
“You will not touch this girl again.” Segun warned Gbenga. “If you try it, I will break your arm.” he threatened.
Gbenga was breathing hard. He knew his friend would carry out the threat if he attempted to touch the maid.
“Get her out of my house!” Gbenga shouted.
“This girl is not going anywhere. She will remain in this house until we resolve this issue.” Segun said.
“Aahh” Yemi moaned in exaggerated pain. Segun sat on the bed and cradled her head in his hands. He gave Gbenga an angry look. “If anything happens to this girl, you will pay for it!”
“Does it look like I care?” he asked and walked out of the room, cursing loudly.
Segun opened the door to the balcony. “Sadique!” He called for the gateman but silence greeted his cry. Kalu came out from the boys quarters behind the house, heading for the gate.
“Young man, please come upstairs and help me,” Segun called out to him.
Kalu kept on walking, ignoring Segun.
“Hey! I am talking to you.” Segun shouted again.
All Kalu wanted to do was escape with the money in his pocket. He quickened his steps. The gate opened and Sadique came in with the dog on a leash. Kalu hesitated while he assessed his situation. If he made a wrong move, Sadique could set the dog on him. Sadique looked at him with a frown on his face.
“I am late for mass,” Kalu looked up at Segun on the balcony.
“Please come upstairs and help me with something. It won’t take much of your time,” Segun said.
Kalu looked back at Sadique standing at the gate with the vicious dog. If he tried running past him and the dog, he could be torn into shreds by the beast. He had only one option left to him.
He entered the house. Moments later both men carried Yemi downstairs and put her on the bed in the visitor’s room.
“Can I have a word with you in the living room?” Segun asked Kalu. They both left the room.
As soon as the men left the room Yemi opened her eyes slightly and looked around. When she was sure there was no one around, she opened her eyes fully and laughed.
***********
Ngozi stood by the curtains, peered outside and looked at her watch. Shade was still curled up on the bed and crying. She sat at the dining table and poured some hot coffee into a cup. She opened her bag, brought out a bottle of blue tablets, took out one tablet and dropped it inside the cup. She stirred it with a teaspoon, watched the tablet dissolve slowly in the dark liquid then she stood up and tapped Shade gently on the shoulder.
“Shade, I ordered some coffee for you. It will make you feel better.”
Shade got out of bed sluggishly and sat at the dinning table with Ngozi sitting opposite her. Ngozi pushed the cup of coffee towards Shade, who regarded it with disinterest.
“You should have some coffee, it will make you feel better,” Ngozi said.
Shade held the cup to her lips, then put it down on the table.
“Do you know something strange though?”
Ngozi’s eyes were on the cup of coffee.
“I think I have heard that voice before,” she held the cup with both hands.
“What voice?”
“The man who called me. The one who told me that a woman was in the house with my husband last night. He said I was being set up by someone close to me, someone I know, someone I trust. He said things were not as they appeared to be. He said I was being deceived. That man has an Ibo accent. I never forget a voice. I have heard that voice before, but exactly where I cannot remember,” Shade said.
Ngozi was growing impatient. “You should drink your coffee before it gets cold,” Ngozi said.
Shade lifted the cup to her lips for the second time.
“Drinking it hot is the point,” Ngozi watched as Shade slowly parted her lips to drink the spiked liquid.
Suddenly Shade’s eyes lit up. She put down the cup of coffee gently on the table and gave Ngozi a curious look. “Ngozi, I have been meaning to ask you this but it keeps skipping my mind,” she paused for a few seconds. “When I left home yesterday, I left you behind with Gbenga. Where were you last night?” Shade looked at her friend in the eye.
Silence was thick in the room, a dark cloud pregnant with meaning. Ngozi had a surprised look on her face like a mischievous boy caught red handed, stealing meat from his mother’s pot of freshly cooked egusi soup.
To be continued.
“Where is it?” Kalu asked himself and wiped the sweat off his tired face. He stood in the middle of the room, his hands on his hips, looking around at what he had done. The Maid’s room looked like a hurricane had just blown through it. The mattress and pillows, the drawers of the dressing table and their contents were scattered on the floor. Yemi’s shoes were strewn all over the room. The wardrobe had been thoroughly ransacked. Yemi’s designer bags were turned inside out. He climbed the wooden frame of the bed and carefully examined the four corners of the frame. There were no hidden compartments.
“Woman, where are you hiding your stash?” he asked as he carried the mattress off the floor and leaned it against a wall. He entered the toilet, lifted up the top of the water closet and looked inside. He was met with disappointment. There was no cash stash.
“Somebody help me!”
He stopped for a moment and listened to Yemi’s desperate cries for help coming from the main house. “That’s none of my business,” He said, his heart firmly set on finding the money the maid hid in her room.
He came out of the bathroom and looked around the room. His eyes settled on the mattress. He knelt down and began to examine it. He brought out a knife from his pocket and tore at the fabric sown around the mattress like a butcher flaying a goat. He made a hole in the mattress with the knife, stuck his right hand inside it and began to feel around. His hand touched something and he stopped. He inserted both hands and brought out a black nylon bag.
“You may be smart, but I am smarter than you,” he congratulated himself and opened the bag. Naira notes tied in two bundles welcomed his greedy eyes. “Yes!” He took out the money from the bag, put the notes in his pocket and stood up. He picked up Yemi’s picture in a glass frame off the floor. He had the expressionless look of a man who had nothing to lose. “You think you are better than me because you work for this people? You are not!” he threw the frame against the wall with all the strength he could muster. The frame cracked and the glass shattered. A piece of glass grazed his cheek and drew blood. He brought out a white handkerchief, dabbed the spot and looked at it. He threw the blood stained handkerchief on the rubble he had created, stepped on the bed and walked out of Yemi’s room.
***************
Segun grabbed Gbenga and threw him off the bed.
‘Thud!’ Gbenga landed hard on his buttocks. He scrambled to his feet and tried to get back on the bed. There was a desperate look on his face. His eyes were wild as he grabbed Yemi’s leg on the bed. Segun held Yemi and kicked at Gbenga until he let go.
“This girl will not destroy my life,” Gbenga shouted as he struggled back on his feet. His eyes were covered in a demented haze.
Segun struggled with his friend and kept him from touching the maid who was sobbing on the bed.
“You will not touch this girl again.” Segun warned Gbenga. “If you try it, I will break your arm.” he threatened.
Gbenga was breathing hard. He knew his friend would carry out the threat if he attempted to touch the maid.
“Get her out of my house!” Gbenga shouted.
“This girl is not going anywhere. She will remain in this house until we resolve this issue.” Segun said.
“Aahh” Yemi moaned in exaggerated pain. Segun sat on the bed and cradled her head in his hands. He gave Gbenga an angry look. “If anything happens to this girl, you will pay for it!”
“Does it look like I care?” he asked and walked out of the room, cursing loudly.
Segun opened the door to the balcony. “Sadique!” He called for the gateman but silence greeted his cry. Kalu came out from the boys quarters behind the house, heading for the gate.
“Young man, please come upstairs and help me,” Segun called out to him.
Kalu kept on walking, ignoring Segun.
“Hey! I am talking to you.” Segun shouted again.
All Kalu wanted to do was escape with the money in his pocket. He quickened his steps. The gate opened and Sadique came in with the dog on a leash. Kalu hesitated while he assessed his situation. If he made a wrong move, Sadique could set the dog on him. Sadique looked at him with a frown on his face.
“I am late for mass,” Kalu looked up at Segun on the balcony.
“Please come upstairs and help me with something. It won’t take much of your time,” Segun said.
Kalu looked back at Sadique standing at the gate with the vicious dog. If he tried running past him and the dog, he could be torn into shreds by the beast. He had only one option left to him.
He entered the house. Moments later both men carried Yemi downstairs and put her on the bed in the visitor’s room.
“Can I have a word with you in the living room?” Segun asked Kalu. They both left the room.
As soon as the men left the room Yemi opened her eyes slightly and looked around. When she was sure there was no one around, she opened her eyes fully and laughed.
***********
Ngozi stood by the curtains, peered outside and looked at her watch. Shade was still curled up on the bed and crying. She sat at the dining table and poured some hot coffee into a cup. She opened her bag, brought out a bottle of blue tablets, took out one tablet and dropped it inside the cup. She stirred it with a teaspoon, watched the tablet dissolve slowly in the dark liquid then she stood up and tapped Shade gently on the shoulder.
“Shade, I ordered some coffee for you. It will make you feel better.”
Shade got out of bed sluggishly and sat at the dinning table with Ngozi sitting opposite her. Ngozi pushed the cup of coffee towards Shade, who regarded it with disinterest.
“You should have some coffee, it will make you feel better,” Ngozi said.
Shade held the cup to her lips, then put it down on the table.
“Do you know something strange though?”
Ngozi’s eyes were on the cup of coffee.
“I think I have heard that voice before,” she held the cup with both hands.
“What voice?”
“The man who called me. The one who told me that a woman was in the house with my husband last night. He said I was being set up by someone close to me, someone I know, someone I trust. He said things were not as they appeared to be. He said I was being deceived. That man has an Ibo accent. I never forget a voice. I have heard that voice before, but exactly where I cannot remember,” Shade said.
Ngozi was growing impatient. “You should drink your coffee before it gets cold,” Ngozi said.
Shade lifted the cup to her lips for the second time.
“Drinking it hot is the point,” Ngozi watched as Shade slowly parted her lips to drink the spiked liquid.
Suddenly Shade’s eyes lit up. She put down the cup of coffee gently on the table and gave Ngozi a curious look. “Ngozi, I have been meaning to ask you this but it keeps skipping my mind,” she paused for a few seconds. “When I left home yesterday, I left you behind with Gbenga. Where were you last night?” Shade looked at her friend in the eye.
Silence was thick in the room, a dark cloud pregnant with meaning. Ngozi had a surprised look on her face like a mischievous boy caught red handed, stealing meat from his mother’s pot of freshly cooked egusi soup.
To be continued.
The Maid 9
The Maid 9
Shade threw the phone on the bed. “I don’t believe this.”
“You don’t believe what?” Ngozi looked at her watch. It was 10am. They could still make it to church before the benediction.
Shade started pacing the room. “I told this guy to forget about me and go on with his life. I told him it could never work between us. It was one night. One night of total madness and look at where it got me.”
“Which guy?” Ngozi asked.
Shade kept pacing. “I told him it was a mistake and it should never have happened. But here he is again.”
Ngozi stood up and held Shade’s shoulders.”What are you going on about?”
Shade took a deep breath.
“Roberto is in the country!”
“The same Roberto?”
Shade nodded like a puppy in distress.
“What is he doing in Lagos?”
“He said he is here for business but I don’t believe him.”
“How did he find you?” Ngozi asked.
“I must have given him my number.”
“You gave him your number? Why would you do such a thing?” Ngozi was close to believing that her friend was crazy.
Shade walked over to the window and looked at the busy road below, with cars filled with families heading to church. “Roberto and I had dinner. It was so classy. He had this trio stand by our table and sing some love songs in Italian. I didn’t understand a word they said, but they sang so well. The chef personally came to the table to ask me what I would like to eat. It felt good to be treated like a queen.” Shade reminisced. “The meal was excellent. Giant prawns dipped in some exotic sauce. I had no idea what it was, but it tasted so good. Roberto drank a little too much and started talking about what he would do to make me his wife. He said he would sell everything he owned and relocate to Lagos to come and make me his bride. He said he would load an aeroplane with money to pay my bride price and marry me. I thought he didn’t mean any of it. He was drunk for goodness sake!Why would he leave his country to look for me? He asked for my number, so I gave it to him because I thought it was useless to him.”
Ngozi gave her friend a curious look. “You didn’t tell him you were married, did you?”
Shade lowered her head. “No, I didn’t.” She said with shame and began to cry. “I thought it was harmless, that I was never going to see him again.” she cried some more.
“You didn’t tell a stranger that you were married?” Ngozi asked. ” You had dinner with him and you gave him your number? What did you expect him to think? He thinks you are single and available,that was why he took the risk to come to Lagos and get you.”
Ngozi felt no compassion for Shade as she watched her crying. She was now fully convinced that Shade, her friend of over twenty years, a faithful member of their church, who pretended to be a saint, who thought she was holier than everybody else, who accused her of selling herself to men, was nothing but a secret slut.
“Shade, are you going to tell him that you are carrying his child? You know that he has a right to know about this.” Ngozi tried to exploit the situation to her own advantage. The more confused Shade became, the easier it would be for her own plans to succeed.
Shade didn’t answer her friend. She shifted the valise to one side and laid down on the bed. She turned away from the television, curled up in a foetal position, held unto a pillow and continued crying.
**************
Gbenga’s eyes were set on the moving lips of the maid, but he wasn’t listening to anything she said. This was supposed to be a talk but it turned out to be a lecture. Gbenga had not said a word since the maid started talking.
“Are you listening to me?” Yemi snapped at him.
Gbenga nodded.
“I am not going to get rid of this pregnancy. I am going to keep this baby and there is nothing you can do about it.”
Little beads of sweat formed on Gbenga’s wrinkled brow as he stood by the bed listening to Yemi’s rant. How did he put himself in such a situation that his maid would have the effontery to talk to him like this? Everything was happening so fast. Last night Ngozi threw herself at him without shame. Now this.
“If you are a real man you will take care of me and my baby like you promised,” Yemi said.
Gbenga made a fist with his right hand. Either the maid didn’t see it or she didn’t care.
“As far as our tradition goes, as soon as I give birth to this baby I will become your wife. You have to start treating me like you would treat your wife, with respect.”
Gbenga blinked as if he had just come out of a hypnotic spell. “What did you say?” he asked.
Yemi took a step closer.”I am going to be your wife. When our baby arrives, you will go and see my uncle and other relatives and they will tell you what to do about the bride price and other requirements for the traditional marriage.”
At that moment, Gbenga looked for something he could hold, something he could use to end the senseless, vapid and infuriating prattle of the maid. He looked at the pillows on the bed, he looked at the metal lamp sitting on the antique reading desk in a corner of the room, he looked at the bronze statuette standing outside the bathroom door, he looked at the shoes Shade left by the bedside and finally looked at his trembling hands and shook his head.
“No,” he muttered to himself. ‘No,” he said again.
“Why are you looking around the room as if you lost something?” Yemi asked.
“Are we done here?” He asked.
“Yes, we are.”
Gbenga turned around and reached for the door.
“One more thing,” Yemi said.
Gbenga stopped in his tracks.
“I want you to tell that woman Ngozi never to enter this house again. Last night was the first and last time she would sleep in this room.”
Gbenga turned around. He lifted his right hand slowly to his head which throbbed with a headache. His eyes turned into two murderous slits. Yemi gave no indication that she noticed the way his shoulders bent slightly forward like a boxer in the ring, awaiting the sound of the bell to move against a formidable opponent.
“No SLUT will ever share our matrimonial bed with us,” the maid said with disgust.
He couldn’t recall how it happened but seconds later Yemi was tossed on the bed like a rag doll and Gbenga was bent over her, fuming like a wild animal. His trembling hands held her down on the bed by her shoulders.
Yemi struggled and trashed under him like an animal caught in an evil trap. “Let go of me!” she cried.
Gbenga looked like a man high on drugs. “I will not allow you to destroy my life! I will not!” He shouted and reached for her neck with both hands.
***************
Segun searched the living room, looking for his phone. He had almost reached the church before he discovered that his phone was missing. He drove back to Gbenga’s house to look for it. He found the phone lying on the dinning table. He picked it up and hurried to the door. As his hand touched the door handle, he heard a scream from upstairs.
“Aaah! Somebody help me!”
“That’s Yemi,” he said to himself. He turned around and bounded up the stairs like a world class athlete. He could hear the struggle coming from the master bedroom. He tried the door handle, but the door was locked from inside.
He pounded the door with his fist. “Open this door now!” He shouted but no one answered him.
“Help!”
Yemi’s voice sounded weak. He had to do something before it was too late for her.
Segun took two steps backward and threw himself at the door shoulder first, like a rugby player. The door broke open on impact. Segun winced in pain, staggered into the room and fell clumsily to the floor. He struggled to his feet and looked at the scene on the bed. “Gbenga, what have you done?” he asked, afraid that he was already too late.
To be continued.
Shade threw the phone on the bed. “I don’t believe this.”
“You don’t believe what?” Ngozi looked at her watch. It was 10am. They could still make it to church before the benediction.
Shade started pacing the room. “I told this guy to forget about me and go on with his life. I told him it could never work between us. It was one night. One night of total madness and look at where it got me.”
“Which guy?” Ngozi asked.
Shade kept pacing. “I told him it was a mistake and it should never have happened. But here he is again.”
Ngozi stood up and held Shade’s shoulders.”What are you going on about?”
Shade took a deep breath.
“Roberto is in the country!”
“The same Roberto?”
Shade nodded like a puppy in distress.
“What is he doing in Lagos?”
“He said he is here for business but I don’t believe him.”
“How did he find you?” Ngozi asked.
“I must have given him my number.”
“You gave him your number? Why would you do such a thing?” Ngozi was close to believing that her friend was crazy.
Shade walked over to the window and looked at the busy road below, with cars filled with families heading to church. “Roberto and I had dinner. It was so classy. He had this trio stand by our table and sing some love songs in Italian. I didn’t understand a word they said, but they sang so well. The chef personally came to the table to ask me what I would like to eat. It felt good to be treated like a queen.” Shade reminisced. “The meal was excellent. Giant prawns dipped in some exotic sauce. I had no idea what it was, but it tasted so good. Roberto drank a little too much and started talking about what he would do to make me his wife. He said he would sell everything he owned and relocate to Lagos to come and make me his bride. He said he would load an aeroplane with money to pay my bride price and marry me. I thought he didn’t mean any of it. He was drunk for goodness sake!Why would he leave his country to look for me? He asked for my number, so I gave it to him because I thought it was useless to him.”
Ngozi gave her friend a curious look. “You didn’t tell him you were married, did you?”
Shade lowered her head. “No, I didn’t.” She said with shame and began to cry. “I thought it was harmless, that I was never going to see him again.” she cried some more.
“You didn’t tell a stranger that you were married?” Ngozi asked. ” You had dinner with him and you gave him your number? What did you expect him to think? He thinks you are single and available,that was why he took the risk to come to Lagos and get you.”
Ngozi felt no compassion for Shade as she watched her crying. She was now fully convinced that Shade, her friend of over twenty years, a faithful member of their church, who pretended to be a saint, who thought she was holier than everybody else, who accused her of selling herself to men, was nothing but a secret slut.
“Shade, are you going to tell him that you are carrying his child? You know that he has a right to know about this.” Ngozi tried to exploit the situation to her own advantage. The more confused Shade became, the easier it would be for her own plans to succeed.
Shade didn’t answer her friend. She shifted the valise to one side and laid down on the bed. She turned away from the television, curled up in a foetal position, held unto a pillow and continued crying.
**************
Gbenga’s eyes were set on the moving lips of the maid, but he wasn’t listening to anything she said. This was supposed to be a talk but it turned out to be a lecture. Gbenga had not said a word since the maid started talking.
“Are you listening to me?” Yemi snapped at him.
Gbenga nodded.
“I am not going to get rid of this pregnancy. I am going to keep this baby and there is nothing you can do about it.”
Little beads of sweat formed on Gbenga’s wrinkled brow as he stood by the bed listening to Yemi’s rant. How did he put himself in such a situation that his maid would have the effontery to talk to him like this? Everything was happening so fast. Last night Ngozi threw herself at him without shame. Now this.
“If you are a real man you will take care of me and my baby like you promised,” Yemi said.
Gbenga made a fist with his right hand. Either the maid didn’t see it or she didn’t care.
“As far as our tradition goes, as soon as I give birth to this baby I will become your wife. You have to start treating me like you would treat your wife, with respect.”
Gbenga blinked as if he had just come out of a hypnotic spell. “What did you say?” he asked.
Yemi took a step closer.”I am going to be your wife. When our baby arrives, you will go and see my uncle and other relatives and they will tell you what to do about the bride price and other requirements for the traditional marriage.”
At that moment, Gbenga looked for something he could hold, something he could use to end the senseless, vapid and infuriating prattle of the maid. He looked at the pillows on the bed, he looked at the metal lamp sitting on the antique reading desk in a corner of the room, he looked at the bronze statuette standing outside the bathroom door, he looked at the shoes Shade left by the bedside and finally looked at his trembling hands and shook his head.
“No,” he muttered to himself. ‘No,” he said again.
“Why are you looking around the room as if you lost something?” Yemi asked.
“Are we done here?” He asked.
“Yes, we are.”
Gbenga turned around and reached for the door.
“One more thing,” Yemi said.
Gbenga stopped in his tracks.
“I want you to tell that woman Ngozi never to enter this house again. Last night was the first and last time she would sleep in this room.”
Gbenga turned around. He lifted his right hand slowly to his head which throbbed with a headache. His eyes turned into two murderous slits. Yemi gave no indication that she noticed the way his shoulders bent slightly forward like a boxer in the ring, awaiting the sound of the bell to move against a formidable opponent.
“No SLUT will ever share our matrimonial bed with us,” the maid said with disgust.
He couldn’t recall how it happened but seconds later Yemi was tossed on the bed like a rag doll and Gbenga was bent over her, fuming like a wild animal. His trembling hands held her down on the bed by her shoulders.
Yemi struggled and trashed under him like an animal caught in an evil trap. “Let go of me!” she cried.
Gbenga looked like a man high on drugs. “I will not allow you to destroy my life! I will not!” He shouted and reached for her neck with both hands.
***************
Segun searched the living room, looking for his phone. He had almost reached the church before he discovered that his phone was missing. He drove back to Gbenga’s house to look for it. He found the phone lying on the dinning table. He picked it up and hurried to the door. As his hand touched the door handle, he heard a scream from upstairs.
“Aaah! Somebody help me!”
“That’s Yemi,” he said to himself. He turned around and bounded up the stairs like a world class athlete. He could hear the struggle coming from the master bedroom. He tried the door handle, but the door was locked from inside.
He pounded the door with his fist. “Open this door now!” He shouted but no one answered him.
“Help!”
Yemi’s voice sounded weak. He had to do something before it was too late for her.
Segun took two steps backward and threw himself at the door shoulder first, like a rugby player. The door broke open on impact. Segun winced in pain, staggered into the room and fell clumsily to the floor. He struggled to his feet and looked at the scene on the bed. “Gbenga, what have you done?” he asked, afraid that he was already too late.
To be continued.
The Maid 8
The Maid 8
They say that when trouble comes, it rains. Shade felt like she was in the middle of a storm and the rain of trouble was falling on her.
The strong smell of coffee filled the hotel room. A breakfast tray lay on the small dining table and the rays of the morning sun danced on the silver set like a group of acrobats. For the second time in twenty four hours, the two friends sat down to breakfast. Shade buttered a piece of toast and took a tiny bite. She reached for the cup of black coffee and took a sip. Ngozi sat beside her at the table, eating slowly.
Many thoughts ran through Shade’s mind. She just discovered that she was pregnant for a stranger whom she met on a business trip. How could it have happened? She didn’t know what evil spirit possessed her to do what she did. But here she was carrying the child of an Italian who will probably never see her again. Why did she allow herself to let go so easily? ‘What is wrong with me?’ Shade asked herself. This was her second pregnancy and it was for a man who wasn’t her husband. Her first pregnancy was for a man who refused to marry her after discovering her pregnancy. He swore that he was not responsible for it. Shade had no choice but to carry the pregnancy until full term and she delivered Tola, her beautiful daughter. That happened eight years ago. Now this has happened. Was she under a curse? She was convinced that she was. Why else would she allow this shameful thing to happen to her? How was she going to explain this to her husband ?
Shade lifted the mug of coffee and poured herself another cup.
“I have dishonoured Gbenga and our marriage. I have to let him know.” Shade said.
“Why would you want to do that?” Ngozi asked.
“I have wronged him.” Shade insisted.
Ngozi didn’t know what to tell Shade to do. This miraculous pregnancy was a curse which could totally ruin her plans for Gbenga. Shade wasn’t supposed to get pregnant. Fate seemed to have dealt Ngozi a vicious blow.
“I am going to ask for his forgiveness.” Shade said.
“But that will not change the fact that he slept with the maid and got her pregnant.”
Shade hung her head in shame. “This was all my fault. If I hadn’t wandered away from God, if I hadn’t wandered away from my marriage, if I hadn’t allowed my career to become an obsession, if I hadn’t allowed money to become a controlling force in my life, this wouldn’t have happened.” She ran her hands through her hair. “God is punishing me for my sins,” she concluded.
Ngozi changed her position and knelt in front of Shade. “Listen to me. God is not punishing you for anything. You made a serious error in judgement and now you have to bear the consequences. If you tell Gbenga now, he will never forgive you. It is best that you walk away with this pregnancy and forget about Gbenga.”
Shade was quiet for a few minutes, staring mindlessly at the Nollywood movie showing on a large television set mounted on the wall. She stood up, brought out her valise from the wardrobe and started folding her things into the case.
“What are you doing?” Ngozi asked.
She turned to Ngozi. “You are right Ngozi. What was I thinking?I have been going about this the wrong way. I shouldn’t tell Gbenga any of this. I could cause irreparable damage to my marriage.” She kept arranging her effects in the case. “I am going to make a full confession to my Pastor. I will leave nothing out. I am going to tell him everything I did and ask him to pray for me, that God should grant me forgiveness.”
Ngozi couldn’t have come up with a better plan. It seemed like fate was back on her side. Shade was going to ruin her life with her own hands and Ngozi was going to help her accomplish it. She stood up to help her confused friend finish packing.
“You must see your pastor as soon as possible. When would you want to see him? Ngozi pushed for a decision.
“Immediately after service today,” Shade said.
“It is well,” Ngozi muttered knowing that with Shade’s special talent to make stupid decisions, it wasn’t well with her friend at all.
******************
Yemi took her time to clear the table, making sure that her legs brushed against Segun twice. She could feel his eyes on her like sharp knives as she returned to the kitchen. The men returned to the living room and sat in silence.
Gbenga broke the silence. “Ngozi told me that the maid is carrying my child.”
“That is good for you, isn’t it?” Segun said. “You have waited for a child from Shade and it hasn’t been forthcoming. You shouldn’t allow anything happen to the maid’s pregnancy,” Segun adviced.
“You don’t understand what you are talking about. What will happen to my wife?”
“You are a Yoruba prince. You are entitled to as many wives as you wish. The maid will be one one of your wives,” Segun said.
“God forbid!” Gbenga stood up forcefully hitting the stool to the floor. “I won’t take another wife! I am a well respected member of the Falomo Baptist Church. If such news got out, I could be excommunicated from the Church and it could also destroy my business.”
Segun regarded his friend for a moment. ” What then will happen to this woman and her pregnancy which you are responsible for? Do you plan to do away with her baby and pretend that it never happened?” Segun asked.
Gbenga’s brow was wrinkled with confusion. Sweat crystallised on his face. He sat down at the dinning table looking like a cornered animal. In his eyes you could see that he had no answers to the question his friend asked him. “I don’t know,” he wiped his mouth with his right hand.
Segun joined him at the table. “You shouldn’t make things worse by trying to get rid of this pregnancy. Who knows if you will ever have another baby?”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “Are you insinuating that I cannot impregnate a woman?” Gbenga asked.
Segun brought his hands together on the table and looked at his friend in the eye.”It is not what I insinuate. It is the fact on the ground. You and your wife have long waited for a child, now you are blessed with one. You should be careful what you do with it.”
Gbenga got up from the dining table, stood beside the window and looked into the garden. The morning sun reflected on the water running from the fountain in the centre of the garden. Sadique the gateman played a game of catch with the German shepherd, a gift from Ngozi. Gbenga shook his head with sadness. He wanted a child, but not like this. Not in such a situation.
He turned to his friend. “Is this a blessing? You call the child that girl is carrying in her womb a blessing?” He shook his head. “No! It isn’t a blessing. It is a curse. I won’t have this hanging over my head for the rest of my life. That pregnancy has to go.”
Segun looked at the embattled man. “You are ashamed, aren’t you? Ashamed of what people would say when they find out that you fathered a child with your maid?”
Gbenga’s eyes flashed with desperation. “Of course I am. Shouldn’t I be?” He sat down opposite his friend. “I impregnated my maid. It is a very shameful thing to happen to a man of my standing in society. What will my friends say?”
“Your friends will mind their own business,” Segun said.
“What about my church, my pastor? What about my family, what will they think of me? I am telling you that this shameful pregnancy has to go.”
Segun stood up. “I have to be in church this morning. Let’s continue this discussion after service. Are you coming to Church?”he asked at the door.
Gbenga walked him to his car. “I need to sort out something this morning. I will catch up with you in church.” Segun drove out of the compound.
As Gbenga walked up the stairs back to his room, thoughts ran amock in his mind like rats under attack from a vicious cat. He had to find his wife and bring her back home. Then he would get rid of the maid and her cursed pregnancy. He opened the door to his bedroom and jumped back as if he had just seen a rattle snake.
Standing by his matrimonial bed, drinking a cup of coffee was the maid. She had changed into a white dress and she looked stunning. Gbenga swallowed hard but did not enter the room.
The maid put the cup down on the bedside table. “Mr Philips, do come in. I am not going to bite.” she smiled. “It’s time you and I had a talk, don’t you think?”
Gbenga looked around to make sure that no one else was there, then he entered the room and shut the door.
*********************
“Somebody shout hallelujah!” It was Shade’s ringtone. The sound broke the morbid silence in the hotel room. Shade stopped packing her valise and answered the phone.
“Hello?” as she listened, blood slowly drained from her face as if she had just seen a ghost.
Ngozi had never seen Shade looking so pale. What problem had come up in her friend’s life again, Ngozi wondered. “Is everything okay?” she asked, mocking her friend.
To be continued.
They say that when trouble comes, it rains. Shade felt like she was in the middle of a storm and the rain of trouble was falling on her.
The strong smell of coffee filled the hotel room. A breakfast tray lay on the small dining table and the rays of the morning sun danced on the silver set like a group of acrobats. For the second time in twenty four hours, the two friends sat down to breakfast. Shade buttered a piece of toast and took a tiny bite. She reached for the cup of black coffee and took a sip. Ngozi sat beside her at the table, eating slowly.
Many thoughts ran through Shade’s mind. She just discovered that she was pregnant for a stranger whom she met on a business trip. How could it have happened? She didn’t know what evil spirit possessed her to do what she did. But here she was carrying the child of an Italian who will probably never see her again. Why did she allow herself to let go so easily? ‘What is wrong with me?’ Shade asked herself. This was her second pregnancy and it was for a man who wasn’t her husband. Her first pregnancy was for a man who refused to marry her after discovering her pregnancy. He swore that he was not responsible for it. Shade had no choice but to carry the pregnancy until full term and she delivered Tola, her beautiful daughter. That happened eight years ago. Now this has happened. Was she under a curse? She was convinced that she was. Why else would she allow this shameful thing to happen to her? How was she going to explain this to her husband ?
Shade lifted the mug of coffee and poured herself another cup.
“I have dishonoured Gbenga and our marriage. I have to let him know.” Shade said.
“Why would you want to do that?” Ngozi asked.
“I have wronged him.” Shade insisted.
Ngozi didn’t know what to tell Shade to do. This miraculous pregnancy was a curse which could totally ruin her plans for Gbenga. Shade wasn’t supposed to get pregnant. Fate seemed to have dealt Ngozi a vicious blow.
“I am going to ask for his forgiveness.” Shade said.
“But that will not change the fact that he slept with the maid and got her pregnant.”
Shade hung her head in shame. “This was all my fault. If I hadn’t wandered away from God, if I hadn’t wandered away from my marriage, if I hadn’t allowed my career to become an obsession, if I hadn’t allowed money to become a controlling force in my life, this wouldn’t have happened.” She ran her hands through her hair. “God is punishing me for my sins,” she concluded.
Ngozi changed her position and knelt in front of Shade. “Listen to me. God is not punishing you for anything. You made a serious error in judgement and now you have to bear the consequences. If you tell Gbenga now, he will never forgive you. It is best that you walk away with this pregnancy and forget about Gbenga.”
Shade was quiet for a few minutes, staring mindlessly at the Nollywood movie showing on a large television set mounted on the wall. She stood up, brought out her valise from the wardrobe and started folding her things into the case.
“What are you doing?” Ngozi asked.
She turned to Ngozi. “You are right Ngozi. What was I thinking?I have been going about this the wrong way. I shouldn’t tell Gbenga any of this. I could cause irreparable damage to my marriage.” She kept arranging her effects in the case. “I am going to make a full confession to my Pastor. I will leave nothing out. I am going to tell him everything I did and ask him to pray for me, that God should grant me forgiveness.”
Ngozi couldn’t have come up with a better plan. It seemed like fate was back on her side. Shade was going to ruin her life with her own hands and Ngozi was going to help her accomplish it. She stood up to help her confused friend finish packing.
“You must see your pastor as soon as possible. When would you want to see him? Ngozi pushed for a decision.
“Immediately after service today,” Shade said.
“It is well,” Ngozi muttered knowing that with Shade’s special talent to make stupid decisions, it wasn’t well with her friend at all.
******************
Yemi took her time to clear the table, making sure that her legs brushed against Segun twice. She could feel his eyes on her like sharp knives as she returned to the kitchen. The men returned to the living room and sat in silence.
Gbenga broke the silence. “Ngozi told me that the maid is carrying my child.”
“That is good for you, isn’t it?” Segun said. “You have waited for a child from Shade and it hasn’t been forthcoming. You shouldn’t allow anything happen to the maid’s pregnancy,” Segun adviced.
“You don’t understand what you are talking about. What will happen to my wife?”
“You are a Yoruba prince. You are entitled to as many wives as you wish. The maid will be one one of your wives,” Segun said.
“God forbid!” Gbenga stood up forcefully hitting the stool to the floor. “I won’t take another wife! I am a well respected member of the Falomo Baptist Church. If such news got out, I could be excommunicated from the Church and it could also destroy my business.”
Segun regarded his friend for a moment. ” What then will happen to this woman and her pregnancy which you are responsible for? Do you plan to do away with her baby and pretend that it never happened?” Segun asked.
Gbenga’s brow was wrinkled with confusion. Sweat crystallised on his face. He sat down at the dinning table looking like a cornered animal. In his eyes you could see that he had no answers to the question his friend asked him. “I don’t know,” he wiped his mouth with his right hand.
Segun joined him at the table. “You shouldn’t make things worse by trying to get rid of this pregnancy. Who knows if you will ever have another baby?”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “Are you insinuating that I cannot impregnate a woman?” Gbenga asked.
Segun brought his hands together on the table and looked at his friend in the eye.”It is not what I insinuate. It is the fact on the ground. You and your wife have long waited for a child, now you are blessed with one. You should be careful what you do with it.”
Gbenga got up from the dining table, stood beside the window and looked into the garden. The morning sun reflected on the water running from the fountain in the centre of the garden. Sadique the gateman played a game of catch with the German shepherd, a gift from Ngozi. Gbenga shook his head with sadness. He wanted a child, but not like this. Not in such a situation.
He turned to his friend. “Is this a blessing? You call the child that girl is carrying in her womb a blessing?” He shook his head. “No! It isn’t a blessing. It is a curse. I won’t have this hanging over my head for the rest of my life. That pregnancy has to go.”
Segun looked at the embattled man. “You are ashamed, aren’t you? Ashamed of what people would say when they find out that you fathered a child with your maid?”
Gbenga’s eyes flashed with desperation. “Of course I am. Shouldn’t I be?” He sat down opposite his friend. “I impregnated my maid. It is a very shameful thing to happen to a man of my standing in society. What will my friends say?”
“Your friends will mind their own business,” Segun said.
“What about my church, my pastor? What about my family, what will they think of me? I am telling you that this shameful pregnancy has to go.”
Segun stood up. “I have to be in church this morning. Let’s continue this discussion after service. Are you coming to Church?”he asked at the door.
Gbenga walked him to his car. “I need to sort out something this morning. I will catch up with you in church.” Segun drove out of the compound.
As Gbenga walked up the stairs back to his room, thoughts ran amock in his mind like rats under attack from a vicious cat. He had to find his wife and bring her back home. Then he would get rid of the maid and her cursed pregnancy. He opened the door to his bedroom and jumped back as if he had just seen a rattle snake.
Standing by his matrimonial bed, drinking a cup of coffee was the maid. She had changed into a white dress and she looked stunning. Gbenga swallowed hard but did not enter the room.
The maid put the cup down on the bedside table. “Mr Philips, do come in. I am not going to bite.” she smiled. “It’s time you and I had a talk, don’t you think?”
Gbenga looked around to make sure that no one else was there, then he entered the room and shut the door.
*********************
“Somebody shout hallelujah!” It was Shade’s ringtone. The sound broke the morbid silence in the hotel room. Shade stopped packing her valise and answered the phone.
“Hello?” as she listened, blood slowly drained from her face as if she had just seen a ghost.
Ngozi had never seen Shade looking so pale. What problem had come up in her friend’s life again, Ngozi wondered. “Is everything okay?” she asked, mocking her friend.
To be continued.
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
NEWS NUGGETS
News: 26th February 2015. Vanguard Newspaper: N1bn lost daily to rice importation —FG +I did not rent crowd to boo Buhari in London—Fani-Kayode +Robbers Question Our Morality +PDP’s perfected plot to rig polls, alleges Oshiomhole +Abducted American missionary: Kidnappers reduce ransom from N60m to N30m +Nigerians are united for democracy +2015 Budget: Senate cuts recurrent vote, raises capital expenditure +NFF sets World Cup target for Falcons +Age of uncertainty: Resignation in protest +President, govs should not appoint Attorneys-General —Muiz Banire +Education stakeholders divided over minimum teaching qualification +10 year old Nigerian in UK varsity +We bring ideas, innovations to reality —Julie Momah +Military onslaught on B’Haram proves Jonathan’s critics wrong —ex-militant leaders +CAF U-17: Eaglets fall to S/Africa +Bus driver jailed 35 years for gang raping of 17-yr-old girl +A-Ibom CJ tasks journalists on fair reporting +House of Assembly fire: PDP alleges plot by Elechi’s supporters to torch dep gov’s lodge, others +How NPS foiled attempted jail break in Calabar Prison +Algeria power vacuum due to ailing president: opposition +Jegede’s New Horizons relishes real essence of classical music +Delta APC gov candidate visits UPU exco +Jos festival of Theatre: unveiling untold stories through drama +3 killed, vehicles burnt as NURTW, hoodlums clash in Oshodi +NYSC takes health initiative to rural dwellers +My running battle with Oshiomhole — Ize Iyamu +POLLS: PDP Reps give Jonathan conditions for support +15m PVCs waiting collection—INEC +Ebonyi: My redemption plan — Nweze, gov candidate +Edo FA elections: Ilaboya cries foul +Interbank lending rates climb to 48% +Dream Team defence worries Siasia +Expressions of joy, hope as IDPs return home +Navy arrests 7 stowaways aboard Spain-bound ship +Immigration arrests 12 aliens in Ogun +Corporal arrested over shooting of IYC leader +Enugu waste mgt agency to pay woman N.5m compensation.
The Maid 7
The Maid 7
“That woman just drove out of the compound. How
did that happen?”Yemi asked.
“I don’t know,” Kalu said.
“What did you do to her car?” She asked.
“I deflated the tires.” Kalu said.
“You did what? Deflated the tires? Oh my God!”
Yemi hit the door of her wardrobe. “Why don’t you
listen to me? I asked you to do a simple thing and
you mess it up.”
“But I did what you asked me to do,” Kalu said.
“No you didn’t.” She shoved her face in front of the
confused trader. “I asked you to demobilise her
car. D-E-M-O-B-I-L-I-S-E. Make sure it doesn’t
move from where it was parked.” The maid
explained. “Sometimes you can be so dumb,” she
slapped him on the shoulder. “Now you have
ruined my plan. I wanted my madam to come and
catch that wicked woman here.”
“From where did you learn all these big
words?”Kalu asked. “I thought you said you didn’t
attend university.”
“Well, I lied. How else would I get this kind of
opportunity if I told them I have a degree in mass
communication. Look at where I live on the island,
with my own room, free of charge. They practically
pay me for doing nothing,” the maid boasted.
Kalu looked at the maid as if she had lost her
mind. “You have a degree and you are a maid?”
Yemi sat in front of the mirror and reached into her
bag. “Of course I have a degree. It is a third class,
from a backward university, but nonetheless a
degree.” She applied some lipstick. “What is wrong
with being a maid for a rich woman?”
He looked at the maid as if he was seeing her for
the very first time.”If you have a degree, why don’t
you get a good job so that we can live a better
life?”
Yemi turned to Kalu and he shrank back from her
stare. “So that we can live a better life? You and
who? Now get this straight. There is no ‘we’. Have
you introduced me to your family? Have you even
introduced me to your master in Alaba market?
When you are ready for marriage, it may be too
late for you.” She turned away from him and
continued to apply her make up.
“You know how hard I try. I swear to you, when I
get my own shop I will take you to my family.”Kalu
said.
Yemi finished applying her make up. “I am going
into the house to make some breakfast for Mr
Philips. I am sure that wicked Ngozi didn’t give
him any food before rushing out of the house this
morning as if an evil spirit was pursuing her. Mr
Philips shouldn’t go to church hungry.” She turned
around for Kalu. “How do I look?”
Kalu hesitated.”You look good.” There was
jealousy in his eyes.”Do you have to serve him
breakfast looking like that?”
“This is my job. Do I come to your office to tell you
what to do?” She turned away from him, adjusted
her dress before the mirror and wore black
slippers.
“Wait for me. I will be back in about an hour.” She
applied some perfume.
“I want to go for morning mass,”Kalu protested. “If
I don’t leave now I will be late.”
“I said wait! Mischeew!” She hissed, picked up the
bag containing the money and walked out of the
room.
Kalu’s eyes followed the bag as it left the room.
******************
“Everything is happening so fast. I don’t know
what to do anymore.” Gbenga hung his head like a
boxer who had suffered a major defeat.
His friend Segun Adeniyi, sat opposite him in his
living room.
“What is going on?” Segun asked.
“Something happened between me and my…my
maid some months ago,” Gbenga began. “But
yesterday my wife found out about it. It has
caused me so much trouble.”
Segun’s face was expressionless as he listened to
his friend.
“You know Ngozi Uzor, my wife’s friend?”
Segun nodded.
“She has been after me for a long time and I
resisted her. But yesterday when things got out of
hand, she was there to…comfort me.”
Segun sat forward in his chair. “You and Ngozi?
Are you kidding me?”
Gbenga finished narrating his story.
“Where is your wife?”
“I don’t know where she is.” Gbenga confessed.
“That is not good at all. Go and find your wife and
bring her back home. She belongs with you. Why
did you allow her to leave?”
“Ngozi told me to let her go.”
Segun thought for a moment. “From the top of my
head I can tell you right now that Ngozi has a hand
in all of this.”
“How can you tell?” Gbenga asked.
“Ngozi shouldn’t have let your wife leave the way
she did. If she doesn’t have a hidden agenda, she
would have settled the matter between you and
your wife.”
“There is something else.” Gbenga told him about
his financial dealings with Ngozi.
“You took money from that woman? Why on earth
did you do that?”
“I was in a hard place. I lost money in some
investments. If I told Shade she would have been
furious. Ngozi was willing to help and she was
discreet about it.”
“How much did she loan you?” Segun asked.
Gbenga looked up at the ceiling as if seeking some
divine intervention. “She loaned me $150,000 in
total.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Segun asked.
“I have paid back a large sum. I have two more
payments to make and I will be free of that debt.”
Yemi came into the living room. The men stopped
talking and looked at her.
“Good morning sir. Would you like
“Good morning sir. Would you like some breakfast
for you and your friend?”
Gbenga looked at Segun and he nodded.
“Yes, Yemi. That would be nice. Serve it on the
dining table when you are done.”
“Okay sir.”
Segun’s eyes followed the maid until she
disappeared into the kitchen, then he turned to his
friend. “Who was that, your wife’s relative?”
“That’s my maid,” Gbenga said.
“Fweeeeee!” Segun whistled softly. “THAT is your
maid? Man, you really are in trouble.”
******************
Yemi smiled to herself as she brought out the
vegetables from the fridge.
She saw the way Gbenga’s friend had looked at
her. He was practically salivating on his shirt. She
was certain that if they had been alone he would
have made a pass at her. That was a good sign.
Now she had Gbenga’s friend on her side. Nobody
was going to throw her out of this house without a
fight, she thought.
She entered the pantry, climbed a stool and took a
big cookbook from the top shelf. She opened the
book to the page on ‘exotic breakfasts’ and set it
on the table beside the vegetables.
“These men will have the best breakfast they’ve
ever had in their lives,” she began to dice the
onions, “Even if it kills them,” she said and laughed
to herself.
To be continued.........
“That woman just drove out of the compound. How
did that happen?”Yemi asked.
“I don’t know,” Kalu said.
“What did you do to her car?” She asked.
“I deflated the tires.” Kalu said.
“You did what? Deflated the tires? Oh my God!”
Yemi hit the door of her wardrobe. “Why don’t you
listen to me? I asked you to do a simple thing and
you mess it up.”
“But I did what you asked me to do,” Kalu said.
“No you didn’t.” She shoved her face in front of the
confused trader. “I asked you to demobilise her
car. D-E-M-O-B-I-L-I-S-E. Make sure it doesn’t
move from where it was parked.” The maid
explained. “Sometimes you can be so dumb,” she
slapped him on the shoulder. “Now you have
ruined my plan. I wanted my madam to come and
catch that wicked woman here.”
“From where did you learn all these big
words?”Kalu asked. “I thought you said you didn’t
attend university.”
“Well, I lied. How else would I get this kind of
opportunity if I told them I have a degree in mass
communication. Look at where I live on the island,
with my own room, free of charge. They practically
pay me for doing nothing,” the maid boasted.
Kalu looked at the maid as if she had lost her
mind. “You have a degree and you are a maid?”
Yemi sat in front of the mirror and reached into her
bag. “Of course I have a degree. It is a third class,
from a backward university, but nonetheless a
degree.” She applied some lipstick. “What is wrong
with being a maid for a rich woman?”
He looked at the maid as if he was seeing her for
the very first time.”If you have a degree, why don’t
you get a good job so that we can live a better
life?”
Yemi turned to Kalu and he shrank back from her
stare. “So that we can live a better life? You and
who? Now get this straight. There is no ‘we’. Have
you introduced me to your family? Have you even
introduced me to your master in Alaba market?
When you are ready for marriage, it may be too
late for you.” She turned away from him and
continued to apply her make up.
“You know how hard I try. I swear to you, when I
get my own shop I will take you to my family.”Kalu
said.
Yemi finished applying her make up. “I am going
into the house to make some breakfast for Mr
Philips. I am sure that wicked Ngozi didn’t give
him any food before rushing out of the house this
morning as if an evil spirit was pursuing her. Mr
Philips shouldn’t go to church hungry.” She turned
around for Kalu. “How do I look?”
Kalu hesitated.”You look good.” There was
jealousy in his eyes.”Do you have to serve him
breakfast looking like that?”
“This is my job. Do I come to your office to tell you
what to do?” She turned away from him, adjusted
her dress before the mirror and wore black
slippers.
“Wait for me. I will be back in about an hour.” She
applied some perfume.
“I want to go for morning mass,”Kalu protested. “If
I don’t leave now I will be late.”
“I said wait! Mischeew!” She hissed, picked up the
bag containing the money and walked out of the
room.
Kalu’s eyes followed the bag as it left the room.
******************
“Everything is happening so fast. I don’t know
what to do anymore.” Gbenga hung his head like a
boxer who had suffered a major defeat.
His friend Segun Adeniyi, sat opposite him in his
living room.
“What is going on?” Segun asked.
“Something happened between me and my…my
maid some months ago,” Gbenga began. “But
yesterday my wife found out about it. It has
caused me so much trouble.”
Segun’s face was expressionless as he listened to
his friend.
“You know Ngozi Uzor, my wife’s friend?”
Segun nodded.
“She has been after me for a long time and I
resisted her. But yesterday when things got out of
hand, she was there to…comfort me.”
Segun sat forward in his chair. “You and Ngozi?
Are you kidding me?”
Gbenga finished narrating his story.
“Where is your wife?”
“I don’t know where she is.” Gbenga confessed.
“That is not good at all. Go and find your wife and
bring her back home. She belongs with you. Why
did you allow her to leave?”
“Ngozi told me to let her go.”
Segun thought for a moment. “From the top of my
head I can tell you right now that Ngozi has a hand
in all of this.”
“How can you tell?” Gbenga asked.
“Ngozi shouldn’t have let your wife leave the way
she did. If she doesn’t have a hidden agenda, she
would have settled the matter between you and
your wife.”
“There is something else.” Gbenga told him about
his financial dealings with Ngozi.
“You took money from that woman? Why on earth
did you do that?”
“I was in a hard place. I lost money in some
investments. If I told Shade she would have been
furious. Ngozi was willing to help and she was
discreet about it.”
“How much did she loan you?” Segun asked.
Gbenga looked up at the ceiling as if seeking some
divine intervention. “She loaned me $150,000 in
total.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Segun asked.
“I have paid back a large sum. I have two more
payments to make and I will be free of that debt.”
Yemi came into the living room. The men stopped
talking and looked at her.
“Good morning sir. Would you like
“Good morning sir. Would you like some breakfast
for you and your friend?”
Gbenga looked at Segun and he nodded.
“Yes, Yemi. That would be nice. Serve it on the
dining table when you are done.”
“Okay sir.”
Segun’s eyes followed the maid until she
disappeared into the kitchen, then he turned to his
friend. “Who was that, your wife’s relative?”
“That’s my maid,” Gbenga said.
“Fweeeeee!” Segun whistled softly. “THAT is your
maid? Man, you really are in trouble.”
******************
Yemi smiled to herself as she brought out the
vegetables from the fridge.
She saw the way Gbenga’s friend had looked at
her. He was practically salivating on his shirt. She
was certain that if they had been alone he would
have made a pass at her. That was a good sign.
Now she had Gbenga’s friend on her side. Nobody
was going to throw her out of this house without a
fight, she thought.
She entered the pantry, climbed a stool and took a
big cookbook from the top shelf. She opened the
book to the page on ‘exotic breakfasts’ and set it
on the table beside the vegetables.
“These men will have the best breakfast they’ve
ever had in their lives,” she began to dice the
onions, “Even if it kills them,” she said and laughed
to herself.
To be continued.........
The Maid 6
“Please, don’t do this,” Shade pleaded with tears in
her eyes.
Gbenga carried two suitcases and threw them on a
heap of bags and boxes outside the gate. “You
don’t belong here,” he threw her box of expensive
jewellery into the street. The lock broke open and
the contents scattered on the street.
“Gbenga, I love you,” she cried.
“If you love me, you won’t betray me like you did.”
He said.
Shade held on to him. “I will never betray you. I
love you.”
Gbenga shrugged her off and hurried back into the
house. Moments later he came out of the house
dragging a huge suitcase on the ground. He looked
like a man possessed or under an evil spell.
“What have I done to deserve such treatment?”
Shade asked her husband.
Miscreants and street urchins gathered in front of
the gate waiting for an opportunity to pounce on
her earthly belongings. Sadique the gateman stood
vigilant over her scattered possessions brandishing
a huge piece of wood.
Something made her look up at the house and she
saw her friend Ngozi looking out from the window
of the master bedroom.
“Ngozi, help me,” she cried out to her friend. “Tell
him he is making a mistake and I am innocent.”
Ngozi didn’t answer her. She shut the curtains and
disappeared into the room.
“Get out of my house and don’t ever come
back,”Gbenga shouted at her.
Someone threw an object at her and it splattered
on her face. She felt some warm liquid flowing
down her neck, to her body. When she looked at
her dress, it was covered in blood. She screamed.
Shade woke up.
Her pillow was soaked in sweat as if someone had
sprinkled water on it. She looked at her watch
lying on the bedside table. It was 3:00am. She got
up from the bed and opened the fridge. She drank
some water and got back into bed but she couldn’t
go back to sleep. She sent Ngozi a text message
telling her where she was and asked her to come
as quickly as she could make it in the morning.
She picked the remote and surfed the stations for a
movie. She fell asleep again watching a Nollywood
movie.
The hotel telephone woke her up.
“Ngozi is here to see you,” the receptionist said.
“Tell her to come up to my room.” Shade looked at
her watch, it was 8:00am.
Minutes later there was a discreet knock on the
door. She let Ngozi into the room.
“I came as soon as I could.” Ngozi entered the
room and sat down on the only arm-chair in the
room.
Shade walked slowly like a somnambulist, sat
down on the bed and folded her legs in a
meditative position. She was silent for a few
minutes.
“Someone called me last night and told me that a
woman wants to steal my husband from me.”
“Did you find out who called you?” Ngozi’s face
had gone red, but Shade seemed not to notice.
“He said that everything was planned by my
adversary to make my husband hate me. What
have I done to deserve this?” Shade asked.
When Ngozi started her car in the morning, she
discovered that all four tires had been deflated.
Sadique the gateman had no idea what happened.
He swore that no one entered the compound.
Ngozi didn’t believe him. She suspected the maid
had a hand in it. As soon as she got back to
Gbenga’s place, she would make sure that the
maid packed her things and left the house.
Shade entered the bathroom, came out to get
something from her bag, entered again and stayed
there for longer than usual. Ngozi heard running
water in the bathroom. She stood up and began
pacing the room. Her plan was not working. She
thought Shade would give up her marriage when
she discovered the indiscretions of her husband
with the maid. But here she was talking about
returning to her home to fight for her marriage.
Who was encouraging such thoughts in her mind?
Shade came out of the bathroom looking dejected.
“Are you okay?” Ngozi asked, looking at what
Shade held in her right hand. It was a pregnancy
test strip.
Ngozi’s face fell.
Shade was pregnant! But that was impossible. The
doctors said her womb couldn’t carry a child. This
must be a mistake. A very big mistake. Everything
she had planned had failed. All the months of
meticulous planning had been rendered useless by
a pregnancy.
Shade put both hands on her head and dropped to
her knees. “I am dead. My life is finished!” Shade
lamented.
“What is going on?” Ngozi asked.
“I am dead. Don’t you understand? This is the end
of the road. My marriage is completely over. My
enemies have won at last.”
Ngozi was confused.
“Shade, you are pregnant, that is a good thing
isn’t it? You and Gbenga have been trying to have
a baby since you got married. Now your are
pregnant. You should be happy.”
“My friend, you don’t understand. I am dead.”
Shade hid her face in her hands and started crying.
Ngozi watched her friend not knowing what was
going on.
Shade lifted her head. Her face was covered in
tears. “This pregnancy does not belong to
Gbenga.” Shade spoke with remorse like a
repentant criminal confessing his various crimes to
a Catholic priest.
“What are you talking about?” Ngozi asked.
“I think it belongs to this guy I…I met. His name
The Maid 5
The maid paced up and down the small room like a
leopard looking for the perfect moment to pounce
on a prey. Her boy friend sat on the edge of the
bed wondering what was going on.
She stopped in front of him. Her hips mere inches
away from his face.
“Kalu, do you love me?” She asked and moved
forward. The young man swallowed hard but was
silent.
“Answer me! Do you love me?”
“Is that why you asked me to come here this
evening to ask me this stupid question? I have
better things to do tonight.” He tried to get up
from the bed but Yemi pushed him back.
“Kalu, I said, do you love me?”
He thought for a few seconds before he opened his
mouth. “You know how I feel about you, baby.”
The maid sat down on his legs and caressed his
face. Kalu smiled. Tonight was his lucky night. He
put his hand on her thigh. The maid let him.
“If you really care about me, you will help me.”
“I will do anything for you baby,” he said with lust
in his eyes. “Absolutely anything,” he licked his
lips.
“I want you to make a phone call,” the maid said.
“That’s no problem,” Kalu said.
“Listen carefully.” The maid told him exactly what
to say.
***********************
In the master bedroom of her best friend, Ngozi sat
up in bed and sipped some champagne with
satisfaction on her face. The sound of running
water came from the bathroom where Gbenga took
a shower. A few minutes ago she called Shade and
told her that everything would be okay.
“I am praying for you,” she lied. “Things will be
back to normal between you and your…you and
Gbenga.” She just couldn’t bring herself to say that
word.
“Thank you Ngozi. God bless you for being my
friend,” Shade said in a teary voice.
“What are friends for?” Ngozi asked as she took off
her shoes and lay on her friend’s bed. In a
moment, her plan would be complete: Gbenga
would hold her in his strong arms and make love
to her. No other woman was going to have Gbenga
even if that woman was her best friend.
While Shade pursued corporate success, Ngozi
took over her husband and her home. Ngozi
encouraged Shade to go for more and more
certifications. Some of them were completely
worthless but Shade wanted more power in the
corporate world and Ngozi knew how to feed that
lust in her. New York today, Sidney Australia
tomorrow. Shade was always on the move. If the
office work didn’t keep her away from her husband,
her senseless corporate travels did.
While Shade was away in pursuit of success, Ngozi
took the opportunity to get close to Gbenga. Ngozi
found it difficult to maintain a relationship. Men
misunderstood her strength and called her ‘pushy’,
‘bossy,’ and ‘aggressive.’ But Gbenga liked her.
First as his wife’s friend, then as a friend. One day
he said in passing that she was a strong woman,
the kind of woman that would make ‘a good wife’
to some lucky guy. That was all the
encouragement needed and she began to hatch a
plan.
Ngozi’s late father was a crooked politician who
enriched himself by stealing from public funds. He
left a huge inheritance for his family and Ngozi
spent her’s on who and whatever she liked. And
she liked Gbenga Philips. It also helped her plan
that Gbenga lived above his means and his
advertising firm was running out of money.
Ngozi offered him help.
“I will loan you some money to help you out. You
can pay me the money whenever you can, as long
as you don’t tell Shade about it.”
“What do you mean by that?” Gbenga asked.
“This transaction will remain a secret between us.
The day you tell your wife, you will pay me all my
money, whether you have it or not.” Ngozi warned
him.
“I am a married man. I can’t do this! My wife has
to know what I am doing, especially if it is with her
best friend.” He protested.
“Does she also need to know how you squandered
the profits from your business on frivolities?” Ngozi
asked and reached into her Gucci handbag.
When he saw the first cheque of $70,000, it
silenced all his feeble protests.
“And there’s a lot more from where that came
from,” Ngozi said.After that day he became more
receptive to her. He never told Shade about it.
“Soon, I will be Mrs Philips,” she raised the glass
to her lips. The door to the bathroom opened and
Gbenga entered the room in his bathrobe. Ngozi
set down the glass of champagne by the bedside
table, got out of bed and allowed her robe to fall
from her shoulders, revealing light skin, a priceless
gift she inherited from her Swedish mother.
Her eyes raged with lust as she walked towards
Gbenga. Deliberately. Slowly.
Gbenga stood transfixed to the spot, hypnotised,
like a rabbit about to be devoured by a king cobra.
*********************
Shade knelt by the bedside of the luxury room she
took at The Radisson Blu hotel and tried to pray.
For the past year she could count the number of
times on her right hand when she had said a
prayer. She was always on the move, sorting out
issues for her bank and attending power
conferences abroad. She knew a lot of people but
none of those people could help her now.
“O Lord,” she tried to
The Maid 4
The maid danced to loud rap music which blared
from a music set on the floor. She wore white
shorts, a red tank-top and black heels. With her
make-up, she looked like a hooker working in the
notorious red light district of Las Vegas.
Ngozi entered the room without knocking and
threw the maid off her rhythm. She turned down
the music but didn’t greet Ngozi who stood by the
door and looked at the posters on the walls. Her
eyes settled on Snoop Dog smoking a cigarette.
“You did better than I expected,” Ngozi looked
around the small room with disdain.
“I told you I could pull it off. Shade is no match for
me,” the maid boasted.
“What exactly did you tell Shade?”
“Everything you asked me to say.” The maid lied.
That morning she was about to confess the whole
thing to her madam before she threw up in the
visitor’s toilet. A part of her still felt she shouldn’t
have done it. She liked Shade and Tola her
daughter. The woman had been kind to her. She
didn’t want to be the reason why she left her
husband’s house.
“What? Is that a look of remorse I see on your
face?”Ngozi looked closely at the maid.
“No, it isn’t. I was just thinking about everything.”
“I am not paying you to think. I paid you to do a
job. Is that understood?”
The maid nodded like an obedient puppy before she
sat down on the bed.
“Are you sure you didn’t arouse her suspicion or
create doubt in her mind in any way?”
“She’s out of this house, isn’t she? Isn’t that what
you wanted?” The maid asked.
Ngozi ignored her question. “Where are the
remaining pills?”
Yemi opened her bag, brought out a plastic bottle
containing blue pills and gave it to Ngozi.
“Are you sure there will be no side effects?” The
maid asked.
“If you took it the way I told you to, you should be
fine. You should stop throwing up by tomorrow
morning.”
The maid looked worried. “My body feels very
different.”
“I said you will be fine!” Ngozi snapped. “I know
what I’m doing.” She reached into her bag and
brought out a bottle of yellow pills. “So that we are
sure, take this for the ext three days. It should
stop the vomiting.”
The maid put the bottle in her bag. She planned to
throw the bottle away the moment Ngozi turned
her back. Who knows what this wicked woman put
inside this bottle? Yemi liked her madam but she
was in this for the money, Ngozi’s money.
Seven months ago, Ngozi began visiting the house
regularly when Shade her friend was out of town.
She also began to give Yemi gifts. Sometimes she
gave her clothes, sometimes money. But whenever
she came to the house, she had a gift for her. One
day, Ngozi told her what she wanted from her. She
listened as Ngozi made her an offer and outlined
her plan. The woman was devious. But she
promised her $5,000 if she could pull it off.
“So, what do I have to do?” Yemi asked.
Ngozi told her what to do.
The maid carried it out flawlessly.
Two months ago when Shade was out of town,
Gbenga returned from work and Yemi served him
his dinner. Tola was already asleep in her room.
Yemi returned to clear the plates from the table, by
then she had changed into a mini skirt and a
blouse. Gbenga didn’t think anything of her
dressing. He was drinking and watching Barcelona
demolish Arsenal in a semi-final game. Shade
washed the dishes then returned to the living
room,this time, Gbenga noticed her.
“What do you want?” he asked, by then the pill
Ngozi gave Yemi to dissolve in his drink was
having the desired effect on him.
“I am not feeling too fine,” Gbenga said. He tried to
stand up from the chair but fell back into it. Yemi
helped him up the stairs into the bedroom and
placed him on the bed. Soon after Gbenga passed
out. The next morning he woke up to see Yemi’s
clothing scattered all over the room. He was
scared that something had happened between
himself and the maid while he was drunk the
previous night. He promised to give Yemi some
money if she kept her mouth shut.
Ngozi opened her bag, brought out three bundles
of cash and threw them on the bed beside Yemi.
She smiled, picked up the cash and kept it in her
bag.
“Now, pack you things and get out of this house!”
Ngozi pointed at the door with her left hand. “I
don’t ever want to see you again!”
Yemi didn’t budge.”You promised to find me
another job,” she protested.
“Well, plans have changed. Take the money and
leave.”
“What will happen to madam?” she asked.
“That is none of your business. You must leave
this house tonight.”
The maid didn’t move. “I have nowhere to go.”
“I don’t care what you do as long as you don’t do
it here. You have enough money to rent an
apartment. You can move in with the driver if you
want to. Do you want to tell me that you are not
sleeping with him?”
The maid stood up from the bed. “Who I sleep with
is none of your business,” she said rudely as she
packed her bags.
“Yemi,” Ngozi whispered.
The maid turned around to face Ngozi. There was
a dangerous look on Ngozi’s face that the maid
had never seen before.
“Listen very carefully,” Ngozi said. “I don’t want to
see you near this house ever again. And the day I
catch you near Gbenga, for whatever reason, I will
leave a permanent mark on your face. Do you
understand me?”
The maid shook her head.
“But I will leave tomorrow morning. Do you want
me to carry this load on the streets of Lagos
tonight?”
Before Ngozi could reply,there was a knock on the
door. It was Sadique the gateman.
He looked surprised to find Ngozi and Yemi in the
same room. He thought Ngozi hated her. Why was
she talking secretly with Yemi? And why was Yemi
dressed like that?
“Oga wants to see you,” he told Yemi.
“Sadique, the maid would be leaving this house
tonight. Make sure she takes only what belongs to
her.” Ngozi said.
“But oga said I should tell Yemi to come,” he
protested.
“Don’t worry about oga, just do what I tell you to
do,” Ngozi said and left the room.
Ngozi found Gbenga drinking in the living room. He
looked like a man who had resigned to his fate.
Ngozi sat beside him. They looked into each
other’s eyes for a few seconds then Gbenga’s eyes
settled on her chest.
Ngozi reached for him and kissed him. Gbenga
pushed her away.
“Ngozi, we shouldn’t,” he protested.
“There’s nobody in the house, but us,” she
caressed his thighs.
She tried again, this time he responded and kissed
her. She stood up, gently pulled him off the couch
and headed for the stairs. Gbenga followed her like
dumb sheep being led to the slaughter.
Under the moonlit night, with a frown plastered on
her face, the maid watched them through the
window like a lioness stalking her prey.
To be continued.
The Maid 3
Shade couldn’t breathe properly. The walls seemed
to move in on her like zombies from a horror
movie. She felt the floor move under her feet and
she held onto the door of the bathroom for
support. She entered the bathroom and splashed
some cold water on her face. She felt better.
She returned to the room, brought out a valise
from the wardrobe and threw it on the bed. She
looked out the window at the setting sun. It would
soon be dark. She didn’t want to spend the night
in the same house with Gbenga and the maid.
She tried to arrange the clothes but she was
depressed and order was the last thing on her
mind. She opened a drawer, picked up some
underwear and threw them into the case.
She stopped in front of the dressing mirror and
looked at herself. She looked dishevelled. How she
looked was the last thing on her mind.
Voices rose from downstairs. Ngozi asking Gbenga
to confess his misdeeds.
“Why did you do such a thing to my friend?” Ngozi
shouted.
” I didn’t do anything. I am innocent,” Gbenga
insisted.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Shade realised that
her job was killing her. She made a lot of money
but she had aged in the past four years. She
looked like a forty five year old woman but she
was only thirty five.
The room swayed before her eyes. It felt like
someone with absolutely no talent was using her
head for drum practice. The pain throbbed. She
slowly sat down on the bed.
“Mom, I am so sorry,” she whispered to herself.
About two years ago her mom told her to give up
her job, but she wouldn’t listen.
“Shade, I pray that this job will not be your
undoing,” her mom started.
“Mom, what do you mean by that?”
“Hmm,” the old woman breathed deeply. “My
daughter, money is not everything. You cannot
pursue money and build a good home at the same
time. The way you hold on to this job makes me
fear for you.”
“Mom, I am in the human resources department of
the bank. I am not a real banker.”
“But you keep the same hours, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. But what has that got to do with
anything?” Shade asked.
“My daughter, your marriage is young. This is the
time to build it and make it strong. If the pursuit of
money takes over your life, you won’t devote
enough time to your husband and the children the
good Lord will soon bless you with.”
Shade was stubborn. “Mom, we need the money to
live a good life. It cost a lot of money to maintain
this home. We have so many bills to pay. Gbenga
cannot do it alone. I have to support him.”
“Shade, if anything goes wrong with his marriage,
your money won’t be able to salvage it,”her mom
said.
“Mom, are you placing a curse on my marriage?”
Shade asked in anger.
“No, my daughter. It is not a curse. Don’t you have
enough already? When will the money be enough
for you? Why don’t you get another job that will
give you enough time to pay attention to this
marriage?”
“Mom, please don’t bring your superstitious beliefs
into my home. I love my husband very much and
he loves me too. Nothing will ever go wrong in our
home.”
That was the last time her mom brought up the
subject or even came to her home.
Shade sighed. She had been promoted twice in the
past three years. That meant more money, but it
also came with more responsibility and pressure at
work.
How could she face her mom after her arrogant
and rude behaviour? How could she tell her that
what she predicted had finally happened: that the
maid was carrying Gbenga’s child? Tears started
flowing down her face. She held her head in her
hands and sobbed like a child. How could she
reverse this misfortune she had brought upon
herself, with her own hands?
She packed the valise, opened a drawer, brought
out three cheque booklets and put them in her
handbag. As she descended the stairs she heard
Ngozi shouting at Gbenga.
She got downstairs and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” her husband jumped up to
confront her.
“I can’t bear to spend another minute in this
house. I am leaving,” Shade kept walking towards
the door.
Ngozi stood up. “Where are you going?” She asked
her friend.
“I don’t know. Anywhere but this house is good
right now.”
“Darling, we should sit down and talk this over.
The maid is a liar. I never touched her.”
“Right now I don’t know what to think or who to
believe. I need some alone time.”
Ngozi held Shade’s right hand. “Do you want me
to come with you?”
“I will be fine. I need to do this on my own.” Shade
said.
“Where are you going to stay?” Gbenga asked.
Shade was silent.
Gbenga and Ngozi followed her to her car.
“Darling, this isn’t right. We should talk this over,”
Gbenga pleaded with his angry wife.
Shade entered her car and started it.
“Shade, you should talk to your husband,” Ngozi
pleaded with her friend.
“What do you want me to tell the pastor in church
tomorrow?” Gbenga asked.
“You should have thought about that before you
slept with the maid,” Shade said and moved the
car forward.
Gbenga walked back to the house in anger.
Like an owl, Ngozi watched the tail lights of
Shade’s car disappear throug
The Maid. Chapter 2
Shade sat on the edge of the recliner with her hands covering her face.
“Are you okay?” Ngozi touched her on the shoulder and Shade lifted her head. Her eyes were blood shot, like the eyes of an Ijaw fisherman drinking ‘ogogoro’, the local alcoholic beverage, before casting off in his rickety boat to dare the treacherous sea.
Shade seemed to have aged in the last two hours. She blinked a few times, trying to focus on who was standing before her. The scent of Channel No.5 in the air made it easy for her to recognise who it was.
“Ngozi, thank you for coming back.”
“Shade you are my friend. Of course I will be there for you anytime you need me.”
Shade ran her hands through her Brazilian hair and exhaled.
“Do you know that you were prescient?”
“About what?” Ngozi looked confused.
“This morning you told me to watch my maid very closely because she could be up to something with my husband.”
“Yes?”
“Well, you were right.”
“I was?”
“She confessed to me this morning that she is pregnant.”
“Pregnant for who, Sadiq the gateman?” Ngozi asked.
“How I wish. She’s pregnant for Gbenga, my husband!”
Ngozi immediately broke into a cold sweat. Her white blouse stuck to her slim body. “Ewoh!”She lamented like a mother whose only son had been conscripted to join the rag-tag Biafran army. A dark cloud, like a plague, settled on her pretty face. She dropped her bag on the floor, put both hands on her head and slowly knelt down on the floor beside her friend.
Shade looked at her friend curiously and wondered why her reaction seemed greater than the matter at hand. Although they had been friends since their secondary school days, she rarely saw Ngozi show any emotion. Ngozi was the one who stood up to bullies in school, both boys and girls and defended her. When things went wrong, it was Ngozi she asked to help her fix things. It was Ngozi who stood by her when she got pregnant out of wedlock and insisted that she keep the baby. If it wasn’t for Ngozi, Tola, her beautiful daughter, would have been flushed down the toilet of an abortion clinic. Ngozi supported her even when her own parents threatened to disown her for giving birth to a bastard. Ngozi showed emotion only in matters concerning money. Ngozi was attractive but at 36 she was still single because her relationships never lasted more than a few months. The last guy she dated, a banker, complained that she was too controlling, calculating and cold. He really liked Ngozi but complained to Shade that her friend seemed to be emotionally distant. That was why Shade wondered where this sudden burst of emotion came from. Was something going on in Ngozi’s life that Shade was unaware of? Had her friend finally opened up her heart to a man, to love and to be loved? Has she found someone at last?
“I need something to drink,” Ngozi broke into Shade’s thoughts.
“There are drinks in the fridge.”
Ngozi was already on her way to the kitchen. “I need something, you know….strong.”
“Look in the pantry. You will find something.”
Ngozi returned a few minutes later with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Can I pour you a drink?” She opened the bottle and poured herself some red wine.
“No, thanks,” Shade shook her head. She didn’t want her mind clouded when talking with her husband.
“Suit yourself,” Ngozi drank half the glass of wine and sat down beside her friend. “What did the maid say?” She asked again,
“She said the pregnancy belongs to Gbenga.”
“She can’t possibly be serious,” Ngozi reached for the bottle of wine and topped up her glass.
“But you said she had designs for my husband. You saw through her disguise. I was so naive to think that my husband wouldn’t be attracted to the maid. I should never have allowed that girl into my home. She has caused me so much pain today.”
“What I said was mere conjecture. I wanted you to watch her closely before something happened behind your back. I never knew she had the guts to try such a thing with Gbenga.
“Hmm.” Shade sighed deeply.
Ngozi stood up.”Where is she, let me show her what we do to sluts.”
The alcohol was beginning to take effect, Shade observed.
“She is the least of my problems. What am I going to do about my husband, my marriage?”
“Have you told Gbenga?”
“No, I haven’t. He is on his way home. He dropped Tola off at his family house to play with her cousins.”
Ngozi sat down and thought for a few seconds.”Please let me talk to him first. In your present state you may escalate the situation. We have to be sure if this really happened.”
“It did. The girl confessed to me.”
“This can’t be happening. It must be a bad dream.”
“That is exactly what I said initially. But the more I think about it, the more it dawns on me that it is really happening.”
“To think that girl had the guts to touch Gbenga.”
“It was Gbenga who had the guts to touch the maid.” Shade said with sadness.
“Where is she? Where is that slut?” Ngozi shouted.
“She’s in her room. I told her not to go anywhere.”
There was a knock on the door and the gateman entered the living room.
“Madam, Yemi said she wants to go and buy something down the road. She insists that it is urgent.”
“If you allow that girl leave this compound, you will not only lose your job, I will also have you arrested. Do you understand me?!” Shade raised her voice.
“Yes, madam.” The gateman quickly left the living room.
Ngozi watched him leave. “Are you sure the gateman isn’t responsible for the pregnancy?” She asked. “Your husband’s driver, the mechanic or one of the unemployed youths in the area could be responsible for it. Do you know if your maid has a boyfriend?”
Before Shade could answer, the door opened and Gbenga walked into the room. He stopped when he saw the distraught look on his wife’s face. “Darling is everything okay?”
Shade stood up slowly to face him.
“Gbenga, is it because you are desperate to have your own child that is why you did this to me? Have I not been a good wife to you these six years of marriage?”
“Shade, please don’t.” Ngozi tried to stop her from talking but she brushed aside her hands.
Shade continued with tears running down her face.”Am I God to determine if I will have another child? You shame me before my friends and family by doing what you did. What is painful is that it happened before my very eyes, in my own home. Gbenga, you have not only shamed me, you have also ruined my life.” Shade burst into tears and ran upstairs.
Gbenga was confused. “What is going on?” he asked as he tried to follow Shade up the stairs but Ngozi stopped him from climbing the stairs.
“You can’t go upstairs. It will only make matters worse. She needs some alone time.”
Gbenga tried to move her out of his way.”This is my home. I must know what is going on!” he raised his voice.
Ngozi looked at him in the eye and stood her ground. “I will explain everything to you in a moment. Let me see to Shade and make sure she’s okay.” Ngozi went after her.
Gbenga paced for a few minutes then sat down on the sofa.
A few minutes later, Ngozi came downstairs. She drank some wine, placed the empty glass on a stool beside the bottle of wine and walked towards the kitchen. Gbenga followed her.
“Ngozi, please tell me what is going…”
Gbenga never completed the sentence.
“Wack!”
Ngozi turned around and slapped him hard on the face with her left hand. The force threw his head backward and left a conspicuous indent on his face made by her ring.
Gbenga touched his face.”Why did you do that?” He asked.
“You disgust me!”Ngozi spat like a serpent, her face distorted into a grotesque mask of rage. “How dare you sleep with the maid?”
Gbenga was speechless.
To be continued….
The Maid. Chapter 1
She brought in two cups of coffee on a tray, set it down on the table in front of the two light skinned women sitting on the couch, genuflected and left.
The morning sun streamed in through the open window enveloping the women in a surreal glow. They looked like sisters except the taller one had a chiseled look and the shorter one had a round face.
Ngozi , the taller of the two turned to her friend Shade.
“Why do you allow her wear such clothes in your home?”
“You mean Yemi? What is wrong with her clothes?” Shade turned to look in the direction of the kitchen. She never bothered with what her maid wore.
“Where did you find her?” Ngozi asked.
“She is the daughter of some distant relative from my husband’s side.”
Ngozi looked in the direction of the kitchen. “Maids! You have to watch them very closely.”
“Here you go again, suspicious of an innocent girl.”
“Have you looked at her?That is not the body of a girl. That’s a woman.”
Shade lowered her cup. “Ngozi, she’s barely 21.”
“My friend, I think your bank job has blinded your eyes. Look again.”
Shade sat forward in her chair. “So, what are you saying exactly?”
“Do you trust this maid of yours?”
“Are you suggesting that Gbenga could be attracted to her? My husband cannot stand dark skinned ladies. She’s definitely not his type.” Shade said with some doubt in her voice.
“My friend, don’t you know that a man’s sexual desire is colour blind?A man’s libido makes no distinctions on the basis of the colour of a woman’s skin as long as he satisfies his lust.”
The aroma of fried eggs wafted through the room.
“She cooks his meals, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, and so what?” Shade challenged her friend.
Ngozi shook her head. “Shade, you really don’t get it, do you?”
Shade looked perplexed. “Get what?”
The maid brought in scrambled eggs, toast and more coffee.
Both women watched her walk back into the kitchen.
This time Shade noticed that her jeans skirt was short and tight. Her blouse revealed some cleavage. How come she never noticed this before?
“The way to a man’s loins is his stomach,” Ngozi bit into a piece of buttered toast.
“Are you suggesting that my maid has designs for my husband?”
Ngozi lowered her voice in a conspiratorial tone. “The woman who satisfies a man’s stomach, owns him.”
“Hmmm,”Shade lowered her head and exhaled.
She was glad that her husband and her 8 year old daughter Tola had gone out to the mall. How would she have handled her emotions before her husband?
Shade recalled the discussion she had with her mother-in law four years ago.
“We are expecting you to give us a heir, a grandson. It is taking too long,” the old woman complained.
“We are trying ma,” Shade said, not knowing how to tell the woman that her daughter, Tola, was going to be the only heir she would produce. After trying to conceive for a few years Shade had given up hope of ever bearing another child. Tola was not Gbenga’s child but he loved her like his own. The doctors said Gbenga was fertile. Shade was the one with the health challenge. Her husband told her not to stop believing, but she didn’t share his faith.
The old woman paused in thought for a few seconds.
“If you can’t get pregnant, maybe we should find someone who can. A young girl. Untouched. A virgin.” The old woman said with spite, referring to the fact that Shade already had a child before she got married to her son, Gbenga. She had been against the marriage from the very beginning but her weak son had been blinded by his love for the light skinned seductress from Ibadan.
“What are you saying ma?” Shade stammered.
“Gbenga is entitled to as many wives as he wants. He comes from a royal family and after him, his son would be the next in line to the throne.”
Shade’s face fell. She stood up in anger, ran into her room and wept. When Gbenga returned from his round of Saturday golf, she told him what had transpired. He was furious.
“Mom, don’t you ever talk to my wife like that again!” He screamed into the phone, but the damage was already done. After that incident, Shade felt like a fake, an interloper who didn’t belong in the family. She felt empty. Barren.
Ngozi saw the look on her friend’s face and stood up.”Will you be attending the women’s meeting this morning?”
“I will try to join you later in church. I want to give my maid some instructions first.”
Shade walked her to her car.
“Thanks for being such a good friend.” Shade said.
“You know I always try to help,” Ngozi smiled and drove out of the house.
Shade entered the kitchen, not really knowing what she wanted to do. She opened the fridge, stared into it for a few seconds then finally brought out a bottle of water.
Yemi stopped doing the dishes. “Madam, there is something I want to tell you.”
Shade poured the water into a cup and ignored her.
“Madam…”
“What is it? Can’t I drink some water in peace?” Shade snapped.
The maid almost dropped the plate she held. Her madam never raised her voice at her.
“Madam, when you travelled last month, your friend Ngozi was here.”
“And is it any of your business if my friends come to my house?”
“Madam, she stayed…”
“Shut your mouth before I give you a slap!”
“Madam, she was alone in the house with…”
“Shut up and get out of my sight!”
“I haven’t finished doing the dishes.”
“Just get out!” Shade pointed at the door.
Yemi took two steps, put her right hand over her mouth and ran out of the kitchen.
Shade put the cup she was holding on the kitchen table and quickly followed her. The maid ran into the visitor’s toilet. Shade stood in front of the door not knowing what to do. She could hear the maid throwing up in the toilet. She took a deep breath, pushed the door with her left hand and watched it swing open slowly to reveal the maid kneeling on the floor and retching into the toilet. Thick sweat covered her face. Some of the foul smelling vomit was on her blouse and on the floor. She was breathing hard.
“Yemi, what is going on?”Shade asked with trepidation.
The maid was silent. She tried to stand to her feet but her knees failed her and she crashed to the floor.
“Yemi, answer me!” Shade shouted but she didn’t want to hear the answer.
“I am sorry ma,” the maid said.
“Sorry for what?” Shade asked.
“He promised to take care of me,”Yemi whispered.
“What are you talking about?” Shade asked perplexed.
Yemi covered her face and burst into tears.
Shade slowly backed out of the toilet not believing the unfolding movie before her eyes. She knelt in the middle of the living room and put both hands on her head. This was a bad dream and she wanted to wake up from it.
“Gbenga, what have you done, what have you done to me?”she cried in anguish.
To be continued.
HOW TO GET MORE VIEWS ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES.
How do you successfully get the most views to your social media updates? The secret to viral content is in many cases related to identifying the social media time sweet spot. Here, we review the various social media networks, and the best time to post to each.
1. WHEN SHOULD YOU POST TO FACEBOOK?
Towards the end of the week
According to Buffer, many office workers will peruse Facebook when they are in a workday slump, especially towards the end of the week. In fact, engagement rates on Facebook are at about 18% on Thursdays and Fridays – those pesky days that stand in between you and the weekend. This is an optimal time to post your information because it has a higher likelihood of being seen.
2. WHEN SHOULD YOU POST TO TWITTER?
Mondays through Thursdays between 1pm and 3pm
Twitter gets the most views Mondays through Thursdays around 1 to 3pm. The worst times to post are every day after 8pm and Fridays after 3pm. Further, Hubspot also points out that posting photos drives interaction. Tweets with photos have a 36% increase in clicks and and 41% increase in retweets.
3. WHEN SHOULD YOU POST TO LINKEDIN?
Tuesdays and Thursdays, between 7am and 9am
Because LinkedIn is specifically used for businesses and business professionals, it is often used right before the workday begins and right after it ends, according to Entreprenuer.com. Entrepreneur also says that it is often used on Tuesdays and Thursdays around those times. If you make a post during normal working hours, it is less likely to receive views or bring in any clicks and visits. Try posting your LinkedIn material on Tuesdays and Thursdays specifically at around 7am to 9am local time and avoid posting Mondays through Fridays between 1pm and 5pm.
4. WHEN SHOULD YOU POST TO GOOGLE+?
Wednesdays at 9am
G+ is yet another social media site that is best posted to in the morning. Hubspot says that the usual time people are on G+ is between 9am and 10am. The best time to receive the most engagement on your G+ updates is Wednesdays at 9am. You will get more interaction and +1’s for posts made on those days. An important fact about G+ and demographics is, according to Hubspot, it is growing rapidly with people between the ages of 45 and 54 years old. Keep this in mind as you post to G+ and make it friendlier for that demographic.
While these statistics are really helpful, it is wise for you to learn what times work the best for your specific audience. Try earlier, if that doesn’t work, try later. Keep tweaking until you reach the time slot that works the best for you!
1. WHEN SHOULD YOU POST TO FACEBOOK?
Towards the end of the week
According to Buffer, many office workers will peruse Facebook when they are in a workday slump, especially towards the end of the week. In fact, engagement rates on Facebook are at about 18% on Thursdays and Fridays – those pesky days that stand in between you and the weekend. This is an optimal time to post your information because it has a higher likelihood of being seen.
2. WHEN SHOULD YOU POST TO TWITTER?
Mondays through Thursdays between 1pm and 3pm
Twitter gets the most views Mondays through Thursdays around 1 to 3pm. The worst times to post are every day after 8pm and Fridays after 3pm. Further, Hubspot also points out that posting photos drives interaction. Tweets with photos have a 36% increase in clicks and and 41% increase in retweets.
3. WHEN SHOULD YOU POST TO LINKEDIN?
Tuesdays and Thursdays, between 7am and 9am
Because LinkedIn is specifically used for businesses and business professionals, it is often used right before the workday begins and right after it ends, according to Entreprenuer.com. Entrepreneur also says that it is often used on Tuesdays and Thursdays around those times. If you make a post during normal working hours, it is less likely to receive views or bring in any clicks and visits. Try posting your LinkedIn material on Tuesdays and Thursdays specifically at around 7am to 9am local time and avoid posting Mondays through Fridays between 1pm and 5pm.
4. WHEN SHOULD YOU POST TO GOOGLE+?
Wednesdays at 9am
G+ is yet another social media site that is best posted to in the morning. Hubspot says that the usual time people are on G+ is between 9am and 10am. The best time to receive the most engagement on your G+ updates is Wednesdays at 9am. You will get more interaction and +1’s for posts made on those days. An important fact about G+ and demographics is, according to Hubspot, it is growing rapidly with people between the ages of 45 and 54 years old. Keep this in mind as you post to G+ and make it friendlier for that demographic.
While these statistics are really helpful, it is wise for you to learn what times work the best for your specific audience. Try earlier, if that doesn’t work, try later. Keep tweaking until you reach the time slot that works the best for you!
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