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'come on in' Linda told her guest as she walked passed her husband and brother-in-law without as much as acknowledging them. She headed straight upstairs with two bags while her guest was ushered in to a seat.
'so..' Tom started,gently rubbing his palms against eachother 'how was your journey?'
'it was fine,thanks' the guest gave him a gentle smile that made him smile back.
'am Tom,Linda's hubby and this is jack' Tom said,tapping his brother on the back. He was smiling so hard that Jack felt his was illuminating the room.
'am anna' the young lady said 'nice to meet you both'
'right back at ya' Tom swayed playfully
'you to ann' as Jack spoke,she turned her gaze to him just then Linda emerged from the stairs. Tom stared at his wife with a mischievious smile and then pulled Jack with him as he walked towards Linda.
'i knew you couldn't do it' He was right at Linda's face.
'do what?' she puzzled.
'bring your ex here'
'who said i didn't?' She smiled
'what?Ann?' his jaw dropped.
Then here was a knock on the door

'you't can't bring him here!'
'like hell i can!'
Jack wondered where his latest dream was going. This was unlike any dream he had before. He couldn't even see their faces,just voices. Why can't i see the damn faces! He mutter,forcing his eyes opened,he gaze came face to face with the blue ceiling on his room. He hadn't been dreaming. He was hearing the latest noisy couple voices. Linda and Tom were fighting again. He checked his time
'jeez,it's only 6.am!'
He mangaged to drag himself downstairs to see his brother pacing up and down the room.
'Tom....'
there wasn't any response
'Tom....'
still he didn't answer.
'Tom!' This time even the neighbours could have heard.
'yes?' Tom answered unsettled,he was a little shakened.
'what's up? Where's linda? I thought i heard her voice? Or was i dreaming? I couldn't have been' he seemed to have confused himself.
'are you okay?' Tom was staring at him like he had gone mad. He laughed at the irony of that.
'Am fine but you are not' He stared at his brother with no wish of wanting to be like him. 'you look like hell,what's the problem?'
Tom didn't answer. He just sat on a chair and turned on the tv.
'where's Linda?' Jack questioned. He wasn't going to stop asking the questions until he got an answer and Tom knew it.
'she's got to get her boyfriend!'
'Boyfriend?' Jack said with a slack smile.'Tommy what are you talking about?'
Tom raised his head towards Jack. His eyes were cloudy,he was serious.
'her ex is in town and she is going to bring him here' He was like a grany speaking in the memorial of his heartrob
'did you tell her she could bring him here?'
'of course i wouldn't but it doesn't matter. She's going to bring him. I saw her resolve.'
Jack managed to pull a soothing laugh
'she wouldn't' he seemed like he was almost certain but he knew he wasn't.
Thirty minutes later,a car drove into the compound; Linda's car. Then there was a knock on the door.....

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Just as she had rused out,Linda rushed back inside the house after about an hour,only this time she had ruined her makeup; she was in tears.
'what's the problem?' Jack drew to her as he gave her a comforting hug. He made to use his hands to wipe the tears from face but withdrew his hand. Instead he,pulled a face towel from his pocket and dabbed her face carefully.
'it's Tom' she said as her sobbing increased and Jack knew it was time to take a seat. He dragged her mildly to the couch,sitting her down before he sat.
'now calm down' he said hoarsely. 'tell me what exactly happened. What did Tom do?'
Her sobbing almost resurfaced but she steadied herself the best way she could.
'Jack,Tom is having an affair' she was quiet now but staring attentively at Jack who seemed to be taken aback by the new developement.
'are you certain of it?' he said painstakingly. 'i mean,how did you find out?'
'i followed him,remember?' there was no trace of sorrow in her voice. 'i saw him enter an eatery so i followed him in stealthily. Then i saw the lady.'
'just that? How did you know that it wasn't just one of his business partners?'
'he was basically smothering her,and she,him. Or do business partners still do that?'
Jack was totally dumbfounded. He couldn't think of anything else to say to his brothers aid and Linda read his mind.
'don't worry Jack you don't have to say anything. It wasn't your fault.' she stood up,kissed him on the cheek closest to the the corner of his lips and went upstairs.
'what just happened?'

It had been a week now since the whole unusal incidence. Everything seemed to have gone back to status quo or at least that was what Jack thought. He was ready to begin his flirt game with Linda again but he needed something new as he had gone with everything on his book. He watched Linda as she walked into the living room wearing a thin black shirt that exposed the bottom of her naval and a mini black skirt that complimented the top like icing to a cake.
'who died?' Jack called from where he sat,fixing his eyes on the tv set.
'what?' asked Linda obviously confused
'what's up with the black riot'
'oh this,i just wanted to feel comfortable,that's all' she moved to site on the chair next to Jack's.
'you know,black is known to absorb heat you may want to take your clothes off in a matter of minutes' he winked as she rolled her eyes and withdrew to sit on another chair distant from him. He noticed and smiled amorously 'scared i might bite? Nah,not with Tom home.' And they went comfortably silent for some minutes until Linda spoke.
'you know he's hiding something right?'
'who?'
'The pope' she hissed 'Tom of course. Whoelse will i be talking about?'
'i don't know,me maybe' he shrugged.
'Be serious Jacky'
'Jacky?' he echoed,popping his eyes
'i know he's hiding something' she ignored his expression 'and you know it too'
'Linda let him be. He explained why he came home drunk that day and things are back to normal,so?' he was no longer smiling.
'am not talking about that; plus i don't even buy that excuse' she fumed.
'so whatelse could you be talking about?' he scowled
'I woke up this morning to hear Tom singing black street boys' she said seriously.
'yey! Tom sang,we should inform the police' he said sarcastically and she shot him a dirty look 'what's wrong with that?'
'the man doesn't sing; ever!' she snapped 'plus who sings black street boy anymore?' she widened her eyes like she demanded an answer but didn't get it. 'and he gets so happy these days' she stressed making Jack laugh out loud.
'your husband is happier,he sings now,so what?' he teased 'you are quite impossible' he stated as Linda smiled in a proud way then Tom rushed down,all dressed.
'honey,i got to jet' he said,making for the door 'see you guys later.' he left.
'see,he never does that too' Linda said as she rose and rushed to the bedroom. Moments later,she rushed back down,all dressed and she made for the door as well.
'where are you going to too?' Jack asked with a confused look on his face.
'where else?' she stopped for a second. 'am following him' she dashed through the door
'Linda!' Jack called but she was gone

'oh tom..' Linda stuttered 'what are you doing here?' were the only words she could find.
'This is my room' Tom smiled 'isn't it?' he turned faced Jack who was unexpectedly calm.
'i mean,i thought you had gone to work' she managed to steady her voice 'i didn't hear your car drive in'
'i left some pretty important stuffs at home' Tom said as he moved towards the table ajacent the bed. He opened the top drawer,brought out a brown envelope and held on tight to it like a baby holding on to it's most precious toy.
'i guess am off to work now' he smiled at his wife and brother uneasilly as he made to leave the room but then stopped abruptly. 'i know why Jack is here' he said as an alarming expression over-rode Linda's bright face while Jack maintained his cool. 'you are worried about me' his eyes on Linda 'about last night' he paused while Linda relaxed a little and Jack just remained unshakened. 'Look' Tom continued 'i understand that you are worried but really,there's nothing to be worried about okay? So please stop worrying' he moved towards Linda placing his left hands on her shoulder while his right hand still held on firm to the envelope 'you can smile now and let Jack go do some flirting or whatever he does these days.' They all laughed and Tom left the room afterwards.
It took the sound of the gate and an extra three minutes to break the akward silence that hovered over Jack and Linda.
'so where were we?' Jack said hoarsely with a grin.

'can i come in?' Jack said in a hoarse voice,trying to hide his evil grin
'that question is a little late,don't you think?' she responded quite calmly
'oh,right...' he said and walked out of the room but knocked before she could heave a sign of relief.
'what now?' she said frustratingly. 'you can come in Jack'
'thanks' he said as he walked back in. 'i see the bed refused to let you move huh'
'i see you came all the way to my bedroom to talk about my bed' she said with a high trace of sarcasm and loved the effect it had on him.
'sorry' he said with his head facing his toes. Then he moved towards the bed prompting her to draw the blanket to her neck. 'i want to apologize to you' he said softly
'why? Did you tell the bed not to let me move?' she smiled apparently enjoying teasing him
'am serious Linda' he scowled.
'oh,you can be!' her smile grew wider
'well like i said,i want to apologize to you' he said ignoring her last comment. 'But the problem is,i don't know what am apologizing for.' he paused to look at Linda who wasn't smiling anymore.
'you don't have anything to apologize for?' she asked puzzled
'yeah,i don't. Or did i do anything to warrant an apology? Please,by all means,tell me.'
'you know what Jack,just leave me alone' she said tearfully and she had no idea why she felt like crying suddenly. Was it what he said that got to her or was she still thinking about Tom? She asked herself rhetorically.
'i just feel that you tranferred your anger to me last night and really i don't blame you. I probably would have done the same.' he noticed the tears in her eyes. 'plus you are beautiful when you get angry' he winked.
'oh jack' she tried to hide the smile but it came out anyway.
'either way,am sorry for...... Nothing i guess' he smiled as he sat on the bed,stretching his hand to her. 'friends again?'
she took the hands smiling
'we were not friends before,but friends now' she held unto his hands as he droolled at her. Then the door was flung open
'what are you doing here?' a deep voice said

Pancho01: <Only ds time it wasnt Tom's doing>; ds i tnk kild d whole suspense. Dnt tel us b4 hand d cause of sometin. U av 2 start wt d effect 1st b4 telin us d cause. And again U shud alow d characters act d whl story.

yessir

E<R>F:
Wow, are yhu sure yhu own this story?

Manh yhu av got talent i must commend, so nice and thrilling...
Yhu are so good bro, i just pray yhu keep feeding us...

Keep it coming... Boss

tnx boss

Linda glared at the ceiling like it was an arch-enemy; she still thought about what happened the previous night and it ached her not to know what exactly happened. Tom was definitely in trouble or he would not have come home drunk. But it worried her really that he preferred the drinks to her. He had always come to her whenever he was in trouble or did she do something that made him lose faith in her? She wondered. Was it Jack?
No!
She hadn't done anything but flirt with him. Except the one time when they almost kissed but that because she was sober and Tom wasn't present plus he was the cause of it anyways.
'oh honey,you are awake'
It was Tom and he was almost dressed for work. She watched him quietly as he moved across the room to the cupboard where he kept his clothes. She felt like jabbing him as he dressed innocently like nothing had happened.
'Tom....' she called just as he was about to live the room. He stopped. 'what happened last night?' she tried to be mild.
'last night? Nothing happened dear.' he really seemed like nothing happened. 'see you later hon.' he blew her a kiss and left scurriedly.
Damn!
If she had a gun,she could have shot at him. Something was definitely up,she could see it from the way he left. She contemplated on whether to go after him but then she heard him start the car and leave.
The car! She remembered. He didn't bring his benz home the previous night and now he was leaving on the camry. Now she knew he was definitely in trouble. But what could it be?
'can i come in?' she heard as the door slowly opened.
'oh God!' it was Jack and he was in her bedroom.

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'why does it look like you guys have seen a ghost?' Tom asked as he stepped into the house. He moved towards Linda,placing his hands on her chin,he raised her head gently. 'Aww... You were worried that something bad had happened to me. Am alive,you can stop worrying now' he smiled and crashed on the couch.
'Jeez Jack,he's drunk' she said tearfully. 'How could he be drunk? He hate drinking' she dropped on the floor before the couch,crying. Jack became confussed as hell. He was in expert in certain situations but not this. He looked down at Linda as she sobbed quietly. She seemed like she needed consolling so he advanced to where she laid.
'Linda,...'
'just stop Jack,Stop it.' she said,moving away from him like he was some sort disease.
'stop what?' he asked with a priceless look on his face.
'whatever this is?'
'am only trying to help,Linda. I don't .....'
'like you tried to help early' she rose up. 'i don't need you help!' she walked out of the living room and slammed the door behind her .

'calm down,ok...' Jack called to Linda who pacing around the Living room but she seemed not to have heard him. 'Linda,Linda....'
'hmm,what' apparently he had jolted her from her thoughts
'Try to calm down please. Your fretting is not helping anything right now'
'calm down,you said? How can i calm down Jack,check the clock it's 11pm.' she was completely devastated. It was the first time something of this sort had happened since their few years of marriage. Infact,at the early stage,she hardly got off the phone with him when he calls again. He still called now but not as frequent. So why was today different? Was what Linda must have been thinking. Several Negative ideas bombarded her mind with ease; as she waded one off another came in.
'Jack,we have to call the police' she said with haste and panic like she had figured out what could have happened to him.
'Not yet Linda. My brother is probably on his way right now.' he tried to smile but he's body couldn't comply. He was worried too as Tom had never pulled this kind of stunt before.
'Oh God!' she broke into tears and collapsed on the sofa closest to her prompting Jack to go up to her her.
'stop this,Linda' he tried to be gentle; it wasn't easy. 'do you want to make Junior up?' she noded No 'so stop crying. Please...' he raised his hand to her face,she hesitated to let him at first but relaxed later on. He wiped the tears of her face,literally.
'seems like you have done this a lot' she managed to say with a weak smile. He had really calmed her down
'Not really. Am trying to rise up to the occassion.' his devish grin was was back.
'well you are doing a good job' she said quite softly.
'yeah?'
'yeah'
'am glad'
'am glad,you are'
His head drew closer to hers while she maintained her position. She could feel his warm breath upon hers and just as thier lips was about to touch,they heard a knock on the door.
'is the anyone in this house?'

'Jack!...'
Jack heard Linda scream but thought it was a dream at first. It wouldn't be the first time as he often dreamt of her; mostly nice dreams. There was the one time though when he was being intimate with Linda only to be caught by a Tom with a gun. He woke up before Tom could pull the trigger but he had been careful in flirting with his brothers wife.
'Jack,Jack!.....' this time she was banging at the door and he knew it was no dream.
'morning sunshine' he said smiling as he opened the door. 'Dream of me much?'
'Not now Jack' she said with worry plastered all over her face. 'can you be serious for once'
'ouch. Okay,what's the problem?'
'i can't find Tom anyway where'
'what do you mean you can't find him?' he got serious.
'i mean what exactly what i said. Wokeup this morning,he wasn't in bed. I have searched the entire house,tried his numbers,his office... I can't find him!'

slap1: Good, but I don't get the last part. How did you escape? Was it a dream? Were you in heaven? Where did the chopper come from?

i survived. It wasn't heaven,it was the crash site

.

I looked across the window fromwhere i was seated.I could see the evergreen plantations that spread kilometers awayacross boundaries,the thatched but glorious roofs that complimented the orange raysfrom the sun and i perceived the pleasant scent of air thatspelt pacific.I knew we were inafrica.
So this was it.I was finally goinghome to the persons i loved most in the world.Those who prayed without season for me even when i was seasaway and not known to be dead or alive.I was on my way to see the first lady of my life.The woman in whom i took shelter for months more than my first session at Harvard.The woman who bestowed the first,tearful and most gracious smile at me.I wasgoing to see thewoman i called Mother.
And there was the greatest man in the world.The man in whose mentorship you could never get lost.His words i believed were chiselled from the personal journal of Solomon.The man who i owed everything in life to.I called him Papa.
I will be death itself before i could forget my siblings.God toldus to love our neighbour as ourselves but he knows i love them more than myself and now iwas finally goingto be with them.
As i gazed on,lost in thoughts of what was going to be,i felt a vibe beneath myfeet but i ignored.It happened again,still i ignored it,then i moved against my will with great force and hit hard against something else;it was someone else.What was happening?
The turmoil got worse as the plane now swayed from east to west which sent most of the passengers flying against one another.I managed to holdstill as i closed my eyes and prayed silently to God.I lost anyhope of survival but prayed for my family.I asked God to give them the fortitude to bearthe weight of losing me but for a minute it looked like God got a different message as the plane became stable which was a great relief for us all.
It did last long though as just when the hostess was about to give usthe ‘it was just a little glitch’ speech,we felt the plane spin dangerously again.Only this time it was worse than the first and i knew we weren’t going to survive it.I was right.The plane had caught fire from the rear and we must have been too preoccupied to notice we were going down.I reached to my pocket and pulled out my rosary.As i prayed,my family flashed before my mind’s eyes.I felt an earthquake in my heart.I wasn’t going to see them afterall.Then wewent down and everything wentblack.
Was this how it felt to be dead?It felt so normal and i was too tired for a dead person or that’sthe way it oughtto be?
I opened my eyes and saw the blue cloud above me,it wasbeautiful.I was inheaven i guessed;cool.Then i sighted a helicopter across the sky.A helicopter in heaven?I managed to stand up right before me i saw the plane i had boarded in pieces.Was i alive?Yes ,i wasalive!….
THE END
http://writerstab./2013/07/28/alive/