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Ann2012:
Well done Boss

Thanks oo

skubido:
Brotherly tanks a lot for the update

You're welcome baba

germaphobe:
i can only sigh out loud for now as i look forward to more updates. And i don't feel like taking anything now

Hmm

moseph:
thanks for the update

Thank for reading too...

afribabe:
Thanks for the mention and update

You're welcome oo

afribabe:
Is this still valid? Are you still on it? Are they reliable?

They are crazily better now. In fact, making more money has been added. One can now invest in Legal businesses...

Chapter 3
 
The Will
 
Looking back through the year, Biola knew it was time she left her husband's house. After the beating she got the previous day, she couldn’t stand the pain anymore. She glanced at the picture on her table and slammed it facedown. The memory was sickening. Her hand trembled as she touched her swollen eyes. She didn't see it until that morning.
The pain from last night’s beating was enough to kill any woman. Only God knew how she got the strength to withstand such beating from her husband. Maybe, it was an accumulation of the strength she got from Uche's incessant beating. 
It was high time she got a divorce. It was better she listened to Element's advice but before she did that, she would first leave his house. The season for becoming blind to love has arrived and she would conform to it. Her mind was made up. 
‘Shadiat’, Biola shouted after she took her car key and headed for the door.
‘Shadiat...' She shouted again.
 A short plump dark girl came running towards her. Biola sized her. She looked just like two Ghana-must-go bags placed on each other. Her face was laced with tribal marks like the line on her travelling bag. Biola hissed. 
‘I’m going home, take care of my shop', she said.
‘Yes ma'.
‘And make sure you are here when I return, no matter the time I return'.
Shadiat nodded warily as though she had just been given a task beyond her.
Biola mind dashed from one thought to another. She dragged her thoughts away from the love they shared and dumped them into the vehicle-of-forgotten.
She just didn't know the cause of Uche's behavior. At least, after losing her son at birth some months back because of Uche’s beating, he ought to have learnt how to take care of a lady. He ought to know that her belly would yearn desperately for a baby, that her heart would be clogged with sorrow. At that time, she regretted knowing him. He was doing the opposite of the words of Az Yet's song ' Every Woman’

Every Woman needs her man
To hold her and protect her and
Tell her that she's beautiful
And how she feels he'll understand
A man that will not leave her but
Will stand right by her side

She was deaf to the gateman's greeting. Her eyes couldn't just help it. Every now and
then, it moved to the mirror to see the black spot on her eyes. 
When she entered, the first thing that attracted her was the empty space on the table, which once housed a beautiful vase that was a gift from John. He gave her the vase when he returned from Dubai. She swallowed hard as she remembered on whose head the vase broke- hers.
The pain struck her again.
‘Ah!' She said, moaning. She knelt in the parlour. And, at last, after holding herself since yesternight, she cried. The chair, her consoler, screeched as she strengthened herself with it.
The pain that surged through her body as he slapped her the previous day came again. The memory of the agony from his iron fist that hit her eyes and the noise that erupted from her mouth as he pulled her hair flooded her thought. 
After crying for ten minutes, she rose from her blood-like rug, and climbed the stairs that looked like the evil path she took into this marriage. If that stupid John hadn't become too close for comfort she would have had agreed to be his girlfriend and she would have never faced the trouble she was facing now. She would have a son to call her own. She would be in the hand of the man that loved her; one she loved dearly.  ‘John’, she cried.
She pushed herself up the stairs and packed her load. Uche wouldn't return till late in the night, when she would be gone, far away from the cold hands of death-Uche’s cold hands of death. 
On her last trip to her car, she stared at the wall, at the frame, at the picture of Uche and her. She hated the day she said 'Yes'. 
She rushed to the wall, and pulled down the frame, cutting every tie they had.
‘Never again' She cried and jumped severally on the frame. ‘Never again.' 
She cried. The glass pierced her skin. She wasn't concerned. She looked at the other frames and broke them. 
Just then, the door opened. Uche came in. Cold air rushed to her as she awaited beating from him. Instead, he went down on his knee. 
‘I’m sorry baby', he said. His face was contoured. His eyes were squinted as he crawled nearer.' I don't know what got over me'. 
She shifted back. He moved nearer. Tears poured down her face. She stared at him. He was right. She just can't lose him. She limped forward, hugged his head, and cried over him. And for the 18th time in that marriage, she accepted him, for better for worse.
Her mind was made up. No matter the consequences, she was going to John's place to collect her baby. She was tired of the deception. Moreover, she needed a companion. She had thought it was better for her baby to be with Kemi but she knew better now.
  
That night, after she had watched Uche travel off to Abuja, she limped into the garden. She watched Element enter the garden with what she assumed to be his bag and was absent-minded about him as her mind wandered off into her inability to leave her husband's house.
Then, it retraced itself to John's fear for Kemi, John’s wife, and she wondered what will happen to Kemi if she knew the baby she cherished wasn't hers. She had to visit him the next day, damning the consequences and trauma involved.
Like a punctured balloon, she creased when she heard a baby's voice and turned towards Element.
'Oh! My God! Element, you're with a child'.
He sighed and the baby cackled.
'Boy or Girl?'
'Girl'.
'Did you remember to give her a name?'
He sighed and laughed warily. She was now used to him. He whispered replies, sighed his laughter and talked less about himself. He, most times, went deep in his thought than Biola. She most times believed he was in a trance or was praying until he would suddenly start generalizing about marriage, talking about how his spirituality hadn't helped him succeed in overcoming his marital problems. She knew that he was married to a woman, whose way was really frustrating but she had no help to offer than a once-in-while advice which she wasn't sure could work effectively as she herself was in great pain.
'She's Lily'.
'Oh! Such a beautiful name. I need to see her face. Where's my phone?'
Element sat upright. 'Remember our agreement'.
Biola hissed disappointedly and cuddled the baby who held warmly on to her.
'She loves you'
'I suppose so'.
He sighed loudly. She knew he had carried a burden on his mind- the burden of his troublesome wife- but she was so sure the baby wasn't part of the burden.
'What of her mother?'
'That's why I brought her here'.
She was surprised and angry at his plan. Part of their contract of staying in that dark, peaceful place together was that no other person got the chance to know that place. He had first broken the contract by bringing the baby, which she had forgiven him for but now he was bringing her mother.
'No- No- No'.
'Please'.
'I said no...No... That's impossible'
'Please... I have no other option'.
'I said no'...
He sighed again and she saw the outline of his head moved downward. The baby felt the friction in the air and released a sharp, piercing, fearful cry into the night.
Biola shook her gently. The baby succumbed.
'I told you before.. My life is a sacred one. I live with a husband who is bent on almost making me go mad...'
'I know but....'
'My solace is this garden. I can't allow you bring her mother here'.
She heard him sit straight.
'Yes', she said. 'She can meet you outside nah'
'That's not what I meant...' Element said and she kept quiet.
'You know I told you I'm a pastor. But I have a big problem, a very big one. This girl, Lily, is not mine'.
'Then, who's her mother? Rather, take her to her parents'.
'Ehn... She's mine but legally she's not mine... If you understand what I mean...'
Her heart warmed in realization of what he meant.
'Her mother is not my wife. Her mother is not my legal wife.. She... She's…'
He said and burst into tears.
'It's okay... Now, here, be a man. I can't cuddle a baby and still pet her father. What's her mother to you? She's a friend? She's family member? A church member? There's nothing new under this yellow sun'.
'Her mother was a refugee, whom only I know. She died three months after she gave birth to her. She died this evening'. He said and burst into another round of tears. She watched in silence.
 'And there's no one else I can turn to take care of her, my wife will kill her. Even if I'll talk to her it can't be tonight'.
Biola stared into the darkness as she listened to him and her mind played all the scenarios. She couldn’t see herself taking the baby. Her life was still soaked in the trouble of her. She couldn’t start stoking another fire in her life. Even if her mother was dead, he had to own up to his mistake. The child would definitely need care but it was better to let her go.
‘Yes’, she muttered before she could stop herself. ‘I’ll take her in’.


cc

afribabe
Bridgovoks
moseph
Ann2012
dammyd46
Fijumokesayo
skubido

afribabe:
Daddy GO, I am following. Please mention me when you update.

Mummy Jjjjjjjjjjjjj.... Okay ma... Welcome..

Bridgovoks:
Thanks for the update

Welcome boss.

Ayanfe29:
This is a very beautiful story. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Revenge isn't the answer because it always leaves all parties involved bitter at heart.

I love the twists and turns in the story. Nice thriller

Thanks a lot for your comment...

iodineadamatine:
hope it doesn't it end up like that ruse.that came not too long ....writertain contest

This should answer you...


https://www.nairaland.com/4700446/writing-journey#78579587

queenitee:
Lemme come back to read after my exams

Oh! All the best...

moseph:
thanks for the update.

You're welcome...

Ann2012:
Hmmmmm
Thanks for the update

You're welcome...

Chapter 2
The Hidden Life

Biola’s relationship with the man in the dark grew. Although he didn’t always come around, his random visit made her yearn for his presence every time. However, the desire to steal out to the garden was now consuming her that she greeted her husband, Uche Omezie, coldly.
'I don't even know your problem', Uche mumbled as he sat on the brow dining set. 'I came in from travelling and you don't seem happy to see me'.
'But I greeted you. I hugged you. What else do you want me to do?' She said as she trudged off to bring his food. She suspected promiscuity on his part but hadn't gotten proof. His job took him out of the state, country and continent. Even if those tiny good-for-nothing girls he met there showered him with excessive love, she didn't care. Over her dead body would she scurry to care for him when he wouldn't even look this angelic whenever he got angry. One scurried about to please a husband who regarded one as the queen of his life. One adored a man who adorned one's life with compassion and not a mere trial-version of a husband. She hissed.
'Yes... For Pete's sake. At least hug me more, peck me more. Even asking for a ten, fifty seconds kiss is not too much. Reciprocate the love I have for you'.
'I hear you...I'll do that..'
'The only thing she knows is John this...John that', he lamented and angrily slashed the food in front of him with his spoon. Suddenly, his voice went over the edge and he shouted. ' I'm the husband here. I'm your husband. Love me and not John. I see the way you behave around him. Why can't you do that to me too?'
She hissed and moved out to clear her head in the kitchen. 'What else do you want? I left everything for you. I left him for you but you're still not satisfied?'
'That's your luck. Show me the love', he shouted from the parlour and went into a fit of coughing. She scrambled to the parlour and helped him gulp down a glass of water.
'You will kill yourself'.
'Shut up! Shut up! Get me a napkin'.
She entered the kitchen and stood for some seconds to be sure she heard well. He always reinstated his dislike for napkins and always ensured she brought his handkerchief. She wanted to go for the handkerchief but still took the napkin. However, things happened too fast before she could process it. He met her at the door.
'Are you going mad?' He shouted and gestured at his head. 'I asked you to bring something since'.
'But I was-'
'Shut up', he said and slapped her face. She withdrew as the stinging force of the slap unbalanced her. She sulked in breathe and yelled.
He came nearer and tried to slap her again. She knew him. In his anger, he could do the unthinkable like stabbing her with a knife. She was the only daughter of Mama Biola, her mother. So, she dodged his second slap and scampered to the parlour. It was better there. It would be better to avoid stories that touch. He hurried after her, and not minding his strength and weight, he smashed her body with heavy punches.
'What did I do?' she cried.
'Shut up!' He said, looked about, dragged nearest item- a flower vase, which contained the loveliest artificial flower Biola had ever seen- and smashed it on her head. Seething, he stormed to the room.

~

After crawling with pain in her body to clean the ground, to rid it of the tiny bits of the broken vase, and after he had gone into the room, mumbling about how she let him always lose control, she left for the garden, her place of solace.
Element was already there but none of them talked for hours. She didn't cry or think about the pain. She suppressed the memory and allowed her memory hover around the good things that happened to her, the kiss she and Uche had shared, the places he had taken her and the numerous good things that had happened to him.
Then, after trying hard to avoid it, drops of tears climbed down her eyes as Jimmy Cliff's 'many rivers to cross' crossed her mind.

Many rivers to cross
But just where to begin, I'm playing for time
There are times I find myself thinking
Of committing some dreadful crime

She turned towards Element and felt him turn towards her as though he understood the movement.
'Why are men like this?'
‘Why are women troublesome?
They said at the same time.
She sniffled. ' You go first'.
'No...You'.
'You'
'No...Ladies first', Element insisted.
'Okay... I'll not talk again if you don't go first'.
He sighed loudly and his head went downward or was the water in her eye blurring her vision. She wiped her face. At least the poor reflection of light could help her see all these things.
'My wife... I don't just know... is giving me trouble. She's not giving me peace. I returned from church, this night, and she wouldn't stop nagging. It took a great effort for me not to touch her. I left her and came here to clear my head. I'm sure my one and a half hour journey back to Green City would have reduced my anger'.
'At least you controlled yours. Me... I'm tired of God. Why can't he change my husband? Uche is always complaining about the lack of care. What other care does a man need? I love him, prepare his food..'
'Hmm! Unlike...' Element said and his voice trailed off.
'He has just beaten me again this night', she cried. 'God should help me. I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I don't kuma have any child for him. I want to die'.
Element sighed. 'Why not leave him for a while. I'm not talking of divorce'.
'Element, I can't. People will talk'
'For how long?'
She sniffled as the pain from the beating intensified and she shuddered as the image of her packing her loads flashed in her mind.
'What if he used that as an opportunity to marry someone else?'
'You're not divorcing him'.
'I know...I know... I can't just bear to leave him, He loves me, I know but he just can't control his anger'.
'I understand you... I wish I'm not in my mess, maybe I would have been able to think straight. But don't let him kill you before your time'.
She stared into the darkness and couldn't fathom the way she would leave Uche's house. Tears ran down her eyes as she wondered why she ever agreed to his proposal. She was an epic fool. Now, she was stuck in his house by marriage.

dammyd46:
plsss pass me a glass of scotch to cool down my system... following

Just the right place, bro...
Arran Robert Burns Single Malt is just what you need..

skubido:
Don enter ooo,
Arrange my own ooo

2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for you...

Ann2012:
I'm here

Barman..... Pls I need a bottle of Champagne

Just right here..

queenitee:
"I'm queenitee," let's get down to business. Eh eh eh, garden in our city.
Please pour me a glass of wine also, thanks

Welcome...

This is Chateauneuf Du Pape for you

Chapter 1
Flowers

Abiola Omezie basked in the darkness of the garden as her mind travelled through the complex love life she was entangled in. And luckily for her, the darkness of the night serenaded her emotions. Suddenly, the old rusty door creaked. That was surprising. The garden had been forsaken for years and ever since she started coming there- a year ago- nobody had ever stepped on the place, even during the day.
Someone had just desecrated the garden. It belonged to her and her alone. It was her place of Zen, rest, of putting things together, of making herself sane.
The garden, just opposite her house, used to be naturally covered with a lot of wild bushes. Since the owner, a woman named Madam Flourish, died some years before, no one had ever stepped forward to claim it. Biola took it upon herself to make it cleaner and fit for thinking, for solving and reconstructing her knotted, puzzled life. Did she need to shout the intruder out? The darkness made it impossible for her to see the person but she, like a lioness, had to show her ownership of the territory.
'Who's that?'
The person turned and scurried for the gate.
'It's okay', she shouted. 'I'm human'.
The person stopped at the gate. The dim light from the street reflected on the person, who now held on to the gate with a bag hanging from his or her side.
'Come. I'm human, a woman and I'm as real as air', she called again, not sure if the person would be compelled to stay.
Despite the trousers the person wore, she couldn't discern if the person was a man or a woman.
Dry leaves crumbled under heavy steps as the person trudged slowly towards her. She held her breath. The person avoided thorns on his path. She wanted to shout that the garden was secure but it was fun watching this person battle with the darkness.
The stone bench she sat on could seat five people at once. Not minding the darkness, she had an unusual assurance that this person also needed a place to pour out his or her heart into the night. They also need a place lonely, peaceful, dark, sacred; a place the wiles of the world wouldn't gain access to.
'Good evening', a tiny male voice said. Biola knew he was speaking with the falsetto but she was less concerned.
'Good evening. Happy Val.' She tapped the stone bench loudly. ' This place can seat more than two people, and it's the only one here. So have your seat. Do I need to switch on the torchlight but I prefer the darkness'
‘No. It’s okay’.
Then, he mumbled his appreciation and sat without talking. She kept wallowing in her pain, anger, and then allowed her mind to drift to knowing her intruder but she tamped the desire. Then, she repeated the order. At last, she succumbed to her curiosity of who he was.
‘I’m hot' She said at last.
He roused. 'But it's cold out here'.
' No... That's my nickname... So, once again I'm hot'.
'Oh! That means you must be very beautiful '.
She laughed. It felt good. That was the first hearty laughter she had had since she travelled the previous day. 'So they say. So, my friends say. I hope others, you included, would agree with this'.
'That's good'.
She frowned but was happy the place was dark. His reply was awkward. Normally, a better guy, like John, would have pushed the conversation further and their conversation would have rolled-on like the sky- endless, changing at different points.
The gravy, heavy silence made her revert to her thought. Her life had normally been devoid of comfort. So, there was a pointer to the fact that her present trouble would also end for a bigger one. She pondered on the lyrics of Sam Cooke's song

It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
'Cause I don't know what's up there, beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change's gonna come, oh yes it will

Biola remembered when she and her husband, Uche first met and remembered the previous year when he popped the great question. The day was also February 14.
Insects chirped and cars occasionally hummed past the dark garden. The breeze from all corners jostled to enter her pores and made her tighten her cloth.
Just as she felt it was time to leave, she couldn’t swipe off the nudge to ask the intruder what he really wanted in her garden and how he discovered the place. Like before, she succumbed to her urge.
‘Who are you?’
' I'm a pastor', he replied as though his voice was an axe and the cold darkness an egg, as if talking loud would smash it.
'Good evening Pastor. Let's restart it. I'm Hot'.
' I'm.... Are you okay with my nickname too?'
'Yes'.
' Okay... I'm Element. Do you come here often?'
'No. I come here every day. This is the only solace in this woeful world. This is the only corner that can hide me from the windy turbulence that bestowed itself on us'.
'I understand you. Are you a Christian?'
She scoffed. She wanted to just give him a simple reply but she saw the need and opportunity to pour out her heart to God. Even if he wasn't present physically, a pastor, his representative was there and he would hear it.
'Yes. You know I've been wondering why God watches me in my sufferings and I see no soothing balm. Why did he even create me? What's the essence of creating me into a life that wants me out of the way? Why didn't he allow the deserving and good things come to me on time? Why?'
'He has his...his purpose for all mankind, for allowing anything'.
'I used to believe that', Biola replied.
'My belief about it has just been strengthened tonight’, Element said. ‘I can't really explain what your being here means. I have been wondering why I met you here. I first discovered this place last week and decided to come here when the need arises '.

Biola swallowed and wiped the tears that were already trailing down her face. 'I'm sorry. I've said a lot. I ought not to have said such, especially to a stranger. I have to go now. By the way, this place belongs to me, it's my shrine. I can allow you come to think here also’.
'Thanks'.
And I hope to meet you in the daylight', Biola said and rose.
'No. Let's make it remain this way'.
The old gate screeched tiredly as she headed for the gate. Things were happening too fast. How come she opened her hidden wound to a total stranger? She just couldn't understand that feeling. But she loved it and wanted to have more of it. Pastor or not, she loved his company, his voice, his presence-it made her feel buoyant. The same type of feeling she had only when she was with John, her best friend. And mischievously, she seemed to hear John through this stranger, talking to her like the sage he was.
'Oh John!' she sighed and opened the door of her massive, ominous-memory-filled house.

Fijumokesayo:
I'm here with my own cup, where's the wine? Let the show begin please.

Welcome...


Thanks for your comment. I thought I had dropped the first chapter...

https://www.nairaland.com/5195097/dark-garden-hearts



This is the link to the new story

I posted this a while back. I think it was featured three years ago or so. I'm trying to edit it and store it off in a book store because I discovered I don't have any copy of it.

Normally, it should have been Book 43 of Fortune City but ... Let's enjoy it since it's actually an aside, not really affecting the bigger story. But enjoy it... And please do so with a glass cup of wine. The heart needs it.

Welcome to Black Town
Fortune City Nigeria