₦airaland Forum

Lol. Na you know oo

seun9303:
don madera... is the name of Ben's father in law.

Thanks

Otarkpa:
Nice story bros

Thanks for reading. Nice signature by the way

vhikee:
Thumbs up bro....
ah enjoyed every piece

Thanks for reading

Negiup:
Great talent.. keep it up.

I'm honored bro. Thanks for reading.

sawdi:
Bro! Thumbs up. Amazingly story you got. Even the way you narrate it is too notch.

We see you oo

donsimoniiblog:
interesting story

Enjoy other stories on www.donsimonii.com

www.donsimonii.com

Bros shopona ke? No vex Abeg oo tomorrow I go update.

fifty5:
Shakitibobo coman upload o before i invite sopona into this thread.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the next

Silensa:
Wow, I really enjoyed this great piece. Going over to the your next story.
Keep up the good work

You try but e nor reach, add more spice

tomgab:
Chief Madeira, Ignacius Owonikoko

Lol...... funny guy

fucksterisback:
You said our comments will be highly appreciated

Uhn?

fucksterisback:

Sorry oo, but have you read THE CHRONICLES OF TAOFIK SHAKITIBOBO? Please let me know your thought

MediaPapi:
Can you come up with an outrageously funny series centered around 2-3 characters (and can hold an audience's attention)? If so, we'd love to work with you.


P.S Have you seen "Trailer park boys" or "Always sunny in Philadelphia"? The characters are always getting into crazy situations/adventures.

Has anybody noticed that we didn't get to catch the name of Ben's Father Inlaw?

From his character, can anyone decide a name for him?

THE CHRONICLES OF TAOFIK SHAKITIBOBO - WAKA WAKA



I wasn’t aware of this massive boycott but I wasn’t going to be seen as a snitch either, so instead of waiting it out at the party venue and probably have a lot of drinks to myself, I decided to switch to my plan B which I never knew I had in me before now – I opted to go and hook up with some street friends at School 2. My choice of School 2 over Iya Bode’s place was majorly down to the kind of fun I was hoping to have that day. I wanted an undiluted and uncut kind of fun; the type that only exists at School 2 after a lot of shepe has been introduced into the body system.


So before the MD will sight me and lure me into doing something my colleagues might hate me for, I bolted out of the event center without even informing Bola. I stopped a bike, negotiated the fee for my destination and disappear from the venue.


On getting to the School 2, I met a lot of buzz, merriment and of course free booze. A lot of guys decided to come to School 2 probably for the same reasons as mine on a day like this. The place was filled to its brim. Mama Don Jazzy (the owner of School 2) will definitely like to have this kind of crowd on a daily basis.


It was as if someone was on the lookout for me. As soon as I stepped down from the bike, someone chanted my name ‘Taofik!’ I looked around towards the direction of the voice but the rowdiness ensured I couldn’t see exactly who it was that called me. The voice sounded familiar though. I settled the bike man and took my first step towards the place when I heard my name again ‘Shakitibobo!’ this time I knew for sure it was Wale.


Just as I said earlier, School 2 was already buzzing with a lot of activities, as I make my way towards Wale, I could see a group of guys gambling, some with dice and some with cards. At this point I think it is important to mention that the fastest way to lose money and joy at the same time is to gamble with the dice, your money disappears faster than the speed of light and along with it goes your joy especially when you are betting with what might have been your last kobo. The worst part of it is no consolation whatsoever from any quarters. As soon as they suck you dry, they move unto the next one without even stealing a look towards your direction. So on a day like this, in a festive season like this, the fear of gambling is beginning of a sustainable joy.


Some guys were rolling and puffing like children of the most high, some were dancing with their partners, while some were handling with them. In a nut shell, you could watch any kind of movie at School 2, be it action, thriller, comedy and even some adult content. There can’t be a better place to be than School 2.


I finally got to where Wale was sitting. I went round the circle he and the other guys had formed with their bench and had a handshake with the guys while I took their boisterous greetings and all forms of accolades. You could easily tell that I was a popular figure around the block. Wale managed to create a space for me to sit on the long bench he was sitting; I had not even landed on the bench when he handed me a chilled bottle of Goldberg from one of the crates placed in front of him.
********************************************************************************************************* DON'T BE A SILENT READER, YOUR COMMENTS CAN MAKE THIS STORY BETTER
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Here is the link to a friend's book on Okada. It is titled The Pain of Secrecy . I'm sure you will enjoy it http://okadabooks.com/user/user19316

Here is the link to a friend's book on Okada. It is titled The Pain of Secrecy. I'm sure you will enjoy http://okadabooks.com/user/user19316

Lol

KpagoGIN:
one ENEMY WITHIN your house is worse than a thousand herdsmen outside........ learnt a lot, thanks for sharing.

Amen

DeeJayBrown:
Wooooooow!!!!!! It's the best story so far I have read on Nairaland. I can't appreciate you enough. But brother keep up the good work, May your stories be read by generations to come.

THE CHRONICLES OF TAOFIK SHAKITIBOBO - WAKA WAKA IS NOW ON, GO CHECK IT OUT AND DON'T FORGET TO DROP YOUR COMMENTS

THE CHRONICLES OF TAOFIK SHAKITIBOBO - WAKA WAKA

Actually, this is the story of how Taofik found out about the affair between Iya Gbogbo his landlady and Baba Kike. Enjoy.
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Don't be a silent reader, your comments will help make this story better
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WAKA WAKA

In case you have not noticed, I am the outgoing type, call me for any occasion and I will be there, be it child naming, marriage ceremony, house warming, even sef house packing ceremony, going to school ceremony or even I buy new television ceremony. All weather, just call me and I’ll find a way to be there irrespective of the day it falls on in the week.


It was approaching Christmas; you could already feel the frenzy, population around my street had increased a lot, you could see new faces everywhere, businesses are booming, even Baba Deborah – The Casket Man can attest to that and overall, everywhere seem lively, you could easily tell that Christmas is fast approaching.


Kunle and I had planned that on the eve of Christmas, we would go out to ‘skemp’ for some fleshly baked girls around the block, we had mapped out the plan that if we don’t get some at school 2 our local shepe joint, we will definitely get some at the Cele church two streets away. I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to Lucky that day and the next (which will be Christmas). I figured that Belinda my regular customer might travel to her home town in Delta and just in case she didn’t, I won’t be visiting either. I need to taste a new skele.


By Friday which was 22nd, we were allowed to close early from work so that some colleagues who would like to travel can make their journey while the rest of us will prepare to attend the end of the year party which was organized by our MD at one event center not very far off from our office. By 2pm I was already at home trying to put up a combination of clothes that will best suit the occasion, Eventually I settled for a pencil cut slightly ragged jean, a white body fitted short sleeve shirt with blue stripes and a black jacket to match my black converse sneakers. Omo boy was looking D.O.P.E.


I persuaded Kunle to attend with me since we were at liberty to invite a friend, spouse or date, but my friend declined. His excuse was that he had something very important to attend to at home. Kunle actually works from home. Since he couldn’t secure a job years after we both graduated from Ibadan Polytechnic, he decided to go into forex trading which over time made a sustainable income for him. Truth be told though, sometimes, he does a little internet G to add some sauce to his ministry.


On getting to the location of our end of the year party, I discovered that aside the DJ who was busy jamming like no tomorrow and Bola our office assistant, nobody else came. I looked at my wrist watch to check the time; it was already 4:30pm. I moved closer to Bola to inquire why the hall is still empty, she told me that a lot of staff had threatened to boycott the party earlier after our MD failed to pay our salary saying that he will pay us at the end of the month, to make matters worse, he even forced some staff to go over to his house to cook the food we were to eat at the party instead of giving it out to caterers. She even advised me not to bother eating the food because a lot of things she cannot mention has happened during the process of cooking it. ‘te ba nife ara yin, emo j’ojeun hun oo, orishirishi nkan t’inle ma daruko ti shele si b’en shey nwo hun’. That was how she told me.


I was a little sad though; I had planned my evening around the party. Though I cannot blame those colleagues who didn’t show up, our MD has been a wicked man since I met him. We make enormous profit for him every month (I will know, I’m the Accountant actually), yet he still delays paying salaries. If a staff falls sick, he will deduct the number of days that staff stayed home to be treated from the salary, claiming that the staff has exhausted the casual leave allotted. He drew the final straw when he said he wouldn’t be paying the staff salaries until the end of the month. His actual reason was that some of the staffs will over spend money during the festivity and come back to start stealing his money. Really who does that?!

Thanks a lot. I do appreciate that. Please show the same support for my lover Story: THR CHRONICLE OF TAOFIK SHAKITIBOBO

Rockyrascal:
What an intriguing story, full of suspense and relatively connected with our life events. this wonderful story is more than fictional...GOD BLESS YOU MADERA!

will definitely do that. you can catch the next sequel in my other comedy story THE CHRONICLES OF TAOFIK SHAKITIBOBO - WAKA WAKA......starts tommorrow

Fijumokesayo:
Wow! Thanks for sharing this wonderful story with us dear, God bless you. Looking forward to read another fantastic work from you, please mention me when you start.

THE ENEMY WITHIN - EXPOSED




EPISODE 13 .....THE CONCLUSION



‘What’s the issue? What is going on in the US?’ Abigail finally let out her inquisition. I narrated the whole story to her and I was surprised at her reaction. She wanted us to book a flight almost immediately and head for the airport ‘I knew those two were bad for each other, they absolutely lack self control whenever they are around each other, drinking excessively, doing drugs, bar fighting, and a whole lot of irresponsible behaviors, that is why our dad couldn’t bear to live with the thought of the two of them together’ Abigail was venting, she doesn’t seem to be taking the news lightly. I on the other hand was just happy I could get to be with those children again.


Prior to the call, I had tried to put my life back together. I moved back to my house, yes! The one I used to live with my now defunct family. Andral didn’t want any fight anymore, so she just called me up herself telling me she is relinquishing the house to me. Not that she could have won the fight though, I bought the house myself and in my own name, just that she knew I may never come back to ask for the keys mainly for the sake of the kids I once called mine. As a matter of fact, the house my father in law bought for me in Gbagada is still uninhabited so why fight?


I had also resigned from my job at my father in law’s firm. I still somehow blame him for this whole hiatus and I couldn’t bear working with or for him anymore. I started a Human Resource Center of my own which within 2 years had grown into a multi-million naira outfit with the help of a few friends, Abigail and the contacts I had while working for my father in-law.


Abigail had taken over the firm I left and every other firm owned by her father, the man could no longer run those firms due to the partial stroke he has been battling with since he disowned Andral.


My relationship with Abigail has been kept on the low so far, we couldn’t bring ourselves to tell anyone. At least not my father in-law who we fear may just die from the news, or his wife who has had to battle with the sorrow of losing a daughter due to the stubbornness of her husband and still had to take care of a dying husband, she has too much on her plate and we couldn’t afford to add another to it. I, on my part, am scared to my bones just imagining how my mother would react. In fact she had warned me to stay far away from this family; she was part of the reasons I had to resign my position at the firm. Telling her about me and Abigail is the last thing I want to do right now.


Other than the secrecy of our relationship, life generally has been good, I make more money than I was making before, I finally get to be with the girl who has loved me right from her teenage years, I get to travel round the world, meet new people and establishing more business grounds. Life has really been good! Only the likes of Mr. Patrick and Jide could not say the same thing about life. After their case dragged on for almost a year in court, the judge finally gave his verdict: 25years imprisonment each for both of them for fraud and other crimes related to what they did. I doubt if they could echo my sentiment about life, I seriously doubt it.


By mid night Tuesday we (I and Abigail) were already at the JFK airport, New York City and by Tuesday morning we were already at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at 3675 E Harmon Avenue. By Thursday, I was granted the full custody of both Isabella and Caleb and without wasting much time I flew them back to Nigeria just 3days later.


This recent twist of event reassured me that the only way to live is the way of God. I’m not trying to sound like a preacher. There are events that may cause one to ask questions about life, make you wonder why mankind was created. You ask yourself: what is the purpose of life? Why are we here? And sometimes, you ask: is there really a God who cares about man? If yes; why does he allows so much injustice, violence, immorality and hatred?. This story is one of those.


I was on the edge. If anything else had gone wrong in my life, I could have lost it; my sanity, religion and believe. I could have lost them all. I guess God knows my strength and limit, he didn’t allow my trials go beyond what I can bear.


Looking at those kids, I promised myself, I will do whatever it takes to keep them safe, I will never let them out of my sight and like Abigail told me on the day I signed those custody papers, I may not be their biological father, but I am their real father, the one ordained by God himself.


I, Abigail and the kids settled in seamlessly. You need to see the joy on Isabella’s face when she got home; she made me swear to her that I will not let Nnamdi and her mother take them away ever again. I did. We had so much fun together, we became so happy together that nothing could have made us all sad as long as we are together, not even the news that both Andral and Nnamdi were eventually given some years behind bars. Nnamdi was given 5years for illegal possession of firearms, and 3years for possession of illegal drugs. Both sentences were to run simultaneously while Andral got just a year for being an accomplice after Nnamdi claimed that both illegal items found on them belonged to him. It was said though that Andral did try to help Nnamdi escape arrest.


When the news got to us, I looked at Isabella’s face, she couldn’t have cared less, and you will think the news was about the price of male boxers short. She just continued sipping her juice while swinging from front to back on the swing we have in the garden at the back. She had told me earlier about the severe molestation she received from her new father and her mother’s i-don’t-care attitude towards it. She even told me how Caleb was left with her alone at home for nights on several occasions. I felt for the girl.


See how the tables have turned. Who would have thought from the onset that I am actually the victim when I was presumed by family members and friends to be the real Enemy Within and who would have guessed that my wife lived with me for over five years based on the hope that someday soon I will be no more and she would have been the murderer and the poor widow?
It’s true what they say: one ENEMY WITHIN your house is worse than a hundred enemies outside.

THE END

Thanks

MightyFortress:
Good writing... Excellent storytelling

THE CHRONICLES OF TAOFIK SHAKITIBOBO - WAKA WAKA is now ready, but I have noticed the low number of comments on this particular story. So I'm holding it off until my comment pages gets to the 4th. Until then, ire oo

When reading the story just imagine a young man with a very thick Yoruba accent narrating the story.

THE ENEMY WITHIN - EXPOSED



EPISODE 13



2years Later
I was lying in my bed on a Saturday morning when a call came in. it was an international number but I don’t have it on my phone book.

‘hello….hello Daddy!’ it was a distressed voice, it sounded like Isabella and before I could mutter anything out, she said ‘Daddy it’s me Isabella!’. I

jumped off the bed like I just had an electric shock. I hadn’t heard from her and her mother for the past two years, since Andral and Nnamdi


relocated to the United States of America after my father in-law disowned her. ‘Isabella how are you? Ar..ar..are you okay?’ I was stammering,

confused and agitated, not knowing how to react to the child I once shared a close bond with. ‘Daddy I’m fine’ she replied ‘I have missed you

some much Dad please come and take me away from here’ she was sobbing and I was thrown into more confusion. She had made several efforts

to call me in the past but I think the mother eventually got the best of her, probably threatening her. Since then we could no longer reach each

other. ‘Isabella are you ok, why are you crying?’ ‘I’m at the Police station dad’ ‘Police what?!’ I barked. ‘Where are your mother and Nnamdi?’

‘They have been arrested dad, they were caught with drugs and guns in the car……..’ as she was about to give me further information about the

whole incidence, an adult male, probably a white guy(based on his phonetics and accent) took the phone from her and continued ‘hello, am I

speaking with Mr. Benjamin Onwubulu?’ ‘yes you are’ I replied, ‘ are you acquainted with Isabella Onwubulu and Caleb Onwubulu?’ hearing this

strange man call out those names shocked me to my bone marrows. All the while I thought Andral and her new husband would have since

changed those children’s names to suit their new biological father. I was wrong. Without hesitation I responded ‘yes, they are my children’ ‘Ok

good, we understand that you live in far away Africa sir?’ no sir you are wrong I don’t live in Africa, I live in Nigeria which is a country in Africa’ I

fired. I was tired of Americans and Europeans alike marginalizing Africa as if we all live in one small place and even speaks the same language. ’Oh

ok, thanks for clearing that up sir but I have to say that your attention is needed here in the USA as soon as possible otherwise these children

will be taken to foster homes for better parenting’ he was sounding like he was enjoying this and I was getting really irritated at his audacity.

‘Listen to me and listen good, if anything happens to those children before I arrive the US I will find you and I will do bad things to you, do you

hear me?! I shout so loud and angrily that Abigail had to rush out of the bathroom without wrapping a towel around her waist. ‘Ben what the

problem’ she inquired, I simply held out my index finger as if telling her to pause her reaction. I needed to hear the response of the man from the

other end. ‘sir, sir, I’m sorry if you found this offensive but in case you are not aware, the supposed parents of these children have been arrested

for some serious crime that may fetch them some jail time and it is in the best interest of these kids that we sought to get them to a place as

comfortable as possible, this necessitated why we agreed for her to call someone she knows well, so like I said earlier, we will be needing your

attention here as soon as possible…….’ all along I was just nodding and saying ‘ok’ where necessary, the man continued ‘…..and sir, I understand

you have been to the US before sir, I replied yes and he asked ‘do you still have a valid Visa sir?’ ‘Yes I do, I am on a 5years Visa which won’t be

expiring any time soon’ ‘all good then sir, can I confirm your arrival date sir in order for us to put every paper works in place? By now I was pacing

up and down my bedroom, mentally going through my previous schedule, I really couldn’t see anything holding me back from traveling so I just

replied the man ‘I’ll be in the US by Tuesday’ alright sir, we will be awaiting your arrival, but until then, Mrs. Andral Onwubulu will be placed on

house arrest to allow her look after the children’. I couldn’t care less as to what happens to Andral or even her husband, so for me that last piece

of information was like a waste of saliva ‘whatever man, please pass the phone to my daughter’ I felt like I needed to assure her that I was

coming so she could be at ease ‘hello daddy’ her voice sounding just a little bit relieved ‘Isabella I will be with you by Tuesday ok? Until then look

after your brother very well and stay out of trouble’ I was getting emotional and Abigail couldn’t wait for me to fill her in so I just said my byes

and hung up.

THE ENEMY WITHIN




EPISODE 12 CONTINUES


I was stunned. I wanted to be angry at the way she perceived me. I thought I meant more than just that to her and her father even before I got married to her sister. I held back from cutting short her confession; I was interested in every bit of what she had to say so I allowed her to continue. ‘I remember the day I finally finished my last WAEC paper and I knew I had to go away, I will secretly go to the back of the house and cry myself silly, I knew I was going to miss the hell out of you, all the attention you use to give to me, secretly admiring me every time I pass by, I wanted all that to continue but I just had to go. When I got back together with my parents, I wouldn’t stop talking about how brilliant you are, how you helped me overcome my fear of Mathematics and all that, I told them so much about you that they had fallen in love with you even before they met you. All along, I still couldn’t bring myself to tell them exactly how I felt about you, I felt I was too young and my father wouldn’t have none of it, so when I invited you to our house, I wanted them to see how good we could be together, I didn’t bring you to meet my sister, I wanted it to be a trip for you and I. I guess you misjudged it and thought I was setting you up for my Andral. You can imagine the heartbreak I felt when I got to know that you guys were getting married. I cried for weeks, drank myself to stupor and eventually came to terms with it. I didn’t love Jide, I only agreed to date him because I felt it will please you, though it turns out to be your saving grace and when I found out that Andral was going to kill you, I felt responsible for the whole thing, if I hadn’t brought you into the family you probably wouldn’t have met her’. I didn’t utter a single word all through Abigail’s expressions. When she was done she stood up from the bed walk towards me and snatched the bottle of vodka in my hand, threw herself back to the bed and emptied the content.



I just laughed at her naughtiness. I left my previous position by the window and sat beside her on the bed and said ‘damn! Those your secondary school boys back then can really get on my nerve! They will walk majestically to our house in the night asking me “Brother Ben please is Abigail at home?” the way I use to shout at them makes me wonder if they ever say anything to you’ ‘they do’ she replied ‘some of them will be like “warn that Benjamin oo, or else we will waylay him one day and beat the hell out of him” we laughed so hard we were almost falling over each other on the bed. I tried to snatch the bottle of Vodka from her to see if I can salvage anything from it but she wouldn’t give it back, we started struggling for it, one thing led to the other and we started kissing with so much passion and hunger, before you know we were butt naked and…………………………..

THE ENEMY WITHIN - EXPOSED


EPISODE 12 CONTINUES


The look on Abigail’s face when she saw me says it all about my sorry state. She held back a bit while still at the door. She looked stunned but then probably after coming to the realization of the magnitude of the situation at hand she started crying. She was crying out loud, she only lean back on the door that she had closed behind her and allowed the water to drop freely down her cheek. At first I looked away from her, I wasn’t sure if I wasn’t angry with her for introducing me to the woman who ruined everything. Later I looked at her direction and I could tell she felt real empathy for me. I don’t know if it was the alcohol but damn! She looked pretty while crying. I raised my right hand to beckon her to come and lie beside me on the bed.


She rushed to my side and gave me hug! ‘I’m sorry…….I’m sorry’ she said while sobbing profusely like a 2 year old baby. I held her to my body with my right hand while my left hand caressed my beloved Vodka. ‘you don’t have to be, I brought it upon myself’ I retorted ‘no no, no Ben, you didn’t do anything wrong, I shouldn’t have dragged you into my family’s drama in the first place by introducing you to my sister’ I took a few seconds to digest what she said and then I giggled. I giggled a little more and then I turned it to laughter. ‘Why are you laughing’ a stunned and a bit relieved Abigail asked. I handed my bottle over to her and she collected it. She took a huge quantity of it I one rush. I have always known Abigail to be a lady who drinks. She took some more and I had to rescue the rest from her for my own sake. ’ahn ahn what kind of guest are you? Do you want to finish my drink?’ I playfully asked her. It is hard to believe that in the middle of all this I could still find time humor.


I stood up from the bed and moved towards the window which was on the opposite side of the entrance door. ‘You know I had always thought the greatest gift I had received in my entire life was the one you gave to me when you introduced Andral to me, it was like you gave me life, joy and when the babies started coming I felt I will forever be indebted to you. Now all I wish for is to go back in time and delete that very day from my life’. I looked back at Abigail; she had sat up resting on both hands to the back. She just nodded back as if to concur with my assertion.


I could now notice the spaghetti top she was wearing, and her mini skirt that is closer to her waist than her kneel. She looked good. ‘you know it’s funny how things turned, you use to be ‘The Girl’ for me back in those days, you were the one I thought I was after until you literally gave me away to Andral, I guess I wasn’t your type after all, in fact as it turns out, fraudulent people are just your type and I seem to have a soft spot for people with murderous tendencies’ we both laughed at my joke for a while, then what followed was an awkward silence which lasted for almost a minute before Abigail finally broke the silence. ‘you were wrong’ she said, we both gaze upon each other momentarily and then she continued ‘you were wrong to think you weren’t my type, I was only scared of what my father will think of me if he found out I was in love with you - the child of a widowed school teacher’

THE ENEMY WITHIN - EXPOSED


EPISODE 12 CONTINUES



I traced my steps back to the nearest wall available to rest my back on it, folding my hands on my chest as I was coming to the realization that with or without those divorce papers, my marriage was over. I asked Andral ‘so what do we do about our children?’ at least if this is goodbye I still have to care for the children this farce of a marriage has brought to life. ‘What children?’ she fired back ‘our children, Isabella and Caleb’ ‘get it into your thick head Mr. what we had never happened, there was never ‘us’, all my kids belongs to this man’ kneeling back to meet Nnamdi on the floor. I was so enraged, enraged at the fact that she was so proud of the fact that she cheated on me all this while. Irrespective of the fact that she was in love with another man, I was and still is her husband and I never cheated on her. I reached for her hair from the back, pulled her up, turned her around and pinned her to the wall (same wall I was resting on) and I started chocking her. Both Abigail and Nnamdi rush towards us, Abigail pulled me while Nnamdi rushed to Andral’s aid; she was gasping for her life. I have never been this angry in a long time. Not since my University days.


I dashed out of the room after hearing the cry of Caleb who must have been awoken by the whole pandemonium and everyone followed me from a distance probably because they were scared that I could do something rash this time again, I went straight to his nursery and picked him up from his cot. He is not my son; the thick veil that has been covering my eyes now seem to have been lifted, I could now see the resemblance of Nnamdi on his face , the ear, nose and the bulging lips, oh! I have been a fool thinking he looked more like his mother. I turned back to see the two sisters (Andral and Abigail) by the door with Nnamdi in front of them. They looked scared of me, I beckoned on Nnamdi to step forward, he reluctantly did so; he was unsure of what may happen but I handed Caleb over to him, the boy belonged to him. I was about to leave when Andral who had shifted far away from the door held my hands back ‘I’m sorry’ she said in a remorseful tone. This was a fight I had lost long before it even started. There was no point dragging on. For me it was a case of love wrongly placed.


I couldn’t wait for Abigail to drive me back. I boarded a cab outside and headed for the hotel with a thousand thoughts going through my mind. My life, my entire livelihood, everything I once called mine has just been snapped away from me without force or gun.


My first thought was on Isabella, I shook my head at the possibility of missing out on her entire life by the virtue of the fact that I am not her father. How will she take the news when she is told I am not her father? The teary days it will take her to get over me, her, constantly looking on to see if I’m coming home, she will probably hate me for the rest of her life thinking her sweet dad abandoned her. Damn!!! I curse the day I met Andral. By now I was crying like a baby. Those children meant the world to me; I could have given my life for them in a blink.
Then I switched my attention to my father in-law. I somehow felt all this was his fault. He pushed the poor girl up to the state of almost committing murder. I still don’t understand parents who try to decide their children’s love life, I mean; it’s a thing of the heart, body and soul! Why would you want to tamper with something as delicate as that? Andral was never his favorite child. To him I was the best thing to have ever happened to her; in his mind Andral is a remote control that needs my battery to function. He caused all this.


In the middle of my thought came the question ‘what will I do with my life now?’ and with it came the answer ‘call your mum first’. I reached for my phone in the left hand pocket of my trouser, it wasn’t there, I searched every other pocket, and still it wasn’t there. Damn! It must have fallen off at Andral’s place. One thing is for sure; I wasn’t going back there, so I asked the driver if I could borrow his phone to make a call and he obliged, I dialed my number and Abigail picked it ‘hello Ben, you dropped your phone at your house. Where are you?’ ‘Do you know the hotel where I lodge?’ I asked her in my coldest tone ‘yes’ she replied ‘bring it there’ and before she could reply, I hung up.


I was approaching the hotel when I noticed a liquor store on the right side of the road, the store has been there ever since I bought my house in the area but this is the first time I really gave it a second look because I usually don’t drink, as a matter of fact, I have never tasted alcohol in my life. I asked the driver to stop the car. Today, I am going to get drunk, and probably do something stupid. I have been a reserved and godly man all my life but look at where it got me- a broken marriage with a bunch of bastards. I got into the store, grabbed the first bottle I saw read through the label to confirm it is alcoholic. The sign read ‘Vodka’ and it had a five thousand naira price tag on it. I have heard my father in-law refer to vodka as the quickest way to get drunk so for me, this will do. There and then, I popped the bottle open and I took a gulp of it. I almost choked to death! It was like something had come to take my life away, I only managed to hold the bottle from dropping to the floor. I bent down with kneels almost touching the floor trying to get a grip on myself but my grunts had attracted attention from the female attendant who rushed to my side. ‘Sorry sir’ she kept saying. I stood upright and gave the lady a look that sent her away from me. She moved away as fast as she could. I took the bottle in my mouth again and took another sip. I was determined to get drunk and not even the choking can stop me. This time however, the effect was not as strong as the first. I walked over to the counter, paid the cashier and made for the taxi.


I got to my hotel room, pulled of my shirt and collapsed on the bed face-up with my bottle still in my hand. I have a feeling that bottles like that might just be my companion the next few days, maybe weeks, or maybe more. I wasn’t sure how long it will take to get over this pain I literarily feel in my heart. I started crying as I was playing back everything on my mind. The woman I love does not love, she never did. How did she endure all the love makings? How did she endure the heart break of not being able to live with the man she truly loves? I guess the thought that my life will soon end must have comforted her. I had sipped my bottle of vodka almost half way when I heard the knock on my door. Without a care about who it was, I yelled ‘open!’ and Abigail stepped in.................