Chapter 9

The truth, eventually

Kojo began to cough. 
At first it started like a simple clearing of the throat. It later became more intense. And then, it became a deep chesty cough. It was supposed to be contrived. But it boomeranged.

“Honey, what’s the matter?” Tadeke asked with a look of concern on her face. She had jumped to her feet.

She rushed into the house to get a glass of water.

“Here dear… Pele” She said rubbing his back.

Kojo helped himself with the glass of water. His eyes had turned red. He had tried to pull off an act on pretense but his act backfired. But it at least gave him sometime to think up a good lie. He had a feeling she was going to see through him if had given her an answer immediately. She knew him too well.

“Pele. Take more water.”

He helped himself with more water.

When he finally got himself together, he said, “Wooow, that was something…”

Tadeke was rubbing his back with the flat of her palm.

“So sorry…”

“Its ok. You got me worried there…”

“Don’t know what happened…”

He met the eyes of his wife studying him. She looked absorbed.  

“Are you ok?” She asked.

Kojo stood up from where he was sitting and walked to the balcony barrier. He leaned over it like taking in some air.

His wife was beside him. “Pele dear. Do you need more water?”

“No love. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure…?”

“Yes I am…”

“Ok, come and sit down. There is something that has been on my mind. I can’t keep it anymore….” She met his eyes. He could not read what was behind them. He did not know what to prepare for. How did she come about the name Jennifer Ejiofor? Kojo made a gesture like he was enquiring for her to continue.

“Come and sit down please…”

She held his hand and led him to the seat they were sitting on earlier. Kojo’s heart began to pound again. Somewhere behind his head, his lawyer instinct kicked in. She won’t back him into a corner. Then he settled in the chair gently but more assuredly.

“Honey, what I want to tell you means a lot to me…”

“Are you planning to kill me with suspense?”

“It’s a secret?”

A secret?

“A secret? What secret?” He was adjusting in the chair now. It looked like she was going to say something very interesting. Her expression obviously did not register anger. So he settled more.

“You know my friend, Michelle?”

“Michelle? Which Michelle?”

“My friend Michelle. Michelle Adenoro… Captain’s Patrick’s wife…?”

“Oh ok.. What about her?”

Tadeke sighed.

“Tade, are you going to say it…?”

“She promised me not to tell anybody.”

“Well…”

“Please Kojo, I need you to keep this between us…”

“I understand.” The typical response of a lawyer. Not yes and not no.

“Ok. She showed me some pictures of…” Tadeke covered her mouth.

Kojo seem not to like where she was going with it. The spider seemed to be crawling up his back again.

Pictures? Jesus!

“The picture was that of her husband and one Jennifer.”

The spider started to crawl back down his spine. He began to relax. He felt the spider fall off into oblivion.

“Interesting.” He mumbled.

“My dear, I was shocked.”

“How? Really?”

“She showed me the pictures. As a matter of fact, I held them with my own hands.”

“Pictures? How?”

“Apparently, there’s a secret outfit that handles matters of infidelity. I heard…”

“Outfit that handles infidelity? I don’t understand” He was picking his words carefully.

“Yeah. I was surprised myself. You know cheaters abi? Cheaters on DSTV?”

He nodded.

“Yeah, they do something like that.”

“Here in Nigeria?”

“Yeah”

“Wooow.”

“I was surprised too. Anyway, the long and short of the story is that, Michelle caught her husband cheating captured on pictures. Now, she has decided she’s going to leave her husband.”

“Hmmmm. That’s a rather rushed decision, I think.”

“Honestly, I don’t know what to tell her…” She sat back and held her hands akimbo.

Kojo stood up from his seat. He looked bothered. Or at least, he had to put up a good act. He walked away from his seat to the balcony barrier and looked up. After a few seconds, he turned around to face his wife. His hands also held akimbo—a good lawyer’s move.

“So has she confronted her husband? Do you know?”

“By now, I will assume she must have.”

“That’s amazing. Cheating on his wife and then caught on pictures? That’s really bad.”

“I thought so too. When I looked at that girl’s face though, it looked like a familiar face. I tried hard to figure where I had seen the face. I thought I must have seen her around your office or so…”

As a lawyer, one of the things you should know is to always have counterintuitive measures at all time. Most especially, when you are faced with a case you don’t have most of the pieces clearly put together. He braced up for this one. His lawyer instincts kicked in again.

“In my office? Maybe. We have loads of clients walk in and out everyday. Jennifer or what did you call the lady’s name…?”

“Jennifer. Jennifer Ejiofor.”

“Doesn’t ring a bell…” He lied.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“One of the things I would rather she did was, confront her husband and find out from his mouth what the secret organization gave her. These days of advance technology, people can do a lot with computers.”

“Hmmmm. Now that’s another twist. However, there were many pictures to buttress their claim. I mean, that looked rather convincing...”

“And so?”

“Why would anyone want to go that length all in the name of soiling someone’s reputation…? It sounds like too much work.”

“Depends on how much is involved here… ”
"Hmmmm. Na wa ooo." She sighed.

She stood to her feet. “I don’t know dear, this thing is just all confusing. And like you just said, what if they were doctored pictures? Its just a pity what people will do for money these days.”

“Abi? What if...?”

He watched as his wife made her way through the glass door that led into the living room. He sighed. Infidelity catchers or what do they call themselves? I need to find out about this organization.

*   *   *

 “Chief, chief…” Jennifer said rubbing the big stomach of Chief Etibeh.

He had a long glass of Blue fuel in his hand. The other hand was wrapped around Jennifer’s shoulder.

He smiled.

“Chief?”

“What is it my teddy sweetness?” He asked.

“Chief, I need to change my hair.”

He sipped on his liquor. “Why do you want to change it so soon. I like it. And you just did it last week abi?”

“I know it’s lovely and you like it but chief, its already itching me.”

“Okay, no problem. How much will it cost to make this new hair?”

Jennifer adjusted herself. “Chief, its just 300k.”

The Chief sipped on his liquor again. He looked surprised.

“300k? You ladies spend a lot of money on your hair these days.”

“As your lady, I have to look good. You know…?”

“Yes, you need to look good.”

“So chief will you wire the money to me tomorrow or will you write me a cheque?”

At that moment, Martins walked in.

“Sir, everything is ready…" Martins said without giving Jennifer a glance.

“Hello Martins…” She said softly.

“Hi.” He replied brusquely.

She smiled.

He gave her the look that told her, he wasn’t interested in her.

He had linked up Jennifer with the chief but she had not given him as much as a hug ever since.

He felt indignant.

Chief was up on his feet. He was amazingly agile. Men of his size will most times be assumed to be slow. But not chief Etibeh. He knew how to move his massive frame.

He walked past Martins who collected the empty glass from him.

“Jennifer, I will wire the money to you tomorrow. Okay…?”

“Ok chief.” 
Her eyes met with Martins'. He was looking at her with contempt.

Jennifer was not in anyway troubled. She ignored him. She often liked to have men under her control. It was one of her driving force—her significant motivation. She just loved to control men. And she was very good at it.

She walked up to the chief before he got to the door. She placed a long kiss on his lips.

“Thank you chief.” She mumbled.

She then hugged him. The Chief had his back to Martins. Jennifer looked at Martins who was still looking at her. She winked at him.

She could see the disgust written on his face. It was funny. So, she smiled. He noticed her smile but ignored her.

He walked past them and headed out the door.

“Take care chief. When will I see you again?”

“I don’t know. I need to be in Abuja next weekend. I’m not sure when next we will see but don’t worry, I will stay in touch…”

“Ok. I’m going to miss you a lot.” She rubbed on his belly again. Very gently she said, “Chief, I love you.”

“Don’t miss me too much.” He replied. 
He then walked out of the door. He did not look back at her till he got to his car. Martins held the door for him.

Jennifer watched as the four escort cars that came with the chief moved out. All black cars. Clean sheen.

She smiled to herself. That’s making 1.8million. I will be 1.8million naira richer by this time next week, she thought.

She smiled again. Only this time, she knew how rich her bank account was becoming at the turn of every weekend.

She pulled shut the window.

Her phone started to ring. She picked it up. It registered four missed calls.

It was Captain calling.

She hopped on her bed and picked the call.

“Hi Captain…”

“Where have you been?” The Captain asked.

“I was in the kitchen cooking. So sorry. I was not with my phone.”

“Keep your phone with you. That’s why it’s called a mobile phone.”

“So sorry. I will keep my phone with me all the time…”

There was a chuckle on the other end of the line.

“So will you be free tonight?”

“Sure Captain. I will be free. Anything for you Captain. Anything for you.”

There was silence.

“Ok then. I will see you later then?”

“Sure,” She made a gesture to kiss him on the phone.

The other end went dead. He did not reply.

She sighed and lay back on the bed. Men. They often believe they are the best at playing… They don’t have a clue. No, they don’t.

She picked up her phone and called her friend.

The phone rang but the person on the other side did not pick the call. She tried it again. Still no response.

She dropped the phone on her bed and picked her Samsung Tablet. It was time to start sorting what to shop for.

Her phone buzzed. It was her friend calling back.

She pushed the receive button on the phone.

“Hello babe, werin dey?” Her friend spoke.

“Hey babe nothing much jhoor. Where did you drop your phone naa?”

“No vex. My boyfriend just left my place. I dey try squeeze some change from the guy…”

“Ok. So what happening?”

“Everything is ok. We thank God. What’s up?”

“I wanted to tell you I wouldn’t be available tonight…”

“Haba Jenny, I told my friends I would be having you come through.  Why naa?”

“So sorry…”

“No, no, no Jenny you can’t do this to me naa…”

“Tracy abeg no vex. I get another important outing this night.”

“Ehen, na so? You don get outing wey dey important than our own outing abi…?”

“No be so now babe. Need to see one of my big boys. And you know big boy is big cash.”

“Na all the money you dey collect, you no dey gree share anything with me.”

“No worry my dear, enough shopping for us.”

“Correct. I trust you. Don’t worry I will find one lie to tell my friends…”

“Ok naa. Will make it up to them soon.”

“Alright then, take care of yourself.”

“You too. Send my love to your guy.”

“Ok.”

Then the line went quiet. Jenny pushed the end-call button on her phone and tossed it on the bed.

The Tablet had gone to sleep. She pushed on the slide button and the thing came back to life.

*   *   *

Victoria was now 7months pregnant.

She had noticed recently that her husband had given her less attention. She was suspicious of his recent lateness from work.

She was sitting on the big bed that sat in the bedroom. She was holding his phone. He had forgotten it at home in his bid to beat the early morning traffic.

She started to flip through his messages.

There was not much except messages from the bank, from the church and friends from his office. Nothing suspicious.

She wasn’t satisfied so she looked through his sent messages. There were just two sent messages—one to her and another to his friend Adams. Nothing.

She began to go through his contact list. There were funny names saved on the list. KYC, OON, PKI, JNY, DDT, Roo Poo, Fred T, Manuel BT, Kelly Jon, Bon Jovi.

She grabbed her ipad and typed the numbers attached to the names on her the ipad. She was going to call these numbers to confirm her fears—Daniel was cheating on her, she thought.

When she was done, she dropped the phone and the ipad on the bed.

“Sade, Sade, Sade.” She called out to her house help.

“Ma.” Sade responded. She was at the door in barely 5 seconds.

“Come, I need you to help me buy credit. Help me buy 3,000 naira MTN card. And hurry.”

“Yes ma.”

The house help collected the money from her and disappeared.

She began to feel the pains in her legs again. It was becoming more painful as the pregnancy advanced.

Her breasts were heavier and more glandular; getting ready to feed the baby. Feeling tired, achy and cranky was almost the daily routine these days. Expecting your first child could take its toll on you, they say.

The house help came back minutes later.

“Madam, na the card be this.”

“Thank you. Please Sade, help me bring my flask. Its just over there on the black table.”

The house help went over to the table and picked up the flask.

“Bring the cup as well. I want to drink some warm water. I feel very thirsty.”

“Yes ma.”
Sade brought the flask.

“Thank you. Just put it on the small cabinet near me. No. Put it over there. Ehen, yes. Thank you. Have you eaten?”

“No madam.”

“Why?”

“I wan try clean the kitchen first.” Sade said looking at her feet. She was shy.

“Ok. When you leave now, go and get food to eat before you continue, ok?”

“Yes ma”

Sade hurried out of the room.

Victoria picked up the flask and poured water into the cup beside it. The water was warm.

She picked up the ipad and looked at the names and numbers again. Then she thought, is it worth all the trouble? At this rate she would just be overworking herself for no reason. She will let this slide for now until she had her baby. Then, she would give him hell! Till then.  
She placed the ipad in the corner pocket of her bag.

Till then.

*   *   *

“So, tell me who is Bolaji?”

Oh my God! What happened?

Wole looked surprised.

“What do you mean who is Bolaji?”

“Wole, you think I don’t know? I know you are cheating on me with that girl. Bolaji. Her name is Bolaji.”

“Wait, calm down Fatima. What do you mean Bolaji?”

Fatima reached for her phone and gave it to him.

He collected it and looked at it. There was a picture on the phone. It was Bolaji’s picture.

Oh my God! She even has proof.

“You want to tell me you don’t know that girl? Do you think I’m a fool? You think I would not find out eventually?” She was infuriated.

“Wait a second… Bolaji is my friend. What about her?”

“Your friend huh? What kind of friend is she? Tell me Wole. What kind of friend is she?” She was beginning to loose her composure.

“She is just a friend. Why are you been all melodramatic? She’s just a friend.”

She looked at him with livid eyes.

“Wole, I told you right from time that I’m not that kind of girl. If you are going to cheat on me, just let me go… Bolaji is more than just a friend. You are cheating on me with her.”

“Fatima, listen to yourself. Where did all this come from…?”

She looked at him. Her eyes were growing heavy.

“Fatima, what made you come to this conclusion?” He asked in an attempt to look disturbed. He knew it wouldn't work.

She said nothing. She just played with her phone for a second or two and handed it over to him.

There was a picture of himself and Bolaji holding each other at the beach. The picture was well taken and he knew who took the picture.

He sighed and sat down.

“This was just an outing I had with some friends." He tried to say pleadingly.

Fatima grabbed her phone off his hand and walked out of his house.

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CHAPTER 10 Coming Soon

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