Chapter 20

Sweet and Ugly

Uche sat in the living room listening to the evening news.

It was his routine.

The Federal Government had had a closed door meeting with the aggrieved parties—the National Labor Congress on the impending strike.  They seemed to have come to an agreement as everyone seemed to be smiling out of the meeting room.

Reporters and camera men were all over them—asking questions.

“These folks are just bunch of liars.” Uche wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular. He was just airing his opinion.

“They pretend like some discussion that favors the populace was made. Look at them… bunch of charlatans.” He said pointing to the TV screen.

Susan was in the kitchen gathering her thoughts. She had thought of how she would speak to her husband about the matter that has been on her mind lately. Everyone said it’s ok to speak with your husband. But, she would not want to upset her him. It was much easier said than done. She had waited three days for the right timing but everytime she wanted to speak about it; she stalled and just changed her mind.

 “Sussie babie. Where are you?” Uche called out to his wife.

“I’m coming dear.”

She pulled off the rubber gloves and the apron.

Lord please help me now. Let him listen to me without getting upset. Let him see reasons with me. Lord I beg you. We are already having a wonderful evening; please don’t let my words ruin the evening.

She prayed silently and then walked out of the kitchen into the living room.

Her husband’s attention was glued to the TV set. He was listening intently to the news.

She sat beside him. Gently.

When he saw her, he reached out for her. She moved closer. He held her in a warm embrace. She leaned her head on his chest.

“This country ehn, God will help us.” He commented.

“What has happened this time?” She responded.

“Just listen…”

Seven minutes later, the news was over.

She picked up the remote and pressed the mute button. The TV went mute.

Uche looked at his wife with a frown.

“Why?”

“I’m so sorry. But can I talk to you? There’s been something on my mind.”

When he read her expression and he could see her worry, he looked at the TV and then back to her.

“Ok.” He adjusted to face her. She had his attention now.

She looked down at her fingers. “I don’t know how I will say this that it would not upset you…”

“Try me…”

When she did not respond, he raised her face up by titling her jaw gently upward with his index finger so she was looking at him directly.

“What is it?” He asked.

She took a deep breathe.

“Please don’t be mad at me…”

“You are killing me with this suspense. Say it already.”

“Alright. Sometimes, I feel insecure…” She said calmly.

“Insecure? How? Why?”

“I know this might sound ridiculous but I often feel you might be pretending to me…”

“Pretending to you? How? Why? Where are all these questions coming from?”

“I have been worried sick because of this.”

“Ok, what exactly has been on your mind…?”

She looked at her fingers again. It seemed to be her place of comfort.

“I wonder what you think about when we are not together. Sometimes, I think you might be thinking of trying out with someone else…”

“Oh Jesus Christ! Where did you get all these from?”

She looked into his eyes now. It registered surprise and disgust. He had a deep frown that lined out on his forehead.

“I’m sorry Uche. I’m so sorry, I’ve just been bothered and I do not know how to tell you...”

Uche did not say anything immediately. He just leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes.

She leaned over and held his hands.

“I’m so sorry Uche. I’m just a worried woman. I have received all the counselling I can get but nothing seems to work until I speak with you. I need to know what you are thinking…”

“Ok…” He said. He took a deep breath and let it out gently.

She sat back cautiously.

“One thing you should have established by now is my genuine love for you.  You should have no questions about that…”

“I know…”

“But you still nurse some doubts? You should think of changing your circle of friends. I don’t think they are helping you in any way.

If I wanted a child at all cost, I would have had a child long before now. You want to know how many people have asked me to walk away from this relationship. If I mention some of their names, you would not believe it…”

“I know…”

“Trust me Sussy, you don’t know.”

“I see the way you look at kids everytime we go to see our family friends. I see that look in your eyes. I see the way you look at baby wares at the shopping mall.  Uche, I see that look…”

“You see what look exactly…?”

“I don’t know. I see the look that tells me you are worried…”

“Yes, it sometimes gets to me, no doubt but its cos I am human but that doesn’t mean I will go and cheat on you… We are in this together and I made a vow before God.”

She looked away. Her eyes were teary.

“See Susan, I am not a man who does not keep my words. At least you can say that about me. If I wanted a baby at all cost, I can get one. But I’d rather wait. Our turn will come.”

She started sobbing,

He wrapped her in an embrace.

“Shhh babie. Everything will be alright. God knows best.”

“But babie… what did I do wrong? Why us?”

“Stop crying my love. I can’t give you a convincing answer. I don’t have the answer but I know God never fails. Remember, Reverend Mobolaji always says, when God says no, He makes His grace available. His will never leave His children with nothing.”

She shook her head.

He cleaned the tears from her eyes.

“It is well my love.”

His eyes were teary too. But he held it back.

She leaned her head on his shoulder.

“God! I’m so glad I married a man like you. I will live everyday of my life in gratitude. I love you Uche.”

“I love you too sweetie.”

He kissed her.

* * *

“You look great.”

“Really?” Francis looked at himself in the long mirror that hung from a small thread on the wall.

Francis looked at himself in the long mirror that hung from a small thread on the wall.

“Yeah, you look great. She’s going to fall head over heels.”

“Christine, I don’t know about this date oooo.”

“Are you going to chicken out now…?”

“No. It’s just… I don’t know… I may just be too boring for her.”

“Relax. You worry too much. Just start a conversation, and let it flow.”

He nodded.

“You need to hurry. You don’t want to keep a lady waiting. That’s not a gentleman’s way…”

“I don’t know… But I want to give it a shot sha…”

“You should.”

“Just go for the experience. Honestly, you need love in your life.”

“And I told you I don’t have love when…?”

“I’m your sister; I know you don’t have love. You know the kind of love I’m talking about…”

“I won’t be able to shake you off obviously.”

“No you won’t.”

She was more beautiful than she looked on the phone. She smiled freely and she had the best set of dentition Francis had ever set his eyes upon. She was confident, primp and proper.

She sat across the table facing Francis.

She just smiled. Or maybe, Francis just kept imagining she did.

“So what do you do?”

“Well… I’m running my own business?”

“Oh really?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“And what line of business is this…?”

“Food business.”

“Oh interesting. Like you run a restaurant?”

“Well, kinda…”

“Kinda?”

“Not a restaurant so to say but that’s the final goal.”

“Oh, so what kind?”

“Well, it’s just small shop. Nothing exactly fancy…”

“Ok.”

“What about you?”

“Oh yeah. I work as a financial analyst with an investment bank.”

“That’s cool. Which of the firms?”

“Four-star Resource Capital.”

“Oh I know that one. That the one very close to Big Heart Pharmaceuticals somewhere in Ikoyi?”

“Yep.” She nodded.

“That’s good.”

“I joined the company last year. It should be about eight months now.”

“Really, good to know.” He did not know what the best response was.

Then there was a long silence. Francis did not know what next to say.

He began to fumble with his phone. He knew he had to continue a decent conversation but he was stuck.
Then not wanting the silence to continue, he said, “My sister says a lot about you…”

“Really?”

“Yes. She says you always inspire her.”

“Well… I try.” she shrugged.

“That’s really great. She rarely talks about anyone like that as far as I can recall.”

“She is a really wonderful person. When we have the ladies night out, she’s the super lively one. The day she did not come, everyone missed her. She is just amazing…”

“Tell me about it.”

“She always has something interesting to talk about and she really cares about people. And she would not take nonsense from anyone…”

“You got that right.”

“She just walked up to me on one occasion and said, can we be friends…? Just like that… I mean... I was stunned. She was very casual about it. You know we ladies most of the time often beef ourselves. It’s not like you guys. Your world is a lot different. You can see a guy well-dressed now, and you guys can start chatting up. No beef. But for the ladies, we would first beef the fact that she’s better dressed or has better curves and all that…. So I had to choice but to be her friend. To honest, I was a little suspicious of whether she was into ladies… You know…”

Francis cocked his eyebrow, “You mean a lesbian…?”

She nodded.

“No she’s not.”

“I know. I just thought so at first. Anyway, long story short, we are here today…”

“Yes we are…”

There was a long silence afterwards. Francis was getting uneasy. He did not know what to say next. She was fumbling with her phone again. She probably was chatting with one of her friend that he was a bore. He imagined.

“Ok, so you know what…?”

She raised her eye brow indicating for him to continue.

“I like you and I want you to go out with me…”

She did not say anything. She just looked at her phone and smiled.

“Why would I want to go out with you?”

“Well… I like you.”

“So…? Every guy likes a pretty girl. By the way, you are not my kind of guy. No offense.”

“None taken. I just thought maybe you liked me and all that…”

Francis looked away, disappointed. Not like he was expecting it to happen otherwise. But he shrugged it off.

“So tell me what’s you kind of guy…?”

She dropped her phone on the table and looked at him.

“I love confident and charming guys. I like tall guys with average build. Not the fancy body type but he should not look unkempt. He should be fit… ”

“Obviously, I fall short…”

“Yes you do. Not to be rude but… You sister painted a really novel picture of you. She did not send me your picture but told me I should prepare for a surprise…”

“And I see you are disappointed.”

“Well… Not disappointed but not exactly what she had painted.”

Francis sipped his drink with straw.

“I guess she had exaggerated.”

“Francis, you are a cute guy no doubt. You have the smile any girl would die for but it just doesn’t cut it for me.”

“That’s fine.”

“Yeah.”

She looked at her wristwatch.

“I ahev to go now.”

She got up from her seat.

“It was nice to meet you.” Francis said standing up from his chair.

“Same here.”

She reached out and hugged him. He reciprocated the gesture.

“Ok then.” She said and walked away.

“Yeah, take care.”

He watched her as she made her way out of the exit. She walked confidently. She was beautiful.

When she some distance off, she turned to look in his direction. When she noticed he was looking at her, she waved.

He waved back.

Then he looked away.

I told Christine that this wasn’t for me, she said to try it. Now see how embarrassing this all ended.

His eyes struck a woman not far off from where he was sitting. Her smile was very familiar. She was having a conversation with a man. The man was on his knees. He watched as the man pleaded.

Then he saw the man collect a baby from the woman. Then their conversations continued.

Francis kept looking at the woman. She was all too familiar. She smiled again and this time he caught her dimples.

Jesus! Victoria? Victoria?

He was certain that was Victoria.

He watched as the couple rose from their seat and made their way out of the restaurant. He watched them as they walked away. The man carried their baby on the left arm and held his wife with his right hand.

They walked on and on until they were out of sight.

Francis just sat at his seat.

That woman used to be the love of his life. Now she was married to someone else. She had moved on to a better life.

He just sat there.

* * *

“What’s your version of Mister Right?” Bimpe asked the three other ladies.

They began to speak almost at the same time. It was a ramble of words.

“One by one ladies…”

Tonye spoke first. “Mister Right for me is a man after God’s heart. Caring, compassionate, generous, hardworking, fairly rich, non-smoker, non-womanizer, tall, handsome, neat, good dresser, good voice, you know…  ”

“Hmmm. Next…” Bimpe responded.

“Well, Tonye said almost everything but she missed, not a mummy’s boy, good lover, friendly, outgoing and all of that…” Moji added.

“Ok, what about you,  Adesuwa?”

“Well, for me Mister Right is simple. He must be a good man with a very good heart and makes me the center of his world. That’s all.”

Tonye started laughing.

“What’s funny?” Adesuwa asked.

“No, nothing…”

“You bad liar…” Adesuwa replied.

“Well ladies, from what we have all said, one thing is common; we all want a god-fearing man that cares a lot about our wellbeing, abi?”

“Yeah.” They agreed.

“But don’t forget he must be rich too.” Tonye cuts in quickly.

“That one is relative. How rich?” Bimpe asked.

“Rich enough to take care of all my needs. You know…”

“Tonye, I hope you will end up marrying one Chief or one rich married man.”

“Adesuwa, watch your mouth ooo. Na you go marry rich married man…”

“Ladies calm down. I have one other question…”

“Na questions you wan take kill us for this place…?” Moji said, sipping her drink afterwards.

“Abi ooo.” Tonye joined.

“Make una calm down now. Its only to make this hang out fun. Everyone seems to be busy pinging…”

“Go on jare.”

“Thank you Adesuwa. So, what do you ladies think men want from us since we already know what we want from them…?”

“Simple. Sex, sex and more sex.” Tonye responded almost quickly.

“Tonye, common…”

“Wait, I’m I lying?”

“Yes. My boyfriend is not all about sex, sex and more sex.”

Tonye chuckled. “You don’t know a lot about men, my dear. I’m not saying that all men just jump on a woman when they can, but over half the time you are with most men, the only thing going on through their mind is sex.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, men often need sex but that’s not all they need.” Moji said.

She continued, “I think everyman wants a beautiful and confident woman, a woman that would make their fellow men jealous and drool when they see her, a woman who has a healthy sense of humor, a woman with a good IQ and comes from a good home,  a good friend and confidant. A true woman”

“True.”

“Yeah true.”

“I agree with you but it’s interesting that when a man walks up to you to chat you up, you can almost read his intentions…” Tonye commented.

“I think you have been hanging out with the wrong crowd.” Adesuwa corrected her friend.

“Oh yeah? What kind of crowd is that? Seems like you know me too well.”

“I have a lot of male friends and even though some are like he-goats but not all of them are after your pants.”

“You see most men want a woman has sexual prowess.”

“Come on Tonye, men are not all dogs. I have had my fair share of goats and honestly one can be quick to judge that all men are the same but there are exceptions.”

“Don’t get me wrong ladies. There are obviously good men but what I’m just saying is that, men want sex, period. They would jump on you anywhere. Just a little show of skin and their eyes starts bulging. ”

The ladies laughed.

“Is that what George does to you?” Moji teased.

“Not really. It’s just that, my past relationships and present experience with men has made me come to this conclusion. And for me, it’s not a problem as long as the man gives me all the things I need.”

Bimpe and Adesuwa looked at each other.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Ok, now serious talk… Men want whatever stirs them to strive and win. They want adventure, they want excitement. They want things that task their intellect and their muscles. They need things that boost their egos…” Adesuwa shared.

“I hear you.” Tonye cuts her. “See, Adesuwa, all these things you are talking about is in theory. In reality, men want all that as long as it makes them sexually fulfilled.”

“Wait Tonye, why all this sex talk? Are you sex starved?” Moji asked.

“Me, sex starved? That question is meant for Adesuwa.”

Adesuwa did not respond.

“I’m sorry Adesuwa.”

“No offense taken.” Adesuwa replied.

“But to think about it seriously, men don’t want from us as much as we want from them…” Bimpe said.

“Now, that’s not true.” Tonye disagreed.

“I asked what we want from men, you guys listed almost twenty things. Then, I asked what men want from us, and you guys have only made mention of about five things.”

“It’s a woman’s world. Who run the world?  Girls, girls…” Tonye continued, dancing.

“I don’t agree though.” Moji added. “I think it’s just since we are all ladies, we know what we want. If we had men here, they would have shared their own view. So I guess it’s just a biased conversation.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” Adesuwa agreed.

“So what can we do?” Bimpe suggested, making hand gestures.

“Let’s talk about something else abeg. Leave men matter for Mathias.”

“So what do we talk about?” Bimpe asked.

“Ok wait; I saw this story on… Is it Linkadikeji or some site like that…? About a woman who was caught cheating on her husband and the husband decided to make it public…”

“I saw that story too. So sad.”

“I didn’t see that o. What happened?” It was Moji who spoke this time.

“Ok, a couple had been married for some years and they had two kids. After sometime, according to the woman, the husband stopped giving her attention. She made many attempts to resolve whatever the reason was but to no avail. After trying and not making any heads way. She decided to talk to his friend. Long story short, she started sleeping with the friend.  The husband found out and was mad. He now decided to expose them.  The poor woman became the victim. The friend ran away. The woman was maltreated badly… it is pathetic. When they asked the man if he had refused his wife sex, he said it was nobody’s business. That even if he had, was that a good reason for her to go and sleep outside…?”

“That’s sad.”

“Yes it is.”

“Women seem to be the victim of infidelity. Everytime a woman is caught cheating, the man seems to get away. ”

“It’s just the way the world is unfortunately. That’s why we have to protect ourselves, together.”

“I agree with you. Women are often the victims of domestic violence. The world is not fair to women, honestly. ” Adesuwa commented.

“Even in the bible, that woman that they were going to condemn to death by stoning, I have often wondered where the man was. At least, she did not have sex all by herself…”

“You know our community and culture has subjected women to secrecy. Keep everything in the family is what we say. If more women voiced out their experiences, many of the domestic violence that have not gone unabated would have been checked long ago.”

“Yeah, I heard another interesting story on radio the other day. Ok, the story goes like this; a woman had a child when she was young. She got pregnant before she got married at a very early age. She got involved with a man who said he would marry her nonetheless. She was happy and everything went on fine. One day she had to travel and left the young daughter with the man. Long story short, the man slept with the girl…” Adesuwa shared.

“I already suspected what would happen…” Tonye cuts in.

“Oh, let me finish now. Anyway, the mother got wind of what happened and was devastated. Family members started to say, please keep this in the family o. This should never go out. And I was thinking how could people want to keep such a thing quiet…?” Adesuwa finished.

“So what should they do…? Go and tell everybody?” Bimpe asked looking surprised.

“Not tell everybody but at least, make it known…” Adesuwa said.

“To who…?”

“I just think this kind of thing should not go unabated. People should get punished for doing things like that!”

“Were you raped when you were younger?” Tonye shot at Adeswua with a sinister grin.

“You need help Tonye. Honestly, may God deliver you in Jesus Name.”

“And you too.”

“So are we just here to talk about boring stuff…” Moji said after a long quiet moment.

“Ok so what’s latest? By the way, for those of you that don’t know or are still wondering…” Bimpe lifted up her left hand and wiggled it. She flashed a beautiful ring.

“Oh yeah?” Tonye said with an animated look.

“That’s right. Jide finally proposed…”

“Congratulations again.” Adesuwa commented.

“Thank you. I though you guys would have figured out. Actually it’s the reason why I said we should hang out. I wanted to make sure everyone was in a relaxed mood and we were having fun before I broke the news but as it is, it seems I cant wait anymore…”

“So happy for you oooo.”

“Thank you Moji.”

“So when is the date?” Tonye quipped. Her made another animated gesture.

“Small small na…”

“Coming soon.” Bimpe replied

* * *

They began to ravage the room. They pulled out all the cabinets, threw all the boxes open, pouring out its content. They pulled up the mattress to reveal what was underneath. It was bare. Then, they began to scatter her closet. All her jewelry and vanish were tossed on the floor.

“Where did this girl keep the money? She can’t be running around the hotel with it naa?!” Martin requested.

“No she can’t” One of the men with him responded.

They pulled out all her clothes and began to search through the pockets. They went through her travel bag and all of her bags.

There was no money anywhere.

“Maybe she did not keep it in the hotel?”

“Where could she have kept it…?”

“I don’t know… maybe with a friend or somewhere in the bush… She could have kept it anywhere.”

“Jennifer is smart but not that smart.” Martin corrected.

They began to overturn the furniture.

All her personal effects were turned over. The big sofa was also turned over. In a few minutes, the room looked like a hurricane had passed through.

“Can you imagine the room she’s lodged? This thing must cost a fortune?” Saheed asked looking intently at Martins.

“Sure.”

“Boss really wants this money ooo.”

“I know... we are trying our best abi?”

“How much was the money sef?”

“I don’t know…”

“Do you know Boss suspects you know something about this thing?”

Martins stopped what he was doing and looked at his colleague.

“What?”

“He told me to keep an eye on you.”

“Are you serious?”

“Sure.”

“How did he come to that conclusion?”

“I don’t know. I could give you my phone…”

“And what does that have to do with anything?”

“Call the Boss to find out how he came to that conclusion. I just wanted you to know. You be my guy.”

“Thanks Sage.”

“Don’t mention.”

Martins grabbed on a throw-pillow. He felt it but there was nothing underneath. He grabbed another one.  Same thing.

He tossed the pillows so hard, they knocked things over.

Saheed jumped. “Come on, Mat, cool down naa.”

“How can I cool down? When Boss is on your case, you know how it all ends…”

“Relax, he is just suspicious. There’s nothing to really worry about. 
“Really?”

Saheed shrugged.

“I don’t understand how he ties me to all of this… Me and Jennifer? How na?”

He looked at Saheed. Saheed did not look convinced. He just shrugged.

“Where on earth could she have hidden this money?” Saheed mumbled.

Martins walked to the window and pushed the curtains aside. He pushed the windows open. A cool breeze blew across his face. The seventh floor was definitely far up. He could see the ocean as the gentle waves curled up in its wake.

“Not a bad view though.”

Saheed joined him.

“Sure. Not bad at all.”

* * *

Kojo turned to face his wife. He assumed she would have been fast asleep. She often slept quickly.

She wasn’t.

He pushed the covers aside. She was seating up. Her back rested on a pillow. 
She was crying.

He sat up.

“What is wrong Tadeke?”

She did not say anything.

He took another pillow and joined her.

He touched her hand. She moved it away quickly but gently.

“What is the matter Tadeke?”

Tears began to running down her face.

Kojo was troubled. “What's wrong? Did someone die?”

She wiped her face with the cuff of her night gown.

She looked at him. Her eyes were heavy.

“Kojo, what did I do wrong?”

“What did you do wrong….? I don’t understand your question.” He looked baffled.

She looked away. 
Then she looked back at him. She was trying to push the tears back.

“Where did I go wrong?”

“Tadeke, what’s all these about? Did I say something hurtful to you?”

“When did I go wrong?”

“Now, you are scaring me. What is this about?”

She took a deep breathe. She looked straight into his eyes and said, “You took the love we shared and...”

“What…?”

She stopped him with the raise of her hand, “Let me finish.”

He sat back.

“I trusted you and believed in you and only for you to stab me in the back? You looked me in the eye and lied to me all these years…”

“Ok, now slow down. What are you talking about now?”

“Kojo, I have always looked up to you as a role model. I have boasted of you in front of everyone. Everyone who has ears knows that you are my hero. I idolized you and respected and cherished you…. God, I was stupid…” She began to sob.

He tried to console her. She pushed his hands away and got up from the bed.

“I’m sitting here like a clueless old man. You are saying all sorts but your point, I have no clue… What are you trying to say?”

She walked to the bathroom.

She opened the tap. Under the sound of the running tap, he could hear her sobbing.

He got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom.

He looked at her face in the mirror. She avoided his eyes.

He went closer to her and held her on the shoulder. She shrugged his hands off.

“Don’t touch me.”

“What is this Tadeke? Its barely 2am in the morning and you are throwing tantrums….”

She shook her head.

“Throwing tantrums you say…?”

“Is there something I did to upset you, why not come out with it?”

She closed the running tap and walked past him.

She went to the small locker beside her bed and pulled out a small brown envelop.

Kojo was watching her closely.

She handed it to him.

“What’s this?”

“You will have to open it to find out.”

He sat down on the small chair in the room and switched on the reading lamp. He pushed some of the books he was reading aside.

He turned the lamp to face him directly.

The he opened the envelope. He brought out the contents of the envelope.

Tadeke crossed her hands as she watched him go through the pictures one after the other.

As he looked at each picture, his expression changed from surprise to disgust.

He took the last picture and held it for a moment.

“Where did you get these from?” He asked.

“Should you be asking such a question at this time?”

“Look at these pictures. What is this? This is outright blackmail.” he stood up to his feet, vexed.

“Really?”

“Who gave you these pictures?”

“It doesn’t matter who… does it?”

“Tadeke someone is setting me up and they want to come in between us first.”

“Really?”

Now her countenance was bold. She had settled.

Somewhere from oblivion, the spider seemed to have found its way back. Kojo could feel it crawl up his back. But he shrugged it off. He had to get away with this one. He told himself.

“I’m telling you Tadeke. This is blackmail. My detractors are trying to tarnish my image. You know me more than this…”

“I honestly don’t think so.”

“This is a computerized image forge. Those pictures are not real.”

“Really? But why is it with the same girl all the time.. Why didn’t they choose someone else?”

“I don’t know.”
She said nothing.

She walked to the small sound system in their room and picked up the remote control. She had placed the CD into the system long before he got back from work. She had hoped he would not go close to it until she was ready to face him. And everything went according to plan.

“You might want to sit down now…” She told him.

Her voice was stern and her face looked mean under the low illumination.

He was confused.

Sit down now? What’s she up to this time?

He sat on the small sofa that was close to the bed.

She pushed the switch on button.

At this time, there seemed to be two spiders crawling up and down Kojo’s back.

He looked very disturbed.

Then, the recorded conversation began…

They both listened to the conversation.

It got to a point, Kojo felt his stomach squeeze.

Oh God, how?

Tadeke was looking at her husband, reading his expression.

He tried to hide his feelings but he knew there was no way he was going to argue his way out of this. It was his voice. It was also Jennifer’s voice.

Kojo covered his face with his hands.

When the recorded conversation ended, Tadeke went to the DVD player and switched it off.

She did not say anything.

She walked up to the bed, climbed on it and threw the covers until it covered her face.

Kojo just watched her helplessly.

He wanted to say something but he could not make the words.

He looked at the DVD player again like it would turn out to be a dream. He closed his eyes and opened it again.

When he looked at his wife, she was fast asleep.

He wondered what would happen in the morning.

He leaned his head on the head rest of the chair he sat on and closed his eyes.

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CHAPTER 21 Coming Soon

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