Part 8

You should have seen my face when Kefe walked into the room. I looked at him smugly,

I was so pleased.

I knew that Jibade would come for me and he would understand enough to bring help.

But now I understand what it means to count your chickens before they are hatched.

He looked so furious, and after he slapped me, he threw a piece of paper at me.

Correction, he threw the same piece of paper I had stuffed into Christy's bra. What happened?

How did it go wrong?

He laughed. It was the most arrogant laughter

"Uju, you are really stupid, Christy works for me. How else would I be able to successfully take all your girls without you knowing about it."

"What do you mean Christy works for you, that's impossible. I vetted her "

"You mean, I vetted her for you."

How could I have been so stupid, She seemed so spineless, so naive.

Perhaps I am the stupid one, I should have known that she could be exploited.

"What did you promise her" I really wanted to understand how she could have betrayed me, to understand how I could have been surrounded by spies and not realized it

"That stupid lost child will do anything for me, with all her daddy and drug issues, she's easy to blackmail. As punishment, Boma is in the hospital, you should really be grateful that I love you."

I panicked, no way, Kefe has to be bluffing. How would he reach her? I tried to rationalize it and convince myself that he's not that powerful. At least that's what I thought until he showed me a video of her being hit by a fast-moving bike.

This psychopath had the nerve to record it.

"How is she?"

I felt hopeless, I just don't want anyone else getting hurt over this, especially Boma and Jibade.

That was probably the moment I gave up

"Don't worry about her, she's good, merely unconscious. Turns out a good Samaritan was close enough to take her to the hospital. Now how do you plan to thank your husband for his good heart" He closed the door, and I hear a click from the keyhole

This smug bastard is locked me in.

What good heart.

He's despicable, and I'm trapped. How did I end up in love with him??

What about the man I loved, the one that understood me?

How can this be love??

Should I have loved him as he was? Is this my fault?

Several questions pop in my head, I feel like hands are pointed at me accusing me of what Kefe is now.

Logic suggests that he is accountable for his choices, but I understand that the people around you influence who you are. So, I wonder if my want for a normal sex life frustrated him so much that he has become this twisted manipulator that I no longer recognize.

I wonder if I have been so neglectful and conceited that I could not see the change in him.

No matter how I think of it, there is no light at the end of this tunnel. I sink into my own reverie.

In my moment of reflection or by a flash of inspiration or rather desperation, I remember.

I remember because it was the only thing I could think about before everything that is came to be.

'Hope is freely given; will you accept it.'

Hope

What I need right now. I am desperate and have exhausted other options, and despite the irrationality of it, I need something to hold on to.

I want to laugh at my hypocrisy. I have always considered myself lucid, rational, and religion was simply a means to bind people together. I felt it tied us based on our fears of the unknown and considered myself above it.

Yet here I am, desperate for it to be real

"I'm desperate, I'm really desperate, please save me. Save my child."

There was no light, no voice, no wind just weightlessness. Like all my burdens had been taken off me and I could say " what will be, will be" so I slept.

Irikefe woke me up.

He seemed upset that I could sleep because it meant I was no longer afraid

"I hate how cold you can be"

I smiled partly because I wanted him to be upset.

" I hate how you are with Jibade."

That surprised me, I never knew he had a problem with my relationship with Jibade

"Since when ?"

" I hated him since I met him"

"Why?"

"He's always around you, waiting to get those old paws on you so I taught him a lesson."

"Kefe, that's unreasonable."

"Do you know how long I have waited for you. Seven years Uju, seven years."

"What does that have to do with anything besides we have known each other for five years, not seven."

" The first time I saw you was at that law firm you used to work at, you were talking to one of your clients, and you looked so confident, so collected and cold. I knew even then that you were the one for me. Only twenty-eight and you were rapidly climbing up the ladder at your firm. You were perfect. Only you would do."

What!!! How could he have known me? I try to search through my memories to find even a glimmer of recollection, but nothing comes to mind, and I fear that this might have a terrible end.

"I wanted to forget you but every night I saw you in my dream, and then I saw you again, I was driving to a client's place, and I saw you cross the road with Jidenna, you guys went to buy suya."

Why is he smiling

" I had never felt jealousy like that before, you are mine, and he is only a child, how dare he make you smile."

I don't want to listen. I don't want to hear this. I'm not going to listen

"But I am a patient man, so I waited, and when he died, you were so broken, so sad that I hated myself for doing that to you. All I wanted was to give you all the love in the world to make up for how much I had hurt you."

"Please Kefe stop, that is not funny."

"Uju do you understand now how much I love you and what lengths I am willing to go for you."

"What did you do to Jidenna" I tried so hard to keep my voice steady because everything else was a mess. Did he kill Jidenna

At the thought of what this could mean, I felt all my will give way, and I fell

All I heard were lights and sirens before it became quiet

........

I jumped up. Where am I?

Why is Jibade here?

Is this a dream?

I didn't realize how real it was until Jibade held my hand and said

"You are safe now, Kefe can't get to you anymore. We got him

I relaxed.

I'm safe, my baby is safe