Hey, in case u were wondering, this post is an entry for the open post competition “The Naked Convos” blog is presently running. You can check it out here http://www.thenakedconvos.com/two/. I saw a tweet about it two months ago but i had a lot on my plate then. So i didn’t pay it any attention. Then some days ago, they tweeted the links to the entries that had already been submitted and confirmed the competition was still open. So i just decided to take a leap at it. Yeah i had fun writing this though i constantly had  to remind myself there was a word count limit.  I hope y’all really enjoy it 😀

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Aigbe smiled callously as he watched Esosa tumble backwards onto the floor. He thought to himself that she quite looked like a fish out of water – flailing about, reaching for support that would not be forthcoming. His smile very quickly evolved into a cruel laugh as he watched the back of her head crash onto the cold, tiled floor with a sickening, wet sound. Leaping astride her semi-conscious body, he rained three solid blows onto her torso, working his way from her lower ribcage to her sternum. She yelped, shook and choked with each blow, unable to fight back.

“You are the one that will die, not me, Stupid Harlot!”

He spat into her face as the last blow landed and she choked violently, jerking with the impact of the blow and recoiling from the glob of projectile spittle that had hit her face.

“You!  Are! A! Mad! Dirty! Prostitute!”

Each word was punctuated by a slap that sent waves of pain coursing through Esosa’s head. She could barely speak or shout or scream in protest, much less move. She felt herself start to slip into a numb blackness but she tried to hold on.  Aigbe wrapped his hands around her neck and muttered.

“Witch! Harlot! Your plan has failed!”

Esosa closed her eyes and let the numbing darkness take her as her husband choked the remaining life from her, his wedding ring pressing against her carotid artery.

**********

2 hours earlier

 

Esosa smiled to herself as she poured the brown powder into the bottle of Merlot. She re-corked it and shook it violently until the powder began to dissolve. She knew Aigbe was already on his way home. Her plan was foolproof. He had once been a victim of fate and had survived. But he wasn’t going to be so lucky this time around.

“This thing wey you see soo dey work sharp sharp oooo. Na one time e go peme all the rats them wey dey disturb you.”

She smiled as she remembered the words of the man from whom she had purchased the rodenticide. Oh she was definitely getting rid of  a “rat”. If only he had known what she intended to do with it. She took a quick glance at the grandfather clock by the corner of the room. Aigbe would be home soon. Everything was set. All she had to now was wait.

**********

2 days earlier

 

Aigbe knew he was stretching himself beyond his limits literally. He was trying to hang the tiny modern gadget just above the painting that hung high on the south wall of their living room where it would remain conspicuous and still work perfectly. 

He climbed down gently from the table already feeling a jab of pain in his right thigh.  He had defied all odds and could walk again but with a pronounced limp. He had gone through the healing process secretly hoping to surprise his wife. “So you can walk now, hmmmmmm.” That was all she said. His heart had sunk to the base of his stomach. Well he was going to surprise her again in the next two days with news of his appointment as technical engineer at Russell Gadgets. The baby cam he had just installed depended on it but he knew without a doubt that by the end of his presentation, he would get the job.

**********

Aigbe tried to think back to where he had gone wrong. The accident hadn’t been his fault. But still he had tolerated his wife’s loathing and uncaring attitude towards him. A lovely pregnant wife, the peak of his career and it had all gone downhill.  Even though he could walk now, he was sterile still. The accident had caused that. His wife had also lost the baby but thinking about it through a mist of anger, he knew with a certainty that she had gotten rid of the baby. The murderous bitch.  His only chance at being a father, and now she wanted to get rid of him too. Weaving in and out of traffic, he was a man ready to exact vengeance.

**********

 2 months ago

She couldn’t believe the contents of the mail she was reading on her PC in her cubicle at the office. She had been promoted to head of regional services. Yes she had put in her name for consideration even whilst she knew she didn’t possess the necessary qualifications. Apart from the promotion, she was also getting transferred to South Africa. She knew without a doubt this was Mr Lawson’s handiwork. He was the head of human resources. They had gone for dinner a couple of times. She knew he liked her and she liked him back. She had just mentioned her application to him in passing not knowing he would get involved. She also remembered him informing her he was getting transferred to SA. So this wasn’t a coincidence. He had planned it so they would be together. He had no idea she was married because she had made sure of that. The problem now was getting rid of Aigbe. The divorce route wasn’t going to work. There would have to be another way and she had to act fast.

*********

Aigbe as angry and betrayed as he felt was in the mood for a little drama. As he walked into his home, his eyes strayed to the painting behind which was hidden the baby-cam that had saved his life. A final check on the gadget and its condition before going in for his presentation, and he had been in time to see his wife plan his death.  He called out “babyI’m home.” Aigbe moved over to the bar and poured himself a glass from the bottle of Merlot. He drank the whole glass down and poured another knowing she was looking in on him through a crack in the door. Esosa stood there watching as her husband guzzled down his drink. She held on tightly to the door knob, her knuckles turning white as she waited in anticipation. An onlooker would think she was the one about to die and not the man standing some feet away from her. At that moment, Aigbe clutched his stomach, fell onto the ground and went into a spasm of sorts. A few seconds later, he was still. Esosa could feel her breath coming in rapid spates. She stepped out from behind the door and probed him with her right foot just to be sure. Finally she took a deep breath and sprung to action. This had to look like a suicide. She grabbed him under his arms and sat him on his favourite chair in front of the TV. She pulled him to a sitting position, head tilted to one side. She placed the poison on a table in front of him, and then went on to get the bottle and the glass. As she picked them up she thought, the next two weeks were really going to be tedious, pretending to mourn, receiving visitors, planning the f…….. it took a split second for her brain to register that there was another bottle of Merlot up on the shelf that hadn’t been there before. In that same instant she felt herself being lifted off the ground and flung dangerously to the far corner of the room. She looked up and saw her husband smiling sinisterly down at her. “But….. But…. you’re…….” Esosa knew even in her semi-conscious state that her husband  had found out somehow and had been drinking from another bottle he had brought with him. She wasn’t going to live to tell this tale. That much she knew.

**********

2 years ago

 

She listened on in shock as the doctor told her Aigbe’s chances of walking again were slim. She had married him for the comfort/luxury he could provide. Love hadn’t been a factor.  But she knew this accident would change everything. She had to flee this nightmare and the first way was to remove her four month old pregnancy. She loathed him for this but she had to do what she had to do.

**********

Mr Lawson had gotten Esosa’s address from the office and knew he should have called before coming over but he wanted to surprise her and celebrate her promotion and their transfer.

Aigbe heard a car pull up and checking through the peep-hole in the door saw a man walking towards his doorstep with flowers. “How doth luck smileth upon thee.” Aigbe chuckled wickedly. This was definitely the reason why his wife had tried to murder him and thinking he was dead, her lover had come to celebrate his demise. Well they would be celebrating together alright. Aigbe  left the door  slightly ajar and stood behind it with a sledge hammer. He was a man acting out the anger and pain he had bottled up. The stranger knocked and after a few seconds walked in calling out “hello.” Aigbe stepped out from behind the door and whispered “hey there.”