Beyond Reach…
CHAPTER 7
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….It was the next day,,I had gotten up early, I c@m£ out to the living room waiting for either of them,,I was boiling in anger,,,minutes on, the Lady c@m£ out, with her pyjamas smiling shamelessly,,, why won’t she smile, after slee-ping with someone else’s husband all throu-gh the night, m0@n ing like a slot,,,, I just didn’t know how best to approach this disgrace of a woman, while lost in thought, her voice brou-ght me back to consciousness,,,
How many times do I have to tell you that you only sit on my sofa when I ask you to “she had said
” really, so don’t you know its shameful and wrong slee-ping with someone else’s husband ,especially un-der their nose you cheap slot “I said
,,excuse me, she said
of course you are excuse, you are unbelievable, how could you disrespect your husband so much, bringing your lover to his house is the worse thing you could ever do to him,,, you are not supposed to be called a woman, you bring shame and disgrace to womanhoo……a h0t sl@p landed on my check, just then T walked into the scene
T, I can not allow this thing you call a wife, insult and disrespect me in my own house, what nons-en-se” she said
I am so sorry dear, I shall talk some s-en-se into her ” T answered her and he dragged me into our room
“are you mad, what is your problem,,,,
Tochukwu, you brou-ght me to the house of your mistress, she even had the effrontery to sl@p me,,,
“well you asked for it,,, if you didn’t insult her or be rude to her, she wouldn’t have sl@pped you.
Jesus,!!! I was shocked to hear such words from him.
Soon the lady called, T bàby,T love
yes sweetie my husband answered
plea-se ask that wife of yours to come fix something for break fast she said
okay dear, T replied, well go to the kitchen and fix breakfast for us “T said
Tochukwu, I should fix breakfast for your mistress?
” well,, you can’t be In someone else’s house, and be useless, she fed you, gave you and that child of yours shelter, so she deserves a little appreciation, so go and do what she said,,,,
I couldn’t believe my ears, and what if I don’t,,,
well be re-ady to be beaten to death,,, I will beat you until you die in my hands, and no one can find your remains,,,,he said and I thought about it and knew he was right,,no family member of mine, knew where I was,I was quietly walking to the kitchen when T ‘s voice st©pped me,,,
go and apologize to Rachel for that shameful displ@yof yours, he added…I looked at him in disbelief,,
I won’t do that,, I answered
“you wouldn’t want to get me angry, would you?,,,
I walked slowly to the living room, like a cow to be slaughter, she was seated in the living room watching a movie,,
I am sorry for how I spoke to you,, I apologized, she looked at me laughing sarcastically
are you apologising standing on your feet, will you apologize on bended knees, she said,, I had never been that humiliated all my life,, I knelt down and said I was sorry….
Good, now that you know your place in this house, things are clear,,, you are the house keeper,, simply the maid,,,, my husband is out of the country, but when he returns,,T would pose as the Gardner, while you of course the maid,,, some tears drop fell down my eyes, a maid to my husband’s mistress,, what did I ever do in life to deserve this I had wondered,,,
you can go and make breakfast… I want to eat jollof rice,, everything you would nee-d is in the kitchen….
I went to the kitchen, cooking amidst tears in my eyes,,,I couldn’t eat ,my stomach was filled with anger and pains alre-ady,, I made golden mour for my baby, he was my only hope, and source of my joy, his smiles melt every pains In my heart, I was living for him, I knew i nee-ded to be strong, especially for the sake of my son,, also I knew Living in that house from sunrise to sunset would make me go mad,, I decided to look for a job,,,before now, T had refused me working, I sincerely hoped he changed his mind ,but unfortunately, when I raised the issue of looking for something doing he declined,, to make matter worse, his mistress said I shouldn’t bother looking for a job outside that she would be paying me for my services as the Maid,,,
How much, I asked
#15,000 she had said, I didn’t argue, I just wanted to work for her to pay me the very first salary so that I can return home, I was done with it all ,I was working alone, T didn’t love me, he never loved me, and I doubt if he will ever love me,,,there is no point flogging a dead horse, this past three years of my life been married to T has been hell,,I had stayed long because of what people would say, the mockery, the shame and hand pointing that I Chika,couldn’t keep my home,,,never the less, all those are nothing compare to all I had been throu-gh and still going throu-gh…..
It was 30 days in hell alre-ady, I had arranged few of my clothes and that of my baby’s, re-ady to leave this hell of a house, to my mom’s,,, I went to her
hello ma, its 30 days alre-ady, plea-se I nee-d my salary,,,she looked at me, and said she had given T my salary, he asked for it,,,
but how come, how can you give T the money i laboured for? I asked
The last time I checked, he’s your husband, so I don’t think anything is bad about me giving him your pay….I looked at her, didn’t know what exactly to do with this she devil,, i was very mad, I felt like killing this woman and that beast I call my husband….
Hours on,T c@m£ back from God knows where,,,
” Tochukwu, Rachel said she had given you my salary,,,
yes,that’s true “he replied,,
okay , plea-se I nee-d my money,,,
for what, he asked,,
for my personal stuff T, I worked for that money, and I earned it,,,
well you don’t nee-d it, you are well fed, and you have a roof over your head, so you don’t nee-d that money…
Oh my God, I couldn’t believe my ears,, my plans of leaving this hell abolished, oh no,this is painful, I am caged,,these two have planned to hold me captive in this place….
I went to be-d, crying my eyes out…
The next morning Rachel c@m£ to my room, having spent the night with my husband as usual on her matrimonial be-d, calling my name like she had named me,, Chika,Chika, I opened the door and c@m£ out
“go make me a cu-p of tea “she ordered
well go ask the person you paid to do that, I can’t work and you pay someone else, so ask T to do that,,, she pushed me to the ground, saying she wants her tea in 3mintues,,,I got up very furious and landed two h0tsl@ps on her face, she didn’t see that coming, she was shocked, and called on T,, he ran out like the dog he is, she told him I had sl@pped her, and of course he didn’t ask what had happened but pounced on me, I cried my life out, I just wanted to end all these once and for all…….
It was evening, and madam requested for ban-ga soup and starch,, I was ma-king this tedious meal with little or no strength in me, with junior wra-pped on my back,,, soon I was done cooking, I was fed up, and I nee-ded all to come to an end,,, suddenly I remembered the rat poison Rachel had bought days back,,then I knew it was time for all of us to rest finally…..
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BEYOND REACH..
CHAPTER 8
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…..I took the poison and thought about everything that had happened so far,, I was certainly convinced ending it all was the best, I would make sure everyone of us goes home to rest,,,, after much thought, I concluded I couldn’t take the life of my son, he was innocent, and had nothing to do with my mistake of a life p@rtner, and I was going to live for him, hence the two adulterers should pay for their sins,…
Rachel was busy shouting my name asking for food, while she laughs with my husband,,, they were seated at the dinning, waiting for their maid of course… Finally the soup was re-ady, and I brou-ght it out to serve the king and queen,,,upon serving the food, madam insulted me down to my next generation for taking so long,,, I didn’t say a word, I knew it will all soon end.,..
Woowww this looks nice, thank God your stupidity didn’t affect your cooking ability, that’s the only reasonable thing you can do,,,get out of my pres£nce, let me enjoy this food, its been long I had it, I can’t enjoy it seeing you around “Racheal said,,,
As I walked out, my conscious couldn’t take it,,, I turned and said St©p,,
don’t taste that food,,,
and why is that? T asked in anger, alre-ady had a cut of starch in his hands,,,
the food is poisoned,,,
What, what are you talking about? Rachel asked curiously standing up….
You both have dehumanized me, treated me like trash, and worse than a slave,,,I thought about ending it all,, but my conscious would not,,I can’t afford to be a criminal and sin against God because of you two,,,your blood will not be on my hands, you shall reap your reward yourself,,,
Wait ,wait, if I un-derstand you well, you wanted to kill me in my own house,,for helping you, and giving you a roof over your head “Rachel said in anger,,
really, for helping me indeed, by slee-ping with my husband right,,,, she sl@pped me so ha-rd , T gave me the beating of my life for attempting to kill him,, Junior was crying, like he knew his mother was in danger, Rachel went to him and was hitting him to keep quiet,, oh that hurt, the pains of T beating me was nothing compared to the pains of Rachel hitting my child, I was mad,I didn’t know what to do, I cried for help, but non c@m£,, not even from the security man outside…..
After everything, Rachel went into the kitchen and served herself, saying she must eat the food,,,of course not without asking me to taste it,, which I did amidst tears and pains…
“And for the records, there are CCTV in this house, should you try any ru-bbish you will be expo-sed, and I know my husband will not st©p until he wipe your entire lineage Rachel said…. I wept for myself, I was just a living dead,my life a big mess,,,
After eating, the lovers went inside, of course they nee-ded a time of r0m@nç£after such spontaneous meal….I thought about my life and knew I couldn’t take this pain anymore,,, I would have stayed, but the thought of Rachel raising her hands against my child again was one thing I knew I couldn’t take, I probably would kill her for real,,so I had to leave,,,but to where, and with what money…
I took few of my clothes in a bag and more of junior things, but made sure they contained a bag so I could easily carry it…
Getting to the gate, the gate keeper didn’t want me to leave saying he would be in trouble when Rachel finds out I left…. I knelt begging him,,,I know you know the pains I have be pas-sing throu-gh in this house, in the hands of my husband and his mistress,, if you don’t allow me leave, should anything happen to me or my child, our blood will be on your hands,, if we remain in this house, I shall die,,,, I said
I know what you go throu-gh, but what do I tell them by morning,,, it will seems I neglected my duty post should I say I didn’t see when you left, and you know madam ,she will fire me immediately…
No no, as you can see, I took just few clothes they wouldn’t notice in my room,,so tell her I told you i was going to buy food for junior so you allowed me pas-s throu-gh, and that you didn’t see me with any bag ,hence you didn’t know i was escaping…..
Hmmmmmmm okay madam, I know say those people wan kill you, and you are a good person, you don’t deserve all these, so I would allow you,,,
thank you very much ,I will forever be indebted to you,,,,,I dey come,he went inside and c@m£ back with a thousand naria,,,I don’t have much,the only money I have in this house is a thousand two hundred, so plea-se accept this little from me,,
but you will nee-d this money I said,,,
yes I will, but you and your baby would nee-d it more…
Thank you very much, I said and left, with no destination in mind…..
I looked for somewhere to eat first and also fed my child, then I started thinking about where I could l@ymy head and baby for the night, it was getting cold due to the night, it was 10pm, my child was slee-ping wra-pped on my back, I was exhausted from wandering for hours,,,,I didn’t even know where I was, neither did I notice the street was lonely with almost all the houses fenced,,,
it was a beautiful street, with street light, no wonder I didn’t notice it was even late, not until I saw a jeep flashed on me,,,I stood up, and the man driving the jeep a young man in his late 30’s asked me what I was doing there, I didn’t say anything,,
what are you doing by my compound? he asked again, I was alre-ady in tears
I….. I am sorry Sir,,, I have nowhere to go,,I was too tired and lost in thoughts I didn’t even notice it was this late, am so sorry for trespas-sing,,,
what do you mean you have no where to stay, especially with that baby wra-pped on your back,,,are you going to spend the night here with that baby,,,,
sir I am very helpless I have no one in PH and no money on me to pay for h0tel,,,
hmmmmm I see ” he said.
He drove in without saying a word,,,I thought he wasn’t going to help and I was walking away like I had somewhere in mind…
Then I heard someone called me, madam,I turned and saw a man in uniform, the security man I guessed, the man was still there in the compound,,
I can’t allow you spend the night out, because of that child you are carrying….
Sam, he was referring to the security man, take her to the boys quarters, and make a room available for her, he said and walked into the main building…..
I followed Sam, and was able to spend the night in a decent room, I was very thankful to God, and for the first time in a long while, I sle-pt peacefully….
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TBC