House Of Secrets
Episode 6
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‘How sweet’ I smiled as I fondled the ph0to albu-m, this must I’ve
belonged to Grace I mused. The albu-m contained numerous
pictures but none caught my attention like the one she took with
Mark, that got me thinking, were they close?
I was quite sure the smiling light skinned girl was Grace, I see
why my employers freaked out once they saw me, we shared a
strong resemblance but our eyes were different.
I now un-derstood why Mark was the only one that could tell the
difference, from the pictures I saw, it seems they were pretty
close, even d@t!ng.
I arched my brow, that didn’t seem right, I could never d@t£ my
employer or any of his family members, I sm-irked and closed th
albu-m. I nee-ded to sleep, there was so much work to do the
following day and I couldn’t disappoint.
As I neared the cu-pboard to return Grace’s albu-m, a thin sheet fel
from its pages, I quic-kly picked it up, though the room now
belonged to me, I had no right to go throu-gh her things, I was
intruding her privacy.
‘What do we have here’? I straightened the sheet.
There is a house on Maryland Street, Cross River State.
It has a blue roof and its b©dy is painted milky white.
This house is built on Secrets, dirty and dark ones.
I pondered briefly on the words of the note, ‘a house built on
secrets’? what did that mean? I had no idea, it wasn’t ma-king any
s-en-se, so I placed the note carefully and returned to my be-d.
***
He watched his wife carefully, she had fallen asleep, he was sure
of this, he couldn’t sleep, thoughts of his daughter gave him
insomnia, he just had to see her to calm his nerves.
He waved his palm over Helen’s face to be sure she wasn’t awak
certain of that fact, he sli-pped on his pajamas and left for Rose’s
room, they had a lot to discuss, Helen’s recent suspicion bothere
him, he couldn’t have his wife snooping around his back like a
dog.
‘Open up baby, it’s me your daddy’ he knocked gently on her
door.
‘Daddy? I’ve waited so long for you, how I’ve missed you’ she
flung her arms round him once she opened the door.
‘I miss you too my darling girl’ he pressed hisl-ips against hers,
while his hands roamed her b©dy and searched for an opening i
her night go-wn.
‘Wait, how about mum?’ she whispered.
‘She’s asleep, I as-sure you’ he sli-pped a hand un-derneath her
nightgo-wn and reached for her p@n-ties.
‘I love the way you make me feel’ she m0@n ed softly against him
as his f!ngersreached her core and stro-ked it gently.
‘I live to plea-se you’ he replied and carried her gently to the be-d.
He p@rted her legs swiftly and plunged de-eply into her, he
m0@n ed against her hair while her soft cries of ecstasy brou-ght
him to his peak.
‘That was awesome, let’s go again’ she sma-cked his backside.
‘No honey, there are things we must talk about’ he declined and
sat on the be-d facing her.
‘Things like’? She wondered.
‘Your mother is suspecting me, she feels I’m seeing someone an
you know that isn’t right for us. I nee-d her to trust me’ he
ca-ressed her hand.
‘Yes, she c@m£ to my room asking me questions about the fight
had with Grace, I think she feels you sle-pt with the maid and I
found out and fought with her’ Rose replied dryly, not a bit
interested in her mother’s suspicion of their affair.
‘What did you say in return’? the Pastor asked eagerly.
‘Nothing, I told her Grace disrespected me and that was all’ she
replied.
‘Good, we have to be very careful, that’s why I’m doing this’ he
focused on her face. They had to st©p seeing each other for a
while to mellow Helen’s suspicion, maybe if he spent more time
with her, she’d believe he was innocent.
‘Excuse me? Why should we st©p seeing each other, you know I
can’t do without you? How do we stay ap@rt from each other?
How could you even say this’? Rose was exasperated.
‘Hey baby, it’s for the best, if your mother ever finds out about u
you know what that means, plea-se, you have to un-derstand,it’s
just for a while’ he begged.
‘I can’t believe this, so because you’re scared of her, you’re now
ending our relationsh!p, tell me, who do you love more? Helen or
i?’ She rose to her feet and pointed a f!nger to his face.
‘I am not scared of your mother, why are you even asking that’?
he wasn’t plea-sed with the way she was handling the whole thin
It was simple, they take a break and resume when things were
alright.
‘Really? Just get out of my room and don’t ever come back, you’ll
pay for this’ she scowled.
‘Baby? Why do we have to quarrel about this? plea-se don’t push
me away’ he begged.
‘Goodnight father’ she shut the door against his face and sobbe-d
uncontrollably on her be-d.
How could her mother jeopardize her relationsh!pwith her father
She wiped her face and vowed to deal with the woman later, she
had her plans, she knew her mother was cheating, all she nee-de
was evidence, but for the mean time, she nee-ded someone else i
her be-d.
***
The morning had come very fast, maybe because I was so
nervous that I couldn’t sleep or maybe because it was a short
night.
I did the dishes and swept the house, what surprised me was th
my employers were still asleep, it was eight A.M and no one was
awake. I sighed and continued dusting the chairs, the house was
really unkempt, I began to wonder what Madam’s daughter did i
the abs£nce of a maid.
‘Good morning gorgeous’ Mark walked past me.
‘Morning sir’ I bec@m£ nervous, I didn’t want to get personal with
him, I preferred we stayed formal, so I called him ‘sir’. After
seeing those pictures of him and Grace, I nee-ded to be careful.
‘Funny, call me Mark or forget it’ he laughed and fetched a can of
soda from the fridge.
‘Okay’ I replied silently and continued with my cleaning.
‘Don’t you talk?’ he gulped greedily from the can.
I shook my head in answer, what was I supposed to say. ‘Hello,
found an albu-m in my room and I saw pictures of you and
Grace’.
‘You know, Grace was a real talker, very lively and fun’ he smiled
as images of his love flew past him.
‘You guys must have really been close’ I said.
‘Yes, I wouldn’t lie, I loved her very much, but it hurts me that sh
didn’t feel the same way, I was re-ady to do anything for her’ he
sighed and tossed the can into the trash bin.
‘What makes you think she didn’t return your love’? I was
curious, the picture I saw the night before was a proof that she
was crazy about him, she’d seemed so happy and content.
‘She left. She just packed her things and left without saying a
word to me’ I could feel the pain in his voice.
‘I’m so sorry, if you really love her, you could search for her and
find out why she disappeared’ I suggested, that was really
strange. The Ita’s were a very rich family, why would someone
want to leave such comfort? I wondered.
‘I want to make something very clear to you Ajunwa, I hired you
here to work for me and not to s£dûç£my son’ Helen had
awoken and to her dismay, she found her son chit chatting with
the new maid, that wasn’t the problem, the subject of their
discussion was Grace, the very name that gave her goose
pimples.
‘;Good morning Ma’ I bowed my head while Mark gaped at his
mother in disbelief.
‘You didn’t have to say that mum, we were just conversing’ he
walked out on her angrily.
‘If I ever find you two discussing about that miserable girl, just g
your things and pack out of this house’ Helen yelled and left for
her garden. She nee-ded to think, she nee-ded to clear her head.
‘Yes Ma’ I nodded.
As she stormed out, my eyes followed her, I noticed how angry
and defensive she bec@m£ anytime Grace’s name was mentione
My being employed was a pure miracle as I shared a strong
resemblance to this Grace.
Something wasn’t right, ‘A house of secrets’, I recalled the words
from the note.
‘If you’re done gaping outside, I nee-d my breakfast’ it was Rose’s
turn to terrify me.
***
The smell of her garden lilies and roses gave her life as their swee
scent infiltrated her nostrils. She nee-ded to think, she nee-ded to
plan. First, Nelson and her were never to see each other again, b
he had seen something, the decayed hand that he disposed. No
she thought about it, she hated herself the more, she had been s
carried away, now he knew something about her family that she
wished it to be secret forever. There had to be only one way to
end that, she nee-ded to kill Nelson.
‘Here’s your breakfast ma’m’ I placed the tray in front of her, I
noticed she was lost in thought.
‘Wait’ she beckoned on me and I waited, at that same moment,
her daughter Rose joined her for breakfast.
‘You can go, meet me later’ she dismissed me, I wondered why
she had called me, it seemed something weighed heavily on her
mind, did she want to sack me? I wondered as I walked away.
‘Good morning mother’ Rose greeted and shifted uncomfortably
in her sit, she didn’t like the look her mother gave her, that
pene-trating gaze.
‘Morning my darling child, how are you this morning’? Helen
sipped from her mug. She had her plans, she’ll set her husband
up with the new maid to test his loyalty since he feigned
innocence.
‘What’s on your mind? You don’t look well’ she observed her
mother, maybe her father was right, they had to slow down else
they’d be heading for disaster.
‘Nothing Rose, nothing much, I want to go shopping today, fetch
me Nelson’ Helen sighed.
‘Okay mum’.
***
He woke feeling sated, he’d had a good taste of his darling the
night before, it was then time to go about his normal activities. A
a pastor, he had a lot of work to do, when he wasn’t organizing
programs or attending meetings, he was counseling members o
his congregation.
‘It’s going to be a glorious day’ he hummed a tune and rose to hi
feet, luckily, his wife was not there to start a fight. He checked his
file and went throu-gh his day’s activities. He didn’t have a Person
as-sistant like most pastors because Helen had offered to do that
job freely, but now they weren’t on good terms, he had to find
someone capable of handling his personal files.
‘Mark it will be’ he decided to use his son, though the boy was
busy, he could squee-ze out some time to be with his father.
He smiled as he thought about his children, years back, they had
all been kids, now they were mature, most importantly, his Rose
was grown enough for their relationsh!pto blo-ssom fully.
His phone buzzed and he rushed to pick it, he never missed his
calls, his members called him all the time, and he was willing to
pray or give them advice pertaining to whatever situation they
found themselves.
‘Hello, it’s Pastor Ita on the line’ he answered and waited for the
person on the other line.
‘I know who you are, what you’re doing makes me sick, I am
going to tell’ the caller replied.
‘Hello, who’s this?’ the pastor asked, but the line went dead.
***
He’d been lost in his own thoughts, though he’d acted like what h
saw didn’t bother him, he wasn’t able to sleep the night before, h
had a bad feeling. He’d been having an affair with the pastor’s
wife, but helping her dispose of a human p@rt is something he
didn’t bargain for. Though he’d buried the hand somewhere, his
conscience pricked him thor0ûghly and he knew the only way to
feel better was to confront his mistress about it. However, that in
itself was folly, he had so much to lose.
As her lover boy, he had gained so much, she gave him money
which he used to care for his family, so confronting her could
cause her to end the relationsh!pand revoke the favours.
‘No’ he shook his head, he had to tre-ad softly till he got what he
wanted, once he was done, he’d dump her like she never
mattered.
‘Come on in’ he called to whoever was knocking.
‘Mother nee-ds you in the garden’ Rose stepped into his room.
‘Alright, I’ll be there soon’ Nelson rose to his feet. Helen’s daughte
was very beautiful, he had eyes on her once but she was snobb
and very arrogant, that killed his appetite.
‘Your room is beautiful’ Rose scanned his ba-re b©dy, she
suddenly felt moisture between her legs as she imagined him
ma-king love to her.
‘Thank you’ Nelson replied, it seemed she had something else to
say.
‘Can I ask you for a favor’? Rose asked sweetly. She was hor-ny
and she nee-ded to quench the fire between her legs since her
father had abandoned her.
‘What’s that’? Nelson narrowed his brows.
‘I want you to k!ssme.
TBC…..