MY WEDDING NIGHT
EPISODE 15
“Who the heck is that?” a lady suddenly screamed from the be-d, switching on the electric table lamp by her side, and revea-ling her face in the process.
She was no other person than Esther ha-rd ey. The lady i c@m£ looking for.
I breathed de-eply, drew back, locked the door and switched on the main lights of the room which equally revealed my face to the frightened lady.
“Oh shi.t, you?? You got to be kidding me” she instantly smiled on seeing my face, equally regaining all her composure as if she was sure i wouldn’t do anything to her. I quic-kly pu-ll-ed out my gun from the jacket while she scoffed on seeing it.
“Oh plea-se” she hissed, sat up on her be-d, gr@bb£d a stick of cigarette and lighted it.
“What the hell do you want?” she asked coldly.
“You have to tell me how you did it or i swear, i
will b!ow off your head right now. I didn’t come
all the way here to laugh with you” i threatened
seriously. Esther breathed de-eply, stared at me
for some seconds before shrugging.
“fine, sit down you will have your story” she said
cautiously.
“Don’t worry about me, just talk” i pushed on
harshly.
“But why the fv¢k do you want to know how your
husband died?. Anyway here is your story. You
are still going down no matter what” she said
with a smile, reached for the bottle of strong
wine by her side, poured out a sh0t and gulped it all down.
“You Africans are very dumb. You are nothing but
an opportunist. You deserve whatever that is
coming to you” she breathed fiercely.
“do you know that I’ve been with Damian since
my childhood. We were together all throu-gh high
school and college. We were together till a silly
friend of his dragged him to Africa. Everything
changed from that moment, but i still waited and
hoped. Then what?” she st©pped, shook her
head, su-cked on her cigarette and blew out thick
clouds of smoke, equally studying me cautiously.
“I heard that a fv¢king black like you has gotten
him completely off the hook. It was unbelievable.
I couldn’t take it. I swore to ruin everything” she
poured out while my hand trembled.
“I made plans with my cousin who agreed with
me in everything. We all joined Damian’s mother and her train. Together we c@m£ to Nigeria” she st©pped and blew out more smoke from her mouth.
“Do you smoke?” she asked quietly.
“No just continue with the story?” i urged.
“We arrived Nigeria and i still tried my best to
st©p him from marrying you but no he wouldn’t
listen.
So after the wedding when everyone was
carried away with excitement. I discreetly told
him to meet me at the garden by 12am. It was a long wait, but he finally showed up and i got him distracted while my cousin slit him up. It was a clean revenge, but the whole plan changed when we got to the room and saw you de-eply asleep.
Instead of killing you, we decided to pin the
crime on you by getting your prints on the
murder weapon. Unfortunately your mother inlaw spoiled everything the next morning by pu-lling out the knife from her dead son’s b©dy. Anyway you are still damned. I heard the case is being moved over to my country” she concluded with a laugh while a cold shiver ran down my spine.
That exact moment, someb©dy pushed on the
door leading to the room which i earlier locked,
drawing my attention and equally ma-king me
take my eyes off Esther.
With that split opportunity, she pounced on me
like a tiger, knocked me down and opened the
room door. A white muscular guy walked in and
grinned at me.
“Oh what do we have here?” he asked with a cold
smile. I instantly knew he was the murderer. The idiot that murdered my husband
EPISODE 16
I picked up my gun and nervously pointed it at
the hvge white guy who simply scoffed, drew
forward and gr@bb£d the gun, sl@pping me at the
same time and s£nding me down with a ferocious
kick on my left leg.
“bit-ch” he cursed coldly, while Esther placed a
hand on his shoulder and laughed.
“I heard noises from my room. I couldn’t imagine
who you were talking with by this hour, so I
decided to check up on you” he explained while
she nodded.
“Yea I knew you would come. That was why I
slightly raised up my voice when talking to the
idiot” she replied and spit on me. I stared at
them like a caged animal, clueless on what next
to do.
The tape however was still in my jacket
recording everything that was happening, but it
equally added to the tension in me. I was scared
they were going to search me and discover it.
“So what’s she doing here?” he asked Esther who
shrugged and eyed me.
“the bit-ch broke out of detention to query me on how her silly husband died” she answered.
“Now what do we do with her, should we wake
everyone in the house and tell them of her
pres£nce?” she asked the guy.
“We have to tie her up first before thinking of
what to do next. Hold the gun, let me go get a
rope” he answered and pas-sed the gun to her.
“Don’t try anything funny if you still value what’s
left of your life” he threatened and headed to the
door while i shook with fear.
Fortunately as he opened the door to leave the
room, a big stick landed on his head, s£nding him
back to the room with a powerful f0rç£ while he
screamed out in pain.
I couldn’t believe my eyes as i saw my brother
walk into the room like a super hero. I was over
joyed and stunned. But my joy was short lived
because Esther instantly drew back with fear,
aimed and fired the only bullet in the gun at my
brother.
“Nooooooo” i screamed and leaped at her like a
hyena…. Of course the whole plan looked ruined
that fateful moment.
MY WEDDING NIGHT
EPISODE 17
I pushed Esther to her be-d, gr@bb£d the gun and
rushed to my brother who luckily was still
standing.
“Are you hurt?” i asked nervously.
“Thank God she missed, let’s get out of here” he
answered and held my hand, but instantly, Esther
gr@bb£d me from behind and dragged me back to
the be-d, delivering few punches on my face.
My brother tried separating us but the muscular
white guy closed in on him, throwing out a punch
which my brother dodged. In no time, the room
turned into a battle field.
My brother and i desperately struggled to wade
them off and run away, while Esther and her guy
did everything possible to hold us back. It really
was a violent confrontation. In no time we were
all bleeding.
However the earlier gunsh0t and noise we made
as we fought soon attra-cted everyone in the
house. In a matter of minutes the room was
filled with surprised white folks, the two Nigerian
gate men and two other black male servants.
We were instantly separated and surrounded
while Esther smiled with a triumphant look in her
eyes.
“They c@m£ to murder us in our sleep. Can you
imagine?. She even brou-ght a gun” She
complained breathlessly, while every other
person in the room g@sped with shock. Damian’s
mother c@m£ forward and looked into my eyes.
“How did you get out of jail?, why did you kill my
son, why are you here?, and what did we do to
you?” she asked coldly.
Tears fell from my eyes, I breathed de-eply and
controlled myself. I had to act cool. It was the
first time i was being given a listening ear.
“I never killed Damian, I never killed your son. I
doubt if any black woman will kill a man who has
good intentions for her. I c@m£ here looking for
answers. I had to br@ve all odds to be here. The
police believes Esther killed my husband. I had
no choice than to try get a confession out of
her” i poured out.
“Don’t tell me you are listening to that bit-ch?”
Esther suddenly shouted. I turned, looked at her
and smiled.
“Oh no they won’t listen to me, but will listen to
this” i smiled, pu-ll-ed out the small recorder
which surprising was still recording, st©pped it
and turned on the tape.
The whole room went dead as everyone listened.
MY WEDDING NIGHT
EPISODE 18
The tape wasn’t as audible and clear as i hoped
it would be, nevertheless it was loud enough for
everyone in the room to listen easily. My heart
pounded with excitement as everyone listened to Esther’s confession which really was accurate and up to point. Such a perfect confession it was…
Seriously Esther un-derestimated me by not
thinking that i could come up with such
invention. Yea just like most of the white folks in the room, she thought we blacks were foolish
and incapable of thinking straight. I never knew
what gave them such mentality, however i must
confess, none of them uttered such word to my
face but their behaviour clearly showed the
res£ntment.
The first rule of every fight is never to
un-derestimate your enemy but Esther clearly
abused that rule and sold out herself in a way i
never imagined. Seriously i never expected her
to give such detailed confession to me. It was
simply amazing and unbelievable.
Her behaviour was a very stupid one but to be
sincere nob©dy would have expected a woman in my condition to come up with such an awesome plan. She never had any reason to believe that I could come up with something very unique. In her mind I was a very bitter woman who might equally be mentally unstable due to the trauma I was pas-sing over my husband’s death.
As the tape pla-yed, she slowly coloured up while atmosphere in the room grew tense and grim. I f0rç£d out a smile, nodding as the message delivered across to everyone in the room.
On getting to p@rt where the fight broke out. I
switched off the tape and breathed de-eply.
“That’s what I c@m£ to get. That’s my defence.
I’m not a murderer. You all heard the confession” I breathed with satisfaction. My brother c@m£ forward and took the recorder from me while the muscular guy who fought us minutes earlier, rushed to my gun which was lying on Esther’s be-d, but before he could get to it, almost all the guys in the room, rushed and held him down.
Esther slowly sat on the floor and cried.
“This is a set up. Nooo” she cried. Damian’s
mother drew forward, hvgged me and cried.
“You just changed my believe towards Nigerians. You went all the way to the end of the road to prove your innocence. You did what only few women will be br@ve to do.
While i harboured my son’s killer, you took every
risk to find the truth” she cried bitterly.
“Mum plea-se st©p. I’m just satisfied that your
eyes has opened” i breathed.
It was such an emotional scene. Oh how I wish
you guys were there to witness it all.
So what happened after??…
MY WEDDING NIGHT
EPISODE 19
“You guys should plea-se call the police” Damian’s mother cried on my shoulder while one of the guys in the room left instantly to do her bidding. I also threw a look at my brother who quic-kly brou-ght out his phone and called detective Jeremiah.
“The police will soon be here, plea-se st©p crying. You got to consider your eyes” i begged solemnly.
“Let’s go to my room dear, we have a lot to talk” she said softly, pu-ll-ed away from me, gr@bb£d my hand and led me to her room while my brother stayed behind {with the other men in the room} to keep an eye on Esther and her so called cousin who hid his face with shame.
On getting to the old lady’s room, she prepared two cu-ps of h0t tea, offered one to me and drank the second one.
“I’m so de-eply ashamed of myself. I’m so sorry for everything. Seriously I have known Esther for such a long time. I never believed she was capable of committing murder in a foreign soil” she apologized softly with tears in her eyes.
“I have nothing against your behaviour towards me. Most women would do the same. So plea-se st©p troubling yourself” i begged.
“We are heading back to the states in two days. Hope you are coming with us?” she asked. I breathed de-eply and looked down.
Seriously i wasn’t expecting such question because all my focus was on exonerating myself to avoid standing trial in America but things now has changed. I had every reason to go with them, if not for anything else but to p@rticipate in my husband’s burial. But i just felt indecisive when she popped up the question. I couldn’t utter a word.
“You have to testify against Esther and her accomplice. They will stand trial in my country, moreover you also have a big role to pl@yin my son’s burial” she pushed softly.
“I know mum, but i do have some unfinished things i have to take care of in Nigeria. I also can’t stand the courtroom. I know how the justice system in your country works. Esther’s defence lawyer will try to tear me ap@rt. I really can’t stand any of it, not after all i have pas-sed throu-gh alre-ady. My heart is very broken. I nee-d time and space to heal. I believe the tape will be enough to convict her” i answered softly, tears filling my eyes.
“What are you saying?. You mean you are not travelling with us?” the old woman asked curiously. I dropped the tea cu-p i was holding, drew close and stared at her.
“I just nee-d only three weeks to recover and tidy up myself. I will come over in the fourth week. plea-se” i begged. She breathed de-eply and swallowed ha-rd .
“It’s okay, i un-derstand your position. I will keep the burial things on hold till you join us. But Esther’s trial will commence immediately we arrive the states” she said softly. I unsuccessfully tried to fight back the tears building up in my eyes.
Detective Jeremiah walked into the room that very moment with a smile on his face.
“The suspects are now in my custody but i’m afraid i also have to take Mrs Damian with me. You know she’s supposed to be in jail” he addressed the old lady who quic-kly sprang up to my defence.
“She’s not going anywhere with you. Moreover how the hell did she get out from your custody in the first place?. I don’t care how you do the paperwork. She’s not stepping her foot in any police premises again” my mother in law protested while the detective laughed and win-ked at me.
“plea-se you have to report to my office very early tomorrow. Hope you un-derstand” he said to me, bowed to the old lady and headed out of the room.
My brother however left with him while i spent the night with Damian’s mother and we really spent the whole night discussing and consoling each other like two old sisters….
______
EPISODE 20
I returned to my brother’s house by 7am the next day, Spent some happy moments with my sick mother before freshening up for the busy day ahead. I equally called my old father on phone and broke the good news to him.
Finally four days later, i travelled to the village with my mother and devoted three weeks of my time caring for her. I equally used the opportunity to make peace with God and seek his forgiveness.
Slowly the fourth week approached, bringing more bright moments into my life. I was now a changed person. A strong Christian and a cheerful giver.
But the most surprising moment of it all was when Damian’s mother surprised me with a visit early Tuesday morning of the fourth week. I never knew she was in Nigeria nor had any idea she was coming to my village.
She c@m£ with my brother who smiled as he noticed the surprised look on my face.
“We c@m£ to get you young lady” the old woman said as she hvgged me.
Three days later I found myself in America. Hmmm the reception they all gave me over there was quite stunning and three days after, more good news graced me. I did a pregnancy test which confirmed i was pregnant.
But it never really was all fun to me over there because I had to perform the last burial rites for my husband and equally testify on Esther’s trial, something I sincerly wanted to avoid but had to do in the end.
Esther got twenty five years s£ntence with her accomplice at the end of the day.
As at the time of writing this story, I’m still in the states with Damian’s mother. Yea i’m happy but not entirely happy because no matter what, I’m still a widow.
As for detective Jeremiah, I promised to handle the education of his first child, equally promising to take the boy along to the states the next time i travel home.
The detective was like an angel to me and without him, I won’t be writing this story.
** *** ** ** ** ** **
THE END