SO NOT LOVE
Episode 12
VICTORIA’S POV
I got down from the motorcycle that had brou-ght me to my parents’ house and paid the rider. I was wearing the gate man’s shi-t which I had borrowed to cover my thin nightgo-wn and I was thankful that I had collected it because the night was cold. I walked the house which had no gate and knocked on the front door. I had knocked almost nine times before my younger brother opened the door, surprised to see me. He ru-bbe-d his eyes and moved out of the way so that I could go in.
“Sister, what are you doing here by now?” He asked, yawning into his fist.
“Don’t worry about it… Just go to be-d, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I said and locked the door while he returned to his room. I walked to my sister’s room and sle-pt next to her.
In the morning, I felt someone tapping me. I opened my eyes to find my mother staring down at me.
I slowly sat up, ru-bbing the sleep off my eyes. “Mama, good morning.” I greeted.
“What are you doing here?” She blurted without even responding to my greeting then placed the back of her hands on her w@!st. “Do you know that we have been looking for you for since yesterday? Your husband c@m£ to us and complained that you ran away from home with another man? Is that how we brou-ght you up? To be gallivanting all over the place opening your th!ghs for whoever is interested? Don’t you have any shame?!” Her loud voice woke my sister up, who sat up to look at us, surprised to see me. “Why are you so bent on bringing shame to this family? Why do you want to disgrace your father’s name? After everything Daniel has done for you, now you want to repay him by becoming a w—e? You should be happy that you married a good man? How many rich men would go throu-gh the pains of marrying someone who’s not even in their clas-s? Is he not satisfying you in be-d? Doesn’t he meet your S-xual nee-ds? Why do you want to defile your marriage? Where did this promiscuity come from? Definitely not from me because I know that besides my first b©yfri£nd, Ikenna, your father is the second and last man who has gone in between my th!ghs?! If I had known, I would have gone ahead with the cir¢v-mcision. I would have re-moved that thing you call a c–t that’s now bringing the spirit of infidelity into you?!”
I heaved a sigh. “Mama, will you at least hear me out?”
“There’s nothing to be heard!” She snapped. “We went around looking for you. Your husband has explained it all. He told us that you would try to defend yourself with lies and he’s right because that’s exactly what you are doing right now!”
“Mama, what did Daniel tell you people?” I asked.
“He told us that he took you out to a p@rty to have fun and show you off. He just left you for just five minutes, common five minutes to go urinate and you alre-ady jumped into another man’s car and disappeared. He called you on the phone several times but you busied his calls. When you even finally picked his call, he begged and begged you to come home, even to the point of crying but you hung up on him!”
I gaped up at my mother in shock. “Mama, Daniel said that?!” I asked in disbelief.
“Oh! So you think he would not tell us! He c@m£ here complaining bitterly. He threatened to even divorce you since you are not being a good wife to him but I had to go on my knees and beg him along with your father. He has told us how you refuse to wash his clothes, cook his meals and even S-x! S-x that is very important to him, his own God-given right, you refused him that and then he had mistakenly spilled a wine on you while you were yet asleep and that was why you had dashed down here to lie against him that he had urinate on you! Ha! Adanna, to say that I’m very very disappointed in you is an un-derstatement! In fact, I regret giving birth to you! How can you take such a man for granted?! Don’t you have a heart! This man loves you to the core and yet you treat him so bad! See, if I had my way, I would have replaced you with your sister, Linda, at least she has more s-en-se than you do!”
“But Mama, I didn’t do any of such! Daniel is lying, just see what he did to me…” I started to pu-ll the side of my shi-t and night go-wn up to reveal my bruised side when my father appeared and harshly interrupted me.
“Will you shut your mouth!” He barked and I quic-kly dropped my go-wn. “So this is what you are, a green snake un-der the green gras-s. All these time that you have been running to us and pretending to be in a very loveless marriage, it was actually the other way around. You were the very evil in your own marriage. I felt so sorry for that young man and I regretted that it had to be my daughter treating such an upright man in such a manner. Anyway, I have just called him…” He lifted a hand holding his cellphone. “…to tell him that you are home and he will be here in the next thirty minutes to pick you up. We should be thankful to God that he’s willing to take you back. If he had gone ahead and divorced you, I would have disowned you and wouldn’t have let you back into my house. When he arrives, you are going to follow him back home and beg him seriously. I don’t care how you do it but you must settle differences with him! Be a good wife the way we raised you. Love and respect him. This family must not lose such a potential in-law. We are nothing without him! Do not ruin this for me, Victoria, or I’ll never forgive you!” He stated firmly and I helplessly kept mute since there was no nee-d trying to defend myself.
Daniel was cynical but my parents had failed to see that p@rt of him and once again, I was stuck in my dilemma. Men were all the same! They are cheats and untrustworthy. I had trusted Chris to do much and yet he had ended up slee-ping with Uju after I refused him S-x. I decided that it was better to stay with the devil I knew than the angel I knew nothing about. If my fate was to remain in this marriage, then Daniel it is.
Forty minutes later, I was in the car sitting next to Daniel as he drove us home. He kept glancing at me as something sinister went throu-gh his mind but I ignored him and kept a straight face with my eyes fixed on the road. He kept glancing at me and thoughtfully running his chin with his index f!nger and I saw his eyes moved down to my w@!st, to linger between my th!ghs. I adjusted and placed my hands right on the sp©t to conceal it from his view. He said nothing to me throu-ghout the drive back home. But when we reached home and got into the house, he threw his car keys on the coffee table and began to un-bu-tton his shi-t. As I made for the stairs, his unexpected question made me pause.
“Did he f–k you?”
With my back still turned to him, I remained there for a moment without a word.
“Are you deaf?” He drew closer. “Musa told me that you were picked by a man that night I kicked you out and I know that it’s definitely that guy from the club! I’m sure that he has been the one you have been with all this time, so answer my question, did you let him f–k you?
I slowly turned to look at him and muttered. “No.”
“And why should I believe you?” He shrugged off his shi-t and tossed behind him on the couch then began to unbuckle his belt. “You have been with him for more than a day, I know how h0t you are… No man would spend an hour around you and not want to t©uçh you. I feel that you are looking me right in the face and lying to me.”
“What do you want me to say? Tell you that I had a very good time with him or that he plea-sured me in ways that you have never done before.” I spat and a sl@p c@m£ out of nowhere and heavily struck the side of my cheek, ma-king my head fall to my shoulder. I slowly lifted my head with my hand on my cheek.
“You will shut that tra-p you called a mouth, you c–t! You think any other man would want you or can plea-sure your rigid b©dy the way only I can?” He chuckled wickedly, unZi-pped his p@n-ts with one hand then re-moved it till he was standing in just his bo-xers and I noticed that he didn’t discard the belt like he had done his other clothing, instead he folded it in two and held it firmly in a hand.
“Is that why you told my parents all those lies? To paint me black? First, you left me stranded on the road, next, you hit and kicked me out of your house in the middle of the night and yet you went with your deceitful self to fill my parents ears with lies about me running off with another man and denying you S-x?”
Episode 13
“Yes, after all, isn’t your refusal to have an-alS-x with me the same thing as denying me S-x?”
“I’ll never do it!” I stated firmly.
“Really?” He stared at me with the sinister smile I had seen in his eyes while we were in the car.
“I’m your husband, Victoria…” He said quietly then pointed at me with the folded belt. “And you see that b©dy of yours, it’s mine to do as I plea-se with because I literally bought it. Your parents sold you to me and I’m still paying for it now by footing the tuition fees of your siblings and meeting the financial nee-ds of your parents. I have had enough of your stubbornness and today, first, I’ll find out if another man has entered you and next, you are going to give me that p@rt of your b©dy that you have been denying me whether you like it or not!” He started to come towards me.
I started moving backwards up the stairs. “Don’t come near me…” I said in a feeble voice and I could see the determination in his eyes. “Don’t come near me, Daniel, I’m warning you.” I said, moving away from him. But as he suddenly lunged towards me, I turned to flee but he caught the back of my leg and st©pped me and we began to struggle on the stairs. He gave me several resounding sl@ps to get me to cooperate and st©p screaming then f0rç£fully carried me over his shoulder down the stairs before dumping me heavily on the couch.
I looked down and realized that he was ha-rd “Daniel plea-se, don’t do this!” I cried out as he s——-d me on the couch to keep me there. “Daniel, plea-se I beg of you, don’t do this…” I begged in a teary voice.
“This is to teach you not to go running off with some other man!” He hissed. He took off his bo-xers and tossed it on the floor. I realized that there was a bottle of lubricant on the floor beside one of the legs of the couch which meant that he had planned this all along. When he was n-ked, he tried to go for the shi-t I was wearing, trying to un-bu-tton it. When I refused, he struck me on the face again and gr@bb£d the t©p of the shi-t in both hands and pu-ll-ed it with such f0rç£ that some of the bu-ttons flew off, ex-posing the nightgo-wn un-der it.
He f0rç£fully took what was left of the shi-t off me then went for my go-wn. I tried to fight him off but he was stronger. He pinned my hands together above my head, gr@bb£d the nightgo-wn and r!pp£dit off, tearing it off my b©dy. Leaving my upper b©dy n-ked. He was like a man un-der an influence. He stared at my p@n-ties, held the thinner p@rt between my th!ghs and pu-ll-ed so ha-rd that the material f0rç£d itself and bruised me but he didn’t care, he r!pp£dand to-re the p@n-ties and left the shreds around my w@!st.
Then he f0rç£d my th!ghs open and groped me with his f!ngers. I struggled and tried to squee-ze my th!ghs closes but he f0rç£d them open by punching me on the th!ghs ma-king the sp©t numb. When my th!ghs weakly fell open, he shoved two f!ngersinside of me to confirm if Chris had had S-x with me. As if not convinced yet, he f0rç£d a third f!nger into me and I cried out in pain. He let his f!ngerslinger in there for a while and only pu-ll-ed them out when he was done confirming what he wanted to confirm. He got down the couch, and dragged the lower p@rt of my b©dy to the floor so that the upper p@rt of my b©dy remained on the couch then he fli-pped me over so that I was on my stomach and I was kneeling in front of him.
I tried to scramble from his hold but he suddenly gr@bb£d my arms and twisted them to my back, ma-king me yelp. With his belt, he tied my wrists together and left them on my back so that I was helpless. He knelt down behind me so that I had no chance of escaping then he gr@bb£d my back. Holding my th!ghs ap@rt, he gr@bb£d the lube and squee-ze some of it on my an-us and then did the same onto himself before he set the lube aside.
I was shivering now, dre-ading what was about to happen. “plea-se…” I managed to say against the couch as a tear sli-pped down my eye.
“I will stay still if I were you.” He uttered and gr@bb£d me. Then he f0rç£d himself on me I stiffened and then squee-zed my eyes shut as I felt his pressure on my an-us. I br@ced myself for what was about to happen and that was when I felt him plunge himself into me. I screamed out in pain and writhed violently, trying to squee-ze him out of me as the pain intensified at the invasion. He held my w@!st firmly and wouldn’t let me go. When he realized that I wouldn’t st©p screaming, he yanked off what was left of my p@n-ties from around my w@!st and f0rç£d it into my mouth till my screams were muffled. Then he continued with what he was doing and each movement only intensified my pain. I was almost foaming from the month now and was sweating profusely and I pas-sed out.
I started to come to when he finished satisfying himself, he untied my hands and re-moved his belt, picked his clothes and went up the stairs leaving me there. I remained in the position for a while. I couldn’t feel my arms any more. I coll@psed to the floor, wra-pping my arms around myself with my face almost pressed against the lower p@rt of the couch. I cried helplessly, regretting all the decisions I had made. At that moment, I hated my parents but I hated Daniel more. I felt like going into the kitchen, gr-abbing a knife and stabbing him to death but I was too scared of ending up in prison. I wasn’t going to shorten and live my life behind bars for his sake.
After half an hour later, I heard him come down the stairs and from the fresh smell of his perfume, I knew that he had had his bath, dressed up and was going out. Even though I was backing him, I felt his eyes on my back.
“You had better had gotten off that floor cleaned yourself up before I return, I’m bringing a guest home tonight.” He told me and I heard him walk out of the house. After I heard his car pu-ll away and drive off, I slowly got up, and I could ha-rd ly walk. My stomach hurt and my an-us hurt worse. I managed to go up the stairs, I entered the bathroom and wept profusely while I had my bath and when I was done, I realized that there were small stains of blood on my white towel after I wiped between my as-s crack. Limping back into the room, I gr@bb£d my smartphone and ordered an Uber then walked to the closet and began to select and pack up some of my clothes into a bag. I took everything I’d nee-d, went to my husband’s wardrobe and gr@bb£d some bundles of money where he stacked some of them. Before, I had never been so bold to take his money but today, I was going to steal it. I have had enough and to hell with this marriage. I made sure that I took up to a million naira and stuffed them into my big handbag.
When I was done, I glanced around to see if I had forgotten anything. When I was sure that I had taken virtually everything I nee-ded, I walked into the bathroom, re-moved my wedding ring and tossed it into the sink. It clinked, went in several circles before settling down and vibr@ting to a st©p. I heard a honk outside and I knew that the Uber had arrived. gr-abbing my luggage and handbag, I walked out of the house, never to return again. I didn’t know where I would go to just yet, all that mattered was that I wanted to be as far away as possible from the beast I called a husband. As soon as I sat in the cab and it pu-ll-ed away, I re-moved my SIM cards, broke them half and tossed them outside the window. I was going to start a new life afresh and I was going to do that without Daniel and Chris in it but unknown to me, Chris’ car turned into my street from the other end and st©pped in front of my gate while the Uber turned into the main road and joined the traffic, taking me far away from what was now my past.
CHRIS’ POV
I st©pped my car in front of Victoria’s house, got down and walked to the gate. I knocked on it and on the second knock, the gate man who was rolling a feather in his ear, opened the gate and stepped out with his shi-t slung over his shoulder and he made a face as the feather tickled inside his ear. “Oga, good morning, na who you dey find? (Boss, good morning, who are you looking for?)” He asked me, leaning his back against the gate.
“Good morning.” I answered then pointed at the house with my car key. “This is where Victoria lives right?” I asked.
“Shey my madam? (Do you mean my madam?)” He asked.
“Yes, of course, your madam.”
He hesitated then pu-ll-ed the feather off to check then clean the end of it by dragging it upward between his thumb and index f!nger. “Madam don commot o… She just commot now now. (Madam has left. She just left now.)”
I took off my sunshades and glanced down the empty street. “What do you mean by she just left now?” I asked.
“Madam dress fine, carry her bag commot from here. The bag big as if she dey travel but me from the way wey I see am, e be like say madam no go come back this house again o… She even dash me 15k kon tell me say make I take care of myself. (Madam dressed fine and took her bag out of this house. The bag is big as if she’s travelling but as for me, I don’t think she’s coming back to this house anymore… She even gifted me fifteen thousand naira then told me to take care of myself.” He explained.
I glanced down the street now, not believing that I had just missed her. “Did she tell you where she was going to?”
“No… She no talk anything. (She didn’t say anything).” He shook his head then returned the feather into his ear.
“What car did she leave in?”
“Na Uber.”
“Thank you.” I said and dashed to my car. Started it and sped down the street hoping to catch up with her. Well, I couldn’t find her and went back home feeling very dejected.
As I slumped on my couch, Uju who must have heard my car, c@m£ down the stairs dressed provocatively again.
“Obim?” She called and I glared at her. She had succeeded in driving the one woman that mattered to me out and she still had that mouth to call me Obim.
“See, Uju, I’m not in the mood for your nons-en-se today, so just leave me alone.” I said tersely.
“Is it because of the aunty? Is that why you are behaving like this? What happened last night? You were almost inside my Jerusalem. I had alre-ady thrown open the garden of Eden for you, why didn’t you enter?” She asked.
“I’m not interested in your garden of Eden or whatever you call it. If you know what’s good for you, you had better pack your things and go back to the village!” I snapped.
She remained undaunted. “Me, I’m not going anywhere o. Obianuju is here to stay? What do you want me to go and do in that village? Only me in your father’s house so that those stupid elders can be paying me unnecessary visits all in the name of coming to check on their brother’s wife? Do you know that I caught one of them peeping on me when I was in the bathroom and the other one, the short one with white beard was busy pressing my che-st in the night bus we took while I was asleep. I only pretended not to notice because I didn’t want trouble as for the third one, whenever he’s talking, he will stand so close as if he wants to put his mouth inside my own. All those men, they are old per-verts! Serious ones!”
“And why are you telling me this?”
“I’m telling you so that you will know that I’m h0t cake. If I should return to that village, I’ll get pregnant within the space of a week.”
“You were married to my father for two years.” I said with a serious tone now. “How come you never conceived for him?”
She began to scratch the back of her n£¢k and head now as she evasively replied, “Eh? Pregnant? Ehen… Well… Let’s just say that your father wasn’t interested in a child yet.”
“That’s a lie!” I spat. “My father married you only because he wanted children since I was the only child from my mother.”
“Why are you bringing up your father na? He’s dead so plea-se let his soul rest in peace. But wait, not that I’m barren o. If you want me to get pregnant now now now now, I’ll. All you have to do is tell me that you are re-ady.”
I gave her scornful look. “So I’m the one who’s interested in having kids with you, right?”
“You nee-d children na. This house is too big for the two of us. Small noise from eleven children will be enough… It’s supposed to be ten but let’s just say that the eleventh one will be by mistake…” She chuckled, “We didn’t plan it but it entered.”
“Eleven what?!” I asked in surprise. “What are you trying to do, start a football team? Don’t you know anything about family planning? What do you nee-d eleven children for?”
“What? You can take care of them. Don’t you know that a man is respected by how large his family is?”
“That’s nons-en-se!” I said then narrowed my eyes as I scrutinized her dressing, recognizing it now. “Isn’t that Victoria’s go-wn?” I slowly rose, realizing that it was actually the go-wn Victoria had worn to the club where I had met her.
She smiled and glanced down at herself. “E fit me abi? It’s too ti-ght but I f0rç£d myself into it.”
“Where did you get it from?”
“Outside on the rope. The thing has been there since and sun was killing it so I decided to use it. It’s S-xy, right?”
“Something must be very wrong with you, will you go upstairs now and take it off?!” I snapped.
“Why?” She gave me a confused look.
“Because it’s not yours? What happened to the clothes I bought you?!” I inquired..
She pouted now and grumbled. “Obim, me I didn’t come so that you’ll be shouting at me o. I c@m£ to make love.” She pu-ll-ed closer to me.
“What could you possibly know about ma-king love?” I stared at her in disgust
The she started narrating all the adult films she had watched and different things they did and that was when I know what she meant.
“You must be out of your s-en-se if you think I’ll go down on you.” I stated and shrugged her arm away as she tried to t©uçh me. “Uju, get your heads out of the cloud, I have told you before and I’ll repeat it now. Nothing is ever going to happen between us, never! Not now, not ever! I have had a long tiring day and I nee-d a bath, excuse me!” I angrily brushed her aside and went up the stairs to my room.
Tossing my phone and car keys on the be-d, I began to undress. As soon as I was done undressing, I walked into the bathroom. While I was in the shower, Uju, crept into my room, locked my door and threw the key un-der the be-d then she quietly undressed and headed for the bathroom too.
To Be Continued…