When love dies episode 27
* When fear strikes us, we tend to loose sight of what fear really means. .. “”
Damilola
The gate kept ban-ging as the person behind it was furious to get in. Who the hell could that be? The sound woke me up from my afternoon sleep. I went out towards the balcony to take a look at the intruder.
” Umaru ” I called out to my gate man.
He rushed out from the back yard and stood beneath the balcony. His singlet sagged and his trou-sers were soa-ked with sweat. I wondered why he chose to be stupid. I paid him good money, but he never took care of himself.
” What have you been doing ?
” Madam…” he began ” you dae do am for jugging”
He must be mad or something. I couldn’t believe my ears. He was jugging, and left the gate post unattended. Umaru had been my gate man for years and I let him stay even when he annoyed me most times . He was a married man and had a wife and numerous kids to feed.
” You are mad’” I said ” Umaru you hear me ? You are insane. Who did you leave the gate for? Can’t you hear that ban-g on the gate. Who is there?
He turned and looked at the gate . He behaved as if he couldn’t hear a single sound. He turned back to me and said. ” Madam ,,, Nob©dy I dae knock for gate nah”
He went to the gate and put his ear to hear the sound. I watched as he bent his n£¢k to listen. I was hearing the ban-g , it was loud and driving me crazy.
” What do you mean? Open the gate and check”
When he unbolted the lock . He went outside. He c@m£ back , looked left and right but no one was in sight. I must have been dreaming, I pinched my left arm to be sure… No I was awake.
” I no see anyb©dy o” He blurted out.
” Are you sure?.. OK lock the gate”
Immediately he locked it. The ban-g c@m£ again, this time even louder. I covered my ears and ran into the sitting room. I couldn’t take it anymore.
” Bisiola….”. Bisiola …” I cried out.
She c@m£ from running from the kitchen and I saw how calm she was. I was confused , am I the only one hearing the disturbing and ear piercing ban-g?
” Bisi ? Bisi What ….What— what is that noise? I fretted and shivered as fear gr!pp£dme and sweat breaking from every p@rt of my b©dy.
” What sound? She asked
” You can’t hear it?
” No ma,.– I can’t hear anything.”
I rushed outside to check for myself. I was afraid to unbolt the gate. I reluctantly peeked throu-gh the pigeon hole on the gate. I saw no one. Only the empty street. I walked back into the house. Somehow, the sound had st©pped.
That night , it c@m£ again..
This time ,times ten of the initial one in the afternoon. I covered my ears with the pillows and screamed out loudly……..
Katethrine
” Who the hell is Elisha? ” I asked Mimi.
I forgot entirely about his identity ,but I knew he was someone to reckon with, someone we had known in the past .
” Oh Geez… Our friend Elisha ” She looked surprised ”
You can’t remember ? Elisha , the guy whom you thought wanted to d@t£ you…. He was always writing you short notes back then in high school.. He always acted like a girl, eventually you found out that he was g@y and only wanted to be friends with you.”
I shook my head like a lizard waiting for an illumination from the sun. I remembered Elisha , who always wore a pink dress and had funny eye glas-ses with his hair always conditioned . I had wondered if he was given birth to, like that. If his parents cared or was he just another version of Boborisky and co?
I enjoyed Mimi’s and Elisha ‘s company back then. But I had to cut short of most friends when I got pregnant and dropped out of school. Only Mimi remained dear to my heart: A sister I never had.
” We’ll go to his hair saloon today” Mimi continued” Rumour has it that his , is one of the biggest in PH (Port Harcourt ).
” Seriously?..”
” Trust me babes, Elisha’s the new thing in hair dressing and beauty treatment”
Mimi smiled and gulped down her entire jui-ce, while I managed to sip mine.
We left her house and visited Eli’s spar. It was hvge and expensively designed . Inside, we reminisced and talked about a lot of things. It felt good meeting old friends again and I enjoyed the moment.
Days pas-sed and time flied , I started noticing that Gabriel bec@m£ conceited and he would stay out all night. He would return home dead drun!kand some times sle-pt on the pavement outside the door. It broke my heart to see him behave in a manner that was appalling .
He was never a drinker , at least for six years we had been married. That changed and succeeding nights he c@m£ home , he would open the fridge and say crazy things like
” Who left the headlamp of my car on?..
” Kate ,why is this toilet so cold?”
” Why is this thing always on silent mode… It doesn’t talk. Kate I think we nee-d to re-br@nd and re-new this machine”
His voice was always ti-psy and annoying.
I cried bitterly in my heart and prayed dearly: something I never did before .
” Gabriel , why have you turned yourself into a mere drun!kard? ” I asked him one night he c@m£ back with his shi-ts hung over his n£¢k and his belt half buckled.
” Well … My dear wife” he began” My love for you is driving me crazy. . I can’t help it every time I think about you and everyone else , who wants to leave me.. I left Dami…. Sorry I left my previous work to be with my family…..”
He shook his head and fell de-ep into the cushion before he belched and continued .
” My family was more important to me. Now see me, see me Katherine. Katherine , I’m useless. I’ve fallen de-ep into temptations , So de-ep that I regret what I have done . My dad left me and my sister when I was still twelve . Mama cried her eyes out for months, I bec@m£ her comforter, husband and son. It hurt so badly that I couldn’t do anything to ease her pain.”
” Gaby..My–my love” I began pas-sionately
” No listen to me , I never told you this before , because I hated him so much.. I did . Yvonne was still five then the night he left. Katey , He left– He left us for his other family and never c@m£ back. He never ca–c@m£ back” .. His voice croaked and tears clouded in his eyes.
” Soon you too will be leaving me for that rich guy- Yes that rich guy. I know you haven’t made up your mind yet, but not for very long.. Not for very long..”
His last s£ntence caught de-ep into my heart. I pitied the man he had become. He was now a shadow of his self. I knelt down and wiped away the tears in his eyes. I was not happy, not at all. His sudden behaviour was not attrac-tive and disgusted the hell out of me.
” Why would you think of me that way ? I said ” I love you .. I love you with all my heart and wealth is secondary. Our family comes first”
I left Andy out of my speech because that would add more salt to Gabriel’s injury. I was not that type of lady.
I grasped the bottle of beer from his hand ,placed it on the table and stro-ked his face gently.He was a bit drun!kbut was not in stupor.
I guided him gently , raised his arms and beckoned on him to come along. He followed me religiously and we shut the door behind us . His arms pressed my bu-tt softly and he pushed me so ha-rd onto the be-d that I hit my head on the wooden frame.
TBC