“Some people are strange.
Do not test a strange man with a
woman.
You will be disappointed.
You will cry and gnash your teeth.
His eyes are everywhere.
He walks back and forth
seeking whom to devour.
He can give any girl a chase.
If you want peace,
do not give him the key to your
heart.”
It was a lazy sunset. I
visited my friend. When I knocked on the door, his wife responded from the
other side. She asked, “Who’s there?” Her voice was as soft as the savannah
breeze.
Smiled paraded my face.
The person that I had really come to see was in. “It’s I, Dalmos,” I replied in
enthusiasm. I just could not wait to get into the house. I hope that if my
friend is not in as it is sometimes, we will see each other. Keep the feelings
alive until we are too weak to continue. She always get the best out of me.
Quickly, I threw the door open and walked into the house. Stood akimbo in the
middle of the sitting room, I probed, “Where is your husband?”
She
stared at me and returned her gaze to the mirror. She answered, “He went to the
bar. I thought you were together.”
“No, I have better
things to do with my life, Lizzy. He will not stop drinking. If he’s asked to
choose between you and a bottle of beer, I doubt if you will ever cross his
mind,” I enthused, smiled lewdly, walked to her, and sat down beside her. “You
look so beautiful today. You are hot, baby! You deserve something better,
Lizzy.” I could not hide my lust for her anymore. We have known each other. I
have almost lost count of the number of times I had my way and every time we
did it, she enjoyed it. I was the new kid on the block and she was my fantasy!
“In this age and time, I
wonder how you are able to get your women. You don’t have anything new to say,
Dalmos,” she quizzed, smiling. “Be romantic for once. I have always had the
best. The best things in this life are for real.”
I cocked my head. “You
cannot stop being philosophical. Do I take the remark for an approval?”
She paused. Lowered her
mirror and turned to me. “Approval? For what?”
Chuckled, I explained,
“The last time I brought you to your knees, you never wanted me to go. You were
all over me. It was a pleasure you did not want to end. I am proud that I could
make you happy. You know the difference. My friend looks frail from many years
of drinking alcohol. I know he is never at his best. If he is not complaining
about his waist, he is crying about lack of energy. That is not good enough,
Lizzy. You are young. You are ravishing. You need a real man in your life!”
She stopped applying the
makeup to her face and turned to me, she asked, “Did I ever tell you that my
husband is not good on the bed? I lovee your energy does not mean you have me.
Please we are too close. He must not meet us like this, Dalmos. Go and seat at
the other side.”
“I did not come here to
look for trouble!”
“Dalmos,” she shook her
head. “We can’t do anything today. My husband is around. I just told you he
went to the bar across the street.”
“I heard you loud and
clear. He is always drunk. We are too smart for a fat drunk like him!”
She dropped the mirror
on the table and our eyes met. She said, “I know. Dalmos, you cannot always
have your way. Respect me and show your friend some respect. Even though it is
difficult to resist you, I will prefer we do it some other time or somewhere
else. We cannot have sex in this house today. I just do not want it to happen.
He did not go far. You can take me out if you wish. Take me anywhere. I am not
comfortable doing anything in this house. This is my matrimonial home. Let us
honour it.”
“Don’t be scared!” I threw my hand around her
neck. “I will be fast! I promise!”
“STOP! Don’t push your
luck too far.” She pushed him away. “You
are going to get us in trouble!”
Her words were ignored.
Before she could blink, I pounced on her. Grabbed hold of the loosed end of her
wrapper and forcefully slipped into her. She elicited a loud moan. She
struggled valiantly as I ravaged her with my huge frame. Soon we glued to one
another. I could see her tears of joy, which only came to an abrupt end because
her husband staggered into the sitting room.
He was furious to see me
humbling his wife on the bare chest of the earth! The man was heavily
drunk. Yet, he could tell something was
not right. His own friend was bruising his wife. “Why is this happening in my
house?” he cried out. “Dalmos, what are doing to my wife? Lizzy, why?” he threw
out another question. The gift he bought for his wife slipped from his hands.
I jumped to my feet and
my pant hung loosely to my waist. I tried to run but I stumbled on a piece of
furniture and crashed on the floor. My friend pounced on him and we began to
share blows.
Not satisfied with the
delivery of his old fists, the man jumped to his feet. He dashed into the room
and returned to the sitting room with a cutlass.
I was already on my
feet. Sadly, I have sustained injuries from the fall and was limping to the
exit. The cutlass wielding man descended
on me and lost his footing. He landed awkwardly on the floor and never
recovered. Happy that the weapon did not hit him, I dashed out of the house and
limped across the road.
Suddenly, a dreadful
heart attack struck the man. Lizzy, his wife tried to revive him but could not
prevail. Sensing that her husband had gone to meet his ancestors, the woman
burst into tears. She wept bitterly.
She blamed herself for
his death. She had betrayed her husband. With nothing better to do, she rose to
her feet and rushed to the kitchen. She searched everywhere and found a knife.
She paused and looked at the piece of steel as if she was pondering what to do
with it.
Once she was clear on
how to use it, she grabbed hold of the knife and pierced her veins and the
knife slipped from her hand. As she bled from her hand, she staggered back to
her husband and fell on him. She bled until she walked along side him to the
silent world.
Dalmos did not stop
running. Trying to keep his pace and looking back at interval, he ran into the
path of an oncoming vehicle and added his poor soul to the tragedy. The
truck knocked him off the road and he landed on the sidewalk with his face to
the ground. The truck driver sped off.
Dalmos choked and gasped
in the pool of his own blood. He struggled valiantly against the incoming
blackness and breathed his last.
*
* *
Mollech was right and I
was wrong. I felt ashamed of myself. My action had robbed the couple of their
lives. The sacred bowl was worth the risk and stress. The scene disappeared
from our gaze and my distress mounted.
I burst into tears and
fell to my knees with nobody to console me. Mollech was cold and crossed his
arms over his body. Then he coughed and our eyes met. He shook his head. He
swallowed hard and said, “Find your home in the north!” He turned and walked
away.
“No! I am coming with
you!” As I got up and raced after him, the ground underneath me cracked as if
an earthquake was imminent. Goz and his men emerged from the ground. They
overwhelmed me and one of them knocked me over with a single blow.
I cried aloud, called
the dwarf, “Mollech help me! Help me! Do not do this to me! Help me!” My cry
ignored as Mollech faced the way he had come.
After covering a short
distance, he paused and turned to me. He said, “My pact with you is done,
Dalmos. I was punished because of you.
“I rescued you from your
tormentors when I should not have done so. When you escaped, I had no choice
but to find you and bring you to them so that I can be free.
“Now I am free to water
my garden and catch as many fishes as I want in the river. You do not need me
anymore. I doubt if our paths will ever cross again. If we eventually meet
again, please bear no grudge against me. I did what I had to do, because it
profits me nothing to share in your pains. It’s sad but it is true.”
After the long oratory,
he waved his tiny hands at me. He turned and walked away. He never looked back.
Mollech walked very fast until he moved into a shadow.
It was my cross. It was my sacrifice. It was
my misfortune. My lust had brought this upon me.
As they pummeled me to
the ground like a common criminal, one of them tied a rope to my legs and
dragged me into the ground. One after another, Goz and his men followed us into
the ground. Once the ground had swallowed us, the crack disappeared.
other stories from the heart of Africa
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| Omoruyi Uwuigiaren |
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