ROSA, MY LOVE
CHAPTER 3
That night, I called Rosa to see if I could cancel her program. She didn’t pick. I texted her on WhatsApp, still no reply. I got a bike and went back to her house, but I didn’t meet her at home. Her neighbours told me that she talked of going to see an aunt of hers who lived in a nearby village. That village didn’t have network. It now made sense why her number wasn’t going through. I went back home, vexed. As for Sandy, I couldn’t stop her. There were no explanations I could give for stopping her. So, I decided that whatever happened the next day, I would face it like a man.
The next, day, I was at work when Sandy called that she was in town. I called her to come to my office and get the key to my room. A few minutes later, she arrived the premises and walked straight into my office, looking beautiful.
“Hi Sandy, you look good.”
“Abeg, don’t start. I am with a bike and it’s waiting for me outside, can I please have the keys?” She was impatient.
“Bush girl.” I spoke. “You are not even happy that I am appreciating your beauty.”
“Is it a new beauty?” She replied, walking away. “What should I cook for you?”
“Egusi pudding.”
“Alright, see you when you close from work.”
“Have a nice day and be safe.”
“You, too.” She replied and went out of my office.
After she had gone, I tried calling Rosa again by her line wasn’t still going through. What was I going to do? I was terribly vexed. On a normal day. Rosa would have normally come to my office for the daily savings. I would have then looked for a means of preventing her from coming to my house. However, now, her number wasn’t even going through. What was I going to do?
I was home now. It was around 7:30 PM. Sandy and I were at home, watching a movie after a good knacking when I heard a knock on the door. I already knew Rosa was going to show up since I hadn’t been able to cancel her program. So, I had tried to do what I could to save the situation in my own way. I told Sandy that should any body knock the door, she shouldn’t open, in fact, she shouldn’t even answer. She agreed alright but as you know, you can never be too sure with women.
“Who is at the door?” Sandy asked.
“I thought I told you not to answer?” I whispered to her.
“Why shouldn’t I?” She sneered. “Tell me you are not hiding something?”
“I am not hiding anything.” I whispered back, quickly.
“Then open the door and let us see who is there.”
“I won’t”
“Then, I will do so myself.”
“You dare not.”
“Watch me”
Sandy walked up to the door and opened it. Standing there was, you guessed right, Rosa, looking beautiful with a new hairdo.
“What do you want here?” Sandy asked.
“I want to see Obi and who are you?”
“I am his girlfriend.” Sandy said with confidence.
“He didn’t tell me he had a girlfriend. Please, if he is in, I would like to see him.”
“I am sorry, you can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I will make sure that doesn’t happen. You better leave now before something bad starts happening to you.”
At this point, I realized that I had to intervene in order to stop a major escalation. I came to the door, shifted Sandy to one side and spoke to Rosa.
“Obi, what is the meaning of this?” She asked.
“I am so sorry, Rosa. Guess I told you about Sandy before.”
“Yes, you did, but you weren’t explicit enough. By the way, why didn’t you tell me she was coming today?”
“It was so urgent, and I tried getting to you without success. I am so sorry, Rosa.”
Rosa looked at me for about thirty seconds, then she spoke.
“What do you want us to do now?” She asked.
“About what?”
“I am talking about sleeping arrangements, because I am not going back.”
“You are going to sleep here?” I asked, confused.
“Yes, I am. I am at my boyfriend’s place. Since you have decided to become a polygamist, then be prepared to live like one.” She said, pushed me to one side and walked into the room.”
“What is going on here?” That was Sandy talking. “You are allowing her to enter here? You want her to spend the night here? What disrespect, Obi.”
“You have to understand, Sandy. It’s late for her now. Her neighbourhood is quite unsafe, and she can’t go back. For the sake of her own safety, let her stay. She will leave very early tomorrow morning.” I tried to make Sandy see reason.
It was getting tense now. Before I knew it, Sandy had grabbed Rosa’s handbag and threw it outside. Rosa grabbed hers too and attempted to throw it outside. Sandy held her hand and they started fighting. I tried to stop them, but Sandy landed a hot slap on my face. I retreated immediately and went out of the house.
My neighbours heard the commotion and came out of their houses, some to watch the drama unfolding for future gossip, and some to stop the fighting. After about forty minutes, my neighbours succeeded to separate them. By now, they both looked tired and bruised.
“She will never sleep in this house.” Sandy was still fuming.
“But Obi is not married to you nah? What is your problem?” The beautiful neighbour that was giving me greenlight asked.
“If you don’t mind what to say, it’s going to start between both of us right now.” Sandy warned.
I realized that there was no way Sandy and Rosa would spend the night in that same room. So, I pleaded with Rosa to spend the night at the greenlight neighbour’s room, since she lived alone. After almost an hour of hesitation, she agreed. I went back to my room and Sandy was still fuming.
“Useless cheat.” She spoke. “So, this is what you do when I am away?”
“Don’t say that. She is my ex-girlfriend who just came into town. We have nothing going.” I lied.
“My friend, stop lying. No ex-girlfriend would exercise so much right over you. You deliberately brought your girlfriend to come and fight me.” She was accusing me.
“I didn’t and you know it. By the way, I told you not to open the door, did I not?”
“I have every right to open the door. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have known the kind of games you play. But never mind, let the games begin. Don’t be angry when I start showing you my own colours.”
“Goodnight, Sandy.” I said and turned off the light. I was tired of her rantings and needed some rest. She talked for about thirty more minutes before drifting off to sleep.
Early, next morning, I went to see Rosa at the neighbour’s house, but I was told she had left already. I called her line, but it didn’t go through. I went back to my room and Sandy was still sleeping. I bathed, dressed up and headed for work.
Sandy stayed in my house for two weeks. She was supposed to stay just for a day. However, in order to prevent Rosa from coming, she prolonged her stay and delayed her departure. All that period, I didn’t see Rosa. She refused to take my calls and also refused to reply my texts. She suspended coming to collect her money for savings too. I knew she was very angry with me. I was not the type of person who visited people unannounced. So, I couldn’t go to her house to check on her.
Meanwhile, Sandy and I had managed to reach a truce. We were now living normally as if nothing had happened. But I was beginning to notice some little changes around her. She was spending more time on her phone and always talking to someone I didn’t know. However, I decided that I would investigate. But there was no way I was going to do that because I didn’t have access to her phone. I was highly suspicious of her.
One day, the was a power cut and her phone had run down. She seemed to have an urgent need to use Messenger. It looked like she had to meet someone online. So, she begged to use my laptop. It was fully charged, and I was online, using my Wi-Fi box. It was a perfect opportunity for me to track her activities, so I readily accepted. I gave her the laptop and she logged in to her Facebook account. While she was chatting on Messenger, she positioned herself in such a way that I would not be able to see who she was chatting with. I had no worries because I already had my plans.
After about an hour, I quietly turned off my Wi-Fi box and the laptop’s internet disconnected. She was furious and asked me what the matter was. I lied to her that my data was finished. She was very angry, abandoned the laptop and went straight to sleep. What she didn’t realize was that she was still logged on to Messenger. That meant as soon as internet was restored, I would have access to her account and thus would be able to see the mystery person she had been chatting with, and also all the other games she had been playing.
When I was sure she was really deeply asleep, I turned on the internet again, took my laptop, clicked on the Facebook icon and to my greatest delight and relief, Sandy’s account opened in front of me. I went straight to Messenger and began my investigations.
TO BE CONTINUED…