Episode 2
Jailed at 39๐ข
I worked a year and a half for Damilola before I finally executed my plan on the family one cold Saturday morning.
We all woke up and went about our normal businesses. To everyone else, that was their normal Saturday, but to me, it wasn’t. It was a special one, the day I was going to put the plan that had taken me so much time and energy to lay down, into action.
It has taken me more than eight years to get to this point and I wasn’t ready to go back.
After I had bathed the kids and brought them downstairs for breakfast, I went to my room, got the substance I had been keeping safe in my box for the past six years and went into the kitchen.
Ruth, the cook was turning the plantain on fire when I entered.
“You never done?”. I asked.
She shook her head for a response.
I leaned on the kitchen cabinets, thinking of the best way to introduce the poison into the food, when my eyes rested on a bowl of custard she had mixed and placed beside where I stood.
This is going to be just perfect. The substance was yellow in color and no one would be able to differenciate it from the custard color.
I watched her still concentrated on the plantain on fire and then I brought out the substance from my bra and just under a twinkle of an eye, untied the nylon and emptied its contents into the bowl, seconds before she turned from the cooker.
“Plantain don done oo, I will just make custard now.. water go soon boil”. She said, picking one slice from the batch and throwing into her mouth.
“Okay, please, be fast, the kids are really hungry”. I said, leaving the kitchen.
That girl almost caught me, but God…or should I say the devil stepped in for me.
“Ant, is it true that spader man is a woman?”. That was Junior, the youngest of the three kids asking as soon as I joined them in the dining room.
“No”. I replied, amused.
He looked at the two sisters and moved his head in triumph.
“Ya lying”. He laughed.
At this point, Dami came running downstairs on bare foot and still on her nighties. The kids ran out to embrace her.
“Good morning, mummy”. They greeted.
I watched her bent and give them kisses on their foreheads as usual and I smiled sadly.
If only she knew this was going to be the last she would ever do this. I thought.
“Good morning, miss Funmi”. She prostrated.
I smiled for a response.
“Good morning ma”. Ruth greeted as she put the tray down on the table and started dishing the food for the kids.
“Go and have your breakfast now, then you tell aunt Funmi to dress you up, we have somewhere to go this morning…we are gonna have fun… but that is on a condition that you left nothing in your plate this time… deal?”. She had said.
“Deal!”. They screamed in unison and with that, they ran back to the dining to take their positions.
“Funny people”. She smiled before she went back upstairs.
They rushed the food, that in no time, the plates were empty.
I called Ruth to come clear the dishes.
They ran upstairs excitedly to announce to their mother that they were done with the food.
“I was the first to finish…is not true, I finished before you….”. They kept arguing on their way before their voices disappeared into the other part of the house.
Poor kids! they would now die for what they know nothing about. I thought tearfully.
Now, your question is, ‘why am I doing this?’, right?. That you will find out too as the story unfolds….
Story by โ Joy Ifunanya
