CURSED DESIRES 7
I realized how hard I’d hit her when she petered out! My head felt like eight carpenters hammered it. I hadn’t been so hostile to my wife but she had uttered the most preposterous thing.
How could she say that the three kids are not mine? The three kids our six years old marriage had produced? For the fear of the unknown, I had to rush her to a nearby clinic. The kids had to stay at our neighbor’s apartment for the time being.
It was out of tension that I’d called Uche. He was very shocked to hear that my wife was being hospitalized just a few minutes after we’d spoken on phone. He told me to pull myself together, that he was on his way.
I sat on a bench in the corridor with my elbows on my knees. The chicky nurses swivelled their little tails past me. I wasn’t in the mood to look at women. The better thing to do, was mould up the cause of the accident before Uche rode in. It didn’t make sense to tell anyone the reason I’d hit her. I had to tell Uche that I didn’t know she was behind me when I swung my hand to kill a fly. No, that didn’t make sense at all. I wasn’t thinking straight. How could one have used so much energy just to kill a fly? How could a fly even be in the sitting room? Useless, useless!! I got up and hiked towards the wall.
The desk attendant looked copiously at me. Soon, a long bald head like a big drum towered in the doorway. It was Uche. Even the cursed had come to sympathize. Whenever I saw Uche, I saw a miserable man. A finished man! He was no better than a corpse. I just leaned my head and hands against the wall, staring drowsily at him.
He approached me with eyes full of questions. He asked me what had happened. I exhaled emphatically then led him to the ward wherein she lay with a swollen face. I didn’t even know the words to use. I just told him that I hit Angela while we were arguing. He asked what we were arguing about that had lead to such violence. Now, this was the block junction. I stared from him to Angela who watched us with half closed eyes. I had to take my friend outside. I told him she needed enough rest. I suddenly asked about his wife. He said she was fine then fixed a foxy look at me.
I shrugged and tried to grin my way out. I told him it was one of those things but I knew I’d lied to myself. Then my next actions were unexpected. I lost my cool. My eyes blinked rapidly. Uche was my friend no matter the odds he was facing so, I had to tell him the truth: my wife had said the kids were not mine! How could that be? I looked into his eyes, expecting him to express doubt but he rather bit his lip. It was unbelievable indeed! I grinned at him.
But he asked me a similar question: if I had checked myself medically. I never expected this. I felt disappointed. How could Uche of all people ask such an absurd question. If I wasn’t the father of my own kids, who else was?
He told me to follow him outside. What was he up to? I had to follow him out. He laid me to a secluded spot and began to speak in breathy tones. He made to kneel before me but I stopped him. What the hell was he up to? He asked if I remembered him telling me that the doctor had confirmed him to be very fertile. The said doctor also pointed out that there were serious indications that he’d been sexually active in the recent years. Why was Uche beating about the bush for Christ’s sake?
He told me he had a question to ask before it was too late. I told him to go ahead and ask me any question but didn’t expect what was coming.
He asked if by any chance I’d slept with joy back then. I asked him which of the Joys he was yapping about and he gave me a cold look. I scratched my jaw. It was history anyway. I asked him what if I’d laid her just once.
There was a resigned expression on his face but he didn’t really let it slide. His two hands went over his head the next moment. What was that about? Hold on, why were they asking me similar questions? There was a sick hollow feeling in my head. I felt heated up. Uche looked withdrawn from me. The next moment, he said I was responsible for all the pains he’d been through over the years, for all the guilt and blames!
He said he no longer felt guilty for sleeping with my wife all the periods I’d been on business trips in recent years. I had only come home, made some snippet loves to my wife and scrammed.
My eyes totally went round. This was the shocker itself. I took some steps backwards breathing fire and broke stone.
However, after a while, I came back to my senses then laughed wildly. This curse had really gotten the better half of my friend. He was finally at the hallucinating stage. Had he not been impotent and miserable all these years? How effective had Oketa’s charm been after all? I’d clearly warned him that the aftereffect could be calamitous. It turned out to be a woeful gamble…
