MY SPIRITUAL WIFE
EPISODE 19
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I had to readjust my seating position at the sound of the question.
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“Paul! I said, am I interrupting another sex session?” The question came again.
“Please who is this?” I managed to mutter.
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Something about the tone of this question got me uneasy. The calmness; the precision; the conviction in it, sent my mind places.
My heart skipped in irregular beats. The pace at which was suddenly dazing. I broke into a sweat the moment my mind strayed to whom I’d presumed was on the other end of my call.
I sensed trouble, I just didn’t know what kind.
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“My name is barrister Mark. I am the landlord of the house you currently reside in. Multiple reports coming in from the lodge this morning say that you did not allow fellow occupants of that property recline in peace last night. They even said that that wasn’t the first time either. Paul, what do you have to say for yourself?”
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I felt cold shivers run down my spine. I tried very hard to hold the phone to my ear but it was now seemingly difficult to, especially with the state at which my hands were suddenly in.
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Barrister Mark didn’t need to have made all that lengthy introductions. Of course I knew who he was. He was my father’s friend; my father’s best friend. They’ve been friends since childhood.
In other words, Barrister Mark abi Uncle Mark (like I fondly call him) is my “godfather”.
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I got this admission with Uncle Mark’s help; with his influence.
Uncle Mark gave me this room in his lodge, for free. “It’s the least I can do joor. You can call it my own little contribution; my seed into Paul’s academic sojourn”. He’d told my father; his friend turned brother.
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I opened my mouth to say something; anything at all but words eluded me.
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“I don’t understand what you’re talking about sir.” I finally found myself muttering.
“You don’t understand what, Paul? Are you suddenly daft?” Barrister Mark threw at me, indignantly.
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“I also heard the same noise last night. It was so loud and discomforting. It certainly didn’t come from my room. I am shocked to hear that I’ve been pinned to it. This is a complete fabrication Sir; a false accusation.” I said, in a single breath.
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“Paul!” Uncle Mark called out.
“Sir”.
“Open the door for me!”
“Huh?”
“You heard me. I am by your door. Open the door for me my friend!” Uncle Mark commanded.
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At this point, it was as though the ground should open and just have me for whatever it deemed befitting.
I was naked. Like, not a single cloth on, “NAKED”. My room was in a mess too. Janet and I had scattered; littered the whole place in the heat of things.
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I scrambled to my wardrobe to get whatever I could lay my hands on, as clothing. I rearranged the room as shabbily as I could in the time I had.
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I was unlocking the door barely a minute later ( a minute that felt like an hour of having made Uncle Mark wait outside my door.).
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Uncle Mark stepped into my room. He walked past me without responding to my “Good morning Sir” greeting.
Uncle Mark went straight into the bathroom, to the kitchen and then to my wardrobe to take a peek. Only God knew what he was looking for, but whatever it was, the manner at which he left my room that morning confirmed that he didn’t see it.
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“How are your studies, Paul?” Uncle Mark asked, with a straight face.
“Very fine, uncle. It has been very tasking though but I guess if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t have been considered schooling to begin with”. I said with a grin, hoping it’ll be humor enough to crack Uncle Mark a smile but I was wrong; it didn’t.
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Uncle Mark scanned me from head to toe with an eye that seemed to see through all my mischiefs.
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Uncle Mark spoke a few words of admonition before he left. He dipped his hand in and out of his pocket and handed me some naira notes.
(I counted later to discover that they were five notes of five hundred naira, each.)
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I got back into my room shortly after I walked Uncle Mark to his car.
I laid face flat on my bed, trying to take everything in; trying to wrap my head around what’d just happened and how closely I’d dodged a bullet when my phone began to ring again.
It was a number that I was not familiar with. At first, I thought it was Uncle Mark again. I thought he was calling back this time, to tell me that he’d gotten more evidence nailing me to the accusation, but I was wrong.
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I reluctantly picked up the call as it was just about to end.
“Hello” I called out.
“Hi Paul. Am I interrupting another sex session?”
To be continued…
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Moshood Avidiime
