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My Story πππ
The realization that the woman k!lled her maid made my spirit week all day. But at night, an idea struck…I can’t just keep silent for nothing, I had to do make something out of the situation.
The goal is to utilize every opportunity at all time.
The next morning, being a Sunday, after most neighbors had gone to church, I walked down to their flat, knocked twice at the and waited.
“Becky! go check who is at the door”. I heard her calling out to her daughter.
Few seconds later, I heard the girl’s tiny voice from within.
“Who is there?” She inquired.
“It’s me, your neighbor”. I answered.
She opened the door immediately.
“Aunt good morning”. She greeted, as she ushered me in.
“How are you?”. I was saying as I stepped into the passage.
“I’m fine thank you”. She replied.
I waited while she struggled with the door for a while. Afterwards she led me to the sitting room.
Her mummy was sitting on the floor in the living room. A couple were sitting on a couch close to where she sat, and was whispering some words to her.
As I aproached them, I discovered her eyes were red and swollen, suggesting she has been shedding crocodile tears.
“Good morning”. I greeted, and took a seat away from the couple.
“You’re welcome”. The man answered.
Just then Mr Fred hurried out from the room, doing the button of his shirt.
“I have to report at the police station right away”. He said to her the the couple. By then, he was doing his collar.
“Sorry for your loss, sir. God knows the best”. I consoled.
“Yes, I like that. God knows the best. Who knows whether the devil has planned worse, but God just shewed you away with this”. The man added.
“Those men are evil!. What do they achieve in killing an innocent kid?”. The woman asked, shaking her head.
“Hmm, my sister. I’m just speechless. For the past one week, I haven’t been going to work. Police station everyday, no…. Only God will judge them”. He prayed.
“Amen!”. The couple chanted.
He picked his car keys and left.
Poor man! If only he knew he was actually living with the devil. .
Mummy Becky was sobbing quietly all through.
“Anna, you have cried enough. Do you want to die and join Amaka?. What has happened has happened. The lord knows you really tried. The girl just left house without you sending her out, and you didn’t keep calm when you discovered she left. She involved the police as soon as possible. You and your husband are good people. Stop crying and focus on your children first”. The woman consoled her.
She picked up a toilet paper from the floor besides her, rolled out some piece blew her nose into it and pressed it hard into her palm.
Her actions made me have double mind about the whole thing, but I was so sure of what I saw that night.
“What about her parents?, have you informed them about this?”. I heard the woman asked again.
“Her mother died during labor. She has no father cuz the girl was never married”. She replied.
“So she had no family?”. The woman was curious.
I also wanted to know.
“She had just her poor grandmother”. Mummy Becky replied.
“Chai!, so painful”.. The woman said, shaking her head pitifully.
“We told her about the disappearance, but yet to let her know that we’ve, we’ve found her corpse”. She cried.
“Anna, I said it’s okay”. The woman quarrelled.
After a while, the couple whispered something to each other.
“We shall be leaving. Once again, sorry for your loss”. The man said as they stood up to leave, much to my resh….been praying for them t take their leave so I could state my mission before other sympathisers start coming.
“Thank you so much for coming. Anna said.
….. Becky! come and close the door”. She called out to her daughter after the couple had gone.
The boy came out instead.
“Becky is in the toilet, let me do it”. He said, and ran off towards the door.
“Come out from that door, Steven!”. She yelled at him as she stood up immediately.
After she closed the door, she came back to her position.
“It’s a pity, that girl died, such a hardworking girl. I began.
She didn’t not say a word. She just sat there nodding her head and staring into space.
….But how long do you intend to deceive the people?”. I asked.
She paused and turned to look at me.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
“Stop giving me that innocent look right now”. I said.
“What, what, what are you talking about?”. She stammered, lowering her voice and looking around nervously.
“You don’t know what I’m talking about”. I asked.
“Ofcourse, I don’t know”. She replied, widening her eyes.
I stood up to leave(though I never meant to).
“Don’t worry, I should have gone straight to police station”. I said.
Just the way I prayed, she called me as I was about to enter the passage.
“Okay, okay, okay, wait, wait”. She called back.
I turned around.
“Do you now know what I’m talking about?”. I asked.
She nodded.
“Good”. I muttered and walked back to my seat.
She stood up to join me.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t plan to k!ll that girl, I’m not a murderer, I’m only a victim of circumstance. She began after a moment of uncomfortable silence.
….That girl got me angry. I was cooking that evening when I asked her to put three cubes seasoning into the pot, only for me to find out later on that she added ten instead. Out of annoyance, I hit her on the head with the iron spoon in my hand, and that was the end. She fell down and stopped breathing immediately. Nina, I was scared, I was helpless, I didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t easy for me to take such decision.”. She narrated.
“How you k!lled her does not matter, what matters is that you’re her k!ller”. I said, after patiently listening to her tale.
” I know, that is why I am scared. Please, Nina. She made an attempt to kneel down.
… don’t report me to the police, don’t, please. I don’t want to go to jail, look at my children, very tender. Please, my sister”. She was pleading.
“I won’t report to the police only if you do what I ask”. I began.
She blinked her eye severally.
“What should I do?”. She asked.
“All I need right now is your cooperation”. I said.
“Okay, I will comply”. She nodded
“Good…”.
We were interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Please, let me check who is there”. She said.
She went, and came back few seconds later with a lady who turned out to be an old school mate of mine from the university.
What a small world!.
She was the last person I expected to see, and I was sure she doesn’t wish to see me either.
“Krishna, this is my new neighbor, Nina. Nina, my friend, Krishna”. Anna introduced.
“Hmmm”. I hummed.
The lady mumbled a smile and sat down.
I got up to leave immediately.
“Madam, if you want me, you know where to find me”. I said, and left.
Krishna and I used to be close back in our school days but the relationship was ruined after she started having misconception about myself and her then boyfriend, Kinsley(story for another day) Since then, she has been seeing me as an enemy…
Β© Joy Ifunanya
