The Landlord and His Tenant
Episode Three
“I want to abort the baby. My conscience won’t allow me to keep the pregnancy. Please, I want the baby flushed.” Ije tells the doctor. She was in tears. The result of the sperm analysis is out and it confirmed that her husband John is incapable of getting a woman pregnant as he suffers from a server low sperm count. Ije’s heart was broken and her spirit was totally shattered.
“You can’t do that. Remember you and your husband have been looking for children all these years. Now that you have conceived, why are you bent on terminating the pregnancy?” Dr Joe asked Ije. Ije has known the doctor for a long time and he has been her fertility adviser since she got married to her husband.
“I do not think I can give birth to another man’s child under my husband’s roof. What if he finds out? He would kill me if he finds out. I want the child aborted immediately.” Ije shouted.
“You can’t just waste the innocent child like that. Can you listen to yourself? You have been looking for a baby and now you have it. And I just told you your husband is unable to father a child. In my opinion, you have done him a favour by sleeping outside to get pregnant. You have helped him to validate his manhood. Keep the baby Ije, trust me you will never regret keeping this child.” Dr Joe said.
“I ask again, what if my husband finds out one day? What if the child looks like the landlord and he started asking questions?” Ije asked. She was still crying profusely. Her head was bursting out of confusion and the mental stress she has gone through since conducted the pregnancy test.
“Are going to tell your husband?” The doctor asked.
“Of course not. I can’t tell him the truth.” Ije said. She removed a piece of tissue from her handbag and wiped mucus from her nose.
“That’s exactly the point! If you don’t tell your husband, he will never find out. So the child will be raised as his own. And since he is incapable of getting you pregnant, you can as well get pregnant again from outside. There is nothing wrong with that provided the two of you are happy.” Doctor Joe said. All that he was saying was sinking deep into Ije’s heart and she was convinced that she needs to keep the baby. She summoned courage and put herself together and then went home to her husband.
Meanwhile, Ije’s husband received an email that afternoon telling him he has was successful in an interview he attended a week ago. When he informed his wife, she was all joys. The salary for the new job is N550,000. What made her happier was that the new job comes with a free three bedroom apartment and she and her husband were given a week to move in. He was also given an official car.
Within three days, Ije and her husband packed their property and moved. She did not even bother to say goodbye to the landlord. The house where they moved into is located in Lagos Island and it would be hard for the landlord who lives in the mainland to keep seeing her. Or so she thought.
“I’m so happy this has happened. I don’t know how to express my joy. We have finally moved out of that compound. Far away from that shylock landlord who ate my body for his rent. It was my fault sha.” Ije tells her friend Linda after she called her.
“My dear, I’m so happy for you and your husband. Everything has worked out for your own good. You are the winner in the end. Come to think of it, you are expecting a baby, your husband got a new job, you people got a new car, and a new house. Wow! This is great and I tap into your amazing blessings.” Linda says. Whenever Ije calls Linda, their phone conversation is usually very long.
“My dear, I was so worried at first but my mind is now settled. I’m now happy that the landlord will never see me again. He nearly killed me with heart attack.” Ije said.
“But you are the one who opened for him to enter now. Lols! Why are you now heaping the blame on him alone? Bad girl!” Linda said amid a raucous laughter.
“I was just trying to use my assets to help my family. It worked out well because he waived our rent. Just that the pregnancy part was not expected at all. It threw me off balance.” Ije said, as they both laughed and ended the call.
Three days later, Ije received a phone call from the landlord.
“So you think you will just disappear without saying goodbye. You think you will give me sugar to eat just once and run away? You think I will just let you be?” The landlord asked with anger in his voice.
“I have nothing to do with you anymore. We no longer live in your house and you are no more entitled to my body.” Ije said. She did not expect the phone call from the man.
“Young lady you are lying. That was not the agreement we had. The agreement was that you will continue to visit my room in settlement for the house rent. The house rent is N350,000. How can we do it just once and you say N350,000 is finished? I even gave you additional N50,000. That money is big enough to marry a new wife. See, if you know what is good for you, find a way and send N400,000 to me within the next one week, if not, I will expose you to your husband and the entire world.” The landlord threatened Ije.
“You can do nothing. Go to hell.” Ije shouted over the phone and ended the call. She was the only one at home that day as her husband had gone to work.
When she ended the call, a message entered her Whatsapp. She opened it and saw a video of herself and the landlord in each other’s arms. She did not know that the landlord captured everything they did that night with a small camera hanging on his ceiling. Ije was devastated. The landlord now has her nudes, not just the nudes but a video of their escapade.
“There is fire on the mountain.” Ije said as her phone fell from her hand.
Watch out for episode 4
