FAIRY-TALE: BANG BANG!

CLICK HERE For Part 1  Part 2  Part 3

Ola! You two timing bastard, best friend indeed, Ola! How could you? How could you? Rape? Ola? Ola? Speak before I commit murder. He just stood there frozen looking at me.

I wasn't sure of what to do; i walked back to the lounge of the suite as I was keen on knowing what transpired. Sat on the sofa and patiently waited for my so called best friend to join me.

Ola finally summoned the courage to walk out, and as soon as her saw everyone, he screamed in his defence “I didn't rape anyone, this crazy bitch tried to kill me because…” “Because…….” “That is all I am going to say”

I turned to Temisan, “what does he mean by he didn't try to rape you” “you said he did”

My God, is this a movie, I was getting so impatient and I decided to let my anger out, I rushed to where Ola was, pressed hard against his gunshot wound, he screamed a bit but then I discovered it was just a scratch, the bullet didn't penetrate his arm. I didn't care much about that, I pressed further.

“Kalu, Temisan is my lover” I was shocked. Lover? Huh? Temisan tell me what is going on? Temisan: yes kalu, Ola and I are lovers. I am his mistress; when I came to the hotel, I asked him to join me but I only discovered on his fone that he has been chatting with your wife to be, check his fone. She points to where the fone was; I hurriedly picked it up and scrolled through the messages.

“Baby, he just called off the wedding, typical Kalu. The idiot still doesn't know what is going on between us. We should celebrate. He had the nerve to tell me about his other slut Temisan. I can’t wait to be in your arms again”

Chioma what is going on? Temisan? Ola? Are you guys freaking mad? I was losing my mind already. Was I getting played?

Still holding on to Ola’s phone, I decided to read every message in his inbox to ascertain where my ex fiancée began her affair with him, then I noticed a text message from a contact named Tony; Tony happens to be my business partner and he owned the hotel where this drama was unfolding.

“Ola, omo that your friend sha na heavy dunce, he cleared his entire savings for a bogus deal. How are we sharing the spoils?”

My God! Bogus business deal that promised me millions of dollars, my life savings, everything I have ever worked for, I even did a magazine cover announcing my new rich status. Tony may amadioha punish you. I was slowing running mad.

Tony somehow noticed my countenance had changed and by now was heavily guarded by the mobile policemen. I was still in a state of confusion, I sat on the couch. No one in the room said a thing and then my phone beeps; apparently my cell phone has always been with me. A bbm message from Miss Oluchi

“Kalu, I don’t know if I want to keep this from you but I was pregnant with your child, I felt guilty and I felt used. The best thing for me to do was to get an abortion and somehow, I have messed up my system. I am in so much unbearable pain. I can’t take it any more. If you are reading this then I am about to take my life. I have already sent a letter to my family stating that you are responsible for my death. I loved you but you preferred my sister to me, what can Chioma offer you. Kalu, we could have been so much more. You killed me”

OMG, this was too much for me to take, I couldn't hold in any more. I let the tears out. I didn’t care who was in the room. I had no money, I had no friend, my mistress cheated on me, I called my wedding off, I found out my wife to be was having an affair with my best friend. And now, my wife’s younger sister is about to commit suicide. Kalu, your village people are calling you.

Whilst still trying to make sense out of it, private number calling. I became skeptical in taking the call, so I let it ring, 2 missed calls already. Absolute silence in the room, no one was saying anything. Before I kill myself, I might as well find out who is calling me. so I finally pick up

“Hello” the caller replies “Kalu, kalu, kalu, why have you chosen to disgrace this family” “we have been waiting for you since morning” recognizing who the caller was, “papa, you don’t know what is going on”

I opened my eyes and suddenly I realize, I am still in my room, on my bed. A banging headache, 2 bottles of tequila on the floor. I must have taken the call whilst half asleep. That was a dream, a bad dream. Thank God none of it was real, it didn’t happened.

I ended the call without saying a word, Where was Chioma? Temisan? Ola? Tony? I check my fone. 83 missed calls, my battery was down already. Saturday 4pm. Damn, I missed my own wedding.

I felt a sharp pain by my side, I checked to make sure: my shirt was soaked with blood; it felt like something pierced me and on my bed was a loaded Beretta Px4 Storm. Who shot me? And who did I shoot?

FAIRY-TALE: PANDEMONIUM

Incase you missed part 1 Part 2

Staring at Chioma, I almost rushed to where she was to hug her. Thank God she is alive and obviously intoxicated but she is alive. I looked at the mobile police with so much relief. But the question on everyone’s mind was who got shot?

The receptionist helped Chioma from the floor and proceeded to clean her up, this night was too intense for me. I needed it to be Saturday morning already. My God, Temisan is in the next room.

Temisan was the girl I feel in love with after a nasty break up while I was still young and reckless in the university, she took me in, nurtured me and my heart felt indebted to love her for a lifetime.

She was the reason I was ending my engagement and cancelling my wedding, everything was going according to plan with wedding until 6weeks ago, when I mysteriously ran into Temisan. We talked, had too many lunch dates, I began to fall in love with her again. Slowly but surely, Chioma became extinct in my heart and all I wanted was to be with Temisan.

Was Temisan alright? I rushed to her room, surprisingly the mobile police men followed me also, I opened the door with the key and standing in the lounge of the suite with a pistol in her hand was Temisan. Drops of blood on the floor and damaged hotel property, what in heavenly Father’s name is going on? Temisan! What the hell did you do? I asked. The mobile police rushed to where she was and took the gun from her. It felt like she was in a trance, and suddenly she came back to life screaming “it was self-defense, self-defense. Rape, self-defense”

I was more than curious and I questioned my safety. No one knew temisan was in the hotel with me, not even my best friend Ola, who tried to convince me to stay with Chioma and leave Temisan alone.

My thoughts running wild, was Chioma responsible for this? Did she call someone to the hotel whilst she was in the bathroom to deal with Temisan? What is going? I didn’t tell her Temisan’s room number, was she a covert CIA operative to have cleverly followed me without my knowledge?

Who tried to rape you? I kept asking her, who tried to rape you? Without waiting for any reply, I went to the bedroom, there was no one there and yet again I headed for the bathroom, my God what is with these people and bathrooms? I opened the door, lo and behold; there was no one there, blood splatter everywhere though from the tiles on the floor to the sink, and then on the shower curtain. I turned to walk away but felt inclined to check what was behind the shower curtain. My best friend; Ola was standing in the bath tub, holding his arm, that was shot. Shit just got real!

FAIRY-TALE: The Saga Continues

My feet firmly planted to the floor, I was mortified and scared beyond reason. Was Chioma dead? The loud bang that definitely sounded like a gun shot, did Chioma take her life because of the break up.

Was it really necessary to tell her that I had feelings for my ex and she was in the next room; clearly Chioma wasn’t so surprised, she already knew about it.

Chioma seemed so calm talking about us falling out of love with each other and referring to my undead feelings for my ex.

Kalu, you have done it again, you have successfully driven an innocent girl crazy to the point of suicide, was this an elaborate setup? If she can’t have me then no other person would, did she carefully orchestrate this? Clearly, the hotel staffs heard the sound too; by now security operatives should be heading to my room, a country where investigations are not properly done, if you were in the scene when an act was committed, you are guilty of the said act

Kalu, you have outdone yourself, how do I fix this? As I stood there trying to come up with a solution, a loud knock on the door interrupts my thoughts. Oh my god, they are here already. How do I fix this? On Monday, I was the richest bachelor to be married with a new deal that ran into millions, Friday night, suddenly became my last day of freedom. My supposedly planned wedding in few hours got cancelled few minutes ago; I was still searching for the best way to inform both families. How did my life get this bad? The loud knock on the door kept interrupting my thought process, tears dropping freely from my eyes again, I was indeed screwed.

I was going to act cool like nothing happened, thereby giving me enough time to fix this, frantically searching for my cell phone to call anyone who could fix this, then I realize her clothes were scattered in the room, shoes, make up kit, hand bags. Who brings this much stuff to a hotel you were supposed to spend one night. It seemed like a set up. My palms were getting wet, I was about to lose my mind, the knocks on the door became consistent. I kept screaming I wasn’t decent; they should give me more time.

I needed to get rid of her stuffs ASAP. I started packing the clothes together, pushing them into an open bag, whilst searching for where to hide it, i noticed the room had a balcony, I place the bag there. I put her makeup kit in the mini fridge, her shoes I tossed under the bed, hand bags underneath the pillow and then I used the duvet to cover the pillow.

I carefully scanned everywhere to eliminate her presence, how was I going to explain a dead fiancé to anyone and everyone.

I took off my shoes, my shirt too, I was about to go to the bathroom to pour water on my face then I remembered her body was in there as well, took out a bottle of cold water from the fridge and emptied most of its content on my body, hair and face. The knocks were getting really intense, and then I heard a voice threatening to break the door down.

I finally opened; standing outside the door was the receptionist, the owner of the hotel who was also my friend and business partner that procured my recent multi-million dollar deal, three armed mobile police staring at me. They enter the room, scanned thoroughly and asked if I had a guest in the room, to which I replied no, that it was indeed my bachelor’s eve night so it was just me in my room. I almost convinced them until the receptionist noticed a lacy bra in the waste bin, of all places I could have placed it, I chose a waste bin. The mobile police asked me again if I had a guest in the room with me, by this time I was finished, so I didn’t say a word. Everyone proceeded to the bathroom. And just before, the bathroom door was opened another mini flash back, what if I didn’t even cancel my wedding? I could have just managed a loveless marriage and kept my true love as my life long mistress, no one would get hurt. Damn you Chioma for doing this to me. The door finally gets opened; sitting on the floor with her wedding dress was Chioma, with earplugs on, a bottle of vodka. Smoking Kush. If Chioma didn’t get shot…then who did? 

FAIRY-TALE

Staring at her, I was finally home.. A place so familiar, I never wanted to leave. Chioma was the love in my life.

Watching my future bride to be dance in her wedding dress melted my heart and suddenly it was as if she realized someone was watching her, she turned around looking at me with so much emotion written on her face, they say it is bad luck to see the bride in a wedding dress before you say I do, but this moment felt like it was meant to be, I walked slowly towards her, admiring her beauty, she laughed out loud, I was indeed lost, her laughter was the only thing that brightened my horrible day. I couldn’t believe it, Chioma looked so heavenly, it seemed like we were not going to wait till the next morning before getting married. The mood felt so right, I wanted to hold on to this for as long as I could.  I held her hand, and just then, Ellie Goulding’s “all I want “song started playing. Tears flowed freely from our eyes, this was the girl I loved so much with my heart, at a point, and she was the person I envisioned my future with. She made me a man, she made me grow up. I would give anything and everything in this world to keep her in my life. With tears in our eyes, I wanted to kiss her lips but I ended up kissing her forehead instead. She let out a deep sigh and called out my name “Kalu, you know I love you right?” who said a man is not supposed to cry, my eyes kept betraying as I murmured yes.  I didn’t even understand what the tears was about, was it the song that was playing in the background or the moment we were sharing. “Kalu, I love you very much…. But I would say what you have been afraid to say all this while. I feel that way too” “we are making a big mistake, we shouldn't get married” “I promised never to leave you, you are all I have Kalu but we cannot do this” and Chioma kissed my lips. More tears flowed. She was right. We were making a big mistake. Somehow, all we had in common were the constant fights, arguments, the nagging, the complaints, the embarrassments in front of the people we love. The pain we made each other feel and in those moments our fragile hearts became only but a memory of a rock. We loved each other but we fell out of love. I had become the man she was with and she was the love in my life. I let go of her hand, I looked at her one more time, this beautiful face that I have grown to cherish. I may never see the face again. Chioma smiled at me, turned around, grabbed her bag from the drawer and walked into the bathroom. That was my cue to leave the room. I stood there frozen. Suddenly our life together began to flash before my eyes, our good moments, how happy she made me feel. Bang, my thoughts was brought to a stop. I just heard a gun go off in the bathroom.

Not every love story has a happy ending. The end

THE LETTER: PART 2

My heaven on earth, my heart beat, my glow stick in the dark. A radiating light that gives illumination to my world. The earth beneath my feet, the sky above my head, the air I breathe. I get lost in my imaginations of you. I know I can’t have you so I close my eyes and picture a life for us, where you come alive, where your love saves me, where I keep you happy.

Even if it’s only for a moment my thoughts become illusions, somehow it is more than enough. The joy of not having to embrace reality where being with you seems remotely impossible, the realization that all I have is a picture of you in my head. White picket fence, a dog named max, front porch and a family car parked on the drive way.

And if I can have all of that with my eyes closed, I never want to open them

And I lust after the sweet melody in your voice as you call out my name, your ever calming voice

Call me desperate, but I don’t see how I can go on living my life like I never met you.

I don’t understand how I am supposed to just ignore the fact that right now, in my life, you mean the world to me.

I fall deeper, I fall deeply, I fall hopelessly in love with you.

The sun and moon bear me witness, the love in my heart, the feelings I keep buried inside, the inexplicable way you affect me.

To steal a moment with you, to share my happiness and joy, to have you in my life for always, nothing else matters.

I keep fighting distance and time, a lost battle but the war is still worth the fight. I hold on to every memory I have of you, your voice, your laugh, the way you smile at me. Time and distance have been unfair to our love. I still hold on.

And sometimes, I hear how you call out my name like you can feel me next to you, so close yet so far. I miss you

The pain of having to go on daily without you here with me is so surreal. Words alone can’t do justice to how you feel; How can I love you this much and be so far away?

Crazy in love is putting it lightly, you make my love for you drive me insane, and it is so pure, so divine. Heaven’s greatest gift to man, heaven’s rare treasure, heaven’s missing angel in human flesh. Even if I cut out my heart and place it in the palm of your hands; a sacrifice not befitting the purest form of love you possess. Every day is a blessing and every hour not spent with you is a curse, a dead man’s curse: to walk amongst the living and die a little inside every passing second. A corpse with a heart, an aging soul. Boulevard of broken dreams: to see you and not see you.

Love hurts in the most damaging way but that’s the beauty of it. The days where I miss you so bad, I can feel my heart break into pieces, the times where even after talking to you I still want more. Who says a man is not supposed to cry? The tears that flows down my cheeks sometimes remind me of how grateful I am to have you, how lucky I am to have found you.

So much noise and all I can hear is the sound of your voice in the midst of the crowd, like your hearts calling out for me. Like a calming sound from a lullaby.

By nature, every man is selfish but I am only content with you. I don’t need anyone else, painfully I realize with each moment spent away from you; no one can come close to the standard you set. Why do I need to settle for less, when I already have the best?

I hold on to everything dear, everything true, and everything pure. I hold on to you.

I pray to have you in my life for as long as the earth has the sun, the night has the moon and stars. I pray to be there for you as you have been there for me.

And if you are reading this, I just want you to know that I love you now, and I would hold on to that.

THE END

Not every relationship would last; even true love forsakes us sometimes.

It is my engagement dinner, I am standing outside the hall, too scared to walk in, not because I am afraid of getting married but I fear the moment I hold the most to my heart isn’t enough to last me a lifetime.

While lost in my thought, Ana takes my hand; I turn to her, seeing her smile at me took my breath away. I was getting married to the most beautiful girl on this planet. She was my light, my world, my oxygen, my best friend. How did I get this lucky?

I have known Ana for a year, and it felt like she had always been with me my whole life. From the moment I realized I was in love with her, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. And as crazy as my desires were, they seemed possible. I still remember the low point I was at in my life when Ana found me and saved me. I was hooked on drugs, a functioning alcoholic, a chronic skirt chaser, my life had no purpose, and then Ana came in and changed everything. How did I ever get this lucky?

Ana was like the sun to my earth, she brightened my world, ever soft spoken, she loved God so much it made me want to get closer to the divine creator. Ana was too good to be human, Ana was my safe haven.

Ana was my life, I was lost without her, I starred into her eyes before walking into the hall, in my heart I knew she was my forever and always. Tears flowed freely from my eyes, I was marrying the only woman my heart has ever loved, she was my life force.

She held my hand tighter, smiled at me again and said, “You have me, always, forever, never forget that”

Those words pierced through my soul, more tears came out without control, Ana was my life. I squeezed her hands, my feet refused to move. I kissed her so deep she started crying.

8 months into my relationship with Ana, I discovered she was terminally ill, hence why she gave me so much tough time in the beginning; she was protecting me from getting hurt. She didn’t want to love me; she didn’t want me to fall in love with her because she wasn’t going to live long enough to be with me. From the time I found out about her illness, it only made me want to be with her more, I never pictured myself with anyone else. My parents didn’t have a say, Ana had become my only source of happiness. The few times I went to the hospital with her, the chemotherapy and radiation was too painful to comprehend. I watched her in so much pain, I felt helpless. And just when we thought everything was going to be all right, the doctor called our attention that the cancer had spread to other parts of her body, her organs were slowly shutting down. My baby, my future, my love had 3weeks to live.

Time was against our love, time was against us, and I felt the hot tears flowing from Ana’s eyes on my cheeks. 3 weeks had elapsed and family members were gathered in a hall to witness her last moment on earth.

Ana broke free from my lips, looked at me and smiled at me. I didn’t understand how someone who was in so much pain could possibly smile. She had become the strongest woman I knew at that point. While holding her hands with tears in my eyes “Ana I cant live without you, I don’t think I can survive without your love saving me, you have been the only life I know, you are my fortress, please don’t leave me, stay with me a little longer..” Ana kisses the tears from my cheeks and says “I can’t leave you, I wont leave you, even when my heart stops beating and I lose my breath, I still love you more than you imagine. I prayed for strength and God sent you to me, you have been my peace in the midst of this storm and I am glad my final moments are with you, to me, we spent always and forever… and when I finally go, promise me you would find someone else to love, show her the better man that you have become, my always and forever” my eyes still shut tight, I hug Ana so close, I didn’t want to let her go, family members wondering what was taking us so long to walk into the hall come outside to meet us, and they all watched as I held Ana so close to me. And suddenly her warm body became cold, Ana had finally left me. I called out her name like she could hear me “Ana please stay with me, fight this battle with me, don’t go” my heart couldn’t contain itself; I felt it shatter into pieces. My love was gone.

Not every relationship would last; even true love forsakes us sometimes.

NOVEMBER, TO REMEMBER

Some days love exists and other days, it is just a myth.

I check my watch again, 9:45pm; time had suddenly stopped. I splash my face with cold water running from the sink tap to make sure I was not dreaming again. Shade is pregnant!

I check the result again on the pregnancy strip; she is actually pregnant, Jesu. Almost like a shitty scene in a nollywood movie, I began to think back, my thoughts were in black and white.

Shade was the person I called home; she was the definition of love. To me, shade was the embodiment of an angel in human flesh. We planned a life together. Her parents seemed to like me and most of my family members accepted her also. Shade was the only girl I could boost of that had my heart on lock down.

Shade rocked my world, it seemed only right that I envisioned a life with her in it but this, a child before marriage? What was I supposed to do now? As I walk slowly to where shade was sitting crying her eyes out, I realized I wanted to be with her even more, it felt right that the girl I was crazy about was carrying a bundle of joy, a perfect combination of us. I held her hands, wiped her tears and reassured her of my devotion and love. Shade looked at me like life had been restored to her but we had one worry; my parents. Nothing in this world frightened me more than the two individuals I called my parents. My dad was an old soldier and my mum, a therapist. I had high level of moral upbringing installed into me, it was more than good parenting, and there was no room for mistake. How on earth was I supposed to tell them that the son they expected perfection from had gotten a girl pregnant? As we contemplated on the next step to take, my mind began to flash back on all the times I erred and the extreme measure my retired soldier father took to ensure correction. With a promising future in the family business, I was about to lose my position, my name, my privileges.. Torn between losing the luxury I was used to and the girl I saw in my future, tears rolled from my eyes. I have always been anti abortion; I cursed the day I decided to have sex without a condom, the sweetest feeling I experienced, the addiction to it and my obsession. Skin to skin was my devil and now it was time to pay the pied piper.

One week after hearing the news, I was suffering from insomnia; I couldn’t eat or stay calm. I lost weight, for someone who wanted to be independent; I still needed my father’s connection in securing a good job even if the family business couldn’t accommodate me. How was I supposed to survive? Providing for my new family? Shade kept me sane, reassuring me of how love would keep us together; she became my strength in my hour of weakness. I scrapped my savings, got a new apartment and the life of hardship began.

Two weeks after I discovered shade was pregnant, I summoned the courage to inform my parents about the news, they wanted me to get married and give them grand children, this was a double blessing; marry shade with a baby inside her. The fear of my father is the beginning of fear and humility, i recited my speech over and over and over again until the day I finally broke the news to him, my father said nothing but shook his head and walked away. Right there on my seat, my world crumbled, I knew what that meant and without any word, I left my family house never to show my face again. Shade became my strength in my hour of weakness.

Shade was all I had now, every night she cried herself to sleep and sometimes I cried with her too, she knew what I had lost, what I had given up. Shade was in her final year and she had to defer her admission, her dream and aspiration was put on hold, our world became a rock! The love that was blossomed began to struggle. Everyday was a battle but somehow we worked through it all. she also was in so much pain.

We needed more money, so I picked up an extra shift at my work place. Day and night, I worked so hard to provide food on the table. I put shade In this position, so I felt it was my responsibility to provide for her every need. Her job was to stay home and relax.

All efforts to contact my father and ask forgiveness proved impossible, I remember going to my family house and my father asked the security guard to keep me under the sun, I waited for my father in the same house I grew up in. I was an outcast; I had brought shame to the good family name. My father came out of the house, looked at me, got into his car and drove off. 3 hours under the sun waiting for him and he just left me like that, like I meant nothing. I cried so hard that day. I was certainly not the first to get a girl pregnant, there was no fight between families, I was doing the right thing by trying to marry her before the pregnancy was pronounced but in all I felt like a disgrace. 

This was my cross and I was going to carry it, shade became my strength in my hour of weakness.

November 12^th, exactly 2 months after I discovered shade was pregnant, I had worked my ass off day and night to provide for my new family, my father had publicly humiliated me by disowning me in a popular newspaper. I felt my world crumble to my feet but shade became my strength in my hour of weakness.

Shade sent me an SMS on this fateful day “babe, I am at the hospital, I felt a sharp pain in my tummy, I went to check it and I am still waiting for the doc to give me feedback. I am fine, no need to worry. See you soon”.

At that moment, I got worried even more; I hurriedly put on my clothes and went to the hospital. On getting there, I met shade sitting in the waiting room, when our eyes met, she stood up looking pissed. Walked over to where I was and began throwing tantrums. I thought I asked you not worry. What are you doing here? Please go back home. I was confused; I didn't know what was going on, I have never seen my shade like this before. She kept talking and pushing me out of the hospital. I did not get what I did wrong by coming to the hospital to see my wife to be. 

And in that mini moment of struggle, I saw a nurse walking towards us and calling shade's name. Shade ignored the nurse and was bent on taking me out of the hospital.

I decided to stand my ground, was something wrong with the baby that shade did not want me to find out? I was able to get a grip of shade to calm her down, the nurse caught up with us and told her the result of the test; the doctor suggested it was nothing to worry about, she should just avoid fatty food, it is not good for a woman that is six months pregnant to eat a lot of fatty food because of her high cholesterol level.

All I heard was SIX MONTHS pregnant!! I asked the nurse again if she made a mistake, she said no. Mrs. shade has been a patient in their clinic, and she is 6 months pregnant. And as if that wasn't enough, the nurse asked about her husband, Kenneth. And the only Kenneth I knew was my best mate. 

Then it hit me, 8 months ago, I traveled for a course and I came back 3 months before shade told me she was pregnant. During the time, I asked my best mate to keep my girlfriend company. I did not feel threatened at all. Only for my best mate to get my girlfriend pregnant they got married and I wasn't aware, 6 months pregnant for another man and yet she made me take responsibility for it. I lost everything, where do I begin.

November 12^th.

Some days love exists and other days, it is just a myth.