TWO Late Entry: Best Served Cold
Now
Aigbe smiled callously as he watched Esosa tumble backwards onto the floor. He thought to himself that she quite looked like a fish out of water – flailing about, reaching for support that would not be forthcoming. His smile very quickly evolved into a cruel laugh as he watched the back of her head crash onto the cold, tiled floor with a sickening, wet sound. Leaping astride her semi-conscious body, he rained three solid blows onto her torso, working his way from her lower ribcage to her sternum. She yelped, shook and choked with each blow, unable to fight back.
“You are the one that will die, not me, Stupid Harlot!”
He spat into her face as the last blow landed and she choked violently, jerking with the impact of the blow and recoiling from the glob of projectile spittle that had hit her face.
“You! Are! A! Mad! Dirty! Prostitute!”
Each word was punctuated by a slap that sent waves of pain coursing through Esosa’s head. She could barely speak or shout or scream in protest, much less move. She felt herself start to slip into a numb blackness but she tried to hold on. Aigbe wrapped his hands around her neck and muttered.
“Witch! Harlot! Your plan has failed!”
Esosa closed her eyes and let the numbing darkness take her as her husband choked the remaining life from her, his wedding ring pressing against her carotid artery.
2 hours earlier
Esosa smiled to herself as she poured the brown powder into the bottle of Merlot. She re-corked it and shook it violently until the powder began to dissolve. She knew Aigbe was already on his way home and she felt her blood rush at the showdown she knew would happen when he returned. She really hoped the powder would work as it came very highly recommended. This night, Aigbe is a dead man.
***
“Jesus!” Aigbe shouted as he matched the breaks and stopped the car a fraction of an inch from a woman who just appeared from nowhere. He stepped out of the car to see if she was ok and was shocked to see it was Ehi, his wife’s closest friend. He helped her to the curb while she kept babbling incoherent words to herself.
‘Are you okay? I’m so sorry Ehi. I didn’t see you coming’
‘Esosa has killed me…How could she?… Esosa why?’ she continued muttering to herself.
Realising she’s still in shock, Aigbe shakes her vehemently by the shoulders. Her eyes finally focus on his face and recognition set in. ‘Aigbe!’ and she burst into tears.
Perplexed, Aigbe noticed a thick manila envelope that just fell from her hands. He picks it up and one of the pictures in it falls out. He is about putting it back in when a face caught his eye.
His hands and knees started shaking. He slumped on the curb beside Ehi. ‘Where did you get this?’ his voice was hoarse and barely audible. ‘What is this?’ he spat into Ehi’s face, his face contorted in anguish. His pain seemed to fuel hers and her shoulders rocked as she answered between sobs. ‘I just found out too. How could Esosa do that to me? How could Esosa and John do that to me?’ she started muttering incoherently again.
Aigbe couldn’t stop the violent shaking which had now spread to the whole of his body. In front of him, the naked bodies of his wife and Ehi’s husband were locked together in different sexual positions on the glossy pictures. Ehi seemed to gradually become aware of his presence beside her.
“John said he was leaving me. He said he was leaving me for her. He asked for a divorce and I refused then he threatened to kill me. Said she was also going to get rid of you one way or another so they could be together. I don’t want to lose my husband but I’m scared for my life. He was dead serious.”
Aigbe ran back into his car with the rage of a man possessed. The pictures confirmed half of the story. But that Esosa would actually want to kill him for her lover? He found that too evil to be true. First, he’ll scour the house for any signs of foul play when he got home. Starting with any food or drink she offered him.
2 days earlier,
The room looked like a tornado had raced through it. Ehi frantically upturns boxes and drawers as she searched. In a dust covered box wrapped in cobwebs under the bed, her search paid off, she found the Kodak prints of herself and John during their honeymoon nights.
2 months earlier
“A kobo for them?”
“For what?” Esosa quickly put on her best ‘I am totally fine’ smile, but Ehi simply rolled her eyes.
“You’ve been brooding for some weeks now. And frankly, I’m no longer taking that your ‘Everything is fine’ excuse. What’s wrong?”
“Seriously, everything is…”
“Fine” Ehi cut in. “Keep your troubles to yourself. If after all these years you still find it difficult to confide in me… I don’t even know why I bother”
“It’s not that…it’s just that…well, it’s Aigbe… ” slowly, Esosa told her about the last few months of sexual frustrations. Premature ejaculations. Unsatisfied needs. And cold nights.
“Initially it started with his coming sooner than usual, but now, I swear I will soon start growing cobwebs down there.”
“Is that it?” Ehi asked incredulously. “But honey you should have told me since and saved yourself all this stress. John had a similar problem sometime back. I think it’s a male midlife bug or something. Fortunately, a doctor friend of mine recommended a herbal remedy that worked like magic. It totally revamped our sex life. You should see the things John and I do now. We’ve totally re-invented the Karmasutra. I could make big bucks online with some of our pictures and sex tapes. The herbs in the powder are that potent”
“For real? Please can you help me get it? Please, please, pleaseeeee…”
“But what are friends for?” I’ll go see the doctor about getting me some of the powder.
2 years earlier,
“Do you know A.Y plays golf and the keyboard? Like how cool is that? And he’s so intelligent, not in a nerdy way, but in a hot sophisticated way. And did I mention he has a sense of humour that’s so infectious? I’m a rambling?”
“Of course not Ehi” Esosa answered with a laugh. “And I’m so happy to finally see you in love. Maybe A.Y is the one that will make you leave all those old men and their dirty money”
“Yea, yea, whatever” Ehi rolled over on the giant king-size bed they both share as room-mates “but seriously, for the first time ever I actually see myself walking down the aisle with a guy. Speaking of which, how far with that your plane suitor?”
“That Aigbe guy? He even said he would come visit me today. But men can be funny o. how can you be so sure a woman is meant to be your wife just from conversing with her on a nine hour flight?
There’s a knock on the door. Esosa peeped through the window, “It’s Aigbe. Gosh, I look like a mess. Please attend to him while I rush to the bathroom”
Ehi opened the door to see A.Y standing there. The shock on his face could only be compared to that on hers.
“A.Y?…or is it Aigbe?”
“Both actually. I’m Aigbe Yewani.”
After the burst of accusations, insults and explanations that followed, Ehi had to accept the fact that the love of her life was in love with her best friend. And that thanks to her reputation which preceded her, he thought she was only after him for his money.
“But what of the love we have for each other?”
“We had our fun Ehi. But that’s what we had, fun” Aigbe tried to wipe the lone tear that had escaped the pool gathering in her eyes but she violently pushed his hand away “I’m really sorry. I thought I was like one of your others.”
Esosa came out fully dressed and oblivious to the tension between the two. She and Aigbe went on the first of many dates together.
Ehi cried her eyes out for two weeks. Then she picked herself up and bided her time. She fell in love again, this time with her school work. She graduated 1st class in Graphics with a major in photo manipulation.
*****
You may be familiar with our TWO competition. This is based on that same story. Although the entry acceptance for TWO is now closed and this one will not be considered, Orode Uwawah sent this in and pleaded with us to post it for your feedback. Kindly oblige. It’s unedited.
You can also send in your short stories on any topic or contribute in any way by sending an email to hello [at] thenakedconvos [dot] com. Please keep submissions between 1000-1500 words. Cheers.
*****
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nice twists BUT the tenses…plus i think i saw a spelling mistake somewhere. I'll give it a 6 because of the tenses. kinda spoilt it for me.
Tanx ajreads. Just noticing I sent it in like that. I was supposed to go over it when I finished and change everything to present-continuous.
*past-tense i mean. lol.
Please accept it now :( it wld give others a real race for their money. This is the only one that has a different twist. Nice!
Tanx @Phransea. I'm really glad you like the twist.
OMG this one is so different. I love it
this is really good, but the shift in tenses, and some grammatical errors somewhere in-between made it somehow. I liked the different angle this was written from. Kudos
This is really really good. I am forgiving the tense errors and giving it an 8. You guys should consider it.
I reeeeeeeeaallly enjoyed this. That Twist was the shiznit mehn. buh them tenses tho ( ˘̶̀ ̯˘̶́)
wow this one's really good, o it could definitely have been part of the 8 shortlisted. Love the twist, love it! love it! well done, would have given this a 9 (i don't just give out 9s o), ur really good. but yea the change in tenses was a bit disconcerting