Ikem looked down at the three children lying on the bed and sighed.
They looked angelic, with their limbs contorted around each other. So angelic they looked.... almost alive! He looked down at his hands and rubbed furiously as if to get some unseen stains off them. He had done what he needed to do and as far as he was concerned, the plan he had set in motion after receiving the results this morning was in progress.
Nobody, but nobody would make a fool of him, Ikem! He would rather hang a million times than allow that little snippet of femininity that called herself Dupe make him a laughing stock among his friends. He had been warned during his courtship. He was told by his friend that "ndi ofe mmanu" do not make good wives as they were born and steeped in infidelity, but he had ignored that because of love.
"Blast love!", he muttered under his breath.
The wool had truly been pulled over his eyes, what with her delectable form, her heartfelt confessions of the few misadventures she had had as a single campus girl, long before he met her. Her skills in the kitchen had further ensnared him. She had not only introduced him to the wonders of Yoruba meals, which he had hitherto thought was restricted to okro and stew with amala, but had also shown an eagerness to learn all sorts of Ibo meals. She had gone out of her way to woo his neighbor's wife in the general compound he lived in then and most weekends during their two year courtship period was spent shopping with Mama Abuchi, then coming home to prepare his meals under her supervision, and serving them with a flourish.
A little twist here, a little garnish there, topping each meal with a special touch, all of which had served to blow his mind.
He had had no foreknowledge of her bedroom skills as she was entirely strict about not crossing those lines.
"I have been there before Iyke, I do not want to go down that route again. I also know that you have had girlfriends in the past too. It is therefore nothing new to any of us!"
"I know baby, but I just want to have a feel of you, My Love. I am for real".
"I trust that you are for real, but I want to do it my way this time, My baby", she said sadly. Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him,
"Please baby, we have only a few more months to go".
And he had fallen for her ruse, the slut!
Fallen for the pretense of not spending the nights in his house, always insisting on going back to her shared flat after each visit. Dropping by in the company of her friends or younger sister and whenever she visited alone, insisting whatever time they had together was either spent sitting out in the common yard, or with the doors and windows flung wide open.
The she-devil had also pretended to be an ardent church goer. Oh, she had covered her tracks well. Singing in the choir, attending every night vigil available, always involved in every church activity going. She had always told him that these activities served to distract her and keep her faithful to her vow to not defile herself again before marriage, while strengthening her walk with God. And he, maga that he was - he felt like conking his own skull - had encouraged her. He was not too serious about church and all that, but since her faith in God was strong, did not want to serve as the stumbling block to her progress. He was certain that her Pastor, with his clever ways and sharp suits was part of this conspiracy to rubbish him. Well, he would show them all. After today, they would tread wearily with any other Ibo man they came across. He might be an ordinary unschooled Ibo trader, but he will show them he knew what they had been up to.
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He remembered the day he had taken her to meet his parents. She had taken part of her annual leave from the office where she worked and had duly informed her parents of their intention to travel to Nnewi to see her fiance's parents. At this point, he was virtually a member of her family so there had been little or no resistance to her announcement. As they prepared to leave, her mother had pulled her aside into the bedroom and he did not need a soothsayer to decipher what might have transpired.
He had never asked, but Dupe had come out of the room giggling and had had a secret smile on her face as he headed to her flat to drop her off, before driving back home to his lonely bachelor flat. At this time, he was already counting the days to the wedding and had hoped for some secret action out of sight of the church, family members and neighbors. He felt she would be a bit more relaxed in the village and permit him access after all, they were as good as married.
To his chagrin, as soon as they arrived at the village, she had dropped to her knees before his parents seated under the pear tree, and had remained on her knees until his mother pulled her up in a warm embrace.
For his parents who were used to the average Ibo girl standing tall and proud as an Iroko tree while greeting their elders, her humble attitude had completely disarmed them. She had immediately dropped all her township girl airs and had inquired the direction to his mother's room in a soft pidgin.
She had emerged from the room minutes later with a simple tee shirt and a wrapper knotted around her neck and proceeded to make herself useful and almost entirely indispensable throughout the entire period. Fetching water from the stream with his sisters, sweeping the entire compound at least twice a day, pounding yam cheerfully, going into the cottage farm to harvest vegetables for stew. Her extra mural lessons with Mama Abuchi had come in extra handy as even his mother was hard pressed to protest when Papa declared Dupe's Onugbu soup one of the best he had tasted in recent times.
Throughout the entire weekend, he was not sure he had set his eyes on her more than two or three times. Always firmly by his mother's side, she ate with her, slept with her, went to the stream and market with her, even whipped out some attachment from her travelling bag and did a most endearing "suku" on his mother's hair before the weekend was over.
It was indeed a frustrated Ikem that turned to her as they commenced their journey back to the city on Sunday afternoon,
"
But baby, why now? You kept yourself scarce from me throughout this weekend o. I really missed you!"
" You missed me? But we were together in the whole compound now all through the weekend!"
"But I missed you My Love, I really did." He held her hand,
"Look at me baby".
She turned shyly to him.
"
Were you avoiding me?"
"Me? Avoid you? Why would I avoid you Baby? I was so busy with Mama and enjoying the village atmosphere. Sorry babes. At least we are together here now".
Sadly, he couldn't fault that logic and had sulked all the way back to the city. After dropping her off at her house, he had driven home, fallen into his bed fully clothed then remembering, whipped out his phone and made the all important call.
"So, Mama, what do you think of Dupe".
"Oh, she is a very nice one my son, well brought up. Her mother must have done a very good job of training her.I would have given her a 100%, but for the fact that she is Yoruba"
"But..."
"Don't worry my son, even though she is not from our tribe, I cannot subtract more than 1% because her behavior is superb. Congrats my son. In fact, my co wife only noticed the hairstyle today and said if she had known, she would have come to plait her own her too. I told her next time......"
His mind drifted as Mama rambled on and on. Somewhere in a corner of his heart, a warm fuzzy glow started and commenced spreading into the darkest reaches of his heart.
It was very important to him that she win his mother over as Mama was very particular about the choice of wife for her only son. Dupe had acted instinctively as he had purposely not given her a heads up as to how difficult his mother could be and it seemed that every act of instinct she had pulled out of her hat of tricks, had touched a positive chord in Mama.
========================================================================
He shook his head as he returned to the present. He needed a clear mind now as he had been hoodwinked for too long. In fact, while thinking and plotting his revenge for the years of subterfuge and deceit she had put him through, he had suddenly seen with clarity, almost as if it was the dawn of a new day, that all had been a clever plot to entangle him. Wooing his parents, putting on the charming girl facade, all had been a ploy to lay the perfect background to camouflage her real intentions.
Today, she would know that even though he had been apprenticed and raised in the township, he was still a warrior at heart. No one pulls the tiger by the tail, whether the tiger was dead or alive!
None of the children had stirred as he held the pillow over their faces to snuff out their lives. While they each drew their last breaths, they had attempted to struggle, but the weight of his body on each had ensured the struggle was brief, at best feeble and short lived. Like his Dupe (Confound her, the Devil's Dupe, not his), the children were heavy sleepers.
Six, Four and Two years respectively, each had traveled swiftly from sleep to death, at the hands of the man Dupe had deceived into believing he was their father.
========================================================================
As he stepped into the master bedroom, shutting the door softly behind him, he gazed upon her as she slept, breathing heavily. He reached out to touch her on the cheek, then quickly withdrew his hand as if he had been stung by bees.
No, there was no room for tenderness today. He had a task at hand, and nothing would stop him from achieving his aim. As he began to put together the instruments he needed for the task, his mind inadvertently slipped away from him and wandered back to their wedding night, their first night together as man and wife.
He had remembered Dupe standing up at their Bachelor's Eve/testimony night party and informing guests in her childish yet firm voice that they would not be receiving visitors as from 8pm the next day, as they would be involved in "serious business". The tone of voice in which she said it, the fact that all their friends knew they had committed to celibacy until after the wedding, and the mischievous twinkle in her eyes caused everyone to collapse in laughter.
He looked into the eyes of this jewel of inestimable value, and thanked God he had both found and kept her. Of a truth, it had been extremely difficult for him to stick to the celibacy vow and each time he had slipped, he had taken no chances. He had chosen girls of easy lay, with whom a bottle of stout, one mortar of nkwobi and a few well chosen flattering words were enough to spread their thighs far apart. Even then, he had been properly protected, sometimes, double and even triple glazing as he would take no chances with his Love.
Though he had had girlfriends in the past whom he had made love to without protection, not even one had ever returned to him to complain that they had fallen pregnant. To a large extent, that had raised some doubts in his mind regarding his virility, but he had always pushed that to a dark hidden corner. He had also been very careful to date sharp Ibo girls who knew how to count their days properly and his first question before he took them was always - "Are you safe?".
Even though he had encountered one or two desperadoes, whom he was sure would have tried every trick in the book to entrap him, somehow the god of the wild oats had been on his side and there had been no extended misadventures.
On their wedding night and true to her threats, she had started hustling any stray guests out of the two bedroom flat he now occupied in a more upscale section of town as from 6.30 pm, even managing to diplomatically shoo his parents back to the hotel room she had insisted he reserve as part of the preparations for the wedding. She had adamantly refused any plans to spend the night in a hotel themselves as she had insisted her first night with him would be in the sanctity of their bedroom and on the marriage bed she had steadfastly refused to defile.
With the last guests safely out of the house by 7.30 pm, she had locked up all the doors and turned off the lights, then led him by hand into the bedroom. To his amazement, there were aromatic candles set on glass saucers at safe corners in the room and the bed was a sea of roses. The scent was almost heady and he followed her like a lamb to the slaughter as she slowly led him into the adjoining bathroom and proceeded to undress him slowly, never for once taking her eyes off his.
He was almost hypnotised by the time she led him into the bathtub and proceeded to wash down every part of his body before paying any attention to herself. He was almost light headed by the time she toweled him off and led him back into the bedroom, to the bed, their matrimonial bed.
When he awoke the next morning, he thought it had all been a pleasant dream, until he heard her voice singing merrily in the kitchen. He found a pair of boxers, donned them, and followed the sweet aroma and even sweeter voice into the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around her and felt safe. He was home. She was his home, his safe haven and now more than ever he mouthed a silent prayer to God for sending her his way.
As he nuzzled her neck, she giggled girlishly and immediately his senses all came alive.
"My Tigress", he whispered in her ears,
"I ga egbu kwa mmadu o!"
"Me kill you? Never My Baby! It had been so long and I couldn't wait any longer. I had to make sure the wait was worth it for you."
The grin on his face almost split his cheeks into two. Yes, he had hit the mother lode indeed. A lady everywhere else, and a tigress in private. What more could he ask of? He reached around her, turned off the gas and began to lead her back into the bedroom. Breakfast could wait. The pastors could afford to wait for them at the thanksgiving service after all, it was their day. He had waited long for this and it was well worth the wait.
Right now, he needed to satiate himself!
========================================================================
Almost nine months to the date, she pushed forth a bouncing baby boy, and marital life had been bliss. They had had their ups and downs, disagreements and misunderstandings, but nothing had been strong enough to shake the foundations of their marriage. It had indeed been a wise decision to delay sex as that had ensured that they had fully understood and studied each other and the friendship they had forged during their courtship had served as a strong and essential core to their union.
In her characteristic subtle manner, Dupe had encouraged him to start a matured program in Business Admin at the State owned University and he was currently in his third year. She was an excellent home maker, a wise wife and an extremely devoted mother to the three kids she had given him.
He was the envy of his colleagues in the market as they slowly witnessed him begin to evolve and metamorphose into a different person.
While he still hung out with them, he kept that within the reasonable hours of the day, as soon as it was 6 pm, he was rushing home to spend some time with his wife in the comfortable and welcoming atmosphere she had created. Everything was going better than he could have ever imagined until that fateful day.
His neighbor in the shop had rushed in wearing a mournful look and had shared the story of how his brother had been cuckolded by his wife in the United States of America.
"Na the akata wey him import from Nigeria come go America go dey follow all those useless small boys sotay all the children wey she born for am no be him own"
"Ah, but how he take find out na?"
"My brother, dem go do DMA test"
"DNA". Ikem corrected softly
"Anyone wey e wan be, make e be. Na so my brother wan take kolo o!"
"So wetin him do now?"
"Wetin he go do?Tthe hospital first call the woman na, as she hear say na result them wan call for the oga, she tell them make dem call am back for morning say him dey night work. As oga begin dey sleep, she pack all her property run comot for house!"
"Na wa o, which kain winch woman be this?"
"But", interjected Ikem into the chorus of outraged cries,
"wetin make the man go begin dey ask questions? Him no trust the wife ne?"
"
No be that, dem been go do general test, na him doctor tell my brother say him get low sperm motority..."
"Motility", corrected Ikem quietly as slowly, his heart began to hammer in his chest,
"Low Sperm Motility"
"
Ehehn, na hin the Doctor come advise my brother make e bring DMA from all him pikin body because e no understand how my brother take born full house".
"Ehehn, ehehn", Ikem was almost at the edge of his seat.
"Na hin my brother come take cunny, cunny collect the DMA, na so all him yawa take gas at once o".
Ikem stood up and walked into his shop and into the inner office. As he slumped into his seat, all his inner insecurities and doubts began to rush back all at once.
He recalled a trip to the Doctor's after one "agaracha" had given him a bad case of gonorrhea. After treatment, the Doctor had called him aside and informed him that his sperm were feeble and had mentioned "Low Sperm Motility". As the Doctor had reeled off a lot of advice, he had listened half heartedly, his mind bent on finding the girl and giving her a well deserved beating.
His hands shook as he stood up, picked his jacket off the back off his seat, dressed up and drove out of the market, his mind whirling, making so may additions and subtractions, yet failing to arrive at a pleasing total. The speed at which Dupe had taken in immediately after the wedding night. The nights she spent in church supposedly praying. The brief lulls before she would take in again which he had never noticed before or counted as anything while he luxuriated in enjoying the hidden pleasures she had to offer, but which now stood out glaringly to his confused mind.
Somehow, he found himself driving towards the direction of the hospital. He parked when he arrived and requested to see the Doctor, explaining the situation to him. The Doctor called up the file and confirmed that in fact, he had been diagnosed with Grade 3 Low Sperm Motility. As the doctor tried to reassure him that anything, including the switch to boxers and the 2 year long near celibacy could have reversed or even corrected the situation, Ikem kept hitting his head on the table.
Eventually, the doctor offered him a DNA test to set his mind at ease. Ikem agreed to the test on one condition, he wanted both the test, his condition and the results kept a secret from his wife while he tried to think this one through.
It had taken the grace of God for him to remain his usual self. Sometimes, he would sink into a depressed state and even though he began to be repulsed by Dupe's touch, somehow she was always able to work him out of his state and get him in a good mood. Obtaining the samples from his kids had been a piece of cake. Because of the closeness they had enjoyed as a family, he had the samples with the doctor the very next day and then commenced the waiting period of close to three weeks as the samples had to be rushed off to England for analyses.
Yesterday, he had received a text message from the doctor to come in for a meeting and as soon as he walked in, from the look on the doctor's face, he knew his whole world was about to come crumbling down.
He had sat quietly in shock, gently rocking back and forth as the Doctor gently explained to him that the results had
"excluded him as the father of the children".
The rocking swelled into violent shivering, and he felt the bile rise in his throat as he rushed to the small wash hand bowl in a corner of the Doctor's office and retched violently. He straightened up, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and walked out of the hospital. He was almost at the end of the street when he realized that he had driven down. He returned, picked up his car and as he drove back home, the cold left him and an anger started building up in him. He raged and roiled and when the worst of the anger passed, began to hatch a plot to pay Dupe back for the almost nine years of deceit while wiping the spawn of the devil she had deceived him with off the face of the earth.
========================================================================
Gently in order not to wake her up, he bound her hands and feet together, trussing her up like a goat. As he placed the gag in her mouth, binding the handkerchief across the mouth to keep it tied shut, her eyes flung open.
As she looked up at him with a look of terror, silently mouthing her questions, he picked up the horse whip he had bought in the market today. She looked beyond him and saw the neatly laid out knives. As she raised her eyes pleadingly up to him, begging for a chance to speak, to ask a question and receive an answer, any answer in return, he raised the whip and brought it down with force across her back.....
========================================================================
Two hours later, the veil of madness slowly began to lift from his eyes. as blood lust rushed out of his head, the shivering returned. He looked down at her lifeless form.... and down at his blood stained hands.
Then a flashing at the corner of the dressing table caught his eye. He moved towards the table and picked up the smart phone he had placed on silent. He had intended that there would be no disruption to the execution of his plan tonight.
80 missed calls...
.... all within minutes of each other
... two numbers
... Dr Adegbola, First Trust Specialist Hospital
As he wondered what more the Doctor could want from him, a text message flashed on the screen.
.... Been trying to reach you. Please come into the hospital as quickly as you can. There was a mix up in the DNA test results sent to us...
