[Story] Too late – S01 E15

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 15

Chioma kept glancing at her phone whether she will get any call or sms from her husband. Her heart had not been at rest since she ran away from the house to her sisters house. She never told her sister she stabbed Rosa. All she said to her was that Stanley threatened to kill her because she fought Rosa.

“You cannot live with a violent man who doesn’t respect you but looks for every opportunity to beat you” Chinenye had told her.

“True!, That is why I ran. I don’t want to return to that marriage ever again.”

She narrated all she suffered in the hands of her husband and Rosa. She told her sister that the death of her son was not ordinary.

“Rosa is a witch and had a hand in the death of my son” She sobbed.

“As your elder sister, it is my responsibility to protect you. I don’t think I will allow you go back to that man”

“Rosa is the instigator of the whole thing” She said with finality

“We don’t have much but we will raise money for you to rent a room around this area”

True to Chinenye’s word, she and her husband raised money for Chioma as promised and furnished the house also. She moved in and got a teaching job.

Chioma was not a happy woman. Her anger and frustration goes everywhere. It was on her face, attitude and speech. Anyone who saw her, knew she wasn’t happy. She was bitter. The pupils in her class felt her furu.

Some nights, she would remember how sweet her marriage was at the beginning until few years ago. It pained her that Stanley no longer show concern for them. He doesn’t know whether she and the kids feed or the children school fees are paid.

She also wonder why he no longer appeal to him not as if she was ugly. She practically begs him to perform him for sex. Was she supposed to beg for sex? Yet he starved her. He made her lose her self esteem. She used to think something was wrong with herself but later braced up.

“Stanley is so wicked.” She told herself.

She sat up in bed with a deep frown on her face.

“With all you made me go through, I don’t think I will ever forgive you Stanley.”

She sat on the bed till it was morning.

———————————-

Rosa, fully recovered was discharged from the hospital. Ever since the incident that almost claimed her life, she had not said much to Stanley.

Her heart was full of anger and revenge. She thought of so many horrible ways to deal with Chioma.

She stood before the mirror and her hand went to her face. She touched the scar Chioma gave and her anger increased. When she was still in the hospital, Stanley had told her that Chioma had run away. But nobody runs from her.

She smiled as she kept touching the scar. There she made up her mind to deal with Chioma wherever she is hiding.

Rosa moved away from the mirror to the bed. She took her time to go through the bag she brought out from the wardrobe earlier. She was definitely looking for the documents of the house.

Rosa didn’t only collect that of the house, but also the car. She had never seen Stanley go near the bag and no matter what, he will never suspect anything was missing until the house is sold. Even if he suspects that the documents are missing, he will do nothing. Juju will be at work.

She was going to shock him to the marrow. The house in question was a modern house built about four years ago. Rosa made a mental calculation and knew how much the house is worth. She was going to wreck him. She will leave him homeless and penniless. She was going to do him “the more you look, the less you see.”

“I am not called a strong woman for nothing.” She murmured.

“You and your useless wife will feel the fury of my anger”

Few days later, Rosa was on her way to consult Baba Ifa. She walked on that bushy path alone with her thought very far away. Unconsciously, she kept touching the scar. Baba Ifa was outside when he sighted her. He was so concerned about her.

Rosa narrated with tears on her face how she got the ugly scar on her face. The elderly man shook his head and leg.

“She has disfigured me. I want her to pay. Yes I want her to pay. I want her life to be upside down.” She blew catarrh in her handkerchief then wiped her tears.

“I only wanted to share her husband with her and then collect his property. I would have left him after collecting his property but she would have still have him later.”

Rosa sighed deeply.

“Now i am forced to kill her. I want her dead but slowly and painfully”

“Whatever you say, is my command”

“Hmmm!. Her flesh will be eaten gradually while she still breathes. She will call for death herself” Baba ifa said laughing wickedly

“I have collected the documents of his land and car. I am going to sell the land Baba”

The man nodded his head approvingly

“Baba, I want to talk to him with the tongue of the spirit. I want him to willingly hand over all his money to me”

“Come my child, let’s go inside and talk to the gods” He said standing up

Rosa stood up too. He followed him in. In the shrine Baba asked her a question.

“Can you remember the first time you told me about Stanley. Though I didn’t know it was him. You told me you’re interested in a man that caught your eyes.

“Yes Baba”

“You wanted to move into his house but you came to check out his wife’s level of spirituality”

“True Baba”

“What did you see that day”

“There was a shield around her like fire. Mighty beings were watching over her”

“You are correct” Baba said laughing. That was how hot Stanley’s wife was.

“I remember you couldn’t move in then because you were afraid. Now it baffles me it’s that same woman that came to consult the gods” he said laughing.

Baba took a white egg from the black pot and started talking in a strange tongue. Then he threw the egg on the wall and instantly Chioma was in view. She was sitting with her son on the carpeted floor with a sad look on her face.

“We can access her anyhow” Baba ifa said. I cannot even see any fire around her”

“I notice too”

As he turned, the view disappeared . Baba sat down and laughed.

“You did well. You really destabilized the home. Let’s proceed with it” He said

Rosa sat on the floor before him.

———————————–

Stanley sat in his office weeping profusely. He had just been handed a sack letter. A company he had worked for, for 11yrs.

“What did I do” He was heard asking “How do I start again”

With no concrete explanation given to him, he returned to his office weeping like a child who lost his toy.

He cleared his table taking his belongings and left the company dejectedly. He wondered what happened. He has been diligent and never embezzled the company’s funds. Nothing ever linked him to fraud.

Few years ago, Chioma had advised him to quit the company and start a business of his own. If he had listened to her, the company would have been four years. He knew few of his friends who took the risk to start up something for themselves and they are doing well.

“How long will you work in that company. You want to succeed, take the risk. It is even risky not taking the risk to stand on your own. Chioma’s voice kept re -vibrating in his ears

Stanley drove home disappointed. It was good Rosa wasn’t home. How was he to look at her in the eyes and give her the ugly news. If it were Chioma, she would understand but not Rosa.

Right from the beginning of their relationship, Rosa told him she hates men who are failures.

“Failures will always remain failures” She would say.

Then and there, Stanley made up his mind not to tell Rosa anything. Rather than dwell on the sack, he began to plan on how to set up a business. A business he had passion for. He has money hidden away in a bank. He would use part of the money for the business.

“There was no need of me to have shed tears when I was handed the letter” He chided himself