A Story Of Deceit

Episode 31

My mum had started calling me a fool, she had no idea why I succumbed to Stella’s bidding. It wasn’t just her anyway, every other person in the house wondered why too.
The meeting my uncle wanted to have with Stella and I had always been postponed and finally it would hold that afternoon. My uncle didn’t go out that day, he visited a doctor the previous day and was asked to rest at home for some days, due to severe stress.

I just couldn’t wait to know the outcome of the meeting, I just had the idea, that it had to do with mine and Stella’s future. The clock ticked 1:00pm, the time for the meeting.

I went to Stella’s room to inform her as she instructed few hours ago. ‘Stella, It’s 1:00pm’, I informed her. ‘It’s 1:00pm already?’, she asked. ‘No, it’s 6:00pm’, I replied. ‘Eh, what did you say?’, she asked sternly. ‘Nothing’, I replied. ‘Better for you, oya come and drag me up’, she ordered lazily stretching on the bed. ‘Uwa, you have suffered, it’s better, you look for a way to delete that picture, or else, this ode will use you like slave forever’, I grumbled. I reluctantly moved towards the bed, held her hands and dragged her up. ‘Uwa, pull me up well na’, she yelled. I was short of words, her disrespectful attitude was becoming something else. ‘Uwa, there’s something in your ear abi?, I said drag me up well joor’, she yelled again. I forcefully dragged her up, causing a yelp of pain from her. ‘Uwa, what is wrong with you?’, she asked, ‘What do you mean by that?, you said, I should drag you up na’, I said. ‘She pointed her finger to my face and said, ‘be careful ooo, Uwanah be careful, or else, Hmmmmm, you know na’, she threatened. ‘Oya, leave my room, I’ll come later’, she said and sat on the bed again. She just made nonsense of my efforts in helping her stand up from the bed. I didn’t say a word and I just left.

Besides my uncle, Ngozi, Stella and I, the two mothers were not at home. They both went to work. My uncle couldn’t find any other place of work for my mum, except his wife’s supermarket. He begged them to work together, without disputes. Mrs. Martins agreed on the conditions that, my mum would work as a surbodinate and they would sign an agreement where, she’d have the right to fire my mum, if she misbehaved. My mum agreed to these terms, not for peace to reign, but for the money involved. I went to the living room thinking of what to do about Stella’s incessant obscene behaviour, when my uncle entered the parlour. ‘Where’s your sister?’, my uncle asked me as he sat comfortably on one of the sofas in the living room. ‘I reject it, God forbid, Stella my sister?, e nor fit happen’, I groused in my thoughts. ‘She’s still upstairs sir’, I said. ‘I said, you both, should meet me here, by 1:00pm’, what is she still doing upstairs?’, he asked. ‘I don’t know sir ooo’, I answered. I would have reported that she refused to follow me when I called her earlier to put her in deep trouble, but I remembered, she had something on me which was false by the way, just that I didn’t have any explanations for it. I thought he’d ask me to call her but, he brought out his phone and dialled her number. ‘It’s like, there’s something wrong with you, will you come down here right now’, he hurled and ended the call. In less than a minute, Stella came, apologized to her father rudely, looked at me sternly and took a seat.

‘So, I’m sure, you both know why you’re here’, my uncle said. ‘And, just in case, you don’t know, It’s about, what you guys will do next, apart from, sleeping, waking up and eating in this house’, he said. ‘Uwanah’, he called staring at me, ‘Sir’, I replied. ‘I’m very sure, you don’t have a secondary school education, so, university may not be the best option for you but, judging from what I’ve seen and what my sister has told me, you’re brilliant. So, would you like a tutor or would you like to learn a handwork?, I need your decision, before the week runs out’, he instructed, ‘Yes, yes sir’, thank you sir, I said. ‘You’, he turned towards Stella who had been giggling, from the moment she heard, I didn’t have a secondary school education. ‘Sir’, she answered. ‘You went to a secondary school but, You eh, you this Stella, Your case is something else, you have refused to pass WAEC after sitting thrice for it, I asked you to learn a handiwork and you refused. So, my verdict is, if you refuse to learn any handiwork, you’ll continue sitting for WAEC and if you refuse to write WAEC again, you’ll keep on sitting at home’, he said to Stella who was looking very embarrassed. I couldn’t hold the laughter in anymore, after hearing she had sat thrice for WAEC.

‘Uwa, what’s funny, why are you laughing?’, my uncle questioned. ‘Nothing sir’, I replied. I refused to look at Stella’s face, I didn’t want to see the rage she’d have in her eyes for me. ‘So, you both have from now, till Sunday to get back to me and Uwa, that day is your birthday, right?’, he asked. ‘Yes!’, I exclaimed smiling. I was glad that he knew about it. ‘Okay, let’s see what happens before then’, he said, stood up and left the living room.

I stood up hurriedly in a bid to leave for my room to avoid Stella’s whine. ‘Where are you going to?’, she asked. ‘To my room’, I said with a frown. ‘Oya, come and sit down here’, she said authoritatively. ‘I don’t want to sit down, what is it?’, I asked. ‘Why were you laughing earlier?’, she questioned. ‘Nothing, I replied’. ‘Nothing abi?, ‘See let me tell you something, you’re nothing ooo, you didn’t even go to school, just know that, I’m way better than you’, she said. ‘Well, at least, I’m better than those, who doesn’t have any certificate to prove that they went’, I mocked and left for my room. ‘Uwa, come back here, come back now’, she yelled. ‘You’re very stupid ooo, in fact everyone is seeing that picture tonight’, she threatened.
The sound of the threat from her made me scared but, I refused to give her any attention, I was fed up of her insolent act. Later, that evening, I sat on my bed, thinking of David, he had started returning my calls, but, his attitude was cold towards me, he even made up excuses to avoid our evening meetings.

All these began, after that picture incident, I was feeling so haughty before to apologize to him but, I realized, I might actually lose him for real, which wasn’t something I wanted.

I left my room and ran straight to the garden.

‘David?, no, im no come work today and I no know why, im no even call, we still dey hide the matter, we no want make madam find out, we don’t call am tire, im no gree pick’, their leader informed. Fear gripped me, what could have possibly happened to David?, why wasn’t he returning their calls?, it was unlike David, to miss work. ‘Okay, thank you sir’, I said and ran back to the house. ‘I must call him now’, I said in my thoughts.

I opened the door of my room, only to find Stella sitting on my bed, with a hideous smile. ‘Stella, leave my room’, I said and moved towards the bed. ‘I should leave?’, she asked showing her phone to me with the picture of me and that useless guy as her phone’s wall paper. I ignored her and turned around in an attempt to open the door for her to leave. Immediately, I turned, a torrid slap landed on my back, which sent pain all through my body. In anger, I turned around and in retaliation, my slap hit her left eye, it made her lose her stance, thereby, making her phone to fall from her hand and causing a crack as it hit the tiled floor heavily.
I was already pissed off and worried about David’s issue, her concurrent torment because of that picture and she had the audacity to slap me?. I wouldn’t say, I fought her, because, I practically overshadowed her and hit her like a child. She screamed for help and I knew that soon, Ngozi or maybe, my uncle would come to her rescue but I wasn’t done with her, so, I locked the door with the key which was always attached to the hole on the handle.

‘Uwa, Uwa, sorry, my face please, just leave my face alone’, she pleaded. ‘What’s going on in there?’, Ngozi knocked with all her might. I would certainly open the door considering, Stella’s pleas and Ngozi’s constant knock on the door but not until, I got rid of that picture. However, I changed my mind. I picked up the phone after pushing her out of my room and locking it quickly enough to prevent Ngozi from entering my room. My anger was off limits, I picked up her phone, I remembered all she had made me go through because of it, I hit it on the floor again causing another wicked crack on the screen. I didn’t know her password, I just removed the battery, pulled out the memory card and broke it. Yes!, that was how angry, I could get. I opened the door and she was still there with Ngozi ranting about how I hit her, she threatened to show Ngozi the picture, ‘What picture?’, I said, showing her the phone. ‘What?’, what did you do to my phone?’, she asked sobbing. ‘Do you think, I’m the only one that has that picture?, I sent it to some of my friends, I’ll collect it again, as soon as I get a new phone’, she threatened. ‘If you collect it again, I will destroy the new phone, besides, all those pictures on Ngozi’s phone of your unprofessional positions with guys, I have them too’, I lied. ‘Your parents will see them’, I threatened. Ngozi had no idea of what was going on, I was sure that she was wondering how I managed to get pictures from her phone when it was password protected. ‘When my mum returns today, she’ll hear of this’, she said. ‘You have forgotten my mum lives in this house too, so my mum will hear of this too’, I fired back. Ngozi said nothing and left us alone. Stella was still blabbing, till I made my hand into a fist and directed it to her face, like I was going to punch her and she fled in fright.

I jammed the door, leaned behind it and sighed heavily. At least, I had gotten Stella of my back, I was just left with David’s issue.

I dialled David’s number continuously, he still didn’t pick up. I was distraught. My mum and Stella’s mum returned some minutes after 9:00pm, I was ready for Stella in case, she reported to her mother about the brawl, we had earlier but, she didn’t. The house was quite peaceful that night as both mothers were exhausted. I didn’t even have the appetite for dinner, I was frenzied about David. My thoughts drifted a while off David as I remembered what my uncle said that afternoon. I didn’t know if I was ready for a private tutor or not. I hadn’t been to school in a long while and university was out of the context. I was considering learning a trade, probably fashion designing or catering.

I pondered deeply over the issue, after a while, I decided to dial David’s number, once more before sleeping. It rang for a while, I had almost given up when he picked. I was so glad. ‘Hello, David’, I said breathlessly. ‘Yes, hello Uwanah’, he said coldly. ‘Hmmmm’, I sighed. ‘Uwanah, how have you been?’, he asked. ‘I’ve been fine, you?’, ‘I’m fine’, he replied. ‘Then, why didn’t you come to work today?’, I asked. ‘Nothing’, he said. ‘David, please talk to me’, I pleaded, ‘I said nothing Uwa’, he said abruptly. ‘David, I’m really sorry about what happened, I’m really really sorry ‘, I apologized. ‘Uwa, I’m not angry at you, I’m just stressed out and I actually didn’t come because, I’m not feeling too well’, he explained. ‘Then, why didn’t you just tell your leader today’, I asked. ‘See Uwa, you will not understand, hope you’re fine sha?’, he asked. ‘Yes, I’m fine’, I answered. ‘Okay, Uwa, bye goodnight’, he said and ended the call before I could reply.

I stared at my phone for a few seconds wondering what could be the cause of David’s cold attitude towards me, if he wasn’t angry about the other day, then, what was he angry about?. I mean, I could still sense the care in his voice but, something seemed totally odd. ‘Or is he trying to withdraw from me because, I refused to be his girlfriend?’. I thought. ‘Maybe, that’s the reason ooo’, I said. ‘Hmmmm, he probably doesn’t know, I feel the same way too’, I said and chuckled. I resolved to talking to him the next day, when he arrived at work. Alas, David didn’t arrive at work the next day, it’d only be a matter of time before Stella’s mum would go through the attendance and discover David’s absence which would cost him his job. I took permission from Ngozi that I had to see a sick friend and that, I’d be back on time unlike Stella who left the house earlier without permission from anyone. ‘What kind of sickness would prevent David from coming to work?’, I asked myself as I left the house. An hour later, I reached the compound where I used to live with David. ‘Ah, ah, Uwa, na you be this?, this one way you come today, heavy rain go fall’, one of the women in the compound said. I wasn’t really good with conversations, so, I just greeted her and walked to David’s door.

‘David will be so surprised, I can’t wait to see the look on his face’, I thought. I got to the door, I was about to knock when, I looked down, I didn’t see just David’s footwear. I saw other footwears, one male’s footwear and female’s footwear. I would have knocked but again, I let curiosity get the better part of me. ‘it’s a surprise visit afterall’, I said holding the door knob. I looked at it, not sure if I should turn back or just go in. ‘No, I must see’, I said and pushed the door open. ‘Uwanah’, David yelled. I was shocked, the owner of the female footwear was Stella, the owner of the other male footwear was Dayo. What were Dayo and Stella doing in David’s house?. David and Dayo sat on the floor, Stella sat on the bed and it seemed like they were having an important discussion, before I barged in. what kind of connection could they all possibly have?