She sat on a stool in front of the counter at a bar, drowning her sorrows. The series of disappointments and heartbreaks from men had gotten to its peak in her life. With what she’d seen and suffered at the hands of men, Idara confirmed the popular saying, men are scum to be true. She was done with love.
Screw love and screw all men! Why did the good ones always get hurt? Drunk by the eleven shots of tequila she’d shoved down her throat, she began to rain curses on all her past boyfriends, calling out their names one by one. She was so loud that everyone was forced to watch and listen.
The bartender standing on the other side of the counter flung his white glassware towel onto a shoulder and leaned forward, politely asking her to get a hold of herself but she attacked him as well, shouting that all men were the same.
Hands up, he quietly retreated.
Teardrops rolled down her cheeks as she put her head down and wept silently. Her sobs melted his heart where he was seated in a corner, watching her. He left his spot and took a stool beside her.
“Hi,”
“Piss off!” she said without raising her head.
“Whoa, easy there, feisty pants. I’m not here to fight,” he replied, chuckling at the keenness of her response.
“Are you deaf or stupid? I said piss off!”She now raised her head to see who this annoying guy was. Their eyes met and she cast a stern glare at him which was more than enough to scare him off but he just sat there on his stool, smiling at her.
He could sense hatred emanating from her aura. In her eyes, he saw something dark and broken. Pain was her companion, joy had become her enemy. She was beautiful but the frown on her face was not welcoming, nevertheless, he was still smiling. That pesky little grin he was flashing at her made her imagine denting his skull into the edge of the concrete counter. In her head, she’d killed him a million times, in a million different ways. Her thoughts for him were pure evil and if only he knew that, he wouldn’t still have that smile on his face.
“Damn,” he said sympathetically as he stared into those rage-filled eyes,” who hurt you?”
“I see what you’re trying to do, Mr. Man,” she laughed and an unexpected drunken yelp came forth like a hiccup.
“Oh, yeah? humor me,” he said.
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“You, my friend, are not nice, so stop pretending to be when we both know you just want to get in between my legs. You’ve studied me before coming over, you know that I’m drunk and wasted, probably angry or sad about something, a man perhaps. So you think to yourself that maybe, just maybe if you played your cards right, you might get lucky and have me sucking your cock in the bathroom. Now you’re wondering, how did she know exactly what I was thinking ?” she concluded. Her head was spinning and her words were barely organised.
He laughed lightly and said, “Actually, I was wondering why you’re so dark and twisted.”
She sniggered, “Men. You’re all the same. All of you.”
“Not all of us,…”
“Lemme guess, you’re different.”
“I…”
“- Abeg, abeg,” she cut him off, “liar óshi,” Idara drew in a long hiss and got off her stool, staggering around until he helped her stand up straight. “Don’t touch me!” She pushed him away, “I’m fine.” His ridiculous smile was really starting to get on her nerves and thank God her Uber had arrived. She needed to get away from this relentless stranger before things got ugly.
Idara overpaid the bartender and clumsily walked out of the bar. Her movements were unsteady, completely off balance, the Tequila had done its part. She was drunk.
He watched her struggle to enter the backseat until the driver came to her aid and shut the door after she was in. The headlights came up and the Uber drove away.
He was pulled over by a gas pump and while the attendant was filling his tank, he realized he was famished and walked into the mini Mart to get something to eat. He grabbed some bags of chips, passed the candy aisle, and reached a fridge. He couldn’t keep buying carbonated drinks every day, besides it wasn’t good for his s3xual health as a man so he shut the door. And as he turned around, heading towards the counter, he saw her settling her bills with the cashier. Conspicuously, he cleared his throat as he stopped beside her. “Hi,”
“Can I help you?” she replied, somewhat rude.
He scoffed at the attitude, “You must really hate men so much.” He smiled at her.
She looked at him and it was his grin that joggled her memory. “Ohh, you’re that annoying guy from the bar,” she said casually.
“She remembers me, impressive.” It had been two weeks already, no wonder he was surprised that she still recognized him.
“Are you stalking me?”
He raised the bags of chips in his hands, “Came to get these.”
“Right,” she mumbled in disagreement but decided to let it slide. He offered to pay for her goods but she refused, saying she wasn’t intimidated by men who treated her like she was some damsel in distress. Instead, she overpaid the cashier and asked him to substrate the amount from the young man’s bill.
On her way to her car, he hurried over and introduced himself as Henry. She told him that she wasn’t interested and then drove away without telling him her name. Henry smiled. He loved a challenge and in his experience, girls like her who often played hard to get often ended up having the biggest hearts filled with love.
Onome’s wedding was a grand occasion, and even though Idara hated men, she was glad that at least her best friend was lucky enough to have found a great guy who loved and cherished her. She was standing alone somewhere by the caterer’s corner in her expensive asoebi when the bride ran into her bosom.
They hadn’t seen each other in a long while and Idara was only in Abuja for the wedding. They talked for some time and took some pictures together before the groom joined them with his old-time friend. It took her a moment to recognize him in that white agbada. He looked so handsome that she was almost gawking at him.
“You again?” she asked, composing herself.
“Now, I’m beginning to think it’s you who’s stalking me.” He smiled.
“You wish. I’m here for my friend’s wedding.”
“As am I.”
“Wait, you two know each other?” the groom asked.
“Uhh,…” Henry contemplated, “something of that nature. But she’s refused to tell me her name.”
“Ohh, her name is Idara and she’s a lovely single lady. Emphasis on single.” Onome winked at him.
“Thank you very much for that introduction, Onome,” Idara spoke through gritted teeth, casting a stern look of disapproval at the bride.
“You’re welcome, honey,” she shrugged off her offense and dematerialized with her husband, leaving the two to the awkwardness that hovered around them.
They spoke but didn’t really bond until two days later after she had to travel back to Lagos for an urgent meeting at the office. The flight was a last-minute one and it so happened that that was the day he was also traveling back.
She walked through the passenger aisle, searching for her seat number, and soon found it. As she was about to sit, he jerked his head to see his seat partner; “Are you for real?” he asked, surprised.
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She knew then that she couldn’t shake off this guy, maybe this was a sign? Idara scoffed at him with something that looked like a blush. He flashed that smile of his again and she felt like her heart had cracked open. Idara put her head down and smiled.
All through the flight, they were engaged in topics about life, businesses, recent celebrity news, movies, and more. And Just like that, Henry and Idara clicked. He made her laugh and shared the same fantasy with her. They had a whole lot in common.
After the encounter in Abuja, the two began to see each other, first on casual dates, then on official evening dates at expensive restaurants. One night, she invited him over to her place for a good time as she tagged it.
He rang her doorbell and she opened up a moment later. His brows rose at the sight of her in that skimpy red nightgown that exposed her cleavage. She stared at him lustfully, biting her lower lip. A hand was stylishly balanced on her hip and with the other, she pulled him inside. He slammed the door shut with the back of his leg as they kissed all the way upstairs to the bedroom. Like poison, Henry had slowly moved through her system, breaking all of her defenses with time.
That rigid lady who hated love was now basking in the light of Henry’s. She knew in her heart of hearts that trusting this guy was a mistake she could later regret but she decided to give love one last chance. The way he touched her, k*ssed her fervently, fondled her saggy boobs left her swooning in ecstasy. She hadn’t been laid in over a year and he was so good at reminding her of the pleasure she’d been missing out on.
The next morning, when he was in the bathroom, his phone chimed on the bed beside where she was laying down. Idara didn’t mean to snoop but she couldn’t help seeing who the text was from; a certain Priscilla. He was drying his body with a white towel when she told him that he had a text. He asked who it was from and she said didn’t know, that she didn’t check. He took the phone, saw the text, and replied; “That was my mother. She wanted me to get her something this Christmas,” he laughed nervously and changed the subject. Neither of them had introduced the other to their families but she sure knew that his mum’s name wasn’t Priscilla. She ignored that one.
It happened again one fateful morning when he was in the bathroom. This time, the text was from his close friend, Morris and it read;
Guy, so you dey marry next Saturday and you no tell me, your guy?
She paused. What did that text mean? Was this some kind of joke or what? Next Saturday? No.
She pretended like she didn’t see anything and waited until it was Saturday. He’d left town on Thursday saying he was going on a business trip. They weren’t living together but she had the keys to his place. After she saw him off to the airport, she returned to his home and found out that the key couldn’t unlock the door anymore. For the past couple of weeks, he was always the one coming over to her place and she didn’t ask him why. Now, she was told by his neighbor that he was no longer living there.
Idara tracked his phone to a wedding ceremony on that fateful Saturday morning only to discover that he was the groom but she obviously wasn’t the bride. There he was, in his suit, smiling and waving at the people congratulating him and his new bride. She hid amidst the crowd and watched the couple drive away in a pink convertible. Idara wasn’t angry, no. She just smirked as she’d made up her mind on how to handle the situation.
They had lodged into a hotel during their honeymoon. One evening after they just finished taking a shower, room service knocked on the door. In her bathrobe and a towel tied around her head, the bride answered the door. The cleaner greeted her and walked in, pushing her trolley. That instant, Henry walked out of the closet with nothing but a towel around his waist. “Babe, who was that…?” the pause came when he saw Idara disguised as a cleaner. He was immediately dumbfounded, speechless.
“Hello, Henry,” she said, taking out a gun. The bride gaped in fear and she began to plead. “Go downstairs, call the police, and tell them that your husband has been shot,” Idara said to her, solemnly.
“Ma?” she asked with tears in her eyes.
Idara cast a glare at her and she quickly ran out of the room.
“Idara, listen…I can explain,” said Henry.
“No need,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. He was obviously dating that girl while he was still chasing after her. She was just his plaything, something to be disposed of at will.
He knew where she stood on love matters yet he brought her out of her shell only to end up shattering her heart into a million pieces. She aimed the gun at him, shut her eyes, and pulled the trigger. The bride was still on her way downstairs when the sound of the gunshot forced her to stop for a moment.
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The hotel security barged in and seized Idara who didn’t even so much as struggle. There he was, laying dead on the bed with a bullet in his head. The sheets and pillows were stained with the red liquid that had formed a pool around Henry’s head.
Idara was cuffed and taken away. The bride, frozen in shock, screamed at the sight of her dead husband after she’d pushed her way back to the room against security. Her heart soon gave out and her body dropped to the ground.
Idara later found out that the bride was a month pregnant at the time and that she’d not just killed Henry, but she was also responsible for the death of both mother and an unborn child. She was tried and found guilty of all charges. The judge sentenced her to life in prison and while she was being taken away, Idara laughed so hard that the entire court thought she was going crazy. She laughed,…and laughed,…and laughed.
STORY BY: SAMUEL FRANCIS
