Episode 26
David was on the verge of reading the message when I quickly thought of something, that could get his attention. âDavidâ, I called, âDayo called me todayâ, I lied , âwhat?â, he asked in anger, âwhy did he call you?â, he asked and forgot about reading Stellaâs message, âhe just wanted to apologize for all those times, he called continuouslyâ, I said. My reply didnât seem to calm David down. Then, he said, âplease, give me your phoneâ, âwhat for?â, I asked, âIf I call Dayo with my phone, he wonât pick up, I need to call him and warn himâ, he said.
My heart beat increased uncontrollably, he wanted to call Dayo with my phone to warn him about a call he never made, which would implicate me seriously and expose the fib I told. If I refused to give the phone to him, he would accuse me of still having feelings for Dayo, thereby, inculcating anger in David. I was befuddled, that was the second biggest lie, I had told that day and covering it up wasnât going smoothly for me. âGive me your phoneâ, Davidâs yell jolted me back to reality. âItâs in my bag, lemme bring it outâ, I said softly. Dipping my hand to bring out my phone from my bag took like forever but luck was on my side that day, as soon as I brought out the phone and handed it over to David, my phone rang and it was Dayo, I couldnât express enough the joy in my heart that day, he picked up the phone and began yelling at Dayo, I knew he didnât have the right to do that with my phone but, that didnât matter as I was just desperate to delete those messages I sent to Stella on his phone. I took his phone from his hands, signalling him that I would keep it for him while he kept on threatening Dayo over the phone. Without stopping to read Stellaâs current message, I opened the conversation we had earlier and deleted all of them swiftly. âTake your phoneâ, David said after the vociferous call, âLetâs go home, he will never call you againâ, he assured. I wasnât happy with David trying to take control of my life but, if I ,wanted to avoid discord, I just had to play along. âEhen, read that Stellaâs message for meâ, he said, âokayâ, I replied and read it immediately. The main message was;
âDavid, I just wanted to check on you, I saw you and Uwa leaving the compound, I called out for you but, you didnât hear me. Your messages this afternoon, really gave me relief, donât forget to call me as promisedâ.
I knew, I couldnât read all that and risk exposing my stupid deeds that afternoon so, I read something quite different;
âDavid, I just wanted to check on you, I saw, you and Uwa, leaving the compound, I called out for you but you didnât hear me, take care of yourself and goodnightâ.
After reading the message, I deleted it hurriedly.
âUwa, are you angry?â, he asked, the questioned seemed funny. âWhy would I be angry?â, I asked, âyou know?, because of Stellaâs messageâ, he said.
This time, I couldnât hold back the laughter, âwhy are you laughing?â, he questioned, âno, asking me if Iâm angry at Stellaâs message is funny, why should I get angry?â, I asked, âUwa, because we have feelings for each other. I got jealous over Dayo, so I assumed, youâd get jealous over Stellaâ, he explained. I saw the seriousness in his face and I was baffled, the first question I asked myself was, âhave I been giving him the impression that I would be jealous over Stellaâ, the second question was, âwhen did I tell him I had feelings for him?â. âDavid, Iâm sorry but I didnât say anything like thatâ, I replied, âNo, you didnât but itâs written all your face, I thought you didnât have feelings for me until I noticed that you were just shy of expressing yourself to meâ, he said. For a moment there, I actually thought David was going crazy, how could he make hasty conclusions about my feelings?, I certainly didnât have any feelings for him so, I had to come clean, but I decided to be silent till we reached home, I didnât want him to throw a tantrum on the road. We got home, after freshening up and having dinner. I sat David down to talk to him, which happened to be my third mistake for that day.
âDavid, Iâm sorry, but you have to understand that, I see you as an elder brother, youâve always been there for me, I donât have any feelings for youâ, I explained. He stared at me for a while and busted out an uncontrollable guffaw, which was to supposedly make me look like a fool.
âCome, Uwa, itâs like, you love playing a lot, so you want to tell me that you donât have any feelings for me, then, why are you still living with me?â, he asked, âbecause, I have nowhere else to goâ, I replied, âwhat do you mean by that?, were you not the one that told me that Mrs. Martins wanted you to stay in her house and these past few months, Iâve been taking care of you. You barely even touch your salary and with your daily income, the money in your bank account should be able to get you a room, so donât you dare tell me, itâs because, you have nowhere else to go. Itâs because you have feelings for me, just calm down and see itâ, he yelled. I nodded my head in disapproval and said, âno, David, I donâtâ, you have to understand, âI didnât even know you had feelings for me all this whileâ, I said. âDonât you dare, tell me that, if I didnât have feelings for you, why did I welcome you into my home in the first place?â, he asked, âwait, David, I thought you took me in out of care, so, your intention was to make me your girlfriend?â, I yelled and feigned anger. âNo, Uwa, Iâm sorry, donât get me wrong, Iâm really sorry, I didnât mean it that way, I just donât know what other way to show that I love you, sometimes, you make me feel like, Iâm not doing enough and it gets me angryâ, he explained, I gazed at him and said nothing. âUwa, say something, okay is it that, Iâm not doing enough, or is there something Iâm doing, that you donât like?, I will change Uwa, I promise, please just tell meâ, he pleaded, âNothingâ, I replied, âthen, Uwa, why canât you just have feelings for me?, okay, even if, you still love Dayo, Iâm fine with it, just be in a relationship with me, Iâll prove that Iâm betterâ, he assured me. I was moved with compassion, that would have been a great time to accept him but, I didnât, I was strong willed. âIâm leaving tomorrowâ, that was what I uttered and it sent David on his knees, âUwa, please, donât leave, I wonât talk about having feelings for you again, I promiseâ, he begged, âDavid, please get up, thereâs no use kneeling down, it will only make me angry and if you still have the belief that staying in your house would make me date you, I think itâs time for me to leaveâ, I said harshly. âNo, Uwa, please donât go, I promise, no more talk about feelings, we can just be friends, Iâm okay with friends, please donât just goâ, he pleaded yet again. I was still bent on leaving but if I did, I would seem like an ingrate and a heartless person, I just knew that my days of staying at Davidâs house, were numbered but I didnât say it outright. [b]âI will think about itâ, I said. âOkay, thatâs not a problem, please let me know your decision laterâ, he said, âokayâ, I replied. The rest of the night and going to work the next day was all about Dayo, doing everything in his might to please me, which only hardened my heart about leaving his house.
Mr. Martins was the first person, I saw at work, that day, he was sitted in the living room. My joy knew no bounds, I was contemplating earlier how to get his attention at work because, I was just a maid, there was no way, I could tell my boss, that I wanted to see him. âGood morning sirâ, I greeted, âehen, good morning errrmâ, he stammered, âsir, Iâm Uwanahâ, I said, âoh, okay, good morning Uwanahâ, he replied. I stared at him poignantly, I just didnât know how to raise the topic of my mum being the Ekaite, he was talking about, I didnât know how his reactions would be. âAny problem?â, he asked. I knew I had to tell him or else, he would go for another business trip that would take weeks again. I was about to say something when Mrs. Martins yelled, âAbi, something is wrong with this girl, why are you just standing there?, did you come here to stand?, come on, resume your duties jahreâ. âYes maâ, I said and walked to the kitchen, I didnât want to start telling Mr. Martins anything in front of his wife to avoid interruption or accusation of me telling lies. I felt stupid for not telling Mr. Martins the moment I saw him. I didnât know that was the only time, Iâd get to talk to him that day, he went out later with his wife. I was so angry at myself.
Later that afternoon, David called my phone and made a complaint that Stella called and questioned his failure of not calling her as promised. âThat girl is crazy oooo, when did I promise to call her?â, he asked, âI donât know, maybe you did and youâve forgottenâ, I said when I knew the truth behind it, âI donât remember doing that because sheâs saying, she has had enough of my rubbish and that she would convince her mum to sack meâ, he complained, âuhm, just play along for a while, maybe she just wants to use it to get attention from youâ, I said, âokay ooo, take care of yourselfâ, he said and ended the call. My conscience pricked me, David had done a lot for me and I had done nothing for him. The only request he made was for me to love him which was very difficult for me. What I had managed to do was implicate him due to my juvenile actions the previous day.
Everything was going haywire in my life, I somehow, just missed my old life in Boma with Yemisi and my mum
When Mr. and Mrs. Martins didnât return until later that evening, I learnt a lesson that I had to make use of every every chance, whenever it was given. I was determined to tell Mr. Martins, whether, he was with his wife or not. They just returned, so any minute from then, they would come in through the main door. I summoned courage, I stomped my feet and went straight to the door to wait for them and pour my heart out to Mr. Martins. However, My resolve changed when Mr. Martins opened the door and ushered his wife in. The look on Mrs. Martinsâ face scared the crap out of me, I couldnât tell Mr. Martins anything after greeting them and right in front of me, they both slipped away to their room, while I stood there dumbstruck. âUwa, you are an idiotâ, I cursed myself, âjust tell him you know who Ekaete is, na so e hard you?, nawa ooooâ, I asked myself. It was getting dark, the day was almost over, I had to do something fast, if I couldnât talk to him in person , then I would try talking to him on phone but, there was a little problem, I didnât have his cellphone number. The only people with his number were his wife and his daughter. There was no way, I would ask his wife but, I could ask Stella since I had curried favour from her the previous day. I thought of several ways to ask Stella for her fatherâs number. I mean, itâs not like I could just walk up to her and ask her for her daddyâs number, she would surely ask questions like, âWhy?, what for?, are you okay?â, and those were questions, I didnât have answers to. I made up my mind to nick the number from her phone by any means. I went to Stellaâs room and gently knocked at her door. âCome inâ, she said, âokayâ, I answered, âStella, your dad wants to see youâ, I lied, extreme anxiety was written all over her face. I figured out that, she was probably scared of her father. âEh, why na?, ooooh, mtcheeeeewâ, she hissed, she stood up from the bed and headed towards the door, with her phone. That phone was the reason, I came to her room, I had to do something, âhe seemed angry oooâ, I said, âreally?â, she asked, âyesâ, I answered. She dropped her phone on the bed and made use of her fingers to arrange the strands of her messy hair on her forehead, âI look responsible shey?â, she asked, âYesâ, I said and we both left the room.
After, she left, I knew I was going to be in big trouble when she discovers I lied but, it didnât matter yet, all I wanted was her fatherâs number. I entered her room quickly and grabbed her phone giggling but, I was disappointed, when I saw, âinput passwordâ. I thought of what to do, then, I remembered I brought my phone too, I hurriedly removed her both SIMs and transferred them to my phone. Getting the contacts to appear on my phone lingered for a while. Finally, I saw her phone contacts. For the next few minutes, I searched for âDaddyâ or âMy dadâ, on her phone, there was no name like that, I was sweating, I almost quit checking her phone but I went through the contacts once more and found âMummyâs husbandâ, I was marveled, why would she store her fatherâs name like that?, there was no pen and paper in sight at the moment to copy the number and Stella would return soon, if, I didnât leave. The only solution was to cram the number. After reading it repeatedly, four or five times, I put the SIMs into her phone and left her room right after.
I went to the kitchen and transferred my own SIM into my phone, I waited for a while and typed in the number quickly, I gave a satisfied smile. Ngozi just looked at me, like, I was crazy, while I just laughed, she didnât understand what I had just done, moreover, the look on her face was funny.
My next plan was to leave the kitchen and call David that it was time to leave, I knew it was only a matter of time before Stella would confront me about the lie I told. I wasnât ready for her complaints that night, âAbeg in the morning jahreâ, I said to myself and yawned. I was about to bid Ngozi farewell when Stella stormed into the kitchen accompanied by her mother. âWhy did you lie?â, Stella clamoured angrily. If Stella was alone, I might have outsmarted her but with her mother, whom I was scared of, what was I going to say?.
Choose Episodes Below;
Note: episodes already read are highlighted in red!
Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 13 Episode 14 Episode 15 Episode 16 Episode 17 Episode 18 Episode 19 Episode 20 Episode 21 Episode 22 Episode 23 Episode 24 Episode 25 Episode 26 Episode 27 Episode 28 Episode 29 Episode 30 Episode 31 Episode 32 Episode 33 Episode 34 Episode 35 Episode 36 Episode 37 Episode 38 Episode 39 Episode 40
Leave a Reply