The Forbidden Fruit

Episode 38

Jide’s heart pounded, drowning out his thoughts as his car barrelled forward, out of his control.He pumped on the useless brake pedal uselessly, his life seeming to flash before his eyes. Images of the best days of his life flitted past-his university days, his whirlwind courtship of Patricia, their colourful marriage ceremony, making his first million. And then more recent unpleasant ones- the tension in his barely two-year old marriage, e—-c trysts with Anita, his lack of control around Florence. A feeling of guilt underlay the panic he was feeling as his car hurtled toward a certain crash.

I wonder if I will go to hell for committing Adam’s sin.At the same time, a defiant thought zipped through the fog of despair.Don’t give up so easy! Fight for your life! Fight for a second chance to livewithout regrets!Jide jerked out of his fright and snapped to action. He flicked on his hazard lights to warn the drivers in front and behind him, and immediately shifted the car into a lower gear, starting from the highest and ending at the lowest, hoping it would slow down appreciably beforeit reached the intersection. Then he began to weave his car from side to side.Even though the car slowed down immediately, he still felt like he was moving like a bat out of hell, and when his car eventually coasted into the intersection at an appreciably slower speed, he made it almost halfway across the road before it stalled and finally stopped when he had slowed down enough to safely pull up the emergency brake. Just then, a large truck bore down on him, horn blasting as its brakes squealed. Jide cringed in the driver’sseat, eyes shut, expecting the truck to swat his car out of the way like a small insect.But the fates smiled on him. The truck stopped with a loud cough andhiss just inches from his car.

Jide looked up at the truck hood inches away from his head and began to shake uncontrollably. He would keepshaking as other concerned drivers emerged to help him and his car waseventually towed to a nearby auto mechanic. After making a down-payment for the overall examination and repair of his car, hehopped shakily into a taxi and continued on his way home, a new set of thoughts running around in his mind.

His conversation with the auto mechanic had revealed that his car brakes had failed because of fluid loss from a cracked rubber brake hose. Jide was shocked to hear that, as he was religious about getting hiscar regularly checked and his last check-up had revealed nothing like wear or tear in his brake lines. When the mechanic emerged from beneaththe car with the detached rubber hose, they both stared at the damage.

For a moment, it had looked deliberate, but when Jide raised that possibility, the mechanic just shrugged, but his eyes agreed.Jide felt his suspicion was justified. The damage was too bad to have been missed during the last check-up of his car. Someone had tampered with his brakes.Immediately, his mind went to Anita and her strange behavior at the office parking garage. In the taxi, he shuddered again. Anita did not look like the type who even knew where a car’s brake lines were located. Still, Jide thought it was a troubling coincidence that a woman who had threatened him so much in the past weeks had just happened to be closeto his car before it got vandalized.

He chewed on that disturbing thought all the way home, massaging his cramped neck, and then he exited the taxi tiredly and slipped in past his surprised security-man when he opened the gates.

“Ah, Oga welcome. You no come back with car. Any problem?”Jide paused to smile wanly at the man, the memory of his brush with death or serious injury returning. “The car is at the mechanic’s. It had problems.”The security man looked relieved. “Oh, okay sir. Sorry o. As madam comot before without her own car, come return dey sweat like person wey go jog , I feel say una two wan join us begin dey use Leggedez Benz.”Jide chuckled half-heartedly at the joke and continued on into the house. Patricia, again, was waiting with a sumptuous meal just mere minutes after he entered the house.

Too tired to let fear stop him from eating, he cleaned himself up quicklyand settled down to the sumptuous meal of pounded yam and egusi soup as Patricia sat smiling opposite, watching him eat.Jide briefly debated telling his wife about the brake failure, and then decided to start with chit-chat. “So, how was your day, Pat?” The question tasted weird and forced on his tongue. They had not talked for awhile and he felt rusty at it.Patricia smiled and looked up from her own plate. “Oh, it was okay. A bit boring since I was in all day. Busy working all through…”But Jide had stopped eating and was staring at his wife. The security man had said Patricia went out earlier, but she had just lied. What reason would she have to do that? There were many places she could have gone out to…Unless she took a quick trip to your office garage and cut your brake lines, idiot, a voice tittered in Jide’s head.He stopped eating altogether and stared at his wife as she chatted in between swallows of pounded yam.

She looked the picture of normalcy, but just a few days ago, she had looked insane. What if her new cheeriness was just a cover for moresinister plans than the silent treatment?Had his wife tampered with his car brakes?