FAMILIAR ENEMY (EPISODE 17) Written by Glorie Adepoju

“Let’s keep praying about it, sir” I said with some encouragement. He nodded.

“Dinner is served sir.” Oge announced.

“Have you told Bimbola?”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright.”

Oge excused herself, and Uncle Ade and I went to the dining table.

Aunty BB descended the stairs, her black maxi dress, emphasized her depressed state. I became more worried about her every day.

I had a feeling that she might be coming down with some sort of illness, because she looked horrible when she returned from the hospital some days ago. At first, it appeared she was only grieving because she had lost Mayowa who was the heir and her ticket to wealth. My heart went out to her, since she got back from the hospital, she ate less, and looked so depressed it was painful to watch. Nothing seemed to comfort her. Uncle Ade was right, she would never forgive him if she found out that his promiscuous lifestyle had made her lose Mayowa, considering all the kind of things she had done to secure Mayowa.

We ate in silence. Aunty BB picked on her food, I felt sorry for her. She had this blank expression that scared me. Uncle Ade noticed it also, we exchanged glances, concerned.

“Waste! It was all a wasted effort!” Aunty BB suddenly shouted suddenly. I dropped my fork, startled.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Uncle Ade asked concerned.

“Waste! everything wasted!” She cried louder this time; she flung her cutleries angrily like a little child.

“Bimbola…” Uncle Ade said standing to his feet.

Then she started laughing, not the contagious laughter of a happy soul, but a malicious one that sounded very creepy.

My heart was beating in fear, by this time Oge, Peter and the others had joined us in the dinning, wondering what was going on.

Aunty BB pulled out the sharp pin that held her hair together, her hair extension tumbled down her neck, she pointed the sharp pin at us all including Uncle Ade.

“Ademi, sit down! I have a story, sit down! Everybody!!” she commanded, we all obeyed, she started laughing hysterically again.

We all remained still, confused and afraid, the pointed edge of the long hair pin, was like a warning to us all. She faced Uncle Ade.

“Juliet, one of your numerous girlfriends, Ademi, remember her? I arranged her affair with you, because I wanted her to get pregnant.” Aunty BB began to relay all the things she did in order to have a backup card, and be the one to bear the first child, and get the birth-right, and all because of the wealth and entitlement attached.

To my utter shock, she began speaking about Juliet, things that she had carefully kept secret all these years. She laughed hysterically and then she had that blank expression immediately.

“That idiot Juliet got greedy, asking for more money! I dealt with her. When she had the baby, I gave her a wrong dosage of a dangerous medication. I wanted it to appear natural. She bled to death right there in the hospital, I silenced her.”

I wasn’t shocked because of what she was saying, because I was aware of it all. What amazed me was that she was saying it openly like it was a noble thing to kill a human being. It was obvious she had lost it.

“Bimbola!” Uncle Ade exclaimed.

“Silence! I’m not done! Don’t interrupt my story!!!” she barked, pointing the pin at him aggressively, Uncle Ade sat back
down, she started laughing again.

“So, so, so, soooooo, I had Mayowa all to myself, two months ago, I finally got pregnant. I was so happy. I didn’t tell Ademi about the pregnancy, I wanted to surprise him!”

“One night, Ademi told me that the moment his father returns from his overseas trip, Mayowa would be given his entitlement as first-born. It occurred to me, since Mayowa is truly the first born, then he would be the one to get all the first-born entitlement, and my own child would not get that chance. I was angry and worried, what if Mayowa grows up and finally finds out I’m not his mother? He might just become like his greedy mother, keeping all the entitlement to himself. No! My child must be the first child, no competition.”

“Afterall, I’m pregnant, Mayowa the back-up card is useless to me. I still had some time before my father-in-law would return, I had to find a way to eliminate him fast, and make it to look natural, so I arranged with a gang to peacefully eliminate the boy. It’s a waste now, everything! I had a miscarriage! My baby is gone!! Everything is ruined now, the back-up card is gone, my baby is gone too!!!!!” in frenzy, she tore her dress, revealing her undergarments.

I stood there in shock, with the speed of light, she jabbed her inner thigh with the sharp pin and started tearing into her flesh, thick red liquid gushed out and splattered around. I didn’t move from where I stood, transfixed and too shocked to move an inch. Uncle Ade stood there, boggled.

Peter, rushed to stop her from causing herself further physical harm. She had the strength of five men, she was totally out of control.

Her noise was deafening as they tried to get her under control. As I watched, clearly convinced that she was mentally deranged, the Holy Spirit dropped the scripture in my spirit.

Jeremiah 17:10 “But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

I joined Oge with the cleaning of the blood-stained tiles, absent mindedly working, distracted by my thoughts, that was filled with awe for God, whose power had brought the unexpected turn of events.

…to be continued…

pEn&pApEr
GLORIEADEPOJU