Chapter 22
I left Seth’s apartment after getting dressed but knew I couldn’t return home; it was no longer mine. I stayed at a hotel the first night and then returned to the apartment Oliver, and I shared to get my things. They weren’t much because he owned most of what we had at the apartment. What was his used to be mine, but not anymore.
He wasn’t home, and I got a bittersweet feeling about that. Bitter because I hoped to see him and tell him I loved him and wanted us to figure out what happened together. Sweet because the man I saw yesterday didn’t look like one ready to work through anything, especially with me. He was hurt and betrayed, and he was one wrong move away from strangling my neck. I didn’t feel safe and thought
this was the best.
It took twenty minutes, but I had everything I owned arranged in the moving box, ready to leave.
I didn’t want to leave; Oliver’s scent was all over the place, and I wanted to bask in it and inhale the rich, masculine scent of the man I loved until I got my fill. I couldn’t; I had to leave; everything changed yesterday, and I had to get used to it.
As I exited the building, I saw Oliver’s car stop, and he got down and approached the building. Everything around me stopped except for my speeding heart.
Oliver wore his favourite blue cotton jacket and white shirt on his black trousers and a black face cap. I held myself together as he walked and drew closer, but when he got to where I stood, he walked past me as if I wasn’t even there.
My poor heart shattered once again, realising that this was my reality. I cried bitterly on my ride
back to the hotel.
I called Elena and told her I was coming over to Uncle Onu’s place, and she was excited to have me,
not knowing what had happened. I saved all the money I made while working at the university’s
library last month, and I have been living on it since yesterday.
Elena looked worried to find me holding onto my moving box, and when she asked what happened, I told her everything. We both cried, and I cried harder. She consoled me and told me it was alright,
but even she knew it wasn’t. Onu was welcoming and told me I could stay for as long as I wanted. I
shared a room with Onu’s twelve–year–old, Godiya.
The days didn’t get any better, but death didn’t come, and so I had to carry on.
I returned to university, but everyone’s eyes were on me. The news of the affair had spread, and there was nowhere to hide my head in shame. The students and some professors stared at me in
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disgust and hatred, and others laughed when I walked by.
The student union asked me to step down from my position as president because if I couldn’t take the vows of marriage seriously, how could I take anything else seriously? The diversity club I helped
start asked me to leave because I made the club look bad.
As if it couldn’t get any worse, Cecil ended our friendship. She told me that her parents found out about my affair and told her to stay away from me. I cried myself to sleep.
I wanted to give up and stop attending lectures altogether, but I kept reminding myself why I came here. I came to give Elena and me a good life, and I had to achieve that. I’ve done my best to stay alive and hopeful in the last four weeks.
This morning, I got a package delivery, and in it was a sample of the divorce papers along with some other documents stipulating the finalisation of the signing
I wasn’t surprised to receive these papers; I expected them, but it still hurt.
Oliver had told me he wanted nothing to do with me. He didn’t want to see me or hear my voice. He wanted me as far from him as possible.
Once again, I cried.
There was an email and telephone number of the attorney, Barrister Tyler Hart, attached to the document, and I reached out and inquired about the date for the signing. I was up for any day they chose. This was what Oliver wanted, and who was I to say no?
A month later, I sat in the conference hall waiting for Oliver and his lawyer, as he had told me the time, and I didn’t want to keep them waiting.
Thirty minutes later, the door opened, and the lawyer walked into the conference room holding a few documents, Oliver followed behind.
My eyes lingered on him. It’s been two months since I last saw him, and he looked decent compared to me. He had gotten rid of his long, silky hair and now had a buzz cut. I loved playing with his hair, and I told him never to cut it off. It’s gone now.
Another jab to the heart.
The two men sat opposite me, and the lawyer placed the document on the table and began to speak.
“We are sorry to have kept you waiting.” He began, clearing his throat.
I shook my head. “It’s fine; shall we begin?”
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istake
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“You didn’t come with a lawyer.”
I knew what having a lawyer here meant: “I don’t need one.” I answered.
Tyler Hart asked if I had gone through the divorce papers I received, and I told him I had. Infidelity was the reason stated in the divorce papers. Though it was wrong, Oliver wouldn’t believe me, so what was the point?
Then he asked if there was anything I wanted from Oliver before I granted him the divorce. He
would pay me whatever I wanted as long as I signed the papers.
I wanted something–someone–one man, and he sat across from me but didn’t even deem me worthy enough to look at me. His eyes stared through the window behind me, and I knew that though he
was seated here, he was mentally absent.
This was the man I wanted, and he would rather be anywhere than in the same room with me.
Such agony.
“I don’t want anything. The least I can do is grant him his freedom.” I replied, forcing my voice to stay firm while answering his question. “When you love someone, you won’t force yourself on them.”
My gaze moved to Oliver’s, and I saw a flicker in his eyes, but they stayed away from me.
Tyler Hart nodded and rose, presenting me with the divorce papers for my signature. I signed without wasting time, and I felt a part of my heart die.
Once, I saw my forever with him by my side, and it was as beautiful, and I was as happy as I wanted. Now, I think of forever, and it is an empty, meaningless darkness.
I rose to my feet and shook hands with the lawyer before taking my leave after Tyler told me he would contact me if anything came up.
I got into the taxi, and I wiped the tears that fell off my face.
I dug my key into the door hole to open it and drag my worn self into the house when I felt a pair of strong arms grab me from behind. Stunned, I wanted to scream, but they covered my mouth with a white hankey until my senses dulled up, and everything became black.
My eyes snapped open, and I found myself tied to a chair in the living room. I struggled to feel my hands and legs, but having been in this position for a while, it was not easy.
Whoever took me knew the first thing I would do after awakening was scream, and they didn’t want it. They had stuffed my mouth with cotton and tied it up. This way, I wouldn’t make sounds that
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would alert anyone; they would be reduced to muffled moans.
Elene wasn’t home as she had returned to her babysitting job to support the best way she could; Godiya was in school; and Onu and Maria had gone to work and wouldn’t be returning anytime soon. Whoever took me knew this, too. They knew the ins and outs of things.
I couldn’t see them, but I could hear noises from the upstairs bedroom,
“We need to do a clean job, like suicide or an accident. Taking her out through the back will not give us a clean job.” I heard the voice from upstairs, and my breath hitched in panic.
Someone wanted me dead, and that wasn’t good. I needed to get out of here.
I tugged at the ropes around me, yet they remained securely fastened. I glanced back at the chair I was in and saw it was Godiya’s. Onu gave it to her because it wasn’t as strong as the rest and could only carry her weight.
I tilted myself backwards, and the chair bent back and gave out. I did it repeatedly until it broke, and the ropes around me loosened. I undid the ropes around my hands and moved to my legs,
“She’s getting away.” I heard, and looking up, I found a man wearing a black hood and red beard running downstairs towards me and his partner following behind.
My heartbeat quickened, and I undid the ropes and ran for the door, trying to release my mouth. I reached for the doorknob to unlock it, but a sudden tug pulled me back, causing me to fall. The red–bearded man got on top of me and tightened his grip around my neck while I struggled.
“Grab the knife and slash her wrist.” He informed his bald partner and proceeded to retrieve his
pocket knife.
I shook my head, and tears streamed down my face as the other man came and took hold of my left wrist, but as his blade dug into my skin, I heard a noise at the door. A second later, it opened.
“Anyone home? I came back early because I wanted to make a family dinner.” Elena spoke as she entered the living room, holding a grocery bag.
She saw me on the floor with two men on top of me, and she froze, letting go of the bag.
She tried opening her mouth to scream, but she shrieked in pain. Her hands ran up to her chest, and she clutched down hard on it. Sweat broke over her face, and the light in her eyes slowly faded even as she struggled to breathe. She fell to the ground, not moving.
Knowing she was having a heart attack, I screamed for her, but the noise muffled my voice.
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“Let’s get out of here.” The red–haired man said and released me. He and his partner ran out of the
house.
I hurried over to Elena, untying the ropes around me.
I shook her furiously to wake her up, but she didn’t respond. “Mama, Mama! Somebody, help me!!!”
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