Sacrilege – Episode 35

Sacrilege – Episode 35

© Adeola Nissi

Anita paused the circular rubbing of her protruded belly; the infant within seemed to kick in protest. “Wait wait, let me digest this” She cut in, her eyes alive with amusement. “You kissed Tito? Like… the same Tito?”

Chris sighed and massaged this bridge between his eyes. “Go on. Rub it in”

“Wow! This is some serious twist in the tale by moonlight. I just knew there was something behind your chronic Tom and Jerry imitation” Anita grinned.

“I knew I shouldn’t be telling you this” Chris whined. They were seated outside, in the compound of Anita’s home, the moon overhead casting a serene light over them. Chris had decided to pay Anita and her husband a visit on his way back from work. It had been a while he visited the pair. Anita had been a close friend of his before she got married and thanks to a very understanding husband, their friendship hadn’t been affected though Chris became instant friends with her husband and made sure he kept a certain amount of distance to prevent odd feeling. Her husband wasn’t home yet and Chris was happy have a moment alone with Anita before he arrived from work, hopefully she could give him an advice on what to do with Tito. He didn’t think it was such a good idea anymore.

“Well, don’t stop… Give me the full gist”Anita was grinning as her hand resumed her gentle belly rub.

Chris swallowed and signed resignedly. “I haven’t been able to get her off my head since then, it’s like she is all I think about. I worry about her, I feel this huge urge to take care of her, to protect her” he scratched his head. “Maybe it’s just sympathy at work here, she’s had a fair share of pain… More than a fair share actually”

Anita took in Chris’ look and smiled. She’d wondered when she would see him like this about someone that wasn’t Laura. “I don’t think you would be here to seek my counsel if it’s just sympathy” she said, watching Chris. “How do you feel when you are with her?”

Chris thought of the previous night and this morning. “Complete. Happy, really happy. It’s like everything is alright with the world. I don’t know, Anita, I just… I feel this incredible attraction towards her that I haven’t felt for anyone before.”

“Including Laura?”

Chris swallowed. “Pretty much. But then, up until last week, I still fancied myself in love with Laura? So what? Is it that easy to fall out of love?

Anita shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you think of Laura when you’re with Tito?” She asked.

Chris exhaled. “Barely have room enough to remember my own name” he swallowed, running his hand over his head. “What do you think?

Anita was all smiles. ” You know what I think. I think I’d be attending a wedding very very soon”

Chris rolled his eyes. “C’mon”

“I’m serious” she said. “Trust me, a woman knows when a man is head over heels in love, and that is what I see happening here. You’d better get your acts together now before you lose her the same way you lost Laura”

Chris arched his brow at her, then sighed. He opened his mouth to say something but his words went back down his throat when Anita gasped, a quick flash of pain going through her face. “What’s wrong? Are you okay”

She gasped again, jerking in pain as she lowered her legs from the stool to the floor. She gripped Chris’ arm tight. “The… the baby” she gasped just as her water broke.

Chris was out of his chair in no time just as she let out a shrill of pain. Chris bellowed the gate man’s name and ordered him to open the gate as he helped Anita up and led her to his car amidst shouts and screams of pain.

*****

Laura felt cold despite the blanket draped over her shoulder. The blanket held no warmth, not the kind of warmth she needed right now. Something was wrong. She missed the warmth of his body, seeping through her and engulfing her even as she slept. Her hand snuck out from underneath her, feeling the empty space of the mattress beside her. He is gone? Laura opened her eyes and stared into the dark at the empty room. “Ad?” Her eyes scanned the room briefly but they didn’t have to, she couldn’t feel his presence. She’d know if he was standing anywhere close, his presence had a way of giving him away. Laura pushed to a sitting position, frowning, the sheet slid down her nude body to rest around her waist. Where could he have gone? Laura picked up her phone and checked the time; it was so late, almost midnight.

Laura pushed out of bed and gave the room a brief but thorough scan. Her clothes which had been not too gently taken off were now stacked neatly on a chair but Deolu’s clothes were nowhere in sight. He couldn’t have left her on the beach all by herself, could he? Taking a deep breath, she walked nude to the toilet, checking for Deolu. “Ad?” she called, her brows furrowed in a frown as she closed the bathroom door and headed out of the bedroom. Where could he have gone so late in the night? Laura stared into the small parlor and shivered as cold air hit her skin, her bare feet connecting with the tiled floor of the lodge. She looked around; there was no sign of Deolu. But she could see him… she could practically see him in every corner of the apartment. This place held so many memories. Deolu couldn’t have picked a better place if his goal was to confuse her out of her decision. They had done so many crazy things in here, things she would never have imagined herself capable of. The walls, floor, chairs, rooms… every inch of this place held two weeks long memories that she couldn’t prevent from flooding her mind again as she moved about. She hadn’t been able to explore this apartment when they arrived earlier on. It had been so surprising when Deolu had driven her straight to this beach. She hadn’t anticipated it. A very sophisticated eatery had been her assumption, she’d thought he would take her somewhere nice and quiet where they would eat dinner, laugh and discuss but no… she hadn’t imagined that he would take her to the very place they had kick started the motion of their marriage. It had been odd; she had dressed up for an eatery, heels and all but had found herself on the beach, the beach sand rendering her heels useless. But she knew why Deolu hadn’t told her where they were headed. Would she have come if she knew he was taking her to the very place they had shared the wildest form of intimacy imaginable? She would probably have declined his request of a date if he had told her he was bringing her here. She had instantly taken off the shoes and enjoyed the feel of the beach sand against her feet. They had played on the beach, laughing uncontrollably. Never had she been so happy about a choice of outfit. The short gown that settled loosely around her thighs and she hadn’t resisted running deliberately into Deolu’s arms, enjoying his involuntary reaction every time she did. Bad ideas are all you need when you’re with your man, Margaret had said. She had known she was skating on thin ice, she knew she was making it difficult for herself but she had gone with the flow anyways. And that dinner on the beach to the perfect finish? Who was she deceiving? She certainly would never be happy seeing Deolu with another woman, no matter who the woman was. She would surely die of pain and sadness just imagining the things Deolu was doing with Teju, wondering what they were doing, how they were doing it, where they were doing it… she would not stay one minute without thinking… without imagining. They had been married for six long years, long enough to burn images of what Deolu was capable of into her mind. She couldn’t do this! She wouldn’t do this to herself. The words of Margaret flashed back to her mind; ‘You have to hold on to your source of happiness for women like me who has to live with sadness for the rest of our lives’, she had said. She couldn’t afford to let Deolu go. She would have to find another way, another way that left them all happy in the end. Yes, she was being selfish, she was thinking selfish… but then, God did say; love your neighbor as yourself’ not ‘more than yourself’, she thought to herself.

Laura exhaled and walked nude towards the window, pushing it open. The salty air of the beach bathed her face as she stared into the dark, scanning for Deolu. He was nowhere in sight. Laura was getting worried now. He couldn’t have gone for a walk so late into the night, could he? Or worse, could he have left her alone there on the beach to see herself home when she finally woke up? No! That’s not something like what Deolu would do, she concluded, becoming increasingly worried. Could something have happened to him? Fear arose in the pit of her stomach, goosebumps awakening her skin as she hastened back to the room to grab her phone to call him. He had to be okay.

Her phone was ringing when she got back to the room and she practically jumped at it, hoping it was Deolu calling to tell her he was alright, but it wasn’t him. Tito! She had called her endlessly without a response and though she was still worried about Deolu, she was glad to finally hear from Tito. The fact that she was calling so late at night though gave her a measure of worry. “Hey ti*ts”

“Laura”

Laura froze. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” a number of things that could have gone wrong ran through Laura’s mind within splits of seconds until she felt the racing of her heart in her chest. Not just anything could bring Tito down to tears, it had to be something really serious, something that had to do with someone she truly cared about. Guilt stabbed at her. How could she have left the hospital amidst so much? Cold gripped her and she instantly reached for her cloth as she waited for Tito’s response. “ti*ts?”

“It’s dad” she responded.

Laura felt her knees go weak beneath her and she dropped to the bed. The hand holding the phone had gone cold. “What… what happened?” she gasped.

Tito seemed unable to speak for a moment. “He’s out of coma, Laura… Dad is awake” her voice shook as she spoke.

Laura had never felt so numb in her life. She felt frozen as the words echoed in her head. Gosh, she had been waiting for this day, praying for this day. Now she understood what Tito’s tears were for. Tears of joy sprang to her eyes and she gripped the phone tighter as her hand suddenly felt slack. “Don’t joke with me, Tit”

“He… he squeezed my hand, Laura” her voice shook. “He moved his head… he… he didn’t die, Laura” Tito’s voice held surprised wonder, like she couldn’t quite believe what had happened.

Laura knew what was going on and she sprang up instantly. “I’m coming over” she said, almost dropping the phone.

“It’s so late”

Yes! And she still didn’t know where Deolu was. “I don’t care” she said, both to Tito and to herself. Tito needed her now and she most definitely wanted to be the first thing he saw when he became fully conscious. She wanted him to be surrounded with people that love and care about him. “I’d be there soon” not giving her a chance to argue, Laura hung up and started getting dressed to leave the lodge.

*****

Deolu entered the hospital and headed for the counter where he requested to see the doctor. It was so late at night and he wasn’t feeling so good about leaving Laura all alone at the beachhouse. He should have woken her up before leaving but she had been sleeping so peacefully, waking her up would have required telling her where he was going and he couldn’t have her hindering him from going. He knew she was hiding something, he knew Teju was hiding something, heck, the entire world seemed to even be hiding something while he walked around in the dark, totally clueless. But then, just as Laura had fallen asleep in his arms, completely sated, a text message had popped into his phone before he had drifted off to sleep. Sleep had vanished from his eyes immediately he saw the sender of the message but his attention had been totally captured when he read the message. ‘You need to come to the hospital, it’s urgent. It’s about Teju’, the message had said.

Since he had the cause to take Teju to the hospital, he had had the conviction that something was wrong with Teju healthwise, but he had asked Doctor Hassan over and over again but never got anything meaningful out. He’d suspected something, he’d suspected Teju wasn’t actually the one in danger, probably there was an issue with the pregnancy that Teju was determined to keep away from him. But this message, the message gave him a fresh reason to fear and panic. He hoped that whatever it was, it wasn’t so serious, he couldn’t bear the thought of Teju in pain despite all that had happened. Anyways, no more puzzles, today, he would uncover whatever was going on.

He got to the doctor’s office and knocked. After a brief pause and a gentle voice from within, Deolu pushed the door open and stepped in. His brows furrowed upon seeing Gloria. Hassan was seated behind the office desk but Gloria was closest to him and her face lifted in the fakest of smiles. “Welcome Deolu”

Okay, this was weird! Deolu’s brows drew together. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here ma.” He started, giving Hassan and Gloria a puzzled, suspicious and accessing look. “What’s going on?”

Hassan took a deep breath and exchanged a meaningful look with Gloria before glancing back at Deolu. “You should sit”

Deolu took in Hassan’s nervous self, his back looking frozen in place and in need of a good massage. His eyes looked tired and depraved of sleep, something terribly wrong was going on here. Laura had told Deolu of Teju’s maternity saga and Gloria’s involvement in it all. Teju seemed to by surrounded by so much drama in her life, Deolu wished he could be in a better position to make life better for her. Yet, considering all that happened and the threat she posed to his marriage’s stability, Deolu was more inclined towards protecting Laura and salvaging his nosediving marriage than he was at making sure Teju was okay.

Instead of obliging him, Deolu pushed his hands into his pockets bracing himself for what was to come. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” He looked from Gloria to Hassan. “What’s up with Teju?”

Gloria touched Deolu’s arm. “I think you should sit, son” her soft voice, like that of a mother soothing a child sent all the flashing lights on in his head.

“I’m not a kid to be placated.” Deolu all but snapped, cold dread settling in the pit of his spine. “I want to know what’s going on with Teju right now!” His voice carried a forced calmness that was as frightening as an outright bellow. “Is she here?”

Doctor Hassan blinked and looked away before shaking his head. “No”

Deolu glared at Hassan, looking murderous with each passing second. “So? You called me here for a reason, I believe” Deolu thought Hassan was so lucky Gloria was also in attendance, if not, he would have been tempted to rid him of a teeth or two. He had specifically asked over and over again, drilling the doctor because she had been certain he was hiding something but he had refused to let out any info.

Gloria sighed, pushing out of her seat, looking unsettled. She had never looked so much her age until now, it was like a heavy load had been placed on her and she had no idea how to deal with the weight. Her face carried so much pain, Deolu could almost touch its invisible tangibility. But it wasn’t like the pain he had seen in Teju’s face. This was a different kind of pain.

Hassan swallowed and leaned forward, tapping his fingers nervously on the table. “Teju made me promise I’d keep this confidential, she never wanted you to know this” Hassan explained, probably trying to stay on Deolu’s good side.

Deolu blinked, growing still; the hair on his skin stood in attention. “Know what?”

Hassan glanced at Gloria who stood, leaning weakly against the wall before returning his gaze to Deolu. “She came in here months back to run a test which… which came out positive”

Deolu froze in place, staring at the doctor, his eyes holding confusion and a hint of fear. His blood ran cold in his veins as he digested the sentence. Tested positive! Headache struck him without warning running at the same pace as her heart as it slammed in his chest. “HIV?” Dear God, no! Teju couldn’t have had the virus and slept with him, could she? And Laura… Deolu felt sick.

“No” Hassan’s response echoed in Deolu’s head. Gosh! He couldn’t quantify the relief that washed over him. He released the breath he hadn’t been aware of holding and swallowed just as Hassan dropped. “Leukemia! Blood cancer”

To be continued

 

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