The Haunting Rage Of A Scorned Wife - Part 4

Saturday, 7th June 2014, Devtraco Courts No UV25

10:36 PM

Julia came out of the bathroom naked, giving off a mannequin silhouette in the dimly lit room. She slipped into the overly gargantuan king-size bed, leaving in her trail an enthralling bouquet of Victoria's Secret's Sexy Little Things Noir Parfum. She was smelling ravishing, and she was very much aware of it.

She wrapped the comforter around her naked body, enjoying the feel of the soft warm cotton. She had a smile on her face. The same smile she's been wearing since 2 pm; since Larry came home from his audit trip.

She enjoyed wearing the smile because it revealed a lot but said nothing. It was like the babbling of an infant; it means something to the baby, but nothing to everyone else. And that was her torture tool.

On a normal day, an unfaithful man comes home to a belligerent wife, and a man, having caught his wife in adultery, comes home with an invading funfair. All that drama was skipped. Larry came home trying hard to keep a façade. That was stupid and confusing at the same time, Julia thought. Did he see the video?

Julia met Larry with the bliss of a newlywed bride waiting for her groom to return from the pharmacy shop with stuff they forgot to buy for their honeymoon. She looked her sexiest, and she was all smiles. Those smiles.

Larry was welcomed home with a smile and a deep wet kiss. He was not sure how to react to it, so he reacted as he ought to react; pretend there was no video and he was not coming home after a rather boring trip. He returned the kiss in an equal manner.

Julia personally ensured his things were all sent to their room, he had taken a quick shower, and was well fed. He looked tired, disheveled, and haunted. He looked it even though he pretended to be in good spirits. Julia enjoyed his evasive attitude to her questions; in fact, she was expecting it. How could he be conclusive with his answers?

You have the right to remain silent; everything you say can and will be used against you. Plead the fifth for your wretched soul.

Larry was starkly aware of the issues at stake. He was not making any assumptions. He knew what was being played out before him and he was sure, as a good negotiator, you do not make pronouncements that might complicate issues and entangle you, making it difficult to extricate yourself in the event of such exigency. He chose to be evasive.

"How did the trip go?"

"Oh, the same old boring stuff. Kwame, can you bring me my iPad? Let me check this or that." Evasive answers.

So gradually and grudgingly the day wore off with Julia smiling, looking, and behaving her sexiest. Delilah still needed some finishing touches on how to seduce a man. She thought.

Larry observed all these with a humongous question lurking in the shadows of his beleaguered mind, 'Won't you bring up the issue and stop whoring around?' But no; all he got were those smiles, those irritating stupid smiles, and the eternally provocative question, 'Are you ok, Baby?' Damn! I am not ok and your whoring self knows it! He felt like yelling. Sure, I am fine. Was all he could muster the courage to say any time the question came.

His mind was in total disarray with tonnes of questions flying out of orbit in the galactic expanse of his imagination. There was no way she slept with someone by accident. Richard couldn't be an accident. Sleeping with any man might have been an accident but not Richard. Again, there was no way it was a leaked video; this was a file in her Dropbox folder, meaning her mobile phone must have recorded it and uploaded itself. There was no way it was accidentally sent to him because she did not send it to him; it was Richard; and Richard couldn't have sent it if he was not aware of the video and had not seen it. It was a deliberate video made by both of them to an end. And of course, Julia sent it to Naa, simultaneously.

And as the questions ran through his mind, building models and tearing them down and rebuilding them, he became a lot more cranky and disoriented, hoping and pleading to be alone; a place where he could think hard and plan his response.

But there is no response for you, Larry…. There is none for you.

Dinner had been the best in years. Julia ensured she paid enough for Imperial Deijung to deliver assorted Chinese cuisine and have a waiting chef attend to them.

"What are we celebrating?" He had asked.

"Must there always be something to celebrate before we enjoy the little karmas of life?" She had responded gaily. "Let's say we are celebrating the final trip of our husband and father." To which the children burst into screams and went to hug their father and themselves.

"Please let us drink to a reincarnated father figure who will not travel again for the rest of his life except for family vacations." She had proposed.

Gradually and grudgingly the day had trudged on. The smiles, the provocative questions, the intruding eyes.

The smiles, the wiggling buttocks, the provocative questions, the smiles, the smiles, the smiles.

God, help me with the smiles. He was thinking.

“Julia curled up in the bed, having her pillow stuck in her crotch and her arms wrapped around the loose ends of the comforter. She was totally enjoying the symbiotic relationship between her naked body and the comforter – they were both comforting each other.

She had her back to Larry, who was wearing his boxer shorts, lying on his back and staring at the POP ceiling with both hands folded under his swooning head.

"Julia," he said, but the word was muted by vengeful phlegm in his throat. He cleared it up. "Julia."

"Mmm," she responded without turning.

"What is going on?" he asked quietly.

"Mmm..." She acted surprised at the question. She turned to face him. "Nothing. Why?"

"What is happening between you and Richard?" he blurted out, with the very words slicing his heart into pieces.

"Oh, that?" Julia said and dragged herself across the bed in an unexpected manner and gave him a kiss. She returned to her earlier sleeping position with her smile beaming brighter than ever.

"Never mind, Larry," she said after a brief pause. "Do not bother your head over such matters. Tomorrow you will sit on the chair as the chairman of the harvest committee at church. And the whole church would love to see that smile on your face… the smile you have given me all this while; the smile of a great father, husband, and significant other. Besides, stuff like that happens all the time, husbands sleeping with people's wives. You know… it happened that Richard and I happened to do it." She sounded so honest it was almost madness to be that honest.

"Goodnight, baby. For me, the most important thing is that you are back home and you will never travel again."

Saturday, 7th June 2014, Dansoman, House No. DC5

3:15 PM

Victoria opened the gates after the Taxi Driver had honked the nth time. She smiled when she realized it was Naa Morkor. Naa did not smile back. She looked visibly upset. When she entered the living room, it was only Richard who was there, watching a Sports Channel. The children were not home. She had prayed for that and she was happy her prayers had been answered.

"Hey," Richard said without turning to look at her.

She did not respond. She went into their bedroom and then entered the children's room to be sure they were alone in the house. Richard met her in the corridor to the living room.

"You ok? How was your trip?" He asked.

"Don't ask me stupid questions!" she responded harshly.

"Eiii," Richard said, pretending to be shocked. He was expecting that drama and he was getting it. "What kind of response is that?"

"Please get out of my way," Naa said angrily. "I left this house for a trip and you have turned it into a porn hub. You shameless man."

"Oh really?" Richard couldn't pretend again. He started losing his cool as the flood of emotions overwhelmed him.

"You're asking? Richard? You're asking me oh really?" She was livid with induced rage. "Of all the people? I thought you had some sense of decency. My boss's wife! And you had the gut to send it to her husband."

"And she also sent it to you, if I remember."

"Eeehh? So you two planned it!? You two planned it, Richard!" She said and held Richard by the collar of his shirt, yanking him. "You shameless dog."

"I will allow you to let go of my shirt or I will beat the devil out of you," Richard said slowly and deliberately.

"What can't you do again? Beat m…" and before the words could become flesh, a resounding slap graced her left cheek, and her right. And what followed was a 5.8" woman crashing down on the cold tiled floor, grabbing her face with no words coming out of her opened mouth but trickles of blood from the bitten upper lip.

"Your vile whore! Your prostitute." He yelled just about the time Victoria held him from behind, restraining him with all her might and her body odor.

"I thought you were doing this for us; all these travels, all the denials, the sacrifices! I thought they were for us!" He yelled the bitter words out.

"Sir please," Victoria pleaded after she was hurled away. She rushed to stand between Richard and the dazed Naa, still sprawled helplessly on the floor.

"Get out of my way," he said between gritting teeth.

"Sir, please. I beg." She went on her knees, begging.

"I said get away from her," he screamed and pulled out his belt. "You scheming whore! Ashawo! I will kill you today. You call me shameless; I will show you who is shameless. I will cut you open and stuff it with your filth till you can take no more."

He hurled Victoria away and rushed to the kitchen for a knife.

Victoria ran out screaming for help with her blouse torn and one of her rather huge breasts bouncing helplessly in front of her. The taxi driver who had brought Naa was still standing outside, receiving a phone call. He heard the scream and rushed in, meeting Victoria at the entrance to the porch.

Richard grabbed Naa by the hair, not sure what he was doing. She was suddenly quiet, looking at him like a cow accepting her fate in the hands of a butcher. She was not sobbing, she was not fighting, she was not doing anything. She was just staring at him with no expression.

"Who are you calling shameless?" He yelled at her. Richard dropped the knife where she couldn't reach and brought out his mobile phone. He dexterously navigated to the gallery and pointed to Naa’s face her sex pictures with Larry.

"Ricky, please don’t kill me." That was all she said. That was all he heard before a crushing blow came down on him from the hefty taxi driver.

The blow dazed him momentarily, giving Naa the chance to run outside. Victoria picked up the phone and saw the pictures. She gasped and covered her mouth, handing it over to the taxi driver. His countenance changed when he saw the pictures, wishing he had not saved Naa. He helped Richard up yet restrained him, begging him not to do anything he would regret later.

"You dare call me shameless, I will show you who is shameless. Kwasia! Ashawo ni baa!" That was all Richard kept screaming out as he fought to free himself from the taxi driver.

Two more onlookers came into the house, restraining Richard further. The taxi driver went out and spirited Naa Morkor into his taxi, not sure where he was taking her. She decided against going to the police station, even though the driver insisted.

Naa grabbed her phone and started calling Larry. The phone rang for as long as she called, but no one responded. She started a WhatsApp chat, which ended up on Julia’s phone instead of Larry’s. Julia read it all with curiosity, smiling all the brighter and whistling the Anglican hymn Love Divine, wiggling her buttocks all over the place and watching her schemes unfold.

Monday, 9th June 2014, Posterity Towers, Ministries, Accra Central

7:45 AM

Larry entered the office complex through the back door and got into one of the elevators after a fleeting smile with the security guard at the post. He looked wounded and sullied. He had lost the glitter that followed him around. Like a lone lantern in the midst of a raging storm, the light was completely out, leaving no smoke as evidence that there was even once a spark.

He quietly entered the foyer on the executive floor without entering any office to spin one of his many morning tales. He went into his office after saying a brisk hello to the Personal Assistant to the three Partners. He was the only top-ranking official at the Executive floor who was not a partner.

The Personal Assistant instinctively felt something was amiss. This Larry was different. This Larry did not comment on her new hairstyle. That was unacceptable. She had banked all her hopes on Larry to lift her spirit up that morning, and it looked like she was in for the worst of days.

Two of her colleagues and the Director of Finance had ridiculed her wig. They had all independently told her she looked like someone who had time-traveled from the 50s. That was not a fair comment. She was excited about the girl in the mirror until her colleagues made her feel maybe the mirror was being deceptive.

Larry was the only man who could make you see what was not there. He always said the nicest things to boost your self-confidence. This Larry was just not him. This one looked scarred and broken.

Larry put his briefcase down and walked out, offering a curt smile to Vivian, the PA. He descended to the general office, exchanging brief pleasantries with those he bumped into. Work had started and therefore he had fewer people paying him any attention.

He walked to Naa Morkor’s workstation. "Do you have a stick-on pad?" He asked without any of the usual preambles. She handed him one without taking her eyes off the computer screen. He quickly scribbled, 'No cell phone calls, chats, texts, or any form of electronic communications.' He held it close to her face long enough for her to assimilate it all and went away with his paper.

Vivian picked the intercom immediately it rang. "Hello, Executive Floor, Vivian here."

"Hey," Larry said weakly. "Can you please ask Naa Morkor to see me?"

"Yes, Sir," she responded politely. "Um, are you ok? She ventured.

"Yea, I am… well, not too well, but I will be fine," he lied.

"Malaria?"

"I am not sure; I suspect it is exhaustion. I need some days off if you can give me some of yours," he joked.

"Hmmm, I wish I had that power, oh Sir. Anyway, please don’t be sick, ok?" She comforted him.

"I won’t."

"Good. I will call her to see you soon."

"Thank you."

Naa Morkor entered Larry’s office just when Larry was done drawing the blinds. He was sure there was going to be a good measure of emotional flare-ups and he wanted to be sure few eyes witnessed it.

He was a man on a mission, and he knew mincing his words would only make it difficult. After seeing a woman for over two years and building an alternative life with her, breaking up due to exogenous pressure was the hardest thing to do. He wished they were breaking up under another circumstance; disrespect, betrayal, anything that could make a man mad and have enough of a good reason to dump a woman. It was nothing like that.

There was no cancerous cell of bitterness anywhere in his heart for her. All he had in his heart was the sweet fragrance of pleasant memories that was fast fading into the past with the wind of time.

It hurt him so bad to let it go, but he had to. It was not to save just his marriage or his children; no. His very work was at stake. He had given so much and invested a lot to let his sexual indiscretion get in the way. He was looking at the bigger picture, and for it to be complete and beautiful, potential threats and blemishes ought to be sacrificed. Naa Morkor was one such blemish. She had to go.

Away she would go with the beautiful and innovative sex, away she would go with a lover who knew where the thin line between boss and affair was. She would be missed; her humour, sheer silliness, drama, and her motherly comfort. Nonetheless, even while bearing tangible fruits, for the purposes of creating space for something bigger and better, some good branches need to be pruned off. She had to go.

Sunday, 8th June 2014, Devtraco Courts No UV25

3:12 AM

“You are not asleep,” Julia stated when she opened her eyes and realized the bedside lamp was still on and Larry was awake, staring at the ceiling in almost the same manner she had left him the previous night.

She pulled herself up to sit. “Why did you do this to me, Larry?” She asked quietly. The force of the question shook him so bad he wished the earth would open and swallow him up.

“You could have confronted me when you found out instead of what you also did,” Larry said, revealing extreme hurt at Julia’s revenge.

Julia burst into laughter. “Let me see,” She said after pulling herself together. “If it had gone according to your plan, I would be the one having sleepless nights and you snoring your head off and playing The Man about it. Unfortunately, it went my way so let us not go on with the questions and answers. Let’s save those questions for a counsellor if we meet one. I don’t think I am interested in what happened anymore," Julia said, nipping the sprouting argument in the bud.

For the first time, Larry realized his wife was independent and was no more going to be the woman who took orders from him. Right in front of him, he saw his wife take charge.

Julia was completely awake. She picked her Fossil wristwatch to check the time; a hard-to-break ritual, since there was a digital alarm clock on the bedside drawer.

“How long do you have to make a full partner in the firm?” She asked him. “Two years? Well, little indiscretions like these can ruin everything, you know. Your WhatsApp chats and text messages and sex pictures and videos all out there at peacefmonline or myjoyonline or any of these media places can really harm your career. And considering the fact that you, as a person I know, cannot work in the public sector, the only place for you is the private sector. And where you have gotten to, a Ghanaian Auditing firm would be a demotion to you,” she spoke with so much maternal authority Larry could do nothing but listen.

“You know these whites frown on corporate romance and stuff like that. They would sack you before you drag their hard-earned reputation into the mud you know. And for what? A vagina? Seriously? What happened to mine?”

Larry sensed the monstrous blackmail turn. His heartbeat picked up pace.

“I was talking to Richmond about….”

“Julia!” He called out in panic, sitting up himself. “You spoke to Richmond about this?”

“Come on, don’t be silly. Why would I? We just had a friendly dinner that’s all.”

“I thought we had an understanding our pasts are to stay in the Pandora box,” Larry said helplessly, outraged his wife was still in touch with an ex who would kill him to have her even on her deathbed. An ex he had had the misfortune of having to work with as a direct superior and a managing partner. An ex who would not hesitate to crush him. Richmond is a vindictive British of Ghanaian parentage who sees himself more Ghanaian than British.

“Well, this Pandora box was tightly shut until you got jittery and opened it,” she said insouciantly. “I was keeping my side of this arrangement. But that is beside the point. The actual challenge as I see it is this; for me to close my side of the box, you need to close your side.

“Hush. Let me finish,” she hushed Larry up just in time to curtail his objection. “This girl has served her purpose. Discard her. You have no clue how naked you are so let's not play heroes here. I risked my pride to let another man see my nakedness to prove to you I will be willing to go any length to ensure that nothing is left of you if you so much as consider the thought of calling my bluff. You have nothing to fret over. What is good for the cock is twice as good for the hen, my friend Beatrice Arthur would say.”

“Get a good sleep, Larry,” she turned and gave him a fleeting kiss on his mouth. “That was what I meant when I said at dinner you were born again. I see you cutting all forms of contact with your whore. Do not let my vision be wrong,” she said and slipped into her slippers and went to take a quick pee.

“When the bishop said for better for worse, till death do us part, that was what he meant. I am a believer,” she spoke audibly from the bathroom.

“So we will dig in in this trench and rot in it. If you so much as attempt a bailout, I will shoot you down,” she said, emerging from the bathroom. “We will keep up appearances; you will continue to be that lovely husband I have always known you to be, your indiscretion will be our little secret, never to come out. My revenge never happened; of course, if you never went astray, then I never 'revenged,' right? I am not sure if I am making sense... Forgive me, time of the morning and all the twisted owls flying out there are all affecting my antennas. But I guess you get the point. You will make love to me as and when I want.” She slipped into bed, wrapping the comforter around herself. "You will never travel again. Richmond has assured me of that.

Next year you would be made a partner; as in 6 months from now, instead of the two or more years you would have to wait. You will have a new driver appointed and paid by me. He will live with us. You will never travel anywhere without a family member, not even for official conferences. For the rest of it, well, let me keep it as my little secret.

Now do not say a word. I am kind and generous and I want to go to church today knowing I have done a good thing; forgiving my neighbor and loving my husband and submitting to him."

She closed her eyes and fell asleep almost instantaneously. She was at perfect peace.

Monday, 9th June 2014, Posterity Towers, Ministries, Accra Central

7:55 AM

“I have spent two days in a hotel room, locked up and scared for my life. I am sitting here in front of you and you are giving me a litany of what your wife says to do and not to do?” Naa Morkor said, trying hard to keep her voice and anger down.

“Calm down, Naa.”

“Please,” she stopped him. “I had a kitchen knife to my throat, I was kicked and dragged. All because of you. All because of what we have going on. And you are here telling me this?”

“Please…”

“Can I finish speaking, Larry? You promised to defend us; to defend what we have. Apparently, they were cheap words with no value and worth. I have destroyed my family because of this. I have lost a good man because I thought you were a better man.”

“Naa, I am sorry…”

“You are sorry? Larry? You are sorry? Lord, I cannot believe I am hearing this.”

“My hands are tied,” Larry pleaded.

“By?”

“By Julia, of course.”

“Well then, untie it!”

“I can’t!” He cried out. “My whole life is tied to this rope. I have no room to manipulate!”

“Really? What happened to the man who made me think he was the one calling the shots?”

“Don’t say that.”

“Tell me what to say, Larry! I am disappointed in you!”

“Please Naa, please.”

“Save it, Larry. I will go through this. Good day, sir.”

Larry sat there quietly with intense pain in his soul as Naa walked out, trying her best not to cry. Naa, he called, “We cannot meet again or exchange any form of personal communication electronically or otherwise while within this office premises. And we cannot be seen together anywhere again."

She nodded politely but fatally and continued out. It was a fate she had to accept. The show was over, and she was the villain. She had gambled with life and had lost massively. She was not sure where to turn to. No one would understand her. Indeed, she is not to be understood. She was standing at a place a married woman was not to stand.

Someone said, ‘in Accra, married men sleep with married women and the reverse. On Sunday, everyone goes to church to lift up holy hands, and depending on the size of your tithe, you could be made a church elder. Who cares about adultery?’

She took that gamble, and for a while, she appeared to be winning. As it stands, she is not the one with the last and the best laugh. The joke is on her. Who does she turn to? No one. Up until this morning, she thought she had a backer. She just realized she does not have any....

PG Sebastian

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