That was how everything started. About one year later, Ezinne and I were pronounced husband and wife at St. Leo’s Catholic Church. I would not say it was a gathering of the top echelon of the society, but a lot of important people graced my wedding.
And this probably placed us on an envious pedestal. The first eight months were quite rosy, quite memorable. The three contracts I executed for some Local Government councils in Ogun State were paid for.
So I meant I had the time in the world and perhaps the money too to make my wife happy. Of course, I was always making sure that she got whatever she desired.
But one mistake I made was that I failed to teach her how to live like a contractor’s wife. You see, a contractor lives like a Spartan. When there’s food, you eat; when there is none, you endure and hope for a better future.
The word ‘lack’ was what infuriated Ezinne. The moment it seemed as if the money was not flowing the way it used to flow, Ezinne gets really pissed off.
At such times, she would pick quarrels with me and call me all sorts of names. The one that amuses me most is when she begins to stress the fact that I was cheating on her.
“Why would you believe I am cheating on you?” I would ask her.
“I know you well,” she would claim. “I know you quite well. Before you used to come with money, now, you don’t come home with anything.”
“That’s because, there’s no business now,”
In our business, perseverance is the key thing. At times, there are no jobs to execute, so we just stay until we have something.”
“It’s a lie! You spend it on women! You spend all your money on girls outside. That’s why you don’t remember to bring anything home,” she would argue.
No matter how much I tried to explain, or the facts I used to back up my claims, Ezinne would not want to understand. Deep inside her mind, everything I did was because of this woman outside. Yet she was not able to pinpoint the woman. She was always battling with her imaginations.
It’s not entirely wrong for a woman to get jealous, but let it be justified. I wish Ezinne’s was. It got so bad that it began to eat into her.
You could notice it anytime she was praying.
“Lord, all those women,” she would be screaming. “Trying to take my husband away, let them die! Let them die! All those women taking my husband’s money, let them die. Let them die.”
But I knew no one was taking my money away. It was just bad business. It was just something peculiar to our kind of job.
Because of her extreme nature, I decided I was not going to tell her some of the things I was doing. Since letting her know some of the things I was doing was bringing problem, I reasoned the best thing to do was just to keep quiet about most things.
When I got a contract of four million naira from a Local Government Council in Lagos, I decided to keep it to myself. I want to surprise her, so I hid everything away from her. With the help of my bank, I executed the job, and luckily the money came out quite on time.
The day I got a call to come for payment, I did not believe it and had to pinch myself to really confirm if it was a dream.
But it was real. I got to the Council Headquarters and found my N4million was cheque written. It was a Zenith Bank cheque and I did not have an account with them so I took the cheque home and hid it in my box. Where I concealed it, no human being would have the inkling that something was there. I securely kept it there for a lot of reasons.
The next day, I got dressed and ready to go to the bank to take the money. But to my greatest surprise the cheque had been neatly removed from the box.
I was stunned. Was an evil spirit following me? What was the explanation for that? I got really hysterical, ransacking every available item in the room, looking for the cheque I collected the previous day.
Ezinne walked in.
“Ezinne, did you touch my box?” I asked her.
“Yes I did. Is it the cheque? I have taken it. Pity you, those your mistresses won’t see anything to take. You see your life?”
“You never agree you have money. How come you have money now? You are a liar o, a bloody liar! That’s what you have been doing. Lying and carrying women all around town. Emeka, I pity you?”
As we were talking, the guy in the bank called to know what was delaying me and this got me angry with Ezinne. I don’t know why she was behaving the way she was doing.
I called her like a wife and begged but she refused to bring out the cheque. So I went the Lord way.
“Ezinne, you are trying my nerves. One day, I will just kill you. And that will be it,” I charged.” I will deal with you. Since you cannot live to see me happy, it’s better you die!”.
“Okay, you are planning to kill me, abi? Don’t worry. You are planning to kill me. I will write it down.
I will tell my people. Of course, you know you will not go when you kill me.”
“I will kill you and nothing will happen. You are trying me? Witch like you!”
Despite all our quarrel, she refused to bring out the cheque. She kept insisting on going to the bank with me.
I had stormed out of the house to see my friend in the bank. There I explained to him what I was experiencing. He laughed and encouraged me to talk things over with my wife. He told me that it was my duty to make her trust me again and that I should not lose sight of the fact that the loan is attracting interest.
That day I was so devastated. I refused to go home on time. I was at a beer parlour drinking my usual Gulder. I did not want to go home to face the kind of hell Ezinne was preparing for me there.
I drank wildly and made sure I got home at about 11pm. But the moment I opened the door, it gave way. The sitting room looked ransacked like where there was a battle. Items littered here and there. Had she packed and left with my cheque?
I put on the light and noticed drops of blood around the door knob. I felt it and it was blood really. I tip-toed inside the bedroom which was scattered and saw the greatest mystery of my life.
Ezinne’s lifeless body was lying on the bed, face-down, blood dripping all over her body. I called her quietly before I screamed.
Needless saying, I was confused. I did not know what to do. It was late. I was drunk.
I finally opted for the legal option of going to the police to report. I explained to them that I collected four million naira cheque the previous day.
They were working on these theories when Ezinne’s brother came to say he got a call from Ezinne the previous day, that I was threatening to kill her over a cheque. His statement with the police has opened up a new case.
And as if that is the beginning of the matter, Imelda, her friend, is also alleging that she got a call from Ezinne that I was also threatening to kill her over a cheque.
That’s the story of my life. If something is not done urgently, I may be bundled into jail or be hanged soon for something I know nothing about.
…to be continued
