Chapter Four

As he drove home, he wept. He felt so bad. How would he face Bimpe when he got home? After what he had just done with Ifeoma? Everything felt like he was under a spell. He was no different from his friends right now. He was guilty of the same thing he advised them against. He would have just wanked at home as Bimpe had instructed him to, that way he wouldn't have had any reason to go to the bar and all these wouldn't have happened. He drove so fast and then started to slow down as he thought of a million plausible stories he would have to give his wife when he got home as to the reason why he was coming home at 2am. He thought so hard of different things he would say when his wife asked him and he even wouldn't believe himself if he was in his wife's shoes. He honked twice outside the gate of his house and as his security guard opened the gates, he noticed the lights come on, upstairs in their bedroom and his heart sunk to his stomach. He wiped the tears from his eyes. He could still smell Ifeoma's perfume all over himself. How on earth would he explain the smell of another woman on his body to his wife? The dilemma he was currently in was so overwhelming. In the 8 years he'd been with Bimpe, he'd been the perfect husband. He never stayed out later than 10pm, on the few nights he hung out with his friends, he also never lied to her about anything and he'd never cheated on her till today. He picked his IPhone X from the glove box, got out of the car, locked it and leaned on it for a while. "Oga, wetin happen? I dey okay?" Usman startled him. "Na police o, Usman. Dem arrest me for one place wey I go." Usman was the first recipient of the lie and Usman believed it. "Wayo oga. Folice no be your friend walahi. And ma dem no beat am for you ko?" Usman asked, with genuine concern. "No Usman, dem no beat am for me. Go back to your duty post." With that Usman left. "Sai dai sa fe oga." then, Fred walked up with heavy steps to the door of his house, opened it, walked inside and turned on the lights. When he turned, he saw his wife sitting down there, on a sofa, arms folded on her bossom, eyes swollen from crying and worry, Fiona sleeping soundly in the cot next to the sofa and his heart broke.

When Bimpe woke up from her nap, she discovered that her husband had gone out. Fiona was sleeping soundly in her cot, so she went upstairs to check on Trey. He was playing with his toys. "Hello handsome, did daddy tell you where he was going to?" "no mummy. Mummy look at the house I made for you and daddy." Trey beamed, showing his mom a badly constructed house made of Lego bricks. Two teeth were already missing from his mouth. So whenever he smiled with the missing teeth, he looked like his dad, but before he lost his teeth, he had looked a lot like her. She stayed and played with him for a while and then went back downstairs to make dinner. As she cooked, she felt bad for denying her husband sex. She knew that was probably why he went out to hang out with his friends and cool off. She was still trying to get her body back in shape before letting her husband have her again. Fred was so big and making love to him 2 months after giving birth would be like going through labour again. She took sips from the hot herbal tea as she stirred the porridge yam with a wooden ladle. Him in her pussy for now was a no no, but after dinner tonight, she would give him one of her legendary blow jobs. She was ready to compromise. Afterall he was her husband. 9pm, he still wasn't back, she gave Trey his bath. This was something Fred was meant to do. Then she sang a lullaby till Trey fell asleep. Then she went to get her phone and started to call Fred. Twelve times she called him and he didn't pick up. It was unlike Fred. She started to panic. Then she called all his friends, the ones she knew he hung out with, they also hadn't seen him. They asked her if he was angry before he left the house and she had said no. Fiona started to cry, she rocked the baby as she tried calling again, then his phone was switched off. Then she called his sister to inform her and Aunty Efe told her to calm down Fred would be home, maybe his phone died or something. She also said if Fred wasn't home before midnight then Bimpe should call back. Bimpe then sent a barrage of messages to Fred, she was really panicking. It was almost midnight. She called aunty Efe again to tell her that her brother still wasn't back home. "This is serious o. Try and sleep Bimpe. I'd be there at first light." Sleep was the last thing on her mind. She went out and asked Usman for the hundredth time. "Usman, oga no tell you where he dey go before he comot?" "Walahi madam. Oga no tell am for me o. Oga just enter am for mota come comot. He just tell me say Usman, I go be back for soon." Then Bimpe went back inside and carried Fiona upstairs to the room. Tears flowed freely as she thought of all the evil things that may have befallen her husband. Maybe he was kidnapped or got into an accident or maybe robbers attacked him and there was no one around to help him. She wasn't ready to be a widow. She cried into the pillows. Then she drifted off to sleep. She had barely slept when she heard the familiar honk of Fred's mustang. She peered through the blinds and saw the blue mustang outside and Usman rushing to open the gates. Then she turned on the lights, carried Fiona downstairs and sat on the sofa and waited. She wanted to rush out to meet him, but she decided to just sit on the sofa and wait. So that when he got into the house and turn on the lights, he would see how worried he had made her.

From where she sat on the sofa, she could smell the other woman on her husband and the tears started to flow again. "What happened Fred? You had me mighty worried." He stood there at the threshold and stuttered the lie he just made up. "Ba...ba... by, I... I... I'm s...s.. so sorry. The police arrested us." "us? Who's us? Where? What happened?" she asked now with concern. "The police that arrested you must smell really nice. I can smell her all over you, Fred." She was shocked as reality started to dawn on her. "No, baby, I went to a bar at Maitama and while I was there, a fight broke out between one man that was trying to mess with a lady and the lady's man. So I stepped into the melee and broke it off, but the owner of the bar called the police and the police packed us up to the station. They only let me go when I told them who I was, but I paid 20k to bail myself. I'm so sorry I had you worried babe." Then he took long strides and closed the distance between them, when he saw that she was buying his fabricated story. "mighty hero, defender of the downtrodden. Please go take off those clothes and wash up properly before you come close to me. I don't want to be with my husband and be smelling another woman." She said, relieved as she smacked his butt. He rushed upstairs, checked on Trey sleeping soundly, then he went into his bathroom and scrubbed himself under the shower so hard as if that alone would make him forget what he'd done that night. When he got into bed, Bimpe laid her head on his chest and fell into a deep sleep. He laid there, staring at the ceiling, regretting his actions. He made a promise to himself never to let himself fall again the way he had that night. He had the world here already in his arms. He wouldn't jeopardize that. And then he kissed Bimpe's forehead and drifted off to sleep after saying a prayer, asking God for forgiveness and self control.

True to her words, aunty Efe was there at first light. She got there and then frowned when she saw Fred's car parked and Usman informed her that Oga was inside sleeping. She had been restless all night and had drove down as soon as it was 6am to come check on her sister in-law. She decided to call Bimpe's phone when nobody opened the door after pressing the doorbell 3 times. Bimpe dragged her disheveled self to the door and opened it. "Just look at you Bimpe. Only one night you wanted to go to CNN to look for Fred. You have robbed me of sleep. Lemme see that yeye brother of mine and my cute niece and nephew before I go back to continue my sleep." Aunty Efe barked as she walked past Bimpe into the living room. "Morning to you too, aunty" Bimpe yawned as she remembered why aunty Efe was there so early in the morning.