Prisoner Of Love - Season 1 - Episode 6

5 years ago

Prisoner Of Love - Season 1 - Episode 6

THE STORY ALL BEGAN one Monday morning when Rachael was going to work. She left the house very early in order to beat the crazy traffic synonymous with Monday mornings on Lagos roads. The hustle and bustle of Monday mornings were usually second to none. The bus-stops were usually more crowded than other days. She waited at the bus-stop to board a bus but it seemed that all the buses had been locked up in a traffic jam somewhere as there was none in sight even after several minutes of waiting anxiously.

Suddenly the weather started to change. The next minute, the roar of a loud thunder sent everybody at the bus-stop quivering. It was going to rain and there was no denying that the rain was going to be merciless. Rachael stood there helplessly wondering how she was going to escape from the imminent rain that had in no way back down on its threat to cause mayhem. The bus-stop shed was definitely not an option. The shed was already dilapidated and could barely shield anyone from the lightest of all rains, let alone the monstrous one that was about to let loose. She remembered how an inner voice had warned her to take her umbrella along earlier that morning and how she had stifled the voice to death reasoning that it would not rain since it wasn’t the raining season yet. What she failed to realise was that the unceasing depletion of the ozone layer had started altering the climatic calendar.

“Gosh! If only I had listened to that voice …” She had barely finished murmuring to herself when the floodgates of heaven were let loose and the rain gushed down from above with vengeful intensity. Not able to figure out an escape route, she resigned to her fate, closed her eyes and clenched her fists waiting for the downpour over her head. The song that was playing in her mind at that moment was, ‘Oh, my hair … My new hair … My shoes … My hair … My shoes.’ Then she realised that she didn’t feel any water dropping over her. She began to wonder if the rain had suddenly changed its mind! But it couldn’t be because she was hearing the sound of the rain hitting the ground with venom and could feel the water splashing on her legs.

She opened her eyes and discovered that an umbrella was hovering over her head. She looked at the person that covered her with the umbrella—the saviour that her rescued the expensive hairdo she made over the weekend. It was a towering figure—a tall young man of about six feet one inch in height apparently in his thirties. He was swarthy and not bad for a guy in looks.

Not long after that, the rain stopped with the same suddenness with which it started. Almost immediately a bus that had succeeded in fighting its way out of the hold-up arrived at the bus-stop with the conductor shouting in a deep coarse voice; a tell-tale that he was a constant smoker of igbo as marijuana was popularly called in that part of the country, “Surulere … Surulere … enter with your change ooo if you no wan make I join una together for bus-stop…. Surulere …” Surprisingly, there was no rush because the rain had sent the crowd scampering for shelter.

‘Well, it’s like the rain has its good side after all. How difficult would it have been for me to board this bus if the rain had not scattered these people all about? The rush would have been something else.' Rachael thought as she boarded the bus.

Coincidentally, the young man too was going to Surulere, so they sat beside each other on the bus. Rachael sincerely thanked him for his kind gesture and a discussion ensued between them. The discussion soon got interesting. He told her his name was Nemuel and they exchanged phone numbers. He explained that he had noticed her most times at the bus-stop and that they had boarded the same bus a couple of times before. She was surprised at this given that she had never noticed him before that morning. Before long, they got to Surulere and departed after saying goodbyes. She strolled down to her office which was a few blocks away while Nemuel boarded another bus to his final destination.

As days changed into weeks and weeks became months, they gradually became closer and closer. They called each other from time to time and hooked up every morning to go to work together. One thing lead to the other, and they soon began going out. He was very nice to her and cared so much for her or so it seemed. He gradually won her over completely that she had no piece of her left to herself—everything was his. Her heart and her thoughts belonged to him. She was so fond of him that she could hardly spend a minute without thinking about him. He was her Mr Right! Nemuel told her several sweet words that made her ears tickle and deepened her love for him. She would tidy his house up, wash his cloths and prepared delicious meals for him even whenever he wasn’t home. She had her own spare key to the house.

One Saturday evening, she visited him as usual. She had already stopped over at the market to buy a variety of foodstuff. On getting to the apartment, she left her bag on the couch in the sitting room and headed right away into the kitchen to prepare the stuff she had bought from the market. It was her style to prepare a variety of dishes and soups that could last for one week. That way Nemuel wouldn’t need to bother about what to eat during the week. All he needed to do was to bring out the food of his choice from the freezer and warmed it in the microwave oven.

About two hours later, she was done with the cooking and she came out to the sitting room where Nemuel was watching a Premier League encounter between Chelsea FC and Manchester United, his favourite team.

“Darling, I have put the food in the freezer. I have also labelled them for each day. That way, I will ensure you are eating right instead of those junk food of yours.” She announced immediately she sat beside him.

“Oh, my honey pie, that’s so thoughtful of you. How can I ever thank you enough?” He replied holding her palm into his and rubbing it with the other hand.

“Well, the only way you can thank me is to ensure that you eat them so as to be well-nourished …” And rolling her eyes, she added, “I don’t want a tinrin-gbeku for a husband you know.” Tinrin-gbeku is a Yoruba phrase for describing an extremely thin or mal-nourished person.

Nemuel laughed. “It is a man with a pot belly that you prefer, abi? No problem. You asked for it and you will get it.” He teased.

“God forbid!” She exclaimed snapping her thumb and middle finger as she waved her hand over her head.

Nemuel laughed again. “You see, that’s what I’m talking about. You know …” Nemuel was saying when the commentator raised his voice. Nemuel quickly turned to the television and writhed his way to the edge of the seat. “Oh, Oh, Oh …Yes … Yes … Rooney shoot your ball … Yes … GOOOOALLLLLL!!!!!!” He jumped up as he celebrated his team’s goal.

“Nemuel! Ah! You and football” Rachael caught his attention once more.

“Sorry dear, I just couldn’t miss that superb goal.” He apologized and sat down back beside her. “You know, I was saying …” He held her hands again, “You are my One-in-a-million, my honey pie-pie, the love of my life … Oh, my baby oku.” He went on with his sweet words.

“Hmmm … there we go again.” She responded blushing uncontrollably. “You know I really love you too, Nemuel.” Immediately she said that she checked her watch and shouted, “Oh, it’s 8.30 pm!” She jumped up and started picking up her things. “I still have to prepare dinner at home and I am already late. I have to go now before mummy gets mad at me.”

As she stood up to leave, he held her hand and stared at her affectionately, “Baby … do you mean it when you say you love me?”

“Yes, I do and you know I love your very much.”

“Then prove it. If you really love me as much as you claim, please give me a kiss.”

“Oh, no! Nemuel, do I have to kiss you to prove my love for you and especially when you know that I’m running late already? You know I love you with all my heart and you equally know my stand on morals.” Rachael explained. But that was not enough to get her out of Nemuel’s hold.

“Baby, you know you are beautiful in form and attractive to the eyes. Everyday, every minute, I’m always scared of losing you. I know there are several other guys out there dying for your love. Baby, I just don’t want to lose you to any of them, please.” He replied downcast.

Seeing this, she felt for him and sitting back beside him, she rubbed his cheek gently, explaining soothingly, “Oh, darling, you know that is not possible. I’ve made up my mind to spend the rest of my life with you and nobody else. I won’t hurt you. You should know this by now, my love.”

“Then prove it, baby. I need to know all these are not mere words. Baby, please.” He said and this time around he was almost crying. Rachael could see that his eyes were getting ready to swim in tears. Her soft heart couldn’t allow that to happen, so she decided to give him a peck on his cheek to lighten him up. As she moved her mouth close to his cheek, he held her head and pressed his lips against hers. She quickly pulled back and hurriedly got up. But before she could get up completely, he pulled her back and pleaded, “Pleeeease, baby.” She lost her balance as a result of the pull and fell on his lap. That was the opportunity he was waiting for. Before she could get up again, he pressed his lips against hers and tried caressing her body affectionately with his hands straying to touch some soft spots. That sent an indescribable s£nsat!on down her spine and she almost let out a m0an. She nearly couldn’t resist him any longer!

That was a day she wouldn’t forget in a hurry and that was the beginning of the end of the relationship she cherished so much!

That night, Rachael sat up in her bed thinking about what happened in the evening and how close she was to falling into a serious temptation—she was an inch away from committing one of the gravest sins she had read from her Bible! How happy she was that she had gather the strength to stop Nemuel before he could have carnal knowledge of her. Immediately she noticed that his hands were straying to where they ought not to be, the alarm rang in her head. She pushed him away and ran out of the house. Evidently happy with herself, she closed her eyes and her lips gave way to a smile of satisfaction. She said a prayer of thanks to God for her steadfastness. For her, it was a victory won. She was raised by God-fearing parents who had instilled in her and her siblings high moral standards and deep respect for the writings of the Holy Book. She had always adhered strictly to God’s laws and principles about morals and was pleased with herself that she had not failed that evening.

She woke up the next morning still thinking about the events of the previous evening. She recalled what happened just before she ran out. Nemuel had fallen on his knees wearing a remorseful look. He had called after her, “Baby, please I am sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please it won’t happen again. I am sorry.” He was almost crying.
However, she was not going to spend another second in that house with him lest the temptation grew wings and grabbed her in its pinions. Still, she could feel the compunction in his voice and could see it on his face.

Having thought deeply about the events, she decided it was time they did the right thing. Nemuel had told her several times how she was God sent and how he would never let her out of his sight. She reasoned that if she really meant that much to him perhaps it was fine for her to bring up the issue of marriage. Why not? After all, they were both not kids anymore and were both in marriageable age she thought. That way they could be together without worrying of ever going overboard. More so, Nemuel’s reaction after the incidence showed that he really loved her. What happened was only a momentary period of weakness, she further reasoned.

She picked up her phone to call him. He might have been bogged down with guilt and would need somebody to lift up his spirit. Hence, it was appropriate to call to find out how he was doing. The phone rang several times but Nemuel wouldn’t answer the calls. She checked the time and it was almost 9.30 am. He should have woken up by that time! What could be happening?

‘Well, maybe he couldn’t sleep during the night because of a guilty conscience and overslept by the time he eventually slept. I know my Nemuel will call back immediately he wakes up.’ She thought. However, all through the day, he didn’t return her calls and she began to get worried. ‘This is unlike Nemuel. Has something happened to my Nemuel or could the guilty feeling be taking so much toll on him?’ She became afraid as the thoughts enveloped her. At exactly 5.45 pm, she couldn’t take it anymore, so she decided to go and check out what might be wrong with the love of her life.

On getting to Nemuel’s place, she realised that his windows were opened. “So, he must be home.” She concluded. But she noticed that the place was unusually quiet. She became a little suspicious. Ordinarily, Nemuel wouldn’t be home and the whole place would be that quiet. The blast of his stereo would have filled the air as one got closer to his apartment. Her fear intensified when she saw that the bulb outside his apartment was on; so the unusual quietness could not allude to power outage! “What’s happening?” She asked herself in an undertone. “Why am I having this feeling that something is terribly wrong?” She had worry lines written all over her forehead. She hastened her steps to the door but as she was about inserting the key into the keyhole, the door gave way at the slightest touch. Her heart immediately skipped a few beats. “Ah! This is strange! Nemuel wouldn’t be home and leave the door unlocked even if he’s inside! This can’t be good. For a certainty, something is really wrong!” She muttered visibly fidgeting.

She held her breath as she opened the door slowly as if opening it that way was going to change anything. It wasn’t that she didn’t know that, she just didn’t want to be suddenly struck by whatever horror awaited her inside the house. The moment the door was fully opened she almost fainted at the sight that welcomed her!

Behold! A red liquid was flowing on the floor! She immediately became consumed by a kind of fear she had not experienced before in her entire life or could find the right words to describe. “Oh, my God! Blood! Blood!! Blood!!!” She almost screamed but instinctively bottled it within herself. What if the assailant was still lurking somewhere around the house? That would be dangerous for her. Her eyes involuntarily scanned round the sitting room and caught sight of drops of the red liquid that trickled towards Nemuel’s room. At this point, she was too confused to know what exactly to do.
Without a second thought, she ran straight to Nemuel’s room and flung the door open. Immediately, she froze at what she saw! She stood there petrified with eyes and mouth widely opened, and goose pimples standing as tall as Mouth Everest all over her body. Her phone dropped off her hand—the sight of what la!d on the bed was too terrifying to look at!