Heartstrings (10) Finale

      

    

  

     A fight in the night

  Kefe turned in the direction Demola indicated-the Riverview Hotel a short distance away; its many bright lights twinkled back invitingly like stars in the night sky.

 “What’s she doing there? And who’s she with?” Kefe asked quickly.

 “Her ex-fiance!” Demola replied in a dull voice.

 “What?” Kefe exclaimed, looking shocked. “For real? Is this a joke or what?”

 Demola did not reply but simply took his friend’s hand and they crossed the road to the car.

 On the short drive to the hotel, Demola briefed him on what he had seen.

“My God! I can’t believe this! How could Becky do this? I thought she had gotten over that guy before you married her. I guess I was wrong,” said Kefe.

As he parked the car, he turned to Demola. From the light from a lamppost nearby, he could see how gloomy and distressed his friend looked.

“We can’t let them get away with this! Let’s march into the hotel and deal with the bastard!” Kefe said hotly.

“I did that earlier but something stopped me or that guy would have been dead by now!” Demola said. “Let’s wait for them to come out then we take it from there.”

“I’m so sorry, man!” Kefe said soothingly. “I can imagine how you’re feeling. I’m shocked too! To think Becky could do this to you, after all the love you showered on her all these years!”

   Demola shook his head.

 “That’s women for you! You can never trust them!” he said bitterly.

“It’s the reason I’m still single. My mother has nagged me about it till she’s fed up with me. She says if I don’t bring a girl home to Warri this year as my potential bride, she’ll marry someone from the village for me! Me, Kefe marry a village girl! No way. I would rather…”

 “Here they come!” Demola said, pointing through the windscreen of the car. Sure enough, there was Becky and Lanre coming out of the hotel entrance.

 Lanre’s arm was draped round her waist and he was gazing lovingly down at her. They looked like a couple on honeymoon. 

Kefe’s blood boiled at the sight and he had a mind to rush out and punch the smug look off the man’s face.

“My God! This is crazy!” he said. Then he turned to Demola.

“Just take it easy man and don’t do something crazy. I’ll handle this. Let’s go!”

They got down from the car and walked purposely towards the lovers.

The car park was brightly lit so Demola could see clearly the look on Becky’s face when she saw him- surprise, shock, confusion and something else he could not fathom.

She was the first to speak.

 “De..Demola!” she stammered. “What’re you doing here?”

 He stood still, his eyes shooting daggers, first at her then at Lanre, who had a puzzled look on his handsome face.

“I should be asking you that question, woman! What are you doing in a hotel with a strange man at (a glance at his wrist), nearly 10 pm?” he said, his voice rising with each word.

 “I…I came to…” her voice faltered.

 “Honey, who’s this?” asked Lanre, giving Demola a head to toe look over.

 Becky found her voice. “He’s my husband,” she said quietly.

 “Oh,” he said. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re here. It’s time you knew the truth, anyway!”

 “What bloody truth are you talking about?” Kefe said angrily. “You should be ashamed of yourself! Messing around with another man’s wife…”

 Demola raised his hand in an authoritative manner.

 “Kefe, I’ve got this!” he said testily, his voice brimming with the anger he was struggling to suppress, but which seemed to boil over at Lanre’s next remark.

“Becky was mine before you took her away. I’m back to take back what originally belonged to me,’ he said firmly.

 Demola took a step forward till he was standing quite close to Lanre.

“How dare you?” he screamed at his rival. “After being caught in the act, you dare open that hole you call a mouth to sprout such rubbish! You bastard!” With that, he threw a powerful punch on Lanre’s face. 

The latter staggered back like one drunk and Demola quickly followed up with another blow that fell him flat on the ground. Becky screamed, shouting on Demola not to kill him.

 But her husband was beyond reason.

Like one possessed, he pounced on Lanre and rained heavy blows and punches on him. When Kefe tried to pry him away from the now prone Lanre, he pushed him furiously away.

 “Let me be! I’ll kill him today! Bastard! You dare mess with me! Next time, you’ll stay off other people’s property,” Demola kept shouting as he beat Lanre up. He tried fighting back but he was no match for the heavier built Demola.

 It took the combined effort of two men, attracted by the screams and shouting, and Kefe to get the enraged Demola off Lanre. By then, Lanre’s face was a bloody mess, his shirt torn and rumpled and he had become unconscious…

  

    Demola

 That night at the hotel went by like a blur and I can’t remember all that went down.

 But I remember being lifted off Lanre, then the police arrived and I was taken to the police station within the estate. There I was locked up on charges of assault, battery, harassment, disturbance of the peace and other charges.

 The following morning, Kefe came with a lawyer and arranged bail for me.

 He took me to his house at Gbagada where I stayed for nearly a month. I was reluctant to return home as I did not want to see Becky. I was unsure of the way I would react if I laid eyes on her in my state of mind then. Having an affair with her ex behind my back while pregnant for me! What kind of woman does that?

 Anyway, I should not have worried. Kefe informed me some days after the fracas at the hotel that she had moved out of our marital home.

 “I heard she’s now living with Lanre and they are planning to leave the country soon,” he disclosed.

 I could not be bothered with whatever she did. My concern was for my baby she was carrying. The child was mine and I was determined to fight for its custody whenever she delivered.

 All our friends and family are shocked at the turn of events. Becky’s mother even went to plead with her to return to me but she was adamant. She said she could not live without Lanre, that marrying me was a mistake.

 It was all stated in the letter she wrote to me which I could not bear to read, but which Kefe read to me anyway.

 “God knows I tried loving you, Demola but it was simply impossible. I just can’t forget Lanre and without him, my life will be meaningless. I’m sorry things did not work out for us. But, I believe it’s better I leave now rather than spend the rest of my life in regret and longing for another man. You’ll have access to the baby when it’s born as you are the father. Hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me...”

 Forgive. She wants me to forgive her! The bitch! After all the pain and heartache she caused me! It will take me time and effort to recover from what she did to me but I’ll survive. All I want is my baby. She can go wherever she likes but I will never give up on my baby!

  The End

 Did Demola do the right thing by beating Lanre up? Your comments are welcome!

   ***

Dear all,

Thanks for your comments and observations on the blog especially your complaints about the posting of stories. You are right that the posting has not been as regular as it should be and it’s due to my tight work schedule and the other stuff contending for my attention.

 I sincerely apologise for this and plan to remedy the situation as soon as possible. One of these is to have freelance writers as contributors to the blog to reduce the pressure on me. An announcement on this will be made soon.  

In the meantime, please stay tuned and don’t leave your favourite blog. We appreciate your support and loyalty since we started this over a year ago. And we promise to serve you better in the future.

 Thanks and stay blessed!

 Patience (blog Author)