EPISODE 3: STALE!

EPISODE 3

It had been a very short 6 years for Grace, everything happened so fast to her but the lovely part is that she could sit on her customized brown executive chair with her hands on her office table, connecting all the dots from her past as she looked at her mother, a picture hung on the wall and she smiled to herself knowing how proud her mother would feel if she was alive to know how fulfilling and successful her daughter was.

Grace fought so hard for 6 years after her mother’s death and after she found out about her father. The first 2 years was the hardest for her but she blended with the situation to survive and never had any self-limitation beliefs that could set her back and keep her distracted from what she wanted to be and who she was as a person. She had become a successful young lady at the age of 25. What qualified her success were the company she had, her house she always dreamt of having, she finally built it, the number of cars she wanted and the colours. Also, the orphanage home she dreamt of building since she was 8, she started building it which made her really happy that finally all her dreams were in front of her.

“grrruuuhh..grrruuuhh.. grrruuhh”, the office landline telephone rang continuously into her ears from her secretary’s office and she wondered where she was.

“Joyce, can u please get that? Am trying to focus on work here”. Grace shouted but no one replied. She quickly directed the call to her own office landline and picked it.

“Hello, This is Grey Ace Office. Who am I speaking with?

“Hi! My name is Stephanie. Please tell your boss that she is a big Fish” A voice came through the speakers direct to Grace’s mind to know that it was her best friend, Stephanie.

“OMG girl! What’s up? Where have you been? I hate you because It’s been ages? How did u get the land… Why don’t you have my mobile number? How…?” Grace said surprised to hear from Stephanie after a year and 4 months.

“Hey! Slow down! I know u’ve missed me” Stephanie laughed as she spoke.

Stephanie got married over two years ago and she moved to New York with her rich husband. It was an arranged marriage for her. She loved her husband but it seemed the man loved her less but they believed since they had money and would have children, they will have a long marriage.

Grace who was her best friend, refused Stephanie’s and Jacob’s marriage because she saw how he treated her when they were in the university. Even though Stephanie schooled in a private university in Lagos which was different from Grace’s, Stephanie would travel to wherever Grace was after her boyfriend, Jacob had beaten her. She advised her to leave the relationship but Stephanie defended him even while she cried that he was the just angry type.

Grace saw no sense in the relationship that she even refused to talk to Stephanie as long as she was still dating him.

 Grace could do nothing but to continue arguing and quarrelling about Stephanie’s relationship. What annoyed her the most was the fact that her parents were the foundation of the relationship. They wanted their wealth to be in place that they arranged Stephanie’s and Jacob’s marriage while Stephanie was in SS-3. Stephanie who was a very calm and lovely girl never tried to disobey her parents because she was their favorite daughter which made the rest siblings jealous.

Grace knew that Stephanie never told her parents about the abuse she received from Jacob. She thought she knew him and later in life, he would change for the better.

 But Stephanie was wrong. Jacob never changed for the better but he became a sweetheart in the morning and a mad man at night. Stephanie went through all these trouble for 7 years and it became worse when they married.

Jacob married Stephanie immediately she graduated. He did not want her to serve or even get a master’s degree. He always told her that she did not need all those extra certificates when she had gotten the main one.

Sometimes, Jacob abused Stephanie and showed her love at the same time. He got her all she wanted and gave her all she needed but never allowed her to leave the house without a company.

One would say because Stephanie was a beautiful charmer and a lovely girl with an almost “perfect” life but that was not enough reason for Jacob to sometimes lock her up in a dark room for a whole day without eating or drinking water if he got angry with her that day.

He did more harmful things to her and that was one of the reasons he decided to move after their marriage. He did not want any family interference especially when Stepahanie’s siblings started asking questions about the bruises on her face and the blood colour marks on her wrist. She was fair in complexion enough to unhide every feelings and hurt. It showed physically on her body most times and that contributed to the reason why Stephanie always stayed indoors.

Jacob was a ‘professional mad business man’. Since the day he met Stephanie, he claimed that he loved her to the point that he could die with her. With her? One would imagine! “Why not die for her?” His parents were not aware of his mental state because Jacob was not an okay person. They felt that because he always had what he wanted, was a special character he had and since they had the money, they provided all he wanted.

He treated Stephanie like she had no values and no mind of her own. He thought for her, provided for her, did everything for her and he thought he was lord over her.

Nobody knew about the abuse until a day came when Jacob had beaten Steph mercilessly that she almost fainted, she picked up her cell phone and tried to call Grace and when Grace had found out she was crying, she tried to force the reason out of her mouth. But it was too late for Steph. Jacob caught her and made sure after then that she never spoke to anyone on the phone except he called the person for her. Later that day, Jacob forced Steph to lie to Grace about the reason she was cryng. She told Grace that she had menstrual pains which made Grace relieved that nothing bad happened. Since then, Jacob made sure that Steph contacted only her parents and siblings in his presence.

After a year of their marriage, Steph found out she was pregnant. This made Jacob happy and he promised not to lay hands on her again. Stephanie thought she had finally won the heart of her husband.

Months passed and Jacob did not hit Stephanie until she was 7 months pregnant. Stephanie found out that Jacob was cheating on her with some white ladies. Not one or two but four of them. She wanted to talk things over about the affair with him as they had been in good terms since she was pregnant.

On a cool evening, which she made the mistake to start the conversation in the evening, she sat on the bed close to her husband and started the affair conversation. The issue provoked him badly that he introduced back his real character. He, not considering that she was pregnant, started beating her up. The pain was too much for her that she used the little strength she had to run to the kitchen, collected a knife and when Jacob followed her, thinking she would do nothing with it, she drew the knife close to his chest and had her eyes closed. The moment she heard, “Steph! You …” She opened her eyes and saw her hands and the floor with blood. The blood filled her hands as she pulls out the knife from her husband’s chest and slowly went down with him. She watched him die.

Stephanie killed her husband.

Still in shock and in great pain, she called the police with his phone.

The police got there as soon as possible and that was all she noticed. Her eyes were closed.

After days passed, Steph gained consciousness and she got herself treated.

The issue was treated in court and Steph was not accused of murder because there was proof of the camera footage of the night the whole fight started and ended. Jacob had put in cameras in his house to track every movement of Steph and what she did.

Steph was happy that her baby was safe. When she recovered from the physical pains and after some therapy sessions with her doctor in New York, she decided to call home. At that time, she had given birth and it was her decision not to call her parents until after she was fine enough to go home.

Steph was still emotionally affected by the abuse and the death of her husband as she was the killer. Her doctor tried to help her but she blamed herself all the time.

4 months later, after her slow recovery, she decided to call her best friend who she had not spoken to for a year plus. She did not want anyone to worry about her, so she kept everything that happened to her a secret and kept on saying, “I am fine and my husband and baby are doing great”.

Steph finally called her best friend and she felt like she had a life again because it was no life with her husband but a prison.

“I got your number from Google girl! I can’t believe you have a big ART Studio now. You have your dreams in front of you and it’s amazing! I missed you” Steph said smiling. Grace could see her smile from Nigeria.

“You are the biggest FISH! You never called and your husband always said you were at work. For more than a year Thief, for more than. Even when I came to New York,  I couldn’t reach you. Your parents said that you and your husband travel around the country a lot and they don’t have your home address. I have been worried”. Grace nicknamed Stephanie ‘thief’ or ‘thiefinie’. “You are so unfair; I thought you never wanted to hear from me now that u will soon be a mother. I have missed that your small head and that fine face. It’s been really long.”

“How did you know I was pregnant?”

“Your brother told me. He said you called them once in 3 months and that you were very busy.”

“My brother said that?” Steph knew that she talked to her parents and siblings once every 3 months as planned by her ex husband but she didn’t know he gave them the excuse that she was really busy.

“Yeah, he did” Grace said slowly.

“Well, lots have happened and am still in NewYork and by the way, I have given birth to a baby girl…”

“Oh my God! I am no longer angry with you because an angel has come to make peace. I know she is the cutest baby ever. How is she? Does she look like you or her dad? Tell me. Tell me. How is Jacob? Is he still…?

“Errrm… Can we talk later Grey? Am in the hospital and I just thought I should call you to let you know that I still love you and the moment I come to Lagos, I’ll love to stay in your house for a while, ok?” Steph said the moment she caught herself almost crying.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am fine. Like I said, Lots have happened and I’ll tell you when am in Nigeria.”

“Sure… You can come anytime and besides we have lots of catching up to do? So  I’ll call you later today and please be good. I missed you so much” Grace felt sadness in her voice but she believed that she was okay.

“I am fine, ok?. Yes, we’ll do the catching up later. Bye I love you.”

“Love u too… Bye”

Grace was excited to hear from best friend. She knew she gave up on talking to her after she had lost communication but when she finally did, she felt like she had one hole filled up. Grace decided to check “Stephanie Chukwudi” online.

“The last time I checked her was a really long time. I am such a bad friend”. She smiled to herself.

“What? Dead? How? This is Crazy!” She shouted as she drew the attention of her secretary, Joyce who just came into her office.

“Ma’am! What is it?” Joyce said hurriedly as she watched Grace open her eyes and mouth so wide like she had committed a crime.

Grace suddenly picked up her phone from the table and dialed a number from her head.

WATCH OUT FOR EPISODE 4

What did she read online? Who does she want to call? Why was she shocked?

Comment what you think happened after she read from the internet.