The Lives We Lived

28: Morning After.

Kemi glanced over her shoulders to make sure that no one was listening. It was absurd to think that he could make any attempt to get to her when she was thousands of miles away from Lagos state but he had men everywhere.

"Kemi, are you there?" Zainab's voice was flat, devoid of all human emotions.

"Zainab, where have you been? One minute, you're online and the next, gone." Kemi whisper yelled into the phone. She hadn't known Zainab for more than six months but they had bounded over an argument with a meat seller' apprentice, who had tried selling the same piece of meat to both of them.

"Many things have happened," Zainab sighed.

"Many things as how? Is it your husband? What did he do now?"

"Hmmm..." Zainab's pause was pregnant with a twin bout of suspense and tension. "What didn't he do?"

"Come on. Tell me what happened." Kemi urged, gesticulating with her fingers.

"It started when I returned from Yaba."

For the next thirty minutes, zainab relayed all that had happened in her life. Kemi leaned against the brown metal door that separated the bathroom from the rest of the house.

"And where are you now?"

"In my friend's house. Farida."

"No. I mean where? Geographical location."

"Kaduna."

"What of your husband?"

"I don't know where he is. The last I heard, he was in the police station."

Kemi walked to the plastic tooth brush holder, beside the sink and she allowed her eyes to take in the content. Her mind was reeling at a thousand miles per second. Zainab's husband was not a calm man. "Did he try calling you?"

Zainab's voice on the other end was muffled.

"Zainab-"

"Hmm?"

"Has he tried calling you?"

"Several times?"

"Are you sure he is still at the police station?"

There was a pause before zainab's answer. "No. I'm not sure but I don't want to go back. I've suffered enough."

Kemi picked up one of the toothbrushes and toyed with it, rolling it around and around between her fingers. "Listen, I don't think it's safe for you to come back to Lagos."

"If I had my way, I wouldn't. May God Punish him. May he never know peace until he dies. May-"

"That's not it." Kemi interrupted, returning the toothbrush to its rightful place. She leaned against the door and admired the neatness of the bathroom. Efe, like Osa, was a clean freak. Everything was spotless and gleaming. Everything had its place. The bathroom floor looked clean enough to lie on but she didn't dare try that.

"Then what?" Fear, the first emotion Zainab's voice carried echoed in her words.

"Does he know where Farida lives?"

"Yes..yes. What are you trying to say?"

"If he knows where you and your parents live as well as your friend, don't you think he would come looking for you?"

"I never.. I never thought about that." Kemi's heart shivered with empathy. She couldn't imagine anyone having to ensure a marriage with a beast like Zainab's husband. Her mind replayed Osa's words. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She hadn't expected him to blow up like that but she knew him. He would get over it.