‘It’s Ife, your friend. He is bent on ruining my
life. I hate him for the monster that he is’ she
cried bitterly.
Moments later, the door flew wide opened and
Ife stepped into the house. His heart was
pained as he saw her crying, he was the cause
of that pain and he prayed she forgave him.
‘What are you doing here?’ She rose to her feet
as anger blazed her.
‘Please forgive me, I can explain everything’ he
swallowed and scanned the faces in the room.
His eyes fell on the betrayer he once considered
friend.
‘What the hell are you doing here, you
criminal?’ Ife moved towards Ekene and
launched him a blow; it sent him sprawling on
the floor.
‘Stop! What do you think you’re doing?’ Narissa
and Iman screamed.
‘So you are that desperate to win her love’ Ife
raised him up and punched him hard in the
belly.
‘Stay away from me, Ife. I have no interest in
her; I only came to check on her. You have
already taken everything away from me, this
show of power isn’t necessary’ Ekene warned.
‘You bloody liar’ Ife punched him one more
time.
‘Ok then. Tell her everything, tell her about the
bet’ Ekene groaned as he steadied himself.
‘What bet? What are you talking about?’
Narissa stared at the two men.
Ife quickly realized what was happening; why
was Ekene so wicked? Why would he ruin
everything completely?
‘I challenged him to sleep with you and he
agreed. He even recorded your lovemaking
session but later destroyed it. He is vile and
wicked; please stay away from him Narissa’
Ekene spat out blood.
‘Oh my God’ Iman covered her mouth as she
listened to Ekene’s confession.
‘Please tell me this isn’t true, deny this Ife’
more tears streamed down her cheeks as she
stared at him.
He found himself looking into her eyes; he had
followed her home so he could profess his love
to her and not this.
How could he stare into those innocent eyes and
feed her with lies? Yes, Ekene was right but
that was his past. Would she ever forgive him?
In his mind’s eye, he saw the love he harbored
for her getting squashed, just the way one
would smash a fruit. He loved her but he was
sure of this, Narissa would never love him after
this.
‘I am sorry, please forgive me’ those were the
only words that fell from his mouth before he
turned around and ran out of the house.
‘I hate him so much! Why didn’t I listen to
you, Iman?’ Narissa dropped on the floor and
cried.
‘I am so sorry Narissa, it was all his idea’
Ekene said.
‘You better get the hell out of my house before
I call the police on you and make sure you stop
working for my parents. I don’t ever want to
see you around’ she warned him.
‘Get out, fool’ Iman joined.
He swallowed deeply and stepped out of the
house. What had happened wasn’t his fault. Ife
had started the fight and he said what he said
in self-defense.
He needed to get out of town, he needed to
run as far as his legs could carry him. He knew
Ife very well, he would come back for him and
he would hit very hard.
Days had passed since the encounter with
Narissa; he had given up totally, she would
never forgive him nor take him back now.
He knew it was all over for him; he was this
close to winning her heart when Ekene stabbed
him in the back yet again. But was it really
Ekene’s fault that his relationship with Narissa
had ended in a disaster?
‘I was such a fool’ Ife muttered to himself. He
found it difficult to go to work; he couldn’t
step out of the house, he was greatly ashamed
of what he had done to Narissa.
He had been carried away by his ego and
foolish pride; he devalued her, made her feel
unworthy of his love and now he would pay for
humiliating her.
Her eyes had searched his for answers; begging
for him to deny the allegation Ekene fired at
him but he couldn’t lie. He wasn’t brave enough
to look an angel in the eye and tell a lie.
Narissa was his angel, the angel he had lost.
He had been angry and bitter for days, sleep
eluded him as he thought of good ways to
destroy Ekene, the way he destroyed his
chances with Rissa but none came to mind. Only
shame did. He was to blame for everything and
not Ekene.
‘If you continue this way, you’ll drink yourself
to death’ his father strolled towards him. Ife
had maintained a permanent seat close to the
cellar. He chose to drown his loss and sorrow in
the river of wine, for with intoxication came
relief. Drunk men supposedly had bad memory.
‘Father’ he swallowed a glass of Brandy.
‘I’ve been made to understand that you have
refused to continue with the Media assessment
program, do I have a reason to question your
competence?’ His father pulled a seat next to
him.
‘I…I can’t do it anymore, maybe next year, we
can all start afresh’ he pushed the empty bottle
aside and fetched another one.
‘Stop this, will you! Stop acting like a child. Only
weak men seek refuge in alcohol. You are not
weak, you are Ife Martins’ his father’s voice
was stern, sharp like a sword. It brought him
back to life.
‘You don’t understand father; I’ve lost
everything, I have lost her’ tears welled up in
his eyes.
‘I know, I watched the program. The news is
everywhere, trust the media. I am a bit
surprised though, that same Narissa was
arranged for you and you refused her. I really
don’t understand you Ife’ the old man
narrowed his brows.
‘I was stupid and careless; now I see the light.
Narissa is my light and I love her so much but
she doesn’t feel same for me anymore. She
would never love me father. Can’t you see? I
have lost everything’ he swallowed and thought
of what his life would be like without her.
‘What really happened?’ the man asked.
‘I hurt her very much and I don’t think she’ll
ever forgive me’ Ife replied, he couldn’t go into
details, he knew his father would be greatly
ashamed of him.
‘Okay, seems you don’t want to talk about it but
I can tell you this one truth, making mistakes
like hurting others is human. No man is perfect,
we have all hurt one person or the other before.
The degree of hurt may vary but it is still the
same pain we inflict on others.
You must forgive yourself to be forgiven’ the
man paused.
‘Forgive myself to be forgiven? I don’t
understand’ Ife widened his tear-filled eyes.
‘Whatever you did to her is eating you up; guilt
has built a castle in your heart but you must
fight it. Forgive yourself, remember that you
are human. Once you do this, you’ll feel better’
he advised.
‘Thank you father, your words always lift my
spirits’ Ife felt slightly better after speaking
with his father.
‘Good. Now go have a bath, you reek of alcohol.
You must stand up and be a man’ he gave Ife a
pat on the back and walked away.
‘Forgive me’ he repeated the words.
His phone buzzed, he drew a breath and
realized that he had not taken his calls for
some days now.
To be Continued….
