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“Well, I hope you people enjoyed yourself oo” the Missus continued with her sarcastic derision. “Next time, please find somewhere else to do it. See the way everywhere is now smelling anyhow.”

She used her fingers to block her nostrils like a peg as she shook her head, turned to look at Ajo and then returned her stare back at her sister.

“Felicia-Felicia…virgin Mary…” She laughed to herself, “…I thought you said you were a virgin and you were waiting until marriage…ehn”

Felicia remained transfixed to where she stood, not saying a word but trembling in her silence.

Ajo’s eyes remained fixated on Felicia as he pondered as to where the Mister was. He was certain no one had stepped out of the storeroom until Felicia did moments before so the only logical explanation was that the Mister was still inside the store.

Sharp man, Ajo quipped in his thoughts. By letting only Felicia step out, he has saved himself from being discovered by his wife. Ajo reckoned that the Mister chose to hide behind the door just as the Missus opened it and her seeing Felicia was enough of a surprise that she probably didn’t fathom that there would be someone else trapped inside the storeroom with her.

These conclusions made Ajo smile to himself with a little relief. The mister may just have dodged a big one, he thought to himself as he lifted his head up, unbeknownst to him that the smirk hadn’t been wiped off his face completely. The Missus caught the look and it irked her more.

“What are you smiling for, ehn?”

“Ma?” He returned with feigned ignorance.

“Sah” The missus retorted with a hiss. “You do not have a job. You barely graduated with a pass and as useless as your life is…this is what you and this so-called Virgin Mary do in the kitchen every morning abi…hmm…Daddy Gloria must hear this one o”

Ajo almost lost his inhibition and gave off a slight chuckle but was quick enough to pretend it was a cough as he heard the Missus’ statement.

Your husband naim start the whole thing, he replied in his thoughts as he continued his pretend coughing.

The Missus hissed and turned to look at her sister’s face. Felicia’s breathing was a bit calmer now as she lifted her head up from staring at the floor to look at her sister. Their eyes met and the latter hissed.

“So, it has now come to this, Felicia. Hiding in the store at 4 a.m. in the morning to sleep around like a prostitute ehn”

The words stung Felicia and Ajo could see as she tried hard to not react somewhat to the insult. She gritting her teeth and shrugged a bit but remained silent. The Missus went on.

“You think this is a life, abi. So, it is prostitution that you want to be doing now ehn. Ah,…what am I even saying, Prostitution is good nah, at least you will be making money…instead of sitting in my house every day, eating my food and then in the morning going inside the store and doing rubbish on-top of the same food that all of us will still eat…ah…Felicia…mama must hear this.”

The missus shook her head once again and after giving her sister another stare down. She turned to face Ajo and was about to say something to him but didn’t. Instead, she scoffed and turned around as she started towards the kitchen door.

Ajo was about to breathe a sigh of relief for having survived what would have otherwise been a showdown, had the Missus found out about the Mister’s doings. But out of nowhere, a relatively mute and trembling Felicia uttered the time-stopping sound that was to change everything.

“Mtcheew”

And just like that, time stopped.

Ajo’s mouth was agape just as the Missus’ steps were brought to a halt. She turned around and in her eyes; Ajo beheld the scourging heat of her anger. It appeared as though Felicia saw the same as well; because in that instant, the only sound that escaped her mouth was a gasp.

The moment that followed did not come with any words; just sounds.

Gboah! Kpa!! Kpo!! Kpa-Kpa!!!

A blow and four successive slaps shouldered their worries on the sweaty face of Felicia. They had landed on her so suddenly that she had let out a fart. Their striking force pushed her back against the store door and to the ground.

But the Missus was not done yet as she followed up her assault with what seemed like the trained precision of a UFC fighter.

Ajo must have blacked out for almost three seconds before leaping towards the scene of the assault and trying to pull the Missus off her sister’s fragile frame. He reckoned that in those three seconds, Felicia had received at least twice the number of slaps from the Missus’ fists.

“Ashewoooo” the Missus screamed out as Ajo pulled her back from behind and pushed her aside. He quickly came around to try to help Felicia up from the floor with her back against the storeroom door. As he lifted her slowly to her feet, he caught the Missus advancing towards her once again from the corner of his eyes.

“I will kill you today!” She screamed as Ajo managed to shield Felicia with his back to the Missus and his body crouching over the former. But the Missus was not letting this stop her continued assault as she still managed to reach on over him to land more hits on her sister, whose eyes were now flooded with painful, hot streams of tears.

The punches from the Missus were also hitting Ajo; and for a moment, he ignored the pains as he kept on trying to shield Felicia from the direct hits. But with each hit, it became harder to ignore the pain as the Missus kept throwing the weight of her body and blows on him from behind. Finally, not being able to bear it any longer, he instinctively reacted and forcefully extended his body and elbows, pushing back the Missus firmly.

The moment that followed did not come with any words; just sounds.

There was a stumble; a crash and a painful shriek.  Ajo turned around in shock as his eyes met the deathful stare in the Missus’ eyes, as she felt for the back of her head and stared at the blood on her fingers.

“Ajo, you have broken my head”, she managed to say as slowly she slumped to the floor, clenching the back of her head.

Ajo’s eyes widened in shock as his eyes went from the slumped figure of the Missus on the floor to the bloodied sharp edge of one of the refrigerator handle.

“Ajo have ki –”

The Missus’ voice trailed off as Ajo stood still in fright, unable to move a muscle. His fright turned to a nightmare when he heard the sound of a door opening from down the hall and a faint voice calling out:

“Mummy, Daddy…”

Gloria –the Missus’ five-year-old daughter– was awake.

by Mifa Adejumo

Feature image source – jonnybutton.com