The Altercation is a short story written by Royver, an alumnus of Uniben. I'm enjoying the story and decided to share with my readers after seeking his permission. The story is currently running on Nairaland http://www.nairaland.com/1455537/altercation. ENJOY....
This is the third time he's warned her. Its in her nature to be stubborn. She whisks her behind and fires a final salvo before walking away... "Get angry all you like...I don't care!" He watches her leave, perspiration drenching his face, his hands trembling in suppressed rage. He wrenches the thought of throwing the glass cup in his hand at her head away from his mind. He takes a few deep breaths and tries to calm down. His little girl, too small to understand what is going on between her parents, giggles and makes a grab for his phone. It's a Samsung galaxy s3 with HSDPA network, corning Gorilla glass touchscreen with an Exynos chip set. The pride of the family. And only 2days old. He yanks it away from her as she squeals in indignation and places it on his left. He remains calmly in his seat thinking of what to do next when his wife returns, a bowl of frozen porridge in her hand. She slams it down on the table. "Eat sir! Eat your precious food and let me rest!" He starts to say something, how he's had a hard day at work, how his boss has been haggling him, the new target he has to meet, anything to diffuse the situation, anything. She rolls her eyes in disdain and turns her back. He shouts at her to look at him...and neither of them notices that baby has gotten a hold of the phone. Baby follows the normal baby rule. If it can't be eaten, it should be broken. As she smashes it on the concrete floor she gurgles in delight. The crunching noise isn't loud, but it cuts through the house like a gunshot. He jumps up and violently pulls the pieces away from baby, upsetting his lunch and staining his silk red tie in the process. She turns around and seeing the carnage, pulls the now crying baby into her arms. He's speechless with shock. He holds the phone in his hands, his mind in turmoil. From far away he hears her voice: "It's just a silly phone! I don't know why you cannot keep your things safely! Buy another..." He doesn't remember screaming. He doesn't remember punching her hard in the face. He doesn't know how or when baby was thrown to the floor, if his wife ran into the kitchen to grab a knife or if she had been holding it in her hand the whole time. He vaguely remembers a scuffle, sustaining cuts on his arm, wrestling the knife from her hands and his wife falling to her knees, her chest stained with blood. Baby isn't even crying, just watching with a macabre interest as he plunges the knife deep into her chest again and again. He remembers holding his right hand with his left to finally stop that downward motion. It is as if the whole world has gone quiet. He sits on the floor and observes her body. She remains still and finally silent. He sighs resignedly to himself and brings out the other phone from his pocket. Its an old reliable. A Nokia. He calls his brother. "Hey. Would u mind taking care of baby? How long? I dunno, might be a while. Maybe forever. No I'm not joking...just promise me you'll take care of her...OK? Thanks bros. Yeah, everything is fine. Come over as soon as you can OK? No...no emergency. Just come over." Baby has siddled up to him. She looks up at him and he smiles back. He notices blood gushing down his neck for the first time. He uses his last energy and credit to call the next door neighbor. He stays awake till he hears the neighbor opening the door. Then he slips into the void even as the last drops of blood oozes from his lacerated neck. The demon turns to his apprentice. "And all I had to do was make sure she didn't prepare his meal on time! Ain't I a stinker?" |
This is incredible!!
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