It was one Friday evening sometime in February 2003. My colleague and best friend, Grace and I were on our way home after the close of work from Victoria Island in Lagos. When we got to Obalende, we stood at the bus stop for more than an hour as there was no bus in sight. In fact, the crowd at the bus stop was frightening because it rained heavily that day, coupled with the usual Lagos heavy traffic. “Grace, what are we going to do? It is almost 9:30 p.m. and our way home is still very far,” I said.
“Linda, we just have to wait. If we are lucky, we may even get a lift from someone away from here at least,” Grace said. A few minutes later, she suggested that we move away from the crowd so that we could flag down cars, and who knows someone may actually stop and give us a lift.
From nowhere, a black Pathfinder jeep pulled to a stop. The driver wound down the passenger’s side and said, “Hello ladies, which way are you heading?” Grace answered, “Definitely not your way, I am sure. Anyway, which way are you going, sir?” “I am going towards Maryland. Is that your way,” the young man asked.
“At least it is closer home because we are actually going to Ikeja,” I answered. He asked us to come in and this we happily did even though we both don’t like entering lifts because of the different scary stories we have heard.
Grace sat in front while I went behind; quietly praying in my heart
that God should grant us journey mercies, believing that the young man
was a good person. A few minutes later, he then introduced himself as
Felix, an architect working on the Lagos Island. Grace and I also
introduced ourselves. There was silence in the car after the
introduction until we got to Maryland. When we were about to alight, he
gave each of us his complimentary card and pleaded that we get in touch.
He asked for our phone numbers, and Grace reluctantly wrote them in a
piece of paper with our names.
The next day, my
phone rang when I was busy in the office. Reluctantly I picked it up and
heard a bass, male voice. He introduced himself as Felix, the man who
gave us a ride last night. “I remember, thank you so much for yesterday.
We really appreciate,” I said.
He asked me if we could have lunch together sometime soon. I promised that I would think about it and get back to him.
When
I told Grace, she said, “I know we just met Felix but he looked cool to
me. Why not give him a try.” About five days later, I called him and
said, “Alright Felix we can go for that lunch but it has to be on a
Saturday or Sunday.”
He told me Saturday would be
fine and that he could pick me up at home if I didn’t mind. But I told
him to give me the address of where we would be having lunch and the
time as I would gladly meet him there. I should send him my home address
so that he could pick me up at 2:00 p.m.
I took my
time to dress up to look good so I wore a fitted top and a pair of jean
trousers. Hmmm … I looked simple but beautiful and attractive.
Immediately I got to the venue, Felix was sitting at the reception
already waiting for me because I got there about 15 minutes late and had
to apologise. We had this sumptuous lunch at this hotel somewhere in
GRA after which we talked about each other. Felix told me his parents
were late; he was the only child and son of his parents.
He
added that he did not know members of his extended family because his
parents believed in sticking to their nuclear family. However, he
introduced Harry and Sam to me as his best friends who are also like
brothers to him. We started dating. Three months later, he told me he
wanted to get married in six months if I was ready. He parked out of his
Anthony apartment and moved to Ikeja. When I told my family, they asked
me about him and I told them all he told me.
My
father wasn’t too comfortable with the story but since I told him Felix
was my life, he allowed us to get married, especially when I told them I
was already pregnant for him. We got married at the Ikeja Registry in
2004 but it was a low-key wedding. Felix was so caring and loving. He
pampered me silly and stopped me from working. However, he ensured that
all my needs were met. He got me a house-help and constantly reminded me
about the doctor’s order that I needed to rest. When I gave birth to
our son, Felix Jnr, in 2005, he bought me a Honda jeep.
He
was so excited. There was the look of fulfilment written all over his
face each time he looked at Jnr. He loved him so much. In 2007, I got
pregnant with our second child and gave birth to our beautiful daughter,
Alice. Felix was so happy. He showed me and the children so much love
and care. We lived happily as a family.
However, in
April 2009, I noticed that whenever Felix was asleep, he murmured the
same sentence over and over again. He would mutter: “It is time to go
home. I am fulfilled now.” The first time I heard it, I thought he was
having a bad dream, so I woke him up.
When he was fully awake,
I told him what he said and he told me he couldn’t remember anything
and asked me to forget about those silly words. But when it persisted, I
became worried and I told Grace, and as usual, she told me I worry too
much and advised me not to disturb myself.
It was
even worse because we did not attend any church so there was no pastor
to talk to. After a while he stopped. “Mark, what do you mean by what
you are saying?” He told me not to worry myself.
Six
months after I had Alice, Felix opened a big boutique for me as my
birthday gift, which he stocked to the brim. This made me really
excited. I had to shuttle between the boutique and home to make sure my
children were alright. One day while at the boutique with my staff,
taking stock, two beautiful women walked in.
Immediately,
I recognised one of them as Beatrice, my secondary school friend. “You
are Beatrice right?” I asked. “Yes, I am. Hey, Linda, quite a long time.
Do you own this place?” She asked. We hugged each other and decided to
catch up on old times. I invited her over to the house and she accepted
to visit on Saturday as she couldn’t wait to meet my husband and
children.
Immediately I got home, Felix told me he would be
travelling to Abuja on Saturday aboard the 10 a.m. flight on an official
assignment; however he would be back on Tuesday.
“Sweetheart,
I wanted you to meet a friend of mine who would be visiting us on
Saturday. Anyway, no problem I am sure you will meet her another time,” I
said. “Yes dear, this trip is an emergency. Please help me pack my
travelling bag,” Felix pleaded. On Saturday morning, before leaving for
the airport, Felix said, “Linda, I love you and the children very much.
You
are the only family I have in life. Please take care of yourself and
the children until I return from my trip.” He gave me a hug and a kiss.
He also hugged the kids. He told me he would pick a cab to the airport,
which sounded strange because I always dropped him off at the airport
whenever he was travelling. “I will see you and the kids on Tuesday my
love,” he said and waved goodbye.
Since Beatrice
was coming, I hurriedly prepared chicken stew and rice. At exactly 1.15
p.m., she arrived. I was so delighted to see her. The children greeted
her and she gave them all the beautiful gifts she had bought for them.
However, I noticed that she kept staring at our wedding picture on the
wall.
“Why do you keep staring at my wedding
picture? Anyway, that is Felix my husband. He travelled to Abuja this
morning.” Suddenly, the glass cup dropped from her hand. “What is the
matter Beatrice?” I questioned. “Did you say he is your husband? What
did you call his name again,” she asked. “Felix,” I replied. “But this
is Raymond. We are from the same village and our houses are not far from
each other,” she revealed shivering.
“Why are you
shivering Beatrice?” I asked. “Raymond died about six years ago in a car
accident. I attended his funeral. His parents live in the village,” she
revealed. She asked me where he said he was from, and I told her what
he told me. “My friend, you have been living with a ghost,” she said.
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