TITLE: SISTERHOOD
AUTHOR: OGECHI ALABI
CHAPTER 81
ESTHER
Esther observed some moves Jake was making in business. There were some unexplainable income he was bringing which he refused to disclose the source to her. She begged him to remove the money from account so it doesn’t affect them but he refused. She suspected money laundering but since he was tight-lipped, there was little or nothing she could do. She needed counsel because she knew the implication when he gets caught. She needed someone who would know how to clean up some of the money so if there is a problem, she and her children would not suffer.
Funke being an accountant and having a firm was her first choice. She went to see Funke in her office. She needed to confide in her because the amounts being credited into some of the accounts were enormous. There was no source. She told Funke she suspected drugs or money laundering. Funke advised her to report Jake to the appropriate authorities to save herself and her family. That was too much for Esther to do. She asked her if there was any way she could clean the money and keep safe with someone. She was desperate.
“Why are you apprehensive?” Funke asked.
“I have been having a bad feeling. The movies coming in are scary. I am worried stiff. If they catch him and confiscate everything, what will be left for me and my children? I have tried talking to him but he is not listening. All he wants is sex. I am tired. I have stayed long enough but I can’t cope anymore.”
“What are you talking about?”
“A lot has happened which I don’t want to disclose now.”
“His cheating? I knew about it. I thought it didn’t bother you much. So why are you upset?”
“Funke, I was tired of everything. I wanted to divorce Jake but he refused. He said if I leave I can’t take the children. I was devastated. He brought one baba who supports him in prayer to talk to me and help resolve the issue. I was not a saint but Jake pushed me into adultery. I had a lover.”
“Ah!” Funke exclaimed. “Esther, why would you do that? You should have left Jake with the children and walked away before getting involved with another man. When a woman cheats, some curses come upon her family.”
“Funke, does Ebuka still make love to you? Does he come home every night and share a bed with you? Does he tell you all he is doing and make you feel special? Have you ever caught him cheating? Has he given you a STI/D? How many months do you stay without sex? ”
“I know where you are coming from but you have to preserve your dignity and self-respect. What if people find out about your affair? Sex is not everything.”
“Three years without having sex with my husband is no big deal, right?”
“That’s long. But widows stay without intercourse after their husbands die.”
“Do you stay with them 24/7 to confirm that? If I didn’t tell you would you have known I cheated? Maybe I should stop talking.”
“Don’t be offended. I can see I am not being empathic. Three years and you have a man? One week I will rape Ebuka.” they both laughed.
“I told my stepmother about Jake and I’s problems. I needed help and she offered me hope. She took me to see a pastor. He prayed for me and then he said Jake will never let me go unless something terrible happens to him. I wasn’t going to do evil against my husband and so I asked him what I should do. He said I should fast and pray for five days without food, only water and fruit juice. And also no sex.”
“That’s simple now. You can manage that.”
“Jake always destroyed the fast with demands for sex. Once I start again, he will come back and force me to have sex. One time I told him I was praying, and he asked me what I was praying for. He forced me to have sex.”
“Hmm. How does he know when you are fasting to spoil it? We have to devise another plan for you to do the fasting.”
“I have done it. My stepmother called me and asked me to start my fast that day. She called Jake and told him my father was very ill and he was asking for all his children. Before Jake could reach me, I was already in Sapele. I did my fasting there and it went very well. I came to Lagos. The pastor said the mission was completed, the next mission was for me to stop having sex with him. How do I stop having sex with Jake? I investigated and found out he was still cheating so I sent the evidence and locked him up. He begged me but I refused. I connived with my doctor to say I have an STI which he gave me and he needs to be treated with strong antibiotics injections for a week. Jake hates injections so he left me alone. It was then I started noticing the large sums of money entering our account. I asked him to put it in only his account as I don’t want to be involved. He agreed but still kept some in our companies and our joint account.”
“This is serious. What can we do about it?”
“I need someone to help me remove them and make them disappear. It would look like our account was hacked or something.”
Read – The lonely heart episode 9
“I don’t know anyone but I can ask uncle Tobi if he can help.”
“Can we talk to him now? I am desperate. My pastor is worried I might be implicated in the fraud.”
Funke called uncle Tobi. After exchanging pleasantries, she reintroduced Esther to him. He remembered her. Esther told him her story about the questionable inflow she had in her joint and corporate accounts.
“Do you want the money?”
“I don’t want anything traced to me.”
“I can do that. We will move the money in bits but before the month is over, we would have moved everything. I will help you open another account using a new company and directors. The money will be put in that account and some will be left with people to trade. Have you ever heard of a BDC licence?”
“No sir.”
“That’s a money spinner right now. With the funds you have, you will cash out big time. I will help you buy five Burea de Change licences from CBN using some people. This is to protect you. You will work with the people that will clean the money but they will take a percentage, 20%. Is that ok with you? Then they will share the proceeds of the business 50:50 with you. All you have to do is trust me with the money.”
“Whatever you say. I want my account to be devoid of anything from that money. That’s all I want.”
“It will be done and your name protected. You should also inform your husband to stop putting money there too,”
“I will close the account as soon as all the money has been removed. He can move the money to his account. I am scared and I have a bad feeling towards this.”
Uncle Tobi went to work. It took longer than a month to move out all the funds and close both accounts. Jake wanted to know where the money went. She was ready to release everything to him but he took off again for almost six months. Esther used those months to learn the BDC business. She opened several BDC accounts and was helping the people in the market to change their money. Gradually she made good money. The business she started with Jake, left for his brother to run. She used a part of the complex to focus on BDC.
Uncle Tobi was also introduced to the export of different types of wood. She was interested but she needed a trusted person to work with her. He helped her buy over an exporting company that specialised in similar exports. She asked her brother to come back to Nigeria and work with her. He handled the export arm. They worked together for months until she was sure he was grounded before she left him to work. She bought a house for him on the Island and he moved in there with his white girlfriend. Esther helped her register and start a pharmacy so she would be busy. She needed her brother and she was glad he agreed to come back. The business made good money per cycle. Before long, they went into the export of grains and hibiscus flowers.
When Jake returned, he wanted to know what Esther did with the monies in the account. She told him she diverted it into her BDC business and the export business. He was upset.
“Why did you close both accounts?”
“Because you don’t listen. I don’t know what you are up to but I don’t want to be a part of it, understood?”
“What am I doing except making money? How much has your business made since its inception? Have you made up to a billion naira in profit? I am racking in money and you are complaining. Women are insatiable. You can keep that money but I need to know how to receive the ones coming in.”
“I don’t know and I honestly don’t care.”
“I don’t like the way you are sounding. Have you started screwing around again? If I come close to you, you will shout infection. I have had all my girls tested before I have anything to do with them just to protect you. It makes me wonder if it is not your partner that is infecting you.”
“Jake, think whatever you want. Screw whoever you want to screw but keep me out of it.”
“You are now fat and shapeless, I hope you know. Why aren’t you taking care of yourself? See your skin, it isn’t glowing anymore. If I pump you twice you will go back to your beautiful self. The guy you are screwing might just be broke and you are the one taking care of him while he repays you with diseases. I am an Edo man, our wives don’t cheat on us. I will take you to the village and you will swear you are not cheating on me.”
“Yes, as long as you do the same.”
“Esther, I love you. There are certain things I do with those girls I can’t do with you. You need to understand. If I do them with you, I will hate you for life. It is messed up. Most of the girls are messed up.”
“I am not complaining. Do them with me and stick with just me. Why should I be faithful to you and you cannot reciprocate? That’s all I am asking for. Do them to me, I won’t complain. I want this marriage to work.”
“Do them to you? Why would my wife make your arse leak? Why would tie you and screw you like a criminal? Why would I demean and watch you screw other men? I mean watch men use you as their slave and screw every hole in your body. Why would I choke you until you are almost passing out? You don’t even smoke weed, they take hard drugs to be able to do most of the act. I fuck like a beast when I am high and I need to be high to do business.”
Esther was too shocked for words. What had Jake turned into? She could see he was high as he spoke. She didn’t want to be brutalised in the name of sex but at the same time, she wanted to see it for herself. She had never heard about these things before. She was a novice.
“Let me try one with you. I want you to have a glimpse of what you are asking for” he came behind her and grabbed her by the neck from the back. He choked her. As he did that, he was excited. But, he wasn’t high enough not to forget he needed her consent to make love to her. “I want to fuck you. I won’t be gentle, let’s see if your body will take it. Should we try? If you are uncomfortable I will stop. Say yes or no.” Esther nodded. He insisted she said it.
“Yes.”
He entered into beast mode. He pushed her down to the bed while still slightly choking her. He roughly played with her breasts and then he pulled up her gown. He ripped off her panties and felt for her wetness. Her body was excited and ready for him. He stripped off his trousers; did all this with one hand. When he entered her, he increased his choke hold on her. He thrust into her roughly while she struggled to breathe. As the excitement built up for him, and he could see she was almost passing out, he exploded and released a loud grunt. Then he released his hand from her neck and fell on her. Then he moved to lay beside her.
He turned to look at her as she caught her breath and asked her, “How was it?”
“First experience. Too rough but it was different.”
“You are out of shape, you need to stop eating junk and start taking care of yourself. I have some more tricks where that came from. I want to lick some substance from your body. It is more exciting if you are high.”
“I don’t need to be high to feel good. I need to be sane to know what I am doing and not harm myself.”
“You were so sweet. Do something about your body before I get back so we can have a better experience. Did your lover do this to you? You were dripping before I entered, I own your coochie baby. Don’t you dare give it to anyone?”
Esther couldn’t believe she enjoyed it. She would have asked for a second go if she wasn’t shy. So this was what those girls enjoyed while she endured him on her almost begging him to be through so she could do other things.
Jake made fun of her weight so much that she decided to do something about it. She went on a diet and lost a considerable amount of weight. She lost fifteen kilos but Jake didn’t notice her weight loss, he still berated her about it. She felt bad because now she had flaps on her stomach. She was so self-conscious that she travelled to have her body reshaped. She believed Jake would love her more when he sees her sexy and hot she was.
Jake came back from another trip after four months. She was ready for him. She took off her housecoat to reveal lingerie. She had got her body back. Her figure was to die for.
“Babe, not tonight, I am fagged out from this trip,” Jake said to her.
“Jake, it has been four months, you can’t be fagged out. What is making you fagged out?”
“You are heavy to lift, I can’t carry your legs now. I have told you about your weight. Let me sleep maybe in the morning.”
Esther looked at herself standing before him then turned to the mirror as he lay down. She removed the lingerie and stared at her body. She felt beautiful. Her waist was so small and her hip was well moulded. She paid top dollars for this body. Was it the same body Jake was calling fat? Because she enjoyed him so time ago and now he decided to disrespect her. She felt terrible because she realised she had been a fool. He needed her then but didn’t need her now.
She left his room for her room. She cried on her bed, she felt hurt. How could Jake look at her and call her fat? The fact he doesn’t see her and makes love to her as a duty not because he desires her made her feel terrible. She went into her wardrobe and brought out her well-hidden phone. She powered it and called a number. The person picked up at the second ring and said, “Hello. Esther, is it you?”
The following morning, she told Jake she had a conference in America to attend and she would be away for two weeks. He didn’t ask any questions or sound like he would miss her. Esther took the children to Sapele at Jake’s request since they were on holiday. She left for America that night. When she arrived, she called Jake. She didn’t call him again except for the messages they exchanged. When she was supposed to come back, he said he was leaving. She extended her stay by a week. Jake didn’t ask her questions and she didn’t bother with him. The body he called fat was being adored by another and she made him understand she came to explore sexually with him since she didn’t have another lover. It was wilder than she had ever imagined. He was open-minded and they learnt together and practised for days before they became good at it. He couldn’t get enough of her. She in turn knew there was no going back from this. She loved him.
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Esther didn’t bother with Jake anymore. She was focused on her businesses. Whenever he was in town, she made sure she had a very tight schedule so she would be too busy for him. She had changed a lot. She flaunted her figure and refused to say if she had it surgically modified.
Her children moved to boarding school so she could have time to herself. Uncle Tobi told her about government intervention in rice production. She used one of her registered companies to buy acres of land in Kebbi state. She built a farmhouse there. She employed experts to handle the land preparation and cultivation. She wanted her brother to run it but he seemed overwhelmed with the export business. She needed eyes there so she talked to her father to see if he would be interested in looking out for it. He was excited about it.
She went to Kebbi with her father and stepmother. They saw the land and they were told what had been done so far. They were satisfied with what they had seen. Her stepmother could speak Hausa fluently because she grew up in the north. What was left was to get them good accommodation close to the farm. Esther went with them and wanted to buy a house she had seen. It was a duplex in a posh area far from the farm. Her father refused. They found a nice bungalow close to the farm. The farm had a generator which also supplied the bungalow power. They were there for a week setting up the place. Her father wanted it sparsely furnished not to draw attention to them. They decided on a small car they would use there. Her father was happy with the location. He asked if he could start a poultry and also rear goats, ram and cows. Esther gave them a portion of the land for whatever they wanted to do and also money to do it.
Within a month, they moved in there. They had all the comfort they needed without drawing attention to themselves. Esther never called them her parents in the presence of people. She referred to him as supervisor. She saw her father come to life with this new venture. The next time she visited, they had cages for their poultry, built ponds for their fishery and had goats, rams and cows. It was a rural life but they both enjoyed it.
Esther made it clear to Efe that she didn’t want commitment. This was strictly a friends-with-benefits situation. Efe was not happy about it but it was better than not having her at all. When she came to meet him in America, he didn’t believe she would come. She came and lodged in a hotel. When he saw her, he didn’t recognise her. She was slimmer than before and had a very tiny waist. He was surprised.
She was shy when he joined her in the room. He didn’t know what to expect or what she wanted. She opened up and made it clear to him what she wanted and how she wanted it. He had a relationship already. It took him a while to be with someone and forget about Esther. It wasn’t until two months and she was back. He didn’t even have second thoughts when she told him what she wanted.
That night was amazing. He had missed her and her new body made him crave more for her. He knew his two months relationship was over that night. Esther was all he wanted and here she was. When she was going back to Nigeria, he was tempted to beg her to stay but he fought himself so he would not appear weak. She had him where she wanted him. He wanted more and was happy she came back to him when she wanted to do this. He still loved her but she wasn’t expressing her feelings anymore. This was the first step.
***Pardon typos, please.
Tbc