Red apple episode 3

Red apple Episode 3
“The Rings”
 
There was no way I couldn’t have seen her if she really came out of the room. I quickly jumped aside as she stood behind me in tears.
 
I was so afraid; her face even looked pale as she started crying. It was as if something had been harbored in her heart for long. I knew there was something not right about this girl and the thought of that alone made me very scared. How the hell did she get to know my wife? No wonder I never knew her till now.
 
Speaking of my wife, she came to my rescue. I felt relieved as soon as she came back. Just then Mary began wiping off her tears so my wife didn’t even notice. Emefa as usual came rushing towards me with a hug, I carried her and left Mary and my wife there in the sitting room where the clock fell. From where I was I could hear them talk.
 
“What happened to this wall clock” My wife asked her.
 
“There is no use of it anyway, who needs time when your time is limited.” Emefa said as I heard her walk away. Ah! what is it with this girl, she speaks and acts strangely. I needed to know how she got to know my wife and the only way to do that was to find out from my wife herself.
 
My wife came to the kitchen where I was and right there and then I began interrogating her. “For how long did you say you know this girl? I asked her.
 
“Why that question, she is my friend, why, don’t you want her here anymore?” She said yelling. I couldn’t believe her, what did I even say that got her mad in the first place and the worst of it all was she was able to just walk out on me without answering me.
 
That was a behavior I had never witnessed in my wife before. Perhaps she had a bad day when she went out so then I just decided to overlook things and leave it as they are.
 
My only consolation was to hang around my daughter Emefa. For that wh0le moment, she took away the memories of what had happened in the day, talking of Eugene and Emefa’s confrontation, the falling wall clock and my wife’s outburst.
 
It had been three days since Mary came in. Well I knew it hadn’t been long though, but I was beginning to feel uncomfortable with her stay. She hærdly looked me in the eyes and even my wife who claimed her as a friend barely spoke a word to her.
 
Like I said, it’d been just three days since she came to stay under my roof and since that time, my wife hærdly stayed home. I didn’t really know where she went to but she always made me think that she had something to do at the market. Food stuffmades were in abundance so that didn’t have to be her excuse.
 
During one of her absence, I decided to engage in a friendly conversation with Mary again. I knew it would be difficult but I decided to go ahead with it anyway.
 
We found ourselves both in the kitchen. She stood closer to the fridge and poured some juice for herself. Before I began talking, it seemed she already knew what I wanted to say.
 
“Before you begin to talk about me, I would like you to this question? She said. I just looked at her and wondered how she knew what I was thinking but I had to keep my composure. I didn’t want her to know I was a bit scared of her.
 
“Interesting, hmm what question do you have for me” I asked.
 
“Why do you keep thinking of Emefa” She asked. “What is wrong with me thinking of my daughter all the time” I asked back .
 
I could tell from her looks that she wasn’t happy about what I said. “Don’t try to play smart with me Selorm, your daughter indeed! I’m referring to Emefa, may her soul rest in peace” She said.
 
Now something about her kept irritating me, she had this weird way of relating with my daughter. Anyway, she was right, I never stopped thinking about Emefa. I couldn’t answer her question but i had to just stay there and listen to her.
 
“I know you miss her, she misses you too though. But have you even wondered where your wife is at this moment?” She asked.
 
I didn’t answer, i was getting upset because I felt she was going beyond her boundaries. “I don’t care if you are upset or not, but know that this very moment as your wife approaches, she is not wearing the wedding ring you placed on her finger” She said.
 
Like a prophet! I heard the door open and to be surprise my wife came in with my daughter. I quickly watched her hand from where I stood and just as Mary  had said, there was no ring on her finger.
 
“Hommies over Divas”
 
I quickly watched her hand from where I stood and just as Mary had said, there was no ring on her finger. What could have possibly been her reason for not putting on the ring? I got upset and even ignored her when she tried to talk to me. I just went to the bedroom and shut the door behind me.
 
Later on, I noticed she had placed the ring back on. “So those rings are only meant to be worn at home right? I asked. She tried explaining but I guess I was too upset to even listen to her. I was just not in the mood for that. I had to step out to get some fresh air. I sat in the car and drove off to nowhere in particular. I was just driving.
 
From all these happenings, I knew my wife was hiding something from me. Something Mary knew. I didn’t know her to be that type. How I wished Emefa was alive to assist me in this. No one is ready to tell me what is really going on.
 
It was through Emefa that I met my wife.
 
Come to think of it, I have never been upset or even gotten jealous over anything. Not that she didn’t give me a reason to but I really didn’t bother. Unlike Emefa, though we were just friends, we fought most of the times, especially when I saw her hunging out with male friends that I didn’t know of.
 
There was one time, back in school that I picked a fight with this guy who always bought biscuit for Emefa. I thought she was taking her friendsh¡p away from me. I picked the fight and ended up being beaten. But it really didn’t matter, at the end of the day I got the girl.
 
Thas didn’t stop there, even before she died; I had a heated argument with her just because I felt she didn’t have enough time for me. The reason behind this was when I went over her place and noticed that she was so glued to her phone instead of paying attention to me.
 
I didn’t know if this was love but there was no way I would even admit it. That was why I got married to the very friend she hooked me up with and even with that nothing really changed. Along the way, I heard a phone ringing in my car. I didn’t know where it was coming from so I had to quickly park and search for it.
 
The ringing tone was not a familiar one so I wondered how it got into my car. I was sure it had something to do with my wife because she was the one who used my car that morning. I was able to find the phone. Strangely, I had never seen this phone before; it didn’t belong to my wife.
 
There was a text message on it, so I decided to go through it just to kill my curiosity. At the first glance of the message, I was shocked. The message read “Hey, I hope you are home now. Get back to me when you are free. MISS YOU LOVE”.
 
I checked the sender, it was an unknown number. There must be an explanation to this; I didn’t want to believe that my wife was cheating on me.
 
I needed to get to the bottom of this but to be honest, it really didn’t bother me. I just needed to find out who the phone belonged to. But trust me, if it was to be Emefa, I wouldn’t have taken it easy at all. Why do I keep talking about the dead as if she was still alive?
 
“Let me get home to fix this”. Whatever I did, she was my wife and she was alive. “Let me go and make things right”. I then quickly turned around and went straight home. Ever since the confrontation between Eugene and Mary happened, I had never heard from Eugene. That wasn’t usual of him. Why would he distant himself from me over some stranger we barely knew?.
 
On my way back I then decided to give him a call, strangely, he was just hanging up on me. I called more than four times and he kept hanging up on me. What was even wrong with him for him to show up that behavior? That was not how Eugene was. This really got me worried. Eugene of all people should know that whatever the issue may be “Hommies over Divas” thus, guys will always put their fellow men first.
 
In no time, I got home. I parked the car and took along the phone with me. Before I got closer to the door leading to the sitting room. I heard Mary yelling at my wife on top of her voice. “Tell him the truth about your child, or I will” She said.
 
Fetal Lies”
 
I parked the car and took along the phone with me. Before I got to closer to the door leading to the sitting room. I heard Mary yelling at my wife on top of her voice. “Tell him the truth about your child, or I will” She said.
 
I wondered what was with my child that I didn’t know of, what could Mary possibly know about my little Emefa that I, the father had no ideaabout. I really needed to find out what was going on. I then rushed into the house and that was where i saw my wife soberly seated down while Mary stood in front of her yelling at her on top of her voice.
 
“What is going on here? I asked. “Mary what is it?” I kept asking yet none of them was ready to give me an answer. Mary on the other hand gave me a wild look that scared me. I could tell she was so filled with rage and hatred.
 
“Ask your so called wife” Mary fumed. and just then she walked out and went into the guest room which was now probably her room. Now it was just me and my wife. She had a lot of explaining to do with what had just happened not forgetting the phone I had seen in my car which I was currently holding in my hand.
 
“Now will you tell me what’s going on here” I desperately asked. She looked at me as if I was not supposed to ask that question in the first place.
 
Then the least I expected happened. She stood up and walked towards me, she was really standing close and facing me. The last time I remember she stood directly close to me was when we were about to exchange our vows which was followed by a k-ss right away.
 
However, right at this moment, she dared not think of doing what I was thinking; I was soo not in the mood for that. But i suspected she was in for another thing.
 
“I need Mary out of this house right this moment” She ordered. Trust me I wasn’t really expecting that. It would be so cool if Mary was out of the house but not until my wife answered my questions.
 
“You brought her here, so you definitely don’t need my permission to pack her out, besides that’s not what I asked, what truth do you need to tell me about my child” I asked again, this time around being more specific. I was not ready for any other answer, so she had better get on with it.
 
“Tell me” I shouted at her.
 
“Hey don’t yell at me” She said. That was so surprising, my wife had never spoken to me in that manner before. Nevertheless, that didn’t deter me from getting my answer.
 
“Look, I don’t know why you are making an issue out of this, this is aconversation between Mary and I” She continued.
 
“Oh yeah! a conversation that involves my child? woman!” I angrily said. Now she was really getting me upset about this wh0le thing.
 
“Hey take it easy, Emefa has just been a little sick and has been skipping school for some time now. I just didn’t want to bother you with it because I didn’t want to worry you. But she is improving now and doing well at school. Mary just wanted me to tell you this, that’s all.” She answered.
 
But why would she keep that from me? I thought my wife could be so selfish at times. Then again I switched on to my next worry.
 
“Saw this phone in the car, who does it belong to” I asked. As if she knewI was going to ask her that, it seemed she had already prepared an answer for me.
 
“You found it… Aunty Mercy has been calling me for it, you know the lady who sells at the shop across the road, I gave her a ride to the market this morning and she left it.” She answered.
 
That sounded convincing. There was nothing more I could ask. I guess my wife was truthful after all. But I still didn’t get why she all of a sudden wanted Mary out. It wasn’t really my concern though because that was her friend, she should be able to deal with her.
 
That afternoon, I found Mary walking around alone on the compound.That was where I decided to engage her again. Then she started making vague statements.
 
“You really believe in the things your wife tells you. It’s just a matter of time Selorm” She said.
 
“What do you mean by that” I asked.
 
“Don’t worry, but if I were you, I will try finding out why Emefa didn’t show up at your wedding.” She said and left me there while she went to her room even though I tried to hold her back.
 
Just when I thought everything was quiet calm, my wife started pushing me to make Mary leave. She was so keen on this that she even woke me up after 12 am just to confront me on this. Out of anger I got out of the bedroom and to what seemed like both a trance and reality. I saw Mary in her white silk night gown rigidly standing right in front of my daughter’s bedroom door. She stood as if she could see through it.
 
Then again, I began smelling Emafa’s perfume. I was so shocked that I shouted her name out.
 
“Mary” I called out. She turned her head sharply to my direction. I freaked out as I couldn’t see her pupils. It was all white.