Black Pages Of The Past - Episode 6

 

I SAT FOR the next JAMB examination, and scored 285. The cut-off mark for Mechanical Engineering, for UNILAG, was 279. I was admitted on merit.

During the second semester of my third year in school my family and I received a, rather, tragic news from my uncle: Chineye was dead.

She, along with some of her course mates, had died in a ghastly motor accident, while they were on an excursion to a certain company, headquartered at Onitsha.

But before the heartbreaking incident Chineye and I hadn’t spoken in almost three years. I felt us having sex had somehow blotted out the scales of infatuation from her mind.

We attended her funeral ceremony . When I stood before her corpse, to pay my last respect, images of what we did – our dirty secret – hotly flashed through my mind. I quickly pushed them out.

________

I finished my first degree programme with a strong Second Class Upper. A month after my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program I got a job with a foremost Mechanical Engineering company. The pay package was great. A year later, I got married to my sweetheart – a beautiful fashion designer I had met during my service year.

_______

Three weeks after my marriage, I lost my job, over a case of financial fraud – one in which I was implicated. But then, I was innocent

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/black-pages-of-the-past

. Fortunately, I wasn’t gaoled. Getting another job proved quite difficult. But I, eventually, found one – only to have my appointment terminated three months later – over another case of financial misappropriation. Again, I was innocent. And again, I escaped being immured.

I was fired from my third job, after working for just two months, without any due reason.

I had arrived at my office, that fateful morning, only to find an official envelope, addressed to me, sitting patiently on my worktable. I picked it up, opened it, and read the content of the letter it held. It was just a paragraph of four lines. I was told that my services were no longer required, and that I was to vacate the office premises the instant I got the letter. I reeled in confusion. Is this a joke? 

When I complained to my immediate boss, he told me, point-blank, that there was nothing he could do, would do, to help me out. He sternly advised me to quietly comply with the directive, or he would order the security personnel to throw me out. I was confounded at the hostility he displayed, since he and I had being on friendly terms.

Dejected, I returned to my office, gathered my personal effects, and left.

_______

For over two years I couldn’t secure another job. My wife’s fashion house shut down, because she, mysteriously, stopped receiving patronage – as she used to.

In addition to this, she suffered three miscarriages. My two cars, and some cash, were stolen in one night, when some daredevil armed robbers paid us a visit.

Our once perfect lives just turned upside down, practically, overnight.

There were times when we went without food for days. My wife and I began to depend on our families and friends financially. They, like we, were deeply foxed by our predicament. Why are we the recipients of all these negatives? I wondered, severally.

At a point, I even began to suspect my beloved wife of being responsible for our woes. Did I marry a cursed head? Is she a carrier of bad luck? If I divorce her, will things revert to normal? These were questions that constantly plagued my mind. However, I wasn’t sure about any of them.

_______

One day, while out job-hunting, I ran into an old secondary school mate who, to my amazement, was now a minister – a prophet to be exact. I was astonished, because while we were in school he had hung out with the wrong crowd; willing tools in the devil’s hands.

Anyway, while the prophet and I were discussing, in his car – a powerful Range Rover Jeep – something prompted me to tell him the problems my wife and I were going through. I was about to do so when he suddenly closed his eyes, and slightly tilted his head to the left – like he was listening to a sound or voice only he could hear.

Curious at the posture, I kept quiet. A minute or two later, he opened his eyes, gazed directly into mine, and said, “The Lord said I should tell you that you’re the one responsible for the ills currently plaguing you and your wife.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, and I told him so.

Still holding my eyes with his, the prophet smiled briefly, and continued, “Some years ago, you travelled to Enugu State. While you were there, you did something...repugnant. I believe you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Realization crashed over me like a wave. Yes, I did know what he was talking about. There was no use denying it; not with the terrible way things were. So I said, “Yes, I do.”

The prophet encouraged me to confess my sin, as that was the only way to turn my present, obnoxious situation around for good. I didn’t argue with him. The feeling of shame didn’t count here. I bowed my head right there in the car – in the presence of a man I hadn’t seen in over nine years, but who had told me something humanly known only to me and my late cousin – and confessed the evil act I had committed, in Enugu, years back.

Read " Love's Fool " by the same author ( Ikenna Igwe )

. I asked God to forgive me.

Admittedly, I had felt guilt over the dreadful affair, but, surprisingly, it never occurred to me, not once over the years, to own up to God.

After my confession and plead for forgiveness, the prophet prayed for me. It was a short prayer. When he was through, he assured me the storm was over. And it was, because two weeks later I got a plum job with a multinational Mechanical Engineering company.

_______

Presently, I’m an Executive Director. Furthermore, my wife’s fashion house is open, once more. It now receives more patronage than it initially did. And to crown it all, we’re parents to a beautiful set of twins; a boy and a girl.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story. I hope you enjoyed it.

About The Author: Ikenna Igwe writes both fiction and nonfiction books. He is a professional book editor, ghost-writer and eBook publishing/marketing consultant. He lives in Lagos where he is at work on his next book. You can reach him on:

WhatsApp: 08035294727

Email: [email protected]