He thought I was sound asleep. But I wasn't. I was, infact, wide-

awake and only pretending to be asleep. Lanre has been restless and

fidgety all evening. Once or twice, heard tried to sneak away from

me to use his phone. But I hadn't given him any breathing space. I

knew my husband inside out. I could read him like a book. And I

could easily tell, whenever he was up to his silly pranks.

I knew the reason for Lanre's restlessness. I didn't need a seer

to tell me that Lanre had been restless all evening because he

needed to talk to Moni on the phone. Uhm! Moni; that ugly worthless

female specimen. A cheap husband snatcher and gold-digger. When my

husband and I were suffering where was Moni?

In the last six months or so, all my quarrels with my husband had

stemmed from this clandestine relationship with Moni.

I would fight with the last drop of blood in me, just to make

sure that I put an end to this illicit affair! between you and that

bitch, I had screamed at Lanre, just a few days back. I will

even kill if I had to. Tell Moni to look for her own husband

elsewhere. Tell her! Otherwise blood will flow.

But no matter how much I raved and ranted like a demented woman, the

affair between Moni and my husband continued to wax stronger.

That night when he tiptoed out of our bedroom, thinking that I was

fast asleep. I knew it had all to do with Moni. I watched him

through the squint of my eyes. He was barely out of the bedroom when

I sprang out of bed and followed him. Pronto! I plastered my right

ear to the panel of the living room door and eavesdropped on my

husband's conversation. I was right! He was on the phone, talking

to Moni. And although he was talking in a low, conspiratorial tone,

the pin-drop silence of the night seemed to amplify his voice. And I

could pick enough to make sense out of the conversation. I lost my

head at that point in ! time. I couldn't stomach it anymore. I

barged in to the living room, taking Lanre by surprise.

You are joking! I screamed, So you are planning to take

your w* to Abuja for five whole days. It is not enough that you see

her here in Lagos everyday of the week. Abuja, my foot! In fact, you

are going nowhere. And if you must go, then we are going together.”

It was fight-to-finish between Lanre and myself that night. I threw

so many tantrums and ended up being violent and destructive. We

didn’t sleep all night. I burnt out my fury. At dawn, the

following morning, I was tired, completely spent. Lanre continued to

beg me. He promised heaven and earth and assured me that he would

end the relationship with Moni. He coaxed and cajoled me. He brought

out the woman in me and at the end of it all; I agreed to let him

travel to Abuja the following day. I knew he dared not travel to

Abuja with Moni. Not after the anger and violence I unleashed.

Notwithstanding, I insisted on going to the airport with him. Lanre

agreed. He had no choice anyway.

That evening, I accompanied my husband to the airport and waited

with him until the flight to Abuja was announced. I would have loved

to go with him into the inner departure lounge and actually watch

him enter into the Abuja-bound aircraft alone, without Moni, but the

airport regulations disallowed me.Minutes later, while driving home,

my phone rang. It was Lanre. He confirmed that he had boarded

the aircraft and they were about to take off. He said he was about

to switch off his phone, but assured me that he would call me as

soon as they landed at the Abuja airport.

Back home, I continued to think about Moni. Why couldn’t she just

leave my husband alone? I couldn’t help wondering why some women

took delight in snatching other people’s husbands and wrecking

happy homes. I had to do something fast. What if ! she got pregnant

for Lanre? God forbid! I heard myself shout. I had to do something

drastic; something rather extreme about Moni. I must have been

juggling with ideas for well over an hour when it suddenly occurred

to me that Lanre must have arrived safely at Abuja. It was almost an

hour and half since Lanre called to inform he was already aboard the

aircraft. Why hadn't he called me to assure me that heard arrived

Abuja safely?

Instantly, I picked up my phone and called Lanre. His phone was

switched off. What could be happening? My thoughts again drifted to

Moni. Had Lanre, by some magic been able to smuggle Moni into the

aircraft? That was impossible! Was I just fooling myself? Perhaps

Lanre and Moni were, right at that moment, swooning in each

others arm. It was simply unthinkable. But truly, there was no

limit to what a desperate man could do. I tried to push these

thoughts out of my sub-conscious but didn't succeed, until I fell

asleep without knowing. When I woke up, it was dawn, the following

day, still no call from Lanre. Again I picked up my phone and called

him. His phone was still switched off. I began to get worried then.

What the hell is happening?

I get dressed for church. I was in turmoil. It was while driving to

church that I got a clue, a shocking and disheartening one for that

matter. A roadside newspaper vendor flashed a copy of that day's

Sunday Punch in my face. I froze as one of the cover captions hit

me, an Abuja-bound Plane Missing, 114 Persons Feared Dead?

Talons of fear ran up and down my spine. Up till now, I do not know

how I managed to turn the car and drove straight to the airport.

There, the sad news was confirmed. The plane was indeed missing and

it was the same flight that my husband had boarded the previous day.

The long agonizing wait began. That afternoon, news filtered in that

the plane had crashed somewhere b! etween Oyo and Kwara States. I was

however relieved to hear that there were about fifty survivors. I

prayed fervently that my husband should be among the survivors. But

my prayers, I appeared was not answered. Early that same evening, we

got the news that made me wet my pants in public. The crashed

aircraft had been located elsewhere somewhere in Ogun State, Lisa-

Igbore Village, to be exact. And wait for this, there was no

survivor! I wailed, wept and rolled on the floor. Some sympathizers

offered to and actually took me home.

At home I got another shocker! Waiting for me in the living room was

the man I thought had perished in the plane crash. Lanre! After the

initial shock of seeing him, we got tsalking. Lanre had a confession

to make. He told me how heard left the airport, after my departure.

Heard sneaked out to go and spend the night at Moni's place. That

was how he escaped death. I was happy and sad at the same time:

happy th! at my husband was alive, hale and hearty and sad that heard

deceived me and still gone ahead to spend the night with Moni.

I am confused as to what to do about my husband's relationship

with Moni. Should I give up the fight? Lanre is alive today because

of his extra-marital relationship with this strange woman. Or should

I tackle Moni headlong?

you tell me...