The Fiend

There are times you cry

You needed the tears to flow

You needed the stabbing pain in your heart to abate

So you find a good spot

And you cry!

The tears do your body a world of good

They flow freely

Not from your eyes

But from deep within your heart

The water, like throbbing pus, must be set free

Why do you cry, you ask yourself

You cry because you trusted in change

You saw a trap, you knew it was a trap

But against your better instinct

For the sake of the moment, you jumped in

Few months down the line

Your prediction comes true

You find your neck on the chopping block

The Axman’s axe hanging over your head

You’re done for

You don’t know whether to laugh or cry

Or whether to laugh and cry

You saw the hangman’s noose from afar

You knew he or she would push you into the canal

Yet for love, yet for peace

Regret laughed right in your face

You should have been smarter, it says

Love sat with you through the wait

“You did this for me” it says

You heard the call “Aim! Aim!! Fire!!!”

The bullet pierces your heart spilling your crying blood

She cried as she wrote the poem

She could see herself drifting aimlessly

Why would she trust a human being that much?

Right from when they were in secondary school

Her best friend had consistently been her Achilles heel

The very first time she got into trouble, it was over a beaker that her friend broke in the laboratory

They were doing their first titration

Preparing for the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination

As soon as she got into the laboratory

Her friend gave her the beaker and told her she was going to ease herself

Few minutes later, their chemistry teacher told them to start the titration

That was when she discovered the beaker had been broken by the side

She was punished and had to pay for another beaker

Her friend came to her afterwards

“I am sorry, I couldn’t afford another scandal and you have always been so “holy”

A little scandal won’t kill you[i]

She was furious but she refused to believe evil of her friend

She decided to forgive

They became better friends afterwards

When she gained admission to the university

Her friend couldn’t pass the English language

The following year, her friend begged her

“Please help me! Just help me write this one paper, please!”

She was quite good at English and well…

She risked everything

Somehow, she escaped undetected

Her friend passed English

Her friend gained admission into the University the following year

By that time, she was already in 300L

Her friend threw a party on the day of her matriculation

She invited everybody

It was quite a bash

When it was evening, she told her friend she wanted to leave

Her friend told her she was expecting some special guests

She didn’t add one to one on time

Her friend’s special guests arrived

They were two rich young men with questionable sources of income

She became weary

Very unsettled

She made to leave, but she could barely stand

Her friend had drugged the wine

Right there and then

One of the guys cozied up to her

The other took her friend

That was how she lost her virginity

As high as a kite on the rug on her friend’s room

The next day she told herself

This friend of mine will cut my life short

I need to run away from her

Her friend was in her room that same night

She claimed she was too high on drugs to think straight

She didn’t know when she made the arrangements

It was the drug

It was meant to be a light energy booster, she didn’t know they would be that high

She heard all her friend had to say

She forgave

But the friendship was dead forever

The more her friend tried to reconcile with her

The farther she ran

She ran for four years

She ran so hard, they practically forgot about each other

One month after her wedding

Her friend arrived at her doorstep

Her husband was the one that opened the door for her friend

She couldn’t believe her sight when she saw her

What was she doing in her house?

Her friend fell on her knees

“I have been married for five years but I couldn’t have a child!

After much consultation, I was told by a spiritualist to come and beg you

Please forgive me of my past sins and pray for me!”

She knew instinctively that her presence was no good

She screamed at her to leave her house at once

Her friend refused to leave, she knelt down in the same spot like an idol

She continued to gush tears like a fountain

Her husband called her aside

He said, “Please forgive your friend, set her free”

After some time, she caved in

She pulled her friend up from her knees and hugged her

They both cried

She told her friend she was forgiven, she also blessed her friend

They all ate lunch together

Later in the evening, her friend left

She was uneasy for many days after her friend’s visit

She didn’t really know why

Until six months later

She got home from work

She found a note on the table

Suddenly she felt the hangman’s noose tightening around her neck

Her husband had travelled abroad with her friend

She was encouraged to go and look for love elsewhere

PS: There are poems you will read and know for sure

That someone had been through a wringer

He saw the poem and had to ask the writer what the story was

The event happened in Jos, Nigeria

The lady remarried in 2018