Every day for forty days, rain fell heavily. People lamented, others grumbling, they all wailed, ‘[w]e prayed for rain but didn't pray for excess rain.’ Then one day, the rain ceased, and the heavens cleared, the sun came out in all its beauty and glory, scorching everything that stood in its way, forty days. A famine swept the land, both man and beasts suffered from hunger and thirst; the people cried, ‘[W]e asked for the sun, we didn’t ask for the excess sun.’ Then the angel in charge of weather asked the other angels, 'Why are humans so confused?’ The other angels replied, ‘[d]on’t you know humans are insatiable? They would always complain?’ Then, the angel understood and went down to earth and started talking to the prophets and wisest men of the world; they all wanted different things, without conceding any of their needs for the other; their wants made them greedy to their needs.’ Then the angel called all the wise men and prophets of the earth together in a place and rebuked them, all. Afterwards, he ascended back to heaven with one sentence, '[B]e careful what you wish for.’
Pelumi has always been a great son; right from childhood, he had been the parents' pride. He was the kind of son that every parent wanted their child to be friends with, and he excelled in everything he did. Everything he touched turned into gold, so it was of tiny wonder when he won a scholarship at the end of his primary school education to study at the most prestigious secondary school in the country. Afterwards, he won another scholarship to further his university education abroad at Oxford University. The world was at his feet. Pelumi was soaring. He was no longer an eagle. He was now a rocket. He was ahead of the sky. He had his sights on space as his limit and wanted to conquer space. He was already a PhD holder by the time he clocked 25. On his graduation day, his parents danced and danced, it was no surprise, but still, his parents thanked God for their luck. God blessed them with the best son. Pelumi never drank, smoked, womanise or fought. He lived his life peacefully working at one of the top companies globally, his career growing seamlessly without any vain or addictions except the zeal to succeed. He was the envy of everyone around him, his peers and siblings. His siblings paid the most price because they had to follow in his footsteps, but their paths differed. His footsteps were larger than theirs. They were always at odds with their parents over constant comparisons with Pelumi. They couldn’t cope, but Pelumi, being who he was, made sure he was the best big brother to his siblings, covered for them when they did wrong and catered for them. He lived his life for them. They also loved him for it, asides from the occasional siblings' rivalry and envy, which was expected.
On his 30th birthday, Pelumi suddenly woke up to the realisation that he had no life and has never been in any relationships. He thought to himself, '[I]f I continue in this path, I might die alone.’ He needed to get himself a girlfriend, which will become his wife someday. But it was no easy task for him. The world of relationships with the opposite sex was a difficult one to navigate for him, he tried asking his female co-workers out, but they all turned him down, claiming he was a too closed circuit. And they were sincere. He had paid the ultimate price when he simply shut down every aspect of love or romance for academic and professional success years ago. Nothing else mattered to him as he saw romantic relationships as distractions. Now he was paying dearly for it, every day he felt depressed about his lonely state, his everyday routines became boring, he tried visiting bars or clubs, but the drinks were either too bitter or the music too loud for his liking, he gave up, he started despising his life. He found fellowship with a religious group, the group gave him a purpose again, and his life began to have a meaning also. However, he still had an open hole in his heart. He needed a relationship or a girlfriend. Almost everyone he knew had gotten married, including his siblings. His parents were also worried. His mother will call him and quiz him for hours, she would try matchmaking him with some of her friends' daughters, but they all didn’t seem to like him. The same excuse arose, ‘[H]e was too closed circuit.’ He tried loosening up, but he couldn’t. It was difficult. He gave up and instead started intensifying his dedication to his religious group and faith, praying steadily with only one wish in mind, '[A] girlfriend’ in fact, after a few months. He saw no results. He changed his wish to, ‘[A]ny type of woman he didn’t mind, so far he had a woman to call his own.’ So he continued his prayers daily. The second wish became his daily mantra. Then as if the universe was listening, Adepeju came into his life. He met her at an evening meeting in one of the religious group’s centres he attended, and she was everything he wanted in a lady. They sat together and then he decided to strike a conversation, and that was it, they began talking like they had known each other for ages, he got to find out that they both shared similar interests in everything, for the first time in his life he was in love. He asked her out, and they began hanging out. After a few months, he asked to know her relatives, and she introduced them to him, and also he took her to visit his relatives. He thanked God for his luck, she was his world, and he was her world. He also found out that her uncle was the head of the religious group, so she was religious. All the items on his wishlist were checked.
Under a year, Pelumi proposed to Adepeju, and it was a resounding ‘Yes’ reply he got. They were both elated. Pelumi couldn’t believe his luck, and his wishes had come to pass. They got married soon after the proposal, and everything went by fast. Her uncle was the officiating minister that tied the knot between Adepeju and Pelumi. They went on a luxurious honeymoon. Pelumi’s life became balanced. He was a family man and a top professional in his field, a year and a half after their wedding. He became a father. Adepeju gave birth to a beautiful daughter, and they named her, Oluwanishola. They all lived happily.
Several years down the line after Oluwanishola’s 10th birthday, trouble began in paradise. Pelumi had developed a terrible habit of drinking and womanising; when it started, no one could say for sure, but the habit seemed to evolve daily. Adepeju was the one who was always at the receiving end of his habit because he repeatedly hit her, maltreating her at every slight chance he gets, according to her. The habit was responsible for him losing his job and also being stripped of most of his awards and laurels, which he gathered over the years. Everyone was amazed, ‘[H]ow did this man, with such a bright past and future degenerate into this?’ Everyone wondered, his parents too worried because his wife repeatedly came complaining to them and his siblings about his erratic behaviours, they all promised he would change. Still, he never did. He never listened to anyone except his daughter. But since he started becoming more violent, Adepeju had no other option than to move the daughter into her uncle’s house—the religious group leader. Neighbours would report Pelumi to the police, whenever he began with his wife, no one saw inside their home, but they heard her screams and saw the blisters. He was always in and out of police stations, Adepeju refused to press any charges. According to her, she loved him, and he would change someday. People called her crazy.
Then one cold night in April, Pelumi staggered home from the bar and found the door locked, he knocked loudly, but no one answered the door. But he noticed that loud music was coming from the inside of the house. So he went through the back of the house and broke his way in, made his way to the bedroom and lo and behold, he found his wife in bed with another man. He lost his cool and went into a rage. On seeing him, the man also went into a frenzy, and they began throwing punches, the man screaming to Adepeju that she should kill him now, in his words, '[G]et my gun and kill him off.’ But the struggle continued, the man was on top of Pelumi throwing punches at him for minutes, and all of a sudden, he heard a loud bang. The man fell on him, he looked up and saw his wife, at the back of the gun, shaking, he got so scared and stood up, he saw the lifeless body of the man on the floor and then she dropped the weapon. He quickly picked the gun up, cleaned it up and just as he was about to dash out of the room to dispose of the gun, police officers barged in. A neighbour had heard the tussle and the gunshot.
Pelumi was taken to the station and detained. His blood alcohol was way beyond the limits. By the time he became sober at dawn, Adepeju had written a long lengthy statement implicating him as the murderer. He was interrogated, he said what he could remember, and he was told that the case would be charged to court. He felt sorry for what happened but understood why Adepeju had implicated him for the murder. She tried protecting him, he would do the same, and he didn’t want her going to prison for him. It was all his fault, and he was a bad husband. Just as he was led back to the detention facility, a picture flashed on the screen of the TV, it was his and that of his wife, with the caption, ‘[H]usband kills man over wife’s affair.’ Then the pictures switched to the victim, and when he saw a photo of her Uncle—the religious leader flashing over the screen. He became dazed, everything began to run in circles suddenly his legs felt heavy, he saw himself going down and before he knew what was happening he was on the floor. Unconscious.
The trial began ten days later. The case went to trial because he changed his plea from guilty to non-guilty. He was determined to fight his case. His lawyers advised him that he was being foolish, that if he pleaded guilty, he would get 30 years maximum from a plea deal, but if the case went to trial, he would get either life in prison or death. He decided to take his chances. He didn’t see or hear from Adepeju or his daughter for sometime. They only communicated through their lawyers. She had divorced him during the trial. She attended with her family members, but she never brought their daughter. The case was all over the media. His siblings disowned him. His mother suffered a stroke while his father died on hearing the news. Everything was in chaos for him, but for the first time in a long time. He had clarity. His mind was clear; he saw what he was doing. By the start of the trial, his daughter was 14 years already. It took two years to complete the trial. By that time, she was 16.
On the day of the sentencing, it rained cats and dogs. Pelumi’s mother came, even with the stroke, she came, she wouldn’t leave her son alone, on the day he needed her the most. None of his siblings came. His ex-wife present, in her favourite attire. Both prosecutors and defendants gave their closing arguments, and as the Judge was about to make his ruling, the door of the courtroom flung open, the complete silence in the room betrayed. Standing was a young teenage girl, her cloth dripping. She had been in the rain. She walked straight to the judge and told him she had something to say. She needed to confess. Pandemonium broke loose, the security tried to grab her out of the courtroom, she resisted, her mother ran to meet her, she screamed at her, Pelumi stood up from his seat, he recognised the girl as his daughter, he began to cry, the judge sensing the mood of the court, banged his gavel calling for order. Asked the security to leave the girl and let her say what she wanted, she couldn’t change the sentence. The prosecutors argued against her testimony, but the defence lawyers agreed. Finally, she began to speak. She asked to be put on record. Detectives were also present. She began, ‘[M]y name is Oluwanishola, I’m the daughter of the accused Mr Pelumi, and I would love to state for the record that my father isn’t a murderer. Yes, I know all the evidence points to him, but I can assure you that my mother, his wife set him up.’ Everyone began murmuring. The judge hit his gavel again. Silence everywhere, she continued, ‘[W]hen I was young, I caught my mother put something in my father’s tea every morning before he went to work, I always kept quiet because she told me it was his drugs, but after he took the tea, my father changes, it’s like he became a different person, on days he didn’t drink the tea he was normal. When my father’s case became worse, I caught her again, putting the drug in his tea, and I confronted her. She said it’s for him to become better, but I argued with her to stop. If not, I would report her to him and my grandmother, she agreed to. Suddenly, I saw my mother drop me off at my Uncle’s place, who kept me under constant lock and key. He said I was a disobedient daughter, and he would rid me of any evil spirit troubling me. Daily he beat me, he touched me in different parts of my body, it was during one of those days that he began saying how he was not related to my mother and how he was going to kill my father and nothing would happen to him, he bragged about it all the time, saying my mother was a loyal servant to him and she was doing all what he asked her to do, and soon my father would be history, that was when I knew that it was a conspiracy to kill my father, I tried to warn my father by escaping but I was caught and kept in a dungeon, where I was maltreated severally, whenever my mother visited she always warned me to not try Uncle, that he was a very powerful man, then one day I overheard them talk about their plans outside my dungeon that they were going to make his death look like suicide, the drugs she had been giving him all the while, would have made him seem like a junkie, so no one would suspect when they make his death a suicide, so they can claim his bogus life insurance and other properties for themselves. I tried escaping once more, but I was caught again, I even tried stealing a phone, but I was caught, then I heard my uncle was dead. I felt relieved that my father would finally come to free me, but when he didn’t come, I suspected something was wrong. I decided to try one final round of escape. That was what brought me here. I would like to repeat that my mother always poisoned my father, she made him insane, with the drugs, this made him get addicted to alcohol and drugs, they wanted his money all the while, it’s a scheme Uncle has been doing, he uses his religious house as a front, he brainwashes young girls and make them wives of wealthy men who they then trick, and give him the money, I have a flash drive with me with all his plans, I stole it from his study before I escaped. My father never hit my mother for a day. She always acted. Anytime my father came home, he went to bed straight regardless of whether he was drunk or sober, even when mum taunts him to hit her, he never did. Daddy, I’m sorry for not talking to you about all these earlier. I was scared and confused. Now I know better, forgive me, judge, that is my confession.’ With that, she completed her testimony. The whole courtroom was dead silent when she was done. The prosecutors asked that they’re given more time to review their evidence and witness testimonies, the defence agreed. The judge said she was suspending the sentencing till the investigation is completed into the daughter’s testimony and that his ex-wife is placed under house arrest pending the investigation. Pelumi sighed, he was saved, he hugged his daughter, his mother crying uncontrollably, God has answered her, the press and media shocked by this new development, everybody shocked.
A month later, they were all back in the courtroom, the prosecutors had completed their investigation, and they submitted their findings to the judge. The daughter’s testimony was accurate. Their report read, ‘[T]he mother was part of a syndicate that robbed successful young men, they used their religious organisation as a front to hide their activities and launder money. And toxicology reports from Pelumi’s blood and urine samples on the night he was arrested showed large amounts of a scarce hallucinogenic plant called Areca catechu, commonly known as ‘Betel Nut’. This hallucinogen was so powerful that it has long-lasting effects on the brain of its user. When they searched the house of both Adepeju and Uncle, they saw large quantities of this hallucinogen plant and other rare and hallucinogenic power plants. And after interrogating Adepeju, she confessed to everything her daughter had said and also admitted to the murder of her uncle, she was subsequently placed under arrest, and she’s been placed in a maximum detention facility, she has been charged to court, and she already pleaded guilty, to all the charges.
When asked about her motive, she said it was money, she and her uncle were having an affair, and Pelumi wasn’t the first man she tricked similarly. She’s also cooperating with law enforcement to implicate other members of the syndicate as they are everywhere, but we are determined to bring them to justice.’ The court roared in applause, tears around. Miraculously, Pelumi’s mother was back on her feet. Oluwanishola was also present. She sat behind her father, beside her grandmother. They both held each other’s hands, staring at one another, full of joy. The judge slammed her gavel calling for silence. She was also filled with joy. In her words, she was grateful that she didn’t have to condemn an innocent man to jail for the rest of his life. She thanked Oluwanishola for her bravery and admonished Pelumi to be a better father. Finally, she discharged and acquitted him, slamming the gavel one last time, before she left the room. The cuffs were opened, and Pelumi hugged his lawyers, ran to where his mother and daughter sat and hugged both of them tightly. He was a free man, determined to pick the pieces of his life back and start afresh as a great son and a great father. A few months later, they got a letter asking them to be present at his ex-wife’s sentencing. They rejected it. Then subsequently, they were asked to be present at her hanging, they also declined.
On the night his ex-wife died, Pelumi was asleep when he had a dream. He saw an angel appear to him, telling him that he suffered for his wishes, and took him back to when he was praying about having any kind of woman as a wife. When he asked how that affected his life, the angel said before flying off, '[B]e careful what you wish for.’ Pelumi woke up.
This is really good, fam. For a moment, I forgot it was still fiction.
The suspense is intriguing, it kept me reading till the very end.