Edem was Nenye’s best friend, and her walk with him began six years ago when they first met at a friend’s birthday party. She was new in Lagos and didn’t know anywhere or anyone and was in need of a hang out. You cannot imagine her relief when her roommates invited her to the party.
At the party, Edem wasn’t the only one who looked her way but, somehow, he was the only one who noticed her discomfort in the cigarette-fogged room.
He, however, is the only one who saw her flinch from the pornographic images displaying on the big plasma TV screen in the middle of the room. He had walked to her and without asking, took her by the hand and walked out of the room.
He stayed with her outside for the length of the party and only suggested they go back in when the night became a little chilly. At the door, she had stopped him and kissed him and that was how a beautiful friendship began.
“How is it possible that Edem was in the room all the while”, she asked herself and quickly did the math. Before the party came to end, she had walked to Richard and whispered carnal things to him and he had nodded in agreement. She had noticed Edem follow her with his eyes and he had smiled at her and raised a glass to her as she walked back to her table.
When Richard came to her later that night to invite her to share his bed with him, she had scanned the sitting room filled with bodies lying everywhere for Edem but didn’t find him. Maybe that was when he went into the bedroom; after all it was his house and he had access to every room.
Edem forced himself up and dashed at Richard who was already at the edge of the bed. He caught Richard by the hand and swung him. The force at which that was done sent Richard crashing into the metal table by the window.
From where she stood, Nenye screamed and Edem turned to her. Nenye could not see him properly in the dark, but she sensed him approaching her and tried to dodge. He caught her by the neck and pushed her till he got to the wall and he slammed her head into it. Nenye let out a loud cry that woke some of the guys up.
Soon, they started rushing down the stairs to look for them. Nenye kept screaming and slapping and clawing, but Edem would not let her go. She begged him to stop but he didn’t. He didn’t stop because he needed to let her know how hurt he was. Faintly, she could hear him gritting his teeth as he gradually squeezed the life out of her.
The bang on the door brought Richard back to life. He rose up with a start, and for a split second, he was blank. He scanned the dark room as he tried to remember where he was. Soon, he heard a whimper close by and it all came back to him. Nenye!
Richard rose to his feet immediately and made to walk to where the sound was coming from, but a sharp pain down his spine took his legs from him and he crashed to the ground. He forced his upper body off the floor and started dragging himself across the room. His hand touched a vodka bottle and he picked it up. In one quick movement, he smashed it and swung at Edem.
The swipe landed on Edem’s left ankle and that forced him to let Nenye go. He staggered and fell. When he turned, he was staring Richard in the face. He reached out and dealt him a blow. Richard tried to retaliate and a scuffle began.
Blows, bear hugs and more blows; Edem finally dragged himself away from Richard’s reach and started looking for something on the ground. He soon found it and launched at Richard. The knife in his hand sliced Richard’s throat just as a rod smashed into his skull. Everywhere went silent; the men at the door stopped banging.
Final bit? It is here.
Image: Unsplash
CHINA TORI 
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