Will 1
WILL
Mayowa Ojo
6/10/20264 min read
Jude must have called me about a million times two days before. We were having yet another fight and like all the other times I was certain this was the last one… but who was I kidding? Not my desire, not my lust, not my affection but my need for him was my curse and my blessing.
They often tell you about how human beings attract their kind. He was not my kind. He cured my kind. He cured me. And so I knew that soon enough I would pick up his call and we would make up.
Our most recent fights were mostly about Toby. Toby was my ex but also such a good friend that I often forgot we once dated. I could sense that he wanted me back but he was too good for me and so I didn't date him. He did not realize that it was more for him than it was for me.
Jude was sweet but also sensitive. Too sensitive. He considered Toby a threat and no matter how many times I told him there was nothing to be afraid of, his insecurity always won. The same reason why I spent the bulk of my day two days before, with Toby just chilling, was the same reason I did not spend the day after with him.
I knew I would forgive Jude for lashing out and acting like a crazed animal when he realized I went with Toby to a concert. I knew he would ask, in as subtle a manner as possible, what I’d been up to since we had the fight. I knew I would lie to him that I was by myself even though he would know I was lying. But I was convinced that telling half the truth was not the same as lying.
Rather than get more upset and yell as I expected, Jude was quiet. Even though it was a phone conversation I could almost see the engines in his brain working tirelessly to process what I'd just told him. He loved to be in control and I knew I was pushing my luck so I, too, kept quiet.
He apologized and asked that we take the weekend off. With the myriad of issues that plague me, I’m a girly-girl at heart and so I agreed. He picked me up around ten o’clock that morning and we headed out of Lagos to his parents’ country home. The ride was pleasant. I take that back. The ride was fun. Something was different about Jude the entire time. He was less irritable, more spontaneous… more fun.
It’s like we both knew it was a smoke screen but I was determined to be a better person and stop being so suspicious of him. It seemed like he was turning a new leaf and I started to consider doing the same – even though doing that threatened to bring our relationship to an end.
Half way through the trip Jude parked along the express and asked me to drive. He knew I did not have a driver’s license yet he offered and I accepted. I always wanted to drive on the express and so it felt like Christmas arrived early.
We listened to music on blast in his SUV. Bought street food along the express and relished it. Did all the things we normally would not do because they were “beneath” him but not on that trip. On that trip we threw away all the rules.
Of course we played games and in those moments I saw parts of the real Jude – smart, highly cerebral and very competitive. Despite him being older and with a pretty high IQ, my IQ rating was higher than his but I learned very quickly in our relationship to dumb it down around him. I kept it high enough to interest and please him but low enough to make him think he was smarter.
Finally, we arrived at the country home and, call me a bush girl or whatever you like but, I was in awe. It felt like a sanctuary just driving through the tree lined gateway all the way up to the house. Jude showed me around the premises – the pool in the back, the building out back with some gym equipment, the fountain right next to the pond that flows through the premises. Beautiful seems inadequate a word to describe the place.
Apart from the three workmen that I saw, no one else was on the property except us.
We went in to have an early lunch around one pm and then I slept off.
I woke up feeling happy and relaxed. I smiled. I didn’t want to open my eyes just yet. I wanted to soak up the moment but for a very distracting pain in my left arm. I reached out with my right arm to massage my left but I couldn’t and that’s when I opened my eyes as a wave of panic coursed through me.
I found that my hands had been bound together behind me and a noose was hanging around my neck, tied to a hook in the ceiling. I started to freak out when I realized I was standing rather precariously on a chair and any wrong move would ensure my suicide.
I shut my eyes and tried some breathing exercises to calm myself.
When I opened my eyes again, I tried to take in my surroundings. My eyes swept the room while my brain tried to make sense of it all.
How did we get here? We were having lunch a while ago and now I’m tied up. I knew it was not a dream because it was too vivid.
I stood on tip toes and tried to turn on the chair to see what was behind me.
I turned around and saw Jude looking at me with a smile on his face.
“Wakey wakey!” he said and my world crashed.