"Ji. . .Jideze." She managed to say.

Jideze stopped half way from her, his eyes never leaving hers. He pointed, "I saw that beautiful box under your bed. I took it out to admire it only to find out it has some interesting surprises in it."

"Jideze." She called again, tears streaming down her face.

"Don't Jideze me!" He yelled at her and she covered her ears, sobbing loudly now. The noise was deafening.

"What's the meaning of all these, Oby? Do I look like a fool to you? Am I your puppet, your plaything? Why did you do this to me? You couldn't wait for me?" Series of questions left his lips as a lone tear fell off his eyes.

"You have another man, Oby. You have another man." He shook his head, his tears now falling like rain.

Obiageli shook her head vehemently at him. "I don't have another man, Jideze. You're the only man I have."

"Lies!" Jideze yelled again at her.

Each time he yelled, she jumped in fear. He had never yelled this loud at her before. Not when she misplaced the money he gave her to keep; not when she burnt his white shirt with an iron.

Right now, he had the same look - much deadlier - that he had when he saw her with another man years back.

"This letter explains it all. You say you don't have another man but you have the letters of a man professing his undying love for you in your possession. Why do you have it?"

"It's not what you think." She muttered; very low.

"Stop it, Oby! Please stop." Jideze's eyes were redder than blood. She was scared he would go blind. Hot stream of tears kept slithering down his cheeks.

"What do you take me for? A fool?" Jideze hands held his head. "Who are you? This is not the Oby I know. This is not the Oby I love. I don't recognise this lying, pretending, disgusting. . . I really can't find a word to describe you." Jideze spat.

His words struck like a rod and hit her like a bullet. She staggered and would have fallen had the wall not been at her back like a shield. She looked at him; he was staring down at her with disgust written all over his face.

"I loved you, Oby, unconditionally." He was not done. "I've always loved you no matter what. Is this how you betray me? Is this how you - "

"Stop it, Jideze!" She whispered. She had no strength to argue or yell at him. "Please, stop. Ifeanyi was the man I met when I came here to Enugu. He confessed his love for me and since I thought you abandoned me, I decided to date him. However, when I spoke to you again and found out it was never your fault, I left him for you. I left him to be with you." She explained.

Jideze was staring at her like he didn't recognise her. "You dated another man during the course of our separation?"

Obiageli nodded. Her knees became weak and she squatted; bowing her head and crying her eyes out.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She beat her chest intermittently. "I didn't know. I thought it was over between us. I never. . . I'm sorry, Jideze. Please, forgive me."

"Why didn't you tell me since? Why did you come with me? From that girl's letter, you two had plans together."

"I was ashamed of myself. You were faithful but I wasn't. I didn't trust you enough. I wanted to make it up to you. Please, let me."

Jideze stepped backward to the bed. He sat heavily on it, his hands on his head. Tears blurred his vision.

"Why do you still have his letters if you left him for me?" He asked calmly; head still bowed.

Obiageli couldn't speak. She tried to search for an excuse. She obviously couldn't tell him she couldn't live without them; that they helped to keep her sane.

"You still love him right?" Jideze asked after a while. He still had his head bowed.

Obiageli's eyes popped out.
"Jideze! I love you and you alone."

"Stop lying to me, Oby. Please, just stop. You're hurting me more by lying to me." His voice was very low. She could barely hear.

"I'm not lying to you." She whispered.

"I know you don't love me anymore, Oby. I know - "

"I do!" She screamed. "What makes you think such?"

"I don't think so. I know so. I know it, Oby. I actually didn't know why before but I do now. You have someone else, Oby and that's the truth." Jideze turned away from her and left her room.

She ran after him but he pushed her away and slammed his door at her. She cried at the top of her voice; knocking hard at his door but he refused to open up. She left when she discovered he was not going to open up for her.

It was not until the next evening, Jideze came to her room with puffy and reddened eyes; even redder than how it had been the day before. She stood up immediately and tried to hold him but he dodged her.

"We can't be together anymore." He began, staring at the wall instead.

"Tell your mother she has succeeded." A fat tear dropped from Jideze's already puffy eyes. He stood up and tried to walk past her but she held him back.

"What are you saying? What do you mean by we can't be together anymore?"

"Stop all these games you're playing, Oby." Jideze yelled at her and pushed her hand from his arm. "It's over, okay? You and I know the truth." He shook his head.

"You leave tomorrow." He said with a note of finality. "Your lover is waiting for you. I won't stand between you two."

Obiageli couldn't speak for a while. She stood forlornly, staring at him. "Are you sure you're okay?" She tried to touch his forehead.

"Don't touch me, Oby." He dodged. "Where does he stay? Chike will take you there." He wiped his tears with his fingers.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying with you."

"Oby, don't you get? You are in love with another man. I will be doomed if I get married to you. Never in my life have I wanted to get married to a woman who is in love with someone else. You'd be miserable, same with me too. None of us will be happy. Our marriage will be broken. I can't bring that upon myself. I cant live with that for the rest of my life. I'm not doing this for you, Oby. I'm doing it for myself. Tomorrow, Chike takes you to your man."

Obiageli watched as he opened the door and took a step out. Then he turned back to look at her,

"You've hurt me so much, Obiageli. So much." With that, he walked away. His loud footsteps fading away.

Obiageli collapsed to the floor as she wept bitterly. She crunched her chest, wailing loudly - it could be heard two streets away.

Jideze on the other hand walked to Chike's room, informing him about the journey the next day. He retired to his room, locking his door behind him. He sat on the cold floor, broken. His back resting on the door. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, letting his tears slid freely from both eyes.