The vow

He paced back and forth with his eyes glaring at the floor.He couldn't figure out what is going on but deep inside him, he knew something was wrong. As he stood numb for a while, thoughts of not being able to see him for the last time streamed down his mind and out of rage he smashed the bottle of whisky he was holding as he yelled
"Why now!!!!! How could you do this to me!!"
As he darts towards the the dinning table, he felt a sharp pain beneath his foot but was too overwhelmed to have noticed a broken piece from the bottle had Pierced through his foot. He picked up the cell phone and as he glanced through his missed calls, he noticed that his friend had given him a bunch of calls that he was unable to return. As he glared more closely at the 12 digit number,the first tear broke loose and the rest just came streaming down his face.
"I was the last person he called" he shrieked as he wiped his face with an handkerchief. He reminisced over how they would hang out, talked about business and even go hunting on weekends but the thought of not being there when his friend needed him the most pierced through his heart and soon tears roll down from his red eyes. He couldn't help it let alone control his emotions.



Femi had been unstable ever since he received the terrible news about the death of his dear friend and for weeks now he had been suffering from insomnia. When ever he comes back from work, he would grab a bottle of whisky to find solace in it as he keeps reminding himself how things would have been different if he had managed to answer that last call.
The previous day had seen him in a hospital after which his doctor cautioned him that unless circumstances turn the other way round, he would soon end up in a psych ward and his wife had the mandate to make sure that it does not result to that stage
She would sit by his side with her arms wrapped around his shoulders for hours reminding him of the early days of their marriage, how they would hang out on their favourite beach caressing each other with intermittent kisses while the sun rays touch down on their skin thus giving the required warmth and how he usually come back from work bearing exciting gifts for her.
She brought the old memories of how he would tiptoed behind her to wrap his arms around her waist while preparing breakfast in the morning and his aftermath manly exercise.
When it's time for him to go to bed, she would lie down beside him telling him some of his favourite wise sayings just to give him some self worth and to encourage him that all is not lost and besides she will always be there for him.




All the bedtime stories and encouragement were all to no avail when Femi stomped out of his office in a cold winter afternoon before the closing hours.
Miss Zainab, the Secretary had seen him pacing through his office with a clenched fist earlier but couldn't understand why he was so moody that very moment. When she meandered into the office to get some answers, he saw him sitting down with both hands folded on the table and his head buried on them as she asked what is wrong with him. As he raised his head, he stared at her for a while and shrieked "get out" pointing his finger to the door.
Not knowing what to do, she strode towards the office of her boss to inform him of the impending situation but meanwhile femi was long gone.
The next few minutes saw an angry man driving home on high speed with his eyes glaring at the wind screen. Kicking the accelerator as hard as he could thus driving above the speed limit, he overtake other road users with ease and navigate through the traffic before pulling over at a nearby bridge about five miles to the outskirts of the city. He flared his nostrils as he hands relaxed on the wheel. He reminisced over what he had been through for the past few weeks and as he opened the door revealing his left foot , he heard his phone ringing on the passengers seat. He couldn't remember tossing the phone where it seem to be and as he contemplates answering it, the ringing stopped for a while and continued moments later as he stood at the edge of the bridge with both hands on its steel rod. The phone rang incessantly while he continued staring at the ocean tides. The sound of water against the concrete columns supporting the bridge could be heard at the top where he stood with the cold wind penetrating through his nostrils.
His childhood memories came streaming down his mind like an endless stream as he began to shed uncontrollable tears. As he was about to realise his hands from the support, he heard a voice calling out to him but couldn't see who it was. He turned around and to his surprise, he saw a bright light shinning towards him from a distance. The voice he recognized to be that of his late mother as he stood numb for a while. He ambled towards the glaring light trying to see her face but couldn't.
"Listen to me Femi" said the voice as he stood raising his palm to his forehead trying to reduce the light intensity
"Your friend deserved his fate. He was never truly a friend and you need to move on with your life. Don't let the past ruin your future and you should go home. I wish I have much time but I don't" she continued
"What do you mean by my friend was not a true friend?" he asked with a bemused look on his face.
"I wish I could say more but our ancestors are calling out to me.Stay well my son. We shall meet again in the after life."
"No!!! Not yet!!!!!" he said while he stood watching the light as it made its way into the sky.
He pondered over what he had heard for a few moments but found it difficult to comprehend. As he stood with both hands folded still trying to process the information, he heard his phone ringing inside his car and he immediately strode to answer the call.
"Hello" he said
" please am I speaking with Mr Femi" said the voice at the other end of the line.
"Yes, of course"
"I have been trying to reach you for quite some time but you seem not to be available"
"Is there anything wrong?"
"Am the doctor who treated your friend before he passed away and he left a message to be received by you only"
"What's the message all about"
" I can't say but you can come and get it tomorrow at my office by 9am "
" OK, I will be there" he said before hanging up the phone to drive home.



It was just 7minutes past the hour of 9 when when Mr femi arrived at the general hospital where he was scheduled to meet the doctor. He had stayed awake the previous night in anticipation of the message his friend had left him but with his mother having told him that his friend is not a true friend, that got him worried and arouse his curiosity.
On knocking at the office door, he was received by a woman whom he presumed to be the doctor's secretary and he was immediately asked to sit while she go and inform him about his visit.
Few minutes later, a tall slim man arrived bearing the look of a doctor with his body covered with white lab coat and medicated glasses hanging on his round face.
"Welcome" said the doctor extending his hand for a hand shake
"Thank you. You seem very busy already"
"It has always been like this" replied the doctor while pulling out his drawer to bring out the brown envelope.
"Mr Mahmud wanted me to hand you this when he figured that he couldn't reach you through your cell phone and that is why I requested to see you in person so I could hand it over to you"
"I understand and thank you very much for every thing" he said after collecting the envelope from the doctor.
After biding each other goodbye, Femi head outside. He couldn't wait to open the envelope and as he exit the main entrance of the building, he opened the envelope to know what his friend had wanted telling him.



"Whose child is this !!!" he yelled
" Answer me or else I Will kill you. Whose child is this" he shrieked at his wife while pointing his finger to the 2 years old boy whom he had believed to be his son all this while.
" I am sorry" she whimped
" I demand an explanation" he quivered as the first tear rolled down his eyes
"Please tell me this is not true" he continued
Tell me what happened?" he asked trying to control his tears
"It was a week before we got married, she sobbed.
We first met each other in our second year in college and from that very moment we became very close. I lost my dad a year before I got into college and my mom was all I had left" she continued with tears streaming down her face. My mum had to struggle day and night to pay my tuition fees and when ever she comes back home late in the night, the pain she felt as a result of long hours of work would make her not able to sleep. She managed to pull through until my third year in college when she was diagnosed with heart disease which made her not able to work again which means I had to drop out of school but it was at that very moment that Mahmud came into the big picture". She paused for a moment to catch her breath as her eyes turned red.
"Being a girl that he loved, he couldn't stand to watch me drop out and that made him to introduce me to his parents who promised to sponsor me through the remaining years"
At this point, Femi began to feel the pain she went through. He couldn't believe she had such a sorrowful history she had yet to share with him until now.
"Six months later, my mom passed away which made him to be all I had left and we vowed to marry each other. About a year after graduating from college, I couldn't find Mahmud and when I asked his parents about his whereabouts they told me he had gone to Germany. I never thought I would see him again after 3 years until he showed up a month before our wedding. When I realised that I had vowed to marry him, I didn't know what to do and that was when I offered myself to him a week before our wedding.



After hearing all the stories, Femi couldn't think of what to do and remembering that his friend had asked of his forgiveness hunted him the most. He couldn't sleep for weeks and when he shared the story with his pastor the following Sunday, he received the words "Jesus died so that your sins shall be forgiven. Thou shall forgive so that thou shall receive forgiveness from the lord!!."




The early morning sun met femi sitting down on his porch with his chin resting on his right palm. He had been awake since 5:30 am and with the recent burden of forgiveness going through his mind, sleeping is the last thing he could think of.
He contemplated going in for a while before standing up finally with his legs ambling towards the dinning table where he saw his wife preparing breakfast He stood for a while staring at her but she couldn't return the gaze. Instead she turned her face sideways.
"I forgive you for everything" he said finally with a sigh and immediately, she strode towards him and gave him a long hug. Few minutes later he saw the boy toddling towards him and when he saw the innocence dancing all over the boy's face, he bent down to adjust his trousers before carrying him up above his shoulder level to give him a hug. Whenever he looks at the boy, he could see the reflection of his mother but at other times all he sees is a betrayal of trust and that is a fact he is to live with for the rest of his life.