12/09/2025
PLEASE HELP. SOMEONE IS BREAKING TO PIECES.
Jonas gulped the first cup from the seventh bottle of Hero and glared at the bottle trying to stabilize his vision. He reckoned he still had three more bottles to take himself to where he wanted to be. He felt a little tipsy by his own judgement. He wanted to feel intoxicated. This had been his evening ritual since two weeks ago: since everything turned upside down.
The last thing he wanted was to be sober when he got to the strange house that he once called home. He now saw it as his nightmare.
Jonas had not always been one to hide under alcoholism from his troubles. But the crises he was facing right now was not normal in any sense.
Jonas had married Tonia as a virgin. That was nine years ago. Though they had dated for two years, it was purely on platonic grounds. They had been friends from childhood. Their parents were friends so it was easy for them to be friends. But just before Tonia graduated from the University, Jonas proposed to her. She was happy and so were the two families. But she still had to finish school and NYSC before marriage. So they waited two years before tying the knots. They had lived happily ever after at least for the past nine years until two weeks ago.
Jonas had been pulled from NNPC to head a unit in the ministry of petroleum in Abuja. And now he had to shuffle from Asaba to Warri, to Abuja in no particular order.
And just last two weeks, he had left his house in the care of his loving wife in Asaba as he was scheduled for a meeting with the minister of petroleum and other stakeholders in the oil sector in Abuja. He had left his house early in the morning to the Asaba airport. But a little after he had left his house, the rain that had threatened to break forth all through the night found its strength and poured out with a lot of anger that Jonas's flight had to be delayed until the weather cleared. He had sat in the lobby waiting for the rain to abate, but it did not even slow for more than two hours. Jonas, fearing he might have offended his boss as the flight was not meant to be more than 40 minutes called the minister to apologize. And it was then that he chose to inform him that the meeting could not hold because he was already in Abuja airport waiting for the flight to UAE. There was an emergency OPEC meeting in Abu Dhabi that he had to attend.
He arrived home in high spirits. He had gone to the mall and bought special gifts for his wife Tonia and their four children. His family would be expecting gifts from the travel and just because he had not made the journey to Abuja did not mean they should not receive their gifts. He knew the children were still in school, but they would receive theirs when they got back.
He did not see Tonia downstairs. She was not in the kitchen nor in the living room. Which meant she could only be in the bedroom. The fact that the house was not locked was a testimony that she had not gone out. He tiptoed to the bedroom and walked in and then froze. Tonia was indeed in the bedroom and on the bed. But another person was also there. Vincent, their house boy was on top of his wife Tonia pounding in and out and sweating. Tonia noticed him and shook him off. He jumped out of the bed stack naked in shock. It was then that Jonas knew what to do. He took the room key and locked the room from outside. He ran down to his store and quickly took a mallet and a crowbar and headed back upstairs. He was going to kill these two.
He ran upstairs, opened the door and went in. Vincent lay on the ground with his head tilted up, his hands raised in supplication as he whimpered profusely. His wife Tonia sat sobbing on the far corner of the bed with her wrapper drapping from just above her breast. She did not even try to look him in the eyes. His resolve faltered. His anger waned and in its place was confusion, disillusionment, and sorrow. His grip on the weapons he had amassed loosened and they fell off his hands as he staggered to a corner of the room. Vincent sprang to his feet and bolted in a flash. Jonas looked at Tonia. She hid her face in her elbows and spread herself on the floor.
Jonas went out to the living room but could not stay there. He left his house and knowing nowhere to go at that time found a drinking parlor in that area and drowned his sorrow in liquor. And that has been his pattern since then as he had been too afraid to ask questions. He had shut his wife and children out by arriving home only when everyone was already in bed and leaving the house before anyone woke up. His wife had tried to talk but he had slammed the line shut. Suddenly there was a doubt of the paternity of his children in his heart. He was too afraid to seek the truth lest his fears be confirmed. He had not shared his predicament with anyone for fear of exposing his family.
Now, he needs help. Anyone who knows what he must do should advise him please.
Please share, like and comment.
Tell us what you feel about the story in the comments box.
Follow Kingsley Ugwu for more stories.
We can help you with all kinds of creative writing. Do you want to publish your biography, treatise, memoir, fiction, novel etc and does not have the time, skills, or energy to do that? Contact us and we will turn your ideas into a beautiful book. Call or Whatsapp 08034346814.
