Ugly Past

Chapter 1

Title: Ugly past.

 "What! How could you do that?

 

 Richard, I won't accept this claptrap." Stella seethed in rage as she got out of bed, pacing up and down.

 

 "Babe calm down, we can sort this out without shouting at the top of our voice, remember the kids are in their room." Richard cautioned but Stella was not ready to hear that sermon, she was ready to let all hell break loose that morning.

 

  "Richard, I'm not going to take that. Never! 

You of all people knew what I passed through in the hands of this man.  The pains, the suffering, and the emotional trauma.

  He's presently getting his retribution in double folds and you expect me of all people to come to his aid?" she asked in a tone of sarcasm.

"You must be joking! There is no place for a monster here. I reiterate no place!

Let him rot there, he deserves whatever he's passing through now." she sneered letting out an annoying hiss.

  "Babe, this man is your dad. I know that man has hurt you beyond rehabilitation but it's apparent that he's lamenting now. Why don't you just give him another chance? That man needs your help, you're the only one that can help him in his present predicament."Richard compelled.

  

 "Yeah, Only one right?

  What about his new family? The one he got married to after he murdered my mother?

Please don't let me go down the lane of things that caused me pain because I have not recovered from it, the nightmarish incident still replays vividly in my head."

"Yeah, I understand but please don't take it too far by letting him wallow in pain."

" I don't care, it seems you have forgotten about the whole story. Let me take you down memory lane, Richard.

 I, Stella Jacob, was a product of a broken home, my parent never lived in harmony for once. Our home was synonymous with the word battleground.

  My parent fights every day, destroy things,  hit themselves with dangerous weapons, rain curses, and all sorts of violent displays.

  

  I never experienced what it looks like to live a peaceful life and have a loving family. It was conflicts, arguments, and endless fights. 

  

Of course, I got used to this kind of life in the sense that, I would be on tenterhooks if a day goes by and they don't fight.

  

  My mom was a belligerent and aggressive woman, she doesn't tolerate any of my father's chevy attitude. 

  My Father, on the other hand, was a choleric and vicious man.

  

   The reason why they lived this kind of life had no substantial reason apart from the fact that my dad was trying to prove a point to my mom. This trivial phrase; "He is the man of the house and his wife must be undisputedly submissive to him, by doing whatever he wants, which was very unlikely to happen coupled with the fact that he got married to someone as aggressive as my mother."

   

 That fateful night he slew my mom, a part of me died too.

That vicious man killed my mom with his hands, he smashed a flower vase on her head and I watched in horror as blood oozed out of her head. 

 

I watched as breath vanished out of my mother's body, and she gave up the ghost in my hands with her blood staining all over my body. It was a horrific and dreadful sight that still lingers in my head. 

 That heartless man did not feel any iota of guilt or remorse for what he did. Instead, he threatened to kill me. If not because I ran for my life that night, I'm pretty sure  I would have been dead by now and he would have made a perfect, mind-blowing story to cover everything up.

 

 So, tell me one reason why I should forgive him and let it slide."

 

 "Was it the threat he made that I must not reveal what transpired between them that night? Or the way he went scot-free with what he did? Or how my mom died without getting the justice she deserved?" Stella questioned as tears trickled down her face.

 

  Richard let out a weary sigh and tried moving close to her, in other to console her and make her stop sobbing.

  

 "Please don't, don't touch me" she warned with a stern look on her face.

 

 " He's getting his payback now and you want me to let everything slide just like that? Stella scoffed.

 

"To be honest, it's not as easy as it sounds because this pain of the heart is still green and I don't think I will be able to heal from it anytime soon "she uttered hitting her hand on her chest.

 "It's okay babe, just relax. Can we forget about this and talk about it some other time?"Richard blurted for it breaks his heart to see his wife tearing up because of her dark past.

 

 "No, it's better you stop bringing up this issue because no matter when you talk about it, I will always flare up and I won't take it lightly with you. Just let me be," she replied using her palm to wipe her teary face.

"It's okay Hunny. Hmm! Can we just pretend as if I never mention this topic?" he asked with a large grin splitting his face as he tried to move closer to her, this time around she didn't bother to wiggle out of his touch. Instead, she placed her head on his chest allowing him to stroke her hair gently.

"I am sorry babe," Richard muttered.

A scene like this was very uncommon in their home. It was rare for them to argue about anything or exchange words with each other, their family has always been filled with laughter, peace, and love.

  Stella got married to Richard Twelve years ago and it has been nothing but peace, Nirvana, and bliss. They were blessed with two adorable kids, Felix and Janice.

 

 Richard suits the perfect definition of a loving husband. He showers his family with love, care, and attention even though he was a busy man.  He was a junior pastor in their church and a  business tycoon, running different companies in most of the world, yet he still makes time for his family. 

 

 Stella never had any reason to regret marrying someone like Richard. Though she never got the chance to know what it feels like to have a loving family during her childhood days, Richard made it easy to create a beautiful one. She couldn't be less grateful to God for making her come across a man like Richard.

 

  Who could say that the same fateful day she narrowly escaped death would birth amazing moments like this? 

  

That calamitous night the incident happened, she was asleep already when she heard loud voices making her drift out of her deep slumber. She picked up her cell phone on the bedside table and checked the time, It was 11:00 pm.

 "Huh! He's back from work and they are at it again" She murmured as she let out a frustrated sigh.

 

 She could hear her mother shouting at the top of her voice and gushing out a heavy downpour of swear words. Things like that were not a new thing in their family and she was used to it already, gone are those days when she had to weep and cry whenever they were fighting.

 Mr. Busari was an aggressive man, hot-tempered and choleric. He gets mad at any slightest provocation.

  Mrs. Busari was the replica of him. She was belligerent and won't allow any of his hogwash slides without letting him have a taste of his own medicine.  She was a "no-nonsense woman"  which makes it impossible for one ounce of peace to reign.

Stella was their only child, they brought her up and she was used to the kind of family she found herself in. 

 That night was not an exception, she picked up her pillow and placed it on her ears hoping it will reduce the noise emanating from the living room.

The noise persists for a while and she was forced to get up from the bed and walked toward the living room. She stood behind the door as she watched them drag and hit each other, gasping and breathing out loud as they combatted.

All of a sudden, her father's strength overpowered her mother, making her lose balance and she fell to the ground, dabbing her with heavy blows.

   Stella was forced to leave her hiding place. "Daddy, please stop it." She cried, trying to drag him off her mom's body.

"If you don't get out of here now, I will be forced to release my anger on you." He warned as he jerked his hand out of her grip.

"Daddy please." She cried as she watched her mom struggling to get out of his grip.

Within a twinkling of an eye, he got up from her, picked the Flower vase that was on the table, and threw it at her making it land on her head. 

Blood splashed out of her head.

"Ha! What have you done" Stella screamed with terror-filled eyes as she watched her mom in her pool of blood.

"See, she's not breathing again! You have killed her" she screamed.

" Yes, I have killed her but I'm not done yet. Just wait for it." He shouted breathing heavily as he scurried to his room.

He came out with a knife placed in his hands with a dagger look on his face. Stella jerked and took to her heels as she sensed that, it was her turn. She ran as fast as her leg could carry her, not minding if it was late already. 

 While running, she ran into an oncoming vehicle, which knocked her down making her lose consciousness.

 

 Richard was returning from a business trip that night when a lady rammed into his vehicle. He trembled with fear as he got down from the car, his racing heart calmed down a bit when he noticed she was still breathing. He hurriedly placed her in his vehicle and head toward the nearest hospital.

* * * *

That nightmarish incident almost made Stella lose her sanity but Richard made sure he did everything to make sure she bounce back.

 Stella's dad was an influential man, he made up false stories about his wife's death and went away with it. Stella could not report or testify because he has threatened to kill her if she dare reveal the truth. 

 

 She could not believe her dad could be so ferocious and evil to the extent of killing his wife without any iota of guilt.

 She was not even allowed to pay her last respect to her mother, where her body was buried remained unknown to her.  That was how ruthless her father was.

  

During those trying times, Richard stood by her side and made sure she got back on her feet. He helped her further her education by earning a master's degree in psychology and pushing her further in her marriage counseling career. Their friendship later bloom into the next stage and they court for two years before they finally got married.

Richard is a devoted Christain who loves God all his life, pulling his wife along with him as they spend their life together with God.

.

.

 * Bella's Residence*

 "How was the interview?"Maria asked as she slumped onto the closest armchair in the living room.

 "To be sincere, I don't know"Bella replied with an expressionless countenance.

 "Why?" 

 "Should I say it's okay or just normal? 

  Though I tried my best, I don't just know why I get tensed whenever my mind travels back to the  interview."

 "Well, it's normal. You know to get employed into Golden Ville is not easy."

"Yeah, I know."

" When will they get back to you?"

 "They will send the notification to us on our mail this evening or tomorrow morning, then if we did not get a message from them, that means we did not make it." She gave a long weary sigh.

 "Well, you should count yourself lucky because you will be employed" Maria ascertained.

 "I hope so too. I'm tired of this pauperism and impoverishment, I want to go back to my normal life" Bella mumbled in distraught.

 

 "You will, by God's grace. This time will pass and I am sure you will get out of this mess."

 "Hopefully, my dad will get back on his feet. I missed that man, I need him, I want my dad back. I want him to wake up from that comatose state. I need him more than ever before."   she uttered as the mist of tears formed in her eyes.

 "It's well. Everything will be fine in due time just don't worry about it too much."Maria consoled placing her hand on her shoulder.

#fewminuteslater

"I'm going to bed already, Goodnight, Ella said as she got up from the chair and yawned slightly.

"Okay babe, Goodnight."

Just then, her phone buzzed. They glanced at each other with a grin forming on their face.

"Come on, go ahead" Maria ushered.

 Bella exhaled deeply as she opened her phone with anxiety.

 "Oh! Come and see this." her voice comes out almost in a whisper.

 "Oh my Good Lord!!

 You've been employed"Maria exclaimed as she jumped up for Joy.

 Bella was too perplexed to shout or scream, she was just beaming with joy.

 "Wow, I'm so happy for you Bella," Maria said as she pulled her into a hug.

 "Thank you"

 "You see, God is always rooting for you, he never forsakes anyone. Too faithful to fail." Maria uttered these words beaming with excitement.

 Bella just nodded in response, she was not ready for all this preachy talk. What matters is that she has been employed and it wasn't God that did it, it was her proficiency and shrewdness that earned her the job.

  After losing all their lifetime money to the hand of a fraudster,  their life took a tough turn. 

  Her dad slumped and went into a comatose state when he discovered that he has been hoodwinked and he has remained in a coma for about three years.

  

  They went bankrupt and sold all their properties, and assets just to settle the debt. 

   

  Before the unfortunate event, Bella lives in laps of luxury, she dined and wined in pure opulence as the only daughter and the heir to "John Bee's" company.

  

She was born and raised in the United States, her mother died when she was just six years old but she never lack the care and love her mother would have shown her if she was alive, simply because her father was always there for her.

  

 It was after the incident that she was left with no choice but to move back to

  Nigeria, to come live with her cousin, Maria.

  Starting all over was hard, she has attempted suicide countless times but she didn't succeed. Life has been brutal to her since she wasn't used to this kind of life.

 After being down in the doldrums for years, Maria was able to cajole her to get back on her feet, get a good job and face her challenges squarely.

 "I hope this will be a good beginning." Bella murmured as she stared at the message.