PURE BLACK GREY (Episode 9)

Douglas and Jovi?! Really?

I looked for Jovi in his study, but he wasn’t there. I went down the stairs to check for him in the living room and he wasn’t there either. I checked the kitchen. He wasn’t there. I raced back upstairs to get my phone, but his phone was switched off when I called. I bolted back downstairs. I wasn’t sure where I was going or how I would keep from going crazy with questions and anger until I found him. All I knew was I had to do something. I didn’t have the patience to just sit around and wait.

He probably went for a jog. So I opened the gate – unlocked and unmanned, as Jovi didn’t have a gateman – and jogged down the street, directionless and half-blinded by anger, when I turned a corner and almost ran into him.

He clamped his hands on my arms to steady me.

“Moyo? Are you okay? Is something wrong?” He looked at me in alarm.

“Yes, something is definitely wrong. I’m going to ask you a question, but please, do not even think about lying to me.” I paused to catch my breath before pinning him with a stare. “Did you cheat on me with Douglas?”

The streetlight that illuminated the dusk-shrouded street was enough for me to see his eyes widen. He licked lips and went silent for a long moment. “Moyo…” He exhaled slowly. “You –”

“Don’t lie!”

I was so angry that I forgot we were outside as my yell bounced off the fences of the compounds on the street, which was mostly dark and deserted. A light drizzle had started.

He shook his head. “No. I didn’t. Except that one time before I met you and the other time… well, you already know that.”

True. I knew of those two occasions he’d had sex with Douglas. The second time was when I was already in the picture but we weren’t sure of what the future was with us going forward.

“Jovi, I’m pleading with you. For my sanity, tell me the truth. Douglas is dead, and everything happening is messing with my head. I need all the honesty I can get.”

“Moyo, it is the truth.”

Agony sliced through my chest and I trembled so hard my teeth rattled as the wind picked up momentum and the light drizzle became a heavy downpour.

Jovi put his hands around me just as the streetlight went out, clearly a power outage. I clung to him as rivulets streaked down my face. Once we were back in the house, I made my way to the bathroom downstairs as Jovi put on the inverter so we could have light in the house.

“I need to explain some things,” Jovi said as he came back into the living room.

I wasn’t sure what to feel as I pressed my lips together and nodded, while my mind raced as I wondered what it was he was about to explain to me. The look on his face told me I wouldn’t like it.

“Do you remember that terrible fight we had in August of last year?”

I nodded in response.

“I met someone during that short break,” Jovi said. “He invited me to his house one weekend, we smoked weed, downed lots of alcohol and fooled around on his sofa. It’d have gone beyond that but neither of us was willing to bend over for the other. He is top too. In the end, he made a call to some dude who came along with a friend of his so we could all have sex.”

I really didn’t like where the outpour was going.

“Douglas was one of the guys. He was really upset with me when he found out that I wanted to have sex with someone else because both of us weren’t in good terms. The other guy wanted to have sex with me but Douglas didn’t let him. Instead, he said he would bring me home and that Shanu, his friend, should make do with the guy who called them over.”

Shanu?

“Did you say Shanu?”

“Yes. Why, you know him?”

This was becoming rather too much for me.

“Yes…” I whispered. “But… uhm, continue.”

“You look rattled. What is it?”

“Just go on… I’ll tell you when you are done.”

Jovi looked at me skeptically but he didn’t push it. “Okay.” He paused. “Anyway, Shanu was upset because he thought Doug was trying to get me for himself. An argument ensued between them with Doug telling him that he knows me, and he didn’t want me to make a mistake I’d regret when I’m sober. Shanu wasn’t having any of it and called him a whore. Apparently Douglas had been involved with one of Shanu’s ex-boyfriends while they were still together. Shanu caught them together –”

“Yemi,” I said, interrupting him.

“Who’s Yemi?”

“The ex-boyfriend Shanu caught Douglas blowing.”

“Wait a minute, you know this Shanu guy?”

A ghostly smile played on my lips. “Tall, fair, oval-faced, drop dead gorgeous guy? Yes, I know him.”

Jovi looked genuinely confused. “This is all becoming too twisted and –”

“And dark. Too dark,” I finished for him. After some seconds, I asked, “What happened afterwards?”

Jovi had gotten up and was pacing the room. “Sex didn’t happen. With any of us. I was too wasted to get it up. Moreover, Douglas had dragged me into my friend’s guest room and waited till the next morning to take me home. The Shanu guy was still very much upset with him. A few weeks after, I got a call Shanu asking to meet up. It was a weekend and I was bored, and besides we still weren’t back together then. I obliged and we met for drinks. He went straight to the point and asked for us to fuck. I was surprised. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Can you stop pacing?” I pleaded.

He shook his head. “I can’t. There are so many things going through my mind right now.”

“Things like?”

“I don’t know. My mind is just muddled up.”

I sighed.

“Anyway, I rebuffed his proposition and he wasn’t pleased. I told him I had a boyfriend. Even though I wasn’t sure we were going to be back together.” Then he looked at me like he’d suddenly remembered something. “He asked me if it was because of you. He mentioned your name. I didn’t think anything about how he got to know my boyfriend’s name. I assumed it was Douglas or my friend who told him about you.”

“You don’t think he murdered Douglas, do you?” I was suddenly up on my feet while concentrating on keeping my voice steady and not showing how alarmed I suddenly felt. “That’s insane.”

“Yes, it’s very insane but very possible.”

“Possible? I highly doubt that.”

“Think about it. Douglas betrayed him. I politely let him know I wasn’t interested in him even after he came to my office and my house.”

“Huh? He knows where you live?”

“Yes. I found him at my gate after the meet at the bar. It was late and he mentioned that he couldn’t go home because there were no taxis around.”

“But this is Lagos. Taxis are always available.”

“Exactly.”

“How come you didn’t know this wasn’t right from the beginning? The signs were all there. He wanted you to get to hurt me.”

“How was I to know we would have a murder on our hands? But how do you fit into all this? What did you do to hurt him?”

I sat down with as everything gradually made sense. “I betrayed him too.”

“How? When was this?”

“Two years ago. He caught me making out with his boyfriend in his room.”

“Whoa.” Jovi exclaimed. He apparently wasn’t expecting that bit of information.

“Which means he’s out to get us,” I continued like I hadn’t heard him.“But I apologized to him. I was wrong – I said that over and again. I tried calling and texting but he never responded.”

“This is sick!”

“What I don’t understand is how Lotachukwu fits into all this.”

“Moyo, the gay world is small. Everyone knows everyone. They’re probably friends on the social media or something.”

“But does that mean that Lotachukwu is in on his plan? You needed to have seen his face and heard his tone of voice – like he knew us all very well.”

“Moyo –”

“And how does Bankole fit into all this?”

“Probably just a victim of circumstance.”

“This is insane,” I reiterated for the second time that evening. “I don’t want to believe that all this is happening because we did something he hasn’t done before. I mean, his own roommate in school caught him once in a compromising position with his own boyfriend on his birthday. Now he suddenly feels hurt? Hypocrites! That’s all we are. And all this after two years for that matter, because he wanted to have what I have so he could hurt me? And then going as far as killing someone? What is this world becoming?”

“Moyo, calm down –”

“Jovi, I can’t be calm,” I said to him through gritted teeth. “We have to do something. We must do something! Report to the police or find him and kill him. Now!”

“Whoa… Hey. Chill. No one is killing anyone, okay?” He put his hands on my shoulder. “We will report this tomorrow. I’ll think of something. But now, you need to calm down.”

“Jovi –”

“No, Moyo. Don’t argue about this. Take a deep breath. We will report this tomorrow.”

We didn’t say anything else as we both climbed the stairs, hands clasped together. I was shaking. We eventually brushed our teeth and fell into bed.

“Crap. I forgot to lock the doors,” I said, starting to push up.

Jovi stopped me. “You stay here. I’ll do them.”

He gave my forehead a quick kiss and climbed off the bed.

I woke up to a quiet room, except for the hum of the AC, and the faint smell of Jovi’s cologne. I rolled over to spoon him and realized the man must not have come back to bed.

How long have I been asleep? And where is Jovi?

I couldn’t stay in bed alone anymore, so I got down from the bed and padded out the door down towards the living room.

In the near darkness, I stumbled over something on the floor – someone, it turned out, as I looked and saw it was Jovi.

“Jovi?! Oh my God…”

He was lying in a heap on the floor, unmoving.

“Hello, Moyo.”

Heart beating wildly, I spun around to find Maje staring at me.

Written by Vhar