THE STRANGER IN MY HOME

At 7pm, the sky was dark. And so was the Mbeze Okafor family house.

The family of 5 sat outside the backyard to get fresh air. Right next to the boys’ quarters.

Madam Okafor was relaxed on one of the dining room chairs, reading Fifty Shades of Grey and giving her husband those dangerous sexy eyes. Chief Okafor noticed and he returned back those dangerous unsexy eyes to her while taking a sip of his palm wine.

The twins and Chidinma played Police and Thief around the backyard, running around the compound and screaming with laughter.

Madam Okafor dropped her book to the side and sent a text message to her husband,

‘Come to mummy in the kitchen.’

She left the backyard first. Chief Okafor followed after like a hungry dog. They locked the kitchen door, leaving the kids to play outside alone.

The danger began.

No, not the commotion Madam and Chief Okafor were about to do in the kitchen.

The real danger.

It didn’t take up to five minutes after the couple had locked themselves in the kitchen that the twins heard loud movements from the kitchen.

Chima ran to the kitchen door and pressed his ear against the door to hear what was going on inside.

“Chike, mummy and daddy are dancing again.”

Chike, out of annoyance, yanked his brother away from the door and yelled at him, “They said we should stop peeping anytime they’re dancing!”

“I don’t care. Me I want to learn to dance too.” Chima tried to return to the door again but Chike pushed him, causing him to fall down.

Chima screamed and got up to push his brother to the ground. From there, they started slapping and kicking each other.

The kitchen door opened, and Madam Okafor came out with her spaghetti top sleeves down.

With a shocked expression plastered on her face, she shouted, “Ejima! Stop fighting!”

The boys did not stop fighting until their father, whose trousers were sagging, dashed to separate them. Madam Okafor held onto Chima, while Chief Okafor held onto Chike to pull them apart.

In the midst of these chaos, Madam Okafor looked around and realized something was missing.

“Chidinma! Chidinma!” She shouted, “Where is Chidinma?!”

There was no response. They all froze at the realization of Chidinma’s absence.

“She was just here with us!” Chike shouted, while looking around at the empty backyard.

“Let’s look for her.”

They all began their search. They looked around the backyard and called out their daughter and sister’s name a million times, but there was no answer. They included Emeka in the search too.

Madam Okafor panicked the most because of her suspicion of an intruder in the house— the figure she saw by the window and in the closet. Could he have kidnapped her daughter? The thought frightened her. What did he want from her innocent daughter?

“Let’s go and check inside.” Chief Okafor said to them.

They all rushed into the kitchen door. As Chief Okafor was entering last, he heard a light thud sound coming from behind him. The boys’ quarters.

He stopped to ponder the sound for a moment. Wait, was the boys’ quarters open? But his key had been missing since the last time they were here.

He stepped backwards and turned around to head for the boys’ quarters alone. He took little silent steps towards the door of the quarters until he reached for the handle. He held onto it for a short moment and carefully pushed the door.

It was open. The boys’ quarters have been opened without his permission.

He debated whether or not to enter, but this was his home after all. He should be aware of everything that went on in his home.

He pushed the door open and kicked the air, thinking somebody would jump right in front of him. But it was empty.

He glanced around before turning on the flashlight in his phone. He stepped into the bungalow building, shining the light at every corner of the quarters. From the furniture to the carpet to the doors, until...

The metal door.

There was a giant metal door at the last corner of the boys’ quarters. It was half open, with the giant padlock broken.

Chief Okafor slowly walked into the metal door that led into an open space. It was supposed to be a storage but now it was... a bedroom?

There were a couple of rumpled wrappers lying on the floor. A few plastic cups, clothes, worn-out slippers and just anything a regular man would need.

He searched around the room with his flashlight until he saw something weird. A steam. The steam was coming out of a kettle. Which meant...

Somebody was here.

He looked around frantically for who this strange creature was, until his phone flashlight started blinking. He was getting a phone call. From his wife.

“Nne, lock the door now! Don’t let-”

“Honey!” She cut him off and began weeping on the call, “Come up. Please. It’s urgent.”

Madam Okafor did not need to repeat herself twice before Chief Okafor ran out of the boys’ quarters.

His heart was pounding in his chest. Every step he took felt like he was running on hot coals. As soon as he got to the top floor, he pushed down the door of his room with full force. He came prepared to fight with nothing but the Igbo man blood in him.

“Nne!”

She was there, sitting on the bed peacefully with their daughter in her arms while facing the wall.

“You found her.” He said in relief and jogged towards their side. He placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder, “Nne-”

She turned around. He fell backwards.

It wasn’t Madam Okafor. It was another woman. A stranger, holding his little princess.