"Die, you crazy, stupid witch! Husband snatcher! I'll kill you today!" That was the terrible, biting and angry utterances of Mrs. Iyabo Adejobi as she continued beating and battering Sikira, the housemaid.

Sikira's 'sin' was that she was pregnant for Mr. Adejobi, who was her boss' husband. All the while Sikira was just weeping and sobbing like a little kid. She cried and cried as the fat, saucy and boisterous boss descended on her, beating the hell out of her. Mr. Adejobi himself had gone to his office when all this took place. The poor girl was stripped naked and pushed inside the heavy rain. What was left on her body was her bra and underwear. Mrs. Iyabo tore Sikira's clothes to shreds. The young lady was shivering inside the rain.

What actually happened was that Mrs. Iyabo Adejobi had travelled to visit her age-old parents in far away Kogi state and she spent three weeks with them. Before she came back from her trip, Mr. Adejobi had impregnated the young, hardworking and beautiful maid. Times without number, Mr. Adejobi used to engage his wife in argument over domestic issues. Mrs. Iyabo's handling of her matrimonial responsibilities was really bad and unsatisfactory. Mr. Adejobi always complained about her cooking, rude manners and general conducts, which he didn't like.

Mrs. Iyabo didn't manage her home very well. The family's meal would be served late and when her husband complained she would get angry and rain abusive words on him. She had three kids. She wouldn't wash the clothes of her children but let them pile up, very dirty and unkempt. Her meals were not always sweet and tasty.

So, it was a welcome relief when Mrs. Iyabo employed the young Sikira to help with home chores. Mr. Adejobi took personal interest in the young lady who was charming and equally hardworking. Before the whole family woke up Sikira was already awake, cooking the meal. She was a good cook. She would make sure there was water in the tank. She would do the laundry and the children were always neat, ditto Mr. Adejobi who looked spick and span. Gradually Mr. Adejobi started developing amorous interest in the young lady. She was also obedient, courteous and respectful. So, when Mrs. Iyabo Adejobi travelled, that was the only opportunity her husband had been waiting for. He seduced and lured the young lady who had ostensibly won his heart. That eventful afternoon Mrs. Iyabo paid thirty thousand naira to some thugs and hoodlums to deal with the young, beautiful maid. Out in the cold the merciless thugs molested the girl and dragged her in the mud while she begged for mercy with tears dropping from her brows.

"Die, you bitch!" the leader of the hoodlums hollered threateningly,

"We were invited to deal with you till you have miscarriage!" There was nobody to rescue Sikira from the hands of the heavily armed thugs. People fled the scene for fear of being attacked if they intervened. The young girl was in her pool of blood when Mr. Adejobi arrived from office at exactly 6.30p.m. He was shocked and dumbfounded. The sight of Sikira on the bare floor with blood on her head, arms and thigh really moved him to tears.

"Who did this to you?" he asked for the umpteenth time. He was shaking with anger and fuming like a volcano.

"It's madam ... thugs ... and huh" she was weeping uncontrollably. Mr. Adejobi rushed in to meet his wife.

"What have you done to Iyabo?" he asked, "You want to kill the poor girl? Is it her fault?"

At that moment Mrs. Iyabo was beating the devil's tattoo. She was boiling with rage.

"You can go to hell! You useless womaniser, you can take me to court, if you like! I'll make sure I kill that husband snatcher of a girl!" she thundered.

"Iyabo, do you realise that your actions could lead to the death of the innocent girl and you'll be charged for murder?" he said.

"Either you like it or not she's having that baby by God's grace," he added.

"She won't have that baby while I'm alive! She and the unborn baby will rot in hell! Is that right, **Oko Iyawo**?" she got up and spat with derision. Instantly Mr. Adejobi went out hurriedly and rushed the beautiful housemaid to the hospital. She spent a week at the hospital, under intensive care. When she was discharged she took her belongings from her boss' house to live in Sango Otta, Ogun State. Mr. Adejobi gave her one hundred thousand naira to start a trading business and begged her not to abort the baby.

Once in a week, Mr. Adejobi made sure he paid Sikira a visit. She was always happy to see him whenever he called. Mrs. Iyabo didn't change her behaviour despite the hard lesson she ought to have learnt from her former maid. Sikira became very religious and spiritual as the months progressed. She always prayed to God to give her former boss the spirit of patience, forgiveness and love. However, Mrs. Iyabo was still her old self, very vengeful and full of venom; she cursed Sikira every day whenever she woke up in the morning. Mr. Adejobi always plead on the girl's behalf that it wasn't her fault but instead she would curse them both, using terrible and unprintable languages.

Nine months later Sikira gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. The boy looked exactly like Mr. Adejobi. The very day Sikira gave birth to her baby, Mrs. Iyabo somehow got to know. She fought with her husband that very day tearing his cloths to shreds. She even took a knife with the evil intention to stab him. Mr. Adejobi couldn't attend the naming ceremony of the baby but he sent a text message to Sikira to name the little boy Sunday, because he was born on Sunday, in the afternoon. That very morning, Mrs. Iyabo went inside her room, stripped herself naked and started raining evil curses on the baby boy and her mother. She continued her salvo of curses thus: "The snake emits poison, may the life of Sikira and her little baby be poisoned as from today! May she face disaster and calamity in her life! May her child suffer and not be happy! May Sikira and her baby die suddenly! May the young baby not live to old age! I command the evil forces and deities to deal mercilessly and wickedly on Sikira and her baby! **Ase! Ase!! Ase!!!**"

As Mrs. Iyabo rained those terrible curses on Sikira and her little baby something untoward happened to her body instantly. She started shaking and trembling. Her tongues and eyes were twitching. In the next few minutes her legs and arms had become lifeless as if there was no blood and bones inside it.

"Yee, I'm dying, Baba Itunu!" she screamed.

"What's the matter with you?" her husband said and came running towards her. At that particular moment she couldn't raise her left arm and legs again. Her eyes and tongues had become totally unmovable and were twitching continuously.

"My God, Iyabo, you have stroke and palsy! Let's go to the hospital! This is an emergency!" Mr. Adejobi said in a perturbed and worried state. Mrs. Iyabo Adejobi couldn't lift her left leg and arm again. The tears streamed down her brows uncontrollably. She was feeling terrible and excruciating pains all over her body. When she was rushed to the hospital she couldn't walk on her legs, she was carried by Mr. Adejobi and a kind neighbour into the vehicle.

That was how Mrs. Iyabo suffered the terrifying ailment called stroke. It got to the hearing of Sikira a couple of weeks later that her former boss was suffering from stroke. She felt so concerned and touched. She remembered that her late dad knew the medicinal remedy for such health problem. When Mr. Adejobi visited her the following week she gave him a bottle containing the best remedy for Mrs. Iyabo's problem.

"Take this medicine," she said "give it to her to drink. Once she drinks it her health would improve gradually." Mr. Adejobi was so happy and optimistic that the drug would work. On getting home he gave the medicine to his wife but she collected it reluctantly when she heard it was from Sikira. She thought she (Sikira) wanted to poison her. She drank the medicine after much pressure from her husband. Two days later she was cured of the deadly ailment. She was surprised and overwhelmed with joy that she could raise her legs and arms again and had a clean bill of health. She was so happy that she begged her husband to bring Sikira home to her so that she could thank her for saving her life from such a debilitating illness. On the d-day, Sikira came as promised. Mrs. Iyabo hugged her in joy and begged her to forgive her for all she did to her. After much apologies and prayers for Sikira she said it was God that healed her former boss and not her. Mrs. Iyabo welcomed her back into her home if she was willing. She agreed willingly. Mr. Adejobi had two plots of land that were very close to each other. He built Sikira a beautiful bungalow that houses only her and her handsome baby boy on the second plot of land. That was how Sikira's life changed for the better. She was a beautiful young lady whose parents were long dead but who fought tooth and nail to survive the hardship that life sometimes had to offer. She became very happy at the end of it all.

ENDS