"The axe forgets, but the tree remembers."
— African Proverb
"Where is maria?" Ibrahim demands.
That soon becomes the question on everybody's lips. Where is madam maria?
Mary answers when she is summoned to the room. "I don't know where she is. She hasn't come upstairs today."
That in itself is an ominous sign, as madam maria has not for one day missed coming up from her basement apartment.
Even when she hasn't felt her best, she has at least ventured up to monitor the progress of work.
"Let's not get too hasty," I pleaded. "Anyone could have intercepted the minister's meals. Let's not jump to the conclusion that she did it."
"I agree," Yusuf supports. "There's no way madam maria could have done such a thing. Have you seen the state of her since he died? She's even taking it worse than the rest of us."
"Nobody is suspecting her," officer mark clarifies. "It's just important that I ask her a few questions about who she believes might have had access to the minister's food that day. That's all." He looks at the rattled housekeeper. "Mary that's your name, right? Can you take me down to where she stays?"
"Actually, I think we should all be there while you're questioning her," Ibrahim says, rising to his feet. "She's not very educated in English, she is a french native and I wouldn't want you to confuse her with your questions."
I looked at Ibrahim in surprise, wondering when madam Maria's welfare was any of his concern.
But I also share his sentiment of not wanting her to be alone while being interrogated by the police.
The last thing I want is for her to say or do anything to incriminate herself.
As we make our way down to her basement apartment, I am ashamed that it has been a few years since I have been down these stairs to pay her a visit.
In the early days, eating with madam mariai, Catherine, and her disabled husband gave me the semblance of being at home with my own family.
It was during these visits that I bonded with her and formed a close friendship with Catherine. Her husband remained reserved, so we were never close.
I am filled with nostalgia as we approach the door leading to her apartment, reminded of happier times.
But the foul smell that assaulted us when we opened the door is anything but nostalgic. Lying on his bed, encased in his waste, is her husband Mr Lucian. The stench is so overwhelming, breathing is almost impossible.
"Ah! There you are" he exclaims. "I've been expecting you."
"Good morning sir" officer mark manages to say. "Are you okay this morning? Do you want someone to come and clean you up?"
"Where is maira your wife?" kamsir demands, clearly not interested in any pleasantries.
Mr Lucian smiles broadly. "kamsir! See how much you have grown. The last time I saw you, you were just a child," he looks at his elder brothers. "Yusuf, my friend. You were the only one who used to come down here to see me after my accident in the early days. You have grown into such a handsome man!"
I am not surprised that he has nothing to say to Ibrahim.
"Old man, where is your wife?" ibrahim demands.
It appears neither does he…
The smile remains on Lucian's face. "She has gone, She left early this morning. I'm even surprised she stayed this long. I thought she would have left this place the morning after the man died."
By this time, nobody even notices the rancid smell anymore.
"Sir, why do you say so?" officer Mark asks. "Why would she have had cause to leave?"
"See the table behind you," Lucian answers. "That was where she sat, crying and mixing poison. If you look properly, I'm sure the bottle she used is still lying under the table."
"poison?" officer mark repeats. "To give who?"
"That wretched man who has been sleeping with her almost from the very moment I married her and brought her to this place!" Lucian snaps, all humour gone from his face and voice.
My lips part, and my eyes widen in my shock. Looking around, I can see my reaction mirrored on everyone's face, even Ibrahim
" The minister?" Sergeant Ifedi exclaims.
"At first, they used to hide it," Lucian continues.
"She hadn't been here up to a month when I
started suspecting something was going on. The minister's wife at that time was still nursing Yusuf and was always upstairs with the baby. I later found out that Omar was sleeping with my wife, right under his wife's nose. My good friend, John, the former butler, walked in on them in the study, with the bastard mounted on top of my wife right there on his desk.
John told me…and he lost his job for it. I couldn't confront Omar , because I didn't want to lose my own job, but when I confronted my wife, she denied it, swearing on her mother's grave that she had done no such thing and that the people here were just jealous of our marriage and trying to ruin it," he chuckles and shakes his head. "But after my accident, they didn't bother hiding anymore. For over 45 years, I had to endure watching him as he slept with my wife right here in this room, right here in my presence. As early as 4 am most mornings, he would come and they would go at it like animals."
"In front of you?" officer mark exclaims.
"All I could do was lie here and watch them, completely helpless," Lucian answers, the pain still evident in his voice. "In the early days, I cried, I cursed, but nothing changed. After my accident made me completely dependent on her, my wife lost all respect for me. How can you respect a man whose buttocks you have to wipe clean? A man you have to feed, bathe, and take to the toilet? How can you have any regard for such a person? Such a man is nothing but an inconvenience, and she always made sure to remind me that was what I was to her. So, it was really no surprise to me that she would disrespect me like that. Omar would come, sleep with her, and they would even lie on the bed for sometime afterwards, talking as if there was no other human being in the room with them." He turns to look at me. "It was on that bed that they always discussed your matter. A lot of the things I heard her tell him were things I knew you had told her in confidence."
My legs are so weak that they can no longer support me. I sit on the only chair in the room, my mouth agape, shocked to my bones by this revelation.
"When Yusuf's and kasmir biological mother died, she thought he would marry her," Lucian continues, a sardonic smile on his face. "Everyone told her how much like Margret she was, and she believed that Omar would marry her because she reminded him so much of his first love. She would even taunt me with it, calling me a liability and how she couldn't wait for when she would abandon me in a hospital somewhere when she became the woman of the house." He shakes his head and chuckles. "It was a rude shock for her when Omar not only didn't marry her, he brought in another woman to the house. She wept bitterly that day, the day your predecessor who was disgraced in your front on the early days of your arrival. For a short while, he stopped coming down here, and I was even beginning to be happy that I had my wife back. But before I knew it, he was back in her bed…even though not as frequently as when Yusuf's mother was still alive. It was clear that he liked this new one, his German wife. He loved his wife but, for some reason, still felt the need to continue to sleep with mine. I think he enjoyed the power he had over the fact that he could bed her right before me, and I could do absolutely nothing about it. Before I had my accident, I was big, strong and intimidating. But there I now lay, in a crib, shriveled from my neck down, unable to do anything to stop him. I'm sure that must have made him feel even more of a man."
"Jesus Christ!" Yusuf exclaims, sitting on the table.
Even though the minister's promiscuity was no secret to anyone, hearing such a morbid tale is too much for any of us to even comprehend.
"She and the last wife bore Zeynep were mortal enemies. From what I overheard her and Omar discuss, it seems the woman had her suspicion about the two of them. When they finally chased her away, Maria's hopes were again raised. She was hopeful that this time Omar would elevate her to wife status. But that never happened," he looks at me, and we all know what happened after that.
The minister married me instead