Fragments

6

I stared at the words on my screen and my heart slammed hard against  my ribcage. I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was a letter in my inbox from my husband's email.

But, my husband supposedly died three months ago.

He is a military officer and was posted to the Sambisa forest about a year ago during the heat of the Boko Haram terrorist attacks in the North.

I never ceased to pray for his safety. However, my heart was shattered when I got the sad report that his troop's armoured tank was blow to smithereens in an ambush.

His wakekeep and burial was held in the barracks.

But now, with this email staring at me, I didn't know what to think.

A lot of clashing things came to my mind. What if this was a scammer who had somehow hacked my husband's email and wanted to dupe me?

The message, however, sounded urgent. It read:

"My love, I am alive. It was a set-up from the higher-ups. The government is trying to cover up their ugly secret. Please, transfer money to my account. I will find a way to withdraw it and get back to you. We have to be on the run. Don't tell anyone."

I decided to test if this was a hoax.

With shaky fingers, I typed a reply.

"I don't know what to think? Is this you, your ghost or a scammer? I don't want to be shattered. If this is you, tell me what is the one thing I am allergic to."

The response came some minutes later.

"Locust beans. You can't stand the sight smell or taste of them. If you eat it by accident, you will have hemorroids."

Oh boy! It was my husband. I shed tears of relief tinged with panic.