---
Mother-in-Law Palava
Chapter 6 – The Uninvited Guest and the Twist You Didn't See Coming
The popcorn I made was the most satisfying part of my day. I was living for the drama at that point—mostly because I wasn't the one about to be roasted.
While Femi stormed around the living room, raising his voice at Lady Dorcas and Aunty Sade, I casually popped a kernel into my mouth and leaned back in the kitchen doorway, watching it all unfold.
"Femi, this is all a misunderstanding," Lady Dorcas cried, her hands raised like she was about to lead a church service.
"Yes, Femi," Aunty Sade added, sounding like she had just received an award for Best Actress in a Dramatic Performance. "You have to trust us! Your wife is just… you know… a little out of control."
"I'm out of control?" I shouted from the kitchen. "I'm out of control? Who was planning to plant a necklace and a fake letter under my bed?"
Both of them went silent, their eyes wide, like they had just been caught in the act of robbing a bank.
Femi turned to them, his eyebrows threatening to reach his hairline. "What the hell is going on here? Are you both plotting against my wife?"
I grabbed my popcorn and walked into the living room, savoring the moment. "What? No hugs for me? You know, this whole drama started because of a fish dream and a recorder under the sofa."
Lady Dorcas straightened up, trying to regain some dignity. "It's not what you think, Femi. We were only trying to—"
"Trying to what?" I interrupted, throwing a handful of popcorn into my mouth. "Trying to ruin my life? Or maybe ruin our marriage? All in the name of spiritual cleansing?"
Just as Femi was about to say something, there was a sudden knock on the door.
"Who is that?" Femi asked, still fuming.
"I don't know," I replied, already half-expecting it to be another surprise plot twist. I swear my life was starting to feel like an episode of a Nigerian soap opera.
I opened the door, and standing in front of me was a tall man wearing a black suit. He looked like he had walked out of one of those classic Nigerian movies where the serious characters only appear when it's time for a plot twist.
"Good evening, ma," he said, his voice low and intense. "I am Inspector Bamidele from the Special Investigative Unit. I have a few questions regarding the incident in your house."
I looked him up and down. "Inspector? What incident?"
Femi came rushing up behind me, still shaking with anger. "What incident, sir? My house has been turned into a circus!"
Inspector Bamidele pulled out a piece of paper from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a photograph—a picture of a necklace, the same one Aunty Sade had mentioned earlier.
"Do you recognize this?" the inspector asked.
I stared at it for a second, and then my stomach dropped. The necklace was the one I had seen hanging in Lady Dorcas' drawer just the other day. How was this photo taken? Was I on Candid Camera?
Before I could respond, the inspector added, "It's been reported stolen, and we have reason to believe that it was planted here, under false pretenses."
"Planted?" Lady Dorcas gasped, looking like she'd just found out that the Earth wasn't flat. "No! That's—"
But the inspector wasn't done. "We also have evidence that the necklace was in possession of one of the people who reside here."
Aunty Sade's face turned ashen, and Lady Dorcas looked like she was about to faint, possibly out of drama overload.
"This is ridiculous!" Femi yelled. "How could you accuse my family of—"
Inspector Bamidele raised a hand to silence him. "I'm not accusing anyone, sir. But the facts are undeniable."
I stepped forward, tapping my chin like I was solving a mystery. "So what happens now?"
The inspector looked at me, his face unreadable. "We will need to conduct a full investigation, and we'll need cooperation from everyone in this house."
I glanced at Femi, who was staring at me like I had just given him a surprise birthday party with no cake. "Looks like we have ourselves a new twist in this drama."
And that's when the real drama began—because in the middle of all this chaos, no one had yet figured out who planted the recorder under the sofa.
As the inspector and Femi continued to argue, I couldn't help but smirk. This was going to be too much fun.
To be continued…
---