5 CHAPTER 5

By the time he had reached the fifteenth lash, his wife had stopped crying out for help, and was slumped limply on the back of the chair. She seemed to be unconscious. Then Henry suddenly stopped lashing and called her name, hoping she wasn't dead.

"Ireti, Ireti..." no answer.

"You better stop pretending or I will lash you some more!" still no response.

At this time, he dropped his belt and moved to Ireti's side, refusing to touch her as her back was oozing blood. She looked dead and Henry panicked. Suddenly, he began to look around the room, frantically searching for something. What? He did not know, as he was clueless. The man walked back to his bed, sat down and scratched his naked head. He had to do something before someone found out what had happened. Before the cook became suspicious of their silence. After all, Ireti was screaming the entire time he flogged her. Now she was dead and he didn't know what to do.