The Black Widow Spider Part 2: Dangle and Withdraw

Short Story
The Black Widow Spider Part 2: Dangle and Withdraw
By Lawrence Kadzitche

From the glitzy restaurant, Sabina drove as the crow flies to the elegant suburb just out of town. Her destination was a massive house in a huge walled compound. The sliding doors of the automatic golden gate were already parting as her BMW approached the gate.

“Good afternoon, Mrs Gudumu,” the guard, resplendent in a blue uniform and jackboots, hailed her.

She acknowledged the greeting with a wave of her hand and then drove on. The drive way leading to the house was flanked on either side by palm trees. Powerful sprinklers watered the deep green grass lawns surrounding the massive building. On the far right of the house, water in an ernomous swimming pool glinted a brilliant blue in the afternoon sun. Birds chirped and played in shrubs doting the garden. Butterflies chased each other in the flowers.

Sabina pulled up at the front of the house. She leaned over and retrieved her tote bag from the back seat. Out of the hand bag, she took out a case of makeup and preening herself in the mirror, quickly touched her face. Her friend Roz always demanded that one must always look the best at all times. She always said one must always be ready in case an opportunity showed up without notice.

Satisfied, she slid out of the car and gyrated towards the house. A uniformed servant opened the front door for her. She went through the large hall and kicked open the double door leading to the lounge. Picking up a TV remote control pad, she chose her favourite channel and then settled herself in a sofa.

A few minutes later, Roz appeared in the lounge, exuding class and style in a tailored midi floral print dress. Ivory leather stretch sandals with gold chains draping over her feet bloomed her style. The pendant in the necklace around her neck was of a large AAAAA grade pearl. A diamond ring flashed from her little finger.

“Bina!” she shouted stretching out her arms. “Welcome, darling.”

Sabina jumped to her feet and the two women hugged affectionately. They could almost pass for twins only that Roz was at least a decade older than Sabina. But her perfectly made-up face almost hid the age difference.

Roz went to the dining room and brought a bottle of red wine and two glasses. She poured two drinks and gave Sabina one.

“You sounded excited on the phone,” Roz said, exhilaration vibrating in her husky voice. “What is it, my dear?”

“You remember I told you that I intended to go back into the pond for fishing?”

Roz smiled, looking at the wine sparkling in the glass. “Yes, you told me.”

“The goddess of luck has passed my way sooner than I’d thought, Roz.”

“Tell me about it.”

“As you know, my husband’s business is all but finished. The house I’m building is very expensive so I’ve more or less cleaned him out. I planned to finally dump him after picking the remaining fresh from his bones. Guess what happened before I could do that?”

Roz’s response was to take a satisfied sip from her drink.

“Today I dragged him to the Ritz for lunch. I didn’t know that the man was already dead. Just imagine he couldn’t afford to pay for the lunch!”

“What?” Roz asked with genuine surprise.

“He literally couldn’t pay. Dumped his miserable pennies on the table and walked out on me. Can you imagine something more embarrassing than that?”

“No,” Roz replied honestly.

Sabina’s face lit up. “And when I was trying to figure out what to do, can you guess what happened?”

Roz smiled brightly. “A bright flower has no shortage of bees.”

“Exactly. A man materialised from nowhere. Just one look told me God had sent a coin minting machine my way!”

“Wow!”

“And he was staring at me as if he had never seen a woman. He had the word ‘madly fallen in love’ written in capital letters all over his face.”

“I can stake my life that you didn’t waste the opportunity…”

“I learned from the best,” Sabina said gesturing towards Roz with her head. “I pretended I knew him from somewhere and the rest, as they say, is history,”

Roz smiled. “I taught you well, darling. So is he marriage material?”

Sabina wrinkled her nose. “Nope. He’s a shallow mine that will dry up quickly. He has won a very big contract but by the time I’ll be through with him there will be no way he’ll recover.”

“So it’s use and discard?”

“Yep, disposable material. He can last a year, two tops but after that he’ll be way past his sell date,” Sabina disclosed.

“Not bad, Bina. By then you’ll have finished your house and you can look for another fool with money to waste,” Roz voiced her approval.

Sabina ran her eyes in the posh sitting room. The splendour of the room never ceased to amaze her. It was a show piece of luxury. On the tapestry wall hung glamorous pictures in expensive frames. A 70 inches flat television screen was mounted on the wall above a TV stand where there was a decoder. A cast figure of a spotted dog stood in one corner. Various ornaments stood on a coffee table in another corner. Several armchairs provided extra sitting space for visitors. Three more husbands and she should be able to catch up with her friend, she thought with satisfaction.

After six marriages, Roz had now retired and was now happily enjoying the fruits of financial settlements from the failed marriages by giving and attending luxurious parties. Sabina was following in her footsteps. The mansion she was building was half finished. After ditching her husband, she was convinced that Donovan would complete it. However, she was aware that by that time, Donovan would also be bankrupt so she would have to find another better half to finish it.

“I’m seeing him this coming Saturday at the Continental.”

“Great. Remember at the beginning, the rule of the game is dangle and withdraw,” Roz advised. “It’s only after the first huge deposit that you allow the donkey taste the carrot.”

“Here we go, dangle and withdraw!” the two women shouted in unison clinking their glasses.

End of Part Two