One good reason
“I love
what you’ve done with this place.” Wole said.
Paul
nodded as he took his friend around the site.
“This is
where the living room will be. Over there would be a swimming pool. And that
corner just after that curved block will be the children’s game room.”
“You
have really taken your time to put this together. The rooms are very spacious
and I love what you’ve done with the bathrooms. Really nice finish.”
The two
men walked up the stairs to the first floor.
“Here
would be our rooms. Mine and my wife would be over there, the children’s would
be there and we have an extra room to cater for house help if we need one
anytime.”
Wole
marveled at the masterpiece. It was obvious on his expression.
“You
better be prepared.”
“What
for?” Paul asked.
“Mine
own apartment too naa.”
“Haba, no
worries. I have great masterpieces for you. You know I know how to yank surprises out of the bag…?”
“Nice.
Honestly, I’m proud of the work you’ve put together here. And how much would
finishing this thing cost you?”
“I was
told roughly 14million…”
“Whoa!
That’s a lot of money.”
“Yeah.
But we are doing it one step at a time. At least we have spent 8million so far…
”
“Lord!
8million?”
“Yep.”
“So is
the money coming from this your honeymoon thingy?”
“Its
called honeymoon and gifts. Not thingy. Bushman. And yeah, the business has been good.”
“You
must have good clientele.”
“Yeah,
we have been favored to say the least.”
“So
proud of you guys… honestly.”
“Thank
God for my wife o. She has just been wonderful.”
“You can
say that again.”
“Speaking
of which… you wanted to talk to me…?” Paul looked at him questioningly
“Yeah.”
Wole rubbed his palm on his head
“Let me
guess, it’s about your relationship abi?”
“Paulo,
what else?”
“Ok, so
what is it this time?”
“Can we
find somewhere to sit?”
“Yeah
sure. There are two cane chairs downstairs.”
They
walked back down the flight of stairs to the place where the cane chairs were.
After
they have sat down, Paul started, “So what has happened this time?”
“Paul
why are you talking like this now…?”
“How am
I talking?”
“Like my
problem about women is too much…”
“Actually
I did not mean it that way…”
“Ok.
This is the issue. Interesting and scary…”
“Ok…?”
“I saw
Bolaji. She said she had forgiven me and we made up. I then proposed to her and
she said yes only for it to be a dream… God! Am I crazy?”
“No. You
are not crazy. It could happen. Our minds replay our deepest thoughts such that
it reflects these images in our dreams. You must have been thinking such
thought before that dream…”
“Not
exactly. But I have been thinking about Bolaji a lot lately.” Wole said looking
down at his feet.
“Yeah.
It could have contributed…”
“But
don’t they say when you have such dreams that you have been possessed?”
“Now
that’s another story. I don’t agree with some of the things some of this so-called
pastors say. Some say these things are said out of fear or out of what they’ve
heard and not necessarily based of the word of God. Now as a true child of God,
once you know your right in Christ, such influences are tricks of the devil to
hold you in bondage. Your thought and your actions becomes riddled with fear.
I’m not saying some of these things are not true so that we don’t become
complacent, but we should not give the enemy the power he does not have…”
“I hear
you pastor. So I’m not possessed?”
“No you
are not.”
“So what
do I do now? I have been worried sick. I have tried to see other ladies hoping
to move on but I can’t seem to keep them. My mind is divided. And they always
notice it. I think mostly about Bolaji.”
“What
about Fatima?”
“I don’t
want to go down that lane. It’s a shame what I did to Fatima but I can’t change
it. And her family doesn’t want her to marry a westerner anyway. ”
“It’s
lame.”
“What’s
lame?”
“Your
excuse.”
“Paul,
why do you always push hard when you know it hurts by itself?”
“No
offense Wole. If you don’t come to terms with yourself and understand that what
you have done is wrong and no excuse can clear you up, you will continue to be
a victim of your past.”
“Ok.
Now, you want to start sermon on my head abi?”
“No. The
first step to healing is forgiving yourself. Many times when we are hurting and
we have forgiven others, we find it difficult to forgive ourselves then we
start to make excuses for our mistakes and instead of the wound to heal, we just
patch it up. Someday, something will strike a chord in that place and reopen
the wound. And that could be very painful not just for you but for the people in
your life as well. Families suffer from covered wounds. ”
“Now,
speaking to you as made me far worse.” Wole said.
“No
Wole. I think you need to go for counseling.”
“Me?
How?”
“I have
a friend. He is very very good. He counsels couples, singles and widows. He is
very good, I tell you. When you get to his office, just say you are from Paul
Peters. We are very close friends. I can bet he will attend to you and it would
do a whole lot of good.”
“Why do
you think I need to seek counsel?”
“No
matter what I tell you, you are already familiar with me and that could sometimes
becloud your judgement. You need to see an expert and someone different.”
“I don’t
know about that though…”
“Give it
a shot. What would it cost you?”
Wole
shrugged. “Is he expensive?”
“Not
really.”
“Not
really like how much not really?”
“Well,
coming from me, he would just charge you registration fees. Which is just
N25,000.”
“That’s
a lot just to get someone to talk to you.”
“Just
give it a shot. It’s a money back guaranty.”
“Now
that’s more like it...”
“You
will be glad you did, I promise you.”
They
spoke for another 35 minutes.
Then, Paul
gave him directions to the office and also gave him the man’s number.
“I will
go and see him tomorrow. Can you please call to tell him I'll be coming ahead? Many
of these guys always need you to book an appointment.”
“I would
not want to alert him of your coming. You just go and say Paul Peters. If it
becomes troublesome, then you give me a call.”
“Ok.
Thanks bro. I really appreciate.”
“It’s no
problem.”
The two
men shook hands and Wole left.
* * *
Five days ago.
Jennifer had Martins at her place.
“His money drops every Wednesday between 5 and
6pm unfailingly. I guarantee you.” Martins said. His was serious and Jennifer
could read it.
“Ok…?”
“You would call him at 6:30pm when he is still
in his office. Tell him you miss him and want to spend the rest of the evening
with him. He will likely tell you he would not be available tonight. Find some
seductive thing to tell him. You know him well now… You know what he likes…”
“I don’t know what he likes…”
“Common, Jennifer, there’s a reason why he
loves you more than the rest of his mistresses. There must be something you do
to him.” He raised his left eye brow.
Jennifer thought about it for a moment. Then
she said, “Ok say he allows me to see him, what next?”
“Simple, do what you ladies do best.”
“Like what?”
“Knock him out…”
“If you want to speak, speak. What is all this
gallivanting about?”
“Ok, drop something into his drink. Simple.”
Jennifer raised an eyebrow.
“What kinda guy are you for Christ’s sake? You
are mean.”
“Come off it my dear. Its what you ladies do.
Stop acting holy.”
Jennifer shakes her head in amazement.
“So once he is out, take the bag and move out
immediately. Meet me at Kommy Central Park. We will decide what to do
afterwards.”
Jennifer was still surprised but she agreed
nonetheless.
“Ok. Make sure you don’t spend another second
in his room. The security guards watching him would be expecting him to call
them by 7:00pm. If they do not get his
call, they would start to move up to his room. You need to act very fast.”
“And what happens afterwards?”
“Like I said, you meet me at Kommy Central
Park. I will be waiting for you there. We would then decide what to do with the
money.”
Thirty minutes later, Martins had left her
apartment and she was on the phone with one of her friends.
“So I go meet am for Kommy central park after I
don move the money…”
“O babe,
you dey craze? You go move the money come go meet am for Kommy park for night.
Na kill dem go kill you throway… Walahi! Them go kill you come carry the money.”
“Me sef think am. The craze guy think say I be
mumu. Make I go risk my life to steal money then make I come carry am give am?
Me Jennifer. I go shock am!”
“So wetin
you go do?” The voice on the other end asked.
“Abeg, come my house tomorrow. I go need pack
up my things just in case.”
“As in,
you wan miss?”
“Na so naa. I need to pack up. ”
Two days after, Jennifer and her friend had
moved into the Creason-Crème Hotel. They had booked into room B714 on the
seventh floor.
On Wednesday, the fifteenth of May at about
6:27pm, Jennifer called the Chief.
“Hello Chief…” Her voice was seductive.
“How are
you?” The Chief replied calmly.
He was seldom ruffled.
“I miss you.”
“My
babie. I would not be available tonight to see you. Duty calls…” His voice
sounded distant.
“Oh Chief, it’s been almost 2weeks now… ”
“I have
been moving in and out of the country and …”
“Chief I will give you the massage. I owe you that much.”
The other end of the line was quiet. Jennifer
knew the Chief could not resist the massage.
“You will put me in trouble you this girl. The massage you say?”
“Yeah. Chief and all other things following
after…”
“Jennifer… Ok.. meet me in my office…” He could
not resist. Even though his instincts were ringing all the alarms somewhere in
his head. He just could not resist the massage.
“I’m already in your office. I’m on the second
floor as we speak. ”
“Really?” He said surprised.
The alarms rang again.
Her move
looked too coincidental. She had never asked to see him on a day he got the
money.
He looked at the bag, then after a moment, he
just shrugged it off. Anything for that massage.
“I miss you very much Chief.”
“Ok since you are already here, you might as
well just come in.”
Before the Chief could reach for his bag filled
with money, the door of his office flung open.
Jennifer stood at the door in a provocatively short
dress. The top of the dress opened up to reveal a lot of cleavage. Her hair was
packed up in a ponytail bringing her face to the fore. Her slim long legs were
bare and clean. She had long eyelashes to accentuate her eyes. She looked angelic.
The Chief just sat at his desk and stared.
The massage,
he thought.
The Chief yawned.
His bare big belly bounced as he jumped up from
the chair.
Jennifer stood up beside him.
“I need to use the bathroom.” He said walking
away.
She turned to watch him as his bulky frame made
its way to the bathroom.
He did not turn to look at her but she knew he
was watching her closely.
Her hands were shaking. She could see the bag
where the money was but somehow her feet would not move.
She stayed there and just looked.
There was noise coming from the bathroom. The
Chief was coughing.
“Are you ok?” Jennifer called out.
“Ye…yes I’m ok.”
He emerged from the bathroom after a few
minutes.
His bare broad chest moved fast. He moved
quickly. His eyes graced the bag that contained the money he just received as
he walked past it. It was not touched.
He relaxed.
“Are you ok?”
Jennifer was by his side massaging his
shoulders. He loved when she did that.
“Hmm. Thank you. I needed that.”
Jennifer looked at the bag of money again. It
sat very close to his desk.
“Chief…”
“Yes…”
“I need a favor…”
“You have come again o. What is it this
time?”
“I need some money…”
Like a startled antelope, the Chief jumped off
the chair quickly aiming for the bag of money. He pulled on the zipper. Clean,
fresh dollar notes lined the inside of the bag. It also had naira notes as
well. He closed back the zipper and looked up. Jennifer was looking for
something in her bag.
He smiled. She
did not see the contents of the bag, he thought.
Jennifer knew what was in that bag.
She pretended she did not see what he did. She
got up from the sofa and went to the small fridge.
She pulled out the bottle of Blue fuel. It was
half empty already.
“Would you love some Chief?”
“That would be great.”
She took two glasses from the shelf and poured
the liquor generously.
The Chief was watching her closely.
She handed one of the glasses to the Chief. He
waited for her to drink from her cup before he allowed himself to some of the
content in the glass he was holding. It was safe to drink.
“So like I was saying Chief, I want to go shopping
in Dubai with my friends next week and I need money.”
“I see…”
He yawned again.
“Chief please…”
“I don’t have a lot of money with me now but I
will send you 1million tomorrow.” He lied.
When he was not looking, she made a smirk.
He stood up from the sofa and walked to his
desk. His brief was barely on.
Jennifer smiled behind his back. She could
sense the drug was taking over.
The chief yawned again. This time he slammed on
his chair knocking the documents on his table as he fell over. His big bulk
made a thick blam sound as he hit the floor.
He was flat out in the next minute.
Without hesitating, Jennifer walked to the bag
of money. She opened it. When she saw the pile of cash, she was shocked.
“Jesus…”
She muttered.
The Chief was fast asleep.
She opened her bag and started to move the
money into her bag. Her bag was a big bag—she had come prepared.
When her bag could not contain anymore? She
examined the bag to make sure there was no dollar note left in the bag. When
she was sure that she had moved all the dollar notes into her bag, she dropped
the bag on the floor.
She zipped her bag up.
After she had adjusted her hair and she was
glad with what she saw in the mirror, she turned to leave the room.
When she got to the door, she looked outside. The bodyguards were jesting aloud and slapping each other at the back. They knew
whenever the Chief had his mistress, it always lasted the whole night into the
early hours of the morning so they were not expecting any surprises. That
worked to Jennifer’s advantage.
She slipped carefully, tiptoeing until she was out of
site.
When she got to the last floor, she walked
briskly to the entrance.
She pulled out her phone and called the taxi cab she had spoken to earlier.
In less than 3minutes, he was at the gate.
She hurriedly got into the taxi.
“Oga Thomas, thank you.” She said to the man at the wheels. He reeked of alcohol.
“Aunty no problem. Na money matter.”
“That one na small thing.” She assured him.
The driver pulled the taxi out of the street and hit the
highway.
* * *
Michelle wore her light green swatch wristwatch
to match her bag. The wristwatch was a gift from her husband on their wedding
anniversary two years ago.
She looked at the mirror again. She made some
adjustment to her hair—it looked like one side wasn’t well tucked in properly. She
adjusted her blue denim pants as well.
She obviously loved what she saw in the mirror.
It was going to be her first date and she
wanted to look just right. She turned a little to check how well the denim
pants hugged her. It did just fine.
The light green blouse was perfect too.
She looked at herself again in the large
mirror.
When she was satisfied, she picked up her small
purse and the keys and left the room.
She turned off all the lights as she made her
way out of the suite. It was a routine she was accustomed to.
She turned the keys in the locks and locked the
door.
The sign on the door read, A705.
Then she made her way towards the elevator.
The bag was heavy but she was not going to
bulge. She adjusted the strap on her shoulders properly so that the bag would
not slip off and fall.
As she made her way up the stairs in front of
the Creason-Crème Hotel, it seemed everyone was looking at her. Or at least she
imagined so. She imagined what was going on through their minds. But after many
attempts, she shrugged it off. My head is
just playing tricks with me.
Her phone rang. She reached for it in her pants
pocket.
It was her friend calling her.
“Where
you dey?”
“I don dey come. I don reach the hotel. I’m
going towards a lift now.”
“Ok. The money
dey?”
“You wan try. Wait make I reach upstairs first…”
“Ok.”
She dropped the call and put the phone back in
her pocket.
She adjusted the loose strap of her bag again.
The elevators were busy. But there was one coming
down.
She watched as the numbers changed. 5 4 3 2 1.
Then the elevator opened and people came out of
it quickly.
Two of them stepped into the opened carriage.
The lift attendant punched their numbers in the
control knobs.
The doors closed and the lift began to ascend.
When it got to the 3rd floor, the other lady got
off. Jennifer did not as much as looked at the face of anyone on the lift. She just
wanted to get off quickly.
Then, it continued to ascend.
Michelle waited for the approaching lift.
When the counter got to 7, the elevator
stopped.
Then the door began to open.
Michelle looked at her wristwatch. The time was
7:49pm. Her date was for 8:00pm. She could not wait for the occupant of the
lift to step out. She tried to brush her way in when she hit the hand of the lady
come out.
The bag she was carrying fell down.
“Take it easy now.” Jennifer yelled at the
woman.
When the eyes of the two women met, there was a
sudden pause. Each person recognized the other.
Michelle knew who this was.
Jennifer picked up her bag and started to walk
away ignoring the recent incident.
“Please wait…” Michelle told the lift
attendant. The young man in his red and grey outfit nodded.
Michelle stepped out and followed the lady that
just left.
Jennifer began to pick up her steps. She heard
footfalls coming up behind her.
“Hello.” Michelle called out.
Jennifer pretended not hear her. She
continued walking.
“Hello. Hello. I know you can hear me.”
Michelle called out again.
Jennifer did not break her steps. She was about
to turn to the B-wing when Michelle said suddenly, “Jennifer, I know that is
you.”
Jennifer broke her steps and turned to face the
woman who was at her side in an instant.
“How can I help you?” Jennifer said calmly.
“I know who you are. You this prostitute! I
know you very well. And I know you know who I am…”
“Hey, you this foolish woman, you better watch
your mouth…”
“Or what? What can you this skinny good for
nothing slut possibly do?”
Jennifer pointed her hand in the woman’s face.
Michelle slapped the fingers off.
“Don’t point that filthy finger in my face…” She yelled at her.
“You know what? I don’t have your time now. I
have more important pressing matters.”
Jennifer started to walk away. Michelle pulled her by her jacket.
Jennifer started to walk away. Michelle pulled her by her jacket.
“Where do you think you are going to…?”
Jennifer swung her bag. It hit Michelle on her
head. She stumbled but she did not fall.
Michelle went for Jennifer’s hair and pulled.
Jennifer squealed. She swung her bag a second
time hitting Michelle’s grip off her hair. She kicked aiming for Michelle’s leg
but it missed.
Michelle slapped her of the face so hard
Jennifer spun. She stumbled and fell over. She had barely hit the ground before
Michelle kicked her in the leg twice.
Jennifer screamed. “Help me o. This witch
wants to kill me.”
“You have not seen anything today…”
Jennifer scrambled to her feet and picked up
her bag.
Michelle reached out for another slap but it
missed. Jennifer saw it coming.
It was Jennifer’s turn. She grabbed on Michelle’s
hair and pulled it hard. Michelle groaned under the pain but she managed to free
herself. Jennifer swung her bag again. This time, it hit Michelle directly on
the head knocking her off her feet.
When Jennifer noticed Michelle was off her
feet. She went on her and with open palms began to slap Michelle on the face.
Michelle blocked most of the blows and because
she was bigger, she pushed Jennifer off.
She drew on Jennifer’s short gown so much that
it ripped. It left a big opening at her butt exposing the red lingerie
underneath.
Jennifer kicked out. The kick hit Michelle on
the face.
Michelle moved quickly to her feet. She was
holding one of Jennifer legs. Jennifer was struggling to rid her leg off Michelle's grip.
Michelle dug her nails into the leg.
Jennifer squealed. “Someone help me o. This woman
would kill me here o.”
Michelle flung the leg sideways making Jennifer
to turn face down.
She climbed on Jennifer’s back.
“You this useless, stupid, foolish prostitute.
You… will.. not.. get your own,.. husband… its…”
She started to slap Jennifer on the head. She
had pinned her down with hers knees at the hips so Jennifer could not free
herself.
Jennifer used her bag to block some of the blows. She was twisting and turning in an attempt to free herself. Michelle just kept slapping away. She was infuriated.
Jennifer reached out with her bag and swung it hard. It hit Michelle's left arm. It made Michelle stop. She did it again but this time, Michelle caught the bag and yanked it off her hand.Jennifer with some effort pushed Michelle from off her back. But Michelle grabbed her by the right arm preventing her from getting to her feet. Jennifer kicked again. This time is made a direct hit and Michelle's right temple, knocking her over. Without hesitating, Jennifer slapped Michelle across her face close to the side of her neck. Michelle's face was red at the impact.
She got to her feet quickly and pulled Jennifer up to her feet. Then she jammed her fist into Jennifer's abdomen. Jennifer squealed and fell over.
But she fell on her knees. michelle kicked her on her buttocks. jennifer picked up her bag and swung it again. It went in the wrong direction. She was no match for Michelle. And she knew it.
She could see Michelle's swollen lips. Like an embittered lioness, Michelle jumped on Jennifer, knocking her flat on her stomach. She climbed on Jennifer's back again.
"Somebody help me o. This woman is going to kill me here." Jennifer was screaming now.
"Yo...you this stupid, useless slut. I will kill you here today... I will kill you to.. today."
"Someboooooody help me pleease."
"Nobody will save you today."
Michelle was ramming blows into Jennifer. Anywhere her fist could get to.
"Heeeeelp me somebody... help me ooo."
She was twisting and turning to free herself but Michelle was not letting her go this time.
Some men came running up the corridor and saw
the two women fighting. They rushed in and pulled Michelle off Jennifer’s back.
Jennifer was still holding on to the bag when
she got up. She was breathing heavily. So was Michelle.
“Madam why are you doing this now…?” One of the
men asked looking in Michelle’s direction. Her lips was swollen from Jennifer’s
kick earlier.
“It’s this stupid prostitute that scattered my
home… you should have left me with her and let me teach her lessons she did not
learn from home.”
The two men looked at Jennifer. Her hair was
scattered and her gown had been ripped. She was holding tightly to her bag.
“Next time Madam call security. ” The older man
said.
“Ok, so I’m supposed to call security and say
what exactly…?” Michelle shot back at the security chief.
Jennifer started to walk away.
“Hello madam…” The younger security called
after Jennifer.
She did not even as much as turn. She just kept
walking.
The two men looked at Michelle who was fuming
as she saw Jennifer walking away.
“You guys better keep that girl away from me
before I kill someone in this hotel…”
Her phone rang.
It was her date calling.
She picked the call.
* * *
Kommy Central Park was seldom quiet. But it was
tonight. It was the perfect spot for any covert operation. The trees were
properly lined up. The green lush carpet grass was clean and seemed to glimmer
under the light.
Martins sat on one of the wooden benches that were
hidden under the shadows—they somehow missed the light.
He tried Jennifer’s number for the 14th
time. It rang but it was not picked.
He looked at his wristwatch. It was 8:13pm.
His phone rang.
It was Jennifer.
“Hey.”
“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach
you. Are you ok? ” He asked out of concern.
“Where
are you now?”
“Where we planned we were to meet… Why?”
“I almost got beaten to death today…”
“Really? What happened?”
“Long
story…”
“Where are you now? Did you get the money?
where were you beaten?”
“Yeah, I
got the money.”
The call dropped suddenly.
He looked at the phone.
He tried to dial her number again. This time,
there was no connection.
She got
the money?
He got up from the wooden bench. He was going
to see her at home.
She must
be at home now, he thought.
****************************************
CHAPTER 16 Coming Soon
****************************************
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