XENA DIS WORK IS INCREDIBLY RICH AND WONDERFUL..... BT PLS CONTINUE....
DIS IS ONE IN A LIFETIME SERIES..... MORE IDEAS TI YOU...

Ok, quiet NL member, dis is gooooooooooodddddd!!!!!! Biko update.

I have followed many stories on NL, been spellbound by many, but never commented on one so soon after starting to read it. the intricate weaving of past, present and the possible future gives it an edge of suspense and thrill like no other. Nice piece and I close with the cliché "more grease to your elbow".

Ladies and gentlemen, this is to inform u that this story "don enter voice mail". The pilot requests that u all alight @ d next airport.
Any questions, NO.
Thanks.

My fellow nairalanders,this story has already been concluded...it was naira land's black out that erased the data.thanks

But hw can we get the concluding part.

Animog: But hw can we get the concluding part.

I dnt rily knw...mayb u shud ax an expert

Hello folks,
I am sorry this story was wiped out due to the outage Nairaland experienced as Candis09 and Vigorous V (thank you darlings) pointed out. Funmercy1 directed my attention to this by mail and here is the completion of the work. I am delighted you are enjoying it and want to hug you all in gratitude. Hope the ending does not disappoint you. Cheers, hugs and kisses.

Zandra,Saturday, July 30th 2005

Some event planners were wacko, this one was standing like an antenna, one leg up in the air with her hands placed in a weird contortion. This was her way of describing how to place a particular piece of flower while yelling at a staff in Spanish with a thick Yoruba accent; she wondered how Spanish was useful in the whole scenario, considering the fact that none of them knew Spanish. Then she remembered that the event planner never failed to mention that her sister was an ambassador to Spain and she just came back from visiting her sister on the request of Ma Williams to plan her birthday. She had left Ma Williams to deal with the woman as it was Ma Williams that knew her, she couldn’t deal with the pretentiousness. If there was a next time she was going to have an event in her honor she knew she wasn’t going to have this weird self important event coordinator involved, even if she had her she would take time to clip her wings before anything else, she didn’t care what Ma Williams would say.

Letting out a sigh she reminisced about the past weeks which had been a whirlwind. You know how the reaction of animals to threatening situations is meant to either fight or flight? Hers usually was flight. She had initially kept away from Samson ignored all his calls again and never left Sesan’s side at the hospital, she had renewed her vows not to ever leave Sesan. Sesan had become extra loving, and you could say she was almost happy, although she had to give up her space at the side of his hospital bed when he informed her Marilyn was coming. To keep up the charade with Marilyn’s family she had to leave. It wouldn’t look good on Sesan’s resume if she was there and they had planned this all this while, it would be selfish of her to want to stay so she left.

Marilyn didn’t let him go easy, she made sure her father moved him from the present hospital to a posh one and immediately suggested a vacation when he let her know he wanted to commit suicide because he was depressed. He had admitted to Marilyn that he tried to commit suicide, he was depressed and wanted to end it all but he removed the part about Zandra leaving him, he came up with a more self loathing explanation about how he was a complete failure, although his ideas were helping Marilyn’s father’s bank to make headway. Marilyn had cried her eyes out and said she would fix him, he didn’t say he was okay to stay behind with Zandra, he let Marilyn try to fix him.

It hurt her a little, it even hurt her more when he said he was going on vacation somewhere with Marilyn, he wanted her to come along but she would be unseen, he would creep to meet her when he had the chance to. When she complained he had carefully explained to her that if she was to be his wife, after he became one of the most successful men in Nigeria and didn’t have to do what she was doing right now as she hoped, she would have to share him with Marilyn. After all he had always shared her. So she let him go but chose to stay behind, she didn’t want to be selfish, but more importantly she didn’t want to feel used.

She had stayed in Sesan’s house trying her best to evade Samson, until he called her with a number she didn’t recognize. She wouldn’t have picked it but for some reason that day she took the risk and it burnt her. It was Samson breathing to her at the end of the line.

“Zandra what is this, what is all this, where are you?” He sounded like he was in pain, her hands grew heavy as she was about to end the call. All she did was stand there unable to provide an answer. She missed him so much, his voice, his concern, everything about him but she had to end the call. Two minutes later she called him back, she couldn’t just hold back, she knew she was courting danger with her confused mind but she couldn’t help it. She had apologized to him, she had said she needed some time alone, a lot had been going on in her head, she was in a hotel, then she lied that she finally let Sesan go when he asked her about him. He didn’t seem to care he just wanted to see her, so she ran to a nearby hotel, booked a room and told him to come see her there. She had thought about switching off again, her head kept on nagging at her to run away from Samson, but something else kept her glued. His voice alone brought back so many sweet memories that made her go wild with desire, her heart was pumping so fast she thought it would burst. She called Sesan to be sure he wasn’t coming back anytime soon to find out she had gone back on her words and betrayed him.

When she saw Samson, she wondered why she had abstained from him. He was so perfect, she was the luckiest girl in the world but yet so unlucky. Maybe she was drawn to him more because she knew she couldn’t have him, but she knew she didn’t want to let him go just yet so she surrendered to him again, scared for herself, scared more for him, haunted because she couldn’t tell him the truth. She didn’t understand how he could accept her back, it was like he knew she had demons and he was willing to fight them with her. She wished she could tell him she would never be his partner fully but after Tarkwa bay how could she tell him she couldn’t handle Sesan. She would just have to wait and see how this pans out.

“Birthday girl, birthday girl” Ma Williams was snapping her hands to gain her attention, as she was transfixed in her thoughts while clutching tightly to a glass of milk.
“ Yes Ma.”
“Why are you not prepping for make up? You have no mask on your face to prep your skin and the event starts in four hours. What are you even doing here, have you been following the beauty regime the beautician gave you. I can see a pimple popping up just under your chin.” The woman looked like she was about to have a heart attack, she wondered briefly if the woman ever had a relaxing thought in her mind.
“The pimple is nothing ma, it is getting ripe I will burst it.”
“ Burst what? Burst a pimple? Are you insane? This is why I like Francesca, she is proper.”
“Madam you can’t arrange Francesca anymore for your son, she is married and you know I arranged that right.” Ma Williams gave her a terrible stare which was meant to caution her but it amused her even more. This woman cared about the most unnecessary things.
“Go and get dressed now.”
“Okay okay. I am on my way. You really do not need to be a head mistress about it.” She only mentioned that because she knew Ma Williams was once a teacher and head mistress. She didn’t think she would make it as far as marrying Samson although she hoped she would, if it didn’t happen, she planned to have fun with this woman while it lasted.

While she was getting pampered, Samson came to check up on her, he seemed more excited than her. He was giddy as he made her guess what he had gotten her as birthday gifts, she had guessed wrong by mentioning jewelry, he had bought her that on two occasions as pre-birthday presents. It was insane how he treated her like a princess, when in fact she was the lowest of the female hierarchy chain. He finally let her know that one of the gifts included a Ferrari he had always wanted for himself but since she drives him around a lot, he got it for her so they could both drive it. She knew he was just trying to make it seem okay that he was spending an insane amount of money on her but she didn’t care. She got up to hug and kiss him with excitement, leaving all the hair rollers that was being put on her head to fall off while spilling the tray of fake nails the manicurist was about to attach to her nails. She couldn’t help it when she heard Sesan’s criticism that Samson only did this because she amused him, as she was a freak show entertaining him, she wished that cynical voice wasn’t there yet it taunted her. Samson could feel her go cold, when he asked her if she was okay she answered in the affirmative. He soon excused himself to let her finish up.

It was curiously silly how she let Sesan’s words affect her she knew. Samson had gone through great lengths to arrange a birthday party for her, yet she was here acting silly. They were having it in the larger of the two gardens of his parents house, Samson had made sure of it, it was his way of introducing her to his world she knew, no other parties were held at the Williams Mansion except important ones. The event planner had turned it into her version of a Babylonian garden with a little influence from the oriental midsummer night dream. He wanted to introduce her to all his friends and Ma Williams was tasked to introduce her to the who is who. A smile formed on her face when she remembered going through the guest list with Ma Williams, she had given the woman a mini angina by pointing out the men she had slept with on the list and how she would just like to be introduced to new and interesting people first. She didn’t believe in lying to the saintly stuck up woman who had called her a love peddler even before she knew she was one she was only confirming the woman’s suspicions and fear.


Worries came flooding in, but worries have a way of disappearing when you see a vision of yourself. When the beauty team was done with her, showing her a mirror to reveal to her what they had done, she didn’t recognize the woman that was reflected back to her. It looked like a different person in the mirror, looked like a respectable decent person, something looked so different with her glittering in the turquoise glittery gown. She bursted into tears, when one of the women chirped in a happy birthday. It all sank in. It was her first birthday and all these people were here because of her. The women she had no idea who they were formed a human tent around her and had started to clap but when they saw the tears they started to hug and pet her. This was a different life, a very different one from the one she was used to. Patricia who was in make up next to her had gotten up and told her she deserved every single bit of the day. Patricia reminded her that she was a good person and she deserved it, she had thanked her for being a friend and not snitching on her to Samson. She let the women perform their magic on her again, then she was ready for her party.

It first felt like a dream sequence as Samson led her into the garden which looked completely transformed into some sort of ideal paradise. It was not only her birthday it was also her introduction into high society as Samson Williams girl friend. To make it legitimate Francesca was even there seated a few tables away with her new husband. Then it began to feel like a sham when she began to see the men who would pay her obscene amounts to get immoral with them, pretending to be perfectly moral people next to their wives or significant others. It was only Samson’s presence that grounded her and injected life back to her. The thought crossed her mind that if she died at that moment she would be fulfilled just by having him there.

Ma Williams was quick to answer questions about Zandra as if she knew her. She had been reinvented into this pure charitable soul yet the people who knew the truth, knew it and she was grateful they kept it a secret, perhaps it was a form of quid pro quo. She was quite about them, so they were quite about her. She was glad no one got up and pointed at her shouting in a loud voice that she was not meant to be there but belonged in the gutter. She was in bliss

All of the merriment changed when one of the the waitresses handed her a scrunched up paper. It read.

“Meet me in the back in five minutes.” Shi..t. Shi…t. Shi…t. It was Sesan’s writing, how did he find out? The room began to look hazy and the juice she was sipping on felt like bile had found a way into her system. When she turned to look at the waiter who now headed for the exit towards to back, she knew that those precise strides only belonged to Sesan and no one else, he was wearing an afro wig but it was him. She brushed her hand through her hair and swallowed her saliva as she knew she had been found wanting again. She quickly made her excuse to Samson that she needed to go to the rest room, he asked to see her off but she let him know she wanted to go alone. He had pushed further in lovey dovey tones but she let him know again that she was not a kid and could find her way to and fro from the toilet, when he saw that she may start a fight over something so minute he let her be.

At the exit she sighted the dim light of a cigarette, followed by a puff of smoke in a distance coming from a slim figure who she believed was meant to be on a vacation with Marilyn, but here he was in a false wig and beard. She began to advance towards him. Sesan walked further away and entered a maze that led to the smaller garden. She took in a deep breath and followed suit. He paused in the middle of the maze taking in long puffs of the cigarettes, she didn’t have to be told, she walked to his front and knelt down. It was an event she had to get back to, if she didn’t do as required she would be beaten badly and she would have to come up with an elaborate lie. Sesan took in the last few puffs of cigarettes and blew it in her face, she dint dare cough, she held in the cough that was about to follow.

"Happy Birthday Zandra” She wasn’t meant to answer that, so she didn’t, he then began to confront her with the lies she had moulded
“ I thought you said you didn’t know Samson Williams, why are you having a birthday party in his father’s house?” She didn’t reply, he flicked away the cigarette and she was grateful he didn’t throw it on her.
“When did you start lying to me Temi? When did you start lying to me because of a rich boy? When did you start betraying me because of someone else?” she had no answer but he continued. “Do you want me to take my own life my Oya?” He was prancing up and down, fidgeting. She didn’t want him to die, she owed him too much to have him die because of her selfishness.

“I don’t….buh, buh….. but you were with Marilyn”
“I asked you to come with us, but that is not the issue here, the issue here is that you lied to me and you are having a celebration with a rich boy. How did he even pick a date? Are you with him because he is richer than I am? You know this thing with Marilyn is for us”
“He picked a random date and I am not with him for the money.” She didnt look at him. She looked at the ground she was scared to look at him.
“I am furious that you love him and you want me to stay with Marilyn. When it is us that is meant to be together. You said you would renounce your love.”
“I tried but I went back” This seemed to annoy Sesan, it was evident in his eyes and the way he performed a furious 360, but he calmed down and he appeared like a bulb had lit in his head.
‘You will marry him if he asks?”
“No I belong to you”
“No you will marry him. We will play our old game.” God what had she done? How could this be happening ? She was cursed, this kind of thing could only happen on her day, she wasn’t meant to be happy.
“I can’t marry him on those terms.” He put his left hand to his left ear, indicating that he may have heard wrongly, she was meant to repeat herself but she couldn’t, she was too afraid to give the wrong answer again. He grabbed her neck very softly at first but she began to fill the pressure, she felt the coldness of it as it raised her fear, he shoved her to the ground, his hand still around her neck. This confirmed that he was really upset with her; he presses her against a wall or the ground when he goes full on mad at her.
“ I asked you if it was Samson Williams you said no.” She couldn’t talk, she was too terrified to let words escape her mouth, she would say the wrong thing. She didn’t want to apologize; she loved Samson she shouldn’t apologize for it.
“Are you mine? Do you belong to me?” she had to answer this one. It would only ruin things further, she attempted to nod her head in the affirmative but the grip was so tight it choked her harder, so she coughed it out. She feared her silence this time would cause more damage than good. He didn’t care to want to know the answer but he released her neck.

She quickly tried to recover her breath; she wanted to insult him spit on him. How dare he, how dare he? He had been off with Marilyn and she couldn’t dilly dally with Samson. But he was Sesan anything he said and did was law she was to accept it but it was unfair to accept it. He

reached for her jaw with his right hand and forced her mouth open; he then stuck his tongue in her mouth. He playfully bit her lips with his breathing growing heavier.
“I have missed you, do you belong to me Temi?”
“Yes” she managed to whisper
“Good, will you do as I say?” she nodded again, her body still as his cold hands found its way under her gown to tug her panties aside, she dare not refuse him. She would always have him, she couldn’t escape him. Sesan had begun to amuse himself with her body. She was worried they would get found but she didn’t mention it. If they got found it may be beneficial to her, so she moaned as loud as she could, but it seemed that the music from the part drowned it. When he was through, he let her know she had his blessings but only like the last time an arrangement like this happened. It was the first time she ever thought about killing herself to escape something.

Dazed, she found her way back through the maze, she wasn’t ready to go back to the party so she went back to the room provided for her. She needed to talk to someone, she needed to lay it down in a pool and flush it down a latrine. She starred at her self in the mirror and this time she didn’t see who she had seen earlier. She saw a degenerate with leaves in her hair, with the once perfect gown ruffled in places that held secrets of another man’s touch. She felt a violent rising in her stomach, an anger, a rage that cursed through her veins. She loathed herself, she was a cud ruminated to be chewed, a disgusting little by product of flies. No form of intervention would remove her from the demeaning state she was in, she has a hopeless cu..nt. She knew she was at the point of breaking into something dangerous, but she held herself back, instead she hurled a box of make that happened to lie there at the disgusting reflection the image returned to her, cracking the mirror and flinging the box’s contents in all the directions available. She hated the girl in the mirror. She hated the girl because the girl wasn’t strong enough to make up her mind, strong enough to make a firm decision, too weak to do what was right.

Minutes later Patricia entered the room, Zandra was still standing in the same position, transfixed and didn’t notice her. It took her a minute to feel Patricia’s touch before turning to look at her.
“Zandra, Zandra, Zandra, Zandra” Patricia had been calling her, she turned to her and blinked.
“Yes.”
“What happened here? what happened to you? Where have you been? Samson and I have been looking for you. We went to look for you at the ladies, you were not there. We came here, you were not here. He is going crazy looking everywhere else for you now. I just decided to give it a try to come back here and this place is in a little mess.”
“Sesan was here, he was at the party.” She wanted to confide in Patricia, but she couldn’t. she knew she was sleeping with Sesan also.
“My God! My God!!, how did he know, how did he get in”
“ I don’t know, did you tell him anything?”
“ No never.”
“ My life is crap Pat, it is crap.” Zandra felt dizzy so she gradually resigned herself to a chair.
“Zee, look at me, look at me. You have to let Sesan go. You can’t let him get to you.”
“ How can he go when he keeps coming back. He is part of me. I am his ying and he is my yang. We are one, I cannot betray him. I am just so silly living a foolish life with Samson….. I don’t know what to do.” The tears finally came out, the more they came, the more pain and confusion she felt. Patricia ran up to her and began to try to make her stop.
“You have to be strong okay. You just have to be. Samson loves you.”
“Yes he does, but I can’t be with him. It is too dangerous for both of us and I belong with Sesan.”
“Then leave him.”
“I don’t want to.” There was a little silence and Patricia finally spoke.
“Look we need to go back to the party. You need to freshen up. We will talk about this later.” Patricia began to pick up all the odds that Zandra had scattered and place them back in its appropriate place. “We need to get back okay.” Zandra nodded, while she freshened up.

When they got back to the party it seemed merrier than when she left as the champagne bottles laid empty. The laughter of the people were like screeches on a chalkboard to her ears. Patricia was holding her hand with a plastic smile plastered on her face, she didn’t bother to smile. Samson was quick to meet them, she couldn’t help but feel of tug of hope when she saw him, but it was just a flicker.
“What happened, where did you disappear to?” He asked.
“Nothing, I had a walk to the other garden.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, I was worried”
“I will inform you when I want to breathe next time.”
‘What have I done wrong now?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay I am sorry, I get if you get claustrophobic and need air. I just need you to know that people worry about you. I worry about you. Its your day I want you to have a perfect time.”
“ I am sorry also.” He dragged her closer and hugged her. She felt so safe but she knew he wasn’t safe from her.
“Come let’s go cut the cake.” He said dragging her to a table where she could see Ma Williams eyeing her curiously. The Cake was this well designed piece of art and the Musician who she had slept with bursted into his own version of the happy birthday song. Her hands were shaky but Samson held them to steady it. “Don’t look at them look at me.” He advised when he noticed her nervousness, he was right , the calmness and happiness in his eyes were infectious as she starred at him. He pushed her hand down to cut the cake at the last hip hip hurray and he kissed her.

Soon he was on his knees, he brought out a small casing and opened it to reveal the ring she had designed, she didn’t expect to have butterflies in her stomach after the events of the night. Someone had given him a microphone and he didn’t say much.

“Baby, you said yes to me in my arms, will you say yes so that everyone can know?” He didn’t know what he was getting himself into, the show off, but she loved him. It was then she realized she had been quite and the room had gone silent as she starred at him and the ring on his knees.
“Uhm, hmmm,uhmm. Yes. Yes. Yes.” He got up and lifted her, turning her around in three sixty degrees.

'This is a new beginning for us' Samson had said, she couldn’t disagree more, she felt her heart harden, she will break it off with him when she can, she couldn’t embarrass him in the presence of all these people. She couldn’t bear to do it the way Sesan wanted with him, she would just have to lie again.

Zandra Tuesday 9 August 2005

Church bells. The sound of a thousand church bells, rung by an overzealous choir that was what she could hear, as she violated every traffic law there could be and probably invented new violations. She was now running up a stair case that led to Sesan’s office. She rarely came here, it was a taboo to be seen with him but she knew the place sure enough to navigate it. Today was one of those days he would be seen with her in public, she needed answers and very fast

A secretary was running after her mumbling sanctions like “madam where are you going to?” The lady had been unfortunate to touch her and she jerked her arm so violently she hit her chest. She could see Sesan through the glass windows in a room, it seemed like he was having a meeting . It didn’t matter she had to talk to him. So she kicked open the door.

“You are to wed next month. You are marrying Marilyn.” She yelled brandishing the newspaper she got the information from. She was upset, she was very upset, she felt like hauling a torpedo at him. He had been lying to her. Why didn’t he let her be when she said she wanted to be alone and now he was with Marilyn.
“Excuse me? Who are you?” Sesan said feigning ignorance.
“Oh cut the crap lover-boy. Are you going to get married or not?”
“Where is security? Why can’t security take care of this rubbish?” Sesan addressed the one secretary who now was looking perplexed with the rest of the people in the room. “ I will take care of this myself” he said walking past her and going into his office. It was his way of telling her to follow him. She did.

In the office, he was waiting by the door and gave her a welcome slap on the back, but that didn’t hurt her, she wanted to know the truth.
“Are you getting married to Marilyn?”
“Yes, but what are you doing here? Are you out of your mind, you are not meant to come here, leave.”
“I thought you said you were not going to marry her. You were going to marry me. You proposed to her on your trip together, with the ring you showed me, before coming back and daring to bullshit me about Samson and I”

“ You are to Marry Samson Williams and I will Marilyn Nwosu. Samson will die and Marilyn will die that is perfection.”
“You were against this idea before, you said I couldn’t go on my own.” A security guard came in at this time but Sesan shooed him away by saying he thinks she may have a problem and he was able to help her. After affirming that he was okay, the security left.
“ It is better this way.”
“I am returning Samson’s ring to him. I won’t be part of a murder.”
“Why ? because you love him more than me?”
“Because I won’t be part of your schemes anymore.”
“Aha, so you do love him and will pick him over me.”
“You have picked Marilyn also, it goes against every single thing you have told me.” She couldn’t believe she could stand up to him like this, but she was. She was mad at him, he had been lying, playing her, giving her items to this Marilyn woman and using her money to build a home for them. Samson was not the liar, this despicable excuse of an object was.
“Baby come here, I know you are feeling betrayed, but I am not. I do not always tell you things because you most likely…..”


She couldn’t hear what he was saying, she was deafened by the bells and the complete realization that she was a fool. He was lying to her Samson had been right, this man who stood in front of her was a manipulative little serpent who twisted and turned and she had let him coil himself around her long enough, he was crushing the bones in her body and she was letting him. Then she heard the little voice in her head, it repeated a suggestion to her in quick nagging successions. It said “bite him, bite him. Bite the bastard! “ So as he communicated his explanations to her at the decision he had taken she began to open her mouth slowly. Then her teeth was on his arm, he let out a loud yelp and grabbed her hair to pull her away but she was just starting. She switched to his chest, he was punching her but she felt no pain, she was on his stomach, biting away like piranhas. She felt a rush of adrenaline, this was what she should have done ages ago, bite the bastard.

Soon people were in the room, they were dragging her off him, “she is a mad woman “ she heard Sesan repeating, she was fighting these men kicking and screaming, they were taking her away, she wasn’t yet done, she wanted to kick him in the groin, he deserved to be kicked in the

groin. When the thoughts formed in her head, she summoned the power to free herself from the men and ran back to find Sesan. She was aware that people were running after her but she was faster than them. Sesan was backing the door talking to another man, spewing his lies about her, it was good that he didn’t see her so she jumped on him and landed on his back, her teeth was now on his neck he was now performing a dance, trying to get her off his back but she wouldn’t bulge. The men who held her were now in the room, helping Sesan to get rid of her. She didn’t care she was using her nails now to claw them and him, her teeth was now on his head and his shrieks of pain only fueled her. Three more men joined in and successfully removed her from his back, she was kicking and screaming as they dragged her, she got loose again and she launched back at him, she was bare feet she didn’t know where her shoes were, the effect would have been better if she had on shoes, but this would do. She ran straight to Sesan and kicked him in the groin,
She gave a little smile and licked her lips when she saw him succumb to the paralyzing pain. She was done here, he probably will take his own pound of flesh back, by hitting her but she knew she wanted nothing to do with him, he could go and have another fake suicide if he wanted. She was done. Pleased with her work she let the security men lead her away. It turns out they were going to arrest her, she would have to call Samson to bail her. He should be tired of her by now.

At the police station she gave them Samson’s number, he was there in forty-five minutes. What a slowpoke, he left his job to come to see her. He was a silly maggoty slowpoke, how could he leave his father’s office to come bail her from a mess she had put herself into? He had worry in his eyes as he scanned her body behind the police counter, her clothes torn, her hair in tangles he didn’t say anything, he didn’t even perform his normal ritual of mentioning his father’s name, she knew he was worried. He wasn’t angry he was worried. How could he not be angry at her? Then the shame of it all began to creep all over her, it started from her legs which began to tremble and when it reached her hands, she covered her face. She felt like sour milk.

“You are free to go now madam.” The not so interested DPO announced, removing the cuffs from her hands and opening the counter. Her hands were still over her face, but she released them. This man knew who she was and still decided to play with her he deserved what he got. She knew she was only telling herself that, she didn’t mean it, she just wanted to dull the shame, she wanted to be stubborn but she could not.

“ I am taking you home.” Samson informed her.
“ I am going to my own place, alone”

“ Not your place, mine. I don’t know if you are going to run off to do something erratic.”
“What is it? What is it? Did I ask you to fall in love with me? Did I place that burden on you? What do you want from me? Do you think I will change who I was all of a sudden? I am an erratic person. I do crap, you either have to accept me for who I am and let me be or just walk out of my freaking life.”
“Do you know you are the one woman who is full of so much shi…t it shows in every sentence you make. Tell me thank you for bailing your sorry asss queen of the damned.” She had successfully annoyed him.
“I didn’t ask you to bail me.”
“Then why did you call me…..look I am not going to play this silly game anymore. This is it. It is over. Walk home if you want I have done my part. silly ratchet whoore.”

No one had to tell her she had angered him, he would never have spoken to her in a million years that way, but here he was telling her to her face. Why did she always have to push the good people away from her. Samson had only done good to her and yet here she was repeating horrible things to him. She had to apologize, so she ran after him.
“Samson, wait.” He didn’t wait, he signaled to his driver to come around to get him, she was trying to explain herself but each time she got near he distanced himself from her. When the driver brought his car to his front. He turned and looked at her and finally spoke to her.
“ Look, don’t bother, it is over. I refuse to be the guy whose image you have formed in your head. No one treats me like this. Just don’t get yourself arrested anymore I will not be there to bail you.” He wasn’t joking; she saw the frankness in his eyes, the cruel anger and precision of a scorned man worse than a scorned woman. She wasn’t going to let him go, not without a fight so she went to stand in front of his car, with her hands crossed, she wouldn’t allow him go anywhere. The driver tried reversing but she was quick to follow him. Samson got down from the car, starred at her as she sat down on the dusty road. She knew she had courted his anger when he went back into the police station and out he came with him four police men who handcuffed her. His last words to her were.
“They will take care of you.” She was in cuffs again and back in the police cell. That didn’t go as planned

Zandra Tuesday 11:47 pm, 9 August 2005
He looked tired in his stripped shirt and charcoal grey trousers. She stood there looking at him and his eyes finally rested on her. For the first time she saw him in a new light. He looked like a ruthless predator who had sharpened his claws all of a sudden, for the first time she was scared of him, for the first time the threat of “I am a Williams” meant something to her. She had really taken him for granted, yet he had been merciful enough to tell the police to deliver her to him within hours he ordered her re-arrest.
“You look tired, I asked them to take care of you properly. I requested and paid for it”
“I didn’t corporate.”
“Why?”
“I was upset.”
“ You know your tantrums will continue if I didn’t discipline you. You were becoming spoilt.”
“Why did you ask them to bring me here, I want to go home.”
“ You are stubborn, still”
“Thank you for the help and everything but I really need to go.”
“Not even without a shower or food.”
“You broke up with me remember.”
“I am un-breaking up with you. Go shower and come here.”
“No I need to go home.”
“Here is home isn’t it?” she removed the ring from her fingers, it was best this way, she had tarnished him and he had tainted her. She would just have a fresh start with her life. She dropped the ring on the table.
“ No here isn’t.” That seemed to get to him, he rose up from the couch , she was scared he would hit her but what he did was hold her hand.
“Is this one of your games?” she shook her head indicating a negative. He sank back into his seat and buried his hands in his palm. Then she heard the soft sobs come from him. She didn’t understand it. Was he crying? How could he be crying?
“Are you crying? How can you be crying?” he didn’t reply her so she dropped to her knees, with her two hands holding her cheeks. What had she done? The truth was she didn’t know what she was doing, but one thing was for sure she was ruining both their lives and she was doing a pretty good job at it.

“I am sorry I am a shi..t. I am sorry Samson but I am beyond salvation. This is the only thing I know how to do. I can only sabotage myself. I can’t do anything right. I am no good. The right thing to do is just to let me go. Things will be better this way. Please let me go.” He looked at her his eyes bloodshot and watery, what was she doing throwing him away, but the reality was that she didn’t know how to keep him. He looked like a lost kitty that had wandered into her nest and for some sick reason loved it in the demented hell hole she could provide. She didn’t understand it. No man should want her like this, she deserved everything she had coming. “ I do not deserve you. I really do not. I was still with Sean even though I said I would end it, I have ended it now finally but I will mess us up. I will.”
“So why did you go through all the length with Francesca?”
“Because I think I need you” She was scared those words will come of her mouth but what stunned her was that he did not talk about her being with Sesan while still with him.
“ I knew only the mystery guy will make you act like a maniac. You would go hot and cold, I knew he was still there. I didn’t mind.”
“Listen to yourself. You are making a mistake.”
“Will you go back to him if he comes back?”
“NO! Hell no, he is scum and manipulative dog.”
“Then we can still give us a try.”
“I don’t deserve you.”
“Yes you don’t but here I am.”
“You locked me in prison”
“You were being a drama queen.”
“I forgive you. Do you forgive me?”
“Yes. Even though your sins are more.” He pulled her to his chest and began to stroke her hair, she didn’t understand why she was staying behind but she was glad she was . “ You need a shower. You stink”
“The cell stinks….don’t you want to know how I got there in the first place.”
“You will tell me if you want to.” There was a loud pause.
“ I am hungry” she didn’t want to talk about Sesan he was a monster and a scar, she was starting a new life with this man who could lock her up in a cell if she pushed him too far. She better behave, She loved him.

Cornelia, Thursday 27 December 2012

Cornelia felt uncomfortable. The G-string was killing her, not that she was not used to them just that this one seemed to have an acrylic tag that was bent on giving her hell by nonsensically tickling her in the most inappropriate place possible. She shifted in her chair to craftily use her hand to correct the offending string, while looking around to see if any one saw her. The coast was clear, she just hoped there were no security cameras around.


The waiting room was decorated to match the festive mood, there was a beautiful recreation of the birth of Christ just beside her and She was seated behind three rather large vases that were meant to have the three gifts the wise men offered Christ, it must be the wise men vases because each vase was being hugged by an old man, which by their grey hair were meant to be wise. She had gotten bored of staring so she began flipping through magazines that were made readily available at each corner of the room, she wondered why seeing Sesan was taking so long, especially when he had given her a specific time to come to his office. She had contacted him declaring her intention to apologize on Patrick's behalf for the insane and rude behavior at the Polo club. He didn't complain that the incident had happened weeks back and should be forgotten. He had asked directly what she wanted from him. It wasn't his fault; ex beauty queens have a reputation of wanting to stick to the rich and the powerful. It wasn't too far from what she is about to be suspected of doing. She had calmly requested to meet him in a private place and here she was seated on a leather chair with an uncomfortable g-string.


The carefully crafted wooden door that led to Sesan's office suddenly opened and there stood an impeccable dressed man in a three piece suit. He was Sesan's secretary and he had been the one thing apart from the magazines who had kept her from poking her eyes out from boredom, by just staring at his delicious body. She was so naughty, she had made the guy uncomfortable by licking her lips when he had first talked to her to get her name and her purpose of visit. She had asked him to repeat himself because she wasn’t paying attention, she still couldn’t remember his name, shame.

She remembered hearing rumors that Marilyn specifically pointed out that there was to be no females working close to her husband. Unfortunately this particular Adonis could turn a straight man gay, so Marilyn was still in danger of infidelity. She sure knew she liked his looks so she let it known by scanning him with her eyes lustfully again, he gave her a pleasing dash of his teeth.


" Miss Cornelia Musa"
"Yes gorgeous?"
"The MD will see you now."
"Oh thank you....did anyone ever tell you that you have a coarse sexy voice to compliment your divine look?"
"I am afraid I do not get praised much, Miss Musa."
"Hmmmm its either you are lying or people are blind....okay we don't want to keep your boss waiting now do we?"
“We obviously do not.”
“Well lead the way while I stare at your behind.” The look on his face told her that he wasn’t sure if he should be contented with this new found attraction for him she was displaying. He would get over it, she was just having her fun and he won’t see her anymore after today. He was a good boy and led her through to Sesan’s office.

Sesan was bent over what seemed like a mountain of files, his office seemed devoid of the holiday spirit and decoration, it was almost saddening. He seemed like a very hard working man, she wondered why he would embroil himself with so many dirty deeds, but then again she knew that greed was a bastard. The perfectly crafted secretary stood motionless almost as if, if he spoke brimstone will fall to the earth. He only spoke when Sesan raised his head to signify that he was aware of their presence.

“Miss Musa is right here sir.” Sesan waved his hand to dismiss the Adonis and she found herself a seat without being asked. It was a rather plush cushion chair; her plan was to wriggle in it so that the offending G-string would ease her. She knew she would have to burn it after today, but back to business Sesan was speaking.

“What do you want from me? As you can see I am very busy.”
He didn’t beat around the bush, this was a direct man. She liked him for it. It reminded her of the man who wanted to woo her and asked her immediately to be his mistress just ten minutes into the dinner they were having. She was also going to be very direct with him since he was direct with her.

“Samson.”
“I am sorry he is not here, you would have to go to his office. This is a wrong office for a gold digger to come looking for Samson”
She stared at him knowingly, while playing with the fake pearls around her neck.
“You know what I mean.” She lowered her voice, as if she just whispered a dirty secret.
“I am sorry I do not. Please elaborate.” He was very irritated she could see, she wondered why he hadn’t asked for someone to come and get her out of his office, but she suspected that under that irritation hid curiosity. He wanted to know what she was going to say and he was soon going to find out.

She got up and wiggled her way to the huge picture of Chief Nwosu that rested majestically on the wall. It was a big and imposing portrait; in fact it was more than a little intimidating. The image of Chief Nwosu is going to be her first line of attack to intimidate him.

“Your father in-law is very handsome and full of life.”
“Yes he is.”
“I suppose you will be heading this company when he passes away.”
“If I am elected, yes I will.”
“ Oh yes” She snapped her fingers as if she had an epiphany “it is true your wife may want the power and you will once again be at the background. Just like you are in the background of this great man in this picture. Right here, right now, you are seated on that power chair but you are still in the background, you have no real power, you have to manipulate to get what you want.”
“ I do not know where you are going with this, but what you just said is offensive.”
“Yet you haven’t chased me out of your office. You want to know where I am going with this.” There was a squeak coming from his direction, Cornelia turned to look at him and saw that he had gotten up from the chair. She liked where this was going so she continued with her torment “I am sorry. I have a diarrhea stricken mouth. It just spills whatever the head is thinking without filtering it.”
“Are we done with this meeting?”
“No, you still haven’t delivered Samson to me.” She said folding her hands.
“ I told you, if you want him, please go to his office.”
“I want him through you.”
“You are speaking in riddles.”
“Patricia seems to be a sweet girl, I need you to weed her out. Just the way you planted her in.”
“Get out of my office.” He roared, she expected that, pretence’s first defense is anger, but for a minute or two she doubted the information she had been given and wondered if she was barking at the wrong tree, but she couldn’t stop now.

“Look, you do not have to act with me; we are both animals in this jungle trying to survive. You are a cunning red fox Sesan or should I call you Sean John?” He didn’t flinch when she called him his name. This guy was good, very good, but he took to the couch she had gotten up from and crossed his legs, at that she knew he was open to negotiation. The power rested with her now, she could jump up for joy, this meant she was going to get paid big time.

“Where did you hear that name from?” She didn’t answer but she walked up to him in a catwalk and lowered herself in his front so she would be at the same level with his seated position, he was also able to see her bosom, she liked it that way. She reached out to the buttons on his suit and started to play with them.

“I have my sources…look Sean. I can tear you down piece by piece and watch your house of cards crash while I smoke a joint. Or you can help me and I will help you. Remove Patricia, deliver Samson to me and I will share his wealth with you when I am through with him.” She didn’t speak like she was making a demand, she spoke like she was seducing him, it felt more natural that way. The danger of his refusal will present itself to him.
“What makes you think I won’t watch you burn first?” She gave a resounding cackle while throwing her head to the back.
“ I like you Sean. I really do, but you obviously do not know who you have met. Try to drown me and I will reach out for your neck to pull you down into the waters with me. I only need to fall sick and you should be worried, yes that’s right you are going to have to be sucking up to me and making sure if hair falls off my body it did so of natural causes or I pulled it out myself because two minutes after anything happens to me. Your father in law will know who Sean John was and his relationship with Zandra. Now why make a silly mistake like that when you are so close to your goal ? Just so silly. Are you silly Sean John, are you?”
“You are good.”
“One of the best.”
“What do you propose with Patricia?”
“Simple I want her out, you installed her get her out. She has to fall from grace.”
“What will I gain from this?”
“You will have my silence and I know you want some of the Williams fortune that is why you nose dive in it. I will deliver a share to you at the right time. Do not ask me when the right time is. That question will annoy the heck out of me.”
“ No, that is not what is on my mind. What is on my mind is the way you worded your silence. You said you will be silent but you didn’t say anybody else will be. “
“Silent about what?”
“My involvement with Zandra, Patricia and my past as Sean John”
“You have a paranoid mind don’t you? I wasn’t thinking about that but that may happen. Look at me as a mirror of you Sesan. You keep me happy, you will be happy and I will let you survive. You don’t, I really can’t tell what will happen. Life can be very unpredictable. You know what I mean.”
“Yes I do.”
“Good, now I have to go. Get to work immediately.”
“Don’t you want to know the details?”
“Are you crazy? Risk plotting a scheme with you? Never! I will hear what happened like others, be creative. It may make me like you the more.” At that she got up from her squatting position and looked into his eyes from where she was standing from. The eyes were clear and cold, the eyes of someone who when a detour happens, will be making further calculations to make up for the loss.
“You are scary Cornelia.”
“ I suppose it is normal to think so because I have you in my claws. See you later Sean, be a good boy for us. I am your mirror remember……compliments of the season.”

She took her steps to the door and turned to look at the now perplexed Sesan while giving him a beauty queen wave good bye. It was fun being a bad girl, it was more fun that she had the chance to manipulate a manipulator. She only wished she had come up with this plan herself.

“That was a quick meeting” The Adonis of a personal assistant said as he rose from his chair, when she met him in the waiting area.
“Yes, I bet you are used to longer meetings?” She had a double meaning to that and the twinkle in his eyes told her he got it.
“Hmm hmm.” He said nodding his head, there was a smile coming from him, a more than friendly one. “I am sorry; your name did not register previously. You are the Cornelia Musa, the former most beautiful girl in Nigeria.”
“ The one and only.”
“ I am sorry I did not recognize you.”
“Its fine. My reign has passed; I am getting old can’t you see?”
“That is nonsense, you still look 18”
“What do they say about flattery getting you everything you want?” They both laughed, the Adonis then proceeded to remove his business card from a corner of his table, she could see from his shaky hands that he wasn’t really giving her on a professional basis, he was trying his chances with someone who he believed was out of his league.

“Ehm here is my number” she collected the card and studied it for a while, she hadn’t listened to him when he initially introduced himself as Joshua, so she said the name out loud, while examining the card like a strange artifact. This was where she would have to dash his hopes.
“Oh darling you are cute but you are not my type. Sorry.” She handed him back the card and walked out.

Dancing crying. Yippee XeniaOnatopp is back
Thank u ma,u ar d best.

Zandra Friday 28 December 2012

The shrill silence of the house made it seem haunting. The inconvenience of having Ma Williams checking all the rooms did not do anything to salvage the situation. The woman was as cold as ice could be and hadn't said a word to her since she had been back. It was Demola she wanted to see, Demola she wanted back in time for Christmas in the Williams Mansion, Demola she spoilt, she had to spend Christmas alone in this empty house just as she landed at airport in the wee hours of Christmas, she had been whisked away to the house she had picked from a selection of available houses to house her and her recuperating son. They didn’t want her complicating issues for the family Christmas,Patricia and Samson would be there, she had to remain invincible to the Williams family according to the gospel of Ma Williams. She understood the woman would rather not have her around but she was here to stay and there was nothing any one could do about it, even herself.


"So do you like the place?" Pa Williams asked his wife who was now looking at the curtains. Ma Williams had wanted to see where her first grandson would be recuperating, they were returning Demola back to har after having him since they arrived, they had agreed to let Demola spend the new year with her. Ma Williams had been upset that Zandra had been given the opportunity to choose where she would be staying with the boy and she had thrown a fit. This was the family assuaging her.
"It looks okay, but those curtains they look out of place."

"They can be replaced to your taste."

"No, now when it is not me that is staying here, let her have her choice. I am just not happy she will be receiving benefits because all she did was give birth and cause trouble." Her husband was swift to hold her hand to calm her down, Zandra knew that Pa Williams knew it would be wise to just let her vent. The woman was a grown child, but she felt so sorry she had betrayed her trust and didn't know how to make it up to her. There was another moment of awkward silence till she thought to break it.


"Mama please can I speak to you in private?"
"Me? Say whatever you want to say here. I have nothing to say to you in private." This woman was going to be a hard nut and cookie to crack, the way she was behaving, again she didn’t blame her .
"Go with her . She will not eat you." Pa Williams chimed in.
"You know I don't want to be in the same room with her. This girl is dangerous you don't know what she will do."
"Just go with her." Ma Williams husband prodded again. God bless this man, if he wasn't here she didn't know what would be happening right now.
"Okay but go and watch the boy upstairs, that was where I was going to go after now. Don't disturb him with all those your business calls O. Because I know you, you don’t rest but he has to rest."
" I understand your highness." The man said before turning to the flight of stairs that would lead to the boy's room.


For a few seconds, the words she had planned to say did not form properly in her head, instead they danced around and nothing came to her. Ma Williams decided to take it easy on her for some reason by complimenting her.


"The house is nice, I like the design. Do you think just two maids will be enough for you to cater to it? You know that boy must not be left alone."
"I will be doing most of the boy's tending to ma and since there is going to be a live-in-nurse, I don't think there will be a problem."
"Anyways I will be coming to check from time to time."
" Yes Ma I understand."
"So what is it that you wanted to discuss?”
"Truthfully as soon as I was given the chance to talk. It all escaped me." Zandra sank herself to the chair, she was tired. The events of the past few months had taken its toll, she didn't expect to find an ally in Ma Williams but what she did want was for the woman to know she didn't intentionally cause her pain. Ma Williams also took a seat, while watching her intently
.

" I know how you feel, your only son is ill. You won't believe this but Samson was also sick one time back in the states. I did not know what to do. I thought he was going to die...."

"Mama that is part of it but I…. what I really wanted to do was to apologize. I am sorry about all of this." Zandra found her knees on the ground, her hands folded together in pleading. Ma Williams looked shocked, as if she had just witnessed a wonder of the world that had previously not been discovered. "Mama I know this looks like I am faking it, like I just want to get in your good books, but it isn't the case. I have been thinking about it. You accepted me when I was difficult to accept and everything I have done was just to basically throw it back at you. I understand that you are bitter and resent me. Mama, you should know I resent myself more and do not know how I could make it up to you, because I cannot.”
The woman looked at her like she had gone insane, her mouth opened in wonder but she was quick to close it.

"Is this because you still want to marry my son? You know he has a better woman now."
"No it’s not that, I have done wrong. I know this. I just want your forgiveness. You will be around for the boy because I see you love him dearly. I do not want him to sense any form of bad blood between us. I want peace."
"Peace? What do you know about peace? Since the day you stepped into this family. What am I saying? Since you stepped into my son's life I haven't seen the traces of peace in you. You are now talking about peace. Whatever you are plotting it won't work."
"Mama. I swear on the spot that I will be buried. I am plain and simple. I know because of my past. I will be constantly reminded of the wrong I have done. I hate that I have done that but it is now my cross to bear. We cannot continue like this, the boy cannot know such enmity between us, we can’t because it will seem that he will have to choose one of us and that is wrong." She meant every word she said but she also knew that if she was to poison Ma Williams minds against Patricia, she had to at least be in her good books first. She didn’t need to marry Samson, but she wanted whatever toxicity she may have introduced into his life gone.

"Look child, God knows that I have forgiven you. You have not done anything to me. Going as far as friends again that will not happen. For the sake of the boy I will not cause any trouble, you can see I am civil speaking to you. So there stand up"

This was a first step in the right direction, she knew it, she was about to do the right thing for once. What she also knew was that her son was now healthy and got the proper medical attention he deserves. She didn't know how she would get out of Sesan’s claws yet but she knew she first had to remove Patricia, then after herself from Sesan. She still battled with herself if she should come clean and spill her guts, the thoughts were always quickly killed by her but it was there.


"Mama I have a question for you. You know I can talk to no one else, I have no friend or mother.” She expected her to feel a sense of responsibility when she made mention of the words mother and friend, she was implying that she wanted her as a mother and friend. Ma Williams took the bait, the woman was sweet even though she tried to be harsh.
“Ehen.”
“If you were to choose between your own happiness and the happiness of others what would you do. Say there is someone who has done a lot of good in your life, brought you out of a dark place….say this person wants you to do something, if you don’t do it it will be a mess. But not doing it will make you happy although you will destroy this person who has been there for you. Do you do it and risk your own happiness or not to keep him and everyone else happy.”She knew Ma Williams may interpret this with her situation with Samson, but it was really with Sesan, she was scared to throw him to the dogs.

The shrill ring of a phone stopped them. It was Ma Williams cell ringing, so she excused herself to pick it. Soon after she picked, she shouted so loud Zandra’s ears tingled, then she made a promise that she will be there soon. She didn’t even acknowledge that she was in the room anymore but instead ran up the stairs to go fetch her husband.

Zandra moved across the semi empty room, as they were yet to get proper furniture, she stopped by the window to mellow her mind. She caught a glimpse of The Guard’s bald head as he sat motionless on a chair downstairs. She hadn’t come in contact with him since she returned, he seemed to avoid her like a plague, he wasn’t even at the airport to collect her. He wasn’t really her concern right now, she wanted to know her next course of action and if she was safe from Sesan. She ran her hands through her hair, she was tired.

There was muffled sounds coming from the stair case. Ma Williams and Pa Williams seemed to be engrossed in a particular curious conversation, Ma Williams sounded hysterical. She wanted to shout at them to stop, so as not to wake the boy but she knew she couldn’t censure them. She was relieved when she saw that they were coming down the stairs. That will at least distance the noise from her child.

When they were in the same room with her, she sensed that whatever the phone call was it had shaken Ma Williams to her roots, her whole body was shaking in a faint tremor, you had to look at her twice to notice but Pa Wiliams seemed unmoved. He looked as regal as anyone could be. He must have gotten a lot of bad news in his life. Pa Williams unraveled the mystery for her.
“Patricia was caught with fetish charms, which included voodoo dolls that looked like Samson and we his parents.”
“What, how? I have never known Pat to do such a thing.” She was truly mortified, Patricia may do many silly things but do something like that never.
“She was caught, they caught her. Why can’t Samson find decent women? Why can’t he just find a decent girl and marry. All of them must have comma. That girl may have used love portion for him. Oh my God.” Ma Williams was hyperventilating, while her husband held her to calm her down again. The woman didn’t stop

It didn’t make sense. Patricia did not even believe in voodoo, she called it a waste of time. The only excuse she could come up with was that Sesan didn’t need her again and set her up for failure. She wanted Patricia out but the way she was going out wasn’t making sense to her. What was happening? What could be wrong? She had hoped all would be better when she comes back but this hasn’t been so. It keeps mounting like a pile of rubbish.

“I have to take a walk to clear my head” Pa Williams announced to the room, almost as if he was running away from the estrogen and panic that seemed to dominate the room.
“Are you leaving me here? What are we going to do about this?”
“We don’t want to talk about it now do we? I just need to clear my head for a while , you can go to dot on your sleeping grandson. I am sure we will find a way. We always will.” Those words seemed to calm Ma Williams down a little. She didn’t even turn to look at her again, she headed back to the stair ways that led to Demola’s room. While Pa Williams made his exit, she sank back into the chair, more confused than she was. She wanted Patricia gone, she had made a plan but Patricia was being weeded out already, she didn’t like the uncertainty, she didn’t know what it was going to do to her, her heart thumped when she realized she would soon have a visit from Sesan she wasn’t looking forward to.

Pa Williams (Minutes Later)

Pa Williams strolled out of the house leaving his raging wife behind, he knew she would fume for weeks over this incidence, she would make plans and counter plans, when all that the story needed was to silence the people who made the discovery and say the marriage plans did not work out. That was not her, she will worry over the damage control that needed to be done, he wasn’t bothered about what people will think about his personal life, he was bothered more if the right or wrong thing was going on. He beckoned to The Guard to join him in the walk. He wanted him to witness what was about to happen. It will motivate him in the task he may need to do in the future.

The two men walked down the deserted street, barely talking to the other, they turned at a corner ten minutes away from the house and waited. He wasn’t weary of standing on the street, he was rich but he wasn’t famous, his wife on the other hand may pull a crowd as she wasn’t missing on the pages of the society magazines. It only made sense that she would be worried about her daughter in law to be, being caught using voodoo. It would be like her standing right here on the street corner, with people staring, watching and judging that she had a hole in her dress. She would rather die first than have a hole visible in her silk dress showing to the public. He loved that woman but she took things that were not serious too seriously. He supposed he should be thankful for her, she kept the family name clean no matter what happened. The rumors were always covered in glitter that dark truths became uncertainty and baseless gossip.

Their wait was cut short when a white car soon emerged at the end of the road driving towards them. It was later than he expected, but you can’t always count on other people to keep to your time. it came to a halt, Cornelia’s sunny face beamed at them, with some form of Nigerian rap music blaring from her stereo, he had mistakenly assumed that she didn’t listen to that genre of music. The Guard who had figured out the situation was quick to open the door for him, while electing to stay outside, but Pa Williams motioned to him to join in, which he did. When they were set, Cornelia took them on a drive.

“You are late. I do not like tardiness.”
“Yes but I had to make sure I was not followed, you don’t confront that kind of man and not go paranoid.”
“Good job, I have seen results already at this end, but I sense what you have for me may be juicier.”
“Results? Has he kicked out Patricia already? That will be fast”
“Yes, she was caught with voodoo, some hours again. We are all mortified.” Cornelia busted into laughter.
“Voodoo, really? He is quick”
“ I told you he was a serpent. Now do you have something juicier for me?”
“Oh yes, Oh yes. You will give me a bonus for this I tell you.” Casandra produced a memory card, which she inserted into a device to play on her car stereo. Soon the conversation between her and Sesan wafted through the air again recreating their moment together while Pa Williams rested his back, eyes closed to fully soak it in. He didn’t know this was the kind of animal he was dealing with, this one had to be cut off and castrated. He clenched his fists, while mentally kicking himself for allowing this to go on for so long. It was a cancer, cancers were to be cut immediately they start to grow.

For some reason he wasn’t angry at Sesan, he was at Samson, his own son could not pick of the traits of a masked monster. There was no way he would survive in this business if he couldn’t tell who a monster was. You just need to know. His anger subsided when he realized that he had also been fooled all these years and Nwosu had bought the con hook line and sinker. No one could fool Nwosu, it was impossible but this kid had managed it. If only he hadn’t crossed his path, Sesan might have been useful in other ways.

The recording had finished and Cornelia had now handed him the memory card which he handed to The Guard. He fished out a cheque he had written earlier to her non profit foundation, this way he could not be said to have paid her to spy, he was always extra careful to cover his tracks, it was an old habit of his. She gave him a dashing smile as a thank you note.
“ I will let you know the next step.”
“Okay sir.” She nodded while studying through her rear-view mirror. They were approaching the spot she had picked them up so he braced to get down.
“I will make sure you are safe from him. Some of my guards will keep watch over you from a distance.”
“Hmm, you mean like the hunky one over there.”
“This one is my head of security, I let him go once in a while, unfortunately I need him currently. You will have well trained men guard over you. Don’t worry you wont even know they are watching.”
“No, if they look like him, I want them to be at my side all the time.” He laughed at this, one thing he knew about this girl was that she was a flirt and would try to charm any man even one year olds with her ways. It was very useful for her and himself
“Behave.”
“Okay.” She said in mocking sulking tones “Alright this is where you stop. See you later.”
“Good bye.”

They both got down from the car and started the journey back to the house.
“Looks like you are soon going to have a job on your hands.” he told the Guard, who didn’t answer. They both knew something was about to happen. The question was how soon?

Sesan December 31st 2012

Sesan’s eyes were closed, he could easily be mistaken for a sleeping man, but no one was looking, they were all engrossed in the movie that lit up the big screen. He didn’t bother to follow the story line, he had seen it before, the hero dies in the end. What he enjoyed more was the sighs, laugher and screams of the audience. He liked to compare an audience’s reaction with the previous audiences he had seen a movie with, will they laugh more at a scene or not laugh at all, will they moan in pain when the hero was being beaten up or will they be nonchalant unlike others, will their screams be angrier than the previous audiences. He took a mental note for his amusement, a little trait he had developed but found unnecessary to share with anyone, except Zandra of course…..where was she? He generally enjoyed cinemas, the only thing he hated about these movie houses was the sound of the crunching popcorn, accompanied by the noisy slurps of the drinks, he hated those noises, they irked his ears and he felt times without number like chopping off the hands that dug into the crunchy delights or stuffing a sock in the mouths of the rabbits that ate them. Pop corns should really not be the choice food for cinemas, they were noisy.

A mental note was made as the hall erupted in laughter when the comic relief in the movie asked the villain a silly question, while he was handcuffed to a sleeping tiger. This particular audience’s laughter was more than the one he saw the movie with his wife, it could as well be that there were more people here now, people who came to reward themselves after work while making sure to bug his ears with their chewing. For some reason, the chewing reminded him of Yinka and her incessant chewing of gum when she ran to him for help, after she had been found with items she knew nothing about, the chewing stopped when she realized that she was expendable when he refused to come up with a contingency plan. She had been furious, she didn’t understand how expendable she was, till that very moment but then she still did not understand, she still tried to call and sent him messages which he ignored. She was no longer a worthy pawn, she had to be executed, a tornado in the form of Cornelia had ensured that, the only threat he had to neuter was Zandra and he was waiting for her to show up, so his plan could finally begin.

Two things were important, he needed to take away Zandra’s power, while ensuring her silence. He knew she would most likely be corporative if he reminded her that the uttermost betrayal to their love, would be to go against him; he had reserved a seat for her next to him. He was seated near the front of the cinema for this purpose , because he knew that for some strange reason there was a magnetic field towards the back of the cinema hall that drew people to seat there, so far so good he hadn’t been disturbed by anyone, but as a precaution, he had taken one of Marilyn’s shawls and placed it on the seat beside him.

Zandra didn’t seem surprised he had contacted her for a meeting, in fact it seemed like she had been anticipating it. She had asked for the meeting location in calm tones and he had given it to her. He had also reminded her of the many intimate atrocities they had committed in film houses just to remind her he was the love of her life. He was going to remind her more of that this evening, but she was mere fish to be chewed, this would be quick, the real danger was from Cornelia.

Nothing fishy turned up on Cornelia when he had asked one of his boys to run a quick check on her, absolutely nothing he could use as leverage against what seemed to be a dangerous menace in his perfect plan. She must be really good, what pointed out how extremely good she was, was when she sent someone to deliver to his man who had been stalking her a plate of vegetable soup and pounded yam wrapped up in leaves, placed in a cooler, she had written a note saying, “You must be tired following me around all day. Junk food is not good for you.” The humorous thing was that his man was eating gala out of its sachet while drowning it with a bottle of lacasera, she had been kind to send along a packet of juice and wine. The surveillance had ended that day, she waved him goodbye as he drove away from where he was parked.

What he didn’t like was interference, Cornelia was an interference he had to deal with, he knew he couldn’t do anything to her because she was a hard nut, so it meant he had to partner with her, he didn’t like that she was in control, he liked being in control.

“Is this seat taken” Zandra’s soft voice whispered to him so that he opened his eyes.
“No you can take it” he said removing the silk scarf that was rested there.
“Is it a good movie? I know you must have seen it to be closing your eyes.”
“It is an okay movie…..it shows to the world how silly it is to do the right thing. The hero dies doing the right thing, he pays the ultimate sacrifice leaving his family to grieve him for the rest of their lives. They will remember him by pictures and a tombstone in his heroic memory but he is lost forever. He lost, he didn’t win.”
“Which brings you back to your ideology that it is good to be bad.”
“Yes.” Zandra was looking at him, so he returned her stare, the lights on the screen danced on her frail face. He could see the young girl who was helpless to the world, who was scared if it would bruise her, who needed protection. He had been in love with that girl, but the girl was now a stubborn tool, she didn’t allow him to own her and that displeased him. He leaned forward to kiss her just to see if she would resist, it came just in time when people were cheering on the movie’s hero. It was a deep passionate kiss, it tasted sweet like the freshest of cherries, she didn’t tug, she didn’t pull, it was almost like he had his Temi back. He bit her lip to taste the blood, it was an old ritual, the faint taste of her blood woke him up. It was easy to forget where he was when he kissed her like that but the audience’s groans at the screen slowly returned him.

When he drew his face away from hers to watch her again, it dawned on him that he had just received the kiss of a client. A very necessary evil in her life, she was no longer the girl he knew. She was a woman, a very dangerous chameleon whose mind he couldn’t read. This bothered him, it confused him for a minute that it showed in his face, but he didn’t need to be bothered as such, because his plans were in motion. Her being here in the cinema instead of her new home at this moment was very important. He just needed to know if she was still on his side, from the kiss he knew she was on her own side and not his.

“You have grown wings Temi.”
“Why do you say this?”
“You do not love me anymore.”
“We don’t have to go through this.”
“We just might have to, it’s okay you have moved on with your life, I have with mine in a way. Yet I expect my demands of you to met, for old times sake.” He rested his head back into the chair and closed his eyes, he was waiting for her to speak, he wanted her to beg him, he wanted her on her knees, to apologize for her stupidity but he knew she wasn’t going to do that, that was why he will make her wither, cut off her head and render her powerless like a headless snake. He thought he had no weakness, it only happened that she was his weakness; she hindered him.

“Would you love you, if you were me?” The softness of her voice often made him care but his selfishness would not make him act.
“I would still love me, especially since I brought you out of the gutter, coached you on what to do with yourself, tell me did you have a dream of whom you wanted to be? Did you think there was a better life than that hell hole there. I introduced you to the better things in life, but a rich boy comes in and you forget me.” He didn’t have to open his eyes to know that he was winning again, he knew those words opened the wounds of her guilt, he didn’t want to drive a knife into that same wound anymore. He wanted to neuter her completely and discard her. She had become a waste of space and breath.

“Sesan, you only taught me things that benefited you.”
“Didn’t the things that benefited me, benefit you?”
“ All I wanted was a big house, you and kids, to leave the ugliness behind.” Her voice was raising and they were getting looks, she knew to whisper so her voice dropped at the end.
“We could have had that.”
“How could we, when you were to marry Marilyn.”
“I told you, I only needed her for her money, she would have been discarded off and you would have been my new Mrs. I couldn’t when you opted for Mr. Charming.”
“I didn’t want games. Games has never been my thing. They were your thing, you are the cold and dangerous one. You are a vile little bat and you lie even with your breath. I am no longer that silly girl. You can do whatever you want but I will not be part of your ploys anymore. I want neutrality. I know things that can destroy you and I am not afraid to use it.” Sesan supposed that at hearing her threaten him for the first time, he should have opened his eyes and looked at her, but the threat was nothing, she could do nothing. In fact all her chips were gone and she would soon crawl back from where she came from.

“That was an impressive speech Zandra. Do you want to hear me say the words. I will say them to you Zandra, don’t worry.” He opened his eyes and turned his face towards her, she was looking at him so he could look into her eyes and crush her soul, while gently stroking her cheeks. “ I used you, I think you are weak and pathetic. Your weakness and pathetic pity of a life was of use to me in the beginning but now you are just a thorn in my flesh because you did not grow into a butterfly. You have wallowed in the pity of your past that you remain the same. You remain the victim, you remain exploited, you remain a slave. You do not have power over me. I am the one with the power over you, I know you, I know what you value most and I can make it so that your life is such a misery. I would have you at any moment I want,when my balls tingle. I will demand for you and you will come to me, because I have your keys. I haven’t begun with you yet, I am just beginning and there is nothing you can do, because we are going to be in this together. You do as I say….I own you.”

For a second or two he thought that she had stopped breathing but she hadn’t, her chest was still rising albeit slowly, she was looking down in an awkward manner as if she was staring at a pimple on the tip of her nose. He knew that look too well, she gave it to him whenever he clipped any wings she was growing.
“You are just cruel aren’t you?”
“Yes I am….a Miss Cornelia will be marrying your husband. You are not to create a fuzz about it, you would quietly and diligently be a good ex-wife and cause no trouble. I have taken extra precautions that it stays this way.”
“Precautions? What extra precautions?” She would find out herself, he didn’t have any words to say to her anymore, so he got up to go out, she grabbed his hand to make him stay, but he yanked it off.
“Don’t touch me, we are no longer a team. Sango and Oya are over. You are on your own now and you shall face the consequences.” He paused for a little and he added “ You may feel the pressing need to call me or drive to my home in the next couple of hours, please don’t. My wife and I won’t be home. We are going for a vigil. We can talk in the morning, happy new year in advance.” He knew that she knew better than to run after him, he looked at the faces in the crowd, the ones he stood directly in front of seemed uneasy, they wanted him to leave, he wanted to leave also, he did them and himself the favor, he was not a nuisance like the popcorn eaters.

Zandra Later
How could he do that do her, own her like that, capture her soul like that and she would still be powerless to him. She was ashamed of herself, ashamed that Sesan was right, she was weak and pathetic and she didn’t know how to rise above it. She just didn’t know, she didn’t know how to free herself, the feeling choked her. She knew she could never expose Sesan now even if she wanted to, he knew ways to hurt her and she knew he must have set some devious plans in motion. Who was Cornelia anyways? She didn’t like where this was going, maybe she would call up Francesca in the morning and talk to her. She would probably have to leave her son behind and run away again, but she was scared for Samson, Could this Cornelia that Sesan be the completion of the plan she could not execute. She was guilty, she was torn

It was some minutes to midnight already, when she re entered the house. The security detail at the gate told her he thought she had gone for a new years party and that was why she asked for an extra nurse to look after her son. She didn’t ask for anybody to come over but she knew the William’s had this thing where they believed she was irresponsible and would send in extra care to check on the boy occasionally. It was all Ma William’s idea. She was now at the bottom of the stair case emotionally exhausted, tired, more confused than she had ever been, distraught. She didn’t know what to do, Sesan always did that to her, she never knew what to do when he was involved. He could spin things to make new clothes and Samson may never believe her, but she could never bring herself to betray him. He had been too good to her, but she didn’t want to bring pain all over into the life of the man she loved anymore. If she left here she would be good, not being with her son will be her punishment, but it choked her neck to think that Sesan may be up to something with this Cornelia. She needed a plan but she just did not have the strength or will power to come up with one, she felt like she was in a haunted mansion, haunted by her own choices.

There was a snore coming from one of the couches, she didn’t understand it, no one was meant to be downstairs. So she decided to investigate, when she saw the white uniform, she knew the nurse had zoned out on the couch, she had half the mind to smack her awake but it was the last day of the year and she didn’t want to end it with the tears of the aftermath of a riots act. Zandra eyed the cognac on the side table and the two glasses that sat there, the drink must have put The Nurse to sleep, she must be a light drinker, but something felt wrong, the second glass felt wrong. She didn’t like it, where was the second nurse who didn’t sleep off? Her heart began to beat fast against her chest. Stop it don’t think it, she told herself, mentally slapping her wrists, but the feeling wouldn’t go away it stopped her just as she was about to open the door to her son’s room. She didn’t know if she should say a little prayer, she didn’t, she opened the door.

Nobody was there, there was no nurse, there was her son and she knew it was true. She knew it had happened, Sesan had sent his message, she was no longer his Oya, she was his enemy, a used foil to be discarded and neutered. She couldn’t move, her hands wouldn’t even touch the tears that were streaming down her face, she didn’t dare move near the boy, she didn’t dare. It would only confirm what she already knew, she didn’t want it this way. She didn’t want a new year this way.

Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, the clock struck 12 times, it was a new year. She could hear the felicitations from a distant church but her son was dead.

“Demola.” She managed to pronounce, there was a little hope in her that made her wish it had not happened, but the darkness that gave her the paralysis, knew her hope was nothing. She moved forward conquering the fear, maybe she was just scared, maybe because she had seen the whiskey she had thought to herself this was a sleeper case, where she and Sesan would drug their distraction with a drink and go to work, maybe it was her fears that was making her paranoid. So she moved closer to him in small steps, stepping on Barney and Sponge bob square pant foam dolls.

“Demola” she whispered again, then she touched him, he didn’t feel alive. Her son didn’t feel alive. She screamed out with all of her lungs, she felt the room shake but she didn’t care. He was dead, he was dead, she looked at his face, she touched it, she felt his breath, the warmth was no longer there. She bent down to kiss his fore head.
“Mummy failed you, mummy failed you. I am sorry, I am sorry.” The security barged in.
“Ma, I heard your scream.”
“Go away. Get out. You incompetent phlegm.” She flung a a train set that laid next to the bed side lamp at him. A sudden dizziness fell over her and she could feel her throat getting drier and drier, till she hit the floor. Nothing existed anymore.

Zandra 1st January 2013

A certain cold came over her, accompanied with wetness, her clothes were drenched, she laid on the floor of a bathroom and all she could see were feet. Another cold came upon her and this time it was not the cold of the wetness, it was the cold of the realization that she had lost her precious gift. Zandra began to shake violently, which alerted the people that she was awake. She still could not hear them or see their faces, all she saw was their feet but she knew she was shaking. Their faces came down to hers, she could almost grasp who they were but then she slipped unconscious again.

When she woke up , she found herself in a guest room she hadn’t bothered to decorate, it was just a bed and empty walls. The two chairs that stood directly next to her and the fan that blew cool breeze at her told her people had been in this room, she even spied the miserable nurse’s cap in a corner. Demola where was Demola? Where was her son. She knew she was asking herself a silly question, she knew he was long gone, but she couldn’t help but ask herself. She knew Sesan did this, she knew he was the only one who could have arranged such a thing, she knew that was the reason it was so urgent to get her out of the house and into the theatre, she had given him his victory. He had taken her joy from her and fed it to the dogs. If she saw the face of that spineless rat she would crack it open with a sledgehammer without thinking, the son of a mongrel had even told her not to look for him because he would be in church with his respectable wife. Why was she so silly?

Funny how a calamity befalls you and you understand why you shouldn’t have endorsed its variant in the first place, Sesan had grown several dragon heads, she let it grow herself and he had devoured part of her. She let it grow when she did not rebel against him when he murdered her first husband, she hated that he had taken somebody’s life but she secretly relished the freedom she had gotten from a loveless marriage. She didn’t turn on him then, she let him sooth her back to calmness, then she watched him take all of her money to feed his ambitions, she only rebelled with people that mattered to her like Samson but now he had taken Demola in his stead. The two headed dragon had taken Demola, the only thing she lived for, she couldn’t let him grow into a three headed dragon and take her or Samson, especially with this Cornelia of a person who may be the new pawn. Her hands began to tighten and she could feel the sweat form on her forehead even though the room was icily conditioned. She knew she had to get up, she knew she had to do something. She knew she wanted to rip Sesan’s heart out, her whole head felt like it had exploded, like she had come to a realization she was meant to have reached ages ago. She was meant to cut out that son of a dog from her and have him thrown in front of a bus.

Pumped up she stood up from the bed, she wasn’t sure if her feet were strong, she wasn’t even sure if she was strong enough to do what she needed to do.

Slow but steady she reached for the rails , she couldn’t bring herself to turn to look at her son’s room, with the transformer drawings on the door, she knew as a mother she should go look if he were still there but the truth was he was no longer there even if he was there. The last words he spoke to her was to ask her if he looked better. She had told him he looked like fried dodo to make him laugh, she had tickled him and blew air into his stomach. Dodo was his favorite food, she took in a deep breath then started down the stairs. She wobbled a little shaking a tiny vase that was laid on a suspended slab, veering it to the floor. The nurse and a security personnel popped their head from a room and ran towards her immediately.

“Madam you can’t be up, you can’t be walking” One of them was saying she didn’t know who, she sought the face of the Nurse who seemed worried, but this ant had slept after drinking cognac while her son was being killed. Zandra raised her hand to scratch her face, the woman yelped moving backwards a little, but then she wasn’t done, she grabbed her nose and closed it. The one guard who seemed stunned at first began to pull her off the Nurse but she was angry at him also. They let a stranger into her home, her sharp fingers poked his eye, while she took another vase and broke on the head of the nurse. She wished they were Sesan, she wanted to bite him and use her hands to pull out his manhood.

She was going to look for a knife to stab him. No wonder the basterd said she would probably feel the urge to call him, she felt the urge to murder him.

“What is going on here?” An authoritative voice questioned.

“Nothing.” The workers answered in a collective voice as if rehearsed it was a rehearsed chorus, It was Pa Williams in a robe and pajamas trousers, when did he get here? She could see the Conakry Guard just behind him, why wasn’t it that Guard with her boy, he would never have left Demola’s side, he would have snapped the neck of the perpetrator like a chicken that needed a quick death, why did the world gang up against her? At the same time she felt relieve Pa Williams was there, she wanted to see him, it was him she was going to look for. She had planned to run to him if she needed to. Her face became disfigured, the tears were welling up.

“I want to kill somebody. I want somebody to follow my boy to his grave.” Now she was heaving, she was out of her mind, she was burning out, she knew it but that desire to have someone dead did not leave, there was nothing she could do about it until it was acted out
“Leave us.” Pa William commanded, which led to a scurry to exit the room.
“If it were the Nurse and the Guard you wanted to kill, you were doing a pretty bad job there.” How could he bringing humor to a situation like this. Demola was gone. Not asleep gone, he was dead gone. She didn’t answer him, she sunk to the step on the stair case in a fetal position, hoping that it would pity her and swallow her. She must have been a bad mother, she didn’t sense when he was in danger, she did not know, she was busy having chit chat with the slime of a human.

Pa Williams stroked his chin, then reached for a jar that was placed on a coffee table, then poured the yellow contents into two cups, stretching one to her as he lowered himself to the staircase to sit next to her, she was reluctant to take it.

“I made this when I got here, you have been out for two hours, the security called me when you first fainted. No one else knows this has happened, only I do, unfortunately I cannot bring the boy back to life, my powers are limited in that aspect.” He paused as if to make sure that the words sunk in. “You have fainted twice already, so you need to rehydrate now that you are better to poke people’s eyes out.” She accepted the cup he was presenting to her after he drank his own portion. “ As I was saying, I am mere mortal, so I cannot bring him back but I can rain early vengeance on who did this. So tell me, who do you want to kill? ”

“Sesan, he took my boy, I have no doubt in my mind that he did it, he called me over to a cinema to make sure I was not home and sent a fake nurse to carry out the deed.”
“ I know this already, I took the nurse out of your room to interview her with the other staff for the past few minutes before you woke up, they corroborate what you are insinuating. we also have him on record telling Cornelia, he did it to get you out of the way, what I need from you is the total truth. You need to tell me how you know him and your dealings with him. Nothing you say will save him even if you try to protect him, you have to understand he has taken my grandson from me.”
“Cornelia is from you?”
“Yes. I have long suspected him, so I used Cornelia as bait.”
“Where is he?”
“Who”
“Demola.”
“Still in his room, he will soon be removed. I have arranged for it.”
“Can I be with him all the way.”
“We can arrange that.” She pulled the hair that was falling all over her face back, it was then she realized she was in damp clothes, she then remember the cold and shivers, they must have poured water on her, but it didn’t matter now. For some reason she felt like a dam had been open she felt the flood of revelations that was to follow, there was an unrelenting ease that accompanied this feeling. Ironic how few hours ago she would have protected Sesan, but he had taken something from her, something she could never forgive him for, she was ready to draw blood.
“You will not believe any of this.”
“Try me.”
She was going to try him, she began to speak

Sesan, January 7 2013
He didn’t know why Pa Williams wanted to see him, but the old man had better hurry. He had a flight to catch to New York in the evening and his father in law will be pissed if he didn’t make it. He had tried to get out of it, but PA Williams had a way of turning things to his advantage, Pa Williams had his father-in- law call him to make the meeting, what he wouldn’t give to not be a puppet. So here he was waiting for his signal to go into the secret waiting room.

It must be something important for Pa Williams to want to see him in the secret office. Only important personalities who they did not want news that they came visiting to trickle into the streets use the room whose door resembled the door that led to an ancient dining hall, you would see on the set of an American movie set in the 1500’s. Presidents, ministers both for the church and for the people, governors and senators have passed through that door to negotiate business that raked in millions in dollars, so he was genuinely taken aback by the sheer secrecy of the urgent meeting. For a while he wondered if Zandra had spilled the beans, but then he remembered she could be easily painted as a delusional woman and she knew it herself. For safety reasons, he had called her to know if she sang like a canary, she sounded broken but she also sounded like she knew it was her punishment for falling off the track, there was no threat there, he simply wished her a happy new year.

What was taking so long? He had gone through the ritual of going in through the back gate and using the private elevator that linked only to that floor….maybe they want him to head a million dollar business, the thought of that delighted him. The Guard was there, he had made him comfortable but did not speak to him, their eyes occasionally met at awkward times but Sesan was always quick to cast his gaze away. That Guard just stood there like gladiator guarding its owner’s door and ready to go into a fight if the need presented itself. He didn’t really need to bother about him, what he was bothered about was Cornelia, she had refused to pick his calls and return his text messages, he tried to go see her in the apartment he knew she lived but he was informed she was unavailable.

Since he called her to say he had eliminated the threat of Zandra’s child after he confirmed that the deed was done, she had gone off the radar. She had let out a yelp when he told and the line went dead, she called back some minutes later explain that she had hit her leg against a table, but that was minor she wanted to know what happened to the boy and how he executed it. He had wanted to keep her in the dark but she was persistent, he let her know how he had procured the services of the nurse he knew at the William’s private hospital and convinced her to distract the in house nurse with the sleeper, then later giving the boy an extra doze of morphine, Cornelia commented that she didn’t know he had the extra streak of evil in him, he then let her know he did what was necessary to have his plans work, she had laughed and said she would get back to him and like a failed job applicant he hadn’t heard from her. He didn’t understand it, she should be happy, they could get the William’s fortune for themselves and no one would antagonize them, except that now that the boy heir was out of the way, she could make way for her own machinations, if she thought that, she had another thing coming. He had of course planned to seduce her and later blackmail her but that was to be further into the future. Now, she just wouldn’t pick his God damned calls, that upset him. He didn’t know if he was being put in the dark or she was going to rat him out. He already had a plan to get himself out of the mess if she wanted to rat him out, but first he needed to see her.

The guard cleared his throat while glancing at the clock which rested above Sesan’s head.
“It is time to go in sir.” About time he thought to himself, The Guard pushed a button and the doors opened, revealing a room of mahogany. Everything in the room was made of wood apart from the paintings of naked women that littered the wall, for a secret room whose legend has reached far and wide, it was supremely tasteless. He was disappointed, when he comes into power, he will redecorate.

He had been too focused on the tackiness of the room, that his brain had a ten second delay to register that his Father in law was seated on a chair adjacent to Pa Williams. It made his heart flutter a little, but he had to find out what this was all about first before he allowed his mind to make any suggestions or contingency plans, his hands sweated, they hadn’t sweated in a very long time. He expected them to ask him to take a seat but they didn’t, he stood at ease with his hands folded behind him.

“Good morning.”
“Ah Yes Sesan, come closer.” Pa Williams beckoned to him, his father in law did not even bother to look at him, he seemed to be staring absently out of a window, with a look on his faced that read I just gossiped about you, but I will pretend I didn’t see you. Was he in trouble?
“You know Samson’s son died yesterday, just over the new year.”
“Oh my God, how did that happen?” He put his hands to his chest.
“You tell me.”
“I don’t understand.” Shiit Shiit Shiit Shiit, this could not be happening he had been so careful, it may be a test, he had to keep a saddened face.
“Sesan……you have been asking for my wrath and you have gotten it. Pretense will only make me order my Guard to get physical with you. I have spoken to Zandra and she has told me everything. Did you or did you not send a nurse to kill my grandson?” His voice did not flinch, it was still in that soft cool baritone voice, but it threatened to drown him in the pit of hell.
“How can you believe that mad woman who came back to cause trouble, I have been here, serving you as a friend to your son and serving the Nwosu family with every toil of my sweat. How can it be so easy to disregard me and listen to a lunatic just because she had a son. I believe she is up to something and trying to weed out the loyalists. She will only cause trouble.”

Pa Nwosu turned his stare from the window to him, in all the years he had known this man, the man had never looked at him with so much contempt and disgust that it would crawl over him. He had not been scared like this before, it felt like something was snapping and his hands began to shake behind him, his hands were vibrating and the vibrations were about to hit his legs, he had to stand tall, he had nothing to gain by telling the truth absolutely nothing. Then again the truth came to him even though he wasn’t ready to speak it.

Ring, ring, came the loud amplified sound by a speaker box of a phone which had connected to who ever it was calling. Pa Nwosu placed a small speaker on the table attached to an mp3 player, he was a bit confused why this was happening, then the confusion gave way to anxiety when he heard his voice come out from the box. It was his conversation with Camilla, that wretched witch had recorded their conversation, Bleep, Bleep, he knew he shouldn’t have trusted a total stranger who he knew nothing about, Bleep, he felt like lunching at the damned device and breaking it but that will only make him look guilty. Crap he even described the nurse who he sent, was he drunk? This means if they got to her, she would affirm the story, Bleep. He opened his mouth to speak but Pa Williams cut him short.

“let me guess, you only agreed to what she was saying because she had been threatening you? Or you were forced to say it. Let us get this out of the way. I will not believe a single word you say, so let us save ourselves the senseless drama. You should know that nurse has already been apprehended and she confessed not only to this murder but also to helping you carry out some sinister operations with Zandra in the hospital basement. Shame on you….you would probably like to know that she is currently on her way to Kiriki in Lagos right now, you are luckier than she is, some people said she was enemy of the state of Nigeria, she may never come out even without trial” He had been effectively silenced him, he understood that these men had power in high places and whatever trumped up charges they wanted to hook around somebody’s neck, will stick like magnet to metal, he did not like to be in this sort of position. How everything could be going down the drain just when it just started to look up?

“You are going to New York and you are not coming back.” Pa Williams finally broke his silence
“But, but…”
“You seem to think this is a negotiation. It isn’t.”
“But Marilyn is carrying my child. How will I see my child?”
“Sesan, you do not seem to know that you have offended me greatly, and you do not seem to understand the consequence of offending me. It means that you will not have a child, as we speak Marilyn is having an abortion. Not of her own volition, she loves you dearly. She thinks she is going for some routine check up, her baby will not come out of it alive.”
“You can’t do this to her, you can’t do this, we fought to have that baby,….”
Pa Nwosu, stomped his hands on the table, it effectively silence Sesan when he noted the glare in his eyes.
“I will rather have a bastard or an adopted child take my place after my daughter, than the child of a conniving thief and murderer. Marilyn will be mad at me if she finds out, but I am her father she will forgive me, even if it is on my death bed.”

Suddenly Sesan realized that the venom that aggregated in the room was stronger than his, he was backed into a corner, but he was a ram, when he gets charged into a corner he uses his horns to fight back. Perhaps the thought had formed too quickly in his mind because Pa Williams asked for an interesting favor.

“We need you to do something for us. We have your whole life in our hands and we know we have purchased your soul at this instant so there is nothing you can do about it. That is why your bags will be transferred into the car which the Guard will take. There is a body in that car we need buried, just before you get to the airport. You will be of help to the Guard dispose of it and then you can go on your flight.”
Damn he was going to be escorted to the airport, and wait he was going to be taking part in an illegal burial. How can one’s life’s work, fall off your hands like sand the wind blew away in an instant.
“ I have never dug a hole for a burial before in my entire life.”
“Well there is always a starting point.” Pa Williams removed his glasses from his glasses case and wore them, he handed over a huge file of documents to Pa Nwosu, who started to look over it, Pa Williams also delicately started to sort another set of documents into place. That was it, he had been judged and the verdict had been given, he did not exist in the room anymore. .
****
Later

Dust had already turned his pristine white Valentino shirt to a shady brown colour, with some parts browner than the others, he was grateful that he made it a habit of his to pack neatly folded shirts in a briefcase just in case he had to walk into a meeting. He would normally use the airport restroom or the airplane lavatory to bring back his suave self. The sun wasn’t helping matters in anyway, it was like it was burning in all its glory,, taunting that there was nothing anyone could do about it, he was happy when occasional clouds seemed to cover it but it was back up there again. The Guard was a little bit helpful in contrast to the sun, he handed him a bottle of fresh water but he did not bother to help in digging the ground. He just sat on the bonnet of the car watching him like an elder brother forced to watch his irritant brother from his step mother. It was all the more eerie that they stood in an abandoned building in the middle of no where, you could see clothes beaten by weather tangled on the clothes line and you could see buckets littered around amongst the tall grasses that was taking over. There where patches of cement on the floor in odd places, but the dust still proved that it was dominant. The dust covered everything as if to claim ownership, the dust ha dnow covered him and the Guard in its glorious manner. His mind had been wandering, he was in trouble the big kind, he knew those old men were dangling him over a pit of lions with this trip he was going on, what he needed was a way to seal the lion’s mouths, with the miracle of Daniel, it felt impossible now but he had to try.

“How long have you been working for the Williams?” The Guard didn’t seem to acknowledge the question, in fact it was almost entirely like he didn’t exist. He instead took a bottle of water and drank from it, Sesan did likewise. He was in a pickle, he knew that heaven will forbid that he asked for some sort of negotiation from this Guard, he was the most loyal of them all, but everyman had his price and he had very little time to find out this man’s own.

“They use you a lot for their dirty work don’t they, I wonder if they pay you enough.” The Guard starred at him like he was a scrambled channel on a television box.
“You are trying to make small talk with me?” Hallelujah to the high heavens, he finally gets it, he sounded like a robot trying to figure out English.
“Apparently.” Sesan said casting the shovel to the ground and ferrying dirt to the mounting heap of dirt, he was almost done with the digging. He hadn’t done work like this since his teenage years, not in a million years did he think he would be doing this at a time like this, he was on his way to becoming a billionaire.
“People make small talk with me when I watch because they are uncertain of their future.”
“I am uncertain of mine.”
“Hence you talk to me.”
“Correct.”
“I must warn you about talking to me, sometimes it doesn’t always end well.”
“Look, it is only us two here at the end of the world, nobody is here it will be like a confession session.”
“You forget that you have a flight to catch Mr. Sesan”
“What if I wanted to miss that flight?”
“You are insinuating that you want me to disobey orders.”
“Yes, If I get on that plane I do not know what will await me. I will be in exile forever. I have money saved up in an account. I want to get to it. You and I know that Pa William’s is a dangerous man, let alone in combination with Pa Nwosu. I don’t want to play this game with them, they will chew me up .”
“How does it feel?”
“How does what feel?” He seemed to have returned to his robot like state, he was saying something and the Guard was asking something else.
“To have Zandra in your arms, for her to tell you she loves you and for you to make love to her. I mean way back not when you had to force her.” So this is part of the Guard’s confession, that pesky little demon called Zandra had toyed with his mind also, he knew she couldn’t help it, it was a habit she had picked up, but he could use this to his own advantage, that girl was always helpful at odd times.
“ I can tell you how to get her.”
“And the price will be for me to let you go.”
“Yes.”
“I am an Eunuch.” He was what? For once he saw the Guard in a new light, so this beefed up male specimen prototype, was an empty plastic whose main duty was to serve and to protect. The Guard had said those words with his chest raised up high that he could smell the pride from where he was protecting his face from the scorching sun.
“Is that why you never took her, you know nobody would have believed her if you did. She would have never spoken, she is a frail child that one.”
“Do you know what I did to the first man who spoke of rape to me? I took a dagger and stabbed him at the sides, you know just the way they did the messiah in the bible. He tried to fight me, he held my neck as if to strangle me and he hit me on the head, that only got me mad. I sliced his stomach and watched his gut fall out. Then I stood back to watch him crawl, while I admired the beauty of my work. You must understand I am usually rational but he was talking about my sister…..i do not take lightly violence about people I care for.” There was no flicker of anger in his voice, the Guard still sat with his legs crossed on the bonnet, for some reason he noticed his pecks and his well defined muscular arms. This man could snap his neck in a split second and no one would hear him. He had better corporate.
“What did you say you wanted to know about Zandra?”
“ How it felt to be with her.”
“Think of your favorite most meal that you haven’t taken in a while, you have longed for it, but you could not find it. Then on a beauty rainy evening, it is cold because it is rainy, to make matters worse you are famished, you haven’t eaten the whole day and you just want anything, water would even do to fill up your stomach to prevent you from fainting, but for some reason the gods have smiled on you and on your dining lays that one food you have longed for, your cook had finally found the ingredients; its scent so enticing you almost tripped on a rug in your rush to get to it. How do you eat this food? Do you use your fork and knife in every decency you have learnt or you ravish it like the hungry man you are? The feeling is always the same, the feeling of sweet satisfaction, the taste that soothes all your senses. Then it is over but for some reason you want it again next time, it converts to series of food you long for and you keep taking them, then she withdraws herself from you. You go mad because you want it, but it is no where to be found, you take substitutes but it is not the same. You want your oya….”
“That was what you called her, Oya?”
“Yes?”
“Why did you call her that?”
“Believe it or not I was a tout as a youngster, I get angry easily, I would cause fights, when things get so heated they would look for her, people who knew us together you see. They will get her to me and all she had to do was touch me. You know how Oya does to Sango when he breathes fire. She is the love of my life man, she ruined everything.”
“ How so?”

“She fell in love with your boss’s son, he changed something in her. The Oya I knew would have gone to the end of the world with me provided I led her. I lost her to Samson.” Sesan could hear the pain in his own voice, it was to be expected that was how he felt.
“ You probably need to tell her what you are telling me.”
“Probably,”
“I want to cut you a deal.” He couldn’t believe this was happening, he broke down the firewall that is the Guard, this day wasn’t going to end as bad as he thought after all, maybe there is some truth to that touted belief that the truth sometimes set you free.
“What is the deal.”
“You do not have to go today. I would give you time to go talk to Lady Zandra.”
“I don’t think she would want to. She knows I am behind, Demola’s death”
“ Hmmm but if what you say is the kind of relationship you had, she may want to hear explanations but I don’t care, what I am after is the money.”
“What money?”
“You said you had cash stashed away in banks.”
“Yes.”
“I want the account numbers to verify that they are true. I will follow you around to cash them, you will give me a share you see fit for my kindness, then you can run to anywhere you want to run to.“
Was it going to be that easy, you have worked for the Williams for as long as I know and you are going to sell them out for me?”
“If I am correct, there are millions in those accounts you mentioned.”
“15 million in one 23.5 millions in another.”
“There lies my motive.”
This chance was too sweet not to take
“Okay please pass me a bottle of water.”
One was flung at him, damn this sun was annoyingly dehydrating, the quenching of the thirst was just another relief to him, he had been successful in disarming this giant, but the giant seemed to want proof of the cash, so he showed him the account statements in the mail on his phone, they both joked about how his wife never touched his phones, how that made him the luckiest man in the world. He did feel lucky because he was getting out of a trap. Pa William’s traps are notoriously difficult to get out of, as far he knew he would be the first to come out of it alive with this negotiation. He would make Pa Williams and Pa Nwosu pay for this, while he hibernates in his own exile, he would find a way to torment them, all of them. This delighted him, but his thoughts were cut short by the pressing need to urinate. The water he had been drinking finally was getting to him, he felt the rush to his bladder, just after he poured the rest of the bottle on top of his head to cool down. He staggered to the side having finished the digging to pour his waste water to the ground….he heard a loud thud.

The Guard.
Watching him talk for longer was more grinding than he thought humanly possible, he had all he needed now so he took action and hit him on the head with a shovel. Pa Williams had instructed him to finish Sesan off the best way he could and this was a way that pleased him. He picked up Sesan’s phone that had fallen unceremoniously on the grass some meters away from his body, the information in it will be useful for Pa Williams, some added bonus probably. The best part had come when Sesan took the bait and began to spill his guts about his stashed away cash. All these people were the same, they gleefully gave out information they would guard with their life, when they were so desperate to get out of the hole they dug for themselves. He laughed at the pun that statement implied, little things like that amused him.

Laying on the grassy path Sesan looked like the carcass of a cow. He didn’t fall too far from the ditch he had been digging, so the Guard carefully rolled him into it, making the thud sound he was all too familiar with, he then gradually began the process of covering him up. He would have to not work his arms in the gym tonight because of this shovel work, he would do his legs instead, he thought absently rearranging his calendar. He had better hurry it would rain soon , he could see the clouds forming; this weather and its unpredictability. The change in weather meant he had to use the cement he had with him, to make the location concrete after the rain. Sesan was extra work and a pain in the arse.

He went into the car to smoke a cigarette as the rain began to fall, lucky enough it had mercy on him to cover up the body first. He wondered if Demola’s spirit still saw him as batman.


Sesan.
There was a moistness that awoken him, the soil was becoming wet, he could not bring himself to understand what situation his body was in, all he could hear was his Audemar Piguet ticking, it disturbed the silence, it heightened his constriction, he couldn’t claw, no strength to claw, maybe if……he slipped away again. Before he lost consciousness, he remembered that Pa Williams traps were notoriously difficult to get out of.

Zandra, January 16 2013

Funerals were not her thing, coffins had scared her since she was little, they made her close her eyes because she did not want to think of death the thought of the end frightened her, she had hoped to live forever, but like beggars and horses that wish could not come true, this was a cold reminder to her, a very cold slap in the face and a very hot branding to her hide. It was more heart wrenching that she was pouring sand on a coffin that bore her son. She did not know how all her life decisions led to this moment in time, but here she was burying an innocent child whose only crime was to be born by her. She had cried and cried and cried that there were no more tears in her, just fatigue, she had finally resigned, she did not care, she did not hope to care, she was empty, unsatisfied, broken.

Eight days ago they came to her saying that Sesan was dead, he had money stashed away in two accounts and they wanted her to have it after they get the bank to vomit the money. What was that all about, who wanted his money? She wanted her son. She told them to put it in a fund for children with heart diseases. She didn’t want it, she may need it to start a new life, but she did not want it….they could name the fund after her boy. Even that act of kindness to the world did not sooth the pain, it did not go away. It just did not go away, the pain tickled her allover, it tickled her to torment, nothing in this world would bring Demola back. She had thought to kill herself, maybe the pain will lessen, maybe she would have it better that way. It was a false thought, the aftermath of her agony. She just had to leave this place behind maybe she would forget, but she knew she could never forget, no one forgets a thing like this.

They were at the Williams Mansion, they had taken care to build a small white marble Mausoleum just next to Demola’s great grandfather, who also bore his name, that spot had been reserved for Pa Williams but he freely relinquished it to Demola, Pa Williams now stood opposite her holding his wife who was inconsolable. Some people had whispered that she shouldn’t be there when her son was put to the ground. What she actually meant was Ma Williams had whined to her husband and Samson that she was not meant to be present at the funeral, Zandra felt it was the last action for the woman to claim Demola for herself and alienate her but she not even care about all of that, what she knew was that she was there when Demola came to the world why should she be absent when there was a farewell ceremony for him? After all he lost his life because of her plain idiocy. Samson hadn’t come, she was relieved he wasn’t there, she didn’t know what she would say to him his mother and Pa Williams were there though, the woman kept on looking at her like she was covered in termites and maggots, while she mopped away the buckets of water on her face.

It was a little ceremony, no one else was invited but her, Ma Williams, Pa Willams and The Guard, she stood alone at her side of the grave, while the Williams and the Guard took to the right side. Zandra was an empty shadow, her head wrapped in a black scarf, with shades to block other people from seeing her blood shot eyes. He was gone Demola was truly gone, they were covering him up in dust. He did not exist to the world, nobody knew him, he had only had the best for a short period of time, the best she didn’t expose him to early enough, because of her failings as a mother, she wondered if there was a place in hell for her, she knew she was never going to see her son again, his pure soul belonged in heaven and her tainted one belonged in hell. It broke her the more, Demola would never exist, the world would never hear of him, she knew she broke Ma Williams heart because Ma Williams will never speak of him anymore, Demola’s place will always be there in the ground, he would not grow to be the entitled grandson of the Williams, he was now a name on a tomb in a mausoleum, with buried dreams and ambitions, no more plantains for him. She raised her head up and put her hands on her fore heads, she didn’t know if she should kneel, the grave was filling up fast, the priest was rounding up his prayers, she felt nauseous, this was the worst day of her life. It wasn’t those gory times as a youth, she didn’t understand the suffering then, it was now because she duly understood what was happening, how she had created a life, nurtured it and lost it.

A warm hand touched her, she turned to look at him and there was Samson dressed in a black kaftan, she didn’t know what to feel, she followed her instincts and fell into his hands. He was kind, he cupped her cheeks and placed her head on his chest and for the first time that day she let herself cry, she let it stream, she could taste the saltiness in her mouth, she knew she should apologize to him, she wasn’t the only one who lost a child.

“I am so sorry, I am so sorry, this is my fault, this is all my fault. I was weak, I did this to him, I did this to you.” He didn’t speak, he kept on patting her back as she vibrated with tears. She wished she wasn’t so much a pain, she wished she wasn’t here mourning Demola, she wished this was for something different, but she was relieved Samson wasn’t entirely mad at her. “I am sorry, she muttered again.” She knew she couldn’t say enough of those words, they would probably never take effect but she knew, she had to say them.

Now the grave was finally filled and the priest was already taking his exit, The elder Williams followed him, with the Guard, Ma Williams seemed a bit hesitant as if she wanted Zandra to leave first before she left, maybe she thought she would exhume the boy and run away, the woman amused her. She had told herself that she wanted to spend some time there before she left, she knew that with Ma Williams this uptight, there was a possibility she may often be denied access to the Mausoleum, besides she wanted to beg Demola to forgive her, she wanted to tell him to be happy wherever he was, she wanted to express with her heart words her mouth couldn’t express. She expected Samson to leave also, but he didn’t, he just stood there holding her, she wondered how much better it would be if she had been a good wife.
“Eskuss, sir, ma.” One of the laborers who were to seal the grave with marble begged for way to continue his job.

“I think we need to leave now.” Samson told her, he was still holding her.
“ I want to talk to him, I need to talk to him.”
“Do you want me to send them away to come back later then.” He didn’t let her go and for the first time in yonks she felt comforted, she didn’t want them stopping the work and having Ma Williams notice, to come down and scream at her son for allowing rubbish.

“I’ll wait till they finish. I’ll wait on the swings in the garden thank you” The swings were not too far off, a maze divided it from the Mausoleum area.
“You can come inside if you want to.”
“It will be awkward for me inside, I’ll be in peace outside.”
“I can wait with you there.”
“Will you?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”

He held her hand and led her out, he didn’t speak to her as they crossed the grassy path that led to the garden, so many thoughts crossed her mind, a recurring one was the memory of when he told her he still loved her. She knew she didn’t deserve it but a little part of her desired that he would love her enough to have her back, he obviously was showing the love by staying with her right now or she may just be confusing his gentleman nature for his kindness. They were now seated on two of the four swings that resided in the area.”

“I thought you wouldn’t come.” She stated breaking the comfortable silence of grief.
“I wanted to remember him with life…I didn’t know him all my life, I wanted to be a good father, I didn’t get the chance, but I just wanted to remember him with life and not as a corpse, then I thought that was selfish of me, you may need me. You are his mother.” Damn she did not deserve this man, not in a million years.

“You still love me like before don’t you?” She dared to ask him, after stretching to hold his hand while looking into his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Even with all of the troubles I have caused?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Even with all this? Why? I am a liar, a crook and a bad mother, I let our son die.” He made a scoff.
“You are a liar and a crook, but not a bad mother…..I know the real you Zandra, I know who is inside there…..”
“and who is inside here.”
“somebody who makes a lot of mistakes, and punishes herself by sticking to those mistakes….” She didn’t let him finish, she needed to break his bubble and see her as she truly was, he had always seen her with rose tinted eyes.

“Has your father told you?”
“Told me what?”
“About Sesan.”
“Sesan is missing, his wife called me she was hysterical, she said she couldn’t find him, she has lost her baby also, she went for this check up and there were complications, before you knew what was happening, the baby died. It’s a shame because I know how they toiled for that child. She has moved in with her father you know.”
“At least she didn’t watch him grow, then die.” She knew she should be saying something sympathetic but she didn’t have the strength. Samson just shook his head, there was a spell of silence cast again, it made her uneasy, everything about this place made her uneasy. “I will be going back to Otukpo in three days and I think I should let you know a couple of things.”

“Go? why? You need to stay here for a while.”
“I can’t stay. Trust me you don’t want me to stay, not after all what I have caused.”
“I still want you to stay.”
“Your dad didn’t tell you did he?”
“Tell me what? I specifically asked my father not to interfere that everything would be sorted by me.”
“You could not have sorted anything out Samson, you were too short sighted.”
“What are you saying?”
“I am saying Sesan was Sean.” Samson looked like someone had just given him an heavy slap, making his ears ring, he ran his palms across his thighs nervously then casted his confused but almost disillusioned eyes on her
“Sesan was Sean?”
“Yes.”
“How? It can’t be, just because their names sound alike does not mean you should make false accusations. Sesan was my friend.”
“And he was my lover…..he asked me to kill you Samson. That night when I ran away, he had followed us all the way to the hotel. He made me come to meet him downstairs, he wanted it done, you could not be spared. I had to make sure you made me your sole benefactor which I was reluctant to do, even when you kept on bringing It up. He had said he would find a way to convince you, then he will cut off your brakes himself. I couldn’t let that happen…I…I” She choked on her tears “I loved you too much, I couldn’t let that happen to you.”
“But I met Sesan at Francesca’s wedding” You could see that doubt clouded him, she understood it, it was hard and painful to swallow. “ He had been with Marilyn at Francesca’s wedding, yes, yes.” he was pointing his fingers in the air as if they helped him remember the sequence of events. “he had asked me if I was with you and I said yes, he said I was a lucky man but he left immediately, he had something to do.”
“Sesan forced his way with me. He wasn’t a human being at all, I thought he was, but he wasn’t. he only took what he wanted. As you witnessed yourself he could do whatever he pleased and controlled with fear, when fear is present you become crippled. When I came back I was so much crippled in fear and my loyalty to him that I didn’t rat him out. It all ended when I came home and saw what he did to Demola, when I realized I had lost.” She knew the gravity of what she was divulging, but there was no way she could know peace if she didn’t divulge the truth, he had the right to know.
“ My father knew all this?” He seemed to be slowing grasping what was happening.
“Not all of it before killed Demola.”
“That is why Sesan is missing isn’t it.”
“Yes he told the Guard to arrange it. He is in the ground somewhere.”
“My father had always had a way of dealing with things, why I didn’t want him involved…..he did what he had to do as usual” He scoffed. “All these years I asked you to tell me about Sean, you do not and all of this happens.” His hands were rolled in a fist, he knew she was about to punch something
“I know it sounds sick but there was a twisted part of me that loved him, that wanted to protect him. I don’t know if it was the power of his words that made me feel that way or what we had gone through together, what I know is that there is a bigger part of me that is satisfied that he is gone and I will never set my eyes on him again. I even wish I could have spat in his face as he took his last breath.” He acted like he did not hear her but wanted answers to his own questions.

What happened that night. Our wedding night?”
“You know I told you I was coming, he had called from the front desk saying he had a special delivery and was going to bring it to the room. I hurried downstairs to meet him, because that only meant trouble. When I met him, he said I had to do it, I had to kill you. You must know that wasn’t the first time. I had come home once and found him in your bed, our bed, he had bribed the security. He was there at my birthday party also, I just knew I couldn’t stop whatever he wanted to do, the only way was just to run away. If I left he would never be able to hurt you. I wasn’t thinking properly, I was thinking for that moment only. So I did, I ran, so many things happened, l lived in a convent for a while, I swear sometimes I wanted to call you, I would almost dial you but I never knew what to say. I just felt it was better I was out of your life. I only came back because of Demola and look how I messed that up also.
“All this could have been resolved if you had told me, I could have handled it.”
“I didn’t think he would be of any harm in the early stages, he was getting married to Marilyn and I would be out of the case. But even if I told you, what would you have done? Give him money? He would always be back like a leech he would have stuck to you. He would have driven you mad…if only I wasn’t too selfish to stay. If I had ignored everything I felt for you and left before the wedding, before everything. It would have been good.”

“It doesn’t matter now does it, what you did does not matter, No more secrets?”
“No more secrets.” She really meant that and she knew she had to work hard at it, he was giving her his boardroom expression, she knew what that meant, but he had taken the news too well, he didn’t stomp or break anything, he had probably had been briefed by his father but wanted her to say it to him.

“Let us go back to the Mausoleum, I do not hear any noise coming from there anymore.” He got up and stretched his hand to reach hers, pulling her up, he then led the way in front of her, she managed to catch up with him when he came to a halt just in front of the Mausoleum, she knew that the father in him could not bring himself to climb the stairs into it freely, she knew because the same feeling had come over her when she opened the door to Demola’s room that night.
“I really didn’t know him, I only gave him toys, I never spent more than one hour with him and he was my son.” She bowed her head to the ground with her toes tracing circles in the ground.
“It was my fault, I did that to you.”
“If we have a boy again, we should call him Demola.”
Somewhere in her soul relieve set in, she knew they may get rebuilt, she knew she may have a second chance, she knew she had a lot of explaining to do to him but for now, they held each other’s hands and let the tears heal them.
Epilogue.
She wore the Guard his cufflinks and slightly readjusted his collar, she knew he felt uncomfortable while she did this and that was precisely why she enjoyed doing it. He didn’t like her touching him, but there was nothing he could do now to protest. She had asked for him specifically and with her new status she got everything she wanted.

“You need to be seated, you must be feeling exhausted he managed to utter, it was an obvious attempt to get her away from him. Why didn’t he wear the cufflinks in the first place?, they were a gift from her to him, It was only when she saw he didn’t wear it, that she demanded to wear it for him.

“I am six weeks pregnant not a disabled person.” She sharply retorted with the wave of a hand. He was right though, the heels she wore were hurting her, she had opted for the stairs and not the elevator for the exercise and now she may be regretting it, but she was bored, they had been waiting for the governor who seemed uncomfortable in his flowing Agbada to go over the documents and make up his mind. When Samson had found out that she was slated to see this particular governor, he was understandably upset because of her past dealings with him, but she let him know that it was not a disadvantage but an advantage. The poor guy still frets, how Samson still manages to care for her this much eludes her, she deserved nothing but to be thrown in the gutter, but life was as usual unfair and smiled at her. This time it was a good thing.

They had gone on a new honeymoon after a private renewal of vows. Ma Williams had done her thing and spun the press, she knew the woman still hated her but only tolerated her because of Samson and Pa Williams, her face was hilarious when Pa Williams announced he wanted her to be a board member. All the more reason why the Williams Matriarch went to work with public relations. She let out that Yinka had used black magic on her son, the woman was careful to say she didn’t really believe in black magic but she suspected she used some form of emotional manipulation. The whole world then was introduced to the drama of how Yinka was caught with fetish items and how she was disgraced out of the Williams home. Poor Yinka she wondered what she was up to, she was badly portrayed in the press especially in a nation of people that were highly superstitious. She opened one of the blogs once and saw how the rabid dogs pounced on Yinka calling her all sorts of names from home wrecker to fetish runs babe, she had dropped a comment as anonymous saying she knew Yinka was Zandra’s friend and what utter betrayal Zandra must have felt knowing that Yinka was after her man, she knew it was wrong but she giggled when her fingers pressed enter to fuel the flames. The official story was that, Zandra had gone on a mission for her NGO deep inside the remotes of Uganda and Kenya and she had lost communications with the world, while giving herself helplessly and fully to the poor, the dying and the starving. The outcome was that she was being hailed as a saint and because of her, prayers were being said against friends who want to take their friends spouses. It was hilarious how people were really sympathetic and wanted to know more about their lives, if only they knew the truth.

“Ma you need to sit down.” The Governor said finally finding his voice.
“Come on Ralph, you don’t need to call me Ma, you have always called me Zandra, we both have come a long way ” She said motioning on the pictures that laid on his desk, which was making him think long and hard about his next move, she sat down though because she needed it. This man was one of those people who spoke perfect English in flowing Agbada, he was wearing one of those flowing things right now and he was speaking in big words explaining to her why the contract would be difficult to award to their company because it was government property, she was nodding her head, she wasn’t listening to anything he was saying because she knew she would have her way . She knew the truth was that this man wanted to give one of his numerous girlfriends, the one musician that jets in and out of the country despite making no appealing music . She knew because this came up during her intelligence research. Intelligence was everything, if you know how to use it. Sesan had been graceful enough to keep his library of damming blackmail photos and conversations of all her clients they were all aligned in alphabetical order and the governor’s one had a B for Bako on it. It was time to negotiate

“I understand that if your tastes hasn’t change you love really plump women. So it is either plump girls or the pictures of your privates in the media. Pleasure or disgrace?” She slided towards him a brown envelop that contained pictures of two scantily clad plump women, who if memory served her were the kind he likes, she put it next to an old photo of him dressed in an adult baby diaper as a form of role play. “No one will believe that one is photo shopped if it gets out.” She pointed at it in all seriousness.

Ten minutes later, she was out. This one was just a chicken he didn’t even threaten to drag her name in the mud, he just agreed like that. She would of course let him have his plump girls, she had already contacted Mimi the youngest and freshest Madame in town to arrange them, she also quickly contacted Pa Williams to let him know of her success, he was pleased, she was pleased with herself also, she had been winning new contracts in never before ventured territories for the Wiliams, Samson was very proud of her, he showed his appreciation with gifts often. She was now inside the car, so she rested her head back to think, The Guard was driving her so she felt safe, sometimes anxiety gripped her but she always had to tell herself it was okay, there was nothing to be scared of.

A notification on her phone brought her to look at it, It was a message from Francesca they had lunch.

God bless u real gud Xenaontopp.

rahmatlawahl: God bless u real gud Xenaontopp.

Amen

Wow I am so happy you are doin justice to this story.Thank you so much for coming to update the rest we missed.is dat all?I really love the story,muuuuaaaaaah

u did a weldone job dearie.. i rarely comment on people's post but u av draw me outta ma ghostmode. i really appreciate ur work. tnx for dis master pièce and remain blesséd.

Kindly follow back

seunviju: Wow I am so happy you are doin justice to this story.Thank you so much for coming to update the rest we missed.is dat all?I really love the story,muuuuaaaaaah

[Quote author=Unibenstudent]Kindly follow back[/quote]you again?hmmmm

Hmmm, choi, what have i done to u , to receive such cold and gruesome remark,* unibenstudent heart pumping faster than usual*

seunviju: [Quote author=Unibenstudent]Kindly follow backyou again?hmmmm

Unibenstudent: Hmmm, choi, what have i done to u , to receive such cold and gruesome remark,* unibenstudent heart pumping faster than usual*

you haven't done anything wrong and don't let your heart pump faster than usual o

You abandon me , u left me out in this cold and ebolarized nation alone*cries sorrowfully*

seunviju: you haven't done anything wrong and don't let your heart pump faster than usual o

Wow samson reminds me of someone I use to know..but I lost him..wonderful story..thanks for taking your time to re-write it..God bless u

[quote author=Unibenstudent]You abandon me , u left me out in this cold and ebolarized nation alone*cries sorrowfully*[/quote you ebolarized nation alone and with your self not me

Wonderful story line ....wish it never end !

Welcum bk xena dear...i ope ur nxt stori z on tz way o