THE HOUSEKEEPER BY KARO OFOROFUO


Chapter One

I have learnt two important things in life and they are 1. Living in the city is hard and 2. Living in the city without a job is very hard. Life is never a bed of roses but it smiles on anyone who is ready to work hard and smart.

My name is Charity Efete, the first child of late Mr. and Mrs. Efete who died in a robbery attack. I have a kid brother, Jeffery Efete is his name. Things were really hard for my brother and I since we were little because the early passing of our parents. We practically moved from one aunty’s house to another as well as one uncle’s house to another. The good part in all our suffering was that we were both able to finish school. We would have loved to go for our masters degree but that was not just going to be possible because of our poor financial situation and we didn’t want to continue troubling our uncles and aunties for help. Long since we finished school, we both went around looking for jobs but we had to manage the menial ones we got. My brother got tired and decided to try his luck at Abuja. Its been well over a year since he left and although we talk over the phone everyday, I still miss him so dearly. However, I know that the hustling must go on. As for me, I stopped hustling after I got a job at a big mansion as a house keeper. Surprising right? Why should being a house keeper be enough for me? Well, its not as simple as that. The name house keeper was only my cover but the real job was something else. Here, let me tell you how it started and what really happened.
Back then when I was hustling, I was still working as sales girl for a woman who felt she could step on anyone at anytime when I saw a vacancy for house keeper at one of the mansions owned by the Averos. The Averos are very rich people who have influence all over the country. Their father, Chief Luke Avero, is a member of the house of representatives at the federal level. His wife and two daughters also held different political offices but his crazy son was a celebrity. He was into movies, modeling and anything entertainment.
This family lived large and since I knew some people who worked with them, I knew they paid very well, no matter the position one occupied in their home or company. Of course I am a graduate but in a country where good employment with good pay is gold, I decided to take what was available and go for the interview.

By 8:00 AM on the morning of the interview, I was set and soon on my way to the Averos’ mansion which was located somewhere in the Lagos Metropolis. When I got there I was very surprised to see a lot of people, especially young guys and aged women. I always thought young men wanted only white collar jobs; I guess I was mistaken. As for the aged women, I guess the hustling wasn’t over for them, not yet.
While waiting, we stood outside in the sun for so long and I wondered if the interview would still hold or if we were in the wrong place. We weren’t given a place to stay so we gathered under the trees in the garden and sat on the trimmed grasses. Out of boredom and frustration, we started to converse with each other so as to make friends and also while away time but still, we were getting fed up. I arrived at the venue at about 8:45 AM but as at 12noon, we still had heard nothing from the employers. They didn’t even come out to talk to us or even see us. Some of the aged women hissed and cursed before picking up their bags and going home, some of the young men and ladies also left. With every passing hour our number reduced drastically and by 4:00 PM, there were just five of us left. Me, an aged woman in her early fifties, Two men and a teenage girl. The woman looked really tired and hungry. She was a little light complexioned, chubby, had gray hairs that were really long and beautiful for her age. She wore a brown blouse over very long skirt that got to her ankle. She was quiet almost throughout. The men and the teenage girl seemed to get along well and I wondered at it but after a few minutes of eavesdropping on their conversation, I found out that they were somehow related but I wasn’t too sure how.
No wonder they were still around. I thought. They were together so I was guessing that if one decided to go home, the others will follow.
I turned my attention back to the aged woman, she looked lonely and very tired so I decided to keep her company for a while and then persuade her to go home. Now don’t get me wrong, its not like I didn’t want her to get the job okay, I just felt she should not go through so much stress because of people who treated others shabbily all because they lived in a mansion. Anyway, she didn’t listen to me. She told me she couldn’t go back home empty handed because she was a widow with two boys and a girl who needed financial assistance for their university education. She was able to get part of the money needed but she needed ways to raise the other half. In her own words:
“I’d rather stay here until midnight and get the job, than walk away now and loose out. I have nowhere else to go”
I understood her situation perfectly and so I stopped trying to make her leave. We put the issue behind us and talked about other things. It was then I discovered how nice a woman she was. I was getting along really good with her and I enjoyed her company. Oh! Before I forget, her name is Mrs. Hope Ujete.
After we had stayed a little longer and no one still came out to meet us, I decided that it was time to eat, so, I offered to buy both of us food and a bottle of malt. She thanked me as I stood up and got ready to leave the compound. I wanted to quickly buy the food and get back. I was still walking towards the large gate when one of the vehicles parked in the second garage built away from the main mansion suddenly exploded. Unfortunately, I was close to it. The force picked me off the ground and threw me backwards. I landed hard on my back. The sudden explosion really shook me and the pains I felt from landing so hard were terrible. Fortunately, I lived seven years of my life close to an army barrack where I had lots of friends. My friends and I formed a scout group in the barracks and we were constantly given combat training by some of the soldiers. Although the scout group was used for some security jobs, it was nothing too serious. The training helped me so many times later in my life and I am still grateful for it. While lying on the ground after the explosion, I remembered what our scout instructors told us about sudden attacks and how to survive it. Refusing to waste more time, I quickly got to my feet and staggered to the others who were equally surprised and shocked by the blast. While we were wondering what was going on, especially since no one came out from the mansion to ask what happened and also take in the damages, we saw some masked men walk into the compound. They held the security man at gun point and pulled him along. The sight frightened us and I was sure I was really in the wrong place.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

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TWO

While the gun men moved towards the mansion, I grabbed Mrs. Hope by the hand and together we ducked behind some flowers in the garden and watched them. From the position we stood a while ago, I knew the masked men were yet to see us.

“What do we do now?” Mrs. Hope asked, scared. I could see that she was already trembling.

“We have to leave this place” I answered.

“We cannot just leave” She argued. “We should do something to help first.”

“Something like what?” I asked. “I’m not a police or army officer you know”

I had already decided that the best thing to do was to quickly get out of the compound with Mrs. Hope as quickly, safely and as quietly as possible but there was just one problem. At the gate, there were two armed men standing guard. Surprisingly, they wore no mask and I could see how very serious their facial expressions were.

“Ma” I called to Mrs. Hope. “Do you think you will be able to run when the time comes?” I asked.

“I don’t know” She replied. “You know I’m not getting any younger.”

“But this looks like a matter of life and death. Seriously, think about your children. Don’t you want to see them again?”

“Yes I do want to see them” She replied.

“Okay. So when its time, just run off, don’t even look back.”

“But what about you?” She asked.

“Don’t worry about me, just run when I ask you too. Is that okay?”

She nodded her head in agreement and then we turned our attention back to the gate. I was still trying to come up with an escape plan for both of us when we suddenly heard screaming in front of the mansion. I looked and saw the other girl, the one who came for the interview with the two young men. She was being pulled away by one of the masked men to the side of the mansion’s main entrance. I wondered how she got caught. Since the commotion started I didn’t even for once think about the men and their sister, or should I say relative. I thought they would be able to take care of themselves especially since they were vibrant young people. I looked around the premises but couldn’t find the boys anywhere. By the time I looked back at the screaming girl, I saw that she had been pushed to the ground and a stupid man was trying to get her jeans off. Now if there is one thing I hate so much, its a man trying to force himself on a woman. For crying out loud, its dehumanizing to force yourself on a person. If he has so much energy and he wants to spend some of it, then he should feel free to talk to a sex worker. I was really angry at what I was seeing, so much so that without thinking straight, I stood up and started towards them but Mrs. Hope quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me back behind the flowers.

“What do you think you are doing?” She queried.

“I’m going to get that man off her” I answered. “Can’t you see he is about to rape her?”

“So what are you going to do? Fight a strong and heavily armed man?”

“I don’t mind if he beats me to a pulp, as long as he doesn’t have his way” I argued.

“At this rate, you will only end up getting yourself raped too. At least come up with a plan first”

“But what can I come up with before that man succeeds?” I grumbled. “I have limited time”

I looked back at the duo and not for the last time, I wondered where her relations were. Since they were men, I reasoned that they were strong enough to fight for her but I couldn’t see them anywhere and the masked man was already almost getting the poor girl’s jeans off. Since I couldn’t come up with another plan, I quickly stood up again and this time I didn’t allow Mrs. Hope hold me back.

The other masked men were already inside the house and so it was easy for me to move without being noticed by any of them. I knew I had to stop the poor girl from being rapped and I was ready to do anything to make sure the tweed didn’t succeed. As I went along, I picked up a big sick which was lying on the ground but when I got to where they were, something weird happened. As I came up behind the man and raised the stick up to strike, the girl suddenly screamed a loud ‘No!!!’ Well, the ‘no’ wouldn’t have bothered me if she wasn’t saying it to me and also alerting the man who was about to rape her. But I was quick enough. I brought down the stick on his head before he realized what was going on. The man fell flat and passed out immediately. The girl, who was now left with just her under wear, quickly pulled up her jeans. She didn’t completely zip it up before she ran to the man’s side and began to shake his body and beg him to wake up. I was even more surprised to see tears flowing out of her eyes.

Again, I wondered what was really going on. How can someone care so much about the person that almost raped her? I tried to pull her off him and run away with her but she slapped me on the face and pushed me away before turning to face the man on the ground again. The slap was hard, the type only a soldier would give to you.

I was still trying to understand the situation when the other armed men suddenly came out from the mansion with William, Chief Avero’s son, as their captive. I was confused about what to do to help, I didn’t even know if I should help but as soon as the men saw the other girl by the side of the man I had hit, two of them went over to help and I noticed that the rest where confused. Even William Avero looked shaken by the issue but he tried to hide his emotions. I was surprised about that too because he was supposed to be a captive. Why then was he feeling sad for the man?.

The two masked men carried the passed out man into the mansion and the girl followed them in. To me, that was another shocker.

“Is she okay? Or is she crazy?” I thought.

As soon as they were out of sight, the remaining men asked William and I to go on our knees. We obeyed and not long after another masked man showed up from the garden with Mrs. Hope. She screamed and kicked as he pulled her by the hair to where we were. I wondered how she was caught and instantly felt guilty. At that moment, I knew that it would have been better to find an escape rout for both of us than to help out a girl who was about to be raped but didn’t appreciate my help. I knew I wouldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to her. The poor woman only wanted to raise money for her children’s education. That was why she came for the interview in the first place. Now it looked like she was not going to see her children ever again.

Mrs. Hope was brought to kneel down beside us and then guns where pointed at our heads. I closed my eyes and not for the last time, I thought of my brother. How was he doing at Abuja? How would he cope with the news of my death? These and more ran through my mind but not for long. I was seriously shocked and snapped out of my thoughts by a loud gun shot. My eyes instantly flew open and the first thing it rested on was Mrs. Hope lying lifeless on the ground. Blood flowed endlessly from her stomach. At that moment my emotions broke loose. I began to cry and scream at the masked men.

“You people are mad!” I shouted at them. “What did the poor woman ever do to you? How could you do this? How would her children take the news? She was a harmless woman, why?” I continued ranting for a while but then, one of the men stepped forward and gave me the slap of my life.

He then turned to William. “Your turn to reach hell Mr. William” He said before pointing his gun at William’s fore head. “Any last wishes?”

“Not really” William replied. “But I do have one last thing to say.”

“Hurry up then.”

“You and your entire team are the most biggest cowards I have ever seen. If you must kill a man, fight him head on and throw down those weapons of yours”

“Really?” The man laughed. ” The almighty William wants to fight? Let us grant his wish then”

The men, four of them in number surrounded William and started to give him the beating of his life. It was a very bad situation but at the same time, the distraction was what I needed. I quickly left my position, picked up one of the short guns the men threw down and pointed it at the man that stood as their leader.

“Leave him alone or I will shoot you” I threatened them.

The men stopped what they were doing and turned to face me. “Do you know how to shoot a gun?” The leader asked.

“None of your business. You have already killed my friend, I won’t allow you kill another person.”

“Why would anyone want to help William Avero?” their leader asked, “Do you even know who he is? Orwhat an idiot he is?”

“That’s none of your business. Just leave him alone. I don’t care if he is a jerk, he doesn’t have to die.”

“But we do?” The leader asked.

“No. For everything you’ve done, you deserve more than death. So believe me when I say death is the best option you have.”

They looked at me seriously for a while and then suddenly burst into laughter. They then urged me to shoot since I was with a gun and was determined to kill them. I was surprised at this because they were not scared that anything bad could happen to them.

Anyway, to cut long story short, I didn’t get to shoot the gun. I have never even handled a gun in my life before but that was not the issue. Before I could attempt pulling the trigger, someone came up from behind me and covered my face with something that had a very strong odor. I didn’t last after that, I simply passed out.

By the time I woke up, I found myself lying on a big bed in a very large but tastefully furnished room. The place was a little dark because the curtains were down but still, I knew it was a large room. While on the bed, I got scared because in most films I have watched, when a woman is suddenly abducted and finds herself on a bed, its either her abductors have already raped her, wanted to rape her or wanted to collect ransom. Unfortunately for them, I have no money so it could only mean that who ever brought me here wanted to get in-between my legs. I jumped up from the bed and was already heading to the door.

“Escape!” That was all that rang in my head even though I didn’t know where to start.

When I got to the door and was about to take the knob, I paused because I saw it turn and then the door suddenly flew open. Within seconds, William Avero stepped into the room. His bare chest was well built and his tall features hovered above me. His body was wet. Either he had just taken a shower or he went swimming.

“Hello Charity” He greeted with a smile.

To me, that was weird. I never was a celebrity and I never told him my name. We didn’t even talk to each other. So one question that bugged me was how he knew my name.

I took two steps back and looked at him thoroughly before speaking. “How do you know my name? And what are you doing here?” I asked

“First, this is my house” He replied. “So I have every right to be here. Second, I looked through your CV. After all you came for the interview, right?”

That was true. I forgot I came along with my CV and photocopies of my certificates. When I first saw the vacancy advert, I wondered why one should be asked for CVs and credentials even when the position was only for a house keeper. Anyway, that was the least of my worries, I had other questions bugging me so I concentrated on them.

“Okay. So tell me exactly what happened? How did you manage to get rid of those men?”

“I didn’t get rid of them. They are my workers but I prefer to call them my family.”

“I don’t understand. They are your workers? That means they revolted against you, right?”

“No. The important thing you should know is that you passed the interview, but the real question is, are you ready and willing to be part of us?”

I stared at him for a while as if I was looking at a clown. I consider clowns as confused people so I was very sure William Avero was being a clown.

“What are you even talking about? I and a whole lot of people came to your house since around 8:00AM for an interview that was never conducted. Those of us who refused to give up got attacked by the men who came to beat you. I was unconscious and now you are here telling me what? If you had just conducted the interview in time and let us go home, that poor woman, Mrs. Hope, she would have still been alive and I will not be here.

William smiled at my outburst but he said nothing immediately. It was like he was thinking of what to say as he moved closer to the window and pulled the curtains aside. It was getting dark outside but I refused to let it bother me, it couldn’t even bother me because I was carried away by the gorgeous body in front of me. William was dark complexioned, tall, had the body of a model and warrior put together. His hair was short and his beards were well shaped and trimmed. While he moved about, I couldn’t help but notice his biceps. They looked strong and very masculine, just the way I like them. I felt really attracted to his open body but I kept myself from feeling dazed. It wasn’t easy to do but I knew I had to try to ignore his dominating presence. After pulling the curtains aside, he turned back to me and spoke.

“I think its time to let you in on what really happened.”

TO BE CONTINUED.....

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THREE


William took out his phone and made a quick call. He ordered some people to come to the room. At first, I thought he called his cooks and cleaners or gardeners and I wondered what truth they had to tell me. Anyway, I didn’t wait for long before I got the shock of my life. The masked men who stormed the place earlier came into the room one after the other and this time, they were without masks. I knew it was them because they were still dressed in their black uniform.

“What is this?” I asked, a little scared.

I thought William had brought them in to deal with me. With every passing seconds my fear rose, my heart beat tripled and the room suddenly became too hot. What was happening? Why was he so calm with the same men that almost killed him? Seeing the questions in my eyes, William spoke up.

“Charity” He called. “These men are my workers and sometimes, they play the role of body guards too.”

“I still don’t get it.” I fired at him. “What has that got to do with the fact that they stormed this place, killed someone and even blew up your car? And they work for you?”

“The position of a house keeper isn’t what you thought it to be at all, Charity. We want someone who will take care of the house and everyone in it. It is the duty of the house keeper to monitor guests and strangers who visit this house, to make sure attacks against this house do not succeed. Our safety will lie almost completely in your hands if you accept this position. The interview was to see who amongst the others will be determined to get what he or she wants as well as the one who will do everything possible to save the life of another person. We found both in you. You stayed till late this evening, you didn’t give up and also you were willing to save our lives.”

“But it wasn’t only me.” I frowned, my eyes narrowing to a slit. “Last time I checked there were five of us left for the interview. Maybe the boys escaped but the girl came into your home after she was almost raped and the woman, she was killed by your so called workers.”

“Really?” William asked with amusement in his eyes. I could tell he was having fun with what I was saying and I wondered why.

“You are having fun with this, right?” I queried.

“Not really, but there are people I will like to introduce to you.”

He then called out “Mrs. Hope, Tina, Fred, please come in.”

So you see, I got another serious shock of my life when the three of them came in. I looked from Mrs. Hope to the other two, Fred and Tina.

“I saw your dead body.” I said to Mrs. Hope, my voice was shaky. “How come you are standing there?”

“No dear” She countered. “You saw me pretending to be dead.”

“But the gunshot wa…”

“Was fake.” She said, cutting me short. “Even the blood was fake.”

“You are one of them?” I asked her.

Mrs. Hope stepped forward and held me by the shoulder. “Yes I am dear.”

“You deceived me.” I withdrew from her hold. “So what about all that talk of your children and money for their university education?”

“Actually Charity, these are my children” She said referring to Tina and Fred.

“I thought you said you had two boys and a girl?” I asked again.

“Yes. My second boy, Jerry, is recovering from the injury he sustained. You hit him very hard you know.”

“I didn’t touch him. I didn’t hit anyone.”

“Yes you did, but without knowing.”

It was then I recalled the masked man who was bent on raping the teenage girl, Tina. I knew it was him they were referring to because he was the only one I dealt with. I was so shocked and confused. This was entirely new to me. What if I had killed him? I thought. Will they still say it was an interview? Will they forgive me? How can they even do such a thing? When I got tired of thinking, I put my thoughts aside and looked up at Mrs. Hope as well as everyone in the room like I was seeing ghosts and aliens. They expected me to say something but I had nothing to say. Mrs. Hope saw how confused I was, she then asked the others to leave so she could talk with me alone. They obeyed and left, even the almighty William Avero left too and that surprised me. I didn’t know he could be obedient to his own worker

For the next one hour after we were left alone, Mrs. Hope tried to make me understand by explaining things to me. She said when they placed the vacancy advert, they knew they were looking for an honest person who cared about others more than him/her self. They were looking for such a person because their own lives, as well as that of William’s were constantly threatened. They needed someone trust worthy to have their backs and also the position was a very sensitive one. They delayed the interview because they wanted to know who amongst the applicants will be patient enough to wait for the employer and also who will assist to fight if there was an attack. Everyone left except me. At the time, I thought we were five left but I was really the only one left. Mrs. Hope was already a worker in the house and so were the girl and the two young men, Mrs. Hope’s children. They were only out there to see what would happen, how I would react to the situation. According to Mrs. Hope, she was the first house keeper and she knew that the task being given to me was no child’s play. Everyone was going to have to put their trust in me.

“But why all of this?” I asked. “Why do you people need protection? If you aren’t doing anything bad then you don’t need protection.”

“We are not doing anything bad dear and really, what we do is not as easy as you think. We train on a daily basis because of the work we do” Mrs. Hope said.

“I hope you people are not asking me to be a thug for William or his father? Fighting their battles and protecting them from the people they’ve hurt?”

“Its far from that Charity. You see, William is a celebrity, yes. But that is just a cover to hide what he is really doing. He is actually a crusader with a mission to dis-stabilize greedy politicians and help the common man. He never one day liked his father’s role in politics and this is his way of rebelling against it. We have all suffered one way or the other and so we had good reasons to join him. When you get to know William, I assure you, you will see him differently.”

“Okay” I said, still wondering about everything. “So what exactly is my job description like?”

“You will supervise the cleaning of the house, you will monitor guests and strangers and sometimes you will attend to them on behalf of William. You will make sure the CCTV cameras in every part of the house are in working condition. You will be part of the patrol team, only you will watch the house while others watch the compound. The idea is to make sure intruders don’t get into the compound and the house. You will be trained on how to use weapons and hand combat for battles. Als……”

“Hold on please.” I interrupted her. “I’m I being recruited into a military base? Or something similar to it?”

“No dear. You are only being recruited as a house keeper” She said with a smile. “But you will need the training.”

“Look ma, this is too much to take.” I said truthfully. “I will have to think about it. I don’t really know if I want to do this.”

“I know its not an easy decision. It was same for most of the employees but they have not regretted joining our team. I’m sure you won’t either.”

We talked a little more and when we were done, I promised to think about everything I had been told.

“I need to go home now.” I said to her. I was feeling tired and I needed to rest.

“Its late.” She prevailed on me. “At least feel free to pass the night here. You can use the opportunity to get to know the others. It will help with the decision you make.”

“Okay” I said after a brief thought. Its not like anyone would get worried about me since I was staying alone. As for my brother, we could always talk over the phone. “Will you show me around? I really want to know something more about how things work around her” I said.

“Sure.” She agreed.

We got up from the bed and walked towards the door. Mrs. Hope suddenly held me by the shoulders and I turned to face her.

“Thank you.” She said, with a smile.

“Why are you thanking me?” I asked, confused

“I am thanking you because if what happened outside was real and not just an interview, I am sure you will stand with me and do all you can for me.”

“I was only doing what I thought was right” I replied.

“I know my dear” She said, rubbing the back of her hand against my cheeks. “That is why you are so special. I hope you wouldn’t reject our offer?”

“I don’t know yet. I can’t say”

“Its okay, I understand.”

We left the room together and walked around the house but I wasn’t allowed into any room that had the inscription ‘Private or Off limits.’ The mansion was a very spacious one and full of helps who did the normal cleaning and workers who were both patrol and combat teams. They were very nice to me and I felt like part of them already. I was invited to have dinner with them and it was there I saw how happy, mischievous, funny and friendly they were. Although it was fun, I didn’t see William that night, he didn’t join them at the table.

Maybe he doesn’t want to mix, I thought. Employers always have a way of separating themselves from their employees. I quickly put the thought out of my mind. I just wanted to enjoy the meal and the company of the workers.

That night, after I got back to my room, I didn’t feel the way I felt before. I was more comfortable and relaxed. Tina gave me her nightie. After showering I changed into it and jumped on the big bed. It was very soft and comfortable but it didn’t help to remove the question in my mind. “Can I do this? Can I handle this job?” I knew it wouldn’t be easy to decide immediately so I simply turned the other way and closed my eyes. After all, the next day was another day.

To be continued
************************

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FOUR


Throughout the night I was restlessly drifting in and out of sleep. The dreams I had were a replay of the interview, the only difference was that I killed all the mask men and was sent to jail afterwards.

Funny, right?

However, I finally managed to sleep during the early hours of the morning; I totally slept like a baby. By the time I woke up, it was 11:15 AM. I sat up briefly on the bed and said a quiet ‘Thank you’ to God for a safe night. After that, I got out of bed and went straight to the window, I pulled back the curtains and looked out. I wasn’t shocked, I was only surprised to see a lot of cars in the compound. The guards as well as patrol team were already in their positions. They directed other cars that were coming in to spots where they could park. Although I didn’t know what the occasion was, everything seemed to be going on just fine.

“They are perfect.” I said out loud.”They simply don’t need me here.”

But still, I was reluctant to leave. Deep within, I wanted to be part of them, I wanted to be part of a team that was so organized and also shared brotherly love. A team that had safety primary imprinted in their hearts. But I also knew I wouldn’t like the risks involved. Anyone could die at anytime. If I died, my brother would be a lone in the whole world.

“Phew!!!” I sighed and then walked away from the window. I knew that no matter what, it was time to go.

Within the next hour, I took my bath, got dressed and left the room with the file containing my credentials; Mrs. Hope must have dropped it on the table while I was asleep.

I got down the stairs and entered a narrow passage. I was already half way to Mrs. Hope’s study when I walked past an open room where a man was holding a gun to William’s head and asking him to lead the way.

“Oh God!” I thought, rolling my eyes. “Aren’t these people tired of interviewing me the wrong way?” I smiled at both of them and asked. “What’s this again? An interview?”

“Stand back!” The man with the gun warned me.

“And if I don’t?” I asked, hands on hips.

“I will blow your brains out.”

“Story. Or should I say tales by moon light. Excuse me.” I hissed and walked past them. I wasn’t interested in passing another interview even though I noticed how serious William’s expression was. His method of interviewing was still very unacceptable to me so for all I cared, he could just go to hell if he thought playing another trick on me was going to make me accept the job. If anything, it would make me go far away. I left them and continued on my way. When I got to the study, no one was in. Going back the way I came, William and the gun man were no where to be found. I hissed again while making my way to the sitting room. It was then it dawned on me that a quiet get together party was actually on-going. It was the reason for the many cars parked outside.
The sitting room was filled with celebrities and other important people, politicians, CEOs and MDs. I was still engaged with looking at the people around as well as their beautiful and expensive attire, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Mrs. Hope looking so serious and worried at the same time. Five of the men who acted as gun men the day before stood behind her with shot guns and double barrels. They were all dressed in dark blue combat uniforms and so was Mrs. Hope. For her age, she really looked good in it and I would have complimented her but her facial expression took the compliments away from my lips and replaced it with a question.

“Did someone die?”

“No, but someone is missing. Have you seem William?”

“Hmmmm…. What is this? Another interview?”

“Charity I’m serious here. This is not an interview. William is supposed to be at the party but he is not. I have checked his room, study and even the training room. He is just nowhere.”

“That doesn’t mean something bad has happened. Maybe he is busy setting up another interview.” I insisted.

“Charity this is serious. I think he is in danger because he sent me an SOS code before his phone went off. I have been calling back but its not connecting.”

“Ops.” I said as reality dawned on me. ” I saw him just now.”

“Where?” Mrs. Hope asked with so much relief.

“A man had a gun pointed at him. They were at the passage that leads to your study. I don’t know where they went. I didn’t care at the time because I thought it was just another interview.”

“Thanks. That’s all we need. You stay here, If you see anything let us know.”

“But I want to come with you.”

“No, you’re not trained for things like this yet.”

She handed me a radio receiver for contact before going with the other men.

“Gosh! You are such an idiot” I said to myself as I mentally knocked my head three times. “How could I not have seen what was happening? If that weird guy hurt William and got away with it, it would be because of my stupidity.”

I was so restless where I stood and I knew I couldn’t just remain there and do nothing about what was happening. Even the party no longer interested me, all I could think about was what to do. I looked at my file and the room key I was about to hand over to Mrs. Hope.

“I still need to hold on to this” I said before turning back the way I came. I needed to get back to my room, drop the file and join in the search for William.

I had already climbed the stair case and was well on my way to the room I slept the night before when I heard voices in one of the rooms. At first I didn’t pay any attention to it but when I heard

“You are really a spoilt brat William Avero. How can you even do what you are doing to your father right now?”

My eyes widened as I realized that William was in that room with his abductor. I took off my shoes as quietly as I could and tip toed to the door.

“So why don’t you just shoot me and get things over with?” I heard William reply the man.

“Believe me Willie, I want to do it. But your father gave me very strict instructions and that is the only reason why you are still standing. I will take you to him and after your discussion, he will decide whether you live or not.”

“You and my father are just the same. You are both cowards. My guards will be here soon. You should run away before they get you.”

“Are you trying to threaten me?”

“No. I’m only advising you, and for your own good you should take it.”

“The only advise I have for you Willie boy, is to make sure you carry the correct and complete documents your father asked for. Its time to give up the land.”

I moved away from the door as quietly as I could. I didn’t understand what the man meant by ‘Its time to give up the land’ and at that moment, I didn’t really care. For the next few minutes I thought of what to do to help but nothing concrete came to mind. I then decided to get something, anything, as long as it could serve as a weapon. I looked around but found nothing. I tried to access the rooms close by but all of them were locked except one. I went inside that one and looked around but still I found nothing. I went back to the door of the room where William was and just stood in front of it while trying to come up with a plan. I thought of going to get Mrs. Hope but I was scared that something bad might happen before I get back. I looked at the radio receiver in my hand but I knew that talking into it would give away my position. Due to too much thinking and less concentration, I didn’t know when the door knob turned and the door, pulled open. William came out with some documents in one hand and a gun still pointed at the back of his head. For a brief moment, we stared at each other, confused. I didn’t expect to be caught and I am sure he didn’t expect to see me around.

“So you decided not to back off, right?” The gun man asked as soon as he saw me.

I wanted to say something but my receiver chose that moment to beep. I knew it was Mrs. Hope wanting to confirm if I had seen William or not. I held the receiver close to my mouth but before I could say anything, the man pushed William aside and pointed his gun at me.

“If you say one word,” He threatened with a very low but dangerous tone. “I will not hesitate.”

While I was still trying to decide what to and what not to do, William ceased the opportunity to attack his abductor from the side but things didn’t go well. In fact, it went very bad in a twinkle of an eye. What happened was this. While William made a strong move on the man and tried to cease his gun and render him powerless, the man pulled the trigger. I heard the bang. But all I felt at that moment was the unbearable pain of hot metal piercing into my flesh, and then blood; warm blood flowed out. I cried out in pain and after a while, the last thing I saw before I blanked out was William getting even with his abductor.

To be continued…

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FIVE


I woke up on a big bed in a room that was much bigger than the one I was before. The rays of sunlight pouring in from the window revealed that the furnishing was of real quality and more tasteful than that of my former room. I wondered whose room I was in as different scary thoughts started to creep into my mind. Was I abducted? Or was I dead?

I was still thinking about it when I heard noise from the bathroom; like someone was showering. My senses immediately became alert and since I didn’t want to wait around to find out who it was, I simply pushed myself up to a sitting position with an aim to escape but the sharp pain I felt in my abdomen stopped me from taking further action. I used one hand to cover the spot that was hurting and tried to sooth it. When the pain came down a bit, I moved gradually to the edge of the big bed. At this time, the shower had stopped flowing, like the person had finished bathing. I noticed as the door knob gradually turned. It was almost like the person was taking his/her precious time to come out and launch an attack. I couldn’t live with the suspense anymore so I hastened my movement to the edge of the bed but as I tried to get up, my knees buckled and I fell. In the process, my hand hit a tray on the side cabinet containing a glass of water. so when I hit the floor face down, the whole thing poured on me. The noise must have caught the attention of the person in the bathroom because the door quickly opened and I heard quick steps running towards me. Although I was weak, I made up my mind that if the person came close enough, the glass would be my weapon and I will not hesitate to use it. So as the person came forward, I grabbed the glass and waited. When he bent over to pick me up, I raised my hand to strike but he quickly noticed and grabbed the glass from me.

“What? Are you trying to kill me?” The man asked.

I looked up from where I was into the worried eyes of William Avero. Once again he was bare chested and wet. The only difference this time was that he was tying only a towel. It was obvious he was taking a shower. I tried not to concentrate on his body because of the effect it was having on me so I looked away. William briefly left my side to get a towel which he used dry the water off my body.

“You are yet to recover from a very serious injury” He said. “Jumping into action is actually not a wise decision.

“Well I didn’t know you were the one in the bathroom, and by the way, why don’t you put on some clothes? You are practically naked in that towel and its embarrassing.”

William looked at his well built form and then looked back at me. “Embarrassing for me or for you?” He asked chuckling.

“I don’t care what you think. Just stand back.” I pushed him off and tried to get up by myself but William was not having any of that. He quickly stood up and scooped me over his shoulder like a sack of garri.

“Oh put me down or I’ll kick and scream.” I threatened.

“Scream all you want, Miss, but I am not letting you walk by yourself.”

William gently put me on the bed and asked me to relax. “You struggle too much” he accused. “You haven’t fully recovered you know, you still need to rest.”

“Says who?”

“Says the doctor and I” He replied.

“Well, I wouldn’t struggle if you weren’t half naked.”

“Why does it bother you anyway? After all it was because of your fall that I rushed out of the bathroom, I was about to put on my clothes.”

“Okay fine! I’m safe now so please you can go and get dressed?”

“Yes mummy.” He scoffed before walking away.

“Phew!!!” I sighed after he had gone. Its not like I didn’t appreciate his help, I did. But the problem was I couldn’t stop myself from reacting to him the way I did, especially since he was bare chested. The best way to not get affected was to act angry and yell at him.

Why is he even here? I thought. This is supposed to be my ro… wait, it wasn’t my room. So whose room was I in and whose bed was I lying on?

I looked round the room again but all I saw were both female and male clothes and shoes. There was even a make up table at one end of the room.

Maybe its his sister’s room, I thought. And maybe she’s sharing it with her husband. Or maybe this is William’s room, he shares it with his girlfriend.

I didn’t hold on to that thought for long because the room door opened and Mrs. Hope walked in. At the same time the bathroom door opened and William stepped out in a plain white t-shirt and a blue jeans trouser.

“Thank goodness you are here” William said in relief. “Our patient obviously doesn’t want me around. The sight of me irritates her.”

“That’s not true.” I protested. “I fell and he came out from the bathroom naked to help me. Any woman in her right senses will be paranoid.”

“Yes I agree” Mrs. Hope said, giving William a look that asked, “what in God’s name were you thinking?

“Okay.” William said in resignation. “You both win so, I will just leave and be out of your faces.”

He immediately left the room and Mrs. Hope attended to me. She helped me to the bathroom, helped me to bath and also to change into some clean clothes. After that she ordered catfish pepper soup from the kitchen. I frowned at it because I was very hungry and I wanted something solid but Mrs. Hope assured me that I will eat something solid after about an hour’s interval.

“But can’t I eat it right away?”

“No dear. You have been out of consciousness for almost two days and you haven’t eaten any…”

“Wait! Please wait.” I held up one hand. “You mean I have been asleep for two days?” I asked with raised brows.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t anyone wake me up?” I queried.

“Because it is not as easy as that. You don’t just wake someone up from a unconsciousness. You were in a brief comma.”

The news really shocked me. I didn’t know I slept for so long let alone being in a comma. I remained quiet and drank the soup, slowly. Mrs. Hope fed me. After a while I asked the one question that had been on my mind.

“Whose room is this?”

“Its mine.” She answered.

“Really?” I asked with my brows shooting up again. “Then why did William bathe here?”

“Because his room is a mess and its still under construction. William regards me as his mother, that’s why he felt free to move in here with me temporarily since the spare rooms have been occupied by guests.

“Guest?” I scoffed. “What kind of guest does he have now?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll see.”

I wondered why William allowed guests stay in every room in his house. Supposing one of his numerous girl friends came, how would he bed her without anyone’s disturbance. At least I was sure that was what he was used to. Anyway, for starters, I was sure Mrs. Hope wouldn’t agree to it and since he regarded her as his mother, he wouldn’t want to do anything that was disrespectful to her.

“So where is he going to keep his female guests?” I asked. I couldn’t contain myself anymore, I really wanted to know.

“What female guests are you talking about?” Mrs. Hope asked with squeezed brows.

“Oh! I meant his concubines. You know, the ones he usually satisfies his loins with.”

I expected a straight reply but when Mrs. Hope started to chuckle, I frowned and wondered if my question was funny.

“Did I say something funny?” I asked.

“Oh! Sorry dear” She said, trying to stifle her chuckling. “I just couldn’t help myself.”

“It is a simple question.”

“I know. Its just that most people see William as a spoilt child who posses with his father’s wealth and changes women like clothes but the truth is, William hardly goes into relationships.”

“He doesn’t need to go into or keep a relationship ma, all he has to do is sleep with all the willing prostitutes and pay them off.”

“You’re wrong again dear. On the contrary, William hates the site of prostitutes.”

“What about runs girls?”

“They are all the same to him, Charity.” Mrs. Hope said with all seriousness. “If he gets involved with a girl, he actually wants to keep her but it seems he doesn’t know how to choose good girls. He always picks cheaters and gold diggers.”

“Oh! Too bad.” I descended on the fish as I spoke. “He should stop showing off too much money, then maybe the right girl will come along.”

“Well, maybe, but I don’t think too much money is responsible for it.” Mrs. Hope remained silent and was temporarily in deep thoughts. When she got out of it the first question she asked was “Why does it interest you anyway?”

“What? As in? What are you talking about?”

“Why does William and whatever woman he moves with interest you?”

“Nothing. I was just having an innocent thought and so I asked.”

“Hmmm…. Charity, I am an elderly woman, I have dealt with different kinds of people and I know when someone is telling lies or trying to hide something. So tell me the truth. Are you attracted to William?”

To be continued…..

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Thanks guys, more updates coming up later today but you can follow the link and visit the site to read up before I get around to posting it here.

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Chapter Six


"Attracted to him? What does Mrs. Hope take me for anyway? I haven't gotten attracted to decent honest guys its William I now want to get attracted to? What are people thinking in their heads these days?"

I had been ranting ever since Mrs. Hope asked that annoying question. How could she even think such? I didn't think I was attracted to William at all. Of course he had a dominating personality and a body that seemed to get my eyes glued to it but that was not enough to get me attracted to him.

After Mrs. Hope asked the question, I gave her a quick no but she was not buying it.

"You know what I think, Charity?" She asked.

"What?" I nearly barked.

"Get as mad as you want but the truth is, you are very much attracted to him"

"That is not true." I argued. "Why would you think that?"

"Deny all you want my dear, but I have already made my conclusion. You want to know what I pray for?"

"What?" I asked frowning. My frown only made her chuckle and finally burst into laughter but to me, it wasn't funny at all.

"I pray that your attraction develops into love and I pray William sees what's in front of him. True love is hard to find my dear and to make things better, you are a good girl."

All the time she talked, my jaw dropped and I didn't even realize until she said. "Close your mouth dear, flies may go in."

I quickly shut my mouth but before I could say anything, Mrs. Hope had opened the door and left. She wasn't interested in hearing what I had to say.

"Arrrrggggg!!" I yelled within
"Why did she have to be so blunt and so out of the question? So out of point?"

Of course William had a dominating personality and my eyes seemed to always get glued to his open body but that did not mean I was attracted to him.

I kept on fuming and ranting to myself until the yam and vegetable stew Mrs. Hope ordered from the kitchen arrived. I ate and then tried to sleep but I could not. Anyway, that's what happens when one sleeps for almost two whole days and then wakes up to someone telling you how attracted you are to a he-goat. I tried to call Mrs. Hope to come keep me company but her lines weren't going through. While still thinking about what to do and how to rest, I heard the sound of laughter from outside and I decided to check it out. Within the next few seconds, I struggled out of bed and gently walked to the room's balcony. The breeze that greeted me was really soothing and I wondered why I didn't think of coming out before. Mrs. Hope's room was located at the back of the mansion so when I stepped on the balcony and looked out, I saw a side of the compound that I hadn't seen before. The back of William Avero's mansion had a moderate sized swimming pool, a Table Tennis court and a bush bar. While the patrol guards were on duty, some of the combat men relaxed at the bush bar and the others played table tennis. They looked happy as they told stories and cracked jokes. I could see Tina with the men in the bush bar. The surprising thing about all of them was that even though they were off duty, they were still dressed in their combat uniforms. William must be doing a lot to keep his men happy. If not, why will they be so comfortable doing this job for him? Well, I later learnt that William didn't do anything extra ordinary for them. All he had to do was be himself and this made the men very loyal to him. They loved his personality and the causes he fought for.

I was still watching the activities of the patrol men and combat team when William suddenly showed up with a teenage girl of about 14 years old. She was dark skinned, a little plump and very un-kept. On seeing him with the girl, The men stood up from their seats and came together. They listened to what William said and from the way he held the girl close and constantly looked at her, I could tell that he was talking about her.

When they finished talking, Tina hugged the girl and then held her like a sister as she led her into the house. The men stood around to talk some more but William wasn't joining their talk. Instead, he looked at his wrist watch and then looked up towards my room balcony. I didn't expect him to suddenly look my way, if not I would have ducked. I felt like a spy caught in the act. William looked away after a few seconds, said something to the men and then walked towards the house.

I wondered what he was up to but I didn't wonder for long. The balcony door opened and William stepped out to join me. I looked at him with wide eyes before barking "Don't you know how to knock? Just because I live in your house, that doesn't mean you should just barge into my space."

"Actually, I knocked." William replied calmly and with a straight face too. "When no reply was forthcoming, I thought you didn't hear the knock. I guess you didn't."

He was right. I didn't hear him knock the room door. I relaxed a bit and then looked away before asking "What do you want?"

"I want to make you a last offer to be our house keeper."

"Why would I want to be?" I asked. "I think its a dangerous job, especially since a lot of people want you dead."

"Charity..."

"Don't call me that."

"Why? Its your name right?"

"Yes it is but I haven't given you the right to call me by my first name."

"What is your problem anyway?" He frowned this time. "I only tolerate your attitude because you took a bullet while trying to help me."

"Oh! So now you tolerate me? Don't Worry, as soon as I am strong enough I will leave your house. I promise."

"Look, I know you hate my guts but for once, just listen to me. This house will be almost exposed for a while if we don't have a house keeper. Some of the men who doubled as house keepers are now very busy with some cases and the few left just got a new case. There will be a few guards outside of course but what about inside?"

"If your guards trust someone enough to let him or her into the compound, that means the house is also safe, right?"

"Wrong. The man who shot you, he got past the guards easily because he was sneaky and there were a lot of people coming in. However, there was no one to watch his movements in the house so as to know if he was clean enough. You know the rest of the story."

I hadn't really given the house keeper thing a minute's thought since I got out of my brief comma. All I thought about was how to get well quick and be on my way home. Now that the issue was raised again and I had experienced what it was like to have a dangerous intruder, I didn't know what answer to give. Yes, Mrs. Hope had always said William was fighting a good cause and that was why people constantly targeted him. Maybe it was time to really got to know what he was doing before taking any decision. But all the same, the man only tolerated me. I looked down at the combat men. Some sat down and continued to relax while the others left the tennis table one by one. I knew they were leaving because of whatever William told them. Maybe the teenage girl needed serious help and they were given an assignment to find possible solutions to her problem.

"I would have tried to give it a second thought" I said to William. "But you just said it yourself. You tolerate me. I can't stay in a house where I am being tolerated."

"I'm sorry Charity," he sighed. "I didn't mean to sound like that. But you know you aren't helping matters either, its like you hate me."

"I don't hate you."

"Okay, at least that issue is cleared." He said, relieved. "So what say you?" He asked.

I knew I still needed to know exactly what was going on so I asked. "Who's that girl?"

"What girl?"

"The one you introduced to your men a while ago."

William sighed and took two steps towards the railing before resting lightly on it. "You mean Fegor. She is a victim of sudden poverty and harassment."

"Sudden poverty? How do you mean."

"She is the daughter of an ex bank manger. He was set up by his bosses with the sum of N20million. They made it look like he stole it and then sent him to jail until the money is paid back. They don't even want him to be granted bail because they are scared that he will give away their secret. What's worse, they took away his house and other landed properties as part payment."

"Really? Are you sure? How did you get to know all of this?" I asked.

"I saw her in the street this morning begging for food to eat. She looked like a beggar but her English was just too clean to be ignored. I offered to buy her food at a nearby restaurant and she agreed but begged me not to take advantage of her." William smiled broadly at that last statement and I could see how his white set of teeth complimented his smile. The guy was naturally breath taking. I got carried away and almost didn't follow what he was saying but I quickly fell back in track.

"... It was then she told me everything." William said. "I wanted to be sure her father told the truth, so, I went to the prison and paid some money to the warden and guards. They let me talk to the man. I looked into his eyes Charity, he is innocent."

"So why not just help the poor man pay the N20 million to his bosses instead of fighting?"

"No Charity, that's where you are getting it wrong. I won't pay a dime. The people who stole that money will cough out every knob. That is what we fight for, justice. Our security system favors only the rich and influential people, there is no one to fight for the poor."

"Well, that sounds like a good cause to me."

"It is. So, will you do it?"

"Do what?" I asked confused.

"Look Charity, every man or woman in this house is assigned to a case right now. Only a few of the patrol guards will remain on duty here. If you leave, the compound may be fairly guarded but the house will be left open. You saw what happened the other day, unfortunately you took the hit. Just think about my offer. If you accept, I promise you won't regret it."

"And if I don't?"

"Phew!!" He sighed. "Then there will be nothing left to say. I can't force you..

Seven

The day went by very fast. After my talk with William that afternoon, he went in to get dressed and then went out with his men, probably to handle the case surrounding the ex-bank manager. I was left alone with the cooks and cleaners. They were really busy with the chores so I assisted the best way I could. It was all work, work and more work. By the time we finished it was already evening. I ate, took my medication and tried waiting up for everyone but no one showed up until about 10:00 PM. I was in the sitting room browsing with my phone when I heard the gate open. I went out to see who had arrived. The cars drove into the compound one after the other and they were in such a hurry. I knew they left with five cars so when only three arrived, I knew not everyone had come home. I still felt pains in my abdomen so to reduce the stress of moving about, I simply stood at the front of the house and waited for them. When they finally parked and came down from their cars, they started towards the house in a hurry. One of the men carried someone over his shoulder and the others followed behind. I wondered what the problem was as I took few steps forward. When they got to the entrance, I cleared the way to let them pass but I was able to take a quick look at the injured person. My heart melted when I saw it was William. No wonder no one was talking. They looked so sad and even ignored my presence. Whether I stood there or not was non of their concern. There was a doctor and two nurses following behind with hospital equipment. It was then I knew that the situation was serious. William always preferred to be treated at home and he had his own doctor for that.

I followed behind but stopped in the sitting room. From there I watched them take William upstairs, probably to one of the spare rooms. Lucky for us, his guests left early that afternoon but his own room was still under construction.

The night was cold and very sad. It rained heavily; like nature was sad for William too. Everyone had a gloomy expression as we patiently waited for the doctor to finish operating on William and tell us if he would survive. The men couldn't eat. Tina stayed outside throughout the period of the operation. Mrs. Hope who later arrived with the rest of the crew locked herself up in her study. I couldn't find anyone who was willing to tell me what happened. As I worried about William and everyone else, the pains in my abdomen increased so I simply went to my old room to rest. There was just no need adding salt to open wound.

At exactly one o'clock that morning, I heard William's room door open and I went out to check what was up. From my door way, I saw the doctor, Mrs. Hope and a few of the men outside William's room. Although they talked in low tone I was able to pick what they were saying. The operation was successful but it seemed William will be paralyzed for the rest of his life. Mrs. Hope cried like a baby when the doctor delivered the news, she couldn't hold herself anymore. Although the men were sad, they did their best to console the elderly woman. I couldn't bear the sad news, neither could I bear to see Mrs. Hope in so much pain. I went back quietly to my room and laid on the bed. Things had certainly gone from bad to worse all because the man wanted to help an innocent ex bank manager. The William I used to know or rather, the William I saw on TV didn't give a hoot about anyone's ill situation, but here he was, facing paralysis because he tried to render a selfless service. That night I cried. I never knew I could cry for William Avero, but I cried. I soaked my pillow with my tears before falling asleep on it.

I didn't wake up until about 9:40AM the next morning. I yawned and stretched before sitting up on the bed. Mrs. Hope was sitting by the window and from the way she was, I could tell that she was lost in thoughts. I got up form the bed and walked up to her.

"Good morning ma" I greeted as I place a hand on her left shoulder.

She used one hand to cover mine without looking back. "Good morning dear." She replied my greeting. "I'm glad you were able to sleep"

"Yes, I needed it." I replied. I wanted to say more but I couldn't. I knew she was still sad for William, after all, the guy was like a son to her.

"Did they tell you what happened to William yesterday?" She asked.

"No ma. Everyone was quiet. I know they are still in shock."

"And did you hear the news the doctor gave?"

"Yes ma." I replied truthfully. "I over heard him telling you and the others last night."

At that moment, Mrs. Hope turned to look at me. She frowned as she touched my cheeks. "Oh dear, your eyes are swollen. Have you been crying?"

I smiled lightly at her question and nodded before using the back of my hand to wipe away the little tear that escaped. The elderly woman got up and gave me a surprise hug.

"If there is one thing I am sure of, it is that William will walk again. He is a fighter that never gives up easily" She said. "The doctor said a lot depend on William and some medication which he has already prescribed."

"But are you sure about that?" I asked. "I simply can't bear to see him on a wheel chair."

"No one can bear it Charity, that is why we have to keep our hopes up and pray for him. He needs us now, more than ever."

As she talked, I could feel the love she had for William and I knew she was feeling just as bad as his real mother would feel. After a while, Mrs. Hope pulled back, looked into my eyes and smiled.

"How are you?" She asked. "How's your abdomen?"

"It still hurts a bit." I admitted.

"I'm glad you are okay. I was so down yesterday I couldn't check on you."

"It's okay. I understand what you were going through. But please tell me, what really happened last night? What happened to William? What about the girl he was helping?"

Mrs. Hope sighed and sat down again. "William sent some of the men to find out who the owners of the bank were" Mrs. Hope started. "It turned out that his father, Luke Avero was one of them. The other two were also members at the House of Representatives. Already, William put a team together to block his father's new business transaction which includes buying a small village and building a construction company on it. The villagers were to be sent away and the construction company was to turn the place into a small city. These people have nowhere else to call home and Luke wasn't interested in providing that for them. If not for the corrupt and greedy leaders we have in our country, why will anyone sell an entire village to just one man? Anyway, part of the money he used to pay for the land was the N20 million he accused the ex manager of stealing."

"But why is he so wicked?"

"I don't know dear. Since William was a child, he watched his father and sometimes his mother step on people's toes. As they got richer and his father finally got into politics, things went out of control. The man hurt so many people and his son decided that he must be stopped. That's why William is doing all of this."

"So was he able to clear the banker's name?"

"Yes he was. In fact, we achieved a lot yesterday but William suffered seriously from the gun shot."

"So it was a gunshot? Now I see."

"At least the good news is this. He was able to set a lot of things straight. The villagers will get back their land, the banker is free and his family members are happy. On the other hand, Chief and William are supposed to meet in court. For now, I will stand in for William. As soon s he gets better, he can continue."

"Why should he go to court? Was it Chief who sued William?"

"No, everyone sued the chief. The villagers, the banker and William himself. I'm certain Chief Avero will not be able to bribe his way through this one. We are determined to nail him."

"This is something like a movie. How does William feel about all this? The Chief is still his father you know."

"William tried to reason with him. All his father did in return was to use deadly force to make his son leave him alone. That's the reason William resorted to this. The man who shot you the other day was sent by Chief. He could have killed you or William. The man doesn't reason with anyone Charity, he does whatever he likes. William has grown thick skin, he is ready and willing to do whatever he can to stop his father from hurting more people."

"What happened to that man anyway, the one who shot me?"

"He is cooling off in jail. He was already a wanted man so, he earned himself life imprisonment. William made sure of that. He was so angry at himself that day for allowing you get shot."

"He is starting to sound like a comic hero."

"Yes I know."

For the next few minutes, we sat silently thinking about everything that had happened. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Mrs. Hope asked the person to come in. The door opened and one of the house cleaners peeped in.

"Madam" She said. "It's William, He is awake."

Eight


Mrs. Hope quickly stood up and went to William's room. I followed quietly behind. When we got in, the room was already crowded with the men, two cleaners and Tina. The cleaners helped William to a sitting position and then placed a pillow behind him so he could rest well.

"Good God! Give the man some space." Mrs. Hope said as she made her way through to William. "Can't you all see he needs to breath?" She said as she sat by him on the bed and held his hands.

"I'm okay mummy" William said, with a very weak smile.

"Oh my baby, you really scared us."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare anyone."

Mrs. Hope moved closer and hugged him to herself. "I'm so glad you are alive and I'm so sure you'll survive this."

From there on they started to talk happily about everything except the case they were working on or the court issue with Chief Avero. Mrs. Hope didn't allow anyone bring up the topic so they spent the time cracking jokes and telling tales. They all wanted William to be happy and truly he was.

I felt a little left out in the whole gist. From where I stood and what I saw, this was not just William and his employees. It was more like William and his family. They really loved and respected each other. Of course they could misbehave some times but still, they were more of a family.

After the cleaners left, the men started to leave too, one after the other because they needed to attend to other issues. Mrs. Hope soon left and so did Tina. There was really nothing much to do, I didn't even get a chance to say hi but I decided it was time to leave too. I could come back later to say hi. what was most important was that he was okay. As I stood up to leave, I was surprised to hear William call my name.

"Charity, please don't go yet. Stay with me a while."

Wow! As in, wow!!! I didn't know he recognized my presence in the room let alone ask me to stay. All these while he pretended not to see me and I just stayed back.

"Okay" I said. "I will stay a while." I couldn't say no to a sick man.

I sat back on my chair and watched the room gradually get empty. Soon, it was just the two of us.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"I feel like a thousand knives pierced my stomach and two thousand were left in my skull."

"Awch! That is a very bad feeling. You should rest some more. I can come back later."

"No, stay. I can manage, really I can."

"Okay."

I sat back at the foot of the bed and looked at him. His eyes never left mine. Its like we were just comfortable looking at each other without saying anything. After a while, he finally spoke.

"How are you?"

"What?" I asked, with wide eyes. "You are the one lying on the bed. I should be the one asking you that."

"You got shot before I got shot." He chuckled.

"Well, mine happened about three days ago, I feel a lot better now. Its you we are concerned about."

"Sit by my side." He said, suddenly.

"Errrmmm..."

"Its nothing, Charity. I just want you to sit close so I can relax a bit. I am straining my self to talk out so you can hear me."

"Oh!" I quickly stood up and went to his side to sit. "Is this better?"

"Yes. Thanks."

"So what do you want to do next?" I asked even though I knew Mrs. Hope would frown at my question.

"How do you mean?"

"You have successfully stopped your father from doing what he was about to do to those poor villagers and the ex banker. But there is also the court case to handle."

"Yes. In fact there is so much to do but I will let Mrs. Hope handle it. I just want to rest. I need to work on my complete recovery"

"True. By the way I like the way you are handling this. Some people would have cried their eyes out by now after hearing such bad news."

"Believe me Charity, I have been in worse situations than this."

"Tell me one."

"Really? You want to hear my life story?"

"Yes. I think its going to be interesting." I grinned.

He laughed lightly and said "okay".

For the next thirty minutes, William told me about his childhood days, how he grew up and what incident led to his final decision about his father. He also gave instances were he was badly injured while helping out people in need. When he was through, he said it was my turn.

"My turn? Oh dear. You are about to listen to the most boring story ever told. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Yes. Right now boring is what suits me."

"Okay."

I told about my own early days. How I lost my parents and how my brother and I spent our early days in the house of different aunties and uncles. How we struggled to go to school and how we were still struggling.

"If you and your brother are still having financial issues, why don't you want to take this job? Even if its just for the money?"

"For the money?" I scoffed. "What about my life? Besides, no one told me how much my pay will be."

"Being a house keeper is no child's play Charity. The pay for that position is very reasonable."

"Let me guess. The pay will be 30 or 50 thousand naira, at most. "

"Whatever you say." William replied with a light smile. "But its way more than that.

"I haven't really thought about this offer again, William. That is the truth."

"So you won't take it?" He asked. There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

"For you William." I said as I took his hand in mine and sighed. "I will take it. You need some one to take care of you now."

William smiled broadly at my words. His smile was something so beautiful to behold and I was glad that I put that smile on his face. I was happy to take the job and I was sure we would get along with each other just fine.

We talked a little more and after that I left him to sleep. He really needed the rest. After I left, I went to Mrs. Hope and told her my decision about the job. She was very happy.

"At least when we all go out, we can be rest assured that William is in safe hands. She said.

That same day, I started my training with Tina. Mrs. Hope was supposed to put me through but she was too busy with the lawyer and gathering evidence for the court case. The other men in the house went out to also gather some evidence while Tina and I stayed home with William.

I had not fully recovered from the gun shot wound so I did no physical training. Tina didn't allow it because she knew how much energy was needed. All I did that day was learn how the cameras around the house worked. I was given an office full of laptops that were connected to the cameras around the house. It was more of an operations room. There I could watch the activities going on in every part of the house.

"Who used to be in charge here?" I asked.

"Me" Tina replied.

"Really, so you've been watching me too, right?"

"Yep! I couldn't help it. I needed to know I could trust you."

"This is beginning to get really interesting." I said as I sat on the big chair and faced the laptops.

"Well, it will definitely get more interesting by the day. I assure you." She chuckled.

Tina was a teenager but she acted like an adult. I hadn't really had any conversation with her or any of the other men before but from what I saw, they were calm and level headed people. Tina was very patient with me during the training sessions and when ever we had breaks, she made it lively with stories and jokes. I could see that the men's love for jokes and stories robbed off seriously on her.

By 5:00PM that evening, my training came to an end for the day. Tina left me in the operations room to go about her own business. After she left, I spent my time looking at the parts of the house in the computer. As long as I was concerned, my job had started. However, the one place I kept looking at was William's room. I saw that he constantly drifted in and out of sleep and I could tell he was restless. Well, as far as I knew, danger was at bay so I decided to leave the operations room and go to William's.

I opened the door quietly and sneaked in to sit on the empty chair by the bed. When I looked down at him, he looked peaceful so I wondered why he was restless before. After sitting a while, I began to dose off. I knew I was really tired after the day's training but I was determined to stay by his side. Somehow, with all that had happened, William had gotten to my heart. I admired his courage to stand for what was right even in the face of danger. Now I understood why Mrs. Hope and the others loved him so much.

Still feeling totally exhausted, I rested my head beside William and slept off. By the time I woke up it was very dark. I was lying on the hard, cold ground. Because of the darkness I couldn't get my bearing so I made an attempt to reach for my phone. At least I could use its torch light. When I tried to move my hand, I discovered that both my hands where tied together with a very strong rope,.

"What is this?" I asked myself almost in a whisper as I struggled with the rope.

"Don't bother" Said a weak voice. "The more you struggle, the more you hurt your wrist with that rope."

I recognized the voice and I turned to the direction it came from. "William?" I asked.

"Yes." He replied.

"What is this? Are you trying to kidnap me or what?"

"I am not the kidnapper here, Charity. My father's men are."

As if to confirm his statement, we heard sounds of heavy booths outside the door and soon the sound of keys followed. In a few seconds, the door flew open and the light switch clicked. After staying in the darkness, it took a while for my eyes to get accustomed to the fluorescent light. When it eventually did, I looked at the faces of two men who had just come in. They were very muscular, big and had hard faces. Their army uniform said a lot about them so I was sure they were going to be very brutal. One was bald and the other wore a low cut.

"What are we doing here?" I asked them. "What do you want from us?"

"We only need you here so your boy friend can cooperate." The bald said.

"I don't have a boyfriend." I replied

"Hmmm... Now you want to deny him?" The second man with the low cut asked. "Women! You all are the same. You see money, you come. You see trouble, you run."

"Stop being sarcastic." I said, frowning.

"Sarcastic?" He asked. "Look woman, when I see a man sitting up on his sick bed and gently stroking the hair of the girl sleeping next to him, I simply assume they are in love" He then looked up at William. "Isn't that true, Willy?"

Okay, I fell asleep, true, but I couldn't believe what the nit wit was saying. William will never do such, he was my employer. I decided to ignore what they were saying by putting it out of my head. There were more important things to talk about so I surprised myself and even William with my next statement.

"William is my boyfriend, so what? What has that got to do with our being here?" From where William sat, I saw his eye brows shoot up in surprise but I ignored him.

"Everything." Said the bald man as he joyfully clapped his hands together. "You see, I just wanted to confirm the relationship between you two before I take action. So William, you will have to watch your girl friend die if you don't cooperate with us. We will slice her bit by bit. It is something terrible I assure you."

"What do you want?" William asked, still feeling weak.

"We want every evidence you have against Chief. After that, we want you to withdraw the law suit and also ask the villagers to do same. Tell that stupid banker to also follow suit. Then finally, we want you to stay away from Chief's business."

"You are asking for too much" William said, fully unrepentant. "But I won't mind doing all of that if my father does the asking himself."

"You have no right to demand anything William." The low cut man yelled. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for everything you've done to the man who brought you into this world and raised you. If I were your father, you will be dead by now. I wonder why Chief still wants you alive, after everything you've done to him."

With that, he jumped up from the table were he sat all these while, loosened William's rope and dragged him to the chair by the table. William was still very weak and pulling him like that was not just good at all. I begged them to be careful with him but they totally ignored me. The man took off his jacket and then I knew he was ready for action, talking was over. My fears tripled when the first blow landed on William's face. A second followed then a third, fourth, fifth and so on. I couldn't count again as tears filled my eyes. This man was yet to recover from a deadly bullet wound, he could not walk because he was paralyzed and here, these brutal man were beating him mercilessly. I continued to beg them to stop but they refused. I pulled myself up to a kneeling position. With the support of both hands tied together, I got to the soldier's back And pulled at his trouser. It was an attempt to distract him but it didn't work. All it earned me was a slap across my cheeks. My eyes and clothes were soaked with tears but still, they went on and on. William's face was very bloody from the beating. I knew he would not survive if they didn't stop so I continued to try to talk to the man to stop but he continued. The last blow was the end. The force of it sent William crashing on the floor along with his chair. There, he passed out.

"No! No!!!! No, no, no, you killed him" I said in a whisper after I recovered from the shock. "You killed him. You fools!" I yelled at the men "How could you do this to a weak and paralyzed man? What did he ever do to you? Why are you so wicked? You heartless bigot"

I kept crying, yelling and saying all sorts of things to them but they totally ignored me. It was William they wanted and they were satisfied. The man cleaned his bloody hands on William's body looked at me briefly and walked out with the other man. I was still tied but I dragged myself to where William laid. I needed to hold him close and do everything possible to revive him. With tears in my eyes and down my cheeks, I looked at the rope that held my hands and feet together. I bent over and tried to use my teeth to loosen it but it was useless. From the way things were going, I would only lose all my teeth and nothing would be achieved.

I cried all the more because of William and because of how helpless I was in the situation. I couldn't even do anything to help him. He just lay there on the floor, dead, or so I thought.

I had failed woefully at my first job as a house keeper. I had neglected my position and in so doing, caused William great harm. If only I had remained in my position; keeping watch, I'd have seen the men when they came in. I'd have alerted Tina and the other guards. This wouldn't have happened.

Nine



I had no idea what the time was but looking through the window, I could see that we were well into the night. All the while, William remained motionless on the floor and I was still crying helplessly over him. I managed to raise his head onto my thighs and for the 20th time, I called to him to please wake up when the room door opened again and the men came in. The bald one looked at me and smiled.

"Stop crying" He said. "You don't need a man like William. I can take care of you. I can do that"

He came to squat in front of me and tried to clean the tears from my eyes. My hands were tied so I couldn't ward him off but I had another quiet plan. While he used the back of his hand to wipe the tears off my cheek, I turned and caught his fingers between my teeth. Oh dear lord, I bit him hard, so hard that he screamed like a 3 years old baby. In return, he gave me a dirty slap with his free hand and I removed my teeth from his finger but that was not all. He was so pissed with my action that he slapped me again and again. The man with the low cut had to pull him back so he could stop.

"Is this how you plan woo her?' The soldier asked his colleague after he had calmed him down.

"I didn't plan for this but since it happened, no need to woo her again. I'll just get what I want and be off."

He then came forward and forced me into a kneeling position and started to take off my jeans trouser from behind. I knew what he was up to so I started to scream and beg him to leave me alone.

"No begging" He said. "No begging. Don't worry you will enjoy it, I promise."

My hands and feet were tied so I couldn't do much to fight him off. Just when I thought he was going to succeed in carrying out his devilish plan, I heard a man's voice yelling at him to stop.

"Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?" The man said. "What do you gain in forcing yourself on a woman?"

"Sorry sir" The soldier said as he pulled away.

"Sorry for yourself." The voice said.

My tears completely blurred my view so I didn't know exactly when the man came in or when the soldiers went out. The man stepped forward and helped to loosen my binds. I felt so ashamed kneeling down there with just my pant.

"Get dressed" He said before walking over to William. "Oh my son." He said.

At the word son, I looked up but the man had his back to me so I didn't see his face. I quickly stood up, wore my jean properly and faced him. The man bent over William and was crying. Soon he brought out his phone and made a call.

"Bring an ambulance now please. My son is in critical condition." After that, he gave his house address before cutting the call.

"Chief?" I asked.

The man slowly got to his feet and faced me. I stood surprised as I looked into Chief Avero's wet eyes and tear stained cheeks. He was a huge man with gray hairs, dark complexion and truly handsome even with his protruding stomach. His expression said a lot about his feelings for William. He truly loved his son despite everything.

"And you are?" He asked.

"Charity"

"Come with me Charity." He said as he walked out of the room.

"But what about William?" I asked. "He needs help."

"There is nothing much we can do for him. When the doctors arrive they will do what they can to save him. Meanwhile, I need to teach some people a lesson or two."

My thoughts were with WilIiam so I reluctantly followed him out of the room and into the sitting room. The soldiers were there waiting. When they saw me with Chief, their faces squeezed into a frown.

"Sir, what do you want us to do with her?" The one with a low hair cut asked.

"What do you want to do with her?" Chief replied him with a question. "Haven't you done enough harm? Do you people feel my pain for me? I ask you to bring my son to me so I can talk with him but instead, you take matters into your own hand and beat him up badly."

"But Chief.."

"Shut up! Just shut up!!!" Chief yelled. "If my son dies, you two will die too."

The soldiers began to beg but Chief ignored them. He called some names and four hefty men came in.

"Lock these two up in the basement until I know what my son's fate is."

The men took the soldiers away, leaving Chief and I alone.

"You must be hungry" Chief said before calling one of his servants to get me anything I felt like eating. I had no appetite because of William. All I thought about was how to get him to safety.

"No sir, I'm not hungry" I said.

"But you should eat."

"I don't feel like eating. What about the ambulance you called for? Aren't they supposed to be here by now?"

"Yes." He brought out his phone and was about to make another call when we heard the ambulance drive into the compound. The paramedics quickly rushed in with a stretcher, carried William on it and took him to the van. I insisted on following them and Chief agreed. He too followed behind with his car.

Inside the ambulance, one of the Paramedics touched William and said something about his breath being very faint. To save his life, they started to administer first aid treatment and do everything possible to keep him alive before getting to the hospital.

At the hospital, he was immediately admitted into the emergency unit and the doctors started their work. I sat with Chief Avero at the waiting area. He looked so tensed up and worried. From all that I had heard about the man, I didn't expect him to cry or even be worried about William's life.

"He will be okay sir." I said to him as he stood up and began to pace the length of the long bench I sat on.

"I hope so." He said without looking at me.

I too was scared for William but I couldn't show my weakness, at least not in front of his father. Finally, after about thirty minutes, he sat down again beside me but his legs couldn't stay still. He kept fidgeting. A sign that he was still scared.

"If you love William this much, then why?" I asked.

"Why what?" Chief asked.

"Why do you send men after him all the time?"

"What's your name again?" He asked.

"Charity"

'Okay Charity, picture this. You have children and you need the resources to take good care of them. You go out of your way to do things that will make you rich and ensure your family's happiness and comfort. Along the way, your son mistakenly sees you doing something he never thought you could do and since then, he does everything possible to frustrate your efforts. Brings down your businesses and is now about to put you in jail for life. Now tell me, what do you think about that? And if you were me, what will you do?"

"It is an easy issue that can be solved. You two can make peace."

"Don't you think I have tried that? William doesn't want to settle."

"I think he will if you stop most of those bad things you do."

"Bad things?" He scoffed. "I forgot you are his girlfriend, you will definitely take his side."

"Its not about that sir, and by the way I am not his girl friend."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Okay then, believe what you want. All I am saying is, there is a way for you two to settle."

"Yes, you said so already. I should stop all bad things and we will be friends again. I hear you."

For a while we were quiet. I was in deep thoughts and so was Chief. I silently prayed for William to recover. If anything happened to him, I knew I would never forgive myself. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep by his side when I went to his room. Why didn't I just sit in the operations room and watch for intruders or unusual activity? Not taking my job serious was what led to our being kidnapped in the first place. I thought about Tina and Mrs. Hope and I wondered about the men. I knew they would be searching for us. I looked up at the clock hanging on the wall of the waiting room. The time was 1:15AM. I searched my pocket for my phone but it was not there so I turned to Chief.

"Excuse me sir"

"Yes?" He sighed as he shook his head, probably to get some thoughts off his mind.

"Please can I make a call with your phone?"

"Who do you want to call?" He asked with squeezed brows.

"Mrs. Hope."

"Why would you want to call that traitor?"

"She's not a traitor." I defended her.

"Oh! So she's what? I trusted that woman and placed my son in her care. What did she do with him, she turned him into my own worst enemy."

"I think she is a good person."

"Oh! So I'm the bad person right? Look, call her if you want."

He threw his phone at me and walked away. For five whole minutes I was confused about whether or not to call. Finally I made up my mind but I didn't know Mrs. Hope or anyone's number by heart. Well, since our phones were not kidnapped along with us, I decided to call my own number. The phone rang endlessly until finally one of the cleaners picked it. I asked if Mrs. Hope was home and she said yes. They were all worried about us and were already working on locating us. I asked her to hand over the phone and she did.

"Charity?" The was the first question that came out of Mrs. Hope's mouth. "Charity where are you? Where is William?"

"I am in a hospital with William." I replied.

"Hospital? What happened? How did you get there?"

"Its a long story. Can you come?"

"Yes dear. We will be on our way. What's the name and address of the hospital?"

I didn't know the answer to her question so I quickly got up and checked some of the letter headed notice placed on the notice board. There I got the name and address of the hospital.

"Okay my dear." Mrs. Hope said after I had given her the address. "Just stay put, we are coming now."

"Okay then, see you soon."

I cut the call and looked at the phone. I didn't tell her that Chief Avero was also with me at the hospital because I didn't want any of them coming in with the mind to fight. Chief on the other hand just went missing. I looked around but didn't see him so I went back to the waiting room.

At exactly 2:05AM the doctor attending to William came out. Chief came out from, only God knows where and at that same moment, Mrs. Hope arrived with Tina and five of the men.

"What are they doing here?" Chief asked as he looked at Mrs. Hope and the others with pure hatred.

"What are you doing here?" Mrs. Hope asked back. "You will stop at nothing until William is dead isn't it?"

"You know nothing about me and my son."

"On the contrary, Luke. I know everything." Mrs. Hope argued.

Chief wanted to say something but he remained quiet and continued to look at Mrs. Hope with so much hatred.

"Knowing you was a mistake." He said at last. "Having you in my life was a mistake." With that, he turned to the doctor.

"Are you all family?" The doctor asked. After what he had just heard he didn't know exactly who to talk to.

"No" Chief said.

"Yes" Mrs. Hope countered. "We are all family. You can talk to us."

"I will be damned if I ever call you my family, Hope." Chief said. "You are nothing close to family, you are just an opportunist."

"Say whatever you like, Luke. You cannot tick the hands of the clock backwards." Mrs. Hope said with so much anger. She looked like someone who was about to say something more but her lips remained sealed as she dared Luke with her gaze.

"I don't know what's really going on here" the doctor said. "But whatever it is, please, I beg you to put it aside." He then looked at Chief. Your son needs you now." He then looked at all of us. "He needs all of you."

"And we are here for him" Mrs. Hope said. "But tell us doctor, how is he? Will he survive?"

"I can't say. He was severely beaten. It will take the grace of God for him to survive this"

The doctor left to go about his duty and at that point, Mrs. Avero came in.

"Oh Luke!" She said. "I came as soon as I could. What happened? Is William okay?" She asked with so much concern.

"We can only pray that he will be." Luke replied as he hugged his wife.



They were still in each other's embrace when Mrs. Avero saw Mrs. Hope, Tina, William's men and I.

"What in God's name are these people doing here?" She asked, pulling back from her husband's embrace.

No one answered her question, not even her husband. She frowned and looked at Luke.

"What is this Luke?" She asked. "Did you invite them?"

"No!" He replied. "They invited themselves."

Mrs. Avero faced Mrs. Hope and walked up to her. "Get out!" She said. "Leave this place now."

"You have no right whatsoever to tell me that."

"I do, Hope. Now get lost. Leave my son alone"

"You people are really trying my patience." Mrs. Hope said as she stepped forward. "Need I remind you that William is my son? My own flesh and blood?"

Ten


I stood transfixed; watching Chief, Mrs. Avero and Mrs Hope accuse each other of crimes committed against William and themselves.

"He maybe your flesh and blood Hope, but you sold him to us. What kind of a mother does that?" Mrs. Avero asked. "You sold yo..."

"Shut up Alero, just shut up!" Mrs. Hope ordered. "I never sold my son to you or anyone else. I never took money from any of you. All I wanted was a good life for my child."

"Don't you think I want the same thing for him?" Chief asked.

"From what I have seen, all you want for William is suffering."

"How dare you?" Chief barked. "Its you who wants him to suffer. After paying you off you came back into our lives and turned William against us."

"I never turned him Luke, your actions did. Blame yourself for that."

"You know what?" Mrs. Avero asked. "I purposely kept all records of the transaction we did. I will now go home and bring them out."

"I don't care, feel free to go and dig up any fake evidence you've planted. All I know is this. When William wakes up, when he recovers, I am going to tell him the truth."

"You won't dare!" Chief threatened with clenched fist.

"You just watch me" Mrs. Hope said.

"If you tell him, be rest assured that he wouldn't only hate me and my wife, he will also hate you for lying to his face all these years."

"I know he will hate me. Maybe even reject me. What's important is that he finally learns the truth."

"I am going home Hope, I will be back with my wife and daughters to check on my son. You better not do anything stupid before I get back and after he gets well."

He turned to leave with his wife but then he stopped to faced us again.

"One more thing people" He said to all of us. "Get yourselves out of this hospital before I come back. If you a..."

"Save your breathe Luke" Mrs. Hope cut in. "You cannot do anything to us."

"Be out before I get back" Chief warned for the second time before leaving with his Wife, Alero.

After Chief left with his wife, I decided it was best to leave too. I had heard too much for one day and I didn't want to be caught up in their fight. I only took two steps forward when Mrs. Hope reached out and held my hand.

"Charity." She called.

I stopped and then slowly turned back to face Mrs. Hope's wet eyes. "I know you have a lot of questions and I am ready to answer them."

"I'm not the one who needs those answers ma! Just save them for William."

I turned to leave again but she still held me back. This time, her cries increased. I couldn't bear the sight so I moved closer and hugged her.

Tina and the men pulled back and sat quietly on the long chairs. They didn't look surprised or confused, only worried and angry.

"Do your children know about this whole mess?" I asked.

"Yes they do." She replied and then pulled away from my embrace to clean her tears. "Although, the others are just hearing it for the first time. Please come with me" she said as she led the way.

We went outside the hospital and stood at a corner. The early morning air was cold but we could manage. Mrs. Hope cleaned her eyes some more and then looked at me.

"I really wanted to tell William" She started. "But, I was scared."

"Why? Because you sold him?"

"No! I didn't sell him, I would never sell any child let alone my own."

"Then what were you scared of?"

"Rejection. I still don't know how he will react when I tell him the truth."

"l heard him call you mummy once, I don't think he'll reject you."

"You won't understand."

Ok then, tell me. What really happened? How did this happen?" I asked.

She sighed before she answered. "It happened over 30 years ago when I went to work as a baby sitter for the Averos. Alero had just given birth to her second daughter but Luke wasn't happy. He wanted a boy. He was okay having just two or three children as long as a boy was included. But he had two daughters and no boy. He wanted to have his last child and he wanted to make sure he had a male child this time around so he approached me. He wanted me to get pregnant for him and after the child was born, he was to pay N2 million to me to give him up. I would then walk away and have no ties whatsoever with the child. I needed the money then, so I agreed."

"You agreed?" I asked surprised.

"Yes Charity, I agreed."

"Then why do you deny taking money?"

"I didn't take a dim, Charity. What do you even take me for?"

"Then make me understand this whole thing. I may not be William but I already feel what his pain will be like when he learns the truth."

"Hmmmm..." She sighed again. "Listen Charity, I agreed to the plan, and that same night Luke came to me."

"Was his wife aware?"

"No. Alero didn't know what was going on until my pregnancy became Visible. She wanted to know who was responsible for the pregnancy. Because the attacks I got from her was not good for the baby, Luke had to come to my defense. Alero couldn't accept what had happened until after I put to bed and handed the baby over. They gave me the cheque and asked me never to come back to the house or tell anyone about our secret. Oh Charity, after carrying a baby in my womb for nine good months, I couldn't just give him up. I refused the money and asked for a different payment. I asked to work as a personal maid to William. That way, I could be closer to him and watch him grow. At first they refused, but, after I promised to remain silent, they let me be."

"If you refused the money, why is Mrs. Avero still accusing you of selling William?"

"I don't know. Alero is a very crafty woman who likes to frame people for things they didn't do. Anyway, I didn't stay long with William because I couldn't bear the pain of seeing him take another woman as his mother. I left but I later went back when he was much older."

"Pew..." I sighed. "You know William is not going to take this lightly at all."

"I know he won't." Mrs. Hope agreed. "But I have to tell him. I have to let him know I am his mother."

"He may reject you"

"I don't care. The important thing is that he learns the truth. If he kicks me away, fine. If not, then I will forever thank my star."

I was glad about her decision. Even if it was hard for her, she was willing to finally do the right thing. We went back into the hospital to meet the others. Later that day, Chief Avero came back with his wife and daughters but he couldn't send us out of the hospital. We were ready to deal with him if he did anything stupid. Seeing the way we were going, he finally decided to let us be.

We went back to the hospital day after day. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months. At one time, we almost lost William but he was able to pull through after another operation.


After William stabilised and was able to receive visitors, Chief Avero had so many private meetings with him and then one day, he came out smiling, happy that they had both settled their quarrel. The law suits were going to be withdrawn just as long as Chief Avero restored the ex bank manager to his position and allowed the villagers live in peace. These, he agreed to.

"Seriously?" One of the men asked when we were alone with William. "Since you have settled with you father, does that mean we are no longer in business?"

"My father has agreed to change his ways, true" William replied. "But there are other politicians and wicked CEOs and MDs out there. So no, Andrew, we are not out of business."

We all smiled at his statement. I could tell that the men were even happier.

Before William came back home, the men still went out helping the common man on the street, especially those who had no one to help them fight for justice. Because of that, I knew William Avero's mansion would still be a hot target for criminals. After I recovered fully, I started taking combat training with Tina and some of the men. I was also thought how to properly fire a gun. I took my job very seriously because I didn't want any loop holes again. When I was not training, I was in the operations room watching every corner of the mansion. I only went to the hospital once in a while to see William and he too was always very happy to see me. I missed him so much but there was nothing I could do about it.

William spent six months in the hospital before he was discharged. He wasn't still able to walk without the aid of a walking stick but at least, he was better.

The day William came back home from the hospital was a great day indeed. We had a small, surprise welcome party for him and he was truly surprised. Although the party was fun, I couldn't really be there. I was in the operations room. I didn't want to make the mistake I made before. I wanted to make sure intruders didn't have a chance to come in as they liked.

While the party progressed, I kept my eyes on William but after I removed them briefly to look at what Tina was doing, William was suddenly nowhere to be found. I looked at the computers covering other parts of the house but I didn't see him. I was starting to get scared and almost raised alarm when the room door opened and William step in with his walking stick.

"Hello Charity" He said, grinning.

"Seriously, you didn't have to scare me."

"I wasn't trying to scare you. I only came to visit. I missed your presence down stairs."

"Oh" I didn't know what else to say. William move closer and stopped right in front of me.

"I haven't really asked how you are doing?" He said.

"I'm fine." I replied "Its you who is recovering from multiple injuries. Mine has long healed."

"I'm not asking about your injury, Charity. I know they are long healed. I am asking about your emotions, your mental wellness."

"Like seriously, did anyone tell you that I'm mad or something like that?" I asked surprised.

"No" He chuckled lightly and then became serious again. "Look Charity, I was paralyzed and then beaten seriously until I passed out. I couldn't help you. I just want to be sure they didn't harm you in anyway. I know what those soldiers are capable of. I hope they didn't force themselves on you?"

"They tried." I admitted. "But your father came to my rescue just when they were about to succeed."

"Thank God." He said as he pushed one of his walking sticks away and used his free hand to pull me into his embrace. Surprisingly, the strength of his muscles was just as before. If not for the walking stick, one wouldn't believe he just got discharged from the hospital after a near death experience. That aside, I was surprised at his action but all the same, I felt comfortable resting my head against his chest and listening to the rhythm of his heart beat. We remained in that position for a while with him stroking my hair backwards. There was so much emotion between us and I wondered why. Maybe those soldiers who kidnapped us were right. William felt something for me and I could not help admitting that I felt something for him too. I was thinking about all these when William suddenly placed a finger under my chin and gently lifted my head up to look at him. I thought he wanted to say something but then he bent low and kissed me. It was a light kiss at first but then it deepened. I never thought I would find myself kissing William Avero so I was really surprised that instead of pushing him away, I kissed him back and my passion matched his own. His hand ran freely up and down the length of my back as our longing for each other deepened. We were still at it when the door opened and Mrs. Hope stepped in with one of William's most trusted men, Andrew. We pulled away from each other; feeling like thieves caught in the act. I was feeling too ashamed to face them so I turned away to my computers and fixed my attention on them, while using one finger to caress my swollen lips.

"Don't you knock?" William asked the intruders. I heard him chuckle so I knew he was taking it lightly.

"Knock?" Andrew asked. I could hear the tease in his voice. "This is the operations room sir, not your bedroom. Besides, I thought walking sticks prevented a man from doing that?" He chuckled.

"Doing what?"

"Holding a woman," he answered, "Kissing her and thinking of how to take things to the next level."

"Really? William asked. "And how did you know we were going to the next level?"

"Oh common boss, don't deny it. I know what I just saw. I'm a man too you know."

While they were at it, Mrs. Hope quietly walked over and tapped me on the shoulder. When I turned to face her, I saw she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Seriously, what's the big deal?" I asked, while faking seriousness. "Haven't you seen people kiss before?

"Yes I have, but not you and William" She chuckled.

"Think whatever you want"

"Its not whatever I want dear, its what I have seen a long time ago. You only denied it then."

"Phew... Just leave me alone. Didn't you come for something? Just take it and go."

"Oh! We didn't intend to ruin your moment or stay this long. We were just wondering where William was. Now that we know he is safe in your arms, we will be going"

I could hear them chuckle as they went along and I knew that soon, everyone will hear and talk about us.

"I'm sorry about that." William said, trying to hide a smile.

"Which one actually?" I asked. "The kiss? Or that we got caught?"

"That we got caught. I'm not sorry about the kiss."

"That means you won't think twice before doing it again?" I asked.

"Yes" He replied.

"Look boss" I sighed,

"Boss?" his eyebrows shot up

"Yes. You are my employer now. I can't do this with..."

"Do you feel anything for me?" He asked, cutting me short.

"Is that important?"

"Yes, because I know what I feel for you"

Seriously? The almighty William just admitted to feeling something for me? I didn't know what to say. I just stared at him.

"I heard what Mrs. Hope said." He continued. "Don't hide anything from me."

"William, this is complicated. We cannot even be talking..."

"I see we are back to first names." He cut in.

"The important things is..."

I didn't finish before he moved in and took my lips again. I wanted to push him off but it was useless. We were at it again and even went a step further but William withdrew.

"I hope I'm not forcing you into something you are not interested in?"

"Dear God!" I said and pulled away. "William I'm confused."

"Well, so was I until I almost died. I thought I would never have a chance to tell you how I feel. Now that I am well, I don't want to lose any moment."

"But I..."

"I will leave you to think about this, Charity. I can't and I won't force you."

William left the operations room that day and I felt like something very important left me. I sat back on my chair and tried to resume my work but my mind was divided. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours. Soon it was bed time and the house was indeed quiet. There were only a few of us awake. Jerry, Mrs. Hope's second son, the ground patrol guards and I. When it was 12:00AM, I went to sleep and Jerry took over. I was indeed happy to go to sleep because frankly, I wasn't really working. I was thinking about what happened with William earlier and on the computer screen, I was watching him sleep quietly in his room. I needed to rest not only my body, but also my mind.



If you like what you've read so far, then please patronise my books. Get the full story at http://okadabooks.com/book/about/the_house_keeper/8019


Cheer! And have a great weekend.

luvly story u gad here.......

FlourishBliss:
luvly story u gad here.......

Thanks dear. Please don't forget to get your copy.