₦airaland Forum

“Please do. I need to go through it and send it to the graphics department asap. Goodnight,” Edward said and ended the call.

Teni dropped the cellphone on the dining table to pack the plates to the kitchen.
Now that the news she tried to hide from Edward was the same Edward was overseeing its publication, she had given it her best effort.
As Teni carried her dinner plates, she became worried about what Jim would be fed with in the police custody. He must be having the worst time of his life. She imagined.
She hoped issues like arrests and incarcerations would seize to happen if she eventually got married to him.

She placed the plates in the sink and left the kitchen to be back in the living room. Her phone rang before she could reach the dining table to pick it up and It was her mum.
She picked the cellphone as she walked to the laptop on the couch.

“Hello mum, please can you give me some minutes. I will call you back. Thanks,” she said and placed the phone on the couch.

She needed to send the article to Edward like she promised else, it would not meet up for the next day’s publication. And that means the struggle for Jim’s release from the unlawful detention would be delayed till another day.
She got back to her laptop and searched through the multitude of documents. She saw the one saved with THE I.G.P. She copied it, and sent it as an attachment in an email to Edward.
Double checking to be sure the email was sent, she took her time to be sure.

“Good!” she muttered.

Heaving a sigh of relief seeing the mail gone, she knew Edward would hardly get corrections to do on it. She was confident. Being almost two years working with him, she could say how he wanted articles to be written.
Done with everything except bathing, she picked her cellphone and collapsed on the couch to relax while she called her mother.
Bella was no where in the living room and it was a sign that she had gone to bed. It was the way she trained her.

“Hello mum,” she said and stretched her body feeling at peace with herself.

“Hello Dolly,” Rhoda answered. Her little girl could be heard blabbing at the background.
Rhoda was the only one still calling Teni by the name Dolly.

“Sorry mum, I was in the middle of something when you called,” Teni apologized.

“I understand. How is work And how is Jim too?” Rhoda asked.

“Work is fine. It was the reason I took an excuse to call you back. And as for Jim, he is in trouble as we speak,” Teni said. Her eyes involuntarily were closing already because they were becoming heavy with sleep.

“Trouble? What happened!” Rhoda panicked.

“He had an unsuccessful surgery. The woman died, and she happened to be the wife of a VIP,” Teni said and yawned.

“Oh my Gosh!” Rhoda exclaimed.

“He is in the police cell right now. But we are doing everything possible to get him released soon,” Teni assured her mum. She could feel how bad she felt about the news and she wanted her to know everything was under control.

“Why should he be arrested when he did not kill the woman intentionally?” Rhoda could not fathom the irrationality behind Jim’s arrest.

“That is one of the reasons why Africa remains a Third world. Lawlessness is a part of life sometimes,” Teni said bitterly.

“Do you know I actually called to know if he has proposed already? But here I am being given a bad news instead,” Rhoda said sadly and Teni did not allow her to land before she snapped in.

“Mum! There you go again. I have told you time and time again not to worry about me being single. Marriage will happen at the right time,” Teni replied sharply and yawned again.

“Dolly, you will be 25years in two months. When is the right time?” Rhoda reminded her daughter of her birthday. She must have thought she had forgotten.

“Mum! A marriage at 35 and a marriage at 25 are both marriages. All that matters is getting married to the right man,” Teni tried to school her mum on marriage as if she had more experience in the subject than the one who gave birth to her.

“What! Don’t tell me you are not getting married until you are 35! Are you kidding me?” Rhoda raised her voice at her daughter and Teni could not but laugh it off.

“Mum, I know you know that I am not saying that until I am 35. You just want to make an issue out of nothing. I am done. I am feeling sleepy already,” Teni replied Rhoda being still amused by her mum’s reaction.

“You had better not mean it like that! I know Jim is the best man for you. He is such a wonderful young man and he is financially comfortable too,” Rhoda said in a tone that made her sound like she knew Jim absolutely inside out.

“Mum! For your information, Jim is not the same man you used to know. He has changed. I caught him having affairs twice and I have promised him I won’t take the third infidelity lightly,” Teni let out the cat out of the bag. She never wanted her mum to know of Jim’s randy escapades, but since she would not stop to praise Jim like as if he was a kind of a saint, she felt the need to open up. Besides, she needed to prepare her mother’s mind for any eventuality concerning their dwindling relationship.

“Really? That is so bad!” Rhoda exclaimed.

“Yeah mum, that’s how bad it is. I am scared to marry a man who won’t be faithful to the marriage vows. If I catch him red-handed the third time, I am done with him,” Teni firmly said and quickly added, “mum, I will speak to you tomorrow, I need to sleep now please. Goodnight,”

“Okay Dolly, But you should know most unfaithful men stop being randy and irresponsible once they get married. Think about it,” Rhoda said and blew her daughter a kiss.

“Goodnight mum,” Teni Sluggishly said.

As soon as she bade her mum goodnight, the cellphone in her hand dropped on the floor. her eyes closed and she fell asleep.

Thinking about what she heard about Jim, Rhoda was utterly disappointed. She always believed Jim was the right man for her daughter ever since they both met at the University in the United States. She could remember how inseparable they were in those days. She could remember also how Jim looked responsible and quiet that she thought he could have won the world competition for Mr. Responsible, if there was any competition so named.
What a big difference time could make on people. She could not but imagine.

“Will you shut the Bleep up already! Were you not informed she was asthmatic before you decided to go on with the surgery? What an excuse!” the Inspector General of Police almost screamed.
Jim, not deterred by the action of the man who had just become a widower continued to tender his case as if in front of a judge in a court of law.

“I did all I could to save her life Sir. It was my first unsuccessful surgery ever,” Jim said, and it was true. He had never lost a client’s life under the knife since he started practicing. The Inspector General of Police’s wife was the first.
The door of the Inspector General of Police's office opened and a skinny policeman in mufti came in. He held a file and wore a serious look on his face.

“Sir, his lawyer is around to get his bail,” the skinny policeman said and dropped the file on the table of his boss. He waited for instructions after this.

“Tell him his client won’t be allowed bail. Murder is not a bail able offense,” the Inspector General of Police said, shifting his gaze back to the two policemen that stood with Jim.

“Take him back into the cell until I know what to do with him,” the police boss instructed, and the policemen carried the order out at once. Jim was taken back into the cell and locked up.

Descending the stairs outside the Police Headquarters, the lawyer wore a long face because he was mad at the decision of the Police. He felt it was against the law and it was a gross misuse of power. He ruminated on what step next to take as he took the steps down the stairs.
Teni was at the foot of the stairs when she sighted the lawyer approach her. She stopped and waited for him to reach her. She could notice that he was not aware of her presence until he almost got to her. The expression on his face was not encouraging.

“How did it go?” Teni asked eagerly.

“He was denied bail,” the lawyer replied and took the last four steps to get to her.

“On what ground was he denied?” Teni asked again but this time around with all curiosity.

“They claimed he was being charged for murder and murder is not a bail able offense,” The lawyer said, and loosened his tie. He looked into Teni’s eyes and could see a cloud of anger lucking around them.

“And is that right? Like, is it right under the law?” Teni asked despite believing that the police was wrong. She only wanted to know from the lawyer if her opinion on the matter was right as one who studied Law.

“Absolutely wrong. Jim is not a criminal until proven so in the court of law, and I can’t see what he has done wrong despite the surgery incident. As long as the Consent Form and the Waiver Of Liability form were signed by a family member of the deceased, or by the deceased herself before the surgery, Jim can’t be held guilty. Death during medical surgery is not a strange occurrence in medicine,” The Lawyer took his time to explain to Teni and after this, he took steps to leave.

“I will call you in the evening to inform you on my next line of action,” he added and walked away.

“But, I don’t want him to pass the night in that cell. You and I know how bad the condition of the nation’s cells and prisons are,” concerned Teni twisted her body to address the lawyer who was already some steps away behind her.

“There is nothing we can do about it Teni. Even if we approach the court for justice today, we can’t have him released today,” The lawyer walked up to his car.

“Thanks. I am still going in there to know what proof they have to arrest him for murder,” Teni angrily said as she started to ascend the stairs with an unusual speed.

…
She stayed busy till late in the night typing on the laptop. Bella laid beside her on the sofa peacefully. Bella was quiet, having learnt not to disturb Teni whenever she was on the computer.
Teni paused once in a while to think as she composed the article on Jim’s unlawful arrest. She needed the right words and expressions as she typed. The article was for the following day’s publication.
To use her power as a journalist to fight the injustice in the society was one thing she had vowed to do and she would do it more for someone close to her.
She could not imagine how furious she was when she was told at the Police Headquarters that the Inspector General of Police directed that her fiancée must not be released on bail on a flimsy excuse that the death of the patient was still being investigated. But, now that she was making the unlawful arrest known to the whole nation on the pages of a newspaper, she wondered what effect the story would have on the image of the Police Department.

Done typing, she stood up to eat dinner and to take shower before going to bed. It had been a long day and she knew she needed to sleep on time to wake up early in the morning.
On the dining table waiting to be devoured was her favorite Nigerian food, Eba and Egusi soup. As if she had known she would not be able to cook when she got home, she had stopped at an eatery to buy the food.
She could eat it three times a day without getting tired of it. And on why she loved it so much, she believed it must be because it was the first African food she tried when she first arrived in Africa.
Famished, she decided to eat first, before entering the bathroom to bath. She walked to the dining table, sat and served herself. Then, she closed her eyes for prayer. She had learnt that a prayer before eating was more of gratitude than of sanctification. So, just like she had inherited it from her mother, the prayer was as short as ever; “Thank you for this food dear Lord, bless it and provide for the poor for Christ’s sake, Amen.”

At the end of the prayer, she opened her eyes to eat but to find Bella by her side. Bella had heard the plates clink and had come rushing for her share of the dinner. She sat on the floor, fixing her eyes on Teni. With her mouth opened, and her tongue dangling by the side of her mouth like the pendulum in the grandfather’s clock, Bella knew she deserved a share of the dinner.
Teni looked at Bella and smiled. She was ever proud of her dog’s smartness. It was only her outdoor stubbornness that was a concern to her.

“Go get your plate, pretty girl,” Teni instructed Bella and Bella ran out to the balcony and came back with her plate in her mouth in minutes. She placed it down and sat expectantly looking up at Teni. Not wanting to keep her waiting, Teni put some food in the plate and told her to start to eat.
As they both ate, Teni picked her phone. She needed to check her mails and messages for she had no opportunity to do so all through the day. She was busy at the office and she was at the police headquarters twice on Jim’s incarceration too. Since she got home, she had been busy with the article for the next day’s publication as well.
She scrolled through the phone and saw that there were a few missed calls. How come her phone rang and she was not aware? Curious, she checked for the cause and found out that she had mistakenly put the phone on silence. She would need to apologize to the people one after the other when she would call them back, among which was her mum and her boss, Edward.

Business first, she called her boss to know why he called hoping he would not be mad at her for missing his calls. Edward believed missing cellphone calls was a bad habit and she had seen him mad at Bola a couple of times for it.
Teni dialed Edward’s number and waited for him to pick up.

“Hello Sir,” she said and put a morsel of food in her mouth still waiting for the response of Edward who had already picked the call without a response.

She could hear papers flip, but Edward was yet to speak.

“Hello,” Teni repeated patiently.

“Hello, Teni. I have called twice earlier,” Edward finally came on the line and the flipping of papers continued.

He must be working at home as well. Teni guessed.
It was not strange to everyone of them at the Daily Voice Newspaper at all. Doing office work at home was as normal as the sky getting dark at night. One could only close from the office but not from work.

“Yes. I am sorry I missed your calls. My phone was put on silence by error,” Teni apologized and continued eating as she listened.

“That’s okay. How about the article on the unlawful arrest of your Friend?” Edward asked.

“It is completed already. I am sending it over to you immediately,” Teni gulped some water and covered the plates before her. She was done eating.

The Editor-in-Chief was late to work, and Teni needed the permission to go back to the police station from him. Although, going without his permission would not be queried if only the trip could be said to be for the gathering of news for the next publication and not for a personal reason. But since she really did not want the news to be published because of Jim’s reputation, she needed to treat the issue as a personal one. News of an unsuccessful surgery could have a negative impact on Jim’s hospital business. It could make the public skeptical on patronizing the hospital. So, she wanted to go with Bola’s advice to keep the injustice in the incident away from the Editor-in-Chief for the time being. He must not know it was a misuse of power else, he would want the story in the next publication.
“This is one of the things that make me have some reservations for the medical profession,” Teni tilted the chair she sat on back and forth as she talked. She was anxious about Jim’s fate.
“It doesn’t change the fact that it is one of the noblest professions in the world. Remember, they save lives,” Bola pointed out, twisting the pen in her hands round and round playfully.
“When it comes to people loosing their lives during surgery it looks unfair. The woman only had fibroids and not a terminal sickness,” Teni said looking sad.
“Anything could go wrong during surgeries and it would be rather unfair to blame the doctors for wanting to help. Would it have been better if there were no doctors in this world since we don’t want people to die during surgeries?” Bola asked in defense of the medical profession.
“Do you call a surgery paid for by a patient or his or her family help? What help? Medicine is one of the most well paid jobs in the world. It’s only when a doctor or a nurse is a volunteer worker that they help. When you get paid for a job, you are not helping. Did you get that?” Teni was getting serious in the argument.
“The possibility of negligence is there too. Don’t you know that also happens?” Teni adjusted herself and sat up.
“Are you saying the woman could have probably died in your fiancée’s hands out of negligence? You’d definitely be a good prosecutor against him in the court of law,” Bola shrugged and gave her friend a pity look.
“Just being factual here my dear friend. I’m not condemning Jim or anyone,” Teni gave her colleague a hard look in return. And at that moment, there was a tap on the door.
The two ladies needed no one to tell them who it was. They knew it was Edward, the Editor-in-Chief of the company.
“Come in Sir,” Bola said and sat up.
“Morning ladies,” the Editor-in-Chief greeted them, and stood at the door briefly.
“Good morning Sir,” the ladies chorused.
“Teni, see me in my office right now and you Bola, let me get the report on the central bank today,” Edward said and left immediately.
“Okay sir,” the ladies chorused again. They looked at each other and gestured. Like they always said behind him, he would do brilliantly as an officer in the Army. A General in the Army would envy his style of giving orders if he saw him in the act.

…
On the desk of the Inspector General of Police laid two newspapers. The front caption of the one on top was, THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE’S WIFE IS DEAD.
How the news of his wife’s demise got to the press so fast was a mystery to him. Less than 24hours without any special announcement and it was already in the press.
He had not stopped shedding tears ever since his wife stopped breathing. The devastation it had on his heart was overwhelming. His dark glasses was what helped in preventing the revelation of his state of mind that was boldly written on his face.
He reclined his huge frame on the chair, tapping his fingers almost unconsciously on the table.
Jim was ushered into the Inspector General of Police’s office by two policemen. The silver handcuffs on his wrists made movement uneasy for him and he looked sober.
The very first thing that caught his attention in the room aside the police boss on seat was the newspaper on the table, and he wondered who gave the press the news within the very short time the incident happened.
“You are the idiot that killed my wife!” the Inspector General of Police said with a calm stone-cold tone that could well be mistaken for that of the Terminator.
He removed the dark glasses on his face to wipe the tears that were locked up behind the shades. As he sighed heavily, another set of tear drops trickled down his cheeks.
His eyes were bloodshot, especially the left eye that could barely open wide due to a healed injury. It had a scar above it.
“Sir, I am deeply sorry that the surgery turned out the way it did. The complication came because she was asthmatic,” Jim tried to give reasons to justify the unfortunate incident, and also to make the huge man on seat in front of him see that complications during medical surgeries was as old as the medical profession itself. But instead of his words convincing or appeasing the man, those words pierced into his heart like the sting of a swarm of bees on the bodies of their victim. He stood up in anger and shouted at Jim to shut up.

CHAPTER ONE


The weather was awesome, and the day was promising until the latest incident happening to him.
His mouth had gradually swollen after a single backhand flip across his face by one of the police officers that invaded his hospital. Really, he probably would not have been rough handled in such a manner if not for his hot exchange of words with the mean looking officers.
Jim hurriedly picked his cellphone and dialed a number. As he did, a trickle of blood could be seen at the right corner of his mouth.
“Hello, Teni. I am being arrested by the police after an unsuccessful surgery. The men are from the State Police Headquarters. Please get in touch with the lawyer,” Jim quickly rushed the information he needed to give at once, knowing he might not be given the chance to call again at the Police station.
Teni yawned and dropped the cellphone back on the stool. She had been woken up from sleep and she would need to go and see him right away.
She got down from the bed and removed her pajamas. And lazily, she walked up to the wardrobe, picked a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and put them on. The news she just got was one of the reasons why she did not like the medical profession. The uncertainty of survival of patients during surgeries.
After tying the sneakers' lace, she glanced at the wall clock and it was 3:30am. Looking over to Bella, she saw that she was awake due to the sound of her movements.
Bella watched her prepare to leave the apartment and Teni could imagine what was going on in her dog's mind: where is this woman going at such an hour? She had got down from her couch to stand near Teni.
“Bella, go back to bed. I will soon be back,” Teni said to the dog who was set to keep a vigil till she returned.
“Go back to bed,” she repeated while she picked her car keys and cellphone to leave her apartment.
Bella obeyed Teni. She walked back to the couch that served as her bed and laid back to sleep. She was an obedient dog mostly when she was not outdoor.
It was not strange for Teni to leave Bella home alone for that was the norm daily when she left for work. As soon as she got into her car, she dialed the lawyer’s number and spoke with him before driving out.

Jim sat on the floor of the police cell with two other men. One looked well fed and had the aura of a gentleman, while the other looked rough like a street boy. They were both friendly, but the rough looking one was as quiet as a pond. He only gave him a nod when he joined them in the cell.
“What was your offence?” the well dressed man asked.
“By the way, I am Denzel by name. I am an Architect,” he added.
“It’s a pleasure. I am Jim, a medical doctor. A patient died during surgery and I was arrested and treated like a criminal because of that,” Jim replied. He massaged his swollen mouth with his fingers and closed his eyes for the sharp pain he felt on the swollen spot.
“What a country! How is that a crime for crying out loud?” Denzel asked and smiled.
Jim saw him smile and wondered what amused him. But he still managed to reply him.
“That’s what I expect them to prove to me,” Jim answered and turned to look at the rough looking young man who had his head buried between his legs ever since he nodded to greet him when he was brought into the cell by the police officers. He was still in the same position.
“Why do the police behave unprofessional across the globe?” Denzel asked.
“Did you see how a non violent black man was killed last week in the US?” Denzel asked again adjusting the polo of his shirt.
“It was so pathetic. I saw the news on the CNN. Floyd was his name,” Jim used the edge of his sleeve to massage his swollen mouth.
Their discussion was cut short by the foot steps in the hallway coming in their direction. The steps must be of two or more people. Jim thought.
Within minutes, Teni and a Policeman appeared and approached Cell number 3 where Jim and the other two accused were locked up.
“Were you able to reach the Lawyer?” Jim sprang up to his feet and held the iron bars expecting a reply to his question.
“Yes. He promised to come by 8am to process your bail,” Teni answered. She moved closer to him and touched his wounded mouth.
“They hit you!” Teni exclaimed.
“Yes,” Jim smiled bitterly.
“Why?” Teni asked in surprise. She touched his mouth and Jim turned his head away swiftly for pain he felt.
“For asking questions why they felt they were doing the right thing by arresting me,” Jim replied and held Teni’s hand. Then, he said something quietly to her. After the whisper, Teni nodded and took steps backward.
“Be strong. I will be back by 10am. I need to go prepare for work,” She moved closer to him again and kissed him on the cheek in-between the iron bars then, she left the police station for home