₦airaland Forum

Well to be fair, she didn’t know much but she knew Jesuorobo and the Ebosele’s knew something about Maureen’s death. She knew they were hiding something that could aid the police. She saw money change hands and that was enough to kick start the investigation.

She didn’t have all the answers in the world but that was not her job. That was the job of the police. Her job was to open her eyes and ears. Her job was to report any suspicious behaviour to the police and she was about to do that. Surely that was not a bad thing; she was just being a patriotic citizen and a good neighbour.

And so that evening, she reached for her wallet and pulled out the card Unique had left with her then she hid her number. Next she punched in his number and waited for the call to go through. Some seconds later a familiar voice answered the phone ‘’Unique Adeleke on the line’’ then Bukola set her tongue loose.

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Some seconds later, she saw Imonitie throw a black nylon bag while Jesuorobo caught it in mid air. The good-for-nothing boy stared into the bag and she heard Imonitie say ‘’that is all you will ever get from me’’

Immediately, Bukky decided she had heard enough. She didn’t want to be seen in the parlor once Jesuorobo strolled in. She tiptoed out of her hiding place and strolled away. The moment she found herself in the corridor, she ran into her bedroom and locked the door. Even then she didn’t feel safe so she ran into the bathroom and locked herself in.

She sat on the toilet seat but even the urine refused to come out so she began to chant ‘’Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, I knew that boy was up to no good. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus have mercy. I warned Osazuwa. I told him that boy will bring about his ruin! Dear lord, please have mercy and let my good deeds speak for me. Jesus, Jesus let this boy not kill me in my own house’’

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''You said you were running low on some household items weren’t you?'' he asked.

''Yes dear''

''That’s ₦25,000. I trust that should be okay?''

''Not really dear''

''Really? We seem to be spending a lot oh! Foodstuff and toiletries for just 3 adults''

''You have no idea - country is hard''

''I thought you've bought the bigger items like the bag of rice, beans, garri and container of oil? Is it Bournvita and co that is so expensive?''

''I need ₦35,000 dear. When I get back from the market, I'll show you what I got''

''Okay that’s the money right there but I can only manage ₦30,000 today. Bukola, you will need to manage it until next month''

''I appreciate dear''

''No problem. I'm off to the pharmacy to check on the sales for the day and I'll be going to house fellowship from there. Are you ready to go with me? I can wait for you to get ready''

''I'm afraid I can't do that waka today plus you are even going to pharmacy first. I'm feeling rather tired dear''

''Okay. See you in an hour's time''

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lenmafon:
so sorri deari been busy with work but ve been a ghost reader and i must say u re doing great. how is everything in general?

Great! Good to hear you are fine.

lenmafon:
at this 'yountion' i must come out from hiding to say touchmendie babeeeeeeeee u too much. thanks for the regular update and lookz like mama bukky has began to untie jesuorobo's dad from her initial juju. haha evej jazz get expiry date

Hello you, where have you beennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn?

alabig:
Touchmeder you're doing great. Thanks alot for this, buh there's a part you wrote 'MO' when bukky was badmouthing pearl and i don't seemed to get that.

MO is "Modus Operandi (method of operation)"

‘’How long ago was that? What someone did in 100 level or so? Has he ever been caught selling my drugs since then? Have I ever complained to you that medicine is getting lost again? Why are you trying to act like you have never done anything wrong in your entire life? Is that how I parade your sins before you?’’

‘’Just give me credit when due. At that point you were firing staff up and down meanwhile the thief was your son! I found that out for you through the same method you are using to abuse me today. That child is so entitled, it riles me up! Jesuorobo is a grown a.ss man who has refused to leave home. You allow him remain in this house yet he disrespects me - same goes for the old man by the gate. I ask him to do something and he talks back at me and forms clueless. You allow these people get away with impunity. I take action then you nullify it. You reward their insolence time and time again and you make a mockery of me. YOU ALLOW THEM DEFY ME!’’

Then Osazuwa began to laugh ‘’are you okay?'' he asked. ''Defy you? Who do you think you are? Are you God? Are you a god?

‘’Bukola, are you without sin?’’ Osazuwa asked in a calm voice.

‘’What sort of question is that?’’

‘’I’m just asking because you’ve been talking in the past thirty minutes. What you don’t know is while I was still at the store, Jesuorobo came there and relayed everything to me’’

‘’Jesus Christ! What treachery!’’ Bukky screamed.

Then Osazuwa got up and pointed a finger at her ‘’Bukola, you have no one but yourself to blame. If you demand respect, then you MUST give respect yourself. Jesuorobo is 26 years old. He is not a child and you must respect his right to privacy. You should not wander in and out of a room he has locked. You cannot riffle through my wardrobe, pick his spare key and have a ball in his room’’

‘’Excuse me?’’ Bukky asked in a shocked tone.

‘’I know what you do and just because I ignore you does not mean you are right. I don’t even know why I ignore you – that is not my style on a good day. Jesuorobo has been complaining about someone going through his stuff and I know it’s not me. We all know its not Rabiu but there is one more person left in the same house and it is you. I set a trap this last time. I kept the keys in a different location and when you returned it, you kept it in the usual spot. It was then I believed my son. Bukola, what are you looking for in his room? What did you keep in Jesuorobo’s room that you keep going back to find?’’

Then Bukky lowered her voice and moved closer ‘’he is doing hard drugs in this house!’’ she whispered.

‘’Please don’t go there again. I won’t accept it this time. Your obsession with this drug thing nearly drove me to a point of madness. It was so bad I got someone to sweep this house clean. There was not a single drug as you imagined. Jesuorobo does not do hard drugs and you will do well to stop spreading that awful rumor’’

‘’Okay but I hope you know you are part of that young man’s problem. He is spoilt rotten because you give him free hand. That is how you let him off the hook that time he was stealing medicine from the pharmacy and selling to make quick cash. Very expensive medicine and what did you do when I found the stash in his room? You let him off with a warning’’

***
That evening was epic! For starters once Osazuwa got back from work, there was nothing to eat. He was so hungry and as he buttered a piece of bread, Bukky continued to scream and narrate the day’s event. He cut some more slices and slathered it with butter while she continued to judge matter. By the time he was done, the loaf of bread was finished. Then he drank a glass of water and stared at her red eyes ‘’is that why you couldn’t prepare something else?’’ he asked.

‘’Your son ruined what I was cooking and he insulted me. Is that all you can say? Food?’’

‘’At least if I ate well, I would appreciate half of what you’ve been saying. Half of what you’ve said has flown off the top of my head’’

‘’Oh my God, this is beyond belief!’’

‘’Bukky please calm down’’

‘’I can’t be calm; that boy must leave this house today. Wherever he has gone to let him continue to hang there! I have seen Jesuorobo on his worst day but none compares to what I saw this afternoon. That boy threatened me with my cooking spoon! He stuck it right in my face and I was scared for my life. Osazuwa, your son has crossed the line and he must be punished!’’

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Then Pearl sighed deeply and continued ‘’my husband will give you the money tomorrow…’’

‘’No, no, no I don’t want no drama Mrs doc’’

‘’I’m sorry but he will handle it himself and that is not negotiable. Besides I can’t come to your compound because of what happened yesterday. If you feel your gate man is trustworthy, my husband can leave the money there…’’

‘’No, no, no I want it straight in my hand’’

‘’Give me your number then so I can call you and he can meet you outside’’

‘’No, no, no I don’t want no call. I don’t want anyone tracing anything to me. The police are getting smarter and I don’t want any call traced to me. I just want to collect my cash and you heard me CASH. I don’t want to cash any cheque’’

‘’Barrister Okungbowa, you are demanding like a diva. I’m just going to allow this thing proceed as we planned initially. 6.30pm tomorrow and my husband will meet you in your house. You have nothing to fear because he can’t beat you inside your own compound. I have to go’’

Then Pearl walked into her house and locked her gate.

x

‘’Guy you sure?’’

‘’E nor go pass Thursday’’

''Correct guy''

''Gotta go now. I'll call you soon''

Then Jesuorobo lit a fresh cigarette and continued to smoke. In actual fact, he had not found anyone willing to give him the money but he was operating on faith. He prayed he would find the balance in good time and make the payment by the following week. If the house was his, surely the agent would not give it out. At this stage, Jesuorobo was beyond desperate and frustrated at the same time.

About thirty minutes later, he noticed as Imonitie opened the gate and drove out. Pearl was locking the gate when he quickly got up and walked to her house. In the meantime, Bukky had since left the curtain but the moment she heard the sound of her gate, she rushed back to the curtain and watched as Jesuorobo walked across to Dr Ebosele’s house.

She came out of her house and stood on the porch with her arms akimbo. She could see them talking in front of Pearl’s gate. For once, Bukky wished she was a fly! She wished she could fly and perch on a tree and listen to all they were saying. It was so strange; the new found liaison between Jesuorobo and Dr Ebosele.

Meanwhile at the other end of the street, Pearl gave Jesuorobo a watered down version of what transpired the previous day. Once she was done, Jesuorobo shook his head in disbelief ‘’sorry to hear that’’ he whispered.

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Mr Rabiu rushed out of his house like he was chased by a thousand demons. He prostrated even though he was far off then he shouted in reply ‘’mummy oooooooooooo!’’

‘’Throw that woman out!’’ Bukky screamed.

Rabiu looked at his madam in shock; the woman she was referring to was walking out on her own. Once Rabiu found his voice he held out both hands and said ‘’but madam she is going away’’

Then Bukky pointed a finger at him and yelled ‘’I say lead her by the arm and bundle her out of my compound’’

But Rabiu stood like a statute and watched until Pearl walked past him. As he opened the gate for her, she smiled at him and whispered ‘’thank you sir’’

And in that moment, Rabiu knew he had made the right decision by not touching her.

‘’Rabiuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!’’

''My sister I have been there. I tell you we were at this man’s mercy. He was clearly wrong but he went around telling people we stole his name and his loyal customers! It was absurd. It became like the wealthy polygamous man that was accused of stealing the only wife of his poor neighbour. Of course some people knew the truth but others bought this crook’s story. It went on for months until I got fed up and said ENOUGH! That evening, I paid the good prof a visit and the rest is history''

''Okay''

''It took only a letter from Professor Buwa and this dude melted like a block of ice under the desert. He not only left that name but he took his business to another part of town. That is how effective prof was and do you know the interesting part?’’

‘’No’’

‘’Not a penny was taken from I or my husband. But you don’t want to know how much we spent on the same issue with other fake lawyers? Those fake lawyers were running up and down, filing papers in court and generally chopping our money. What am I saying? There are lawyers and there are lawyers! Jesuorobo is a troubled man who dabbles in hard drugs. I know what I am saying because he lives under my roof. You seem like a decent woman and you will do well to stay away from him’’

Then Pearl shook her head in pity and asked ‘’but madam why are you doing this to that young man? You have spent the last few minutes trying to dissuade me from asking that boy a simple question of law. I don’t have to bother prof for something so small. Jesuorobo is not exactly my friend but surely you can’t be doing the right thing to your son’’

‘’He is not my son’’ Bukky whispered.

‘’But you claim his father is your husband. Why are you contradicting yourself? Surely you must see him as your step-son’’

x

For a moment, Pearl was stunned and her face did not betray her emotion. Bukky noticed the look on the young woman's face and she quickly added ‘’oh calm down. I’m sorry if that sounded somewhat harsh. Sometimes people say I’m a bit forward but the good thing is I tell it as it is. I don’t think we’ve spoken before’’

‘’No, we’ve not. I just see you around but this should be the first time we are talking for any length of time. Anyway I wanted to see him because I’d like to seek his opinion on a small legal matter’’

‘’Oh really then why are you not speaking with Professor Buwa?’’

This time Pearl laughed before replying ‘’I’m sorry. I don’t know how to say this without sounding rude but I believe I have the right to speak with any lawyer of my choice’’

‘’Oh sure you do’’ Bukky replied.

‘’Erm… I don’t know but do you have a problem with a neighbour trying to seek legal advice from Jesuorobo?’’

‘’No not at all. He is a lawyer after all. My concern is why you’d choose a young lawyer over a whole professor of law? I mean the kid is less than 2 years at the bar’’

‘’But Jesuorobo is practicing insist he?’’

‘’Well he says he is but I don’t know about that. Does he strike you as someone who is indeed practicing law?''

''Well I don’t know for sure. That’s not for me to answer''

''Now that is where you are wrong. I think you should be more concerned seeing that you need his help with a legal issue. You wouldn’t want to put your trust in a charlatan would you?''

‘’What for?’’ Bukky asked in a high pitched tone.