EPISODE 21
By Authoress Mide
Today, the Senator slept in his room without his wife. They had had a heated argument over a totally bizarre issue. Nothing his wife could say could convince him that Amara was a ‘mamiwater’ or whatever it was that his wife was insisting she actually is. Nothing she did could also make him agree with the fact that their son needed to divorce her. Maybe the reason why he could not make himself believe anything she said was because he knew her too well. She gets shaky and tense when she is hiding something really important, and would always hide secrets under believable shades of lies. It was disheartening that he never could trust his own wife to be completely honest with him.
A lot of times, he wondered why he married her, and now was one of those times. Katherine was keeping something from him, and if all her fretting was any indication, this was not something small. What he did not know was what Amara had to do with this. What was it about Amara that unsettled Katherine so much? He had never seen his wife this distressed before; she was almost like a moth skipping through fire. No doubt, Mr. Bello surmised, that birthmark was the key to this. That plus mark definitely had a history if his wife had looked ghostly immediately she saw it. The ridiculous explanation of Amara being with an evil spirit was senseless to him. He needed to find out what this was all about.
Finally decided, he picked up his phone and dialed the number of a secret private investigator. He waited patiently until the investigator picked up. Without waiting for pleasantries, he went straight to the point. “Luke, see me in my office tomorrow. I need you to do something for me”
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Toba asked in anger. “Are you really sure there is nothing going on between you and your village bet? You seem to have changed”.
“of course there is nothing going on, besides, even if I want it to, Amara would not accept anything with me on a platter of gold” Alex retorted feeling anger creep into him as he remembered the way his own wife chased him out of her room like a piece of trash.
“Why do I have a feeling that you already want it?” Toba bellowed.
Alex fixed Toba an angry questioning look. “And why does it seem to bother you so much?” he asked.
Toba glowered at him. “Why should it not bother me? You come running to me for help, yet I give you advices and you don’t follow them. Don’t come bothering me if you would always do what you want to do”
Alex’ eyes narrowed. “You asked me to beat her up, see where that led me?” he returned in anger.
“The only thing I see here is that you have become a chicken just because of that thing you keep in your house. She is keeping you on your toes like a puppet. When did you become so soft?” Toba bellowed, looking at Alex as if he could not quite believe he was the one.
“Say that one more time and I would show you how unsoft I am with my fist” he said with clenched fists. He looked just as dangerous as Toba knew he was, or used to be before Amara surfaced.
“Oh, you can display your fists here but when you see Amara, you turn to jelly” he spat out.
“I am warning you Toba”
Toba saw the telltale flash in Alex’s eyes and knew he had to tread softly if he would be leaving the bar without a swollen eye. He sighed. “Alex. All I am saying is that this girl is too small to keep you locked firmly in her small palm, how old is she? She just clocked twenty!” she exclaimed like he could not quite believe it. “You are a whooping five years older, yet she seems to be the boss in that little house of yours, where is your edge? Why can’t you put her in her place?”
Alex grimaced. “I let her have her way. I have really destroyed her life”
Toba’s frown deepened. “And now you are regretting your actions!” he exclaimed in bewilderment. “Are you sure something is not wrong with you? What has that girl done to you?”
Alex stared long at Toba. His coming to meet his friend was not helping matters at all.
After listening to his friend rant and rave like a frozen dock, he was certain that he would not be able to help him in any way; not like he had been of any help ever since. To be sincere, Alex did not know the type of help he sought. His head had been in the clouds lately and he was beginning to wonder at what he actually needed. “I think I need to go home now” he said, paid the bill and stood up. Toba shook his head and trailed after him.
“You are being pathetic Alex. What do you plan on doing about Lisa uhn? You did not get her out of jail until her poor parents were able to pull the required strings to get her out on bail. When she surfaces, you would be in for it; remember, Amara is not the only one carrying your child in her womb” he said with piercing clarity.
Alex swallowed as he marched to his car. “You don’t have to remind me that I have two babies on the way; if I don’t remember, who will?”
“I think the only child you remember is that of the little wh0re in your house. How sure are you that the child is even yours?”
Alex stopped suddenly and fixed Toba with a firm glare. “As much as I am not overjoyed at the prospect of having a baby at this early stage of my life, I know the child is mine. The reason is simple – I was the one who made her a woman, and there was no other person, I assure you. She has never lied to me, despite all I have done; I am the only lying party here, that much cannot be denied” he said and entered his car without waiting for another annoying comment from his friend.
As Alex drove home, his anger grew until it became gravely unbearable. He almost started soliloquizing in anger as he drove home. What angered him most was that Toba had been right. He had changed! Even the blind would see it vividly. He could not tell what triggered it. He was beginning to blame himself for what he did to Amara; and why? He could not even tell. Maybe because Amara had picked up her pieces so bravely, doing the d@mnest to put the past behind her. Or maybe it was because she had become so bold that she now had the effrontery to stand up to him; even Lisa could not that effectively as Amara did; it was as annoying as it was amusing. It was probably her growing beauty that was getting to his head, he mused.
With each passing day, she grew in beauty and it was not half as annoying as it was fascinating. It was even more surprising that she was that way with the bulging pregnancy.
Alex rubbed his palm over his face and stroked his thumb against his day’s growth of beards, in frustration. He did not understand what was going on. There was this strange feeling he had towards Amara that could not be named. He felt a strange connection between them. It was not a feeling he identified with. He had loved before, yes, but he was did not think this growing feeling was love. On the contrary, he would have known instantly if it was love; or wouldn’t he? Lisa did not hold his heart, there was just this strong s*xual attraction between them that Alex could not do away with. He had loved a woman only once in his life and got burnt from it. But now, what was this that he was developing for Amara? He groaned in frustration. He hated something he could not name or identify more than anything. He sighed and drove into the compound.
Mr. Bello marched into the house like the fires of hell were in pursuit. “Katherine” he bellowed like a madman. The maids in the house squirmed and skipped off, wondering what on earth was wrong with their usually calm boss. “Katherine…” he yelled again, feeling as if he were about to fly into a million pieces.
Mrs. Bello ran down the stairs from her room. She had been at the edge of her nerves for the past one week ever since Amara’s birthday and her husband had also been equally quiet. She had been doing all her research, but seeming helpless because she had to be extra careful so as not to be found out. She found out nothing. The only way to find out would have been to meet with Amara’s parents and that was the last thing she would think of doing. Now, hearing her husband shouting her name scared her half to death. She appeared before her husband and he was breathing very hard. His eyes bore into her like daggers and she knew she was doomed.
“B… Bello”
He turned instantly and made for the door. “Follow me. Now” he barked and she instantly obeyed in fright. She had never been this scared of her husband in her entire life. He looked like a deadly animal, ready to devour anything in its path, and right now, Mrs. Bello felt like the prey.
“Bello” she rushed shakily. “Please talk to me”
He did not appear to have heard. He entered the car, not even calling his driver. “Get in” he barked as he fired the engine. The gateman was wise enough to open the gate without being told. All the servants were staring in bewilderment as the car flew out of the compound with lightning speed.
Tears were beginning to form in Katherine Bello’s eyes as her husband drove the car like a mad man. All her intestines shook with fright as she gripped the handle of the door for support. Mr. Bello’s features were set in firm hard lines and his veins were in clear view. “Bello” she called again as tears slipped down her cheeks.
Mr. Bello gripped the steering harder, to prevent himself from beating his wife into a pulp while on motion.
When Mr. Bello drove into Alex’s compound, there was no doubt left in Kate’s mind that the secret was already out. “Please Bello” she pleaded but her husband simply alighted from the car, slamming the door so firmly, it nearly shook the ground. He marched towards the entrance and turned to see her standing shakily by the car.
“If you don’t get in now and I descend on you, you wouldn’t be alive to tell the colour of your skin” he growled.
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