THIRD PARTY IN MARRIAGE
EPISODE 12
One of the servants in the house ran into the sitting room with his phone, watching something. He handed it over to the professor who became dumbfounded and speechless.
Obiageli: “What is happening?” she went closer to peep into the phone and what she saw also weakened her legs. She took some steps back and slumped on the floor, crying.
Prof. Harry: “This girl has finally succeeded in ruining our family name. How on earth did she think to do something like this?” he barked. “Woman get up right away and get me my phone. You and your daughter will have to pay for this in a very bitter way”
Obiageli: “Please forgive her, she was only being childish. You know she has never being in love before and we never really told her we had agreed to her marrying the widower. Please ehn?”
Prof. Harry: “How on earth could she go on her knees and propose to a man to the public’s scrutiny? How could she do something so cheap despite how beautiful and intelligent she is? To make the matters worse, the man didn’t seem to have agreed right away. Oh my God!” he slumped down on the longest settee and clasped his head in his hands.
Obiageli: “Please take it easy my dear. If only we know where she must have gone to…”
Prof. Harry: “Where else if not the man whose name I don’t even know’s place? And I promise you, I will deal with the two of them. I swear I will make him suffer for making my daughter into this shameless adult she just became ever since he showed up in her life. My own daughter begging a man to marry her? What a pathetic and miserable girl” he stood and started pacing around furiously. A thought occurred to him and he smiled mischievously. “Where is the phone I asked you to bring for me? There is nothing you know how to do right in your life, how could you have been able to bring her up properly?” he berated his wife who stood immediately to do as she was bid. As soon as the phone was handed to him, he called the police station.
“Someone is holding my daughter against her will at his house, please can you help us look into him? He works at Accent Nigeria but I doubt he stays along that side, he must stay somewhere around mainland. Yes! I will get back to you when I have confirmed his name and address. Thank you very much” he said and hung up the phone.
Obiageli: “Who did you call?”
Prof. Harry: “Isn’t that obvious enough? Police, I called the police” he replied impatiently.
Obiageli: “But it has not gotten up to that. Why lie against an innocent man when is your daughter causing all the trouble?”
Prof. Harry: “I can do whatsoever I want. He is tampering with my daughter’s honour, why will I let him go scot-free? Please don’t even bother saying anything any further. You hardly make any sense”
Obiageli: “Hmmmmmm!” She sighed sadly and kept mum even though she had a thousand things to say back to him.
===
Sammy: “Well I guess it’s not my mum who failed in teaching me well, it’s you!” he blurted out rudely.
Ophelia: “Well, there is nothing you can do about it little boy. Just concentrate on being a good step son to me so I can be nice to you. As you know, I am very good at using the cane”
Sammy: “I will tell my dad if you touch me or Annie. You cannot be our mum no matter what” he said and ran out angrily.
Ophelia: “Spoilt little brat! I will deal…” she was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She reached out and picked it. She was surprised to know that it was one of Richard’s colleagues known as Kenny who was on call with her.” What can I do for you Kenny? Hope there is no problem at all?”
Kenny: “There is a problem. A very big problem at that. It’s Richard” she said breathlessly into the receiver.
Ophelia: “Tell me what happened already” she yelled.
Kenny: “He just got arrested by some police men”
Ophelia: “Arrested? Why? What did he do?”
Kenny: “I don’t know really. They did not tell us”
Ophelia: “Okay which police station?”
Kenny: “Lekki Phase1 police station” she said and hung up the phone.
She picked Rebecca’s car key from where it was kept in her drawer and hastily drove out of the compound. The traffic she met on the road was killing that it took her an hour to reach Lekki from Mainland. On getting to the police station, she met her parents at the front desk apparently waiting for her. She ignored them and went straight to the front desk officer who was lustfully staring at her.
Ophelia: “Officer please I came to see the man who was brought in some time ago”
Officer: “What’s his name?” he asked smiling sheepishly.
Ophelia: “His name is Richard Rotimi”
Prof. Harry who had been sitting waiting to see if she will acknowledge him lost his patience at last.
Prof. Harry: “Ophelia follow me now! We are going home” he barked. “I told you officer, he was holding my daughter under duress. Please help me deal with him very well, not even his parents should know his whereabouts” he said and drew his daughter forcefully out of the station.
===
Ophelia: “Dad did you order Richard’s arrest?” she said as soon as they stepped inside the house but he ignored her. ”Dad…I asked if that was your doing?” she asked again jumping in front of him.
Prof. Harry: “You cheap thing!” she fumed, raised his hand and landed a very dirty slap to her cheek. “You even have the guts to ask me questions uhn? After disgracing yourself with that filthy thing in prison?”
Ophelia: “What disgrace?” she asked holding her cheek as she fought to make her blurred sight clearer. She was oblivious of the fact that her parents had seen the video of her proposition to Richard.
Prof. Harry: “How could you propose to a man? How crazy were you? And then had the guts to run away from home?”
Ophelia: “I did what I did because I cared about him, a feeling which is alien to you and that is why you will never understand. If given the chance, I will go on my knees over and over again for him in the presence of the whole world because I care more about what I want than the opinion of the world. You are and your reputation can go to blazes for all I care”
Prof. Harry: “Obiageli… get your daughter out of my sight before I do something we will all regret later. That boy is going to rot in prison, yes he will and I will see to that” he said and walked furiously out on them.
Obiageli: “Go and beg him now. If you know you really care about that boy like you claim, go and beg him now”
Ophelia: “I will not! I will never beg the son of a bitch over anything again, I will do everything my own way from now on”
Prof. Harry: What did you just call me?
Obiageli: Papa Ophelia, take am easy biko, You know your daughter is not in her right senses now. “But Ophelia, how about the boy? Do you want him to die in prison?”
Ophelia: “I will bail him out. I will go back to the police station now” she said fidgeting with the car keys that were still in her hand. “But the car is in the police station, shit! Oh Richie!” she said and began to cry. “He might lose his job cos of this, what do I do mum?”
Obiageli: “Go and beg your dad, besides you have been grounded. You cannot step out of this house till further notice”
Ophelia: “What? Who does such a thing to his grownup daughter? I will be 29 years in few months’ time remember? Mum I am really not liking this. I need to do something fast, his children are all alone in the house with no one to take care of them, if not to the police station, please allow me to go back to the house. Please mum” she pleaded tearfully.
Obiageli: “Go and tell your dad that. I have nothing else to say to you. I really don’t” she said and left her in the sitting room.
She paced restlessly around, thinking of what her next step should be. He thought of Richard in prison and Sammy who would be waiting for him all night long. She started to cry. Ophelia seems having good feelings for the kids.
===
Sammy kept checking time over and over again. It was past nine and his dad was not back yet. Annie kept crying and crying while he kept trying to stop her to no avail. The baby was hungry and he did not know how to mix her food, Ngozi was the one doing it before but she was no longer there. He sang Rihanna’s ‘Work’ to her but she wailed even louder and he too started to cry.
Sammy: “Dad where are you now? Why on earth do you have to stay so late? Mum…” the words choked in his throat as he said mum. Annie reduced her crying a little on seeing that he was crying too. “Baby… you are hungry right? What should I do? My hand cannot even reach where they kept your food, even I am hungry” he said in between tears. He checked the time again and realised it was past 10 and decided to walk outside a bit to wait for their dad.
As soon as he stepped out of the gate, he saw an okada man with a passenger approaching them slowly, he thought for a while that it was his dad at the passenger seat until they went closer, snatched Annie from him and zoomed off. He stood dumfounded for a minute and started running after them when realization of what happened had dawned on him.
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