LOVE WITH BITTER TEARS
EPISODE 19
Annie: “What happened Sammy? Why did you shout?”
Sammy: “It’s nothing, what is your full name?” he asked hopefully.
Annie: “Annabelle”
Sammy: “Oh I see! It’s not Anita? Oh that’s fine”
Paul: “Is something wrong young champ? You look pale” he asked with concern registering in his voice and face.
Sammy: “Nothing really, just that she reminds me of my sister who was snatched from my arms some years back”
The three men exchanged looks.
Ralph: “What was her name?”
Sammy: “Her name was Anita but we called her Annie” he said looking so downcast.
They exchanged confused looks again.
Ralph: “Do you still remember the d@t£ it happened? How old was she?”
Sammy: “That was one day I have inscribe-d into my memory. It happened on the 14 th of March, 2011 around past 10p.m at night. We haven’t found her till now, not even her dead b©dy. It was as if she vanished into thin air. Meanwhile she was just three months old” he had tears in his eyes when he was done with his narration.
d!¢kson: “Oh my God! How many were the men who had snatched her from you?”
Sammy: “They were two on a bike”
Ralph: “Let me see you guys” he said walking away from Sammy’s ward into the corridor while his friends followed suite.
Paul: “Are guys thinking the same thing I am thinking?”
d!¢kson: “I am short of words right now, I don’t think I can even breathe. Those two seem to be siblings, oh my God!” he said using his hand to fan himself.
Ralph: “Let’s not jump into conclusion yet, it might just be one big coincidence. We cannot take everything hook, line and sinker just yet. We nee-d more proof”
Paul: “You are right. I absolutely agree with you” he nodded his head in agreement.
d!¢kson: “What other proof do you nee-d? Annie was like three months when we found her, there were two men with a bike parked beside them. As if that is not enough, we found her on the 15 th of March. I noticed the striking resemblance between them though but I
thought it was just a coincidence. Annie must be the missing sister he is so longing to see again. We cannot just close our eyes to this just because we are afraid of losing her”
Ralph: “You are right too though but we still nee-d more proof and until I have it, I will not re-lease her to anyb©dy” he said, walked back to the ward and met the two of them having a serious discussion.
Annie: “Tell me about Annie your sister plea-se?”
Sammy: “My baby sister was a very charming girl. Her smile could lit up the darkest of souls. She had dimples just like yours, actually her dimples were my doing. I di-pped my middle f!nger in each of her cheeks every day until the dimples bec@m£ permanent” he gave a short mirthless laugh.
Annie: “Hmmmm! You are wicked o…I wish I know your sister though, we will be very good friends”
Sammy: “Yeah! I have a feeling you will get to know her soon. What did you say happened to your mum?”
Ralph: “Uhmm! We have to go now, it’s getting late. We will be back to check on you later okay?” he said intentionally changing the direction of their discussion.
Sammie: “Awwwwwww too bad! When will you come back again plea-se? I have not really gotten to thank Annie for saving my life” he bec@m£ melancholic in the twi-nkle of an eye.
Annie: “Do we really have to leave now? Can’t I stay with him? Tomorrow is Sunday anyway” she said pleadingly.
Sammie: “No Annie! You should go with them, it’s not right for you to stay here all by yourself. They are just trying to ensure you are safe. Trust them, they will bring you back and by then, I would have gotten better and we will be able to pl@yaround. I will even show you lots of stuffs”
Annie: “Okay Sammy” she replied brightening up. Her dad exchanged another surprised looks at how easily he was able to convince her.
A nurse entered the ward with a message for them.
Nurse: “The doctor asked me to give you this card, his dad requested that you call him whenever you are around, he wants to see you I guess” she said handing the card over to Ralph who collected it.
Ralph: “Thank you, I will call him but not today anymore. We are just about to start heading home” he replied with a f0rç£d smile.
Nurse: “It’s okay. Call him next time you are coming then” she replied and strutted out of the ward.
At the hospital that day, Richa-rd and Sammy had a lengthy discussion, he was able to clarify his accusations and he saw truth in what he said especially when he learnt the name of her girlfriend was Gloria. He remembered her always muttering ‘Glo… Glo” each time he made love to her. he was so angry about her using his son to satisfy her S-xual urge that he was going to
just hand her over to the police but when he got home, she was no-where to be found. He called her parents who in turned contacted Gloria but even she said she hadn’t heard anything from her. He waited patiently for her to show up. It had been a week and still, nothing
was heard from her. He took a one week leave from work so he could give all his attention to his son. As he got re-ady to leave for the hospital, the door of his sitting room flung open and Opha’s dad barged in.
Pro. Harry: “You bastard! I knew you were bad luck for my daughter from the onset. Where is my daughter” he moved menacingly towards Richa-rd pointing threateningly at him.
Richa-rd : “I should be asking you that! You knew your daughter was a depraved human and you still gave her hand to me in marriage?”
Prof. Harry: “You dare call me daughter depraved to my face? I shouldn’t have gotten you out of that prison. I should have allowed you to rot and decay in there so maggots could feed on you”
Richa-rd : “Then it was you…?” he moved towards him and held his collar really ti-ght choking him in the process. “You were the bastard who locked me up for no apparent reason? It was you bastard who caused the disappearance of my three months old baby? It was you, you bloody old fool?” he gr-unted in between clenched teeth.
Pro. Harry: “You are choking me boy!” he said breathlessly and to-re his hands off his collar f0rç£fully.
Richa-rd : “So I have been dining with the enemy all along? Your daughter knew this and yet she never told me? What a fool I have been. She even used that to blackmail my little boy into plea-suring her because nothing I did on be-d ever satisfied her being the l£sb!anshe is?” he slumped down on the chair weeping into his hands.
Prof. Harry: “What do you mean by that? What do you mean by she blackmailed your son into plea-suring her? Lesbian? Who?” he asked with eyes opened wi-de.
Richa-rd : “You just heard me. Her girlfriend Gloria probably broke up with her so she turned to my son. Your daughter ruined my family, my life. How will my son grow up viewing women in general now? Will he grow like a normal kid or will he start craving S-x now?
Your daughter did these to me and you are here shouting incentives at me? plea-se get out! Get the hell out of my house before I do something I will regret for the rest of my life” he stood up pushing the dazed prof towards the door.
She sat in her h0tel room, thinking of what to do next. She knew that her parents would have gotten wind of her depravity and so she dared not show her face there. She had thrown her main sim card away and gotten another so no one would be able to locate her. She knew that Gloria was the only person she could contact at that point in time and so she did. She asked her to meet her at home since no one was around at the moment.
When she got there, truth to her words, no one was around. Her children had gone to school and the servants were nowhere to be found.
Opha: “Hey! Longest time ever…” she said taking in the changes in the house. Things looked messier around the house probably thanks to her children.
Gloria: “I have been extremely busy”
Opha: “I could imagine. being a full house wife is not an easy task. Besides, what happened to the servants?”
Gloria: “My husband s£nt them away. He said I nee-ded to get busy and not rely on other people to help do my womanly chores. It’s been hectic indeed!” she said heaving a sigh.
Opha: “Too bad!” She said and moved closer to her “Baby I nee-d your help…I think I am a fugitive now with nowhere to go to and no friends or family. I nee-d you now more than ever”
Gloria: “Why are you on the run if I may ask?”
Opha: “It’s a long story my dear, I might not be able to tell you but right now I am burning, I mean seriously hor-ny. I haven’t had good S-x for a while now. plea-se can we, you know this last time?” she win-ked.
Gloria: “No way! I told you we were over and besides I am no longer that type of person. I have had a change of S-xual preference, a healing. I think you nee-d healing too, your husband could have been able to provide that if you had let him”
Opha: “I told you not to preach this $h!t to me again. Will you help me or not? I really really nee-d this Glo! You promised me you’d be there for me no matter what. This is the time I nee-d you most” she moved closer to her desperately and held on to her but Gloria sl@pped her immediately. What was that for?” she held her cheek dazed.
Gloria: “I told you I was no longer interested! Now will you get out of my house plea-se?” she pointed furiously at the door.
Opha: “I told you back then that you will regret ever casting me away right? If I cannot have you then no one else will” she said, di-pped her hand in her hand bag, brou-ght out a knife. Gloria on seeing it staggered back.
Gloria: “Opha don’t do this plea-se. Put away the knife so we can talk this throu-gh”
Ophia: “Talk this throu-gh? Liar! You have always been a terrible liar! You are only looking for another opportunity to toss me to the dogs. I will never forgive you for this” she plunged towards Gloria like one in a trance but she was able to dodge it, she tried to run but tr!pp£dover a chair and fell flat on her face. She stood looming over her with a wicked grin on her face “I told you, no one else will have you if I can’t” she said bent down and plunged the knife into Gloria’s heart, blood gushed out. She pu-ll-ed it out and plunged it into her stomach many times till she was satisfied at last that there was no breath left in her anymore. She stood up, took a we-t wipe from her handbag, wiped clean the blood stains on her leather go-wn, hands and the knife then returned the knife into her bag. She looked around to make sure no one had seen her and fled for the door.
Sammy was discharged the following week after Annie’s visit. When they got home, he could not believe he was home at last. He went straight to where his mum’s picture was hung on the wall in his room and said “Mum I am back. Thanks for watching over me and you will not believe I saw a girl who looks just like you, she is so adorable, a real princess. She even saved me, I could have died. I wish you were alive mum, you would have loved her very much too. When I make enough money, I will marry her” he said giggling from ears to ears. His dad snuck into the room.
Richa-rd : “Welcome back home son! I feel like the whole world has been placed un-der my feet with you in this house again. I hope your mum forgives me too, I made you suffer so much and closed my eyes to what you were going throu-gh. I am not a good father at all and you were right, I was a coward and a weakling but that has changed now. I will be strong for you from now as long as I live. How I wish your sister is here too”
Sammy: “We will find her someday dad. It will happen like a miracle so don’t worry dad. Besides what of my step mum? I haven’t heard anything about her for a very long time now” she looked up at him.
Richa-rd : “She is no longer your step mum. I don’t know where she is either and I don’t want to know. She should better remain hidden except she nee-ds more drama in her pathetic life” he said bitterly.
Sammy: “So you don’t love her anymore?”
Richa-rd : “How can I continue loving the person who ruined my family and almost ruined my only son’s life? I regret ever loving her to begin with. I did not look well before leaping and my children were made to carry the brunt of my carelessness. l can never be done with paying for my sins son” he placed his hand across his shoulder and he smiled.
Sammy: “It’s okay dad. I will make sure never to make the same mistakes you made. I will be very patient with my wife and not be quarrelsome for the sake of my children. I will pay more attention to my children too to know when they are going throu-gh ha-rd times and then, I will never tell a single woman my marital challenges or listen to her advice especially when I know she will do no good for my marriage. I learnt a lot from you dad”
Richa-rd : “Someone is back to his old self again. I missed you all the way my boy” he said and drew him to a close embr@ce.
###############
Johnson got back home ahead of time that day but only to find his wife murdered with multi-ple stab wounds on her mid-section and che-st. He was taken aback at first when he saw her pleading eyes frozen by the icy hands of death. He heard his children coming back happily
and quic-kly went outside to meet them locking the door behind him. He took them to their grandma’s place without bothering to answer any of their questions. His mind was running wild, thinking of what to do and how to catch the murderer until he remembered he had
installed a CCTV in his be-droom and in the living room since the first time he caught them k!ssing. He had not been satisfied with their flimsy excuses so he had the CCTV installed in a bid to catch them red-handed.
After dropping his two kids, he went back home, called the police and two officers were s£nt to him. Even they were surprised at how gruesome the murder was, it was something out of the movies.
1st Officer: “What Nigerian demon could have had the guts to do something like this?” he asked looking at the corpse with horror.
2nd Officer: “It’s truly terrible. And I have checked the whole perimeter, the doors and everything. There seems to be no indication of false entry or much struggle. It seems the victim knows the murderer and was even cordial with him or her. That is my observation though”
1st Officer: “I agree with you but let’s dig around even more maybe we can find more evidence to pin down the person who did this?”
2nd Officer: “Mr Johnson, do you probably have any idea on who could have done this? Maybe a jealous ex, colleague, a stalker e.t.c?” he said facing Johnson who was at one corner shivering like a lone man on a street of London during winter.
Johnson: “I have no idea officer but I do remember installing a CCTV somewhere over there” he said pointing at one said of the ceiling.
1st Officer: “Oh very good! Very very good!! That was very thoughtful of you sir, you just made our work easier” he said walking towards the c@m£ra.
2nd Officer: “Call an ambulance now, so she can be taken to a morgue. She might start decomposing soon” he said as they walked towards the door.
On getting to her h0tel, it was as if everyb©dy was pointing accusing f!ngersat her. Every faces she saw was Gloria’s it was just like Judas Iscariot’s hallucination saga on his way to commit suicide in “The Pas-sion of Christ” Movies. She staggered to her room, thinking it would be over but every objects in the room, even her be-d had bloodstains on them. She saw Gloria’s
dead face in the mirror instead of hers. She held her head with her two hands and began to scream. All of a sudden, everything bec@m£ normal again, she fell on her be-d and went into a nightmarish slumber.
Meanwhile, every stations on GOTV carried the news of the murder of a young woman at her home by her best friend whom she was allegedly having an immoral affair with before she got married. Her picture was all over the social media urging anyone who sights her to give the police a call. A bounty price of Ten million naira was placed on her head. Everyone who saw the news or re-ad it online was on the lookout for her.
One of the cleaners who helped clean her room once at the Hilton h0tel called the police and informed them that she was there, she also gave them her room number.
As she sle-pt, she heard a ban-g on her door and opened her eyes like a possessed. The door handle turned and three police officers with their AK47 pointed in front of them aiming at her barged into the room. She made to run to the bathroom but they were swifter and double-
crossed her.
Policeman: “You are un-der arrest for the murder of Mrs Gloria Arowolo. You are advised to keep quiet since anything you say now can be used against you in the law court” he said like a programmed robot.
Opha: “Who are you guys to arrest me like this? I refuse to go with you. I am innocent, I did not murder anyone…” she screamed and kicked as they handcuffed her hand behind her back and led her down the corridor leading to the exit door. “You guys are ma-king a grave mistake, you are arresting the wrong person…I am innocent, I don’t know anything about it I swear” she
kept ranting on and on until they got to the police station. She was locked in the interrogation room bound hand and legs to a wooden chair. Immediately she heard the door open, she started screaming and ranting on and on about being innocent again.
Officer: “Will you shut up now you heartless woman?” he said casting her a disdainful look.
Opha: “I want my lawyer. You guys are looking for whom to frame. I want my laaawyer!” she screamed and the officer gave her a resounding sl@p.
Officer: “Who is looking for whom to frame? Now did you kill Mrs Gloria Arowolo or not? I want a yes or no answer and nothing more”
Opha: “No!”
Officer: “Do you know why I am asking you even when I alre-ady know the answer? Because I want to torture you to my heart’s satisfaction. Look at that plugged iron over there, it is for your face, I will use it to iron out those two dimples on your cheeks” he threatened while Opha bur-st into tears.
Opha: “I did not do anything I swear. She was my friend so I wouldn’t do a thing like that to her” the tears flowing down her face would fill one washing basin. The officer went over and lifted the iron into his hands. Brou-ght it close and placed it on her cheek letting it linger for some seconds. She screamed and screamed, her lungs almost to-re out. The officer dropped the iron
which had a fragment of her skin stuck to it.
Officer: “Now let’s go again. Did you murder Mrs Gloria Arowolo or not?”
Opha: “What evidence do you have for you to be doing this to me? I said I want evidence” she said weakly. The officer di-pped his hand into his pocket and brou-ght out his phone which had the video of her murdering Gloria. He showed it to her and she bec@m£ silent immediately.
Officer: Now answer my question…”
Opha: “Yes I did! She was trying to ditch me after all the good times we shared in the past. I nee-ded her but she left me in the lurch? She said defiantly. Officer: “Tell that to the judge at the law court” he said and walked out.
To be continued…