OBIANUJU
Princess Juliet
Episode 28
Punishment
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OBIANUJU
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The drive back to school was a tiring and frustrating one as we were stuck in a terrible traffic . Demi kept on honking the horn as he drove slowly behind a long line of vehicle.
“D**n!”. he swore un-der his breathe, “when are we gonna get out of here?”
“I wonder oooo”. I huffed , staring out of the window.
The road was so crowded that cyclists had to squee-ze throu-gh by weaving in and out of cars to avoid the wait.
“Is the traffic here always like this?” Demi asked with a scoff
“I don’t know”. I sighed softly .
I was bored out of my mind , I nee-ded to keep myself busy.
errrmm…..what can I do? I racked my br@in.
An idea suddenly c@m£ to me , why not try writing??
quic-kly , I reached for my backpack which was at the rear seat , slid it open and took out a pen and a jotter.
“what do you want to do with that?”Demilade asked, a curious look on his face
“Write”. I replied, smiling
tossing the backpack back to the rear seat, I opened the jotter and began to pen down a scene , a scene about a ruthless drug Lord …
“and what are you writing about?”Demi probe-d on
My smile de-epened , i knew he would ask
“A Mafia lord”
He chuckled. “you going along with my suggestion hun”
“Yes”. I nodded .”not only that, i am also ma-king use of your name”.
“My name”. he leaned forward to look into the jotter and his eyes grew wi-de
“Troy! the protagonist name is Troy”
The look on his face was priceless and my whole b©dy j£rk with my stifled laughter
“Is there anything bad in it?”
“No”. he muttered, sitting up straight and hisl-ips t©uçhed my face lightly,just brushing my skin
I faked a frown. “You did that on purpose right?
“and what if I did?” he retorted, looking de-ep into my eyes and a warm blus-h rose to my cheeks
I swallowed ha-rd , ma-king a sound, my eyes pacing from his eyes to hisl-ips
Why must he be so cute??
“erm..can .. you .. erm plea-se st©p staring at me”. I stuttered nervously , his stares alone was
doing crazy things to my fragile heart …
“why? his voice c@m£ out in whispers. “you nervous I will k!ssyou, here, right now?”
“do you want to k!ssme ?”I blurted out foolishly
hisl-ips curled into a half smile. “should I?”.
I nodded sheepishly and that was it .
he slowly lowered his head and I watched his mouth; involuntarily my head j£rked up as he k!$$£d me softly on thel-ips , his hands still clung on the steering wheel.
“Deeemi”. I let out an audible g@sp and li-cked hisl-ips , tasting, sa-vouring his sweetness.
A honk from behind interrupted the k!ssand we pu-ll-ed ap@rt in an instant
“Move ooooo”. a man screamed , telling us that the road is clear ; immediately Demi stepped on the br@ke and drove off in full speed.
*
Finally, after a five hour drive, we got to Ago-Iwoye and Demi slowed down a little as he made a right turn
“Ah Ah! where are you going?” I asked , looking puzzled.
“and where does it look like to you?”. he snapped at me
“Your ap@rtment”. I answered the obvious question”
“So!”he scoffed . “Why then are you still asking?
I frowned at him . “I thought you would reach my hostel first”
“No”. he merely said , his gaze fixed straight ahead
What is wrong with him?
“but I nee-d to go home na”. I insisted .
he glanced at me , meeting my gaze for a split-second
“why?”
Is he really asking me that?
” I want to throw that bit-ch out of my room”. I responded in a raised voice
“Oh! should I st©p the car then?”
St©p kwa! I was expecting him to say reverse the car!
“I want you to drive me home”
“sorry I can’t”. he shook his head slightly. “I am tired and nee-d to rest”
like seriously!
“you should make use of a bike”.he quic-kly added
Interesting! he wants me to make use of a bike, okay now!
“Alright ooo”. I reluctantly agreed and he pu-ll-ed out of the road , parking out in front of a Central Mosque.
“do you have enough money on you?” he asked
“Yes”. I gr-unted my response
“Okay then , don’t be long
hmmm! so he still want me to pas-s the night at his place!
“sure!”I gr@bb£d my handbag and stepped out the car slamming the door shut.
“and don’t get into a fight”. he warned as he drove off, speeding.
I stood there for a moment , watching his car and then looked towards the road ,waiting impatiently for a bike to pas-s by.
The afternoon sun was out in full f0rç£ , pushing the temperature up to at least ninety-five degree.
It was sofu-cking h0t that I had to use my hand as a shield to protect my eyes.
I soon sighted a bike coming in my direction and I flagged it down .The bike man immediately pu-ll-ed out of the road and st©pped in front of me .
“Pretty queen’s villa”. I told him weakly
“queen’s villa”. he muttered. “where is that one?”
“Oru, beside the micro finance bank”.
“oh!oh! oh! I don remember, that plastered building where only girls dey stay”
“Yes”. I nodded
“Oya enter , make we dey go”
Just like that!
“Abeg oooo! how much will you collect?” I wanted to know first
He grinned wi-dely. “how much you wan pay?”
did he just ask me that? okay now!
“# 200”. I told him and his grin changed to a frown
“Ah! Ah! sister, e too small na, add something on t©p make I carry you”
I smiled inwardly, shebi he was the one who asked how much I wanted to pay!
“Fine! let me add #100”. I finalised , maintaining a straight face
“Okay!” he nodded in agreement. “enter make we dey go”
Sharperly , I climbe-d on the bike and the man started the engine and drove off……
*
Getting to my hostel , the bike man drove into the compound and parked out in front of my car.
I smiled lightly. My baby! I have really missed it!
I paid him and climbe-d down the bike ,checking out my car for any scratch , but found none . I nodded in satisfaction and climbe-d up the short stairs to the balcony!
“Welcome ooooo”.a slim girl who was washing outside greeted , a large smile on her face
“Ah! Elizabeth! thank you”. I returned the smile
“hmmmh”. she sighed. “I heard what happened, take heart my dear. It is the Lord that giveth and taketh”
I nodded slowly. “thanks”
She continued. “Arinze nko?”
“he should be in his room”. I shrugged lightly
“so he is back”. she retorted, her eyes glittering with excitement.
uh hum ! and that my “annoying brother” will still call this one mere friendsh!p, let him be deceiving himself!
“Yes”. I replied as I walked throu-gh the long pas-sage to the last room , my room.
The door to the room was locked from inside which only meant one thing—Faith was inside .
Something stirred de-ep , increasing my pulse and I found myself ban-ging on the door angrily…
“Faith”. I screamed . “open up this door”
what I heard next was the sound of footstep and the door knob turning.
I pushed the door open. In an instant ,it flew open to reveal a “smiling Faith”
“welcome Uj……….
“You betrayer”. I cut in before she could spell out my name . “Get out of my room “. I shoved her aside and stormed into the room.
“Get the hell out of my room”
her smile faded and a faint shadow pas-sed over her face
“You…want ..to .throw .. me .. out?” She picked her words , her right hand on her che-st as she stared at me in disbelief…
“not only will I throw you out , I will also tell everyone how you planned on destroying my life”. I yelled
“Ah! Uju plea-se don’t do it”. she pleaded , ru-bbing her hands together and dropped to her knees , sobbing….
“It was the work of the devil , I didn’t mean to hurt you , Susanna pushed me to it , I was deceived “. she kept on spilling out trash , she didn’t even try to deny it”
“Ahhhhhhhhhh”. I skrie-ked out in pain . “how could you! how could you do that to me . I housed you , fed you , shared my clothes with you,transported you to school , I even balanced ….I st©pped mid- s£ntence, finally realising it was me , who was the fool .
The tears c@m£ without warning,burning my eyes and ma-king my lowerl-ips tremble…
“You …saw me as a fool ….right?” I struggled my words in between tears
“No Uju”. she shook her head vigorously. “I saw you as a sister”
sister! did that really come out from her!
“Shut the fv¢k up”. I barked at her. “i don’t ever want to hear you say that again, you are not my sister and can never be one so plea-se leave my room for me”
“Haha! Mogbe!”she panicked , bringing her hands to her head . “don’t do this to me now , I have no where else to go”
“Eyaaaa! you should have thought about that before betraying me”. I jeered.
“where do you expect me to stay?” her voice was choked up in tears
Is she for real ?…well! since she ask me, I will have to answer!!
“you should go stay with your b©yfri£nd”. I sm-irked , staring at her messed up face .
She looked so pained , but I felt no pity for her.
I continued. “I give you two days to leave my room quietly or else I will throw you out in a disgraceful way”.
with that , I picked up my car keys from the table and stormed out of the room to the pas-sage where I caught three girls eavesdropping.
seeing me , they jumped ap@rt, acting like they were discussing among themselves..
“Crazy gossips”. I mumbled un-der my breathe as I walked over to first room ,the caretaker’s room.
I knocked on the door twice before entering “Good afternoon Baba”. I greeted the elderly man who was seated on an old worn out sofa , listening to news on his radio
he raised his head and looked at me , and a smile curled on hisl-ips
“baby lawyer!how are you?”
Baby lawyer! I hate it when he calls me that!
“Fine sir”. I answered. “I am here to tell you something sir”
“Okay”. he nodded , urging me to continue
I heaved a de-ep sigh. “My roommate , I don’t want her staying with me again”
he stared at me curiously for a while and then he nodded
“Okay”!!
Okay! is that the only thing he will say!
“erm I will be on my way now”. I retreated, taking few steps to entrance when he said
“You are a good girl so I trust your judgment”
I turned around to face him, smiling
“Thanks sir”
he returned the smile . “so what day did you tell her to leave?”
“Thursday sir”
“Alright! I will see to it that she leaves on that day”
“Thanks sir”. I gave him a look of gratitude and stepped out of the room, climbing down the short step to my car…..
opening the door , I was about entering when a familiar voice called my name ——Funmi
I looked in the direction and saw her bouncing towards me
Chai! when will this girl st©p walking like a boy!
“Uju! she called again, mopping the sweat from her face . “how are you?”
“I am fine oooo”. I replied . “this one you are sweating like this , I hope all is well”
. “It is OOU sun oooo”. she hissed silently and I laughed
“that sun that will just be burning our skins like we are goats…..
“and chickens”. she bu-tted in and we both laughed
“ehen hen , you are here because of Faith right?”
“Yes ooo, I c@m£ to sack her out of my room”
“Good!” She sm-irked evilly. “Your brother even disgraced her in school this morning”
“Rinzy!”I asked to be sure
She nodded. “It was then I even knew about it ooo. Nawa! how can someone be this evil!
I drummed my f!ngerson my car abs£ntmindedly as I was wra-pped up in my own head
How did Arinze know about it? has the news gone viral ? If yes , what about the dead men?
I shuddered and paled , sweating instantly
“You alright?” Funmi asked , a worried look on her face
“Yes”. I replied , my voice so low
She smiled lightly. “You don’t nee-d to be worried , there is a rumour going around the school that Faith was R@p£d
“R@p£d!” I repeated in disbelief
“but I don’t know how true it is ooo”. she quic-kly added.
I sighed softly. “Alright , I nee-d to get going”
“Okay now! Miss expensive”. she hailed as she sma-cked my bu-ttocks pla-yfully
I faked a chuckle and slid into the driver seat, closing the door behind me .
Faith R@p£d!by who? does that mean Susanna was also R@p£d? I hit the steering wheel in confusion.
I nee-ded answers to my question, who can I ask? …hmmm! yes! yes! Yes! Shakirat!
hastily, I took my phone out of my bag and scrolled throu-gh for her number .when I found it, I cli-cked on it and dialled it
she picked up on the first ring
“Miss expensive”. her loud voice rang throu-gh
“Shakirat! how are you? I nee-d to ask you something”. I said in a rush as I was in no mood for Jokes ..
“what is that? she asked, a hint of fear in her voice
“Do you have an idea if Susanna was R@p£d?”
There was a pause
“Are you still there?” I asked to be sure and she exhaled de-eply
“Yes She was R@p£d”
“What was the only thing I could say as I was short of words”
“her n-ked b©dy was left unconscious in front of the the hostel gate and there was a large tear in her pu-ssy”
Large tear! as in her nyash tear!
“who could have done it?” I screamed into the phone, tears rolling down my eyes.
She scoffed . “Don’t tell me you are crying?”
“I am not”. I lied
“when then is your voice cracked?”
“erm that is because… I tried to say but she cut it off
“See see Juliet , don’t waste your tears on those girls because they deserve everything being thrown at them and even more. what if they had succeeded with their devilish plan nko? you would have been the one with the hvge tear”. she stated and yes, she was right.
I would have been suicidal by now!!!
I wiped away my tears immediately and gathered myself together
“Thanks bestie”
“It is nothing”. she as-sured. “so are you back to school?” She changed the t©pic
“Yes, I am even on my way to Demi”s place”
“Oya now! opor”. she hailed . “we will see in school tomorrow”.
“Sure”. I agreed and ended the phone call.
I ha-rd ened my heart and started the car
Faith and Susanna can go to hell for all I care!!!!
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Susanna
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Slowly, I opened my eyes and blinked, in front of me was a pink wall with a ph0togra-ph of what looks like “human skeleton”, although I could not make it out for certain,my vision was still blurred.
where am I? I wondered
I tried to raise my right hand to ru-b the sleep from my eyes , but realised I couldn’t move it , someone was holding my hand.
I turned my head in the direction and saw my best friend, Tina .
“Tina!” I smiled and started to sit up , grimaced ,and sank back weakly against the pillow
I was in great pain!
“You alright?” Tina asked , a worried look on her face
“No”. I answered truthfully. “what is wrong with me ? what is with the pain? where am I “No”. I answered truthfully. “what is wrong with me ? what is with the pain? where am I sef?”
“Best care”. she replied calmly
best care! best care! the only best care I know of is a ———-
“hospital! am I in the hospital?” I asked to be sure
She nodded slowly
“Why ? I asked , clearly confused
“you were erm ..you were erm”. she stuttered, her gaze fixed on my lower region.
I looked down at my w@!st and only then did I notice the short satin go-wn on me , a hospital go-wn.
I am truly in the hospital!
I tried lifting my leg but couldn’t, I felt an excruciating pain in my “un-der”
“Arrgh”. I gr-unted. “what the hell is….I st©pped mid – s£ntence when a painful piece of memory flashed throu-gh my br@in .
I was R@p£d ! that hefty boy R@p£d me !
but still , I t©uçhed my “un-der”and carefully ran my f!ngersalong a scar, a stitched scar….
“Did I have a tear?” I thought aloud
“Yes.” Tina nodded . “you were R@p£d so badly and your n-ked b©dy was found outside your hostel gate”
I heard a loud ban-g in my head. “n-ked”. I repeated in disbelief
She exhaled de-eply . “Yes !”
plea-se God ,don’t let this be true !
“Are you trying to say people saw my n-kedness?” I wanted to be sure
She gazed at me without uttering a word
“Tina! plea-se talk to me”. I yelled , I was alre-ady getting impatient. “did anyone see my n-kedness
she nodded slowly, her eyes filling with tears and my whole world c@m£ crashing down .
My eyes watered and I couldn’t control the tears that rolled down my cheeks.
uhm! Susanna! see what your stupidity has turned you into , the school p©rnstar!….. argh! how I wish I never listened to that ugly witch! how I wish I just stayed away from Demilade! after all, he made it clear to me that he never wanted me again………..
The beep beep sound of a phone interrupted my thoughts and I slowly looked in the direction to see a white iPhone vibr@ting, my phone.
“calls and messages has been coming in”. Tina said softly
I reached for the phone and looked into it , and just like she said, there were quite a lot of missed calls and messages!
“how long have I been unconscious?” I asked, sniffling
“nine days”
My Jaws dropped. “nine days! more than a week?”
“You should be grateful to God that you are still alive”. she stated . “you lost a lot of blood that the doctor’ almost gave up on you”
Grateful! it would have been better if I had just died!
scrolling throu-gh the phone , a name caught my attention.
Elite models! the modelling agency I work for , why did they message me? or wait did ………no! no! It can’t be!
with shaky hands, I cli-cked on the message and re-ad it
“This is to inform you, Miss Susanna Ijeoma Ibeh that your service is no longer nee-ded and all contract you made with the agency are hereby terminated”
My whole b©dy vibr@ted and my tears drop a drop in on the phone.
I felt like a loser , no, I was a total loser!!!!
*
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Ademilade
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The sight of pizza caused a hunger rumble in my stomach so I made a st©p at the pizza shop to fill up my stomach before driving home.
The drive was really quic-k as I took a short cut wasting no time to get home.
At last! I got home . I drove throu-gh the hvge gate into the compound and parked out in front of my ap@rtment, right beside my second car.
Alighting from the car, I st©pped in surprise
Dave the last person I expected to see was seated right on my balcony, a headphone over his ear.
“Hey!”I greeted and he smiled, removing the headphone
“Ademilade!” he called out my name in full. “how are you?”
“Fine”. I replied , staring intently at him as his gaze wandered around
Is he looking for someone??
“Where is your girlfriend?”he finally asked
So she is the one he is looking for!!
“her room”. I replied . “Why did you ask?”
He smiled lightly. ” Kewe told me both of you will be back today so I ran all the way here to extend my sincere condolence to her”
“Oh! I nodded
but still it wasn’t ma-king s-en-se, the “mighty Dave” here in my ap@rtment because of my woman.
He continued. “why didn’t you tell me about the burial?”
“That is because you wouldn’t come”
“And why wouldn’t I”. I retorted. “Obianuju is special… erm I mean you are special to me”. he quic-kly changed his words.
My girlfriend is special! I am special , What the heck is he saying?”
He chuckled nervously. “you know I would do anything for the gang right?”
“Sure!” I agreed . “you can even kill for us”. I drawled
A flush spre-ad across his face and anger glittered in his eyes
“Did you just sneer?”
“Nope”. I answered, popping the the p
He scoffed . “what then is the meaning of the mockery response”
“Nothing, I just agreed …….. I tried to explain but he cut me off , standing up in a huff to face me
“I killed those men because of your girl and I won’t hesitate to kill more , i had boys r@p£ those girls and I ………..
“What girls?” I cut in, clearly confused by his words.
he chuckled. “oh! so you haven’t heard . I had the two girls dealt with , I would have even killed them if Tony had not st©pped me
Killed them! is he for real!
“and what right do you have to do that?” I fired at him
He appeared to be taken aback by the question and then he quic-kly composed himself , smiling
“The right as the number one”
“number one! my foot” . I retorted angrily. “you are nothing but a crazy psychopath and I hope and pray the law….I paused trailing off when I realised I had said too much!
I can’t let him know my real feelings towards him!!
“no don’t st©p “he urged me to continue and I bit myl-ips in anger
“Just go away”. I retorted, climbing up to balcony.
A smile pla-yed on hisl-ips .”Alright”. he gave a curt nod and began walking away , his hands tuck in his pocket as he went .
I followed him with my eyes till he stepped out of the gate and then I unlocked the door and walked into the sitting room.
The sitting room was the same way I left it , neat and i walked slowly to the room , Dave’s word repla-ying in my head
“I killed those men because of your girl and I won’t hesitate to kill more”
what does he mean by that? Is he planning a blood bath? what exactly is his problem? There was not even a sign of remorse on his face
Phew! I just pray the law catch up with him!
Entering the room , I took out my wallet and phone from my pocket and tossed it on the be-d ; then I went over to the bathroom to freshen up.
I really nee-ded it!
when done , I returned to the room ,went over to the wardrobe, opened it , and searched throu-gh it for something comfy
I soon found one , a harmless shi-t and a joggers trou-ser;I hurriedly changed into it and dragged my feet to the be-d , coll@psing on it
I was so damn tired!
I reached for my l@pt©p which was on a low stool and switching it on , a debit alert from my company’s account popped on the screen.
I cli-cked on it and re-ad it.
“a transfer of 5, 000, 000 to Adeoye Adams”
D**n! why does my dad like withdrawing my money? is it because he has the access to my account?
quic-kly, i reached for my phone to dial his number and he picked up right away
“hello son”. he greeted first
“What did you do with my money?” I questioned, ignoring his greeting
he chuckled . “Is this about the little amount of money I withdraw from your company’s account?”
little! did he just call 5 million little! unbelievable!
Come on Demi, it is just a token and won’t affect you in any way”.he quic-kly
“No, you got it all wrong”. I stated. “I work ha-rd for my money, slee-ping late at night just to balance up the ledger online with my secretary so I know the value of even as small as a thousand naira”
There was a pause and then he sighed.
“Fine! Fine! I will pay it back”
“What did you even use it to do?”I asked, curiously
“Political reasons”. he simply answered
“Dad!” I called out in a huff. “how many times have I warned you not to use my money for political stuffs”
“I didn’t use it for only that”. he defended himself. “I also hired a pri-vate detective to investigate your mother’s death”
I bec@m£ calm in an instant . “and what has he found out so far?”
“Nothing much , just the name of the poison used on her”
“Which is?”
“erm it erm erm a rat poison”. he stuttered his response
Rat poison! I heard something in my head make a noise , and felt something pop . My mum was killed with a rat poison!
“but don’t worry , the detective is on the verge of finding out the truth”. he was quic-k to as-sure me
I heaved a de-ep sigh. “alright”. I merely said and ended the phone call!!
A pain stabbe-d my heart as it did every time I hear about my mother’s pitiful fate .
so she was truly poisoned, but by who???
who in the world would have poisoned her with a rat poison? I gritted my teeth in anger, trying to clear up my foggy head.
suddenly , the door flew open and “my baby”bur-st in, holding a white hand bag !
I quic-kly composed myself. “hey”. I greeted
“how are you?” She asked , smiling
“Fine”. I replied . “and you? have you chased your sister out?”
She is not my sister”. she retorted angrily and tossed her hand bag to the be-d, it c@m£ landing beside me
“oh sorry! so have you chased the devil out?”I quic-kly corrected myself
“not yet , but she will be out on Thursday”. She answered as she walked into to the bathroom
“Oh!” I looked down at my l@pt©p and began cross checking the ledger account my secretary emailed to me. I nodded in satisfaction , there were no loses , only profits .This secretary of mine is really doing a great Job and I must see to it that she is rewarded!
“Demi!” Obianuju called out from the bathroom.
“Yes”. I answered, my gaze still on my l@pt©p
“Your dirty clothes are alre-ady pilling ooooo, when will you take care of it?”
Oh that!
“The “cleaning lady ” will be here tomorrow”
She was quiet for a moment and then she asked
“Is it Amaka?”
“Yes , she is ………
“no way “. she half yelled. “I will wash it myself”
“You will what?” I wanted to be sure I heard right , my lazy girlfriend wants to wash my clothes , why?”
“I said I will wash it myself”. she repeated . “so you don’t nee-d to bring that “big as-s”into this house”
I chuckled lightly, so this is what it is all about? big as-s ! jeez ! I never knew she was this jealous.
“Okay ooo, I have heard”
“did I say something funny?” she asked , coming out of the bathroom.
I shook my head slightly , as i let my eyes roam all over her
she wore a T-shi-t , my shi-t that revealed her shapely, soft b©dy and was looking so h0t!
She continued. “why then were you laughing?”
“Me”. I t©uçhed my che-st . “did I laugh?”
She sm-irked . “or have you sle-pt with her ni?”
like seriously! must she ask this!
“No”. I lied
for a moment, she transfixed me with a pene-trating gaze and then faced the mirror stand.
Oh right! she knows I am lying!
and to sum up my point, she asked
“how many times have you sle-pt with her?”
I bit at my lowerl-ips, there was no point in trying to lie to her
“Just once”. I answered truthfully. “I was drun!kand wasn’t fully aware of what I was “Just once”. I answered truthfully. “I was drun!kand wasn’t fully aware of what I was doing”
“hmmmmmmh”. she sighed. ” it is alright, but I don’t want to see her in this house , ever”
“You won’t”. I promised
putting away the l@pt©p, i la-id on the be-d and watch her comb out her long hair
“I want to fix my hair ooooo”. the room rang with her loud voice
“Okay”. I nodded slowly
“It is the longest bone straight weavon I will make use of ooooo”. she said , as if warning me
“how much is it?” I asked calmly
she grinned wi-dely, facing me
“Just 500,000 pere”
“500, 000! as in half a million?” I asked to be sure
“hum hum”. She nodded. “I included the workmansh!pfee also.
She got to be kidding me!
“I don’t have that kind of money”.i simply told her.
“han! han! her face turned sour . “st©p lying jor”
“I am not lying, I don’t have any money to waste”
“Waste!” She stood there on the sp©t , her eyes wi-de open, staring at me like I was a bad person and a feeling of guilt hit me that instant .
She sure knows how to get me!
“Fine”.i agreed, “i will make the transfer to you”
her face split into a wi-de grin and she flung herself on me , hvgging me ti-ghtly
“Thanks baby”
“It is not about thanking me , you should learn how to spend wisely…….
“fine! fine! fine! she cut in . “I have heard you sir ”
s