***THE ADVENTURES OF BIMPE***
EPISODE 13
Judge: “Go ahead” he said with little patience. The prosecutor looked at him and wondered what fire was un-der his as-s. He took a piece of tissue paper and gave it to Bimpe to wipe her face.
Prosecutor: “Did Alhaji know about this incident?”
Bimpe(sniffs): “Yes. He did. He met me at the hospital; it was at the hospital he decided to marry me. He thought by marrying me, Alhaja would back off and see me as a fellow wife. How would we have known that she would kill him for this?”
Alhaja: “I wish I killed you then” she said plainly in a small voice that was audible in the quiet courtroom. The courtroom erupted into an uproar, people flung invectives at her, and Alhaja looked on with surprise, it was like she did not know when the word c@m£ out of her mouth. Bimpe began to act like she was scared, she began to tremble and shake in fear.
Bimpe: “plea-se don’t let her out, she is a killer. She is not mad; she knows what she is doing. Jealousy pushed her to this, yes, and greed too. Even after she had killed our husband, she was boasting of getting the lion share and throwing me out into the street.” Bimpe said hysterically.
“Yes”! A woman in the crowd shouted
“Don’t let her out!” another bellowed.
Court official: “Order!” he exclaimed.
Prosecutor: “No further questions” he bowed and went back to his seat.
Judge: “Defense counsel?”
Barrister Ziggy walked up to the witness box and peered into Bimpe’s face
Barrister Ziggy: “Did you kill Alhaji Dambazzau?”
Prosecutor: “Objection my lord!”
Judge: “Sustained, counselor, you asked us to try this case based on insanity, and you must pattern your interrogation to that. If you have no questions, save us the wastage of time and sit down” he said lowering his spectacles to peer at Barrister Ziggy.
Barrister Ziggy: “Alright. Why are you sure Alhaja committed the crime while being sane, are you a psychiatrist?”
Bimpe: “Perhaps not, but an insane woman does not threaten to throw you out and leave you with nothing. It is clear for all to see, all except you, that she killed Alhaji for his wealth and for marrying a girl such as I am” she replied vehemently, the pain of Yusuf’s betrayal choking the words in her throat. She began to sob.
Barrister Ziggy: “Why are you crying?”
Bimpe: “I am crying because, we are here arguing the sanity of Alhaji’s murderer, while he lies cold in the ground. And probably she is going to walk free or worst, be in an asylum for a few months and get out with her connection. Neither me nor the ones who love Alhaji and is supporting justice to be served will be safe. You heard her, if she has the chance again, she would kill me” she said sniffing back the phlegm that pooled un-der her nose.
The lawyer was dumbfounded, he was getting convinced that Alhaja killed Alhaji, and his mind could not fashion a rebu-ttal. He realized he made a gross mistake allowing the case to be tried un-der insanity, if only his client had not pleaded guilty, he would have had a chance to turn the case and set her free, now, who would believe she was insane?
Barrister Ziggy: “No further questions” he went docilely to his seat, while Alhaja just looked on, pas-sively.
Judge:”Prosecutor?”
Prosecutor: “No more witnesses”
Judge: “Over to you defense counsel”
Barrister Ziggy: “I call on Doctor Obiora to come to the stand” A doctor, who was a psychiatrist c@m£ to the stand and gave a testimony of how he examined Alhaja and took her throu-gh some cognitive test and how she is without remorse because she is in a dream world and doesn’t know she was killing Alhaji. He ruled her as schizophrenic with multi-ple personality disorder.
Judge: “Case is adjourned till further notice” he ban-ged the gavel.
Barrister Ziggy: “My lord, plea-se give us a definite d@t£”
Judge: “The court clerk will communicate the d@t£ to you” he said and left the court.
Bimpe entered her car and was driven away. She went to the safe house where Yusuf was locked up.
b©dyguard: “Madam, what is to be done with him? I say we waste him”
Bimpe: “Don’t you ever, contemplate such nons-en-se. re-lease him, he can find his way back or not. But I will not stain my hand with his blood” she said and watched as they untied him. She left when she was sure he was safe.
Bimpe decided that the estate was too big for her alone. She decided it was time to bring her family from Ilisan. Her brother, the eldest of the boys, Dele was about to write his s£nior WAEC, and she wanted him to school in Lagos. She hoped he would not take the path she had taken. She s£nt an entourage to Ilisan to bring her family to come live in the estate. She had decided that the moment they moved in, she would move out. Ladejo agreed to relocate to Lagos; he would give anything to be close with his daughter again. But he was in for a shock.
A new president who was loyal to Bimpe was appointed to fill the vacancy that Yusuf left. Yusuf after his ordeal went into obscurity, with his tail between his legs. But he went about looking for help for his mother. He fired Barrister Ziggy because despite his titles and clout, he was not achieving much result. He hired another lawyer who was able to arrange a pri-vate bail hearing. The judge decided that, since the case was being tried on the basis of insanity, she would not be bailed, but re-moved from prison and s£nt to a mental institute. Yusuf took the offer because he was scared of what Bimpe would do to her mother in prison.
Bimpe was in the board room with her advisory team, they were br@instorming on a new project when her executive secretary c@m£ to whisper in her ear that one Chief Bamigboye was outside wanting to see him. Bimpe thought that she should s£nd him away for having the effrontery to come to the office without calling her, or booking an appointment. But reason won, and she decided that the profit from his p@rtnersh!pwas worth more than her ego.
Bimpe: “s£nd him in, we might as well just deliberate on the idea now” she said and briefed her team about the fashion week the company was supposed to sponsor with Chief Bamigboye. She was still talking when Chief Bamigboye entered with another young man. Bimpe told them to take their seat without looking, and when they did, she was taken aback. On the face of the young man was utter surprise, he had his mouth open.
Chief Bamigboye: “Do you two know each other?”
Bimpe: “Yes we do, too well. Let’s just say Brian is the reason I am here today. I have him to thank for my success” she said with a sly grin.
Chief Bamigboye: “That is good. That might be the only good thing my son has ever done in his life” he replied with a grin.
Bimpe: “Now back to business, Chief Bamigboye, yes I remember your name; I actually did a research on you, got to know my business p@rtner. How the fact that you are the father of Brian, escaped me, is what I cannot tell. By the way, Oyinda was my best friend in the University” she said all these looking intently on Brian, who looked like the ground should open and he be swallowed.
Chief Bamigboye: “Oh yes, it is good that you are a friend of the family, because I want us to have a long and lasting relationsh!p” Bimpe thought he was lvsting after her, like all men did when they met her. But when she looked at his face, there was no sign of lvst, then her eyes went to Brian’s f!nger and she saw he had no wedding band, and she un-derstood what Chief Bamigboye was talking about. She smiled coyly, the wheels of her mind were alre-ady turning.
Bimpe: “So chief, tell us about this deal” she said and Chief Bamigboye began to inti-mate them about the deal and what the company would achieve. The members of the advisory team agreed it was a very good business opportunity. Bimpe approved and they set about executing the project. Chief Bamigboye also invited Bimpe to a family dinner with his family. Bimpe welcomed the invitation, as it was good for her plans.
That evening she dressed in a simple LBD(Little black dress), with a string of pearls around her n£¢k as the single jewelry. She pu-ll-ed her hair up in a French twist to accentuate her long n£¢k, she was re-ady to dazzle at that dinner. She could not wait to see Oyinda and show her how up the ladder she had come. Chief Bamigboye, wanting to impress the boss lady, s£nt a Limousine to pick her up at the estate. She was impressed with the Bamigboyes’ mansion, she felt nostalgic seeing the house. She would have come to this house, years ago, but it was not to be, Brian didn’t want her, or his child she was carrying. She walked in majestically, and told herself that as her feet had crossed the threshold, she would not leave this family until she was done with her purpose, Brian destroyed her chance of happiness and she was going to make sure he did not have any happiness himself.
But first, she had to have the dinner, she would learn a lot tonight…
Question: What do you think she wants to do this time? Do you think Brian is in for trouble?
Tbc….