EPISODE 23 – THE BRIDEGLOOM
CAROLINE : look who we have here! Mr Ambrose! Come in. Where is your jacket, you are freezing!
MR AMBROSE: (shivering) I forgot to bring one. Can I have a very h0t cu-p of coffee, plea-se!
CAROLINE: sure! But how could you forget your jacket, Mr Ambrose. It is February! The heart of winter!
MR AMBROSE: when you are desperate, you don’t think right.
CAROLINE: what are you desperate for?
MR AMBROSE: my wife, Caroline. I learnt she is in London
CAROLINE: you learnt? What’s going on?
MR AMBROSE: long story. plea-se where is your husband?
CAROLINE: he went to get some milk down the road. He will be here in no time.
MR AMBROSE: so my wife is not here?
CAROLINE: no. Not at all. Usually when she comes to London, she tells us so I am surprised you said she is in the country . Anyways, sometimes she prefers to stay at Krista’s house because she lives close to Walthamstow market. Chioma likes shopping.
MR AMBROSE: so Krista lives in Walthamstow?
CAROLINE: used to. But she recently moved to Luton.
MR AMBROSE: your husband must take me there right now. I nee-d to go back home with my wife
CAROLINE: how long have you been looking for her? I’m asking because yesterday she posted a picture of her and Judith on instagram. It was a selfie but her face was really swollen….
MR AMBROSE: what??? Who is Judith and where does she live?
CAROLINE: Judith is our clas-s mate. She lives in Abuja. Why was her face swollen??
MR AMBROSE: she is 8 months pregnant! Your husband must take me to Luton first let me confirm.
It might be an old ph0to.
Chioma’s mum told me she is here in London!!
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CHARLOTTE: You s£nt for me?
MR ADRIAN: take a seat, plea-se
CHARLOTTE: I don’t want to sit down
MR ADRIAN: I used to be your perfect gentleman. I used to treat women like queens. Opening doors for them, holding their hands and Oh! I was faithful to a fault!
CHARLOTTE: why do you think I care?
MR ADRIAN: shut up and listen!?
Every woman wanted to go out with me and of course the money was there and I had the looks too!
These bald head you see now used to be as thick as a forest. I was the dream of every woman..
CHARLOTTE: I still don’t un-derstand why you think I give a hoot about your history.
What does it have to do with the fact that you sle-pt with my friend even when we are supposed to be d@t!ng!
MR ADRIAN: oh it has everything to do with It! Again, you nee-d to shut thefu-ck up and listen to me!!
When you see a seemingly bad person, ask yourself what could have made them bad. None of us was born bad.
We were once angels.
That drug add!çt you see on the street has a story, that girl who snaps at the slightest provocation has a story.
that bully has a story
the woman beater also has a story.
But the world don’tfu-cking care!
The justice system is just out there to punish!
You judgemental bit-ches just want to judge!
CHARLOTTE: I’m not gonna have you call me names, sir!
Cut to the chase and let me carry on with my job!
MR ADRIAN:? I was only 15. I was your definition of a sweet boy. I did everything I was told to do. I didn’t have what other boys my age had but I never complained. I went hungry, not just of food but of love and affection…
CHARLOTTE: hian! Oh! This beating about the bush is getting so boring!??️
MR ADRIAN: my mother left my dad when I was 15 and got into a l£sb!anrelationsh!p. The daughter of a bit-ch she was cohab!tt!g with, was the devil’s personal as-sistant.
More than a hundred times she m©l£st£dme?
She made me do unimaginable things at my age. She was a masochist.
She would torture me while she S-xually m©l£st£dme.
She threatened to kill me if I ever tell my mum or anyone else.
I hated to look at my genitals because they were constantly bruised and so-re. Pas-sing water was like pas-sing throu-gh the valley of the shadow of death.
CHARLOTTE: awwww! She must be evil
MR ADRIAN: so are You! So is every woman who walks the face of the earth!
Fortunately, my then tutor found out when she saw the marks on my back in the changing room as we got re-ady for sports in school.
She took me to her office and asked me where I got the bruises from.
I broke down in tears but she as-sured me of a better life….
I told her everything and right there and then she rang the police and that daughter of Jezebel was arrested. And so was my mother…
CHARLOTTE: hmmmmmn!
MR ADRIAN: ??
That was how I went into care.
Life in foster home is a story you will re-ad or hear at my funeral if you outlive me.
I have alre-ady written it all down and my solicitor has it. So I’ll spare you that.
I went ahead to obtain a degree in oil and g@s management and a masters degree in managerial studies.
I bec@m£ very successful and I thought I had finally broken away from pain and would die a happy man but alas! Pain and more pain was waiting for me on the other end of the road?
CHARLOTTE: oh dear!
MR ADRIAN: I don’t nee-d the sympathy. You’ll nee-d it in a minute.
Well, at age 30, I had hundreds of billions to my name. Now, I am not talking about naira. I speak of pounds sterling! So I decided it was time to get married. I was alre-ady in love with Shylyn and she gave me the only beautiful, pure and kindhearted woman in the world.
Lyn my daughter is the only woman worthy of love and she is the only reason I didn’t commit suicide in all these.
When she was 5 months old, I discovered that her mother was slee-ping with a boy of 14.
She used to pick him up from school, bring him Into my be-droom and have S-x with him. And she would pay him afterwards.
Somehow she was investigated for child m©l£st@t!on. A term I grew up hearing a million times over….my wife was sharing my be-d with a minor.
I looked after my 5 month old Lyn and I got full custody of her when she was 12 months old. I divorced my wife and decided to be single.
The only things that made me happy then was my daughter, watching pole dancing and bird watching.
I didn’t want to have anything to do with women but they wanted everything to do with me…??
I was s£nt to Cambodia for six months just as I was s£nt here. I started seeing a Chinese lady who was my as-sistant in the company….
We d@t£d for 14 months and I started being unwell more often than usual.
I went to the hospital and the doctor suggested I do a HIV test..
CHARLOTTE:???
MR ADRIAN: the test revealed I had HIV
CHARLOTTE: **slumps*
EPISODE 24 – THE BRIDEGLOOM
KRISTA: Mr Ambrose, I’ve never seen you this distressed! Calm down Chioma is alright. I spoke with her yesterday
MR AMBROSE: you did????
KRISTA: Yes, let me ring her
MR AMBROSE: no! Hang on! I think they do not want me to know where she is. So don’t tell her I am here with you. Just call, ask the exact address she is at. plea-se put it on loud speaker so I can hear her voice. I miss her so much! God!??
KRISTA:?????…… ……. …… ringing….ringing…connecting….
CHIOMA: ??hello Kris! How are you my darling!
KRISTA: I’m fine, gorgeous. Yourself?
CHIOMA: I’m fine. Thanks
KRISTA: I can hear you chewing something, what’s going down?
CHIOMA: Judy bought me some coconut ch!ps. Really yummy
KRISTA: Oh! Are you with Judy?
CHIOMA: Yeah. I c@m£ to spend some time with her
KRISTA: babe, are you pregnant?
CHIOMA: hahahaha! Why do you ask?
KRISTA: the picture you posted yesterday… your face looks all swollen
CHIOMA: ermmm! Hehehehe. I am eight months gone
KRISTA: wow! Mr Ambrose is very fertile, I must say
CHIOMA: hahaha! We both are?
KRISTA: so where exactly does Judy live because I might come to Nigeria any time from now
CHIOMA: she lives in Federal Housing Estate. Number 43 Ahmadu Bello street.
KRISATA; alright, I’ll visit soon. Take care of You, hun.
CHIOMA: do same. Bye!
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JUDITH: Chy, food is re-ady.
CHIOMA: guess who called?
JUDITH: Ambrose? Deric? Mama?
CHIOMA: no way! Krista called
JUDITH: wow! Haven’t seen her in ages.
CHIOMA: she said she will be visiting soon
JUDITH: that would be super!
CHIOMA: Judy, tell me what you think about this. Actually , let me put it this way. Would you marry your best friend’s husband if she asked you to?
JUDITH: huh? I dey mad?
CHIOMA: so if she pleads with you to marry her husband if she dies because you are the only person she trusts to properly look after her kids, you won’t?
JUDITH: that’s a tricky one. It depends on a lot of things. But come On! Where is this weird one coming from!
CHIOMA: I was just chatting with Funmi before Krista called and she was telling me her best friend recently pas-sed away and had pleaded with her never to allow any other woman look after her children.
JUDITH: who is Funmi?
CHIOMA: come on now! You don’t remember any b©dy do ya! She was one of the prettiest girls in our clas-s in high school
JUDITH: ermm. I don’t remember her but in her shoes, I would nee-d a good dose of fasting and prayer to see what baba God would say about that.
It’s a really tough one because people might even accuse her of killing her best friend so she could marry her husband.
CHIOMA: people will always talk, darling. We must all learn to do what is right regardless of what anyone has to say about it. At the end of the day, you are doing it out of a pure heart and that’s all that matters. But like you said, it’s a difficult one
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DERIC: Mama, good morning. How are you?
MADAM NNENA : still alive
DERIC: when did they put this drip. The other one was almost finished when I left last night?
MADAM NNENA: she put it in the early hours of this morning.
DERIC: your poor skin all punctured. I wish I could take all these pains away from you and have them!?
MADAM NNENA: shushhhh! No tears, no crying. You are doing your best and that’s enough for me
DERIC: I brou-ght you some vegetable soup.
MADAM NNENA: I’ll have it later. The doctor wants to see you.
DERIC: doctor Ikenna?
MADAM NNENA: no. This one c@m£ last night. A very young and petite lady. She has been very nice to me. She said she would like to speak to you when you come.
DERIC: I hope all is well? Where is her office?
MADAM NNENA: first floor. Room 4
DERIC: okay. I’ll go see her now. I’ll be right back, mum.?️?️?️
MADAM NNENA: alright, son.
DERIC: 
XANDRA: come in!
DERIC:? hello, I am Deric, Nnenna’s son
XANDRA: I am Xandra with an X. I had to say that because people call me Sandra but that’s not my name. I am Alexandra.
DERIC: Oh I see. Nice to meet You, Xandra ?
XANDRA: plea-se take a seat. What’s going On? Why are you doing nothing about your mum’s health?
DERIC: phew!! I’m doing everything I know how to. But my best is not good enough.
XANDRA: I’m gonna be honest with You; mum is not getting any better. She nee-ds to be flown abroad.
I wish I didn’t have to say this, but we do not have the right equipment and medications here. I feel very sad seeing such a lovely lady full of life suffer daily with little or nothing being done to help her
DERIC: ??? I wish it was transferable. I’ll take it from her. That woman has done so much for me and it’s killing me that I can’t help her???
XANDRA: how much do you have?
DERIC: sixty thousand
XANDRA: hehehe! You know what? See me tomorrow at 8 o’clock before I go home.
DERIC: i will. Thanks, doctor
XANDRA: plea-sure! Bye.
To be continued