SAKADINIA - Episode 8

‘Dear, please hold on, you’ll be alright, I promise’ Helen
cried as the nurses rushed her husband into the theatre.
They had an accident, a trailer had crashed into them,
smashing the windscreen and injuring her husband who’d
been in front seat, how Nelson got out alive.
‘Mum? How’s dad’? Mark rushed towards his mother.
‘Honey, he’s badly injured but he would be fine, I hope so’
she cried.
‘Where’s your sister? Why is she not here’? Helen
wondered.
‘I couldn’t tell her, you know how close she is to dad, I
didn’t want her to get worried about him’ Mark replied.
‘Good day Madam, please I need to see you in my office’
a doctor beckoned to her.
‘God see us through’ Mark sighed and took a seat. He
clutched to the necklace he’d bought for Grace, that was
the very first thing he’d bought for her since they started
dating,yet she dumped it at the garden. It was really
strange.
‘Hey boss, how are you holding up’? Nelson took a seat
beside him.
‘I’m fine, what really happened out there’? Mark eyed the
driver.
‘Well, I don’t know, but I wasn’t speeding, that’s for sure,
the trailer driver just had too much to drink’ Nelson
replied.
‘I just pray dad comes out alive and strong’ he inhaled
deeply and fiddled with his phone.
‘Yea’ Nelson replied and felt for his phone, it beeped
twice.
WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THE BULLET WAS MEANT FOR
YOU? WHAT IF I TOLD YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE?
CALL ME.
‘What’s all these’? Nelson muttered to himself as he read
the words of the text, what was the crazy blogger talking
about.
‘Are you okay man’? Mark saw the worried look across his
face.
‘I’m okay, thanks’ Nelson rose to his feet, someone was
playing mind games with him and he needed to teach the
stupid blogger a lesson.
Mark watched as he walked away, why was he not
injured? And why was his mother equally not wounded?
Something wasn’t right, he wasn’t stupid, Grace had told
him a lot of things about his family before she died, one
which led to the last fight they had, they were just too
dirty and abominable, but he was starting to believe her.
What if his mother was having an affair with the driver?
And they were trying to get their dad out of the picture.
‘Mark…’ Helen called weakly as she returned from the
doctor’s office.
‘Mum? What did the doctor say? Is dad going to be
alright’? he rose to his feet.
‘He’ll be fine, he just needs some time’ Helen sighed with
relief. The doctor assured her that he would be fine, but
he would be unconscious for some days as the accident
affected his nervous system.
‘I’m glad mum’ Mark squeezed her hands.
‘Me too’ Helen replied. She was really glad she hadn’t
lost her husband, that wasn’t what she’d planned, the
boys failed her and she was going to deal with them for
hurting her husband, they had failed to adhere to her
instructions.
Earlier that day, she’d contacted some assassins and
sent them a picture of Nelson, the plan was for them to
follow their car, then block them and get Nelson out of
the car instead of crashing into the vehicle.
Nelson couldn’t live, he knew too much about her family
and that was very dangerous for their reputation.
***
I was restless, I prayed to God to save the pastor, if the
man died then my days in the mansion were numbered
because Helen would send me out that very same day. It
wasn’t easy being fatherless, it was a great burden to
bear.
I had already prepared lunch and cleaned up everywhere,
so I had nothing doing and was a bit bored.
I still wondered about Mark and Grace, those two must
have really been close, but why did she suddenly pack up
and leave, it wasn’t right and that ignited my curiosity.
Was Mark a bad lover? I shook my head, he seemed like
a caring and romantic type of guy. A smile played on my
lips as I realized the obvious reason of her mysterious
departure: Helen must’ve been the reason.
She must have found out about their affair and must have
become very mean to the poor girl, that was the most
likely reason.
‘Or what if she was pregnant and he denied it’? I spoke
aloud.
I rose to my feet and fetched her album once again, I
needed to watch those pictures, maybe they could help
me find my answers.
‘House of secrets’ I repeated the words of the note I’d
found days back.
I dropped the note aside and kept watching the pictures,
it’s either Grace was a very good writer or she was crazy,
the mansion I lived in was owned by a man of God and
there were no dirty and dark secrets.
‘Who do we have here’? I found another picture of her
smiling with a handsome young man, they seemed well
acquainted with each other. I couldn’t discard the picture
that easily, I noticed something about it, she wore the
necklace I found in the garden, and on the picture was
written : ‘ROMEO’, had she been cheating on Mark? What
if he found out and killed her? I went wild with ideas.
‘Open this goddamn door and bring me my food’ the
banging on my door brought me to reality, Rose had
woken up.
‘Okay, I’m coming’ I slid out of bed, Mark had not told
her about their father’s accident, maybe that piece of
news could humble her a bit, she was so arrogant, I
wondered briefly how Grace coped.
‘Where’s my brother’? she asked dryly and settled on a
chair.
‘He went out’ I replied and offered her a plate of jollof
rice.
‘To’? she raised her brows.
‘I don’t know’ I answered.
‘How would you know? Dummy’ Rose fetched her
buzzing phone.
‘Hello darling, it’s been such a long time, Romeo’ she
paused and gulped some water.
‘Yes baby, how are you and the family’? he asked.
‘Fine, you forgot about me’ she sounded sad.
‘Well, I remember you now, you kept pushing me out of
your life, saying your family wouldn’t approve of us, I still
want you Rose’ he said.
‘Well, that was then, my family don’t hold the aces no
more, we should see soon’ she replied cheerfully and
brought the call to an end.
‘What are you looking at dummy’? she sneered at me and
I scurried out of the kitchen. She’d call the man ‘Romeo’,
that reminded me of the inscription on Grace’s photo with
the handsome guy, could they be a connection?
‘I need more’ she called me back.
She thought about Romeo briefly, she had turned him and
many guys down because of her father, but he no longer
cared about her, he no longer loved her like his own, so
she had to find new outlets to release her inbuilt desires.
She had met Romeo in Church, her father’s church to be
précised, he introduced himself as a Blogger and writer,
what drew her to him was his cuteness, Romeo was a
very hot guy but he was very broke, but he had not
worshipped there for a very long time.
***
Thankfully, the pastor had two drivers working for him,
himself and some middle aged man, the other car had
been badly damaged, so the church driver had brought a
Sienna to transport them back to the house.
‘Good afternoon boss’ he hailed the man.
‘Nelson, I’m happy you’re all alive, God is in control’ the
man said.
‘Yes he is’ Nelson replied and walked some meters away
from the car, he needed to warn the blogger.
‘Hello? Am I speaking to the owner of Hot gossips blog’?
he waited patiently for an answer.
‘Yes, my name is Kachi Romeo, can I help you’? the
blogger asked.
‘Hey listen up, I don’t know what game you’re up to, but I
don’t have any information to sell, just back off, even if
there was something to tell, I don’t snitch’ Nelson
scowled.
‘Slow down, Mr Nelson is it?’ the blogger asked.
‘How did you know my name you freak, are you stalking
me now? I’m calling the police on you and your stupid
blog’ Nelson threatened.
‘Well before you do, I’d like you to know the fact that I
know something about you, a big dark secret and if I’ve
got proof, if I leak it, you’ll lose your job even your life, so
just listen to me first, I don’t want to coerce you into
working with me, we could be partners, we could work
this out real fine’ the blogger explained rather confidently.
‘Are you blackmailing me or what? What do you know
about me and why do you want this family so bad’?
Nelson asked, heat crept up his neck as he tried to recall
all the bad things he’d ever done.
‘I know you’re sleeping with the pastor’s wife’ he replied
coolly and Nelson froze where he stood.
‘Hello? Mr Nelson? I need you to trust me, I promise your
secret is safe with me but to gain your trust, I must show
you something first’ he continued.
‘What do you want to show me’? there was so much fear
and panic in Nelson’s voice, what if the blogger had a
video clip of him and Helen?
‘Someone made attempt on your life today but the wrong
person was injured, I want to show you this person’ the
blogger said.
‘You’re crazy, what are you talking about? I don’t even
have enemies’ Nelson rubbed his chin.
‘Everyone has enemies, you slept with yours’ he replied
and the line went dead.
***
‘Nelson’ a shrill voice cried out his name and jerked his
from the sea of his disturbing thoughts.
‘Madam’? he swirled and faced Helen and Mark.
‘We have to go’ she ordered and slipped into the car with
her son.
‘Okay then’ he replied and join the rest in the car. So
many things ran through his mind, first, how did the Hot
Gossips blogger get to know about his affair with Helen?
The news crippled him, she was going to kill him if she
ever found out about it, she would blame him for
tarnishing her image.
‘So mum, now dad is down, who’s going to handle his
appointments’? Mark asked.
‘Not to worry, that’s why I’m his personal assistant, and
we’re holding a powerful tarry night this week, we have to
keep members on their toes for God’ Helen sighed.
‘Nice one mum’ Mark replied and was surprised to hear
his mother sound so spiritual.
‘Your father would be fine, everything would be fine and
soon we’ll live our normal lives’ she rubbed his hands.
‘Yes mum’ Mark replied.
She had this feeling Nelson was up to something, Mark
and her had stepped out of the hospital and met him on a
call. She’d read his features as he spoke to whoever,
something wasn’t right, that gave her courage to plan for
his death another time, what if he told the world about
their affair? That wasn’t what troubled her, it was her
carelessness, letting him bury the decaying hand they’d
found in Grace’s room that bothered her, what if he had
plans of blackmailing her, how stupid she’d been.
‘Are you okay mum’? Mark noticed she was frowning.
‘Sure, I am’ she replied and took one last glance at
Nelson.
***
Tbc