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TWENTY-TWO
TEN YEARS LATER
★ ★ ★
Veronica bent low and blew the candles on her gigantic cake. It was her thirtieth birthday and we decided to throw a surprise party for her. It had been seven years since we got married.
After all the chaos and troubles Tony costs us, we still ended up together. It was nice to complete our schooling without Tony hovering all over us. Tony was sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment for attempted rape. As I watched Tony walk into the police's van with some policemen holding him, I felt like a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders. Tony was out of our lives forever. I could finally breathe clean air.
Chineye also was out. She left the city after we graduated to live with her mother. It felt so good to live a life free of Tony and Chineye. However, I didn't graduate as the best student; Tunde did and I was genuinely happy for him. With all that had happened
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I sat in my office when I received a call. It was from Veronica. I had grown lean due to the stress Tony was pouring on me. He was so smart to confiscate any sim card he used in calling me. This way, it was difficult for the police to track him down and no one knew his whereabouts. I picked my phone up and placed it on my ear."Daniel!" Veronica's voice was haunted and I stiffened immediately."What is it?" I asked."Somto. . .Somto. . .""What happened to Somto? What happened to my son?""Somto has been kidnapped." She wailed.My hands began to shake and I struggled to keep my phone in place. "How did this happen? Where are the guards? How could they allow such a thing to happen?""He was kidnapped before they came to pick him up. Jonathan said that they were sitting in front of the classroom waiting for the guards to come. Somto i
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I grabbed my phone to call the number he used in calling me when I saw him coming; dragging my son haphazardly. My son looked dirty and tattered and there was an injury on his head. My heart broke as I stared at my son."Daddy!" My son whimpered as he struggled to free himself from Tony's grip."Well! Well!! Well!!! Look who's here. The Almighty Daniel." He laughed. He was much older with an unkempt beard and hair. He looked so shaggy, so unlike the Tony who liked to be fresh. There was an ugly scar on his face and wondered where he got such scar from."You haven't changed at all. You look good. You don de count money, don de chop money de enjoy yourself, sheybi?" He laughed and I ignored him."Where is Veronica? Still hiding under your shell?""She's in the car. She's pregnant and can't climb all the way here." I coldly replied."Mmmm. So are you suggesting we go down t
A Stranger I Met TWENTY-FIVE
I gave a heavy sigh as I turned to leave the prison yard which had been my abode for five days. My trial had been the day before and just as my father had promised, I was pronounced innocent.It was moments like this that I was most grateful to have an Illustrious and eminent person for a father. However, I hadn't done anything wrong so being imprisoned for a crime I didn't commit would be an infringement on my rights. Nevertheless, I was joyous to be out of prison.It was refreshing to see the broad daylight again after my being in an enclosed area. My family had insisted that I came along with them after the court proceedings but I had refused for some reasons which I couldn't pinpoint. I guess I didn't like the way I looked and so wouldn't want my kids to see me this way. I took a last glance at the prison gate and made a vow never to step my feet there again.The road was busy as usual a
A Stranger I Met ONE
My eyes widened as the cold metal came in contact with my wrist. It took a minute before I could decipher what was happening. I stared in horror at the handcuff on my wrist and gasped when I was shoved a bit by the policeman beside me as he urged me to walk faster. Everything was happening rapidly and it felt like my brain was giving way; I could barely think and I felt my entire body go numb."I'm. . .I'm innocent," I managed to say but it seemed there was no rationale in this case and from the looks on the officers' faces, I knew I was pouring water into a basket; they didn't believe me and It didn't even help that the woman who had reported this case was fidgeting like she had seen a ghost; like I was a dreadful thing to behold. "You have the right to remain silent otherwise, whatever you say will be used against you in the court of law." The officer beside me spoke as he ordered that my son be taken away from me. The little
A Stranger I Met TWO
One would think the commandant would feel sorry and would at least pardon the other guy but the reverse was the case. The commandant had commanded that the filthy thing be removed instantly from his sight while he lashed out more painful strokes on the next man.I had wondered then what joy seeing people die brought to the officers. They had looked unaffected when this happened and only then did it dawn on me it was a usual occurrence. Even some prisoners beside me acted like nothing grievous had happened unlike me that had not been able to sleep well after the occurrence — his last cry kept resounding in my ear.I just couldn't get the sickening image of the lifeless body out of my mind: his bloodshot eyes bulging out and his tongue rolling out. I had even caught one other prisoner stifling a laugh while angry strokes fell on the bare back of the next offender.The evening of the day this occurred, I had hea
A Stranger I Met THREE
The tantalising aroma of my mum's cooking filled my nostril as I sat on my bed, rubbing my eyes wearily. My mum's cooking had a way of waking me up from my sleep and as I sat, I tried to tell what she was preparing from the aroma. It was high time I believed the saying: good food is the way to a man's heart. My mother's cooking made my heart flutter every time.With water dripping from my hair, I walked to the kitchen where my mum stood with an apron tied to her waist. She had her back turned to me so I walked closer to her and rested my chin on her shoulder as I peeped at the content in the pot.That singular gesture made my mum flinch a bit but when she saw it was just me, she raised the spatula in her hand to smack me. I dodged her attack and we both fell into a fit of giggles when some content on the spatula splashed on my face. "I thought you had plans to sleep thro
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The night was quite long but day finally came and I packed my luggage into the boot of my father's car. My mum was standing on the verandah watching me while my dad sat in the car waiting for me. After packing my luggage, I turned to wave to my mother. She signalled for me to come to receive her motherly blessings and I smiled for I knew what she would say. I had heard these motherly blessings countless of times; enough to store in my memory."Concentrate on your studies. Remember your dream to be the best graduating student this year. You can't afford any nonsense that will ruin your perfect cgpa. Know your company of friends." My mum began her litany and I groaned inwardly. Ever since she knew about my 5.0 cgpa, she kept ringing it in my ear that any mistake would bring me down from my standing. I knew all these so it was annoying to hear them over and over again.'I know all this, mum. Don't worry, I'll be fin
A Stranger I Met FIVE
My lecture was to start by eight in the morning, so I left my hostel thirty minutes before the time. Tony was yet to return from wherever he went and I couldn't care less. I didn't want him back anyway.The class was scanty when I got there; only a few students were seated. I walked to the front seat knowing fully well my caucus will be there. We always sat at the front seats and all lecturers of ours knew us to the extent that when one of us wasn't around, questions were asked. Tunde was part of my caucus. We were six in number. We organized group study most of the time.I exchanged greetings with the crew and sat down on my regular chair: a seat at the middle of Tunde and Chineye."Have you bought your textbook for Acc 413?" Chineye asked me. Chineye was part of our crew. She disturbed me always and I wondered why. She kept trying to get me into discussions I clearly didn't want to engage in.The
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