The Wife ESCAPED!

Two Days Later

As usual, Timmy was alone at home. The other boys had left for the shops and Donatus had also gone out. But by mid-afternoon, Timmy was roused from idleness-induced doze by the sharp sound of his boss’ horn at the gate. After recovering from the initial shock and having acclimatized himself with his surroundings, he made his way to the gate and unlocked it.

“You did not hear my horn, abi?”, Donatus said angrily as he drove into the compound. Timmy said nothing in reply, but quickly went ahead to lock the gate.

Just when he was about to return to the Boys Quarters, Donatus called for him, summoning him to his parlour. Timmy redirected his steps and walked into the parlour without knocking.

“Hey Timothy, look here,” Donatus said with all seriousness. “Next time you want to enter here, knock first and wait till I ask you to come in. You hear?”

“Yeah,” Timothy answered half-heartedly.

“So, repeat the story again. About what happened at the shop.”

“Uh?”

“You heard me. Abi are you deaf?”

Timmy swallowed, shifted from one foot to the other and under the watchful gaze of his boss, repeated his story, all the while wishing he hadn’t narrated it before. When he was done, Donatus stared at him for a while before breaking his silence.

“Anything to add?”, he asked.

“Uhh… nah. Nothing.”

“Good. I’m just coming from the police station now.”

He stopped there and watched as Timmy shifted uncomfortably.

“The police have been doing a good job,” he continued. “I don’t know how they managed to do it o, but… they caught one of the boys that robbed (he emphasized the word ‘robbed’) you and Chidi. After some interrogation, he confessed that Chidi was actually the one that cooked the plan and handed over to them to carry it out.”

“Fuck! W…”

“Hey hey, wait! Before you start fucking, let me finish what I was saying. Again, I don’t know how they managed to do it, but the police caught Chidi…”

“Great!”, Timmy exclaimed, eliciting a glare from Donatus.

“Like I was saying, they caught Chidi. At first, he denied, saying that he did not know the boys. But after some serious interrogation, he finally confessed that he was the one that created the plan. But he said another thing. He said that they did not plan to rob the shop or steal anything. Their plan was to deceive you and collect the TV without paying. According to him, that is exactly what happened. Is it true?”

“Uhh… ahem… uhh… you know,…”

“I don’t know anything, Timothy! The question is simple: Is it true? Yes or No?”

“Uh… It’s a little complicated, you know. I… we.. you know, t…”

“My friend, don’t annoy me o,” Donatus warned in a threatening voice. “Did you voluntarily give them the TV or not? Answer me!”

“Yeah, but…”

“No but anywhere. You will pay half of the money. You can go.”

“Come on, Donuts, I…”

“Eh! What did you say?”, Donatus thundered, jumping to his feet.

“Um… uh… boss… uncle… whatever. Come on, man. You gotta understand my situation. I ain’t got no family. Bastards all abandoned me. I’m like an orphan here, man. Have mercy on a brother.”

Donatus put both hands on his waist and shook his head. He looked at the ceiling and then turned to look at the boy who was already close to tears.

“Get out. Just get out, get out, get out, get out of my parlour!”

“Thanks, man. I owe you one,” Timmy said as he walked out.

*****

“So now that you have come to tell us, what do you want us to do?”, Rebecca asked as Donatus ended his story about Timmy’s carelessness at his shop in Lagos.

“Ehhh… I… I just wanted to give you update like you…”

“That is not the type of update we asked for,” she said, cutting him off. “It is your job to make him smart and strong. If you are not doing your job well, what has that got to do with me and Chief? We sent him to you, so you will teach him how to manage things and be responsible. If he’s making mistakes, it’s either because he’s still learning or you’re not teaching him well… abi, Chief… is it not so?”

Chief said nothing in reply, but rather continued to frown.

“I’m very sorry for disturbing you with the matter,” Donatus apologized.

“Yes. We don’t want to hear about such internal matters of yours. All we want to see is the good final result. That’s why we sent him to you to…”

“My brother, listen to me,” Chief suddenly cut in. “If he does anything wrong, deal with him. If he misplaces your items, punish him. If he is careless and allows thieves to enter your shop, don’t give him food an…”

“Ehh Chief, that’s not necessary,” Rebecca said, waving off in his direction. “Dona, look. If…”

“Woman, will you shut up!”, Chief roared. “How dare you interrupt me while I’m talking? Are you mad?!”

“But how can you be telling him no… no… not to give Timothy food? What degree of wickedness is that one?”

“What! How dare you? When have you become the one in charge of this family?”

“Chief, look. I don’t…”

“Will you shut up and sit down there! Do I look…”

“No Chief, you shut up and sit down there! What is your problem sef, eh? When I married you, there was nothing in your one and half room apartment. Now, after everything I’ve done, you want to repay me by killing my children one by one.”

“Rebecca, I said, shut up and sit down, right now!”

“No! I’m not sitting down! I’m tired of sitting down. We will stand together in this house. I will…”

She never saw it coming. All she felt was a painful smack on her shoulder.

“Chief! You hit me?!”

For reply, Chief raised his walking stick for another strike, but this time, she was faster. Before Donatus could effect his long overdue interference, she grabbed the walking stick in mid-air with one meaty hand and slammed her other hand into Chief’s chest, sending the smaller-statured man tumbling over the sofa and landing on the ground behind it.

As his body made contact with the ground with a thud, both Rebecca and Donatus watched in shock at what she had done out of anger.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“Chief, are you okay?”, she asked, peering over the sofa after she had recovered from her surprise at the power of her own hands. But what she saw made her squeal.

“Chief!”, she shouted as she jumped over the sofa to try to rouse him.

Donatus ran over to them and quickly made a call when he had satisfied himself that Chief was not dead but only unconscious. Only after he had finished with the call did it occur to him that he could not trust the emergency services to arrive on time.

“Madam, madam, stop crying,” he said, shaking Rebecca by the shoulder. “Crying cannot help us. Let’s take him to the hospital. Go and call one of your driver or gardener or somebody to help us.”

“Okay, okay,” Rebecca responded, swiftly getting up to her feet. “Ojo! John! Jaiye!”, she shouted as she ran out of the parlour.