Don't! Look Closer - Episode 18

 

The few days they spent dealing with the case in court seemed to be the best for Kike. Since she masterminded everything, she had ensured that she stripped off any power the family had before they got arrested. She had gained the role of the P.A to their numerous companies, which gave her access to the company and the workers. In fact, the workers loved her being around than when the other members of the family were around.

Within a few time of gaining access, she had understood the parts of the hotel as well the other legal businesses they owned as a family . Everyone had been analyzed and she knew those that were the George’s loyalist so as to relieve them of their duties as soon as she got to power. They would be her weak link and might eventually cause problems for her and her team.

So, as she sat in the visitors’ room of the prison, she couldn’t imagine the anger that seethed through her. Chief George, in a bid to prove how much of a man he was, had done some things he normally wouldn’t have done. His wife utilized this weakness and made him her puppet. She couldn’t help feeling bad for him as her lawyer tried her case.

When a warder directed him towards her, she couldn’t help but wish they could remove the chain from him. Before he killed her father, he was always kind to her

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/don-t-look-closer

. Even when no one was around, he always had a way of showing her how he cared about her. As much as she hated him for raping her, she couldn’t help but remember how drunk he was that night after fighting with his wife. Yet, she wouldn’t make excuses for him.

Immediately he saw her, he burst into tears. The scanty room had nothing but a pair of chairs and a table but it felt as if they were squeezed among a lot of furniture. She had to restrain herself from hugging him. How could she still feel bad for him despite what he had done?

“I’m sorry”, he said.

She smiled as she remembered the shock on the family’s face when they saw that she had recorded them. People in the court yelled in horror when they saw how Kike fought for her life before Idowu came to her rescue.

“I’m sure you never expected everything you saw in court?” She said.

“You planned everything and it worked”, he said and shook her head. His eyes still blossomed with the look of admiration, he always gave her. Aside Idowu, he had always been the one telling her how wise she saw. Even when bitterness took root in her heart, she still enjoyed those moments.

She gave him a wry smile. “Yes. It worked. Everything I planned has worked”.

Chief grabbed her hands. The jailer around shouted for him to retract his hand and he heeded. “Please, when my daughter comes out in the next five years…”   

“That’s forty-five months”, Kike added.

“Yes. Anything. Please, help me take care of her. And keep the businesses”.

She shook her head. “I just want to look at you in the face one more time. Your daughter will be in jail for a lot more than that. I have paid all these men well and I will continue to pay them…”

“But…” Chief interjected but she raised her hands to make him know she was still talking.

“To make sure your family doesn’t end their careers in the prison, learn everything you can. None of your former business partners knows you’re here. I’m talking of the legal businesses. That’s why I made sure the media didn’t broadcast the news. In other words, everybody thinks you have travelled out of the country. I made sure the narrative of the news changed and now your name is still intact. Rather, the family name’.

Chief smiled. “You’ve always been about family. Thank you”.

She gestured for the jailer to take him away. She handed a bulky envelope to the jailer as he took Chief away. Now, she awaited Bayode. Her mind went back to her first encounter of the crazy criminal. She had told him how she desired to go to University. All the money she saved to go to school. Her family wouldn’t give her the chance to go to a regular university. From doing menial jobs and stealing money from them, she made enough to go to the National Open University of Nigeria.

Bayode served as her liaison to the payment of the school fees.

Read " The Thorny Path to Europe " by the same author ( Akíntayo Akinjide )

. A lot of students had recommended him because he made the process smoother but many of them assumed he was a lady. And she agreed to follow his short cut. 

He still looked bemused when the jailer brought him into the visitor’s room. She didn’t appear as a witness when his case was tried because she really had no affiliation to that case. He sat while still staring at her.

“Sorry, I don’t know you”, he said.

“I know, right! Remember, the students of that university you duped!”

He frowned. “But there were many…”

“I know, right? But I promised to get back at you”, she said with a big smirk. She just wanted him to know she did it.

“Well, I’m sorry. At least, I’m in prison now”

She sat straight. “You still don’t remember me. I told you I’ll find your face”

 He shook his head. Then, she proceeded to tell him how she got him roped. He shook his head in utter disbelief.

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