She quickly called Yeside back to let her know that all was well. She decided to handle Wole by herself. She called Engineer Haruna and quickly learnt that Wole had been suspended. She didn’t end up as a Chief Justice without spending time researching facts and investigating cases. She knew who to call whenever she needed anything. She remembered the young Management trainee that had been assigned to her department when she was still working with Raymond Amadi and Associates – the brilliant Mabel Douglas. She had taken interest in the girl and had mentored her as much as she could. She still felt as disappointed today as she did when she had learnt that Mabel was having an affair with one of the partners of the firm. She couldn’t help taking it out on Mabel at work. She thought she was “open-minded” enough to work objectively with Mabel. However, she found herself snapping at her for no tangible reason. She had to look for an excuse to move Mabel to another department. Apparently, Mabel had more backbone than Anjola bargained for. She queried her transfer. Thankfully, Anjola got an offer from the Department of Public Prosecutions, which she gladly took before the investigations were completed. That was an ugly chapter in her career and she was glad she didn’t have to explain herself. Kunle’s call brought her back to the present.
“Hello darling. How’s my baby girl?”
“Mr. Husband, your baby girl was day-dreaming. How are you doing? Have you had lunch?”
“Sweetheart, I’m on the ‘mountain’ na”
“Okay o. When you get to the valley, we can talk joor. Meanwhile, have you spoken to Wole recently? That boy is getting more insolent by the day. I can’t talk where I am; we’ll talk more when we see later. Take care of yourself, dear”
“Okay sweetheart. It is well.
“Kunle, you need to talk to Wole ooo…”
“Sweetheart, can we talk about it when we get home? I am not in a place where I can talk about private matters now”
“Okay, darling”
Anjola wondered why her husband because this spiritual. She had married a fun-loving guy and all these fasting and praying things were a little too much for her. She was quite concerned about his health as the fasting and praying were quite plenty. She could actually swear that he fasted more than Jesus Christ.
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“Oga!”
Martha was shocked to see Wole naked. What was she to do now? “Dear Lord, please help!”
Wole came towards her with an evil look on his face. She almost passed out but she had to stay strong…She started thinking of the vow she had made to God to remain a virgin till she got married. What was she going to do? She was very afraid.
Wole came close and held her. She was too terrified to even scream. If she did, no one would hear her, anyway as most people had gone to work. She felt so helpless and she began to pray to God for help. She found herself praying out loud.
Suddenly, Wole’s phone rang. As he released her to get the phone, she quickly pushed him and rushed to the room. She quickly locked the door and continued praying.
Wole picked the phone with a satisfied smile. The plan was definitely working. He just needed to wait and let time handle the rest. He couldn’t wait to watch Yeside as she broke down in tears and hopefully took them through the ‘tough road’. He had heard her talk about what she would do if she caught her husband cheating long enough to know what was coming next. Kunle’s timing was perfect; the call came in at the right time. The rest of the plan now depended on Mabel. He prayed she would follow his script.
He hoped that the divorce would break the spell she had cast on him, though. He couldn’t even get aroused by another woman. His body would not cooperate at all. Not that he would ever consider committing adultery. He didn’t want to mess with God.
A text message came in just then. As he was reading Yeside’s text message, a message came in from the church office reminding him of the midweek service tomorrow. Sunday service was enough for him! He had minimum tolerance for hypocrisy. He had seen one of the top leaders in the bar one evening while hanging out with Kunle and the gang. The position Bro. Leader was with the lady that was with him suggested that they were having an affair. Yet, the brother was pastor’s right hand man, who served on almost all church committees. They were all hypocrites, please.
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Yeside’s phone rang. She checked and saw that it was from Olamide’s school. She quickly excused herself and returned the call.
“No one has come to pick Olamide from school, ma”
“Really? Let me call his nanny and get back to you, please”
She quickly called Martha. Martha picked the phone but the network was really poor. She had series of meetings so going to pick Olamide herself was practically impossible. As she cracked her brain on what to do, Mum called her. She asked Mum if she could help pick Olamide up. Mum told her that Wole was at home and was in a better position to pick Olamide.
WHAT IS WOLE DOING AT HOME? The alarm bells went off in Yeside’s head. She quickly called Wole but he also wasn’t picking the phone. She quickly sent Mum a text message asking her to please help with Olamide as Wole was unreachable and the network did not allow her reach Martha. Mum replied with an “Okay, dear” as she started typing a text message to Dad.
She struggled through the day and almost ticked off Barrister Ikedia when she sent him an email without the attachments. She really had to try to focus at work, though she had a nagging feeling that all was not well at home. She said a quick prayer.
As soon as the day was over, Yeside quickly checked with Mum and confirmed that Olamide was with her. She had to stop by at Mum’s place to pick up Olamide before heading home. Thank God she drove. As she drove out of the Parking Lot, she got a text message from the church reminding her of tomorrow’s midweek service. She wasn’t feeling the church as much as she used to but they had made the church their family church. She was bored with hearing the same sermons, praying the same prayers and doing the same things over and over again. Maybe she should start attending lunch hour fellowship in the church close to her office.
As she got to her parents’ place, she had a strong feeling that something was not right. She said a quick prayer and went into the house. Olamide clung to her as he saw her, which was quite unusual. He wasn’t really a clingy child…
“Wole did not go to work today. Apparently, he was suspended from work”, Justice Anjola told Yeside in a very business-like tone.
“Good evening Mum. How do you know that?” Yeside queried.
“Martha told me he was around when I called her earlier in the day. I also spoke with him. I later called his office and my contact told me he had been suspended since last week. That boy is definitely up to something”
“We have to go now, Mum. Wole hasn’t been picking my calls; neither has Martha. I hope they are okay”
Yeside quickly packed up Olamide’s things and prepared to go.
“I thought you’ll have left him here till the weekend so I can take him to school and back. Who knows if Martha has run away or something?”
“MUM!”
“What, Yeside? Is it impossible?”
“Good night, Mum”
Yeside drove as quickly as she could and found the front gate wide open. It was quite unusual. She quickly raced upstairs and found the house in a horrible mess.
WHERE IN THE WORLD WAS MARTHA?
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