Just as Yeside began to search the house for traces of Martha, her phone rang. It was Mum, who wanted to find out if she had seen Martha and Wole. She already began to make weird speculations.
"Hey Mum, I just got home. I'll call you when I'm settled, okay?", Yeside snapped at her.
"Yeside!"
"Sorry Mum, I'll let you know when I'm settled ma. I'm sorry for snapping"
Wole felt his stomach churn as he listened to Yeside's side of the conversation with Justice Anjola. His "High Flyer" was a timid lapdog whenever The Witch Mother was discussing with her. She was tied to her mother's apron strings and it appeared nothing could snap those strings...Well, Mrs "High-Flyer" and The Witch Mother would have many days, months and years together in inseparable bliss...He'll have to see Kunle later about the lawyer they discussed. The plot was surely thickening and he had to ensure that there were no loose ends.
"Martha, Martha" Yeside yelled.
"Aunty Martha", Olamide echoed.
Yeside thought she heard a mousy response from Olamide's room (partly occupied by Martha).
Yeside went close and knocked on the door. She heard the shuffling of feet and waited for Martha to let her in.
Martha wondered what story she would tell Yeside. She had to tell her why she didn't pick Olamide from school. The truth was that she was too scared to venture out of that room. She had tortured herself with thoughts of how to escape if he had managed to get into the room where she was hiding. Thankfully, she didn't have to deal with that. She couldn't afford to tell the truth because she knew that somehow, somebody somewhere would blame her and she would eventually be sent packing. The wives always blamed the maid for their husbands' indiscretions. Sending the maid away was usually considered the best way to save their marriages...until another maid was harassed. No, she couldn't tell Mummy Olamide what happened this afternoon.
"Martha, what's taking you so long to open the door? I don't have all day, Miss"
"Sorry ma. I'm not feeling too well ma"
Martha quickly asked God for forgiveness for that white lie as she opened the door.
"What's the matter? Have you taken any drugs?"
Yeside must have asked a dozen questions in less than a minute.
"I just started feeling feverish, ma"
"But why did you lock the door? Did you tell Daddy Olamide about it?"
Martha pretended not to hear the question and quickly countered with an apology.
"Sorry about leaving Olamide in school ma. I was cleaning the room when I started feeling feverish ma"
Yeside wanted to press but she decided to watch Martha a little more closely. She sure was hiding something and Yeside planned to wait patiently till the cat was let out of the bag. She handed over Olamide to Martha and went to the room to change into more comfortable clothes.
Though Mum had told her about Wole not going to work, she decided not to say anything about it. She had learnt earlier from a post she read on a Facebook page that if she kept her cool, the truth would reveal itself and she would be calm to face issues squarely.
Wole was ready for Yeside's angry outbursts. He was shocked to see her so calm and collected. He finally had to break the silence.
"Did you speak with Martha?"
"Yes I did"
"What did she say?"
"Not much", Yeside shrugged.
Both of their phones chose to ring at the same time. Kunle was calling Wole while Justice Anjola was calling Yeside. They both stepped away to receive the calls.
"Mum, this is not a good time", Yeside told her mother.
"Guy, can I call you back in about an hour?" Wole said to Kunle.
Kunle and Justice Anjola both insisted that the calls were too urgent to ignore. Kunle had the lawyer with him; Justice Anjola would be hosting guests in 30 minutes.
Wole stepped out of the room to receive his call while Yeside stayed back in the room. Both calls went past 30 minutes and by the time they were done, the moment had passed.
"I'll try to be back before 10pm, okay?" Wole told Yeside.
"I guess it'll give you enough time to prepare for a day of going nowhere tomorrow, right?"
The words flew out of Yeside's mouth before she could bite them back. Mum kept going on and on about Wole's absence from the office all through the call and she, surprisingly, allowed the words to fly out without restraint.
"Sorry, what did you just say?", Wole asked feeling really excited that the plan was actualizing itself without his help. He needed to egg her on and get her to explode; the cool and calm Yeside would destroy the plan.
"Nothing important. Just pretend you didn't hear me"
"But I did hear you. I know you and your mother have been gossiping about me"
Everything in Yeside wanted to respond but she remembered the 1-10 exercise. She started counting 1 to 10 and she could practically feel the anger going away.
Wole stormed out of the house. He was actually beginning to get angry and he needed a clear head to follow through with the plan.
***************************************************
Wole squinted. He thought the guy with Kunle looked like Bro Gbenro. He couldn't see well, though. Just as He was about to open the outer door of the bar, the guy got up and headed towards the other bar exit.
"It would have been nice to see Bro Gbenro." Wole thought to himself. Maybe he could hook him up with a job somewhere, who knows?
"Guy, na who be the guy wey just stand up from here? He resemble somebody wey I sabi from wayback"
"Which guy?"
Kunle was acting so surprised and weird.
"Nobody sit down here na. E be like say you don dey see things ooo. Me wey being dey sit, dey wait? The lawyer said I should buzz him when you come; he had some unfinished business to attend".
"Kunle, who was that guy? I demand to know now"
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