The security guard opened the gate and hissed when he saw Mmesoma. Why was the girl loitering around the house? He didn’t know how long she had been standing around and he didn’t care. She and her relatives had caused enough trouble. “What are you doing here?”
The girl fidgeted, eyes darting left, then right. “Erm… erm, I forgot my certificate in the wardrobe.”
The man eyed her. “Forgot what? Since when? Look here, I don’t have time for your rubbish,” he bolted the gate and headed out.
Mmesoma held him by the elbow. “Please sir,” she went on her knees.
“Get your dirty hands off me!” he pulled away and hissed again. “No one is home at the moment. You can wait for them to come back from church.”
She remained on her knees. “I cannot wait sir. I am travelling this morning. I need my Senior Secondary School Certificate. And it is the original I left in the house.”
The guard halted and glared at her.
“Please sir, I won’t waste your time.”
He groaned inwardly. “Fine, you need to be fast and sharp…”
She jumped to her feet. “Thank you so much sir, thank you.”
Xxxxx
Mmesoma hurried into the guest room and bolted the door. She sighed in relief and smiled. She needed to act very fast. The guard gave her ten minutes to get her certificate. He was waiting in the sitting room. Her certificate wasn’t in the house. She lied so she could gain access into the Briggs’ home. She needed to bypass him and get to the kitchen without his awareness.
She came up with a Plan B after Ike chased her and her family out of the house. She reasoned that if Lianater and her children died, her own child would be the sole heir to Ike’s wealth and properties. And maybe when he has finished mourning, he would find her as a good alternative and marry her. Her dreams were not dead yet. They would surely come true!
Xxxxxx
“You have two minutes more!”
“I haven’t seen it yet!”
“I don’t care!”
Mmesoma tiptoed out of the guest room and sneaked into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and brought out the glass jar of Hibiscus drink. Lianater and the kids always take this after church service. Ike preferred Tiger nut drink on Sundays. She opened the cold jar and poured a powdery substance into it. She stirred the drink with a spoon and placed it back.
“Where is this girl?!”
She heard footsteps. She panicked and ran out of the kitchen.
Xxxxxx
Mmesoma stood outside the Brigg’s home and laughed hysterically. Her plans were working perfectly. Her mother would be so proud of her. She had been unhappy when Ike chased them away. But now, everything was going to change. Soon, she was going to be the inlaw of a wealthy and established young man.
The girl started towards the estate gate. She couldn’t wait to get home and tell her mother the goodness. All their problems were finally solved. Nothing was going to stop them from living like kings and queens. They were going to be the talk of the town soon.
Lost in thoughts, she didn’t see or notice the opened drainage a few feet away from her. After her next five steps, Mmesoma fell into the drainage! Luckily, it was dry. But her elbows and knee were badly bruised.
“Oh God…” she began to sob.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, she started to feel wet underneath. When she looked down, she noticed that her skirt was soaked in blood! Fear gripped her. What if the baby was injured? Nothing must happen to her precious baby! She needed to get to an hospital fast.
Her sobs became louder. “Somebody help me! Help me!!!”
Xxxxxx
Ike and his family walked out of the church’s auditorium. The twins and Ada ran headed for the car park, while Lianater and the baby walked behind them.
“No running!” she called out to them. But of course, they turned deaf ears.
Ike chuckled. Then he sighted a gathering of people beside the gate. “Baby, I think you might have to go home without me.”
Lianater gave him a puzzled stare.
“I think my department have an impromptu meeting…”
She followed his gaze and saw the group of people under a small canopy beside the gate. She shrugged and quickened her steps.
“Tell the kids I will take them to the ice-cream shop later in the evening,” he called out to her.
She waved a hand in response and walked on.
Ike stared at her for a while. Things has not really being the same since Mmesoma and her family stormed their home. Even though he would never think of taking her as a second wife, the fact that he had another child on the way was like salt on the already opened wound of his marriage. He longed for the day things would start to get better. He missed the bliss he used to enjoy in his marriage.
“God please help us,” he looked heavenwards.
Xxxxxx
“Zobo! Zobo!”
“I want Zobo!”
“Zobo now! Zobo now!”
The children screamed and danced around Lianater in the kitchen. “Please, stop the noise…” She opened the refrigerator and brought out the glass jar.
“We want Zobo!” the noise got louder.
“Keep that up and say goodbye to the Zobo,” she eyed the twins and Ada.
The children kept quiet in an instant.
“Parrots…” She hissed and poured the drink into little cups, then handed it over to them.
The baby pulled at her blouse and started to cry.
“Wait, mummy will give you a little sip,” she brought the cup to Ify’s lips.
The baby gulped down some of the drink and it spilled all over her blouse.
“Calm down, Ify!”
Xxxxxx
Ike walked into the house, hungry and very tired. He pulled off his shoes, dropped his bible in the sitting room and strode into the kitchen.
“Honey, I am home…”
Like a scene from an horrific movie, he found his wife and children lying on the kitchen floor. A foamy substance covered their mouths and it seemed like they were jerking every ten, thirteen seconds.
“Jesus!!!”
Xxxxxx
Vero sat in the waiting room, praying and watching her son-in-law. The young man looked no different from a mad man on the street, except that he was better clothed. Worry, fear and despair filled his blood shot eyes. He could hardly sit still and had been pacing the entire hall for the past two hours.
Her concerned stare drifted to the emergency room glass doors. No one has brought them any news since her daughter and grandchildren had been wheeled in.
Thank God Ike brought some of the poisoned zobo drink. At least the medical team will be able to diagnose the poison, then find or create an effective antidote.
“What is going on in there?”
Her gaze drifted back to him.
Ike stood by the glass doors, tempted to start hitting it. “What are they doing in there?”
Vero breathed out loudly. How did that miserable girl from the pit of hell get into the kitchen in the first place? The security guard was already in serious trouble for letting her into the house in the first place.
“God please have mercy….” she closed her eyes, trembling hands clasped.
The glass doors swung open.
Ike stood where he was. Hoping that the doctor had goodnews for them.
Vero lifted her head. She recognized the doctor.
“Mr. Briggs…”
Ike held his breath.
Vero got up slowly.
“Your wife and your children… the antidote is flushing all the toxins in their systems as we speak.”
“Are they…”
“Yes, they are alive and well,” the doctor patted him on the shoulder.
The young man broke down crying.
Vero closed her eyes and sat back on the long chair. “Thank you, Jesus, thank you my King, my Priest…”
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