THE MISTAKE OF MY MOTHER
The Mistake Of My Mother -Episode 23
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Rose
He kept digging without looking back. He must have been sure that there was going to be no intruder or intruders. I looked towards the place Anita kept glancing at and saw the shadow of a man lurking around in the dark. He was probably thinking of the best opportunity to prance on Francis. He seemed to know what he was doing so I relaxed a little praying to God that he would succeed or we’d all be dead.
The man in the shadows suddenly disappeared, I strained my eyes to see if he was probably hiding somewhere else but Francis caught me…
Francis: “What are you looking at? You come here!” he bellowed and took giant steps towards me but Anita blocked his way
Anita: “I won’t let you hurt her. Not while I am still alive” she said stubbornly.
Francis: “Get out of my way little lady” he said and shoved her out of the way making her fall back on her buttocks. I ran to her dodging him.
Rose: “Are you okay Annie?” I asked trying to help her up but he grabbed me making me let go of her all of a sudden, she fell back again, grunting.
Anita: “I am okay baby. Don’t worry”
He bundled the two of us together with a rope he had with him, he sure did come prepared.
Francis: “I guess I have to kill the two of you together. There is no time now. You, did you see anyone out there?” he asked looking at me.
Rose: “And you think I will tell you if I actually did see someone?” I shook my head pitifully at him while he scowled, bending down to pick up his shovel again and resumed digging.
Anita: “Don’t talk to him again Rose. He is too dangerous”
Rose: “I am not afraid of him or what he can do. I just hate him a lot for killing my mum and rough handling you”
Anita: “Don’t worry dear, Derek will be here soon enough” she was talking more to herself than to me. I sensed she was trying to convince herself. She must have been praying in her heart that he should show up soon. I felt sorry for her. All that was my fault. Maybe I shouldn’t have dragged her into my rustic world. As we sat tied together with our backs against each other, I could feel her heart racing and her breath coming in short gasps like someone who ran a thousand miles in a minute. She was trying really hard to control her breathing but she wasn’t succeeding. I looked towards the mango tree to see if the man had returned again but he still wasn’t there. she must have noticed him then too cos she kept turning her heads towards the same direction I was looking at. We were both hopeful.
He finished digging at last, walked towards us and started dragging us towards the pit. So he was going to bury us alive still tied together like that.
Rose: “I am sorry Annie for dragging you into this” I whispered to her.
Anita: “It is okay honey bun. I couldn’t have imagined you going through this all alone. I am glad I am here with you” she said still breathing hard as we got closer to the pit. He dropped the axe so as to hurl us in with his two hands and then, someone jumped out from the shadows and pranced on him, pinning him to the floor. On a second look, I saw it was Derek, he was sweating profusely. Other men wearing bullet proof vests on black shirts started coming out one after the other too. There were five of them.
Francis fought and kicked hard to free himself but Derek s
eemed to have been stronger than he was. He took out handcuff from his pocket and cuffed him the same way he did to my dad.
Derek: “You are under arrest Francis Umuodiah for the murder of Miss Ahunli Onyejekwe. It will be in your best interest to be silent since anything you say will be used against you in the court of law” he said hurling him up on his feet. His hand was cuffed behind his back.
One of the guys walked over and untied us, looking at us pitifully. Derek handed him to one of the officers and he was led away with the officers surrounding him.
Derek: “I am sorry ladies. I am very very sorry, It was my fault” he said hugging us both at the same time. He was weeping silently.
Anita: “Yes it was your fault. You shouldn’t have left, learn to listen to your woman sometimes” she was obviously relieved but pretending otherwise.
Derek: “Lesson learnt ma’am. Will never be disobedient again. Hope you two are not hurt anywhere?”
Anita: “We are fine. Rose hope you aren’t hurt?” she bent down to check every single part of my body and when she was satisfied that I wasn’t hurt, she hugged me then.
Rose: “I am fine Annie” I said hugging her back. The two dangerous men who were after me had been taken into custody. I was more than relieved. I felt alive and ready to heal, to grow into adulthood even though I was still uncertain as to where to go after then. Maybe I was going to go home to my grandparents, I wondered how they were going to take it knowing my own dad had caused their daughter’s death. Weren’t they going to carry out that aggression on me? I felt like I didn’t belong with them, I wouldn’t be welcomed there.
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Anita
The next day when she was still asleep, I decided to talk to Derek about what I have been thinking about. I led him outside out of her earshot.
Derek: “What is it sunshine? Am I going to get reprimanded for yesterday again?” he asked holding me tightly by the waist.
Anita: “Not at all even though you deserve to be berated for the rest of your life. That reminds me, how did you know to come back sef?”
Derek: “I was half-way to the place he told me about when I decided to check the CCTV which I had connected to my phone and saw him inside swinging that scary looking axe. God! I felt fooled and useless at that moment. I had to call my assistant to meet me in front of my house with the rest of the team. And I dunno why it took them so long to reach here too since we met at the junction. My neighbour also called on my way here to confirm that someone was in here trying to hurt you guys. I had to tell him to hang around to tell me all of his movement since there was no camera outside here”
Anita: “So he was the one lurking around in the shadow then?”
Derek: “Yeah I guess and honey, I am extremely sorry. Will never leave you vulnerable like that again. I am sorry” he said looking straight into my eyes, the sun reflecting in his handsome face.
Anita: “It’s okay though. I’m just glad you are always on time. And what I wanted to tell you was that I want to adopt Rose”
Derek: “What? How about her grand-parents? I don’t think that is a good idea Annie” he looked away.
Anita: “I called to ask them if I could yesterday and they said it was okay by them as long as she will continue being their grand daughter and I wouldn’t stop them from seeing her whenever they want”
To be continued!
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QUESTIONS
Should Anita adopt Rose? Will it be a good move?
