The faint light of dawn was just streaking
across the sky when Koko left her room for the gym downstairs. She had had a
very rough night with sleep eluding her.
Feeling tensed and stressed, she decided to
work out to relieve some of the pent up energy inside her.
She jogged for a few minutes in the courtyard
to warm up before heading for the gym at the backyard of the compound. As she
worked on the treadmill, her mind was full of the same thoughts that had kept
her awake all night.
What was she going to do about Tobi and his
difficult request?
'Request? It's more like blackmail,' she
thought as she slowed down her pace, her mouth twisted in disgust.
His words kept ricocheting in her head like an
echo.
"I've asked my Dad for money to start my
own business. I've been on it for sometime now and I'm not making any headway
with him. You know how stubborn he can be. That's where you come in: convince
him to give me the money and these pictures will be destroyed," he had
said.
"Are you blackmailing me, Tobi?" she
had asked. She could not believe he would do that to her; she thought he was
different from his siblings, more friendly and kind. But how wrong she was!
He had smirked. "Call it whatever you
want. I want money and you're going to help me get it. Then I give you the
pictures and we are even. It's a simple deal."
"Simple? You call getting N250 million
Naira from your father a simple affair? Do you think he will dole out that huge
sum of money just like that?" she had queried.
"Why not? He's a wealthy man and can
afford it. Besides, I see it as getting part of my inheritance before he
dies..."
She could not believe what she was hearing.
"Look here, Tobi. This is not right.
You're blackmailing me, your stepmum? Don't you have any conscience?"
He had laughed mockingly. "See who's
talking about conscience. An unfaithful wife like you! You're cheating on my
Dad and you sit there and talk about conscience? Ha! Do you have any idea what
the old man will do to you if he finds out about your affair? The young lady he
was seeing before you, got kicked out for something less. I can just imagine
his reaction when he finds out his precious little wifey has been sleeping with
his manager!"
Koko had glanced anxiously round the lounge
which was filling up with guests.
"Lower your voice, Tobi. Someone could
hear you."
He had got up abruptly. "Three days. For
you to decide to 'play ball' or your secret games with your lover boy over
there will be revealed to the whole world!"
And with that, he had walked away...
Now as she worked out in the gym, she wondered
what she should do. She had a short time to make up her mind before the
deadline.
If only he did not have those pictures, she
would have called his bluff. She had insisted on seeing them and he had obliged
by showing her a few on his mobile phone. The were really 'bad'- there were
shots of her hugging and kissing Chuks, another where he had been carrying her
out of the water, both of them laughing.
Koko wondered who could have taken the
pictures. It was a public beach with many beach goers having fun in the water
that day. It could be anybody.
She sighed then stepped down from the machine,
wiped her face with a towel. As she left the gym to return to her bedroom to
prepare for the day, she knew what had to be done.
There was no way she would let Chief see those
photos. She worried what would happen to both of them especially Chuks. She
loved him very much and did not want anything bad to happen to him. There was a
mean and vicious side to her husband which surfaced whenever he felt badly
treated or betrayed.
Who knew what he could, in anger do to the
young man who dared have an affair with his wife behind his back?
***
One evening, some days later, she brought up
Tobi's issue with Chief.
"Absolutely not!" he stated.
"Are you out of your senses, Koko? You want me to give that amount of
money to that rascal? So he can squander it on women and booze and God knows
what else? No way!"
She tried to cajole him.
"Darling, Tobi seems to have changed.
He's more mature now. Maybe, starting his own business will make him more
responsible."
"Tobi, responsible?" he scoffed.
"That boy can't change. His late mother spoilt him as the last born. The
only thing he's good at is having fun with my money. I won't give him a penny
more than his monthly allowance. I'm even considering stopping that soon since
he refuses to do any work."
"I still believe you should give him a
chance," she maintained.
"I'm surprised you're supporting him on
this issue, Koko. As his stepmother, you should be advising him on changing his
bad ways and living more responsibly, not encouraging me to waste more money on
him. I don't want to hear anymore on this matter so drop it, ok?" he said
in a pissed tone of voice.
She got the same answer other times she
raised the issue. "What's your interest in this matter? You're even
bugging me more than the silly boy himself!" said Chief one afternoon
during lunch.
"Try
harder," Tobi ordered whenever she gave him feedback. "My Dad is stubborn;
convincing him to part with the money won't be easy. Use your feminine charm on
him, whatever. Just get me what I want!"
The way things were going, there seemed to be
only one way out of the problem. She discussed it with her friend Osas when she
came visiting one Saturday afternoon.
They sat sipping cold drinks by the poolside
at the backyard, some distance away from the main building.
"Chuks and I are planning to run
away," she confided in her friend.
"What?" said Osas, almost spilling her
drink on her blouse.
"We want to leave Nigeria and start our
lives afresh in another country."
"Why? Dating him is one thing. But
running away with him? What about Chief? He's still your husband. You just
can't leave like that as if you're a single lady."
"Says who?" she retorted. "Why
must I stay with Chief? I don't love him. I married him for his money. It
wasn't bad at the beginning, being with him but since the accident, life with
him is boring and exhausting. It's draining me and I feel I'm wasting my life
here. I'm too young to be tied to a man in a wheelchair. I need to have my fun,
go out, attend parties, go shopping with my man, go clubbing. Live life. I
can't do that with Chief. I'm missing out on lots of things living in this
house."
"But Chief loves you very much,"
Osas pointed out. "I still remember how he came to my house years ago to
plead with me to convince you to accept his marriage proposal. He'll be
devastated if you dump him and take off with another man."
"He's tough; he will get over it.
Besides, with his wealth, he won't be alone for long. I think it's the best
decision. It's either that or that stupid Tobi exposes us. I don't want to be
at the receiving end of Chief's wrath. It's not a nice place to be," said
Koko, taking a sip of her drink.
Her mind drifted to Chuks, of their meeting in
a few days where their future lives together would be discussed and the plans
they still had to make to make their dreams a reality...
Will they be able to get away with their
plan? Details will be revealed in the concluding part of the story coming soon.
Don't miss it
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