Chapter 5: Chapter 5
It was exactly ten-thirty in the morning when Aliena was ushered into Dr. Badmus Shaphat’s presence at the second Himalaza Rock Clinic which was located inside the Presidential Castle.
The elderly doctor with his face beaming rose swiftly to his feet behind his big desk piled with paperwork when Aliena entered his office with her security agent on her heel. “Aliena, you are welcome,” he greeted and ushered her to a seat before him. “The President informed me you aren’t feeling fine?” he said with a smile on his grand face. He picked a thermometer from his table and put it in her mouth, then checked it. “Hmmm, you will need to be examined.” He turned to her escort. “Can you excuse us, Miss?”
“I’m Agent Marni,” the lady replied sharply.
“Alright, Agent Marni, be rest assured she is in safe hands.”
Agent Marni turned to Aliena who nodded and asked her to excuse them. She walked out without a backward glance. “Your temperature is high, Aliena, we need…”
“Yes, Doctor, sorry for interrupting you but please can you keep a secret from my father?”
“A secret? Why would you want to do that?”
“Unless you promise me, I will refuse to be treated. “
“Aliena, you know how much your father cares and adores you; why would you want to keep...”
She hastily interrupted him. “Doctor, I won’t have come here in the first instance knowing your affinity with him, but I can’t help it; he has my movement restricted.”
“Okay, I promise not to divulge your secret to anybody.”
“I’m pregnant and I don’t want the baby.” She declared flatly,
“That is very simple, if you don’t want the baby, you can give him or her to the motherless babies home after birth.”
“I want an abortion!”
“You want what?” Dr. Badmus mouth huge opened in astonishment. The office which was chilled because of the air conditioner operating at full capacity became suddenly too stuffy for the elderly doctor.
“I need your help…” she began and trailed off after a thought occurred to her. “I won’t even say help, I need your service and I’m going to pay you very well for it,” she said, unconcerned about the impact of her words. She crossed her legs and relaxed, her attention fixed on the doctor.
Dr. Badmus sat, staring at her for more than six seconds; he looked askance, knitting his brows in disapproval. “Aliena, why do you want to do that?” He wiped his brow with his handkerchief and leaned back in his executive chair, studying her openly.
“I don’t think that question is necessary.” She replied in cold-clipped English. “Can I have a drink?”
“Yes, you can; I guessed it's water?”
“No, I need wine.”
“I thought you have been advised against strong drinks?”
“Okay, give me fruit juice.”
The intercom buzzed and a Nurse answered to whom he gave the order while Aliena looked around the expensively furnished office. “Aliena, I’m sorry but you can’t have an abortion.” He announced after the Nurse had left.
“What?”
“The reason is obvious, my dear.”
“What is the reason?”
“I examined you when you newly returned to the country and I knew you have procured abortion before not once, not twice; you pleaded with me not to inform your father.” He explained plaintively. Your history with narcotics is another reason because those narcotics have weakened your system making them very fragile. You might not survive another abortion.”
“Doctor, you can’t scare me with such bullshit!” She flared up, almost banging the table with her fist. “Why are you my father’s doctor if you can’t take care of a simple operation? I believe there are lots of doctors in this goddam country who can do better than you!”
Dr. Badmus stoop and paced majestically around his office, his hands in his pockets, halting only a few feet from where she sat. “What do I stand to gain by scaring you? Have you forgotten I was the doctor who delivered you? I have been your family doctor for more than twenty years! I have a name to protect, Aliena.” He explained further. “You can never force me to dip my hands into what I don’t believe in; if your father doesn’t believe in me, we won’t have gotten this far together,” he said heatedly.
She met his penetrating gaze with her angry stare, her chest rose and fell agitatedly. “What is your prize, Doctor? Name it and you shall have it.” Her lips quivered desperately; her chin tilted stubbornly. “There is nobody who doesn’t have a prize.” She added.
“That is a wrong misconception.” His mouth twisted as he forced a smile that hurt her deeply. “Your wellbeing is paramount to me, I don’t have a price, or let me put it this way, my price is your welfare.” He said with a note of finality and went back to his seat.
“I don’t care how long you have been working for my father but believe me, you have met your waterloo; nobody refuses me!” She stood up and headed for the door, swung it open then looked back. “I hope my father doesn’t hear this?”
“Thank you for the visit, Aliena.” Dr. Badmus said, ignoring her question as he opened a file before him. She closed the door and went away. He wanted to dial the President’s number immediately but thought better of it. A nurse knocked on the door and entered to draw his attention to something else.
ΩΩ
After she left the hospital, she ordered her Chauffeur to take her to Sherry’s place because she knew her father would be busy attending to national matters and her meeting with Nasir was later in the night, she didn’t want to be alone to be weighed down by her burdens.
Sherry was the daughter of Engineer Gabriel Brian, the Minister for Culture and Religious Affairs, apart from being a distant relative; she was her good friend, a confidant, and the only one whom Aliena saw as not being vain.
They were together at the University of Ziban before Aliena left for Oxford University in Britain. While they were together at the University of Ziban, Sherry was the one making Aliena attend the fellowship. “My father told me during his days on this campus he was the Fellowship President.” Sherry had informed Aliena while they were preparing for fellowship on a Sunday morning. “I think I have heard something like that before.” Aliena intoned as she laced her shoe. “Do you know my dad was also the Student Union President?” She added as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
She descended from her mental flight as the vehicle slowed down and turned left into the Ministers’ Avenue. Opulent mansions and villas lined up the avenue, set in well cared for gardens and beautiful flowers. She wasn’t attracted by the scenery before her because of her burdened heart. She secretly envied Sherry because of her simple lifestyle; glamour and fashion were not for her right from when they were kids. If Sherry wasn’t discussing the Bible, it was her studies or her family. She was a good influenced on Aliena until the ugly incident occurred. Shame and guilt filled her heart as she remembered how she was lured and introduced into the evil path that destroyed her innocence. That was one of the reasons she wished her father had not ventured into politics. It was during the fifteenth National Independence Celebration; schools were on break during that period, so she planned to travel to France for two weeks’ vacation. Four days before the independence celebration, Teena called her on her mobile phone. “What does she want?” Aliena had wondered as she saw her name on her mobile phone’s screen. “Hello?” She spoke into the mouthpiece.
“Hello, Aliena? This is Teena speaking,”
“Oh, Teena, how is everything?”
“Everything is cool, how about you?”
“I’m cool also.”
“How are you planning to celebrate the independence anniversary?”
“Well, I won’t be in the country.” She answered wondering what Teena was driving at,
“I hope there is no problem?”
“There is a special invitation for you from the government of Cantata state.”
“Government of Cantata state?” Aliena parroted, “Why are you telling me this? Are you the Secretary to the State Government or the Personal Assistant to the Governor on media and publicity?”
“Neither of the two, my sweet Aliena, let just say I’m somebody who makes things happen. I happened to be a great admirer of your father; I know he is vying for the presidency among many rivals, I just feel it will boost his chances, if his daughter is to be honoured on the Independence Day, by the Association of Active Ladies for the Less Privilege and the Downtrodden (AALLPD), mind you, it will be aired live on the national Television.”
“Give me some time to think about it, will you?”
“Okay dear, I will come and see you tomorrow afternoon,” Teena said sweetly and hung up after which she had inhaled deeply and began to ponder over the invitation.
Teena was a class below her in the University; she had joined the University in the middle of the semester and captured the campus community’s attention with her flamboyant lifestyles. She was always organizing parties where the big and mighty personalities attended.
“Aliena, my spirit doesn’t blend with that lady.” Sherry had cautioned one afternoon after Teena had paid them a visit in their room.
“Why do you say that?” Aliena had asked, bewildered at her strange attitude to Teena. “Didn’t you notice the way she was staring at you throughout her visit? I have heard rumours that she is a lesbian.” Sherry said, worriedly, “Please, Aliena, we are not going to honour any of her invitations. Let’s just keep her at arm’s length.”
“We can’t judge her based on rumours. Can we?”
“There is always an iota of truth in every rumour!” Sherry was almost screaming at Aliena. She knew Aliena never take things seriously; she was always carefree especially about serious issues.
“I only know she hardly attends lectures, and she is the type who hangs out a lot,” Aliena said.
“Is that not enough reason to keep her at arm’s length?”
“It is okay, Sherry, let us not argue about that! I will cut her off.” Aliena said with a shrug of her shoulders, “Can we go to the cafeteria now? I’m hungry.”
That was how that matter died down that day. Unknown to Sherry, Teena and Aliena still communicated during the holidays to the extent that Teena had visited as promised, Aliena’s father wasn’t at home, her stepmother also had gone to work. After the pleasantries, she came down to the purpose of her visit. “Our Association wants to honour you and we believe that it will also boost your father’s chances of winning the presidential election.”
“What is this Association all about?” Aliena asked they were seated in the posh living room of her father’s mansion.
Teena sipped her juice before replying. “We are the Association of Active Ladies for the Less Privilege and the Downtrodden (AALLPD), our motto is ‘put that smile on. Just as the name says, it is a group of ladies who come together to alleviate sufferings being encountered by the female folks especially the less privileged in the society. We aim to liberate young girls, ladies, and women both married and widowed from every form of abuse.”
“That is a nice concept but when you called me the other day, you were saying something about the government of Cantata State?”
“Yes, the Matron of the Association is the first lady of the state, so that makes it a government affair.”
“Well, I’m not a public personality, forget the fact that my father is a politician, I cherish my privacy a lot,” Aliena said after pondering over the proposal for some minutes.
“I understand you very well, Aliena, okay, we will skip the interview aspect, just surprise your father and see how pleased he will be with you.”
“My father doesn’t allow his political ambitions to affect me adversely, he doesn’t believe in surprises.”
“Trust me on this, Aliena, your father will be pleased with you.”
“Okay, I will discuss with him; if he approves, I will get ... “
“No, don’t discuss with him!” There was an alarmed look on her face which Aliena failed to see then. Teena was scared that if Aliena should inform her father, he might investigate and discover it to be a lie. “You are of age, Aliena, you should be able to make decisions on your own. Come on, this is just an innocent get-together to celebrate the independence anniversary.” She coerced passionately.
“I’m supposed to be in France that evening…”
“After the event, I will drive you to the airport myself, I promise you that,” Teena promised, giving her a big smile.
“Okay, I will honour the invitation, if only to do something for my father’s success towards the elections.”
“Thank you very much!” Teena intoned as she gulped the last of her drink. “By the way, what about your sister?”
“Who are you referring to?”
“I meant, Sherry; I thought you are blood sisters?”
“No, she is a distant relation; her father is a cousin to my Mum. She has gone on a church retreat with her parents.”
“That is nice to hear; I won’t like her to spoil our fun. I know she doesn’t approve of my style.”
Aliena smiled before replying, “Sherry is not like that, she is just being careful.”
“It is okay, I should be on my way.”
“Thank you for coming,” Aliena said as she saw her off to her black Toyota Prado Jeep.
ΩΩ
The glamorous event was held at the Blue Spring Hotels and Towers. She got there a bit late because she was with her father and a guest. She had to lie that Sherry wanted her to purchase something for her at the shopping mall.
Unknown to her, after entering the hotel, her chauffeur was taken hostage, and her vehicle was driven out of the hotel to an unknown destination. “I can neither see the first lady nor any government officials here,” Aliena observed with dismay. She could only see ladies in skimpy clothes chatting and laughing heartily while some were dancing intimately. On the podium was a banner with the bold inscription: Association of Active Ladies for the Less Privilege and the Downtrodden (AALLPD).
She turned as a waitress approached with a tray of drinks. “Orange juice, ma'am?” She asked as she bowed slightly. Aliena picked one and murmured a word of thanks to the waitress. “I won’t be staying long, Teena,” She announced as she took a sip. Some minutes later she began to feel drowsy. “What is happening to me?” she wondered worriedly at the same time she tried to keep her eyes open to no avail. The last thing she heard was Teena ordering some girls who came to help her to a bedroom. “Hurry it up! Be fast and start working on her!”
They dragged her to a bed, one of the ladies hurriedly undressed her while another collected a briefcase from a nearby table, opened it, and from it, took four short lengths of cord. Aliena felt a hand caressing her body. She couldn’t help moaning with pleasure as she felt a tongue on her sensitive parts. They tied her ankles and wrists to the bed after which Teena who had assumed a wild, mean, and wicked look took from the briefcase a hypodermic syringe and rubber topped bottles with which he injected her. It took four days and nights to initiate Aliena into the world of drug addiction.