Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty seven

****

Who was this man? I had absolutely no idea, but seeing my dad's face go pale at the sight of him was an indicator that this man wasn't just anyone. But who was he?

"Gerald?!" I heard my mom gasp his name out, a horror filled look on her face.

"Felicia" He acknowledged her with a firm nod and tight smile.

The room was at a standstill.

"What are you doing here?!" My father growled, setting us in motion again as we all flinched at his sudden outburst.

"Well hello to you too Benson, how long has it been? Twenty four, no twenty five years... Time flies when you're having fun huh?" The man, or should I say Gerald replied smugly, with a lopsided grin, taking in the interiors of the house, prancing around majestically, like he owned the place.

"You're supposed to be..." Dad whispered shakily. I saw him mop up some sweat from his forehead.

The room is fully air conditioned o

"Dead?" Gerald completed with a wry chuckle. "Well here I am, trust me I'm not a ghost"

Okay, this was getting crazy. I sat there watching their exchange until the newcomer's eyes fell on me. He did a double take before they settled on me again.

"Crystal?" He whispered staring straight at me.

"Huh?" I was confused. He had a dazed look on his face, one that made me super uncomfortable.

"You're Crystal... My... " He was saying something before my dad interrupted.

"I think you all should leave, we have scores to settle as a family" He said surlily.

"Excuse me Mr Gregg, we aren't quite finished, you still owe me-" Yemi's father growled just as Chief butted in

"And me too"

"And my daughter is still pregnant for a man who hasn't even stated his intentions" Tana's father joined in out of nowhere, raising his voice and casting a deadly glare at Tana who recoiled like she wanted to melt into a puddle at that moment.

"All of that will be discussed later, there's a more pressing matter at hand" Dad stated in a tone that left no room for further arguments.

"Please" He gestured towards the door, and they all trudged out muttering under their breaths in displeasure.

*****

It was just my parents, Laila, myself and Mr Gerald in the living room now. The pin drop silence was eerie.

"How did you find this place?"Dad finally spoke up.

"I have my ways" He replied smugly.

"What are you doing here?!" He growled.

"I'm here to stop you"

"Stop me from doing what exactly?"

"Selling these young girls off because of your greed and selfishness" Gerald gritted. And Dad just laughed boisterously.

"Don't act all innocent Gerald, we both know you're not" He retorted after recovering from his laughter.

"You're sick. I stayed in coma for fourteen years because of you!!!" Gerald yelled gripping dad by his collar, breathing heavily. They stayed that way staring each other down until we heard the muffled cry from my mom. Dad turned to her with a glare filled with so much hatred, I was baffled. Was there ever a time that he loved her? I asked myself. Little did I know that those questions were about to be answered.

"What's all this drama now? You brought him here and here you are acting like the damsel in distress. Always the drama queen, I see" Dad spat with excess venom. Mum could not even give him a befitting comeback. She just whimpered and recoiled.

"Leave her out of this and face me. For the record, Benson, she did not invite me... " Gerald snarled and I flinched, his eyes softened when he saw me but then dad blocked his gaze again.

Strange happenings, I tell you...

"Then how the hell did you find us and why are you still alive?" Dad's breath was ragged and uneven, almost like he was having a panic attack.

"I got him here" All three of us turned to her, mouth agape.

"How did you... ?" Mum was saying but Laila did not let her finish.

"I'll explain all of that later, some people would be joining us soon, I wouldn't want them to miss out on all of this"

"What people?" I was puzzled and so was everyone else in the room.

"They'll be here very... "

Just then the front door came open.

And there they were...

"Soon" Laila completed with a grin.

Travis with Ima by his side and then Grey closely behind. How did they manage to get here on such short notice.

I rushed into the awaiting arms of my sister in law. Our hug lasted for a while, before we all exchanged pleasantries. My parents were apparently unaware of this impromptu visit. Turns out, Travis and his wife flew into the country about two days back and stayed over at Grey's place in Abuja but came into Lagos as soon as Laila asked them to. They of course left the kids back in Canada with their maternal grandmother who had gone for a visit.

"I know you all are probably jet lagged but we have something to sort out and we have to do it right now" Laila spoke up after we were all settled in.

"As we all know, few months back, I got married" She gulped.

"But it was far from blissful, no thanks to the man I have called my father for the most part of my life. It has been hell, and only about a month ago, did I get the courage to run for the hills after several abusive encounters" I could see she was trying to keep her tears at bay, so I did the only thing that came to mind at the time. I sat next to her, and gave her soothing rubs on her back. She sighed and patted my thigh, a way of saying she could do it.

"Lola here has been with me through thick and thin, taking risks, making sacrifices and doing the best she can for me" She smiled at me through her watering eyes, I saw the gratitude. I mirrored her expression and blinked back the tears.

"And because of all she's done for me, the guilt kept eating me up every single day. I wanted to tell her all I knew but I couldn't because I didn't know enough. The secrets were beginning to weigh me down and I could do nothing about it, so I started digging deep. Call it espionage or whatever but I had to do everything in my power to make sure my sister doesn't end up unhappy like me" She narrated with a firm look on her face directed at our dad, who looked like he would be choked any minute from now.

Now I was really confused, I cast a questioning look at her and what she said through her eyes was "Relax". I stilled, my hand still on her back.

"And then I found him" She gestured to Gerald barely looking at him. "I do not know the full story, but I'm hoping I would hear it today but what I know is... Lola" She turned to me softly palming my cheek.

"Things aren't what they seem" She concluded. I nodded but I was still very perplexed, what was it? Why the suspense, it was getting to me, making me antsy.

"Tolani why are they here?" I gestured towards my older siblings.

"We're all here to hear the whole story, the whole truth" She stated dryly.

"But promise me you won't freak out, you're the most fragile here, promise me you won't break" She held me tightly, looking straight into my eyes, I could only nod and hope I would not be shattered by the end of the day.

"So who's going to speak up now? Are we all going to keep staring and acting all dramatic?"  Travis asked, sarcasm lacing his tone.

"I was beginning to wonder too. Can we please get this over with?" Grey groaned in frustration. I could tell he did not like being back here but from the look of things, he knew a lot more than I did and so did the rest of them.

"I... I'll speak" Mum said, gaining our attention.

"Don't you dare say anything" Dad growled at her but she matched his gaze.

"Let me speak! Did you think the truth would be hidden forever?!" Mum snapped at him, that left him dumbfounded and I internally rejoiced at it. God knows I summersaulted inwardly, glad she was finally able to speak up.

"Benson let her speak" Gerald warned, his cold gaze settled on Dad who was very uneasy.

"Mum" Travis called and she turned to him.

Just like we rehearsed it, all five of us chorused...

"We're listening"

******

Felicia's POV

Flashback...

Thirty Five years ago...

"Fiona, guess what?" I grinned at my twin sister who was engrossed in her book as usual. Typical bookworm. She groaned as I snatched the book from her.

"Felicia what is it?" She scowled. "What did your boyfriend do this time?" She teased

"This isn't about my boyfriend silly" I smacked her whilst blushing. I had fallen head over heels for our security guard and our love had really blossomed over the months.

"Then what is it?"

"Well I overheard Daddy talking about you with that his rich friend" I was giddy with excitement.

"Dad has a lot of  rich friends, he's a rich man, besides he talks about us with his friends and I mean a lot. So what exactly is this gist about? " Fiona replied dryly, already getting engrossed in her book again. I smacked her left arm to get her attention.

"Owww" She moaned "Felicia just get this over with"

"He's arranging your marriage" I almost squealed

"What?" She scowled "stop playing jor"

"I'm serious, one of the Gregg brothers' is going to walk you down the aisle soon" I danced around the room not noticing my sister's demeanor had switched to that of pure irateness.

"Where's Dad?" She gritted and I stopped dancing.

"He's in the living room, why?" I asked and she stormed past me without a response. I rushed after, her anger wasn't something to be worried about normally as she was the cool headed one among us but in all my days, I had never seen her that pissed.

Unknowing to us, the guests were still very much around when she stormed into the living room.

"Ah Fiona, there you are , I was just about calling for you and your sister" Our father beckoned on us with a wide smile. I smiled back, he was such a caring dad, ever since our mother died at childbirth, leaving us with our baby brother who also died only a few days after, he remained single and took good care of us. Fiona and I were more than grateful.

Fiona and I exchanged pleasantries with our guest including the two handsome young men who happened to be his sons.

"So we have arranged for you two to get married to the young men over here" Our father gestured to the men who looked awestruck by our presence. My twin and I always had ways of turning heads in our day. We weren't exactly identical but we looked very alike and usually wore matching outfits. Fiona was however the prettier one and the two guys seemed intrigued by her.

However, I was displeased at what I just heard. I initially thought it was just Fiona who was going to be married, she was the older one, with a gap of five minutes.

"What?!" We both gasped. Now, as mentioned earlier, I had a boyfriend, Demilade who I was so in love with. I could not imagine leaving him for anyone else.

"You heard me. The wedding is in two weeks" Our father stated again, still smiling.

"But dad..." I whined.

"No buts, these are very promising young men and I always have your best interests at heart"

I seemed to be the only one who was not happy about it because my sister who had initially been irate was already in an eye lock with who seemed to be the older brother.  Both of them were enamored by each other so quickly.

Love at first sight? Hmmm...

"Fiona would be getting married to Gerald, I can already see the sparks flying" Dad said suggestively and she blushed, looking away from Gerald who was flustered already.

"And of course Felicia, Benson is going to be your husband" I took a good look at him. He was handsome but I still preferred my Demi, but then,

I could not disobey my father. Maybe I could learn to love him.

Benson stared at Fiona, his eyes full of longing and when his eyes finally got off her, he stared at me with... disgust. I almost gasped in shock. What was that supposed to mean?

I was also very good looking, I assured myself that, that look had to have been misread by me.

***

Breaking the news to Demilade was one hard thing to do, it broke him. I thought I would never recover from that guilt and pain. I never knew how right I was.

Benson had tried confronting me on several accounts but I could not bring myself to speak to him. I was too heartbroken. My sister saw me through it all, even though she was more than elated to tie the knot with her new found heartthrob.

We both got married on the same day in a lavish ceremony. My father went all out and so did the grooms' family, it was the talk of the town for months.

I hoped for a blissful life with my new husband but he seemed very bitter over the whole thing. Imagine your groom staring at another woman with desire, while you stood there watching. Worse still, that woman was my sister.

To everyone else including my father, it was a fairytale. Two sisters getting married to two brothers. Just amazing.

My wedding night came, and that look of disgust never left my husband's eyes even when I knew I looked my best.

"You're nothing to me. I don't owe you any marital obligations. I've given you a home and a name, that's more than enough" He spat and walked out of our marital bedroom. I did not see him for the rest of the night and even days after. I did not let it get to me, I knew he would come around at some point, I just hoped.

But then the signs, the nausea, the fatigue and constant food cravings. I was with child, and there was no way I could pin it on my husband, we had barely been married a month and we hadn't even been intimate, not even once. Demilade was responsible for it but he had resigned from my father's place and I had no trace of him.

I panicked and told my sister. She advised I told Benson the truth but I couldn't. I tried everything I could just to get him in bed with me but he wouldn't budge. I knew I was in a mess.

I told him the truth and he hit me, severally but then the envious side of him thought it was a good thing because he had proven himself more manly than his brother who hadn't impregnated his wife yet. Their father would be so proud of him. He let me keep the baby and I was more than grateful. I endured his insults for that reason and after the birth of my son. I went job hunting and got myself employed in an oil company that paid an enormous amount monthly, along with several allowances. I was more than capable of taking care of my son without his help.

Fiona however, had issues with childbirth, she could not take in for the first three years and when she eventually did for the first time, she had a miscarriage. That set her marriage on to a rocky path.

To be continued…