Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Chapter 26 Lovelorn

At mid day police siren blared and pulled over a semi detached duplex.

Brian’s boss sprinted to his feet, paced to the window and beheld a band of police advancing to his house. Quickly as bat from hell he hurried his boys to tuck away their guns and gather anything drugs into the toilet and flushed before he answered the door.

“Hello cops, I can’t remember dialing 911,” said the boss dragging a hostile look at them.

Inspector Fred gazed upon him from head to toe, “We have come for one Tony Rightman,” he said coldly combing the arena with his stare.

“Ok I have one Tony but I am not sure if he is the right man for you,” he uttered to pass a joke but ended up laughing alone.

“And you are?” inquired Fred, studying the tattoo that ran from his neck to arm.

He added, “His uncle that beats his ass when he sucks,” he lied, “To what do I owe this visit?”

Fred winked, “He is needed at the station for questioning. He has history of implication in a missing gold watch and tape. Your nephew has more things to answer before we let go.”

At the mention of missing gold watch and tape, the boss’s ears twitched; if the police would make a further step into his room and search the black bag in his wardrobe they would see where he kept those items like dried fish about to be exported. Geese! Inwardly he spanked himself and decided to insure the gold watch as fast as breath. Selling it presently was as implicating as wearing it. He waved Brian over- for he had been staring out through the window all along, thinking and building up strongly to face the music. He had fallen out with Kate and suddenly police had appeared at his door for another questioning. He need not be told he had been stabbed at the back. She was coming at him like legion of lion led by a dragon. Not knowing what she had snitched to the police about him, he had his heart in his mouth as he pranced outside.

“You got summer gift,’ said his boss and added, “The cops,” he waved at the band of police men resting on the car and standing aside.

“All these police for just poor little me. I must have repainted white house dirty,” Tony beamed, focusing on Fred, “Are you not tired of seeing this cute face?” he asked like a cat on hot tin roof.

“You owe me a few more answer before I bolt your cage,” said Fred, gesturing at Tony to join them to the station.

Before joining the band, he turned to his boss and said, “I will be back, uncle. I got to fix them a cup cake.”

“Break a leg,” his boss wished him and breathed butterfly as soon as they drove out of sight. “I am going to end dinner on his ass as soon as he returns. This boy keeps living odd. Why did he allow his iniquity to bring cops to my end?” he nagged.

The Fannies evacuated to their aunty’s home to ease police to carry out investigation and to check for samples at their invaded home also for it to be properly fix and put back in shape. Earlier, Mr. Fanny thought about relocating to Texas and Kate had skipped abruptly because she needed to break words with Tony and iron out their differences; whatever that ignited their fire; whatever that pulled for their centre not to hold as it used to was going to be settled on the yacht. But to a certain extent the Fannies had accumulated thought provoking mortgage on their house; this Mr. and Mrs. Fanny considered as coarse – regrettably they had leaking pockets to rent a new apartment in Texas. To fight back, Mr. Fanny got him a gun license as advised by Fred and lived at the edge of a gun all day long waiting for his foes to strike again.

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The days that Kate frequented school she never saw much of Tony and when she asked his loyalists they didn’t have answer. She rang him a thousand endless times and he didn’t pick up, and a few times an answering machine had come through and his mobile phone never went through again. She wondered at his taciturn despite their falling out – it wasn’t their first and would never be their last- they had fallen out countless times and reconciled right off the bat and made maddening love to grow back their friendship. She knew most times she could be peevish over issues but then Tony had made her blood boil when he declined her offer- Tony had always been the soft, considerate girl’s guy but until recently when she stated seeing this other side of him . Would there ever be an end to them- a day when they would go their separate ways without burning bridges- if indeed a day like this would come what would become of her? And how would she get along for life? If she had gotten dry staying alone these few days what would become of her heart if they never saw again? And what about Tony- were they in the same boat or would he be having a toast to their quarrel and parting. She still had a thing for Tony; it was evident in her daily life and isolation from others at home and school, even Mrs. Fanny had noticed she was reserved and eating up inside and she lied about their invaded home being responsible. As she had her head down in loneliness she believed Tony was experiencing same. The carnivorous hands of loneliness dealt with her so badly that she almost touched herself at night, nagged within herself and engaged boredom and lovelorn in a battle of survival of the fittest even when she was sure of been beaten . Somewhat she had made up her mind to move on and repented later for such decision. In order to indulge her mental health she had started keeping fit- it was in one of the days on her road walk that her phone buzzed and when she looked at it, it was Tony’s message crawling across her screen: “hi meet at school tomorrow at the love garden.” She beamed with smile and smacked her lips lustfully because her heart was about to get busy again; when pigs fly.

Even before twilight Kate was up and ready to dash out to school. She threw caution to the wind when Mr. Fanny warned against plying commercial bus to school Mr. Fanny who had always dropped her off to school had woken up late and she still had phobia for driving. “You are not going out there in a bus while you know our enemies are this close,” said Mr. Fanny, demonstrating, ‘this close’ with his finger.

“I am fine, dad. I have got an important class to catch. Nobody will hurt me.”

“Come to think of it this is the first time you are hitting the book this early. Has your school been named after you,” Mrs. Fanny said.

“Girl has turned a new leaf,” Kate’s aunty added, as the three of them gathered round her.

“Yes I have turned a new leaf,” she said and swirled around to leave,” Love you all.”

“Be careful, angel’s poo,” said Mrs. Fanny.

And Mr. Fanny surged to the window staring while Kate ran down the street. He saw Tony was written all over her- her eyes shone brightly in Tony and those smiles had never endowed her face in such elegance and cuteness. He perceived she was out to meet Tony- and what they were up to was what he could not foretell. At once he picked up his phone to ring Fred, to be on the lookout for Kate and Tony today.

In the bus, Kate was at the back seat. It would be her first time in a decade to ply a commercial bus to school. Amidst other passengers were three other students ; a boy and three girls, and the couple next to her were wallowing in kiss, and she smiled at them, and frowned suddenly- something struck in her head as she unzipped her school bag searching for condom. Clean pig! She had forgotten it at home, somewhere in her old forgotten stiletto on her shoe rack. Coincidentally she saw two wraps of condom under the legs of the kissing couples and she perceived they were theirs but she was going to pick it anyways- and she did regardless because she needed it more than them.

She looked forward to something rare…