The Maid 40.

 

The Regents Centre,
Ikoyi, Lagos.
Monday Morning
12:30am.

“Gbenga!” Yemi cried.
A look of dread spread over her face like an Ibibio masquerade mask as she watched Gbenga Philips struggle for breath like a fish out of water. She got out of bed, put on a some clothes and ran into the room where her mom and dad were sleeping. “Gbenga is struggling to breathe. I don’t know what is going on!” she said in panic.
Kola Esho got out of bed and followed his daughter. He entered the room, took one look at Gbenga and grabbed his car keys. “Let’s get him to a hospital.”
“Dad, someone tried to kill us tonight and I am sure he is out there waiting for us to come out into the open. We can’t expose ourselves again.”
Kola moved over to the bed and regarded Gbenga for a moment.
“I don’t know who tried to kill you both but we must take this man to a hospital before he dies in this house. I cannot afford to let him die in my home.”
“Dad, where can we take him? There are no good hospitals in this area.”
Kola thought for a moment. “We will take him to a hospital on the island,” he said and wore Gbenga a shirt.
Yemi looked at her dad as if he had lost his mind. “Where are we going to get the money to pay for his treatment? You know that they won’t even touch him until we pay a deposit,” Yemi said while helping lift Gbenga off the bed.
Kola regarded Gbenga. “Someone like him would have health insurance and even if he doesn’t, you can call his wife.”

The Maid 39

 

The Philips’ Residence.
Sunday.
11:58pm.

Supo came to with a splitting headache. A cacophony of disjointed voices surrounded him. The cold harmattan wrapped itself tightly around him making his body shiver like a man struck with malaria. He opened his eyes, saw that he was lying on a stretcher and there were police officers moving around the grounds of the Phillips’ mansion.

The last thing he remembered was trying to catch his breath as his partner ran before him into the house. He heard a man behind him order him to drop his weapon. But before he could turn around to confront the man, he was struck on the head with a metallic object and passed out. That was all he remembered.
He touched the spot on his head and winced.
“You are up!” Raymond chuckled. “Welcome back to reality.”
Supo turned to look at Raymond who was holding two paper cups of coffee and beaming with a huge smile like a man who had just won the lottery. He collected one cup from him and took a sip. The caffeine brought some clarity to his mind and strength back to his weak body.

Raymond filled him in. “I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that while you were out, I arrested the notorious gangster Sugar,” Raymond said with excitement. “Right now he is in our custody,” he pointed at a police car.
Supo massaged his head. “You did?” He looked at the police activity around him. This was very confusing. “How did you manage to do that?” Supo looked lost.
Raymond was enjoying himself. “It appears you have the instincts to become a great detective.”
“Why do you say so?” Supo asked.

The Maid 38

 

En-Route To The Philips’ Residence.
Sunday.
11:56pm

The car sped through the night like an owl, its headlights piercing the darkness as it drove into Victoria island. The matriarch of the Phillips family sat alone in the back seat, imprisoned by her thoughts.
Her hands trembled as she dialled Gbenga’s number for the fifth time. It was still switched off.
“Ehnn,” Mama sighed deeply.
The driver turned around, took a quick look at her and returned to his driving.
“Is everything okay ma?” he asked.
“Kabiru, I am okay. Keep your eyes on the road.”
She looked out aimlessly into the night observing the few stray cars on the road and the houses of the rich which lined the streets.
If Gbenga had listened to her and left Shade alone when she advised him to, he wouldn’t be in his present predicament. But he was deceived and fell easily into her trap. If he had looked beyond Shade’s beauty like she advised him to, if he had taken more time to explore her character and discover the kind of woman she was, he would have seen her for what she really was, a gold digger! If he had obeyed her, she wouldn’t be out at this time of the night, she would be in bed at home, enjoying her sleep.
“Dear Lord, watch over my son wherever he is,” she prayed silently.
As the car sped towards the Phillips’ residence, she remembered the very day she warned Gbenga not to marry Shade.

The Maid 37

 

The Philips’ Residence.
Sunday.
11:53pm.

Raymond ran into the house, looked around the sitting and dinning room areas then entered the kitchen. It was empty. He came out of the kitchen and stood before the door of the visitor’s bedroom with his gun before him just as he was taught in the police academy. His overweight partner struggled behind him, breathing hard like a man who just ran a twenty-mile marathon. Raymond turned around to look at his partner who was leaning on a wall to catch his breath. “You should get rid of the weight,” he said, shaking his head.
“Give me a moment to catch my breath,” Supo said.
Raymond pushed the door to the room open and entered the dark room, searching for the light switch on the wall.
Supo watched as Raymond disappeared into the room. “This job will not kill me,” he wiped the dripping sweat off his face with the back of his left hand, then pushed himself away from the wall.
Raymond came out of the room. “There’s nothing here. I will check upstairs.”
“I am right behind you,” Supo watched his partner climb the stairs with caution.

The Maid 36

 

The Lagos Lagoon.
Sunday.
11:45pm

His hands flapped on the water like a bird trying to lift off the ground with its body refusing to obey the laws of nature, keeping it bound to the earth.
He drank some water as he made a feeble attempt to stay afloat. The water tasted  bitter and smelled bad. His hands were getting tired. His feet could no longer kick to defy the downward pull of gravity. The cold bit into his bones like needles, weakening him.

Struggling to stay afloat in the dark waters of the Lagos lagoon, Gbenga came to the realisation that he was about to die. Nothing could save him from being swallowed into the belly of this monster which silently destroyed those unfortunate enough to be caught in its trap, and hid the evidence of their demise at the bottom of the lagoon. Decomposing tissue devoured by hungry sea creatures which managed to survive in the polluted waters of the lagoon.

The Maid 35

 

The Philips’ Residence.
Sunday.
11:30pm.

“What are we doing here? The man we came to help is missing. We should leave,” Sugar said.
“Kokoro would be concerned that we haven’t called,” Diana said.
Ngozi ignored them. She looked up. “Wait for me. I will be back.”
She went upstairs, got to the master bedroom and pushed the door open.
“Come in,” Shade said from within. “I have been expecting you.”
Ngozi entered the room and looked around.  She noticed two full glasses and a bottle of champagne on the side table beside the bed. She turned her attention to Shade. “What have you done to Gbenga?”
“He is my husband. What I do to him or with him is none of your business,” Shade picked one of the glasses and drank some champagne. 

The Maid 34

 

The Philips’ Residence
Sunday.
11:25pm.

Gbenga shook his head vigorously, trying to ward off the tiredness that descended on his mind and body like a heavy blanket. He struggled against the ropes that bound him like an animal sacrifice, but his efforts were futile. Sadique had done a good job with the ropes.  “Why are you telling me this?” he asked his soon to be ex-wife.
“I feel I owe you an explanation,” Shade said.
“You don’t owe me anything. I don’t have to listen to this nonsense anymore! Sadique, take this phone away from me.”
Shade chuckled derisively. “You are in no position to make demands.  Sadique no longer works for you. He now works for me. He will do exactly as I say. So shut up and listen!”
“You won’t get away with this,” Gbenga said.
“Yes, I will. Unlike you, I know how to carry out a plan effectively.”
Yemi moved away from the car quietly and began typing furiously on her phone. This time,  Sadique didn’t notice.

The Maid 33

The Maid 33

The Philips’ Residence.
Sunday.
11:21pm

Chioma and her bodyguard drove out of the gates. Sadique waited for their tail lights to die out in the distance then he returned to the house. Moments later he returned carrying Gbenga Philips on his shoulder like a sack, with his hands and feet tied.
“Why are you doing this? the injured man struggled against the ropes which bound him with fear in his voice.
“Don’t ask me any questions.” Sadique threw him in the back seat of the car.
“Who paid you to do this? Is it Shade? Is it Ngozi? Answer me!” Gbenga shouted at the ex-military man. “If it is money I can give you more! I am rich! I will give you one of my houses. You can have my cars. Anything! Please don’t do this to me,” he pleaded.
“She promised me something more than money. That is the reason why I am doing this.”
“What did she promise to give you? What?”
Sadique regarded the man shivering like a cornered animal and felt no pity for him. As far as he was concerned Gbenga Philips was the enemy and his demise tonight would not only make him rich but could also get him married to a very beautiful woman.

The Maid 32

 

The Philips’ Residence.
11:20pm
Sunday.

“Wait for me. I will be back in a moment,” Shade entered the walk-in wardrobe to change her clothes and get ready for bed.
Sadique poured himself a drink and downed it very quickly. Things were going in a different direction. Mrs Philips wanted him to dispatch her husband and his mistress. But who was the mistress, he asked himself.
How will he handle this situation?
His boss’s wife just offered him money and herself if he got rid of her husband. Maybe this was the breakthrough he had been expecting. Maybe this was God’s way of rewarding him for his years of service to his country which wasn’t acknowledged nor rewarded, instead he was courtmartialed for dereliction of duty and endangering the lives of his colleagues.
Shade came out wearing a black night dress with a lose robe.
Sadique waited for her to sit down. “Who is carrying your husband’s child?”
“You’ve been in this house and you don’t know what is going on?” Shade asked.
“I mind my own business and don’t listen in on other people’s conversations.”
Shade regarded him and smiled.
Sadique was smitten. He had never seen his boss’s wife like this. She looked so beautiful. This was the very first time she recognised him as a human being and not just a security guard.
“The woman pregnant for my husband is Yemi, the maid,” said the wife of Gbenga Philips.

The Maid 31

 

Chief Dotun Babalore’s residence.
Sunday.
11:15pm

Tinu stood before her husband in his study. “I cannot stay here doing nothing while my daughter is in trouble.”
“Then I suggest you do something about it, but count me out of it,” chief said.
“Chief I beg you, attend to this matter.”
His phone rang. He and his wife looked at each other. He looked at the number. It was one of his contacts from the police force. He answered the call.
“Why are you calling me at this late hour?”
“Chief, I thought I should let you know about this.”
“Know about what?”
“Do you know one Chief Mrs Eno Philips?”
“Yes, I do. She is my in-law.”
The police man paused. “Chief, she called our station a few minutes ago and asked that Shade Philips should be arrested for attempted murder!”