(EPISODE 7)
CHRONICLE OF A ROYAL PRINCE AND THE DEVIL INCARNATE
Throughout the day, Banke walked up and down past my office, but I did not invite her in. I had already decided she was the right person for my plans, but I wanted her to stew, she had looked down on me the first day we met. Besides, I didn’t like her, I liked her friend Prisca, but Prisca would not be right for the kind of role I wanted Banke to play. So I made my move.
Leke: “Banks, will you have lunch with me?” I asked as I walked into Kunmi’s office.
Banke: “Oh, I was just about going out for lunch, so we could go together. Just let me freshen up” she rushed out to the restroom.
Kunmi: “How old are you anyway?” she asked without raising her head from the pattern she was cutting.
Leke: “Am twenty one” I lied. I was confident I could pull the age, after all I was big.
Kunmi: “What about your parents?” she stopped what she was doing to look at me.
Leke: “They are dead, I am an orphan” I replied. At least, I was not lying about that.
Kunmi: “Oh sorry dear”
Leke: “Why are you asking these questions, I only asked Banke for lunch, I am not marrying her” I teased.
Kunmi: “Don’t be silly” she replied.
Leke: “Ma’am…” I started, but Kunmi cut me off.
Kunmi: “Mikhail stop calling me ma’am, I am Kunmi not ma’am” she retorted
Leke: “Alright alright, Kunmi, what is going to happen to the collection launch?”
Kunmi dropped her scissors and looked into space thoughtfully; Banke chose that moment to break the silence. I frowned at her; I was going to see if I could make Kunmi talk about Nora’s reaction, she was someone who knew my mother.
Banke: “I am all set, let’s go” she said and we left together…
I took her to a pizza café for pizza and chocolate fudges; I still had that love for chocolates. Not having any at the mental home did not make me lose the habit. While she ate, I watched her; she had beautiful, lean and long fingers, that had rose colored nails, I wondered if she would take on the role I had for her.
Leke: “Do you like me?” I asked suddenly, and watched as she played with the pizza on her plate, obviously thinking of how best to respond.
Banke: “You are a very likeable person; even my sister likes you…”
Leke: “I want us to date” I went in for the kill, she was beating about the bush, it was the only signal I needed.
Banke: “Really? Let me sleep on it” she said
Leke: “How is your friend Prisca, she seems like a nice day” I asked, deliberately. She would know that I noticed Prisca, I even remembered her name. And if she really liked me as I suspected, she would want to secure her position.
Banke: “She is fine, she is probably at her boyfriend’s place” she replied. So, she did not secure her position, but she will before the day ends.
That evening, after work, I was at home, in the small self contained apartment in the boys’ quarter I rented monthly. I was overcome with grief, I missed my mother. I took out her picture and traced the contours of her face. I was certain that she was murdered, by whom, was the puzzle I was trying to solve. Another thing that baffled me, was the complicity of my father, did he know about the killer? I wondered. I thought back to when I was little, and the house. I took my diary where I had been writing in since I got into the mental home and began to sketch the plan of the house. The details were a bit sketchy, but it was usable. Banke would need the sketch for her undercover duties in the house. I was still drawing the plan, when my phone began to chirp, I saw a strange number and received it.
Leke: “Hello” I said
Banke: “Mikhail, it is Banke. Sorry, I got your number from my sister”
Leke: “Oh that’s cool. How are you, have you had your dinner?” I asked, turning on my charm.
Banke: “Yes, you?”
Leke: “I have not; will get something to eat out”
Banke: “I could throw something together for you” I refused, but I was glad, she was being caught in the web already.
Leke: “If that is all, I would like to go about my dinner now” I said passively
Banke: “I wanted to tell you that I have accepted your offer to date. I would like us to date” she said
royal-prince9
Leke: “Wow I am happy, we are a team now” I said
Banke: “Yes, see you at the office”
Leke: “You work with us now?”
Banke: “Goat, I am coming because of you” she said and hung up. I pumped my fist in the air.
Days after, my relationship with Banke was going well, she was frequenting the office. Nora however, was nowhere to be found, she had not been in the office. I took a risk one afternoon, and went to my former house. Standing outside the fear, a sense of foreboding suddenly came over me, what if someone recognized me, I thought. But I took courage and hammered on the gate. It was a new gate man, so there was no risk of being recognized here.
Gateman: “Who you dey look for?”
Leke: “I am an employee at Fola fashion house, I am here to see Madam Nora” I said in impeccable English. Our former gateman had been a learned man, so he always communicated in clear cut English. This one was quite different and I was soon to find out.
Gateman: “You dey mad ni, who you dey blow oyinbo for, you dey craze?” he flared up and made to bang the gate in my face, but I held the gate.
Gateman: “Oh, so you want to fight your father abi”
Leke: “Na Madam Nora send me, if you no allow me, she go sack you oh” I said because my instincts told me Nora was not at home, she had probably travelled out of the country, following the debacle at the collection launch. He opened the gate a crack and glanced at me from head to toe. He was probably pleased with what he saw, so he flung the gate wide open. I went in tentatively, looking around the place in which I had been born. Not much had changed, the garden was still well kept, and the house had been freshly painted. I felt nostalgic as I walked in through the oak doors into the large living room. The picture of father when he was been interrogated by the police when Mary was attacked flashed in my head, I looked towards the staircase where I had hidden. It felt like it was yesterday. I walked up the stairs to the living area; I turned into my parents’ room. It seemed no one had lived there since mother died. It had the musty smell of a place not lived in. I opened the wardrobe; mother’s things were still intact.
Leke: “Is Nora scared of coming here?” I asked myself, I left the room and walked to my room. I opened the door and peeked inside; it was no longer like the room I left years ago. It seemed that Nora had taken up residence here. I went in and began to rummage through her things. I did not find anything that was note worthy, so I arranged everything as I had seen it, and left. As I descended the stairs, I bumped into iyaBiliki, my eyes widened in shock.
IyaBiliki: “Who you be and wetin you dey do here?” she asked with her hands on her waist in akimbo.
Leke: “I am a staff in Madam Nora’s company” I said and winced as I said this.
IyaBiliki: “Eh eh, na here is office?” she asked and came closer, peering into my face.
Leke: “She asked to get something from her… her” I paused, and remembered that father once had an office in the house, perhaps Nora had converted it to hers, so I took a risk.
Leke: “She asked me to get something from her office” I concluded.
IyaBiliki: “Which office, since oga die, that witch never use that office”
Leke: “She seemed out of it though, since that collection launch” I said fishing for gossip.
IyaBiliki: “What is you talking. Please come and be going you no know wetindem send me” she pushed me towards the door. I almost pushed back and told her that this house belonged to me, but what would I gain, other than destroy my well laid down plans. It was time to bring Banke in. I opened the door and came face to face with Nora.
She was decked in a black jumpsuit and Christian Louboutine shoes. My eyes were wide in shock when I saw her.
Nora: “You are that graphic designer Kunmi talks so much about aren’t you?”
Leke: “Yes ma’am” I stuttered.
Nora: “So what are you doing here?”
Question: How would Leke get out of the quagmire he has found himself, how would he explain his presence in the house?
Throughout the day, Banke walked up and down past my office, but I did not invite her in. I had already decided she was the right person for my plans, but I wanted her to stew, she had looked down on me the first day we met. Besides, I didn’t like her, I liked her friend Prisca, but Prisca would not be the right for the kind of role I wanted Banke to play. So I made my move.
Leke: “Banks, will you have lunch with me?” I asked as I walked into Kunmi’s office.
Banke: “Oh, I was just about going out for lunch, so we could go together. Just let me freshen up” she rushed out to the restroom.
Kunmi: “How old are you anyway?” she asked without raising her head from the pattern she was cutting.
Leke: “Am twenty one” I lied. I was confident I could pull the age, after all I was big.
Kunmi: “What about your parents?” she stopped what she was doing to look at me.
Leke: “They are dead, I am an orphan” I replied. At least, I was not lying about that.
Kunmi: “Oh sorry dear”
Leke: “Why are you asking these questions, I only asked Banke for lunch, I am not marrying her” I teased.
Kunmi: “Don’t be silly” she replied.
Leke: “Ma’am…” I started, but Kunmi cut me off.
Kunmi: “Mikhail stop calling me ma’am, I am Kunmi not ma’am” she retorted
Leke: “Alright alright, Kunmi, what is going to happen to the collection launch?”
Kunmi dropped her scissors and looked into space thoughtfully; Banke chose that moment to break the silence. I frowned at her; I was going to see if I could make Kunmi talk about Nora’s reaction, she was someone who knew my mother.
Banke: “I am all set, let’s go” she said and we left together…
I took her to a pizza café for pizza and chocolate fudges; I still had that love for chocolates. Not having any at the mental home did not make me lose the habit. While she ate, I watched her; she had beautiful, lean and long fingers, that had rose colored nails, I wondered if she would take on the role I had for her.
Leke: “Do you like me?” I asked suddenly, and watched as she played with the pizza on her plate, obviously thinking of how best to respond.
Banke: “You are a very likeable person; even my sister likes you…”
Leke: “I want us to date” I went in for the kill, she was beating about the bush, it was the only signal I needed.
Banke: “Really? Let me sleep on it” she said
Leke: “How is your friend Prisca, she seems like a nice day” I asked, deliberately. She would know that I noticed Prisca, I even remembered her name. And if she really liked me as I suspected, she would want to secure her position.
Banke: “She is fine, she is probably at her boyfriend’s place” she replied. So, she did not secure her position, but she will before the day ends.
That evening, after work, I was at home, in the small self contained apartment in the boys’ quarter I rented monthly. I was overcome with grief, I missed my mother. I took out her picture and traced the contours of her face. I was certain that she was murdered, by whom, was the puzzle I was trying to solve. Another thing that baffled me, was the complicity of my father, did he know about the killer? I wondered. I thought back to when I was little, and the house. I took my diary where I had been writing in since I got into the mental home and began to sketch the plan of the house. The details were a bit sketchy, but it was usable. Banke would need the sketch for her undercover duties in the house. I was still drawing the plan, when my phone began to chirp, I saw a strange number and received it.
Leke: “Hello” I said
Banke: “Mikhail, it is Banke. Sorry, I got your number from my sister”
Leke: “Oh that’s cool. How are you, have you had your dinner?” I asked, turning on my charm.
Banke: “Yes, you?”
Leke: “I have not; will get something to eat out”
Banke: “I could throw something together for you” I refused, but I was glad, she was being caught in the web already.
Leke: “If that is all, I would like to go about my dinner now” I said passively
Banke: “I wanted to tell you that I have accepted your offer to date. I would like us to date” she said
Leke: “Wow I am happy, we are a team now” I said
Banke: “Yes, see you at the office”
Leke: “You work with us now?”
Banke: “Goat, I am coming because of you” she said and hung up. I pumped my fist in the air.
Days after, my relationship with Banke was going well, she was frequenting the office. Nora however, was nowhere to be found, she had not been in the office. I took a risk one afternoon, and went to my former house. Standing outside the fear, a sense of foreboding suddenly came over me, what if someone recognized me, I thought. But I took courage and hammered on the gate. It was a new gate man, so there was no risk of being recognized here.
Gateman: “Who you dey look for?”
Leke: “I am an employee at Fola fashion house, I am here to see Madam Nora” I said in impeccable English. Our former gateman had been a learned man, so he always communicated in clear cut English. This one was quite different and I was soon to find out.
Gateman: “You dey mad ni, who you dey blow oyinbo for, you dey craze?” he flared up and made to bang the gate in my face, but I held the gate.
Gateman: “Oh, so you want to fight your father abi”
Leke: “Na Madam Nora send me, if you no allow me, she go sack you oh” I said because my instincts told me Nora was not at home, she had probably travelled out of the country, following the debacle at the collection launch. He opened the gate a crack and glanced at me from head to toe. He was probably pleased with what he saw, so he flung the gate wide open. I went in tentatively, looking around the place in which I had been born. Not much had changed, the garden was still well kept, and the house had been freshly painted. I felt nostalgic as I walked in through the oak doors into the large living room. The picture of father when he was been interrogated by the police when Mary was attacked flashed in my head, I looked towards the staircase where I had hidden. It felt like it was yesterday. I walked up the stairs to the living area; I turned into my parents’ room. It seemed no one had lived there since mother died. It had the musty smell of a place not lived in. I opened the wardrobe; mother’s things were still intact.
Leke: “Is Nora scared of coming here?” I asked myself, I left the room and walked to my room. I opened the door and peeked inside; it was no longer like the room I left years ago. It seemed that Nora had taken up residence here. I went in and began to rummage through her things. I did not find anything that was note worthy, so I arranged everything as I had seen it, and left. As I descended the stairs, I bumped into iyaBiliki, my eyes widened in shock.
IyaBiliki: “Who you be and wetin you dey do here?” she asked with her hands on her waist in akimbo.
Leke: “I am a staff in Madam Nora’s company” I said and winced as I said this.
IyaBiliki: “Eh eh, na here is office?” she asked and came closer, peering into my face.
Leke: “She asked to get something from her… her” I paused, and remembered that father once had an office in the house, perhaps Nora had converted it to hers, so I took a risk.
Leke: “She asked me to get something from her office” I concluded.
IyaBiliki: “Which office, since oga die, that witch never use that office”
Leke: “She seemed out of it though, since that collection launch” I said fishing for gossip.
IyaBiliki: “What is you talking. Please come and be going you no know wetindem send me” she pushed me towards the door. I almost pushed back and told her that this house belonged to me, but what would I gain, other than destroy my well laid down plans. It was time to bring Banke in. I opened the door and came face to face with Nora.
She was decked in a black jumpsuit and Christian Louboutine shoes. My eyes were wide in shock when I saw her.
Nora: “You are that graphic designer Kunmi talks so much about aren’t you?”
Leke: “Yes ma’am” I stuttered.
Nora: “So what are you doing here?”