Mended Hearts – Episode 7

Mended Hearts – Episode 7

© Jennifer Godwin

Kenny just stepped into the elevator thinking of how busy he was going to be throughout that week, he will try to adjust and create time for Mara, he lost Brenda because of his busy schedules and he wouldn’t want that to repeat itself with Mara, he loves her with all his heart and he will have to meet with Funmi.

He got close to his office, saw Funmi already seated with her hands on her jaw lost in thought, she didn’t even acknowledge his presence.

“What is wrong Funmi?” he asked keeping his briefcase on top of the table, there is this magnet that draws him closer to her, he had met her earlier last year, he had closed for the day already and was heading home when the gateman stopped him and told him that a certain young lady was looking for him. He got down from the car, entered the security house to see the person, she had insisted to see him and no other person. She had cried and sobbed telling him how much she needed a job, he pitied her and made her his secretary although it took her sometime before she learnt how to type quickly. He sees her as his younger sister even though he was just a year older than her. “what is the problem Funmi? please talk to me” he said sitting close to her.

“Am fine sir, I just have a slight headache but I will be fine” she said not wanting to share her problems with him.

“Funmi listen to me” he began, “don’t see me as your boss or employer now, instead see me as your big brother and tell me what the problem is”.

” sir it is not really a big deal, I had a small argument with my mom at home this morning over an old family feud” she said still not feeling comfortable confiding in him.

“Funmi you know how dramatic mothers can be, they can be annoying sometimes, all you have to do is to settle everything with her once you get home” he said feeling relieved that it is nothing huge.

“Okay sir, thanks for your concern” she said smiling.

“anytime Funmi, and please get me my schedules for this week, we will have to do some amendments” he said stepping into his office.

Agness stepped into the hotel and moved towards the lounge/eatery, she wondered why Funmilayo chose such an expensive hotel, she finally called, who knows what she has in her mind right now. she saw her seated at the extreme sipping something that couldn’t been from the entrance.

“Funmilayo you called?” she asked immediately she sat down. “have you ordered anything?” what would you like to eat?” she continued while sitting down.

Funmilayo sneered, so she is here to flaunt Johnson’s money, she wants to show her that she has money, she wants to rub it in her face, rubbish, money meant for her (Funmilayo) and the twins is what this foolish woman wants to lavish, fine then, she will help her spend the money and that was why she picked Immaculate Royal Hotels knowing how expensive it will be, she sneered again.

“I want rice, salad, fried plantain, with chicken lap, also add an exotic wine with chicken pepper soup” she said still sipping the juice she ordered not minding the stares she got from the waiter and Agness.

“Are you sure you can finish all of that?” Agness asked watching her closely.

“That is not why I called you here Agness,” she barked bringing out a brown envelope and dropped it on the table, “check the content” she ordered.

Agness picked up the envelope wondering what was inside, it wasn’t until she opened it that she let out a muffled shocking scream, “how di… d.. you fi..nd her?” she asked covering her mouth with her palm.

“you think you can play with me Agness, you were ordered to ki*ll her 26 years ago but you didn’t, you let her live” she said getting angry “why didn’t you ki*ll her?” she continued “oh you thought that would make Johnson love you? common Agness you were a housemaid to him and that is what you will always be, forget the fact that you have a child for him, I don’t know how it happened and I don’t care to know because once am done with you, not only will you be thrown out of his house, you will be long forgotten” she paused and continued immediately “Johnson once loved me, and I know he still feel something for me and it will grow once he finds out about his twins” she said grinning wildly.

“You had twins for him” Agness asked surprised.

“yes, and we will take over everything he has by the time am done with my plan” she said enjoying the shocked look on her face, she was still giggling when a figure passed her and made his way towards the restroom, she opened her eyes in shock, that face that she can never forget even after 26 years, that wicked bas***d.

“Now if you would excuse me, I have other important issues to attend to Mrs Johnson” she smirked walking away towards the male restroom.

___

Kenny drove like a mad man, he had gotten a call from his father telling him to come home immediately, he prayed silently while he drove that nothing should happen to his father.

He honked loudly and repeatedly for Adamu their gateman to open the gate, “that lazy dude, am sure he will be asleep” he said hitting his hand on the steering. immediately the gate flung open he drove in giving Adamu a death stare.

“Oga kwenny, kai I kwome back early today wetin happen kwo?” the gateman asked closing the gate.

“Adamu I will deal with your case later” he hissed not bothering to correct him on the wrong pronunciation of his name, he had been doing that since his father employed him but he never gets it right.

“Dad what happened?” he asked rushing into the living room only to find his father sitting hopelessly on the sofa. His heart missed a beat, ” Dad please talk to me” he said shaking his father softly.

“Mr Kehinde is dead” his father said not moving an inch from where he was seated.

“What?” Kenny shouted not masking his shock. Mr Kehinde has been his father’s best friend and business partner for long and his death will really take a toll on him, “but how? where? when? why?” Kenny asked still trying to think of what could have led to his death.

“He was found lying dead yesterday night on the floor of the restroom at Immaculate Royal Hotels with a fork stabbed deeply into his neck” his father said closing his eyes.

” Oh my god,” Kenny gasped covering his mouth in shock

__

Brenda sat in the living room playing word cookies on her phone, a game that can keep her glued to her phone the whole day without she remembering to cook. she did not go to the shop today because she needed to rest and moreover, her sales girls could take proper care of her shop even in her absence. she smiled, she can never forget the things Kenny did for her and she will always be grateful to him, it was sad that things went down the drain between them.

“Brenda, is it that you are not cooking tonight or it is not yet time to prepare dinner” Felicia said eyeing her daughter.

Brenda sighed, ever since she cheated on Kenny which later led to their breakup, her mother has been bitter with her, finding fault in everything she did, she had even invited the guy she cheated on Kenny with to their house to make his intention of getting married to her known but her mother won’t still hear of it. she met Kingsley at a bar on one of those days Kenny travelled to India, she was lonely and bored and Kingsley came at the right time, he was equally rich but not as rich as Kenny but she was still okay with him, he owns a big restaurant in town, it was not all about money and gifts, she needed company and a friend but Kenny never gave her any of those, it wasn’t her fault that she fell in love with Kingsley, he gave her everything Kenny didn’t give her, he was always travelling.

“Will you stand up from there and go to the kitchen” Felicia barked.

“What is wrong Felicia? why are you shouting at her? someone asked from the doorway.

” Margaret, are you okay?, do you need your drugs? ” Felicia asked rushing to hold her.

“Am fine feli, I just woke up from sleep, you know I will be visiting the hospital tomorrow so I need all the rest I can get” she said sitting down.

“Alright Margaret if you need anything let me know, and Johnson will be here tomorrow to take us to the hospital” she said looking at the other woman.

“I don’t want to see Johnson, I have told him that I don’t know who he is but he won’t stop coming around” she said squeezing her face.

“Common Margaret, Johnson is a nice man if you get to know him you will agree with me” she said joining her on the sofa.

“for the past eight years that he has been coming around, I have been shoving him away but he never listened to me, he is so persistent, I have tried to remember something about him, even if it is little but my head is blank and he wouldn’t still let me be” Margaret said holding her head in her hand.

“How can he let you be when he is your husband? Johnson is your husband Margaret” she said trying hard not to remember what happened 26 years ago.

“What did you just say?” Margaret asked holding her head, her head was hurting her badly and she was feeling dizzy, her eyes started spinning “Joh..n..son is… is…” that was the last thing she said before she passed out.

Funmilayo sat down lost in thought, she was feeling happy, angry and surprised/confusion at the same time. she was happy that Kehinde had been killed, angry that she didn’t get the chance to ki*ll the bas***d herself, and surprised/confused at who could have killed him. She had gone to the restroom intending to scare him a bit but found him sprawled on the floor of the restroom dead with a fork stabbed deep into his neck. His killer must be very angry with him because it was an eye sore, she cringed as a picture of his corpse came to her mind, “well, Kehinde is out of the picture all thanks to the killer, Williams is now the next target” she said grinning.

Her phone rung almost immediately, she answered it nervously, “Yes nurse, what is it?” she asked giving the person at the other end to speak. “she collapsed because someone reminded her of the past?” she asked wanting to be sure, “This time around Nurse, make sure you give her enough dosage, don’t give her space at all” she said plastering her face with a sinister smile.

___

Mr Williams was sitting outside at the balcony when two young men came to see him, ever since the death Kehinde, he has been lost in thought, he feels so withdrawn. if only Kehinde had listened to his piece of advice when he was still alive all these things wouldn’t be happening now.

“Good day sir, am is inspector James from the police station headquarters at Okigwe road” the young man said trying to get Mr Williams’ attention, “and this is Gabriel from the forensic department” he said pointing at the other young man.

“You are welcome young men how may I help you?” he asked even though he knew why they came.

“Sir we are investigating the death of Mr Kehinde Segun, the owner of “SOPRACO” and sons, and we have the information that you were the last person he called on phone before he gave up the ghost ” the young man concluded.

“Yes, i got a call from him that night but I didn’t hear a thing, he was trying hard to tell me something but he didn’t say it.” he answered shaking like a leaf.

“We took the fork that he was stabbed with to the forensic department and we discovered that it is the hotel’s fork which means that the murderer came to eat at the restaurant too” he explained further.

“But I have one question to ask, how did he get killed like that? with just a fork?” Mr Williams asked the question that had been bothering him.

“After we carried out our investigations, we found out that he had too much to drink, but that’s not all, we also found out that he was hit with something at the back of his head before he was stabbed” Gabriel spoke for the first time.

“No finger print was found, he was killed perfectly with a fork, that means his killer is not just an ordinary killer,for he/she to mask the finger print and also stab him deep with a fork, the person has been killing people before now” Inspector James completed.

“Mr Williams gasped, how was he going to tell them that he knew who the killer was, that it was Kehinde’s fault that he got killed, that Kehinde was not who the society thought he was, and that he (Williams) knew about everything yet he didn’t report to the authority. No he won’t tell them anything, it will tarnish the image of his friend, he concluded.

“Here is my complimentary card sir, if you remember anything he told you on that night, please give me a call, you are our only hope ” James said dropping his complimentary card.

“No problem inspector, I will give you a call right away” he said feeling relieved that they will be on their way soon.

“What do you think about his statement?” Gabriel asked immediately they were outside the compound.

“Am a police man Gabriel and I know when someone is hiding something, that man has an information he is keeping a secret, it is my duty as an officer of the law to find out and I will soon know what it is. “the next place we will visit will be Mr Kehinde’s office” James said having a feeling that he was been watched, the hairs on his neck stood giving him a creepy feeling yet he shrugged it off, “nothing could possibly go wrong” he muttered before driving off.

To be continued

 

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