TREACHEROUS ORDEAL

CHAPTER 8

After the meeting with Pastor Desmond, Mike was looking forward to the next week.  He couldn't wait to have someone come get him out of where he is.  

Mike began to keep tabs on every passing hour to know how far the day is spent. Well,  he didn't have a means to check the clock, instead, he guessed what the time was at every passing hour.  

Interesting enough, he was often close to being corrected.  He maintains using 'hour' to define his time. He kept tabs till he completed the twelfth one for the day and as early as six the next morning, when the alarm rings, he continues. 

The day Mike has been eagerly waiting for finally came. It was Monday. He could neither eat nor communicate with his fellow inmates.  His mind was fixated on seeing a warden call him out to the visitors area.  

He waited all day. From assuring himself that the pastor would be around in the next one hour, to the next hour and continuously till it was midnight. There was no sign of his presence.  

He couldn't sleep. He was wondering what could have stopped the man from visiting as promised. 

"Did he think I lied?" 

"What could have stopped him?!!", He yelled almost in tears.  

"But he called himself a pastor.  Why should a man who called himself a Man of God give me such hope only to disappoint me...? God, I want to d!e! Let me die!!", he couldn't hold it any longer, he broke down. 

Bola woke-up and comforted him. He understood how painful it was to be disappointed after being given the hope that you'd soon be freed. During his first year, a group of men visited and promised to help him out. They visited almost everyday with two lawyers only to back off at the heat of the event.  

He could remember how devastated he was. It took him days to get over the pain. However, he is still hoping that, one day, he'd be lucky enough to be vindicated. He isn't expecting it soon, though.  

The whole week came to an end and pastor Desmond was not seen. Mike has just learnt to stop depending on humans as the possibility of being disappointed is usually on the high.  

He had thoughtful moments calculating the chain of delivery of each disappointment that led him to where he is.  He couldn't disagree with the fact that his first boss trusted him just as he trusted his wife. Enough to have allowed him work for him even in his absence.  

What did he do? Defiled the man's matrimonial bed. The first may not have been his fault as he wasn't conscious but other times he did it with her were by his choice. 

"I take the blame. Lord, I'm sorry... This is too much for me!", he wept.  

The next was the lady he trusted, Jennifer, who is the reason behind why he is in prison. 

"I trusted her to have given her my phone. I thought we were friends. I never did anything wrong to her,  why did she choose to do this to me?

"I don't think she meant any harm, maybe it just didn't turn out the way she expected. But... wait, she turned off her phone for days. Why would she do that if it wasn't intentional?

"What am I saying?  What if this is just Karma reciprocating my unkind actions to Mr. Patrick by getting down with the mother of his children?

"What if Karma doesn't exist?

"What if it's just a mere coincidence and all I should think off at moment is how to spend the rest of my life in this hellhole?",

Mike couldn't stop agonising.  

Mr. Olumide's child will be two years old in two weeks. The innocent baby and her mother survived Jennifer's impotent treats and wishes.  Mr. Olumide, sometimes took a quiet look at his family, wondering what could have been if Mike had not been imprisoned following the threatening message he sent to his wife.  

"God has a way of doing things. He revealed the intention of the enemy to us before the agent of darkness(Mike) could carry it out."

It still hasn't occurred to him that something could have gone wrong. Well, anyone would be happy that a threat to his family is behind bars and won't be a cause for any worry.  

As for Jennifer, she disposed of her previous SIM card and purchased another. Somehow, the news about Mike's detainment got to her two months after he was put behind bars awaiting trial. She relocated to AkwaIbom State to avoid being apprehended. 

Well, at the moment, she's currently working at a popular restaurant in the town with a good pay. She seemed very comfortable and had no reason to think about her past nor consider returning to Lagos.  

"Life happens. For me, I think Mike was just a casualty of war between madam Janet and I. I feel so sorry for him but what can I do?  He's gone... gone for good. Life has moved on." 

She narrated to her colleague. 

"You're right o, my sister.  If it was the other way round, would he have bothered to think about if you're alive or not in the prison? I don't know why you're worrying about someone who set you up against your madam and made her sack you. He deserves what you did and more", his colleague supported her. 

Jennifer had told her that Mike was responsible for her being ousted while he stayed to enjoy all the privileges they all enjoyed while working together. 

"He manipulated that pregnant woman not to like me and it worked for him. I had forgiven him until I met him at the market that day and decided to have my own pound of flesh, but I still feel sorry for him. I don't know if he's still alive..."

"My sister forget it and move on...", her colleague advised and left the kitchen.  

On the other hand, a big customer had previously approached Jennifer, in admiration of her culinary skills, he offered her a job at their head office in Lagos. Now this man heads an organisation within the town where Jennifer works. Jennifer has been the one supplying them with food from Mondays to Fridays, at twelve noon.  

He offered her a salary of two hundred and fifty thousand naira with furnished accommodation if she'd agree to serve him in Lagos as he's about to be transferred there.  

Well,  regardless of what led Jennifer out of Lagos,  she wouldn't let this life-changing opportunity slide. She accepted. All she has to do is to avoid visiting any where she is recognized in Lagos.  

In a few weeks, all roads lead to Lagos. She was conveyed to the head office in a special staff bus along with others while the operations manager, who was on transfer, rode in a black Toyota Venza.