FALLING IN LOVE IS A CRIME

COMPLICATIONS

    “In today’s news report, the daughter of one of Lagos’ wealthiest industrialists, Gbenga Oladapo, has been confirmed dead in a fatal car accident. The philanthropist’s daughter, Miss Jessica Oladapo, was allegedly under the influence of alcohol before the accident. Our correspondent gathered that she was driving at a speed of over one hundred and thirty kilometers per hour before she had a head-on collision with a truck-load of cement. Forensics are still on the crime scene, and more details about this case will be revealed later,” the reporter on television conveyed.
    Recognizing her daughter’s shooter, Alexa’s father stood up and shouted, “That’s the woman… That’s the woman that shot my daughter.”
“Yes! My God has punished her! Oh, my God of speedy vengeance has proven himself once again. But why? Why did she do this to my beautiful Ada? Jehovah, she didn’t deserve that level of wickedness,” Alexa’s mother cried, holding her head and rolling on the ground.
“I believe Jacob has something to tell everyone here tonight,” Deborah stood up.
“What is it?” Chisom curiously asked.
    Jacob stood still and noticed that everyone’s eyes were on him. As he struggled to retain his balance and not let tears roll down his cheeks, Jacob revealed, “The lady that shot Alexa was Jessica, my ex-girlfriend.”
“And how does that concern my daughter?” Alexa’s father questioned.
“I broke up with her last week, and she thought I was having an affair with Alexa. According to her, if she couldn’t get me, then no one would. I never knew she was coming for Alexa. I didn’t know how she even got her address. I’m really sorry,” Jacob cried profusely.
    Alexa’s mother rose up from the ground and held Jacob’s collar with her hands.
“So you’re responsible for this predicament that befell my family? Are you really that wicked? You have killed my daughter; you must kill me too,” Alexa’s mother exclaimed, dragging Jacob’s collar and shedding tears profusely.
“Madam, leave the young man alone. He had nothing to do with this. This is obviously the fault of a rich psychopath,” Alexa’s father explained.
    Alexa’s mother let go of Jacob and sank into the chair in the reception, with both hands on her head. She was trying to hold back her tears, but more kept flowing down her cheeks. Chisom, with so much pain in his heart, ran out of the hospital.
Alexa’s father stood up and said, “Jacob, I believe you’ve done so much to this family already. It’s time for you to go. You can come another time, but right now, my family is trying to process the intricacy of this situation.”
    With no words to defend himself, Jacob walked to the exit of the hospital. He got a call as he was about to step out. It was an unknown number. He turned back and received a signal from Deborah to record the call. He answered and clicked, “record.”
“Hello. Who is this?” Jacob inquired.
“I believe you just saw the news, Jacob, and I believe you know what will happen next. I put my daughter in your care, and you mismanaged her life. Jacob, I’m not just an industrialist; I’m a family man, and I would do anything for my family and its name. Jacob, I’m coming for you. I will make sure you suffer so much that you would wish you were dead. Even if it means blackmailing you or wasting my whole family’s net worth; I’ll make you suffer,” Jessica’s father, Mr. Gbenga Oladapo, threatened and ended the call.

    The Oladapo’s were one of the biggest family in Lagos. Their wealth was passed on from generations and rumors had it that they controlled a percentage of every successful company in the state. The Oladapo’s were known to be very extravagant, proud and arrogant. The men lived promiscuous lives and the women hardly got married. Jessica was the last and also, the most cherished of Mr. Gbenga’s children.
    Mr. Gbenga was known to the public as a philanthropist; he sponsored many projects that helped the less privileged. He invested in free education and medication for the masses. He was seen as an angel to the public and was highly respected by politicians. Many believed he was only generous because of his political ambitions but nevertheless, no one dared to utter a word.
    There has never been good news of anyone who fell on the bad side of the Oladapo’s. In fact, many disappeared and the media had no coverage on them. While some people believed their lives were taken, others believed the media was bribed not to report any news against the huge family. Overall, the Oladapo’s was a formidable family.

    At this point, Jacob knew he had fallen into something much more worse than chaos. He knew his life and career was about to fall into utter despair but the young man only desired an opportunity to lie his head on a pillow and fall into a deep slumber. It had been a long day and his brain wasn’t ready to think any longer.
    He hailed a bus home and by 10:30pm, he got to his apartment. Reaching his door, he noticed he didn’t lock his apartment. He took a deep sigh, closed his door slightly and sank on his bed. Just when he was trying to make himself comfortable on his pillow, a soft knock resonated from his door.
    “Who is that?” Jacob inquired.
“It’s Joseph,” Jacob’s neighbor answered from the door.
“Come in, it’s not locked,” Jacob invited.
    Joseph entered with a bottle of red wine and two glasses. He made his way to Jacob’s couch and placed the items he had brought on Jacob’s mini table. He filled both glasses with wine and offered Jacob a glass. Jacob sat upright, quickly sipped the whole glass without hesitation, and dropped the glass on the table.
    “I saw the way you ran out this evening. Anything wrong?” Joseph inquired, while placing his own glass of wine on the table; untouched.
“Yeah, it was an emergency. A good friend of mine got admitted to the hospital,” Jacob answered.
“Is it that bad?”
“Yeah… She fell into a coma, lost a lot of blood, and stuff like that.”
“Geez, that’s horrible.”
“Man, I’m tired. Thanks for the wine. I’m feeling sleepy. We’ll talk tomorrow, and please lock the door on your way out,” Jacob settled onto his pillow once again.
“No problem, man,” Joseph made his way out of Jacob’s apartment with his wine and the two glasses.

    Since when Osas left, Joseph became extremely close to Jacob. Joseph was Jacob’s next-door neighbor and was an ardent hustler. Unlike Jacob, Joseph only had a high school degree and had to take like two to three jobs to make ends meet.
    Joseph’s history was unclear to everyone in the neighborhood but he had once explained that his family was in the village and wanted to give them the best life. Aside from that, nobody knew anything more about this personality.

    Jacob was woken up the next morning by the sound of police sirens whirring around his residence. As he got out of bed, he noticed a gun in his apartment and blood on his hands. Before he could comprehend the situation, a group of five armed policemen burst into his room.
    “Hands in the air!” the commanding police officer yelled.
“Officer, what is happening here?” Jacob questioned, raising his hands over his head.
“We have received a report from an anonymous person that a tenant has been shot to death in this residence. Our sources revealed that the owner of this room was the perpetrator of this act of murder. Seeing the murder weapon here and blood on your hands, we believe our source was right,” the commanding officer explained.
“What? But who died? I don’t remember killing anyone. In fact, I would never do that!” Jacob protested.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do here will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and if you can’t afford one, the court will provide one for you,” the commanding officer said.
    With thoughts and fear coursing through his veins, Jacob reluctantly surrendered and was cuffed immediately. Held by the police and on his way out of his apartment, he noticed the homicide that happened to his neighbor, Femi. While he was trying to figure out what happened, he couldn’t help but face the reality of the situation.