KISS OF BETRAYAL

Chapter-13

Lily stared at the squad at her door. There was a state of total cacophony in front of her apartment at No. 1 College Road. Her palms felt wet grasping her bag, though there was a little chill to the weather that morning. Maybe the chill came from her experience that day. She curiously glanced at the Police Van as she approached warily. A battered, rough looking man on handcuffs, was being relentlessly questioned by a Policeman. A little crowd was gathered and muttering incomprehensibly in subdued tones, giving the conversations a buzz-like ring to it. A baby was crying somewhere, throwing off the low guttural chaos. Her neighbor, Ijeoma was earnestly speaking with a Policeman, with her phone jammed to her ear. Just what the hell was going on? Then Ijeoma turned and saw her. She ran to Lily, looking flustered.

"Lily! Hey thank God." Ijeoma said, hugging her.

Lily was yet to understand why she was thanking God.

"Nne, what happened?" Ijeoma asked breathlessly, leading her to one of the Policemen.

"Huh? Shouldn't I be the one asking?" Lily replied, following her.

She quickly glanced at the handcuffed, hefty man, when he gestured towards her with a head movement.
Then it came to her, the hit man! She dropped her bag and rushed to where he was. 

"How much did she pay you? How much? How much can be compared to a human life? Tell me!" Lily screamed hysterically, pounding his chest with each question.

A hushed silence had descended on the crowd and a Policeman tried to tear her away from the man.

"We need to take a statement from you," One of the Policemen said, after Lily had mustered some semblance of self control.
"We also need to see the Lady that allegedly asked him to kill you." 

Lily stared at the Policeman. Despite what Flora did to her, she simply couldn't bring herself to arrest Flora. But what needed to be done, must be done. She took out her phone and dialed Iyke's number, briefing him on the recent development.

Minutes later, a car weaved its way through the crowd of people and pulled up in front of the house. All the neighbours were there, curious passersby had stopped to grab on some juicy bits of information and of course pass their own judgements. Nobody wanted to be left out on the latest gist.

Chris stepped out from the driver's side, bringing his powerful masculine aura with him. Iyke jumped out, dragging a now subdued Flora with him. After the introduction, a Policeman suggested the statement would best be taken in the Police station, away from prying eyes. Chris agreed calmly, struggling to contain the rage he felt at himself the moment he finished watching that video. God! He couldn't even look at Lily. She stood motionless against her door, with four other ladies around her. He ached to hold her, until all the sadness melted away. Nobody had any right to make Lily sad again, she had seen enough grief to last her a life time. Flora was bundled into the van together with her accomplice, who continued staring darts at her. If only these people would grant him few minutes reprieve from the handcuffs, he wanted to strangle the bitch, so he would be sure of why he was going to prison.

Chris drove Lily and Iyke to the Police station, following the Police Van. There was high tension and deathly silence in the car. Iyke tried to ease the tension by telling jokes which only him, laughed to. He finally gave it up and plugged on his headset. They can kill each other if they liked.

Lily watched Chris from the corner of her eyes. She had politely declined his request to sit in the front seat with him and rejected Iyke's offer to keep her company at the back seat. She preferred to stay alone with her thoughts. He drove like he did everything else, with ease and mastery.

Then she closed her eyes. She was not feeling sleepy, her mind was whirling so fast she couldn't hold a single thought in it. Her mind, oblivious to the present as she wandered through happier times, were intent on the good memories. Dad had told her that one day, she would find a man who would love her like he did and she must keep herself for him. Then he made mention of when he would be no more, which Lily refuted had even before the words left his mouth. Then he proceeded to tell her what a real man should be, so she wouldn't give her heart to someone who would break it. He had said that Lily was everything he had in the world and she must imbibe the right principles to live a successful life. He had tirelessly worked on her and built her into the confident, self sufficient woman she had become. He had carried her on his back when she got sick and those callused palms dabbed her sweaty, feverish brows. When she had asked what her mother was like, he had said she was exactly like her. Conscientious, tender, confident and very smart. She remembered staring at the picture of the beauty queen that was her mother at each memorial service, which also turned out to be her birthday. She owed her very life to her father.
Was Chris the man he talked about? Or one of the clouds he said would come before the real substance appeared?

She glanced at the Adonis commandeering the steering. The early morning sun carved his powerful features. His deeply set intelligent eyes blinked softly, as hands with long, pretty fingers, guided his car along the roughly tarred road. A pink tongue came out to moisten his small lips and his brows creased with concentration. Lily's heart flipped with pride. He had emerged the best graduating student in the department of Accountancy and was well versed in politics, literature and the likes. He was a hard worker and very principled. In fact, he was practically every woman's dream and Lily still couldn't understand what he saw in her. Her mind wandered off again to the good memories, of Chris splashing ice cream on her lips and insisting he must lick his ice cream. That was the very first time she let any man that close, the memory left her feeling a little flustered. Jeez...he still did that to her. Then there was the time she was awarded the most enterprising student of the year at School. Chris had stood beside her, looking very proud, he had congratulated her with an iPhone6. He had taken her to every social function he attended and driven her to and fro the National Library, when she was doing a research. And yet, he respected her personal tenets, since they meant a lot to her. He never did anything sexually suggestive. Sometimes she felt really frustrated with that, she needed to know that she affected him, as a woman. It hurt her pride to have him functioning  around her so calmly. Those were the best years of her life, she never thought they would end. Then suddenly, he walked out of her life without explanation or apologies.

"We are here," Iyke announced needlessly, jumping out of the vehicle, to open Lily's door. Lily thought he really didn't need to do that gentleman stuff. She smiled faintly and muttered a thank you. Lily hated Police stations. She couldn't imagine herself leaving Flora there. Would they agree to a bail? Flora's threats at Iyke came flooding her mind, she shook her head. No, she was better off behind bars. The best she could do was to get her a lawyer if it ever came to that. Though she personally wasn't pressing charges, she wasn't sure Iyke felt that benevolent. They were soon done with the statements and a screeching Policewoman led both "criminals" to their respective cells. They called it, "attempted murder." Flora followed obediently with her head down, her shoulders sagged in defeat and hair falling over her face. Her skin was red where it was cuffed and she looked spent. Bulldog continued calling her all the names he could remember, a voice screamed at him to shut up. Lily stared at her baby. She hesitated. Was she doing the right thing? Flora acted out of desperation, she deserved to be happy too, she had been through a lot. A hand rested on her back, gently urging her towards the door. She recoiled from it. She didn't want Chris to touch her or even come around her. She battled tears as he drove her home, the silence in the car was oppressive and deafening. Most of the crowd had dispersed, but neighbours still lurked around and the latecomers were hearing from people who were not even sure of what was really happening. They made a dramatic oh and ah in the right places, plus a lot of tufiakwa to Flora. The car pulled up, Lily barely waited for it to stop before bursting out. She raced to the backyard to enter her apartment through the window, same way she left. It was over, she wanted to be left alone.

To be continued...