CrossRoads

Chapter 14

Twinkle
"Am really glad you're here. I literally almost died of boredom"

"Yeah. But you said you're going to see Daniel. How come you didn't go?" Stacy ask

"I wish there's a reasonable reason. Dad said Twinkle we have a visitor, you stay at home" I try mimicking Dad's voice

"Ohhh, the car I saw going out on my way in. It looked familiar sha, like da...." she stops halfway

"Like da... Continue na"

"Nah it's nothing. I think I saw wrong" she continues.
"But the atmosphere looked so tense when I came in. I greeted your parents but they didn't give me an answer"

"I don't really know oh. When Dad saw the visitor, he looked shocked. Mum had confusion written all over her. The man said something weird to me and Dad sent me to my room. I didn't get to catch up on anything. Wait" I stand from the bed.
"I have an idea"

"No, no, no. I don't like the sound of that. Your ideas always ends in disaster."

"Come on. This time, it's a full proof plan. Let's go listen in on their conversation. Am sure they're talking about the visitor."

"No. Am not part of this" she nods her head.

"Don't be so stiff na. Make room for fun. I'm actually curious now. Dad hasn't come upstairs and he isn't in the sitting room either. So is Dora. Let's go check Dora's room." I drag her by the hands.

"Stop saying Dora. Try Mom"

"Nah that's too...... Somehow".

Festus
"How does he know me? What permission and signature is he talking about? Why is he thankful to Twinkle? What's going on Festus?"

What should I tell her. Is there no way to avoid this now?
"We'll talk about this later Dora. I have work to attend to".

"Work can wait. No more later. You're gonna explain everything to me now. Twinkle's surgery, this man and whatever secrets you're keeping from me."

Am trapped. I have no choice but to tell her the truth. But she's going to be devastated, and if Twinkle finds out she's gonna hate me.
"I met Mr Smith at a hospital. I was working as a cleaner there and his daughter was admitted as a patient."
I clear my throat.
"I was cleaning the room his daughter was staying in when I overheard his conversation with the doctor. The girl needed a liver transplant but there was no donor available. The hospital has a list of people that needs a donor. So even when there was a donor, it was given to the patient who came before them".

I stop for a while and walk towards the window.
"I approached him and offered to help"

"Help, How?" she ask

"I told him I have a daughter that was same age as his. We made an agreement that he would give me 15millon in exchange for one of our daughter's liver"

She slips slowly to the ground from where she's standing. This is what i was avoiding. The pain she's going through now.

"But he needed to see you, to be really sure you were in party to this plan. I told him I'll get your signature as proof, but he'll need to pay part of the money first. He paid 5millon, but assigned some men to watch my movement, in case I try to run away."

"This explains why you came back. I thought it was because you genuinely cared for me, for your daughter as you said. Oh..."
She puts her left hand over her mouth.
"This was how you got the 1millon you gave me for my treatment. I was so stupid to have thought you won the lottery as you said. Wait, I know how you got my signature. It was that paper you gave me to sign, claiming it was proof of our agreement. I didn't bother to read it through because I trusted you. Why Festus, why."

I can see the tears rolling down her cheeks, but I have to tell her everything. I've already started
"I couldn't tell you that I wanted to donate her liver, I knew you wouldn't agree. So I decided to strike the deal. I give you 1millon for your treatment and you'll give our daughter to me. You wouldn't ask or come looking for her. Mr Smith took care of her living expenses till she was 5 years old. That's when the doctor recommended that the surgery takes place."

"Why, why did you do this." she tries to shout but her sobs overshadows her pitch.

"It looked so perfect, as though God arranged it all. You were sick, and needed money for your treatment. And I also, needed money to stand in life. So i saw it as killing two birds with one stone. After all, children are blessings right? So I felt that that was her blessing to us."

"Stop trying to justify your actions, stop giving excuses and trying to paint yourself as right." she stands and wipes her face.
"You let your greed for money cloud your reasoning. I missed out on 15years of my daughter's life because of you. How could you subject a little child to such pain. If they could wait 3years for her to turn 5 before doing the transplant, why couldn't they wait till it got to their turn on the hospital's list"

"That would take more than 3years of waiting. And I couldn't just stand by and watch that little girl suffer in pain" I try holding her hands.

"Don't you dare touch me. Since when did you care so much about strangers? How could you keep this from me all this while."
She tries screaming.
"What else are you keeping from me, tell me everything"

Yes this is the best opportunity, I should tell her this too.
"Twinkle, she's....... "

Dora
"Why did you stop" these are the words I'm about to utter. But I already know why.
Twinkle is standing at the door, staring blankly without any definite expression.
"Twinkle" I try running after her but Festus goes ahead of me.
It's happening again, my legs are too weak. I can't seem to walk anymore. Am on the floor right now, crawling with my legs and stomach, like a child. I barely manage to reach for my drugs, not only my legs but my heart too is weak.