Remember To Forget

42

Matthew

The moment Jonathan had called up Matthew's name he was not only suprised. He was honoured.

He hadn't realize he would be involved in the task, so he had made up an excuse to leave with his husband but Jonathan had stopped him and given him an exquisite job.

"You guys will be going to my daughter's school. We need to rule out every possibility. If Lawrence is watching the school, he doesn't know who you guys are and that's a nice element of surprise." He had spoken with no sting of request.

Matthew had accepted with no grudge, though Laura wasn't his biological daughter. He remembered when Sandra had informed him she had adopted a little girl who couldn't remember her name. It hadn't been the craziest thing he had ever heard. He had rained insults on her and discouraged her but she ignored him and Matthew was glad she did.

His heart held so much regret to the fact that he never got the chance to be a good father to his two beautiful daughters. His sexuality had taken alot of things from him and he hated it. He was gay and bold about it.

His country rejected his choice so he had left but his actions towards his family was his choice and he wanted to make it all better.

He never met Laura untill today and he never experienced Lola's growth but the women they had become made him so proud.

Ola had insisted to accompany him, the topic wasn't up for discussion as soon as Ola made himself comfortable in his car.

They drove off, guided by the direction Sandy had given to them.

It took them ten minutes to get to Katherine's school despite a little traffic.

"Okay, I'll go in. You stay in the car okay. If you see anything strange just call me." Matthew unbuckled his seat belt then stepped out of his car, he moved into the school quick enough to avoid an argument with Ola.

The school had a big playground, the security guard let him in when he gave them the passcode for Katherine. Apparently every child had it. He walked into a wide colorful hallway but got confused with the amount of demarcations and staircase.

He asked a teacher for the headmistress office. The teacher had a British accent which didn't surprise Matthew. The school was elegant and exclusive.

He walked to the headmistress's office, he met the secretary at first.

"Good afternoon sir, please how can I help you?"

"Afternoon dear, I'm here to see the headmistress about a student."

"Okay, the headmistress is quite busy, but which student?"

"Katherine Chidi."

"That's strange. Her driver has taken her home already. Apparently there's a family emergency and she had to leave early."

"Ah shit!" In a way Matthew hoped it would be a lie. His job was to speak to the headmistress but he had just hoped there was a bluff somewhere.

"Okay can I see the headmistress anyway? Please don't tell me she's busy because there's a possibility Katherine has been kidnapped. So please I need to see her now." Ever since Matthew joined a prescribed therapeutic yoga class he had dropped a chain on his anger issue but he could feel it slip up.

"Oh Jesus! This way sir." The young lady beside the polished desk didn't waste any moment to lead Matthew into her boss's office.

The next sound that came after her hastened heels in the tiled floor was a shirek. Her shrill outcry rang across the school hall along side the school's last bell of the day.

She ran to her boss whose arms were tied behind her chair and her mouth slapped shut with a celotape across it.

Matthew pulled the celotape away, he tried to wake the unconscious woman.

"Will you shut the hell up and call the damn ambulance!" Matthew screamed at the receptionist who thought apologizing and begging her unconscious boss was prior to saving her life.

Some teachers gathered at the entrance, all of them in shock, one of them fainted which made Matthew roll his eyes.

He shook the headmistress's shoulders but her body still fell limp. Someone passed him a bottle of water which he poured around her face. He sighed in frustration and returned the bottle water to the thoughtful individual who turned out to be Ola.

Matthew had not expected him to stay in the car for too long but it still pissed him off.

Unnecessary suggestions from the teachers and a series of eye rolls from Matthew later, Mrs. Bolaji moved her head slightly. She opened her eyes with a groan.

What's happening, she thought as Matthew pushed everybody out of the office.

"She needs some air. Get out!" After they left, he and Ola untied her and gave her some water to drink.

"Are you okay?" Ola asked her.

"Yes, i think so," she took another drink of water then she jumped in shocked recognition. "The man.. a gun..he was here.. he made me do it! He took Katherine. He is a mad man o! I'm going to loose my job!"

"Relax, we are relatives of Katherine. Tell us what happened so we can help please?" Matthew gestured for her to sit.

"The driver is a mad man. He came in here, pulled out a gun and threatened me. He made me call Jonathan that his daughter was missing and it was a lie. He was getting orders from another man on the phone who had told him to wait till school closed officially. Later on he said he was tired of waiting then he put a celotape over my mouth then he.... I can't seem to remember the rest. I think that's when he knocked me out. I'm so sorry, I tired I swear." She began to cry hysterically.

Matthew wanted to ask more questions but he held back when he saw how her hands vibrated and her face paled when she stopped talking.

"I'm really sorry about what happened to you. I assure you, you won't loose your job. I will tell Jonathan the truth. The ambulance would be here soon. I'm sorry to leave but I need to make an important call." He consoled her with a hug then he and ola opened the door to let the amebo teachers who were caught evesdropping.

Matthew's feet moved fast and angry. He searched for Jonathan's number on his iPhone. It rang once then Jonathan picked. He was outside the school building when he ended his summary.

"The bastard tired to play us. He just took her from the school. If we had come here earlier, we would have Katherine. The nurse was threatened..." Jonathan had hung up before Matthew could vindicate the headmistress.

When he got to car, he was suprised to see Ola in the driver's seat.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Get the hell out!" Matthew didn't have the time for a lover's spat which he knew Ola was very much prepared for.

He cursed at his husband as he moved to the front seat, "You had no right to do that! That's fucking stupid!" He screamed but Ola just nodded then ignited the car and drove off.

A few minutes later, Matthew's anger seem to loosened up and Ola still hadn't said a word to him.

Matthew looked out the window then sighed, "I'm sorry for shouting. I know I wasn't in the right state of mind to drive. I just hate all this BS."

"I understand. I know you want to prove to everyone that you're a changed person but don't ever loose yourself in the process. Moreover I know who you are and I love you anyway." Ola spoke calmly with his sight on the road all through. "Nigeria road be crazy man." He said as a bike man swore at him.

Matthew laughed at how Ola apologized to the bike man even though he wasn't at fault. "Thank you baby, I love you too. Just ignore them."

"So what's the plan now, Jonathan never told us what to do afterwards?"

Mathew thought for a while, "I know a guy, he sells ammunition. We need guns. I hope he still stays at his usual spot though."

"What do we need guns for?"

Matthew retrieved his dealer's number then grinned, "We are going to war baby."