The Enemy Within Episode 3
by Madera
I sat there for what seems like forever(head in hands) trying to figure out what it is that could have led to all this. I was lost in my thought. I didn’t even notice my wife emerging from our bedroom with a traveling bag, our newborn baby on her back and Isabella our first child on her other hand. She was heading for the door. My mum quickly jumped on her feet, ‘my daughter where are you going?’ ‘Mama I cannot live under the same roof with this incestuous man….I can’t!’ I ran to her as soon as I heard her voice. ‘Baby please don’t leave me, I swear to you I have had nothing of that nature with your sister, I swear by everything I’ve ever worked for in my entire life’. She was having none of it, her mind was made up, it’s either I leave or she leaves. Even after all the persuasions from my mum. I couldn’t let her pack out of the house. If not for any reason at least for the sake of Isabella my first child.
Isabella was just recuperating from an illness that almost took her life. Thanks to an anonymous blood donor that saved her. How my blood and her mother’s didn’t march hers beats me. It was just a miracle that someone who pleaded to be kept anonymous came up at that time. As much as I was thankful then, I didn’t really care about the person’s identity. At least now my girl is fine and back on her feet. It was for this reason I didn’t want my wife to move out.
I picked up a few cloth and a few other things I might need for the day and the next day which is Sunday. As I was about leaving, my mum flagged me to wait for her. It was as if she has had her stuffs arranged in preparation for a day like this. Everything she has in the house were all by her at the door post. ‘Drop me at the park, I’m heading home’ ‘mama are you too leaving me?’ Let me just say that if there is an award for ‘the most frustrated man’ on that day I doubt there will be a more worthy winner that me. Nothing seems to be going my way at all. ‘I’m not leaving you o Ben, just that I can’t stay in the middle of this chaos. As soon as you figure out all this, you know where to find me but for now, biko drop me at the park’. I didn’t have a single strength in me to argue with her. I simply gathered all her things in the boot and dropped her at Ibadan Park.
I checked into an hotel not very far from my house(about 15minutes drive away). As I was about resting on the bed, Jide’s call came in: ‘Son of a bitch! So trying to take my position at the office is not enough for you ehn? You still have to sleep with my fiancée to the point of getting her pregnant!!! I’ve never liked you from day one……..but for this one you did, you will pay dearly for it’ then he hung up. That day couldn’t have been any worse.
Fast forward to Monday; after it became dawn on me that there is no prank anywhere, everything is for real. I booked a trip to Paris to clear my head. Yeah, I love Paris. My wife and I had our honey moon there. It was her idea though. She calls it the safest place on earth. Since then my appreciation for the place had grown. In fact whenever we wanted to have a baby we go there and before you know it, our baby is here.
It was around past 10 in the morning and I was heading to the airport when a call came in. I didn’t want to pick, I didn’t even want to check out who the caller was but something in me just told me check it. Alas, it was my father in law! What does he want to tell me this time? Maybe a piece of his mind that he didn’t have the chance to fully express. I gathered all the strength I had to pick his call and his voice came in from the other end ‘ hello Ben, where are you? You are late for work already………….’
Yeah, his call came in ‘hello Ben, where are you? You are late for work already. The people from Tade plant have been waiting for you for the past half hour’.
‘What’s going on?’ I thought to myself. Will this man allow me to work in his firm even after everything that happened? Or is he trying to set me up to the point where he can nail me properly? I know I gave Tade plant that appointment for this morning but I have since forgotten about even having a job since Saturday.
I thought I was confused on Saturday, but this one is a whole new level. It’s tempting and dangerous at the same time. It’s like him holding one hand to his back while dangling a whooping N 460, 000 in front of me (yes, that’s how much I receive every month and that is bonuses aside). The lure of having my lucrative job back is tempting, but what other cards does he have to play? I have this strong feeling that something is not right. I have to call my mum.
I put a call through to my mum and expressed my fears but she insisted that I go and make sure I am more careful and detailed with my job at the Gas Plant.
I really haven’t told you much about myself and my job, so let me just brief you a bit about that. In the country today, we have about 7 major distributors of Gas spread across all the regions and my father in law is one of the 7. It is from these 7 in takers that all other gas plants get their supplies. We are one of 2 of such in the entire Southwest. That’s huge right? Imagine all those gas plants and retail oulets in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, some parts of Kwara and Edo getting their supplies from just 2 of us. It’s safe to say that my Father in law is a billionaire.
What’s my job description there? I think it’s important to state here that I am a Chartered Accountant. What I do is very simple. Ensure that I take account of inventories, sales receivables, suppliers credits e.t.c and ensure bank reconciliation is done at the end of each month. Let’s move away from all that accounting jargons before I bore you out.
I was strategically placed in this position by the CEO himself. Knowing full well that I will soon take over at the helm of affairs, this position gives me the vintage position to see through all our dealings and the operations of the firm since all the expenses including salaries go through me. I also co-function as the vetting officer which means I approve all transactions first before it is being carried out. Though I am not a signatory to the account, my office issues all cheques and processes all tellers. In a nut shell I am very important to the firm.
I work with a team of guys who have been at the firm for some years before me. Jide was one of them. He was my assistant. Feelers have it that he had aspirations for my position but for his lack of tact, customer relation and tendency to behave rashly; it was only a matter of time before someone else will be placed ahead of him.
Then came me. He had no qualms (I think). He showed me love, hospitality and the ropes. We gelled seamlessly and I have always relied on his good judgments. He taught me things about the job that would have taken me years to know within months. He introduced me quickly to those outside the firm whose patronage and partnership should not be taken for granted and within a month I was doing my job well.
I give him his space and liberties and I hardly question his work. I was told by my father in law that Jide is the hardest working staff he had ever known. He said the kind of passion for the job he sees in Jide is unparalleled and he advised me to always try to emulate him. Little did he know that things weren’t always as they seem….you’ll never believe what’s coming…….
Well done Opera…nice story.