Please Break My Heart E34 – 35 by Tomi Adesina

Please Break My Heart E34 by Tomi Adesina

“I am ready for you, Subomi…Ready! Ready!! Ready!!!” I chanted as I washed in the bathroom. I slid carefully into the tub and ‘drowned’ in my thoughts. In less than 24 hours I was going to be seeing Wednesday. As the clock ticked, my heart raced in accordance. Wednesdays, to me, used to be my ‘I can’t wait’ day of the week; it was in between all the hassles of work. Nothing in particular to ‘torment me’ on my Wednesdays. Mondays would bring the heavy duties, and Tuesdays followed suit. Wednesday is always neutral, but tomorrow didn’t seem neutral, it felt like ‘Make or Break’.
                I soothed myself to some music by Marc Anthony…for all the right and wrong reasons. I stepped out of the tub and let the water drip from my body as I walked into my room. I had sent myself into some sort of ‘trance’. I wanted to feel great. As I wiped my body, I fell back into thoughts of my victory over a popular chatter box at Law school, Madison Taylor.
                                “Darlene Williams is making us believe that Frank Terrence has nothing to do with the murder of Howard Smith, but we all know that Frank Terrence had threatened the Late Howard Smith outside the Campus lane for not helping him with the Final year exam papers. A threat on Howard Smith’s life eventually led to his death after Frank Terrence failed his final papers, who else would have done that?”
                I wanted to eat Madison like a club sandwich. She had just spoken like a rookie with no experience. Even though we were all rookies, but you know those rookie-rookies. That’s my term though… Professor Dean stared at us. Even before I stepped up I wanted to hit her for such a lame point.
                                “Over to you, Ms. Williams.” Professor Dean said.
                I smiled confidently. “It is true that Frank Terrence threatened the Late Howard Smith, but that was in the wake of an unbalance in the mind and soul. Anyone could be triggered by emotions especially after failing the same exams two times consecutively.” I paused to stare at Madison’s face and of course catch Professor Dean give a nod for my point.
“Frank Terrence had threatened Late Mr. Smith with the words that, ‘If I fail this exam the third time in a row, I would ensure that you have a lonely summer break.’” I swayed confidently in our Law class which had been converted to a court room. “Come to think of it, Terrence’s tirade was directed at poor Mr. Smith’s family since he had said he will make him lonely, not take his life, but it turned out that Howard lost his life. It is therefore of importance to note that Late Howard Smith became the new custodian to the Exam papers just this semester, and there was no way that he could have been responsible for Terrence’s past failures.”
                I was slowly getting the ‘Hmm…she may be right…’ ‘I beg to disagree…Terrence is evil.’ I immediately jumped in to play on their emotions. “To allay any doubts, there are forensic results to prove that Howard Smith wasn’t murdered by Mr. Terrence as Frank Terrence had retired to his room to study for the exam, but as you know it, Frank is so dull, a ray of light would be too much for him. He failed yet again.” A section of the court room chuckled. Even Professor Dean laughed. Frank Terrence was the ‘worst’ of us all in Law School, so when we chose our plots, he just had to be the accused.
                                “Hold it right there, Ms. Williams. Are you so sure Terrence is dull?” Professor Dean asked, wiping his palms
                Frank Terrence was now laughing. The whole room had exuded in laughter. “Professor Dean…sorry…Judge, I ran a quick scan on his brain and he still is as dull as ever.”
                Frank nudged me in the waist. “I am smarter than Madison; she came up with something lame against me. Ms. Throttle” he said, sticking out his tongue at Madison Taylor.
                                “Okay, class dismissed! Howard Smith, hope you don’t feel dead?” Professor Dean asked.
                He smiled. “I am just fine.” Howard Smith was the second best student in our class. He didn’t speak much.
                                “You don’t call that a case, do you?” Madison asked as she joined me in the hallway. “It was a joke. I let you win!”
                I shook my head. “Of course not, I should have been given the opportunity to chew you like a squid. Do you ever do your homework?” I asked, fetching my bag.
                                “You are too full of yourself, aren’t you? I would love to see you on the big scene. You aren’t really that good, you know.” She said and walked away, almost swaying like a pendulum in her Caribbean skirt. At least she could sway her skirt to confidence! I laughed and left for the next class.
                It would be a lot different taking on Subomi but I could beat him. I knew it! I grabbed my laptop bag and headed downstairs. “Morning Darlene.” Dad said as he sipped his coffee.
                                “Morning Dad.”
                He stretched out the Dailies at me. “They are talking about you.” I collected one from him coolly, and placed the rest on the table. “Have a good day.” I said, and left.
                                “Hi D…” Jake said, standing in front of the gate.
                I felt a bit repulsive. He probably must have slept with Dora last night. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
                `               “You shouldn’t be giving me any attitude after what you did yesterday. You got me pissed on my birthday; anyway, my day was saved.”
                I nodded. “Of course, it was saveddddd…” I dragged the ‘Saved’ for emphasis. “I am running late for work. If you don’t mind, we could talk later. Probably online.” I said, stepping aside.
                                “Let me drop you off.” He offered.
                I smiled. “I will be fine.” I said, and walked away. Jake caught up with me by foot.
                                “What is it with you, Darlene? You dropped a package in my house without saying a word and now you are giving this entire attitude. I can’t deal.”
                I shrugged. “You don’t have to. I already relieved you of your duties.” I said, with a smile. “Chauffeur?”
                                “I am fine by the tag. It suits me right! If that makes you happy, I want to be your chauffeur by all means. Let me drive you.”
                I smiled. “Jacob Martin-Oje, you don’t read in between the lines, do you?”
                                “That’s why I am a happy man. I wait for it to be a BOLD SENTENCE. I don’t stress.”
                I nodded with a smile. “Here’s the BOLD STATEMENT: I don’t want to see you ever again!” I said firmly.
                                “You could never mean that.” He replied, with a smile.
                I rubbed his cheek and smiled. “This time it’s real. Bye Jake.”
                                “Why, Darlene?” he asked, holding my hand with a firm grip.
                I scoffed, releasing myself from his grip. “Jake, I want you to be free. Have your own life. You are always coming here, checking on me, and all. Jake I want to set you free.”
                                “Are you crazy, Darlene? Do you think you have a hold on me? I choose to be here because I want to.”
                I nodded. “The moment I don’t want you to anymore, I indirectly help you to stop caring. So, I want you to stay away, Jacob.” I said and re-adjusted my dangling laptop bag. Jake stepped backward as he stared at my eyes. I blinked and walked away.
                The Mass Transit was a real case. I had to join the commuters standing; I joined the 7am bus late. Cute High School Boys and Girls flooded the bus, Men of the Stock Market and Banks could easily be identified in their suits, some sitting, and some standing. I wore a gorgeous smile to the Men in Blazers hoping that it would gain me a pass on their seat, but who knows Jack in Lagos? No gentleman on my bus today. Who cares? Okay…I did!
                I had roughly twenty minutes to go on the bus and I would have to stand all through the journey if someone didn’t get off at the next stop, but the next stop was mine. So standing is a must!
                                “Hey Ms.” A voice said. ‘What is it with me and guys?’ I didn’t turn. ‘Hey Ms.’ this time I was tapped lightly. I turned around to see a young guy of probably 17 or 18 in his School Uniform; probably a senior at school. Clean face, nice lush low black hair, pretty dimples. By God, this guy is beautiful. Yes, I used the ‘B’ word for him. “You can have my seat.” He said with a smile. Some girls giggled and I felt a little bit embarrassed. It seemed to me like a dare to get to me sit in his place.
                                “No, thank you.”            
                He frowned slightly. “I’ll feel bad. And probably, it means I’ll be having a black Tuesday, A fine woman shouldn’t tell a hopeful, ‘I’ll pass’ on a day like this.” We all laughed. Some of the men that were all ‘suited up’ looked back trying to place the joke.Why were they interested in the joke? A boy had done what men couldn’t do!
                I took my seat kindly, but it wasn’t for too long. I was soon at Ade-Cole. I smiled at them all as I got off the bus. There was a huge cheer as I walked away into the Giant Firm. Poor boy with his heart in his hand.
                                “Darlene…how are you this morning?” Mrs. Abu asked as we met in the reception.
                I nodded with a smile. “I am doing fine, ma’am.” I replied, courteously. I didn’t expect Mrs. Abu to let me go easily. You don’t just barge into ‘Mrs. Nosy’ without a reason.
                                “Young Dare won’t be coming in today from what I gathered yesterday.” She started. I stared at her. She puffed some powder on her face and then gasped. “Dear Lord, I can’t believe you love gossip.” I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I will tell you why he isn’t coming to work today.”
                I was joined by Toni at the reception. “Good morning, Mrs. Abu.” She said without even looking at her. “Darlene, let’s go upstairs.”
                                “How is your preparation for tomorrow coming?” Mrs. Abu shouted as I stepped into the elevator with Toni.
                Toni punched the buttons to the last floor. “How are you today?”
                                “I am feeling okay. A bit nervous…” I confessed.
                She smiled. “You will do fine.”
                                “Why won’t Dare be here today?”  I asked.
                She stared at her phone. “He will call you later to inform you on that.” She replied.
                Mrs. Small knew the polite way to offend me. I practically didn’t say anything to her again as I replied with the casual ‘Um…hmm’
                                “Hi Bola.” I said as I greeted my ever dutiful secretary. She responded with a smile and helped Mrs. Small with her bag into the office.
                I drew the blinds and took my seat. Toni took hers too. Immediately the door closed after Bola, she sat straight.
                                “Dare had to leave the city urgently last night.”
                I swallowed a bit. “Really?” I feigned being uninterested in the matter as I turned on my laptop. “He is the boss; he could do what he wishes.”                        
                                “Dare won’t just miss work, he told me that there is something that he had to do.”
                I shrugged. “If it is important that I know, he would let me know.” I replied. “Toni, I have a case before me tomorrow and that to me is more important than whatsoever might be the reason for why Dare decided to take a trip.” I paused to catch my breath and then I recollected the fact that Dad was also going away on an ‘important’ trip. “Seems like everyone is running away from the case, I am not scared.”
                She sighed. “Darlene, I don’t think Dare is running away from your case.”

     I hissed dryly. The intercom rang. “Yes, Bola” I kept it on loudspeaker. Picking up the receiver is a big deal to me.
                                “Mr. Tunji Davis wants to have lunch with you; he says he will be here to get you himself.”
                I nodded. “Book it.” I replied and ended the call.
                                “I’d be careful with whatever I eat in the next 24 hours if I was you.” Toni said, pouring herself a glass of water.
                I smiled. “Tunji Davis is my client.”
                She scoffed. “You are naïve.” She took a gulp of water. “Anyone could be used to plot your downfall, probably the chef at the restaurant or the waiters, anyone.” She sounded so confident.
                I nodded. “Thanks for the heads up. I will be having only water then.” I said and smiled.
                She frowned. “That’s not meant to be a joke, so I am surprised at your face. You think it’s funny.” She hissed. “I had diarrhoea on my first court case.”
                I laughed. “If anyone would have diarrhoea, it has to be you. Toni, you eat too much. You deserve it.” I flipped through the pages of the City People’s Magazine.
                She rolled her eyes. “Honey, the Doctor diagnosed me with food poisoning. Can you imagine I was poisoned with the EnterotoxigenicEscherichia coli?” she said proudly. “My opponents went too far!” she concluded flipping her hair backwards with pride.
                I widened my eyes and burst into a mocking laughter that the magazine fell from my hand. My eyes soon got wet. “Toni, you are a clear case of illiteracy!” I said as I tried to catch my breath. “Illiteracy in the Microbiology field, I mean.” I bent over to pick my magazine.
                                “What do you mean?” she asked, sounding offended.
                I managed to be a bit civil with my laughter and then I continued. “Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli is a microorganism, it is a strain of theEscherichia coli and it is responsible for diarrhoea. Diarrhoea is thanks to what you eat.” I paused to laugh. “My dear, Escherichia coli is no sprayed powder into your food.” I returned to reading my magazine.
                She frowned. “Whatever! I didn’t graduate with a summa cum laude so you shouldn’t expect me to know everything.”
                I laughed harder. “I amsumma cum laude in Law. Whatever I know about microorganisms is from personal study and interest.” I replied. “Oh dear…did you think you had stored up a poison in your memory bank? Madam, please erase it!” Toni raised her eye brows in defeat with a smile. “Hahaha…Toni, you are just so full of wonders. I just love you, poisoning?” I laughed more. I just couldn’t get a grip of myself. Probably if I didn’t know about it, I would have let her sway me.
                Mrs. Small laughed in spite of herself. “Mock all you want today. We’ll see who would be laughing after tomorrow.” She said, with a grin. My laughter slowly started to fade into a wry smile and then a grimace. She burped a bit and laughed. “We’ll see by tomorrow.”
                Oh my…tomorrow!!! Tomorrow!!! Subomi…Tomorrow!!! Mysumma cum laude versus Years of Experience!!! Tomorrow and tomorrow again!!! I would wait patiently. Did I say patiently? Nope! Impatiently!!!

Please Break My Heart E35 by Tomi Adesina

Tunji Davis handed over the bill to the waiter and the waiter left. “Ms. Williams, I would love to salute your courage on far on this case.” I responded with a smile. He sighed and then continued. “Well, after all is said and done, we would be starting the proceedings tomorrow, how do you feel?”

                I couldn’t understand Tunji Davis. I am his lawyer, yet he kept asking about my state of mind every now and then. I could understand that maybe my age and inexperience was responsible for everyone ‘caring excessively’, but I am a professional and I should be given a free hand, shouldn’t I?

                                “I am in high spirits.” I replied, slightly cocky.

                He smiled. That was satisfying to him on any level. “Have you seen the Dailies today?” he asked, placing on before me.

                                “I have read this exact one.” I said, tapping the paper.

The tabloids were boldly written:

“IN WHAT MIGHT JUST MAKE FOR THE CASE OF THE YEAR, DARLENE WILLIAMS, DAUGHTER TO RENOWNED LAWYER, SIR. KUNLE WILLIAMS TAKES ON THE EVERGREEN SUBOMI BANKOLE TOMORROW!!!”

“These Press People have a way of hyping Subomi. What’s evergreen about him? Is that layer of grey hair that he has?” Tunji Davis asked. I guess he wanted to start a joke, but it fell flat. I couldn’t even manage a chuckle. We both knew that Subomi was no child’s play.

                I stared at the paper. Subomi Bankole’s picture almost stole the show. An almost-passport size of mine was used as my picture and placed below his. At the back page of the paper, people from all works of life had sent in their thoughts on the case and the most probable winner. Subomi Bankole, all the way! It could kill one’s spirit.

                                “I believe in you.” he said, collecting the paper.

                I smiled. He didn’t have a choice. His money was on me. “Thank for the vote of confidence.”

                                “We could take our leave now.” He said, standing up.

                I picked up my purse.

                                “Excuse me Ms.,” a voice said behind me and I turned around. “Do you remember me?” he asked.

                I stared him from head to toe and smiled. “Bus boy, right?” he nodded in the affirmative. “Thanks for what you did earlier today.”

                                “The name is Bobby.” He said.

                I smiled. “Nice to meet you, Bobby, I am Darlene.” Mr. Tunji Davis cleared his throat. “Meet my friend here, Mr. Davis.”

                Tunji Davis stretched out his hand to him. Bobby bowed taking the hand of Mr. Davis. “Honored to meet you, Mr. Davis.” Tunji Davis smiled and patted him on the back.

                                “Shouldn’t you be in school, Bobby?” I asked.

                He smiled. “Yes, I am on assignment. I have a term paper to submit and I am writing on ‘The Fall of Chidi Obi – a modern day tyrant.’” He said confidently.

                Goose pimples flooded my skin. “Are you sure about the title of that Paper?

                He nodded in the affirmative. “A lot of us are banking on you to put him away forever.” I stared at the Newspaper. “Of course, we don’t have the money to get heard in the papers.”

                I swallowed. “Bobby, I appreciate the vote of confidence.” I said, clutching my purse to my arm indicating that I was on my way out of the restaurant.

                                “Could we take a picture together?” he asked. “The three of us.” He said with a smile.

                Tunji Davis shrugged and joined us. Bobby gave his camera to an attendant who took our picture.

                                “Thank you Sir and Ma.” He said.

                I smiled. “Can you take a joke?” I asked.

                                “Of course.” He replied with a smile.

                I grinned and said. “Submit that paper when the whole case is over.” I winked and left.

                                “I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!” He called after me.

                It seemed as though I was part of the majority who didn’t believe in me. We tried to avoid any conversation the case. ‘Let tomorrow take care of itself.’ He dropped me off at the Firm and I returned into my office. Toni was just returning from lunch too so we met at the door.

                                “Hope you had a nice and poison free lunch?” she asked with a smile.

                The Escherichia coli thought flooded back in my head and I managed a laugh. “It was decent. I have something to tell you.” I said as we walked into her office. “No intern yet?” I asked, as I stared at picture of Toni and me on her desk.

                                “It gets lonely here sometimes.” She said with a faint smile.

                I dusted what used to be my seat some months back and took my seat. “I am scared of losing tomorrow.” My eyes were full. Toni came over to me and hugged me. “I don’t want to lose.” I said in tears.

                                “You are a fighter, Darlene. I have seen you stand up for what you believe in. You will succeed, by God’s grace.”

                I Squeezed out of her embrace. “Toni, you don’t understand, If I fail, I will be failing a lot of hopefuls.”

                She sighed and shook me up. “You can’t fail.”

                                “There’s this young guy, Bobby. I met him on the bus this morning.” I started with a smile. “He gave me his seat. At first, I thought it was a bet of a sort with his classmates, but I later saw the reason for his gesture today at lunch.” I paused to clean my face. “Bobby is writing a term paper on: ‘The Fall of Chidi Obi – a modern day tyrant’.” Toni let out a breath. ‘Whew’

                She bit her lips. “Just like Bobby believes in you, I also do.”

                                “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” I said and smiled. Slowly I started chuckling. I realized I had been saying ‘thanks for the vote of confidence’ all day. It got to my heart, I slowly started to cry. What if their confidence wasn’t enough? What if I really wasn’t ‘good enough’? Maybe I was just good for the small stages. “I could step down now.” I said in tears. “I am afraid.”

                Toni looked worried. “No Darlene, you can’t give up now. I am going to call Jake, maybe he can shake things up around here.” She said, reaching for her phone.

                                “Don’t!” I said, grabbing her hand.

                She scoffed. “Why is that? There’s nothing about you that Jacob hasn’t seen. So this isn’t strange.” She said, trying to dial his number.

                                “We are no more friends!”

                She dropped her phone. “When did that happen?” she asked, slowly taking her seat.

                                “This morning, Jake is now with Dora and this will soon be official between them; I need him to be free.”

                Toni looked at me for a while and then laughed. “All this time you were pretending, you are meant to be with Jake! See you without him for few hours and you are like a vegetable.”

                                “This is not because of Jacob. I have a court case around the corner. I am worried.”

                She shot angrily at me. “Just shut up! Why don’t you work out your emotions first? Today, I think you love Dare, tomorrow; it looks like your life would end without Jacob. What is it going to be? Make a choice! Stop playing with every man’s emotions. You are not the first ‘hot-beautiful-amazing-brilliant-and-b****y’ in all of a girl!” she rambled angrily and stormed out.

                My tears dried instantly. What did Toni just say??? I couldn’t place the last words. ‘Hot-beautiful-amazing-brilliant-and-b****y in all of a girl???’ I left for my office. Toni had rubbed everything in my face all at once- good, bad and ugly truth!

                I read the proceeding for the court case from the mail sent to me. I struggled to keep my eyes on the laptop screen. The intercom rang. “Yes Bola.”

                                “Mrs. Toni here ma’am.”

                I sighed. “I won’t be having any visitors today.’ I replied and hung up. I shut Toni out.

                The intercom rand a second time and then there was a bang on the door. I listened to the drum on the door. It soon stopped and then I had time to reply my mails. Aunt Sally and Grandma had sent me a mail wishing me the best against Subomi. Aunt Sally’s mail surprised me as she had never really cared about me whilst growing up, and she always made it a habit to avoid Mom’s memorial services. Well, people change-some good, some bad, others good and not-so-good.

                After thirty minutes, I had gone through all my mails thoroughly and replied the deserving messages while the ‘SPAM’ messages went where they deserved, the thrash! My phone buzzed and it was Jake calling. ‘What does he want?’ I didn’t pick his call. He then sent me a text.

                                “I know you don’t want to see me again, and honestly, I won’t see you but if you could just come to the door and listen to what I have to say…thanks.”

                He tapped the door softly, but I refused to go near the door. “OKAY, I’LL JUST SAY WHAT I HAVE TO SAY.” He said, in a loud voice.

                                “D…, I don’t want to be away from you. I’ll miss you.” he started. “We don’t need this rift between us. If you can handle it, I can’t. I need you, Darlene.”

                I slowly approached the door. I took my seat on the floor and leaned against the door, I could guess he was leaning against the door also.

                                “I am sorry if I have ever disappointed you, but I want you to know that I would never want to hurt you.” he paused and let out a breath. I could hear him breath from the other end. “Darlene, if you feel that the best thing is for never to talk anymore, I would accept and respect it, it’s your wish, but I want you to know that above every other thing, I care about you a lot and would always be there would you need me.”

                A silence followed. He didn’t say anything again, and when I was almost scared that he had gone and was about to open the door to confirm, he said, “Darlene, you will beat Subomi Bankole. You may not look big and have all the top credentials, but I trust in your brave heart that you will fight through this. I believe in you, Darlene Williams.”

                                “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

                A huge sigh followed from the other end and then footsteps. Jake left. I opened the door slightly to confirm my suspicions. Yes…he had taken his leave. I returned to my seat and focused better on the details for the arraignment. The case was to start by 4pm. What a time to start a case. I wasn’t going to wait till evening before leaving the Firm. I took my leave as soon as the time clocked 4pm.

                As I stepped out of the Firm, I ran into Mrs. Abu. “Ms. Williams, I can see you are taking advantage of the absence of the young Ade-Cole to leave work early.” She said, with a smile. I stared at her carefully. She smiled at me. “It’s okay Ms. Williams, no one would know.” She said, tapping her steering.

                I smiled. “Makes two of us.”

                                “I’ll give you a ride.” She said.

                I joined her car.

                                “I’ll make a quick stop to pick up my nephew. He is in Montessori.”

                Children swarmed out of their classes. It was the close of the day for them. I saw kids run to their moms for hugs, and for those that had the drivers pick them up; they just handed their bag to the driver and walked into the car. It reminded me of my childhood. Drivers and guards for me. No mom or Dad to pick me from school. It was really lonely until Jake came along. I would miss Jacob, but I need to let go. I pray I realize myself.

                A boy holding a canvas walked up to Mrs. Abu. “Aunty.” He said, with a smile. The boy had dimples. Beautiful!

                Mrs. Abu rubbed his Thick lush black hair. “How was class today?” she asked, placing the canvas in the trunk.

                                “Good. I made a painting for you.” he said, pointing at the canvas. Mrs. Abu showed no interest, he then tilted towards me. “I am Gregory, but everyone calls me Greg.”

                I smiled. “Nice to meet you, honey. I am Darlene.”

                                “Nice to meet you, Darlene.” he said with a wide smile.

                Mrs. Abu eyeballed him coldly and shoved him lightly. “Ms. Williams, not Darlene!” She corrected in an instant. “Are you mates?” she asked. ‘Omo buruku’ she added in a native Nigerian tongue-Yoruba, which meant ‘a bad child’

                                “I am sorry, Ms. Williams.” He said with his head bowed.

                She pushed him ahead. “Into the car, you rude tramp!”

                                “Mrs. Abu! Its fine, I am okay with it.”

                She nodded. “Of course, I am not surprised.” She said with a grimace. “Get into the car, you too.” She ordered. I grinned and obeyed.

                                “I am into Art.” Greg started.

                I peered slightly into the mirror.

“I am making a painting of an Opera night for the end of the year.” He continued.

                Mrs. Abu hissed. “Can you spare us of your Art nonsense?” she asked, shutting him up. “I wonder who does Art these days?” she murmured and cursed in Yoruba.

                I shook my head. “Mrs. Abu, Art is noble too.” I started. She stared at me. “On a serious note, I wish I could paint.”

                She hissed. “What is wrong with this generation? How can you wish you could Paint? You have the best type of profession and now you wish to paint, how silly!” she scoffed.

                                “Mrs. Abu, this is not silly. Greg has a talent. That’s something beautiful, you should encourage him.”

                She laughed sarcastically. “Darlene, why do you guys want to throw everything away? Sorry to draw you to this, but, your step sister, Dora Williams had life going for her and now she’s retired into Photography. Isn’t that foolish?”

                                “How do you know about Dora?”

                She grinned wickedly. “Williams is a rival firm. When they lose workers, it is to our delight at Ade-Cole.”

                                “I am a Williams!” I said, shooting at her.

                She smiled again. “You work for Ade-Cole and may end up as an Ade-Cole. Don’t think we aren’t watching.” She said, turning into the next block. Home was close. “Greg’s mom is just so full of herself. She thinks her boy is special and that’s why he is at Montessori.”

                                “Gregory has ability. You should learn to appreciate that. That’s something that some people would never have.”

                She swallowed. I knew it was time to pounce on her emotions. “Gregory has something that some people are envious of and would never have. He is representing life in another dimension, something that brings out the beauty that we can’t see normally. Some people could write so well and string out those words in a way that you are seeing and believing at the same time. This is because they can work on your imagination and make you see it from their view. It is life made so simple.”

                                “What are you trying to tell me?”

                I was slowly convincing her. “Gregory is a bright kid. I would love you to believe in him.” Gregory smiled. She pulled up in front of the block before my street. “Thank you ma.”

                She smiled. “Well ‘sold’, Darlene. I will think about it.” I smiled as I stepped out of the car. I was able to ‘sell’ into Mrs. Abu’s life; I hoped she would let Gregory enjoy painting. As I walked down the Estate, I saw the church gate open. When is it ever closed? I walked into the church and thought of saying a prayer. You know we have ‘these moments’ when we feel we should be closer to God. I sat on one of the pews at the back and said my prayers. ‘Dear God, it’s Darlene. I know I might not be right with you, but I don’t want to lose to Mr. Subomi Bankole, so help me.’

                                “Amen.”

                I stared up at Pastor Ben. “Good evening Pastor Ben.” I took a quick peek at my wrist watch to be sure that the time was around the evening range. It was around 5pm, so I could call it evening.

                                “Big day tomorrow, isn’t it?” he said, taking his seat beside me.

                I nodded with a wry smile. “I thought God should know about it.” I said.

                He scoffed with some sarcasm. “God has always known about this date even before you were conceived.” I rolled my eyes. “I would appreciate if you rolled your head too.” He said and we laughed. “What is with youths and rolling of the eyes? Is that a sign of unbelief?”

                                “Probably, doubt inclusive.”

                He adjusted his weight against the chair. “Darlene, right from when you were a toddler, I have always admired you. You have a strong will and confidence which is impeccable for anyone at your level.” He paused to give me the room to revel in my heart. “I know this case is within your reach, in fact, I believe if anyone will shut Subomi down, it has to be you, but I want you to know that you can’t do this on your own.” Oh no…the God factor! Subomi doesn’t go to church yet he wins almost every case! “I know you might feel that some bad people get away with everything looking good, but there is always a day when it will all be exposed.”

                I cleared my throat. “I want you to trust God more. Love him more. Darlene, you used to be zealous for God. I know things change, but I believe you should give him more attention.”

                                “Pastor Ben, I would try harder.” I said, clutching my bag to my arm.

                He smiled. “I would be praying for you.”

                                “Thank you.”

PLEASE BREAK MY HEART E34 – 35
#OpraDre

…to be continued