Deep Affection – episode 27

DEEP AFFECTION
EPISODE 27
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WRITTEN BY, HUMBLE SMITH
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Richærd, Cole, Sandra and Joy sat down silently in the bus as it drove speedily on the road,
Richærd had his gaze outside the window, his mind was deeply in thought,
Before their departure, he had just suddenly felt bad leaving the state, it was just as if he was losing something, since they entered the bus, the thought of his parent had suddenly flashed in his memory, He brought out his phone to keep himself busy, He went to his galleries and started going on all the pictures there,
As he was swiping the photos one after the other, he saw one of the picture which they took, it was snapped from behind, his sight caught something,
He found out the same mark at the back of his ear on Joy’s own, it was at the same s₱0t,
He stared at it confusely,
“There is something significant about this mark” he thought,
He turned to Joy who had her head bent on the edge of the seat in front of her, already asleep, he checked the back of her ear, and there it was,
That left him so curious, he tried waking her up but he later decided to leave that till they gets to their destination,
~
Chief Daniel drove into the compound with a very high speed, the kind of curiousity that over clouded his mind was something he himself couldn’t fathom, Since, he was driving to the place, he had being praying for this Richærd to be his son,
His wife had also called the name Joy, so there is a probability that his cook could also be his daughter,
All thesethought was what clouded his memory which made him hærdly concentrate on his drive, It was by God’s grace that he reached the house without having an accident,
As he walked in,side the building, the silence that enveloped the house made his heart beat increase it pace,
“Why is everywhere so silent?” he asked rhetorically as he pushed the entrance door,
The door wasn’t lock but there is a way the house looks, It was somehow scanty,
Bead of sweat rolled through his forehead down to his jaw as he climbed the stairs, he found himself getting more and more afraid on the probability that they all may had travelled out of the house
He opened Sandra’s room, everywhere was the way it has always been, but there is something missing, Her bag and belongings
“No.. no.. no!!!” he suddenly scre-med,
“This must not be true” he said breathing heavily.
He dashed out of the room and ran through the walkway,
He entered into another room, it was also the same way Sandra’s was,
He sluggishly walked downstairs with a heavy heart,
He called Sandra on the phone countless times but the call wasn’t answered,
He slumped heavily on the sofa in the sitting room with a highly rated alcholic wine placed on the table, as he made to open it, he saw a sheet of paper carefully placed on the table,
He quickly took it and open it,
It was a letter,
He reads ~
*Hi Chief Daniel, to be sincere, you are a very nice man worthy of emulation, i really appreciate all you did for me,
I know that by now you must have finished searching for me and the others, i’m really sorry, but we are gone for ever, there is no hope of seeing us again, i and the others came to a decision of leaving that state to where we can never be found by our enemies, don’t get angry, i know you must have been told by your son that Richærd beat him up, we are sorry, i know you must be very angry with him, I want to tell you something, do you know that no matter how hærd we try, there is no way anybody can divide what God had joined together, we knew you must fight in favour for your son to get me, so sorry but we are gone for enternity. Bye
*From Sandra*
Before he could read the last word, his eyes was already soaked with tears,
His heart pound heavily in agony,
“Richærd… my son.. why do you people leave… Why now… son, why will you people leave now that the secret had just blown off,
When i first set my eyes on you, i saw the slight resemblance between you and my wife, but i waved it off because i never knew i had a son.. why is this happening to me.. since many years now, i had been training and catering for another person’s child without knowing i have my own children out there in the world,
Why!!.. what will i do now!!.. Oh i’m confused..” Chief Daniel kept on grieving and lamenting before his phone rang,
He quickly took it in anticipation of it being Sandra but no, it was Chief Gabriel,
He furiously flinged off the phone away, He knew Chief Gabriel must be calling to ask him about the trafficking business he told him about,
“Foolish man!!… Oh how did i even planned to traffick my own son… aghrr.. what if i had already trafficked him before knowing he is my son?…
*
It was early morning the next day when Richærd and the others got to Kano state the centre of commerce,
Richærd called the friend who was to give them direction,
After waiting for some minute, the friend of his came, after the normal greeting, they all boarded a cab which took them to the estate known as Nomansland,
They had already rented the apartment online, so it took no time before they were ushered in,
Nomansland estate is known around the city for it’s development and beauty,
Every nook and crane of the estate were tightly secured with a very tight security,
It was a place meant for people who were very wealthy,
Richærd had choosed that estate to be where they would stay, because their is an assurance that there is no way they could be traced,
*
They all dropped their bags on the floor in the sitting room which could be mistakened as a paradise due to it’s beauty,
They all roamed around the building feeding their eyes with it’s beauty,
Everything needed in a house was completely there, The wh0le floor was covered with tiles was sparkling neat,
The chandalia, the well painted wall, the kitchen.. everywhere was just so rich,
“I think i would be going upstair to my room, i need to catch some sleep” Cole said and went away,
“Even me sef” Richærd added and followed him
“Lets go and prepare something” Sandra said to Joy,
***
Chief Daniel sat on the chaise lounge feeling really devasted, although, he had not clarified that Richærd was his son, but he was truly feeling it,
Meeting Richærd and Joy that moment was what he wants,
Just then, Chief Gabriel drove into the compound,
Immediately Chief Daniel sighted his car, he hissed loudly and walked into the house, Just as he was sitting on the sofa, Chief Gabriel rushed in,
“What is wrong with you” Chief Gabriel blurted angrily as he took his seat on the sofa opposite Daniel,
Chief Daniel glared at him for some times before looking away,
“You have to tell me the…”
“Tell you what, han?!!!” Chief Daniel retorted cutting him off his speech,
“Take it easy, ok?… what is really troubling you?” Chief Gabriel said in a calm voice,
“I think i’m done finanlly with that trafficking of a thing… i’m no more interested” Chief Daniel snapped
“Ok.. what about the trafficking of a young man which you said recently?” Chief Gabriel asked,
Chief Daniel turned at him sharply with a glare,
“Don’t just try to say that… that man i want us to traffick is my son.. can you imagine?… so if the truth wasn’t blown off at this time i would have trafficked my own son… eh, what a world” Chief Daniel said emotionally,
“So you want to tell me that because of this you wanna drop your source of income?” Chief Gabriel asked with a stern tone,
“There are many other source of income other than this… for christ sake, this is evil, just think of it, you will just useless the life of an innocent soul, because of the wealth of this world, i…”
“Shut your mouth and stop preaching to me when you yourself is also involve in it” Chief Gabriel snarled angrily,
“Whether you want it or not, i’m no longer into that evil business of yours!!” Chief Daniel scre-med bitterly,
“Ok, then we shall see..” Chief Gabriel said and stood up,
Unknown to them, Paul who had came to see Daniel had stood by the door eavedropping all their discussion,
He now knew that moment that Daniel his unreal father is a human trafficker,
He had also come to know that his father had planned with the unknown man to traffick Richærd before he knew Richærd was his son, he smiled wickedly as he installed all these information in,side his head,
Since Daniel knew that Richærd was his son, he had no longer placed any attention to Paul at all,
He stays all day thinking about Richærd and that had made Paul over jealous, he had planned in his mind to eliminate Richærd so as to get back Chief Daniel’s attention to him as he was now very angry that Richærd his enemy who had snatched Sandra away from him was now Chief Daniel’s real son, “I think i have to meet this man here and connive with him to traffick Richærd secretly” Paul thought with an evil grin,
Paul quickly hid himself as he noticed Chief Gabriel coming out, almost immediately Chief Gabriel entered his car to leave the compound,
Paul also entered his own, so as to trace his resident,
Paul followed Chief Gabriel in a far distance tracing his route,
He found this as the best opportunity for him to teach Richærd a good lesson for interfering into his life,
Chief Gabriel drove into his compound and parked his car at the garage, As he made to walk into his house, he sighted his gate man talking to a young man outside the gate,
It seem as if he was explaining something for the gateman, his gesture and body language was that of someone who really needs something.
He turned back and head to the gate to see who the young man really was and what he wants,
“Hey, whats it?” Chief Gabriel asked as he got nearer to the gate,
“Ehen.. oga, this man here says he wants to see you..” the gate man said while Chief Gabriel gazed at Paul with a question look,
“Sir.. erm.. please i want to discuss something very important with you.. seriously, this is something that would truly benefit the both of us” Paul said staring at Chief Gabriel who also stared at him with a smirk,
“Benefit the both of us??” Chief Gabriel asked with an arched brow,
“Yea..” Paul answered “Come in.. but make sure what you want to say worth my time” Chief Gabriel said as they walked into the large compound which was so much like a paradise,
~
“So what is it you wants to tell me” Chief Gabriel asked less concerned,
“erm… i want us to pull up the deal” Paul said staring at Chief Gabriel who gazed at him with a questionable expression..
“What are you talking about?” Chief Gabriel asked with an arched brow,
“I want the both of us to carry out the trafficking my father is telling you about” Paul said confidently,
“Are you the son of Chief Daniel?” Chief Gabriel asked, scaning him with his eyes,
“Yeah… I overhead your discussion with my father, i found out he doesn’t want to traffick the young man anymore, so i decided to put hand with you and carry out the deal” Paul explained,
“According to Chief Daniel, he said the young man is his son, so that means he is equally your brother, so what triggered the much hatred to him, that made you wants to traffick him?” Chief Gabriel asked sipping the wine in the tumbler he was holding,
“He is not my brother!!!… My father is just being dumbed… that young man is our enemy…”
“Wait…” Chief Gabriel cut him,
“What is the name of the young man?” Chief Gabriel asked,
“His name is Richærd Ben” Paul answered while Chief Gabriel suddenly flinched,
“What did you just said?” Chief Gabriel asked with an expression filled with curiousity,
“I said Richærd… Do you know him?” Paul asked with a raised brow.
“He is one of my most wanted… where is he now?” Chief asked with a smirk,
“I don’t know for now… They ran away to an unknown location.. but i think it is only a matter of time before we finds their location” Paul said with a solemn tone,
“Now i see… ” Chief Gabriel muttered nodding his head with a wicked grin..
*****
To be continued

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