The Wife ESCAPED!

No one was happier than Henry when few days after the bench incident, Donatus announced that he was going to bring Timmy from the hospital. He alone had been the one visiting the boy, taking food and other things to him, but now, the other boys would get to see their colleague again.

Apart from the fear of a sudden relapse that might result in his death, they were all relieved that he was coming back. They missed him badly. In his absence, there had been no one to be the butt of their jokes and no one to entertain and confuse them with a strange style of speaking.

All three of them prepared themselves mentally for the welcome of their friend and colleague, but only Henry took it farther by dressing for the occasion. When Chukwuka asked if he was going to attend a church service, he simply ignored him and walked away, singing a Christian song of praise to God.

“The guy is now a holy man,” Chidi chuckled in mockery.

“See you see the biggest trouble of your life and you just escape like that. If na you, you no go holy?”, Chukwuka asked.

“Anyway, there is God,” Chidi sighed and went his way.

An hour later, all three came together and rushed for the gate when they heard the horn of their boss’ car. They opened the gate without wrangling and bowed and welcomed him into the compound.

When he parked his car, they were already standing beside it, ready for the next round of bowing and welcoming. They still were not sure if Donatus would let them go unpunished for what happened to Timmy. The man in question stepped out of the car and they delivered their compliments, not all three though. Only Chukwuka and Chidi were at the driver side. Henry’s loyalty had switched sides and he was at the passenger side, welcoming Timmy and helping him out of the car as if his legs were the ones hit by the bench.

“I’m fine, man. I can walk,” Timmy said as his feet touched the ground. But Henry would not hear of it.

“Small small, small small,” he admonished, holding Timmy’s hand and leading him towards the Boys Quarters as if he was an aged man.

The other boys were watching him with mockery written boldly on their faces, but Henry did not care. He led Timmy, who had resigned himself to the status quo, all the way into the Boys Quarters, got him a chair to sit on and rushed off to go fix something for him to eat.

When Henry came back with the food: a plate of hot jollof rice, Timmy was chatting amiably with Chidi and Chukwuka. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell them to let the boy rest, but he managed to swallow the words before they could escape from his mouth. He brought a stool, placed it in front of Timmy and placed the plate on it.

“Houseboy Industries Limited,” Chidi mocked, and subsequently faked a cough. But Henry was deaf to his taunt. He was totally focused on getting water for his new boss.

“Afamako Group of Companies,” Chidi taunted again as Henry rushed in with a jug and a glass. Henry still did not reply. He got a pillow and placed it at the back of the chair as a headrest for Timmy’s bandaged head.

“Won’t you join me?”, Timmy said as he took his first spoonful, eliciting a cough of disapproval from Henry.

“We are not hungry,” Chidi and Chukwuka chorused, making Henry a little relaxed.

“I’m serious, guys,” Timmy urged between mouthfuls. “Go get your spoons.”

“Okay na,” Chidi said and went off with the speed of light to go fetch a spoon. Chukwuka quickly followed him and Henry made sure they noticed his venom-filled glare. But they acted as if they hadn’t.

“Americana Americana. Na you sure pass,” Chukwuka hailed as he returned, spoon in hand, and established himself on Timmy’s left. Chidi quickly took up his position on the other side, digging into the rice even before he was seated.

“Yo Harry, ain’t you joining the feast?”, Timmy called to the glaring Henry.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already eaten. (in an unpleasant tone) Chukwuka, na your turn to open shop today, sheybi…”

“I know, I know,” Chukwuka hissed, shoveling food faster into his mouth and attracting a glare from Chidi. One large spoonful and he dropped his spoon into the plate and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

“Greedy idiot,” Chidi murmured, but Chukwuka ignored him.

“Americana, I fit drink w…”

“Sure. Help yourself.”

Chukwuka grabbed the glass, filled it with water and emptied it in a few gulps. Burping loudly, he made his way to the door.

“Thank you o, Americana,” he called over his shoulder. “Make I dey go open shop.”

“See you later, man.”

Chukwuka bounced out of the room, sighing loudly and advertising a company as he went.

“Henry O. Henry Servant Company Nigeria Limited. We offer all kind of houseboy and servant services including cooking, helping you to sit down, helping you to waka and other work that you did not send us. Visit us today or call us on 080555444000.”

***

The day being a weekday, it had meant a lot of work for everyone except Timmy who was allowed to stay back home and rest. As a result, he spent most of the day alone. He played as many mobile games as he could until he was out of batteries and then he slept.

By the time he woke up, the rare electric power supply was on and he quickly charged his phone. He felt like talking to someone, but there was no one to talk to. Everyone seemed to have deserted him. His friends, when they heard of his current situation and his lack of funds and freedom, had stopped calling him. His family he had vowed never to contact, but also, none of them contacted him.

He knew that his parents got regular updates from Donatus and he wished it would continue. He didn’t want to speak to any one of his family members ever again, especially his mother, after their joint betrayal and abandonment of his unfortunate self. He would do everything humanly possible; he would work hard to succeed and show them that he could live without them.

It was night when the boys returned, but Henry was the first to come into the dark Boys Quarters. When he had finally managed to turn on the lights, he found Timmy sprawled on the lone sofa in the room.

“What happen, Americana?”, he asked in panic, rushing to his side.

“Nothing, man. Just a lil’ bored.”

“Okay,” Henry said, relieved.

“Eh Americana,” he said after a few seconds of silence. “Hope you’re not still vexing for me about what happen that day because you know, it’s an accident.”

“Forget it, man. Leave the past in the past. Know what?”, he asked, suddenly jumping to a sitting position and startling Henry in the process. “Where’re the other guys?”

“They are coming. Why are you asking?”

“Get the cards, man. I still got my fifty bucks here.”

Henry stared at him, undecided. It was on the tip of his tongue to offer an objection, but when he saw Timmy pull out the dollar bill from his pocket, he changed his mind and quickly went to fetch the Whot cards. Who knew what could happen before the arrival of the others.