One day Bola was on a regular tour of her business empire at one of her hotels. She was checking the books with the accountant who sweated as she pointed out loopholes in the books. No one stole from her, they all knew that, no one even tried to because at the slightest hint of theft, someone usually turned up dead. She was ruthless but she paid well for loyalty. There was this steward who served them drinks as she flipped through the pages of the books. It was his confidence that got her attention - confidence that bordered on arrogance. He had this “I don’t care who you think you are attitude”. The first thing she noticed was that he wore his name tag on his pants as opposed to hotel policy which required you to wear it on your shirt. He dropped care who she slept with. It didn’t matter because they were feeding fat off her genius ideas. They knew better than to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. At thirty-seven, Bola was at her peak in both life and business. She was rumored to be worth a billion dollars but the family knew the figure was much higher than that, if you added all the illegal ventures to it.
One day Bola was on a regular tour of her business empire at
one of her hotels. She was checking the books with the accountant who sweated as
she pointed out loopholes in the books.
No one stole from her, they all knew that, no one even tried to because at
the slightest hint of theft, someone usually turned up dead. She was ruthless
but she paid well for loyalty. There was this steward who served them drinks as
she flipped through the pages of the books. It was his confidence that got her
attention - confidence that bordered on arrogance. He had this “I don’t care
who you think you are attitude”. The first thing she noticed was that he wore
his name tag on his pants as opposed to hotel policy which required you to wear
it on your shirt. He dropped the drinks lazily but quite efficiently and when
the queen stared at him for too long, the accountants knew he was either going
to be sacked or even thrown in jail depending on how this one played out.
“Who is this
miscreant serving me?” Bola snapped as if he had peed in her glass or done
something disgusting. No one was bold enough to answer. Answering meant long
conversations with the queen that usually didn’t end up well. To the awe of
everyone the steward answered, “I am Tega and I don’t like being called a
miscreant.”
That did it. He definitely would lose more than his job. He
would be lucky to keep his long legs by the time the queen was through with
him. However, the steward did not stop there. In his deep voice that had a hint
of Warri accent that commanded respect, he kept on talking and holding his
audience which included the queen spell bound.
“I
have been employee of the month for the past seven months. The only reason I
haven’t been promoted is my lack of academic credentials. Mummy Bola, I know my
job.” He had called her by name, forget the “mummy” part. He had talked back to
the queen and probably sentenced himself to death in the same breath. The
accountants were already dialing security as they knew what would follow; or
rather they thought they knew what would follow.
“Is that why you put your name tag on your pants like a thug?”
He didn’t reply but walked away like he was deaf to what she’d just said. It
was too much for the accountants to take, they wanted to pounce on him before
he reached the door but the queen had better plans. “Leave him alone. Just pay
him off, he will work for me no more.” She said it and went back to her books,
and Tega replied as he closed the door with a loud bang, “Keep your stipend.”
Bola
was leaving the hotel premises later in the evening when she saw people
gathered at the parking lot talking feverishly. She wondered what all the fuss
was about and told her driver to stop. The young man she had dismissed was
wrestling with four heavily armed policemen who were trying to bundle him into
a police van. He had been bloodied on his nose, hands and knees but he stood
firm like a proud gladiator about to die. That instant, she saw something in
him she sentenced himself to death in the same breath. The
accountants were already dialing security as they knew what would follow; or
rather they thought they knew what would follow.
“Is that why you put your name tag on your pants like a thug?”
He didn’t reply but walked away like he was deaf to what she’d just said. It
was too much for the accountants to take, they wanted to pounce on him before
he reached the door but the queen had better plans. “Leave him alone. Just pay
him off, he will work for me no more.” She said it and went back to her books,
and Tega replied as he closed the door with a loud bang, “Keep your stipend.”
Bola was leaving the hotel premises later in the evening
when she saw people gathered at the parking lot talking feverishly. She
wondered what all the fuss was about and told her driver to stop. The young man
she had dismissed was wrestling with four heavily armed policemen who were
trying to bundle him into a police van. He had been bloodied on his nose, hands
and knees but he stood firm like a proud gladiator about to die. That instant,
she saw something in him she couldn’t figure out. If she had, the story would
have been quite short anyway. She took a deeper look at his features as he
wrestled his attackers like a caged animal. He was quite tall with smooth brown
skin and shaggy eyebrows now soaked with blood. He didn’t have a muscular body,
rather he looked frail and about to break but still standing strong.
“Leave him alone!” she screamed. The queen never shouted,
never had the need to shout – people were used to receiving orders in her hushed
tones. The policemen were confused. They had heard of his insubordination and
expected to be handsomely rewarded for their little police brutality and here
was the queen screaming at them. As if by reflex, they fell on their knees and
began to beg for forgiveness from the queen who had stepped out of her royal
chariot, for they have sinned and come short of her glory. She took the
bleeding boy into her car and thus began a romance that would change the Akanji
family in ways no one could have foreseen. Well one person had foreseen it but
that isn’t important now. Love was in the air; hush and follow what I am about
to tell you.
“Leave him alone!” she screamed. The queen never shouted,
never had the need to shout – people were used to receiving orders in her hushed
tones. The policemen were confused. They had heard of his insubordination and
expected to be handsomely rewarded for their little police brutality and here
was the queen screaming at them. As if by reflex, they fell on their knees and
began to beg for forgiveness from the queen who had stepped out of her royal
chariot, for they have sinned and come short of her glory. She took the
bleeding boy into her car and thus began a romance that would change the Akanji
family in ways no one could have foreseen. Well one person had foreseen it but
that isn’t important now. Love was in the air; hush and follow what I am about
to tell you.
***
“The name tags leave stains on my well starched shirt, that’s why I always wore them on my pants.”
Tega said as he drew her closer to him. She was acting like a teenage girl
again. “You could have just told me and saved yourself the trouble you sexy
devil”, the queen said as she traced a line from his chest down to his hips
giggling all the way.
“If I had, you wouldn’t have ordered your men to beat me and
you wouldn’t have seen me in my warrior mode.” Tega lay still as he allowed
Bola to worship and adore him as she did every moment of every day.
“For the one millionth time I didn’t order them and I am
sorry they acted on their own. Stop making me feel guilty”, she said sounding
hurt like she always did anytime he brought up the story.
TO BE CONTINUED.
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