by Kiru Taye
Uloma reached across from the front seat and put her hand on Ijay’s knee. “I’m here with you, Ijay. And I look forward to planning another big day with all the trimmings.”
Ijay smiled tentatively. While she didn’t like the idea of a secret wedding, she could understand Paul’s point. And she really wanted to get back at Vincent for deceiving her.
“Us getting married would really be a slap in Vincent’s face, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, it will.”
“Then I’ll do it. I still want my big fat Nigerian wedding too,” she said and they all laughed.
***
Two hours later it was all done. Ijay walked out of the Minister’s residence in Ikoyi feeling light and elated. Uloma and Michael kissed them both congratulations as they left the man’s home in Ikoyi.
“How does it feel to be Mrs. Arinze?” Paul asked with a glint in his eyes.
“It feels fantastic,” Ijay said. Considering she hadn’t wanted a quickie ceremony, she was overjoyed at being married to Paul. Now she felt nothing could break their union. Certainly not Vincent or his mother. “So where do we go now?”
“Now we go to see Vincent and his mother.”
“You mean we’re going to their house?”
“Yes. It’s my house too as it happens although I haven’t seen it as home for years. It’s not that far from here, so we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Paul waited for her to get into the back of the car. Michael already knew the route to the Arinze’s family residence in Ikoyi. When they arrived, he parked the car in front of the gates obstructing any cars from leaving the premises. Mr. Lawal parked his car behind Michael’s.
Just as they stepped out of the cars, the gates opened and a blacked-out Lexus SUV drove to the exit. Ijay instantly recognised Vincent through the windscreen. He stepped out of the car.
“What’s going on here?” he shouted at Paul. “You’re not allowed here. Get out.”
“You’ll find that this house is as much mine as it’s yours Vincent so I have every right to be here,” Paul said calmly.
Ijay stepped out of the car and Vincent’s eyes widened in shock and then narrowed suspiciously.
“What are you doing with him?” he shouted angrily. “I told you not to talk to him.” He walked to Ijay and grabbed her by the arm.
Paul swung a right hook that connected with Vincent’s chin and he staggered back onto the bonnet hood of his car. His security men came round and pulled him up.
Paul looked at Ijay, pulling her closer to his side.
“I’ll kill you for this,” Vincent spat out, waving his clenched hand at Paul. His henchmen stood behind him.
Michael stood beside Paul and Mr. Lawal on the other side.
“I don’t think you will. If you ever get tempted to, you see what Michael has in his hand?” Paul nodded in Michael’s direction. Michael raised his hand revealing a mini-camcorder.
“Don’t you just love technology? Everything you say and do is captured instantly for posterity. Well, if you ever decide to make good your threat, there are witnesses and a recording that’ll make sure you pay for your crime this time.”
Vincent sneered but said nothing.
At that moment, Mrs. Arinze stepped out of the house, followed by a woman Ijay recognised as Kate.
“What’s all the noise about?” Mrs. Arinze said. “Ijay, I didn’t see you there.” She smiled at Ijay.
“I came to see you but Vincent won’t let us come in,” Paul said.
“Mum, he hit me. Can you imagine?” Vincent said angrily. He sounded like a sulking little boy complaining about his playmates beating him up to his mother. Ijay couldn’t believe he was a man in his mid-thirties.
Mrs. Arinze glared at Paul before turning back to Ijay and smiling. “You can all come in.”
Paul stopped for Ijay to go in after Mrs. Arinze. Ijay walked past Kate who glared at her. Ijay bristled and turned just in time to see Kate put her hand on Paul’s chest.
“It’s so good to see you again, Paul,” Kate purred.
Ijay was so angry, she swung her arm mimicking the move Paul played on Vincent right on Kate’s cheek in a slap. The hit was so hard her palm stung afterwards. Kate staggered backwards falling into Vincent standing behind her.
“Keep your filthy hands off my husband!” Ijay shouted at her. “Bitch.” She used the same word Kate had used on her in Abuja. Except this time Ijay thought the right female dog was being labelled.
“Huh!” the sound of gasps resounded in the Arinze living room. Vincent’s mother turned pale and sat heavily on a sofa.
“What did you say?” Vincent shouted.
“Yes, we thought we should share the happy news with you guys first,” Paul said his gaze sweeping the room. Vincent and Kate stood together in a corner. Michael was behind them. Paul and Ijay stood in front of Mrs. Arinze. “Ijay and I were wedded by the Attorney General this morning.”
He pulled Ijay beside him and smiled down at her before looking around the room again with a victorious smirk.
Vincent laughed. “You must think I was born today. You can’t be married without giving twenty-one day’s notice. And I know you didn’t because I’d given notice already and they notified me weeks ago we could get married anytime within three months.”
“The Attorney General of the country does not need a notice to wed couples. And he did. We’ve got the certificate and wedding rings to prove it.”
Paul reached in his jacket and took out the marriage certificate. Vincent lunged for it but Paul put it out of reach and shook his head. “I’m not giving it to you.”
“I want to see it,” Mrs. Arinze said calmly.
Paul gave her the certificate which she perused and returned to Paul, her eyes darkening with sadness and anger.
“So Ijeoma, you decided to marry a rapist,” she spat out at Ijay who gasped at the harshness of the woman’s words. “Do your parents know you’ve married him? I’m sure they don’t know because they would never approve it.”
Ijay looked away shamed-faced. It was true. She was married and her parents didn’t know. Even though she wanted to be married she couldn’t help feeling guilty about it.
“Don’t talk to my wife like that,” Paul said coldly, his body tensed with anger, his hands balled by his sides.
Ijay lifted her hand and touched his back. He relaxed a little.
“Mrs. Arinze, you’re right. I didn’t tell my parents I was getting married today,” Ijay said softly, stiffening her back muscles and standing straight, her gaze connected with Mrs. Arinze’s furious one.
“It’s not because I’m ashamed of Paul. I’m not. I love him. He’s kind-hearted and generous. Above all he’s honest. He’s the fulfilment of my dream of what my husband should be and I’m very proud of him. As soon as we leave here, we’ll go straight to my home and tell my parents.”
“Yes, whatever,” Mrs. Arinze waved her hand dismissively. “So now that you’ve told us. Congratulations. You can go.”
Paul turned to Ijay and mouthed I love you silently before turning his attention back to Mrs. Arinze. “We’re not done here. The main reason we came was to make sure you and Vincent leave us alone to live our married life in peace.”
“Of course we will.”
“Well,” Paul shook his head. “Somehow, I’m not quite ready to take your word for it yet. You see Vincent has already threatened to kill me this morning. I just want to make sure you leash him.”
“What? Do you see how he’s insulting me, mum,” Vincent raged. “I’m not a dog to be leashed.”
“Sometimes you behave like a rabid dog. If rabid dogs can’t be caged and treated, they’re put down.” Michael said with a wink. Paul smiled but didn’t say anything.
“Grrr,” Vincent growled, rushing toward Michael.
“Enough,” his mother shouted. Vincent froze on the spot. “Go and sit down.”
Vincent walked to the sofa and sat down with a sulking expression. Kate joi
ned him seating on the other end also looking flustered. Ijay and the rest remained standing.
“Sit down, please.” Mrs. Arinze said in a gentler tone.
Paul nodded at Ijay. They both sat near each other with Michael in an armchair. Mr. Lawal stood behind them.
“So what exactly do you want?” Vincent’s mother asked.
“Before our father died, he made a recording and sent it to me. At the time, I wasn’t talking to him so I didn’t watch it until after his death to my regret. However, I think it’s time we all watch it because it concerns all of us.”
Paul took the parcel from Michael and opened it removing the DVD box. “I know exactly what’s on this DVD and I highly recommend that everyone here watch it calmly.” He gave a protracted look at Vincent before continuing. “Should I play it?”
“Go ahead,” Mrs. Arinze said.
Paul put the DVD in the player and turned on the TV. He sat down next to Ijay and squeezed her hand. He had mixed feelings about watching that video again. About being in this house again.
When he’d left he’d promised himself he’d never return after the traumatic events he suffered here and the fact his father sent him away. Now he understood his father’s reasoning though he didn’t agree completely with them.
His father came on screen—light specks of grey hair on short hair, a square face with strong features softened by age lines around the eyes and mouth, serious dark eyes. Immediately Paul was transported to being a little boy again. He remembered his father’s eyes sparkling with laughter as he told Paul a story.
Unfortunately the fun memories with his father seemed few and far between. As an adolescent boy he hadn’t spent much time with his father. He only remembered his occasional visits when Paul was in boarding school. Those were the only one-on-one time he’d had with his father. By then a deep resentment of his old man had set root, for not curbing Vincent and his mother.
Paul sat tensely in his seat, his shoulders bunched and hurting. He didn’t like that seeing his father’s image again brought back some painful memories.
Ijay placed her warm hand on top of his. Her soothing heat settled his restless mind. He relaxed back into his seat, turning to look at her. She smiled encouragingly at him. It was as if she understood his troubled mind.
His heart lifted with joy, a warm sensation spreading through his body. He grinned at her in return.
He loved her so much. And to think he’d nearly lost her because of this own arrogance. Now she was his wife. He intended to live a very long life with her, hopefully.
He turned his attention back to the TV screen and noticed that Mrs. Arinze composure was slowly disintegrating as she watched the screen.
“...so my son,” his father’s deep voice resounded in the room. “I know I’m not perfect but I’ve always tried to do the right thing for my family. You have a right to be angry with me. I just hope you’ll put it aside for the sake of our family. While you are a determined and ambitious man, I also know that you have your mother’s kind and generous spirit.
This is why I give the responsibility of taking care of your siblings when I’m gone in your capable hands. I know that your step-mother hasn’t always been easy on you. For the sake of our family, I want you to seek peace. Forgive her. I let you down as a father. I should have curbed her excesses in time. I didn’t and now it’s too late.”
“I know you didn’t rape that girl so many years ago. It was why I bailed you out and paid reparations to the girl’s family. I finally wrung a confession out of your brother Vincent. He confessed to raping the girl to get back at you. I can’t believe a child of mine could have such hatred in his heart for his siblings. It saddens me. I couldn’t bear to see Vincent in jail so I didn’t report it. But I wanted you to know.
“So finally, I’m dying. I’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Ironic isn’t it after the life I’ve lived. It’s aggressive and has spread quickly. I’ve been given a short time to live and wanted to say my goodbye just in case. I love you, son and I hope you’ll one day forgive me.”
“Now that’s out of the way, we can get on with legal matters. I have made provisions in my will for you and your siblings—“
Paul tuned out of the rest of the words. It was his father bequeathing his estate and businesses to all his children and his wife. He didn’t really care about those words. The ones that had got to him were his father confessing he loved him. While he’d been alive Paul couldn’t remember his father saying those words to him.
His one regret was that he hadn’t seen the DVD before his father died. He would’ve gone to see him. His father had been in hospital in the UK and neither Vincent nor his mother had notified him that Chief Arinze was ill until he died.
It was only then he’d sat down to watch the DVD and had been even more torn apart. Now with Ijay beside him giving him the love he didn’t think he deserved, he finally felt able to shed the pain.
“This doesn’t change anything,” Vincent remarked, pointing to the TV screen. Paul shook his head at the stupidity of his brother’s words.
“The video changes everything,” Paul said calmly. “For starters, it shows quite clearly that our father made a will that covered all his family not just you two. It is grounds for challenging your version of the will in court.”
“That’s rubbish,” Vincent spat out angrily.
“Secondly,” Paul ignored him and continued. “It also shows that you Vincent are guilty of raping that girl and framing me. At the most you can be charged with assault and rape. At the least with perverting the course of justice. You could spend a very long time in prison.”
Vincent’s expression paled. For the first time he looked cowed. His eyes widened, his hands gripped the arm of the sofa.
“What do you want,” Mrs. Arinze asked in a low voice. She appeared pale, her skin drawn tight on her face.
Paul’s squeezed Ijay’s hand again. “I want you and Vincent to leave us alone. And I want Simon’s trust fund reinstated. He’s entitled to his share of father’s estate when he gets to twenty-one years.”
“Fine. Agreed. I’ll speak to the lawyer about sorting it out,” Mrs Arinze replied.
“Mum, you are just going to cave in to their demands?”
“Shut up, Vincent. If it wasn’t for you and your stupidity we wouldn’t be in this situation. Why you had to rape that girl, I don’t know.”
Vincent turned away shamefaced, his knuckles white as he clenched his hand.
Paul stood up. “And in case you think about reneging, I’ve given instructions to have this tape delivered to the attorney general himself if anything happens to me or Ijay.
“You have my word,” Vincent’s mother said calmly.
“And Vincent?”
“He’ll be leashed.”
Paul nodded. He extended his arm hand and pulled Ijay up. “Then we’re done here. Quietly they walked out of the house. When they got to their cars, Paul turned to Mr. Lawal.
“Thank you so much for standing by me.”
“It’s the least I could do for you and your father. Congratulations again to you and your wife.” He beamed a smile at them before getting into his car and driving away.
Michael clapped Paul on the back. “Well done. You showed them. That went better than I anticipated.” He smiled and got into the car leaving Ijay and Paul alone for a moment.
Uloma gave both of them a brief hug before joining Michael in the car.
“Phew. I’ve never been through such a thing before. Talk about dysfunctional family,” Ijay said, utterly relieved that she didn’t have to see Vincent again.
“Do you regret marrying into it?” Paul asked, his brow quirked up, his stare intense.
“I’m blissfully delirious that I married you and not your psycho brother.” She’d had a very lucky escape from marrying the wrong brother.
Paul chuckled. “In that case, welcome to the family. Now let’s go and tell your parents.”
***
&n
bsp; Later that night, Ijay looked at her reflection in the mirror of the hotel suite Paul had booked them into for the night. Since it was officially their wedding night, he’d insisted they mark the occasion in some way. So after they’d had an impromptu celebration at her parents’ home, Paul had booked them to stay the night at the luxury hotel. He called it a mini-honeymoon.
Her parents had taken the news of the marriage very well. Her father still insisted that the traditional wedding occur. Paul agreed they could still use the original date booked. After all it was still an Arinze wedding an Amadi. They would just have to revise the name on the invitation cards.
She lifted her hand and looked at the glittering gold band on her finger. It was Paul’s mother’s wedding ring. He’d used it because of the short notice and told her she could have her own if she wanted. Ijay wanted to keep it. It was a family heirloom and had brought her good luck so far. She imagined the future would be bright with Paul.
“So are you ready for me,” she called out to Paul who was in the bedroom.
“I’ve been ready for you since this morning,” he drawled in the deep sexy voice that always melted her insides. She giggled at Paul’s provocative words. She loved that their relationship was based on hot passion as well as deep friendship. She couldn’t see a life without Paul.
Drying her suddenly clammy hands on a towel, she fluffed out her hair, letting the dark waves cascade down her back. She picked up Paul’s blue tie and hung it around her neck. Then she stepped into the bedroom.
Paul laid on the bed in nothing but his stretchy boxer-briefs. She could see the tent of his erection. His eyes widened before a slow sensuous smile curved his lips.
“Where did you get that from?”
“I packed it to take to Amori but we never got the chance to use. Now seems to be the best time. Do you like?”
He knelt on the bed, pulled the tie off her neck and wound it around his hand.
“I like it a lot. You know our mutual friend Kate told me once I’d die alone. If I die today, I’ll be a very happy dead man. I love you.”
He pulled her in for a kiss.
“And I’m going to spend the rest of our lives showing you how much, sweet Ijay” he said as he bound her hands over her head.