Karis sat in his office in his office in Woodville. The inactivity was killing him. He wondered why his father had insisted he work at the office branch in Woodville for a whole year before he was allowed to take over the running of the company. It was probably Adam Chukwu that put him up to it. Karis wondered how Adam had started off as his father's legal advicer, became his father's best friend and now was practically dictating what his father did.
Thinking about Adam made Karis remember Weruche. He smiled. Beautiful but reluctant Weruche. She was going to have to make up her mind soon because he had already made up his.
He got up from his chair, stretched and went to stand by the window. The view was great, his office overlooked the beautiful lake Woodville was known for but at this time of the year, there were no beautiful women flashing amazing bodies in bikinis, each trying to out do her neighbor in beauty and class. Instead, fishermen were all over the beach, hawking their catches while they checked their nets half heartedly. The real fishing was done at night.
He wanted to see her. The need was slightly becoming an itch that could not be scratched. He considered calling her, knew he could get his number if he wanted to but something held him back. As intrigued as he was by Weruche, there was something fragile about her and he didn't do fragile. He didn't consider himself a wicked man and so he didn't deceive women. Sex for him was pleasurable when it was uncomplicated and he made sure the women he took to his bed were on the same page with him.
His phone rang, he picked and tried not to grimace as his father dictated to him yet another task that must have been inspired by Adam Chukwu. His father wanted him to launch a new charity-- give back to the people, whatever that meant. Tired, he went back to his desk and sat down. He was sure Adam wanted to see him fail but just what the older man would gain from that was what Karis couldn't figure out.
***
The incident with the roses left Weruche shaken. She couldn't understand who would be so cruel to send her those flowers, what could the person really want. She got up from her bed where she had been trying in vain to study, the text book on her bed long forgotten and walked over to the shelf where she kept her book and -- the single rose Karis had given her. It was now wilted but she had once cherished it. Now, she wondered if it could have been an inspiration to the person who sent her the roses.
She crumpled the now wilted rose in her hand as she thought of Karis, one minute he was gentle in a way that made her think he liked her and the next he was filled with so much anger, she wondered who it was directed at and who exactly was Adam Chukwu. She thought of Joseph, was he telling the truth when he said his sister lived in the same hostel with her? Had he been monitoring her, but why? What could he possibly gain?
Feeling the begining of a migraine, Weruche tried to forget about the roses but she knew that was almost impossible, she had already started having nightmares.
Kachi walked into the room, her hands loaded with books. "Weruche one of your brothers called me."
"Was it Justin? Did he say he's sending money?" Weruche asked feeling excited immediately. Money was a big issue for both she and her roommate and sothey always looked forward to calls from home.
"No he -- check your phone, he said he has been trying it and it's switched off?"
Weruche sighed. Her phone was a torchlight phone that had seen better days, she had took to binding the battery and the phone together with a rubber band. The rubber band had probably dislodged again and that was why her brother had been unable to reach her. She picked up her phone and secured the binding. "I don't even have airtime to call him." She murmured to herself. "Can you please lend me your phone Kachi, let me call him back?"
" I can happily lend you my phone Uche, it's my airtime I'm worried about." She said laughing as she gave the phone to Weruche and Weruche walked out of the room to make the call.
Weruche tried not to cry as she spoke with her brother. He wasn't calling because he wanted to give give her money, she was told instead that her mother was critically ill and she was needed back home.
Even after she had cut the call, Weruche stood where she was, holding Kachi's phone in her hand as her mind trailed down memory lane. Her mother had always been a very strong part of her life since her childhood and after her father's death, the two of them had bonded even stronger. Lately her mother's health had been deteriorating in the past few years. She didn't know what she would do without her mother.
Kachi stretched out her hands wordlessly, and Weruche entered her embrace without a word, as the tears began to flow.
''Do you want to talk about it?'' Kachi finally asked.
''Mama is sick.'' Weruche said, but deep down, she knew it was a little more than sickness.
''You'd be going home right?'' Kachi asked again as Weruche gently eased out from her embrace.
''Yes. I'm leaving this in the next hour'' she had to go, had to make sure her mother was still..... To make sure that her mother wasn't...
The moment Weruche got to her street, she knew her suspicions were not wrong. She could see her house clearly from ten feet away, and people were trooping in and out, wearing long faces. They looked like people in mourning. You did not mourn the sick, you mourned the dead. She broke into a run, her back pack that contained most of her possessions wearing her down, and stealing the little strength she had, yet she did not stop. ''Justin, where is Mama? She's not dead, is she?'' She asked grabbing her brother immediately she got into the house. ''Relax Weruche.'' He said in a flash of irritation. ''She's not dead, I told you she was sick now, or did I say she's dead. She's in the room, go and see her. She probably won't be alive for long.'' Weruche let go of her brothers arm as his words stung. Relieved as she was that her mother was still alive, she hated how unconcerned about their mother's health Justin sounded, he also mentioned that she wouldn't be alive for long. He
Lola was being inquisitive again. Karis hated it when she got like that. He was going to have to break things up with her - this time for good. They had both enjoyed an open relationship for sometime now, but things were changing, she had started getting more jealous, more annoying. ''You want to launch a charity you say, but you have no idea what particular charity -'' She said. She was sitting on his laps and snorting coke from a pen, and he had the sudden urge to push her off. He shrugged. '' The girl child education, or anything that sounds as stupid and as good as that. I don't really care. All this is a game, a game between my father, Adam chukwu and I.'' ''And what about his daughter?'' Lola asked getting up suddenly from his lap, and dropping the pen on a table. ''What about whose daughter?'' Karis asked to stall for time. ''Oh don't play dumb with me Karis.'' Lola snapped. ''Adam's daughter - the beautiful Weruche.'' She raised a palm. ''And before you accuse m
''Why Weruche Chukwu! If it isn't a pleasant surprise.'' Karis said from where he was sitted, and Weruche could feel her heart skip several beats. She shouldn't have run off to his house without second thoughts, she should have come up with a plan, but she had been naive enough to think they would continue off from where they had stopped the previous year.... she was even lucky they had let her in. ''I... I... Can I come in?'' Karis merely lifted a brow. She was already in. She had worn the flimsy dress Brenda gave her that put way too much of her creamy skin on display, and her flat ironed her was beginning to kink up again, curling into something mysterious and totally sexy. She was looking good... beautiful, if the reactions of the men she had passed on the road was anything to go by, why wasn't Karis affected by her now as he had been in the past. She smiled and tried to step up her acting game. ''I came because..'' because I couldn't stop thinking about you... that
Weruche stood in front of her wooden wardrobe the next morning, wondering what to wear. She didn't want to make a habit of borrowing clothes from Brenda, and most of Brenda's clothes were hardly appropriate, but hers were faded and worn out. She settled for a gray pencil skirt and a black v neck top that had seen better days, she was just picking up the only hand bag she owned when her brother's voice coming from behind startled her. ''Don't tell me you're going back to school and leaving mother like this - who's responsibility do you think she is?'' Weruche turned to face her brother. From the color of his eyes, he had been smoking a lot already - and it wasn't just cigarettes. ''She is our mother Justin, not just some - responsibility to be foisted on our shoulders.'' ''Skip the fancy English Uche. You put your mother in the state she is, she is yours, your responsibility..... milking her dry for a university degree when none of us ever went through with secondary school.''
The next few weeks we're very hectic ones for Weruche, and she was enjoying every moment. Karis had his her advice and sent out opinion poll to the people of Woodville. The people in the slums had a double vote, that had been very thoughtful of him, since it was the people from her side of the town that needed charity more, but when she and Karis had put together the options, she decided she was going to do a little campaigning on her own before the voting started Karis had asked the people to choose between scholarships and educational grants to skill acquisition and then provision of health facilities. The people in the slums might need charity more, but they were also the most prone to mis-using opportunities. This was one opportunity she wanted utilized. Weruche wondered if it was wrong that she wanted the people to choose education. It actually didn't make sense that you could get enough money to start a petty trade, and then you'd choose to read books instead, but there wa
''I hear you got a job at the West coast.'' Weruche's mother said immediately she stepped into he house. She was sitting in the living room, and she was looking much better, she was even looking like she had never fallen sick. A smile broke out on Weruche's face. It was all worth it, everything was worth it. She slowly sang down to her mother's level on the floor. ''Hello mama, how are you doing today.'' Her mother did not answer, and only then did Weruche notice how angry she was. ''Mama, what's the matter now? I am only happy that you are better, you're looking very healthy now, the doctors seem to have done their work well.'' Her mother's frawn deepened. ''I asked a question young woman, don't let's change the topic from the issue at hand.'' Exasperated, Weruche frowned. ''And what is the issue at hand if it's not your health mama.... The doctors seem to have done their work, you are well now, but for some reason, you want to be angry.'' ''The Issue is not my healt
Brenda was dressed in a strappy spaghetti top that exposed most of her cleavage, fake black leather pants, and she was holding a pair of stilettos she planned to wear. Humming a popular tune, she sat down to wear her heels when Weruche stormed into the house. Surprised, a smile broke out on her face, then it changed to a frown when she saw the look on her friend's face. ''Weruche, are you alright? Is you mother okay?'' She asked worried. ''I should be asking you if you are alright.'' Weruche spat. ''And quit acting like you care about mother when you're busy playing sick mind games that I don't understand.'' Brenda was more confused. ''Weruche are you alright? What has come over you?'' ''This has come over me.'' Weruche fired back, flinging the package at her friend. ''What kind of sick game are you playing Brenda?'' ''I should be asking you that.'' Brenda was finally getting annoyed. ''You come into my house with such an attitude, shouting accusations I don't even understan
Weruche woke up the next day with a slight headache, and she was feeling disoriented. Everything seemed a bit odd. To start with, the bed was empty. Normally, she got up wey before her mother, her mother wasn't even supposed to be up and about so early, she needed her rest. The room was too bright, the sunlight streaming in from the window blinding her. She snatched her phone and checked the time, it was already eleven o'clock in the morning. Weruche was up in an instant. She brushed her teeth, combed her hair and packed it up in a simple bun, then changed her clothes, hoping to heaven she didn't smell. In five minutes, she was out of the door. She got to Karis office with an apology on her lips, then she saw that he was not alone. There was an older man sitting on the sofa that was by the window. ''Hello Sir, I'm the new... the.. I work with Mr. Karis... That is Mr. Ilobi.'' Her eyes sent a plea for help to Karis who was sitting behind his desk, looking a bit uneasy. ''I work i