"I love the way you make me feel…" were the lyrics of one of Prisca's songs playing loudly from a Bluetooth speaker.
A young, dark fellow about six foot two was running on a treadmill. His name was Chukwudiri Daniels, but he was widely known as Diri. He was a man of fine figure and a very handsome one for that matter.
"Bro," another fellow called. His name was Jeffery Peters, a light-skinned chap with a killer smile. His father, Mr. Madu Peters, was a millionaire and a big name in the city of Lagos.
He was a fine man who lived off his father's wealth and was also, a "hot cake" among the ladies.
"Please play something else," he continued, "you have been playing this Prisca-girl's songs for a long time now. Let's listen to something else."
"It's Prisca or nothing bro," he replied.
"Jeff, he said she's his dream girl," Kevin, a slender-looking fellow said, laughing out loud.
"No offense Diri," Jeff giggled, "Let me ask you a question, why do you like this Prisca-girl so much?"
Diri, still running on the treadmill, replied, "First off, her name is not Prisca girl. Her name is Prisca. She's unique, she's beautiful, and she has an amazing voice. Aside from music, she is an industrialist, someone who puts her head to work. What not to love about her?"
"Let's just get it straight here, she wasn't yours, she can't be yours and she will never be yours. Stop living in your dreams man, fall in love with someone physically, and get laid." Jeffery scoffed.
"Is that all love means to you? To get laid? Man, you are an absolute fuck boy. You are the last person I will run to for relationship lectures," Diri shot back.
"At least I have fun with realistic chics, not some fantasy Malibu Barbie that I have zero chances of meeting." Jeff retorted.
Kevin laughed till he fell on his back. "Cut the bullshit," Diri said, waving Jeffery off and alighting the treadmill.
He continued, "I love her and I hope to meet her someday."
"Yeah bro, but please get yourself a girlfriend first," Kevin said, picking up his phone.
"To be honest with you Kevin, it's been hard since Tasha left me," Diri replied.
"That bitch did you dirty bro," Jeffery cut in, "You are the one who is waiting for love, get a girl and get laid bro."
Diri chuckled and made an obscene gesture with his fingers. Just as he was about to leave, Kevin called, "Diri, your girl has been trending on Twitter since today. Gosh! Her sex tape has been leaked."
"Sex tape?" Diri turned sharply and asked
"Yes bro," Kevin replied.
Jeffery and Diri walked toward Kevin to confirm what he was saying. Diri was in utter shock. Is this Prisca? He asked himself continuously.
Jeffery couldn't help but make obscene exclamations. "Man, your girl sure knows how to take a pipe. Look at her go!" He said, whistling loudly.
Diri took his eyes off the video, questioning the originality of the video, but as hard as it was to believe, it was her.
"It can't be," Diri muttered under his breath.
****
She pulled up at her father's mansion with streams of tears running down her cheeks. She alighted and walked slowly towards the door.
She opened the door of the living room and saw her mother, Mrs. Gideon, sitting on the sofa. Her eyes were red and swollen from excessive weeping. She was staring blankly with her hands supporting her jaw.
"M-Mu-mmy," she called feebly
Her mother gave her a scary look and said, "I'll curse you if you call me that again. I did not teach you to misbehave and make a spectacle of yourself. So, if you know the woman who taught you to behave like that, go and meet her. Let her become your mother." Her voice was cracked from the wailing.
"Mummy, it's not like that," Prisca said, crying.
"What's it like then? Tell me, it's that what they teach you in the music industry or it is a celebrity's way of life?" Mrs. Gideon asked.
Just as she found the voice to explain all that happened to her mother, her father walked into the living room with his hands at his back. He sat close to his wife and heaved a sigh.
"I called to ask," he said, "if this how you want to repay us for all that we have done for you? for birthing you? For bringing you up? For giving you our everything? For even being the reason that you are a celebrity?
"Daddy…" Prisca opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by her father.
"I don't want to hear what you have to say. All I want to say is, if this is how you want to thank us then you are very much welcomed."
" We gave you everything Prisca, trained you in the way of God, gave you every moral lesson any responsible parent would give their child. But NO! You chose to behave like the other celebrities, to throw your morals outside the window and bring us shame."
"I'm sorry Daddy. I…" Prisca was stopped by her father again.
"I am severing all ties with you. After all, you are a full-grown independent woman now, you are better off on your own. You can live any kind of life you want."
He continued, "I don't want to ever see you anywhere near this house again. I will also make sure that no member of the family has any relations with you. You are a big disgrace, an eyesore, a shame to the family name, and a dent to my honour. You may go now and be whoever you want to be."
Her mother started crying again, muttering harsh words in their native dialect.
When it dawned on Prisca that nobody cared to hear her side of the story and her parents were bent on dissociating her from the rest of the family. She walked out of the house, entered her car, and left the family mansion.
****
Prisca caught wind of a party Diri was throwing that night. She had called his number a large number of times, but his line was still switched off.
She pulled up in front of Drexy's bar at 9:35 pm, alighted, and walked briskly into the bar. She scanned the horizon for Clem and could not find him.
She searched around and found him drinking and chatting with a friend. She walked toward him with so much rage and slapped him hard across the face.
She held him by his shirt and pulled him up from his seat, "
"How dare you, Clem? After all that I have done for you, how dare you treat me like this?" She pushed him and hit him continuously.
Clem held her hands and pulled her to the restroom. She was still pushing and hitting as they went along.
"That's enough," he shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her to and fro.
Prisca started to cry. "Why Clem? What made you do this?" She asked.
He leaned against the wall, brought out a cigarette, and lighted it. "I got into some form of trouble with some dudes. Indexed money to settle it. Some of your rivals were willing to pay me a huge wad of cash…"
"You sold me out?" Prisca asked in a very low tone
"Yeah!" He answered, sounding unremorsed.
Prisca's heart started to pound. "I have always helped you whenever you needed money Clem, and I will do it again. You didn't think of what this will do to me? My career? My family? My reputation?..."
" O come off it Prisca," Clem retorted, puffing out smoke as he spoke. "It's always been about you. S.K. has never given a damn about the rest of the crew or the other artists we have, it has always been about you."
"I got into that mess because of SK and now, am glad that I have taken care of it. You are ruining my fun girl, I just wanted to celebrate my newfound peace of mind".
Tears flowed endlessly from Prisca's eyes. She exhaled deeply and said, "But I loved you, I mean, we shared something. You promised you won't leave …"
She was interrupted by Clem's vigorous laughter. He took a drag from his cigarette and said, "Only a fool takes a horny man's words to heart. And you are that fool, a good-for-nothing emotional piece of shit and a dirt cheap fuck. That's what you are."
Prisca fell back to the wall. Those words hit her so hard that it seemed like the whole place was spinning. She burst into hot tears which made Clem laugh even more.
"That's the bitter truth my darling. I've got to go now, I hope you don't mind joining the party?" Clem scoffed, grinning at her.
Prisca gave no answer. She just stared blankly.
Clem turned to leave but turned to her again and said, "I almost forgot. Don't try to act smart and let all these out. If my name is mentioned in this mess of yours, every single family of yours will pay for it. Trust me, I've got big guns strapped all over the place."
"So play safe and no one gets hurt okay? Are we clear?"
"I pray you die and rot in hell," Prisca said through her teeth. Filled with rage and disgust, she walked out of the bar and entered her car. She leaned her head against the headrest and wept bitterly.
The day she had dreaded had finally come, raining down shattering and murderous words on her soft and loving heart. She felt wounded, defeated, and downtrodden. She started her car and drove away from the premises, the sound of the car engine dying away in the shadows of the night.
****
Diri laid on the couch with his phone in his hand. He was going through Prisca's I*******m page, scrolling through her pictures and adoring her beauty with his eyes.
His mind could not come to terms with what he had seen earlier today. His idol has been dragged into the mud and has been made a laughing stock by all and sundry.
"Still thinking about your celebrity crush huh?" Jeffery asked, adjusting the arms of the Midnight blue tuxedo he was wearing. The essence of his cologne filled the room.
Diri gave a weak nod.
"Let it slide bro, sometimes the people we highly exhaled end up being nothing but dirtbags, ugly things live in beautiful houses bro," he continued.
"Not this one man, not this one," Diri said.
"Don't go soft on me Diri, this girl barely knows you and you are taking pain relief for her pain? Cheer up soldier," Jeffery said, smiling.
"Going out?" Diri asked.
"C'mon, you see me all dressed up and you are asking if am going out? Who wears tuxedos to bed?" Jeffery asked with a chuckle as he made for a bottle of whiskey.
"My bad. A date, is it?" Diri asked again.
"Yes, will be back in the morning" He replied.
Just as Jeffery opened the door to leave, Diri called, "Hey Jeff!"
"Yes?"
"Thank you"
"For what?"
Diri sat up and continued, "For taking me in since I lost that crappy job. For the clothes, the feeding. You are a real brother Jeffery."
"Don't sweat it, man. It's all good," Jeff said with a smile, fist-bumping Diri. Without any further ado, he left the house and Diri resumed his brooding.
