Unpleasant Surprises

Obanma's head swirled and seemed woozy when she tried to walk out of the bedroom. Onyedikachi had disappeared from the room and she seemed too weak to call out to him.

She managed to climb down from the bed albeit slowly but quite effectively. She hadn't expected the palm wine to knock her off so easily.

It occurred to her that she was still in Onyedikachi's house but she had planned to inform him of Adaugo's return then be on her way.

She noticed a picture of Onyedikachi's father with Onyedikachi and Arinze hanging boldly beside his bed as she turned to search for her footwear. Her lips pulled apart in a quite sad yet pleasing smile. The boys held in their hands' cones of ice cream while their father stood in between them wearing a huge smile. The reminder that her father had cut the man's life short plagued her and she got quite emotional about it.

How could one ever atone for their father's sins

She stepped out of the room to discover Chidiogo standing in front of the room with her knuckles fisted like she had wanted to knock.

Obanma offered a greeting to the woman which she acknowledged with a disappointing tone.

"Is Onyedikachi in there?" She had asked peering into the room even before she could answer.

"Mba, he....he...." Obanma tried to fight nausea which overwhelmed her but failed as she ran quickly into the bathroom in Onyedikachi's room to empty her bowels. She breathed in after the exhausting experience and began to wash her face after rinsing her mouth.

The thought of Chidiogo standing outside the room made her uncomfortable as she believed embarrassment had been added to the awkwardness between them.

Taking bouts of deep breaths, she marched into the room only to find Chidiogo pacing around .

"I'm so sorry about that, I...it was the palm wine I took earlier. It didn't sit well I guess. Onyi brought me here to get better, I must have slept off"

Chidiogo approached Obanma who felt quite dizzy and led her to the bed.

"How far gone are you?"

Stunned by the question she tried repeating it to make meaning out of what she had heard.

"Far gone?"

Unsmiling with a staid expression Chidiogo declared slowly "Yes"

"I don't understand"

"Is this how you got him to propose? Pregnancy?" She couldn't help but notice the myriad of emotions that played across the girl's face.

"What are you talking about! What pregnancy!"

"I should have known"

Obanma and stomped out angrily from the room. For some reason, she had hoped Chidiogo had wanted to mend their relationship. She was quite convinced it was useless to see reason with Chidiogo.

Chidiogo walked out of the bedroom feeling guilty about how she had gone about her discovery. Still, she wondered if her discovery was a known fact or if it had been nascent.

She met Papa nnukwu on her way down who was completely displeased with how Obanma had left. He could tell Chidiogo had somehow provoked the poor girl.

"Onyedikachi went to buy her something for her stomach."

"She mentioned... I don't think whatever he's buying is what she needs because she is pregnant"

Thrilled with Chidiogo's revelation Papa Nnukwu chuckled loudly as he remembered the night they had driven sleep from his eyes. He had been expecting such news for a long time.

"You don't sound too happy about this"

"She is probably using her pregnancy to rope him into this marriage"

Papa Nnukwu was disappointed in Chidiogo for what he termed a pointless deduction.

"If anyone roped anyone into their union which is not the case, you would see that it is Onyedikachi. Have you been blind all these years that you didn't notice how much your son favors this girl? When they came to the village to see me, he told me about his proposal and her resistance to accept.

That girl is lovely and if bringing into this world another member of this family is a criterion for their marriage, then so be it! They have my blessings anyway. I just hope you don't realize how unfair you've been to this girl when it is too late"

Chidiogo exhaled deeply acknowledging her mistake silently.

"Do you know if Olivia came back to the house? Arinze called earlier to know her whereabouts. He sounded quite distressed"

Papa Nnukwu hadn't heard from Olivia but he knew his great-granddaughter was sleeping in her room.

Chidiogo found it strange that she couldn't reach Olivia and so wandered off to search for her around their compound.

Onyedikachi couldn't understand why he felt uneasy as he saw Ekene lurking around his vehicle as he progressed out of the pharmacy.

He had gone to purchase a substance that helped with intoxication named "Alabuku" for Obanma when his eye caught a stranger waiting beside his vehicle.

Onyedikachi approached slowly wearing a scowl yet he could notice how disconcerted the boy seemed.

On getting closer, Onyedikachi could perceive the acrid smell of smoke and burnt skin. Then his eyes caught the holes on the boy's dress with burns spread across his shoulder.

"Please I need to talk to you"

"Okay" Onyedikachi replied curtly still wary of the boy's presence.

Ekene coughed so loudly that Onyedikachi felt truly worried for him. He reached into his vehicle and extracted a bottle of water which he gave the young man.

"You have to help me get your brother's wife to the hospital"

"Olivia? What happened to her?"

"I'll explain on the way, please we have to go get her. I got her out but my bike just stopped close by and then I saw you! God, he made me do this!
She's pregnant!"

Onyedikachi held Ekene and helped him calm down urging the distraught young man to help him get to Olivia. Onyedikachi had half-believed his story but wanted to be certain after he sees Olivia with his own eyes.

They drove to the scene and Onyedikachi was terrified to see heavily pregnant lying on the grass beside an old motorcycle.

"She has minor burns but she's been screaming and I believe there's something else"

Olivia smiled weakly at Onyedikachi when he reached out and carried her.

"She's not going to die is she?"

"No, but she needs help! Please open the door to the back seat." Onyedikachi instructed as he reached out to carry Olivia gently. She reeked of smoke and her yell as he held her told him that she was in pain.

"Onyi my water broke" she whispered weakily to his ears. "Seems my baby hate fires after all". Onyedikachi found it surprising that Olivia tried to make light of the situation when he was practically trembling and scared for her and her baby.

"Onyi...we're not going to die are we?" She muttered as her trembling hands held his. The shock of almost dying in the fire had not completely waned.

"Of course not"

She seemed genuinely happy like Onyedikachi's had been an affirmation that she had been waiting for.

"Then you'd best get Arinze because he might be a prophet after all. It's going to be a boy, trust me he kicks like one"

Onyedikachi drove as fast as he could to the hospital with Ekene present as he also felt responsible for Olivia.

They had been watching the shop and he had seen Arinze come in with his wife before his apprentices began to arrive.

His father had insisted on them starting the fire earlier than planned despite his warning that Arinze's wife could be in there.

After they started the fire, he couldn't help the guilt laid on his conscience and so he found a way to go back to the shop. While most of the men were distracted by the fire at the entrance he had broken the door from the back end of the shop with an axe that he picked along the way,and had managed to get Olivia out. The poor woman had inhaled so much smoke that she was dizzy. He felt that she had also been trying to get out as he found a metal object laying beside the floor when he carried her.

Getting out of the fire was harder and bearing Olivia in his hands made his escape less swift. Both he and Olivia got burns but he knew her condition made her more vulnerable which was why he set out with his motorcycle.

They practically ran into the hospital and when they explained Olivia's condition, the doctors took over immediately.

They had insisted on placing her on oxygen to help with the smoke inhalation before preparing her for delivery.

Onyedikachi waited in the hospital with Ekene who paced around minutes after they arrived. It took half an hour before the doctor arrived to announce the birth of Arinze's son. Olivia had been so exhausted that she fell into a deep sleep.

Scarcely minutes after the doctors confirmed that both mother and child were in good condition, Onyedikachi turned to Ekene with a murderous look.

"Now you're going to tell me everything about the fire you caused or else I'll kill you with my bare hands. And do thank your stars that Olivia is okay because my brother would have buried you alive"

"And maybe he is about to bury someone else alive"

"And what do you mean by that!" Onyedikachi thundered grabbing Ekene by the collar with a raging temper.

"It was all my father's plan! He...he is a lunatic. He kidnapped our mother and has been threatening us with her life. He made my brother and I set the shop ablaze, he also made us drug the guards and set fire to Chijioke's gas station"

"Why!"

"He is obsessed with Ngozi and getting revenge because of what Iheanyi's did to him.We had been watching the shops for a while and my brother even became an apprentice.

Olivia was not part of the plan and I was hoping he would back down but he didn't!
He wants Arinze and Chijioke at their throats again, it'll make it convenient for him to carry out one of his major plans"

"And that would be?" Onyedikachi enquired

"To end Chijioke."

"Where is your mother now?" Onyedikachi asked as his temper simmered down. Somehow he could tell Ekene was being honest and he had risked his own life to save Olivia.

"He promised to hand her over tonight"

"Good, because I intend to make him pay. Get yourself treated, I have to fetch my brother or my mother. They're not picking their calls and when we come back, we're going to talk about how to nail your father once we've retrieved your mother from him"

Onyedikachi spoke to the nurses about fetching the father of the child after settling some bills and left for Umuikpo.

"He plans to get one of them to try and kill each other"

Onyedikachi drove very quickly into the village but he followed a shorter route to his house after he had branched at Arinze's shop and he was informed that his brother had left.

His eyes trailed the same route and saw that he had been driving through the road from the bush with Achicha to his house.

Onyedikachi tried not to read meaning into his voyage but was shaken to the core when a mad man fell into his car.

He stopped abruptly and ran out to check him for injuries.

The man seemed fine and when he had held Onyedikachi's face as he knelt to check his body for injuries, the man simply yelled at him.

"You were told to protect your wife, don't let go!"

Somehow he remembered his dream and how he hadn't been able to reach Obanma and his child. But Obanma wasn't pregnant and she was safely tucked into his room. The mad man seemed to be speaking to the air and even kept chuckling like someone was telling a joke.

Then strangely the thought occurred to him. How terrified he had been when he felt he couldn't reach Obanma and his child" what if Arinze thought Olivia died in the fire?"

"Oh God! He'd think Chijioke killed his wife and baby. No! No! Arinze owns a gun!"

Onyedikachi raced into the vehicle and sped off, he muttered all kinds of prayers as he drove recklessly and was delighted when he approached Obanma's compound.

Fear gripped him when he saw what he feared unfolding before his very eyes. The women screaming while Chijioke and Arinze struggled with a gun.

Obanma stood beside her mother trying to keep her in place while the two men fought.

Onyedikachi knew at that instant that history was somehow replaying itself and so he stepped out of his vehicle, ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

He saw it unfolding once again in his eyes, his father and Iheanyi struggling while Obinna stared in astonishment beside his wailing mother. As he ran he saw vividly how the boy had fallen as the bullet hit his head and how terrified his father had been.

He partly wondered why the villagers hadn't noticed the two men and why their compound seemed free of visitors who would have assisted in stopping the fight.

He pleaded with God in his heart for Obinna's fate not to befall Obanma.

Onyedikachi tripped and fell but he quickly stood up and continued running until he reached Obanma.

Then came the deafening sound of the gunshot.

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