“Hello handsome!” Lady Bolanle greeted.
The salutation was dished out as she walked closer to the supposed
recipient having caught sight of him in the distance in one of the most famous
supermarkets in Yaba, Lagos State, Nigeria.
Bolanle, a single mother at 45 whose only child begotten out of wedlock
was ten years old, was no doubt a prosperous importer who specialized in all
kinds of gold jewellery. Owing to her ego, she had vowed never to settle down
with any man or to be under any mortal in the name of ‘marriage’; to her,
marriage was a forsaken union. Towards quenching her libido, she went for any
young man whom she chose or whomsoever she found suitable for her classy
person.
“Hi!” the supposed recipient, Akeem responded, still concentrating on
the wares showcased in the shelves.
Going by the tone of her abrupt greeting, he needed not a seer to
interpret what she was up to.
Akeem a bachelor at 30 though deeply engaged, was a graduate of Human Physiology
from the Lagos State University (LASU), Iyana-Oba, Lagos State who was yet to
secure a promising job.
“Sorry for bashing into you.” Bolanle tendered.
“Noted,” Akeem said, looked at her. “What can I do for you?” He added
unfriendly though seemed charmed by her elegant look.
Balanle who had her handbag in her left hand was indeed both in nature
and appearance a very attractive lady that had all it takes to win the
attention of any man regardless of what he was made up of; she was fair, huge and
about 1.8 metres tall. She put on a multi-coloured dress, grey balanced-heeled
sandals, low-cut hairs and sunshade spectacles coupled with designer perfume
and various gold jewellery ranging from earrings to necklace, wristwatch and
what have you – everything on her was golden in appearance as it could be
testified by even a visually impaired being.
On his part; Akeem, clad in black jean trousers, light-green shirt,
black trainers spotted with red colour and a red cum black baseball cap, was about
1.74 metres tall, chocolate and plump; though financially less-privileged, he
was actually looking resplendent and buoyant in his dress.
Bolanle who leaned on one of the shelves stylishly removed her specs. “Don’t
you think you are being harsh?” she queried cheerfully. “Common.., be a
gentleman.”
This time, they were facing each other and closer too; both of them were
carrying their trolleys in their right hands.
“Sorry if that was harsh.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “Well, I’m Bolanle.., but you can call me Bola.”
“Alright,” he replied. “I’m
Akeem.”
“Let me not waste your time,” she hinted, dipped her right hand into her
handbag. “This is my card.” She added handing over her complimentary card to
him.
“What for?” He queried, ignoring the offer.
“Please take it,” she urged. “Call me anytime, we need to talk.”
He reluctantly collected the card
and glanced at it stylishly.
She smiled over the compliance.
“I still don’t understand,” said Akeem. “What are we to talk about?”
“Till you call, Mr…” She said, seemed to had forgotten his name.
“Akeem.” He reminded.
She nodded. “Mr Akeem, please try and call me, okay?” she enjoined
looked into his eyes passionately. “You would be glad you did.”
“I will try.” He said, looked away and continued with his shopping.
“Cute man indeed.” She thought pleasantly, looked at him for the last
time and left the arena for where she was, felt fulfilled.
On Friday March 22, 2002 being exactly three days cum three nights after
the incident having employed reasonable delay and tactics, Akeem made up his
mind to put a call across to Bolanle with the opinion that the lady might be of
help to his future since he was still job-hunting; a call that instantly
transformed his status from a weary to a magnificent one just like a magic.
During the phone call, they scheduled for a meeting at her office.
Consequently, she succeeded in luring him into her net; Akeem concurred with
her proposal to go on a date with him having disclosed to her that he had a
fiancée. Keeping a ‘sugar mummy’ in his life was one of the ‘evil’ experiences
he never dreamt of, little did he know that he would someday fell prey to such
a mess.
Afterwards, the moment the romantic affair commenced, Akeem was provided
with everything a man of his age needed as he was promised; he could boast of a
car, expensive wears and a befitting house in Benin, Edo State where he chose
to relocate to. Prior to this time, he had lied to his pretty fiancée Bukola
who was also resident in Lagos State that he secured a job in Benin with an oil
servicing firm; the lie became consequential because he needed to distance
himself from her in order to avoid any iota of suspicion that might arise in
the future. Bolanle was very comfortable with the arrangement; she was
frequenting Benin whenever she wanted to meet him, or she would send for him
directly to a hotel suite in any locality in Lagos – apparently the choice was
hers.
The ugly scenario proceeded for over six months till one fateful day
when Akeem thought it wise to lead Bukola down the aisle. Subsequently, he
disclosed the intention to Bolanle who rejected it emphatically and threatened
to make his precious life miserable if he dare went ahead with the plan. The
unpredicted altercation dawned the awful truth on his person.
He was so myopic to be
preoccupied with the notion that whenever he disclosed to her the intention of
settling down, she would hastily hug, cuddle him and therein lick his toes
since he told her from the onset that he was seriously engaged. Though at the
beginning she agreed to allow him get married with his fiancée whenever he
chose to, but obviously it’s easier said than done; no sane woman would be glad
to watch her man walk out of her life let alone when the woman in question had
spent a fortune on him.
The depressed and flabbergasted Akeem who felt suppressed later wore a
bold skin, hence decided to give her warnings a deaf ear. Thus, he went ahead
with his plan to settle down with Bukola having estranged from Bolanle. In view
of this, he sold his duplex in Benin and relocated to Asaba, Delta State having
told his wife-to-be that he got a transfer.
Bolanle seemed to had been spying
on Akeem right from when their estrangement set in contrary to Akeem’s
presumption that there was no way she could trace him; needless to state that
she was smarter than him.
Two weeks on, Saturday 14th of December 2002 specifically,
Akeem who hailed from Ogun State headed for Oyo State to pay Bukola’s dowry. On
his way to the epoch-making ceremony in the company of his friends and
relatives including his parents, the beautifully groomed bridegroom who wore a
traditional tartan kilt was brutally murdered in cold blood along Lagos-Ibadan
expressway; the assassins comprising three huge men whom had stopped the
deceased’s motorcade for a brief scrutiny disguised themselves as policemen.
It was a very hard blow to his
parents alongside the bride who got the news in a jiffy.
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