Rated +16
EMOTIONAL TINGLE
(THE MIND READER)
EPISODE 35 & 36 ?
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WRITTEN BY AUTHOR NATH
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Take it from me: love has all the lasting permanence of a rainbow- beautiful while it’s there, and just as likely to have disappeared by the time you blink. Love has a way of wilting or blossoming at the strangest, most unpredictable hour. This is how love is, an uncontrollable beast in the form of a flower. The sun does not always shine on it. Nor does the rain always pour on it. Nor should it always get beaten by a storm. Love does not always emit the sweetest scents, and sometimes it can sting with its thorns. Water it. Give it plenty of sunlight. Nurture it and the flower of love will outlive you. Neglect it or keep dissecting it, and its petals will quickly curl up and die. This is how love is, perfection is a delusional vision. So love the person who loves you unconditionally, and abandon the one who only loves you under favorable conditions.
One still need to find the answer to the big question mark in the love life of Crucifix and Margaret because the path through which the river of love flows in their lives may be predictable but critical especially now Tommy has come into the picture.
Nevertheless, the dinning room of Mr. Adams suddenly turned into a drama stage with tension and tranquility revolving around it after Crucifix let the cat out of the bag. Margret stood at her door, Crucifix was also on his feet while Raina and the three remaining adults watched silently from their seats. Though they were at the dinning table but none of them was eating.
“I killed Lucy to protect our love, Margret.” Crucifix broke the silence with a bitter tone. “I stepped into the Casino for you. When I wanted to quit, they threatened to kill you so i had to continue. All decisions I made both good and bad, I made it for us to be together, Margret. Please, you don’t have to turn your back on me. I never wanted any of this to happen.” he began to shed tears even though one secret was still withheld from her which is the meaning and implications of lovcilia.
As all waited for Margret to say something, her phone rang for the second time. Tommy was calling again. The girl glanced at it then put it on silence. She stepped away from the door, glaring at the only man she had ever known. Her voice softly trailed in the dinning room. “You killed Lucy to protect our love?” the voice suddenly became high and harsh. “Crucifix, you killed Lucy to protect our love! Protect it from what?!”
“I didn’t just do it, okay! Your father made me do it! He told me to kill Lucy!” Crucifix began to breath heavily.
Margret took another step closer to him. “My fa-ther told you to kill Lu-cy to pro-tect our lo-ve.” she stressed. “Isn’t that stupidity?! The story is not clear, Crucifix. I ask again, protect our love from what?”
“He told me that if I do not kill Lucy…” Crucifix paused then glanced at his grandfather who slightly shook his head as a way of telling him not to say the truth which is Lovcilia as the next thing he wanted to say.
You may be asking, why can’t he just tell Margret about the lovcilia and the consequences? It’s because the moment she has the knowledge, Crucifix must propose to her immediately, and her answer will determine Crucifix’ life. Now you’re seeing how everything is playing out. If Crucifix should let the last cat out of the bag and propose, will Margret accept to marry him? Everybody knows the answer especially the women, so keeping the knowledge of lovcilia from Margret was the best option and also the worst decision because Crucifix might lose her to another man yet will not marry her. So in any way, he must be the one hurt beyond repair and might even lose his life in the process when the time comes. Therefore, it was a critical and delicate matter that should be handled amicably.
Notwithstanding, as Margret waited for him to say the truth, he spoke up diligently, “Margret, I want you to calm down and listen to me. I do not only want you to listen to me, I also want you to reason with me, understand me, trust me and agree with me.” he swallowed hard, staring at the angry face of the girl. “Yes, I killed Lucy which I will not forgive myself for. Lucy’s brother, Kester, was working for your father and Rraina’s father. Lucy knew about their business and the police wanted to bring her in for questioning. With the fear of snitching on them to the feds, your father had me kill her so they won’t have to kill me again as instructed by so called chief priest of theirs.”
“How does that have to do with protecting our love?” she asked.
“Aah… Ah..” Crucifix stammered and closed his mouth.
“You’re still lying to me ” Margret looked at others at the dinning table. “I’m sorry for my rudeness but this meeting is over to me. None of you want to be truthful.” she finally walked into her room and slammed the door. The sound was like a slap to Crucifix who startled at the wave. Quietly, he returned to his seat, placed his hands on the table. When he looked up, his eyes caught with Raina’s in the silence.
“What exactly are you hiding from my daughter?” Emily asked, looking at Crucifix.
“Trust me, it’s better you do not know.” Geb began. “Now we’ve heard from the horses mouth how Lucy died. To be on a safer side, when the feds come for Crucifix, he will tell them the truth in a different dimension.”
“How?” Mrs. Nelson asked.
“He was found on the crime scene, so they will like him to explain what happened there. He will say that late Nelson wanted him dead as being told by his chief priest. He couldn’t kill him but began to force him to join the drug business which he refused then Nelson shot him.”
“How about Lucy?” Raina asked.
Geb cleared his throat. “We know now who killed Lucy and who gave the order. But since the dead cannot talk, we gonna blame it on the dead.”
“You mean, Crucifix will tell the feds that my husband killed Lucy and Kester instead of Adams?” Mrs. Nelson wanted to be sure.
Geb nodded. “That’s the only way to keep my grandson and Adams out of prison.”
“So, we the Nelsons are paying the price of sins of the Adams?” Raina clarified then turned to Mrs. Adams. “Margret, your daughter should come and hear this now before she starts misbehaving.”
“Quiet, Raina!” Her mother rebuked her. “Both of you should settle your differences and get prepare to go back to school. You’ll be graduating next two months. Take your studies seriously and pretend like nothing happened.” She looked at Crucifix. “You too, you have to go back to school.”
“Alright!” Mrs Adams stood up. “Thank you all for honoring this invitation. With all due respect, when all this is over, I wouldn’t want to see Crucifix with my daughter again.” she walked out. Her last statement brought meditation and vast aspiration on the table. Crucifix’ eyes caught with Raina’s for the second time.
Geb stood up. “Let’s go, son.” he began to walk out followed by Crucifix who glanced at Margret’s room for the last time. Raina and her mother watched two of them leave the house.
Mrs. Nelson looked at her daughter. “Raina, we need a lawyer. We have to get our asset back from the government.” she concluded.
“That’s why I want to study law in the university, mum.” she replied.
“That’s my girl. Come here.” she opened her arms and embraced Raina happily.
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There had been none verbal communication between Crucifix and his grandfather from the Adams to the mud house. Both entered into the house. Geb sat down on one of the local cushions while Crucifix herded to his room from where he heard Geb’s staff dropping on the floor and his exhausting exhalation voice. The silence between both of them spoke louder than what was in their minds.
Crucifix couldn’t stop thinking about Margret’s attitude and who Tommy was. He looked at himself in the mirror, raised his shirt up to examine the healing bullet wound. Again, he heard his grandfather’s exhaling tone. He also exhaled, pulled down his shirt and walked out to the living room where he stood beside Geb.
“I’m sorry, papa.” he finally broke the silence between them.
Geb looked up at him and spoke up very tiring, “What exactly are you sorry for, Crucifix? For having blood in your hands or for getting yourself into trouble?”
“For everything, papa. Mind you, I don’t get into trouble, trouble gets to me.”
“You may be correct but in every trouble that gets to you, you invited them.”
Crucifix became quiet thereby returning silence in the living room. He sat down on a different local cushion which made a weak, rusty, whistling sound. He exhaled. “I’m losing Margret, papa.” he spoke up softly again.
“Yes, you are, Crucifix.” Geb sat up. “You don’t blame the girl because she will never understand why you did what you did. You kept her in the dark for so long. Anybody will react the same way she did today.”
Crucifix lowered his head and shook it sadly. “She will not understand.” he whispered.
“Yes, she will not.” Geb continued. “You put her in a situation that is greater than her. If you had waited for, at least, ten years before performing lovcilia on her, she would have been matured enough mentally to withstand the storm. But now, she’s still a kid as far as I’m concerned. How do you expect her to react?”
Crucifix raised his head. “The point is that, I don’t want Margret in my life because she’s the one with the key as regards to lovcilia. I don’t want to make it look as if I’m only begging to be with her because my life depends on it. Or when I propose, she will accept me out of pity or something. No, I want her to accept me base on what she feels for me not because it’s what she has to do to keep me alive.” he paused, tapping one of his feet on the floor. “That’s why she will never know about lovcilia until our wedding night.” he concluded.
Geb relaxed his back on the cushion which also made a rusty sound. “Well, good luck with that.” he said.
Another silence creeped in. Crucifix had to break it, so he said, “Papa, I want to ask you something. Do I have a sister?”
Hearing that, Geb sat up. He thought for some moments which in the process Crucifix read his mind and stood up aggressively. “So you knew all along?! You knew I have a sister, a twin sister for that matter, and you and Obiageri kept it from me! Why, papa?!”
“Because Cynthia is destined to destroy you! That’s why you were separated from her and never to meet or see her!!”
“Oh, there you go again! I should have known! Life is not fair to me, school is not fair to me, the person I love is hurting me, everybody and life itself is against me and you want to make me believe that my own twin sister is destined to destroy me too. Jeeez!!.” his voice began to break in tears. “Why is my life different? Why can’t I be happy? Why can’t I have the peace of mind I so much long for. Is unfair! From one problem to another. Where did I go wrong!?” he began to walk into his room.
“Crucifix, no matter what you do, stay away from your sister.” Geb warned.
Crucifix turned astonishingly. “You must be kidding me, papa.” he finally entered into his room, picked his phone and dialed Emmanuel’s number. “Hey, bro, can I see you..? Where..? Okay? On my way.” he spoke through the phone and hung up immediately. Walking out of the house, Crucifix found the police at his door step. He exhaled….
