BELLA'S MEMOIRS (ENTRY #17)

THE TWIST

I was very worried about Okechukwu’s second visit to the Special Task Force investigating his money laundering case. We had spent a few hours preparing by thinking of all the possible questions that they would ask and coming up with answers we felt would not further implicate him or his brother. I had tried to convince Okechukwu to tell his brother what was going on but he refused and was adamant that he was going to take care of things. I ordinarily would have trusted him to do as he had promised but I was pretty sure he didn’t have a plan and I knew between the two of us, we didn’t have enough connections or money to stop Yinka.

There were only two options if we really wanted to stop Yinka. We could either let our families know what was going on and join forces with them or we could find out something about Yinka we could use as leverage. The only problem was people like Yinka hardly ever leave any loose ends and so I knew finding anything on him would be a herculean task unless of course I could go directly to whoever he used to cover his tracks. The problem was Yinka is also very secretive. I knew he didn’t really have that many friends, infact he spent more time with his PA than anyone else….of course the PA!

Okechukuwu had promised to call immediately after his session with the Task Force and I was compelled to wait. His phone call came about twelve hours later.

Me: Are you ok? What did they say?

Okechukwu: I’m fine, we need to talk Bella. We can’t talk on the phone.

Me: So how do I see you? I don’t think we should be meeting in public places, I’m sure Yinka has bribed the guards at my house or something. He seems to know my every move.

Okechukwu: Drive to the mall, park your car there and go inside. I’ll take care of the rest.

When I went into the mall, I saw Dapo Smith waiting, we went through the back exit and got into a tinted car I didn’t recognize. Okechukwu was at the wheel, we dropped Dapo at a restaurant down the road and drove off to Okechukwu’s house.

He was awkwardly quiet and I was worried something had happened during his interrogation.

Me: Babe you are not telling me anything. What’s going on?

Okechukwu: Just give me a minute.

He went into his bedroom and I followed him. I realized he had packed a bag.

Me: What’s going on? Where are you going?

Okechukwu: There is no other way Bella. I made a deal with Yinka tonight.

Me: What??? Why didn’t you discuss with me first, I thought we were in this together?

Okechukwu: Yes we are in it together. I know you would do anything for me and I would also do anything for you so I have to leave Bella.

Me: Where are you going? Are you taking me with you?

Okechukwu: Bella not now. You have to stay here for a while.

Me: I don’t understand! Are you leaving me?

I instantly broke down into tears. I was sobbing uncontrollably.

Okechukwu: Bella don’t make this any harder than it already is, let me explain. The interrogation today didn’t go well. I am not being framed; I am guilty of the accusations against me. I actually did some illegal transactions for my brother. He owed some people who helped with his campaign a favour and they got into some trouble. They needed to move an obscene amount of cash out of the country in foreign currency. I don’t know where the money came from, I asked but my brother refused to tell me. According to him the less I knew about the transaction the better for me. He made all the arrangements – that’s how come I had an international passport in a different name as your father discovered. Everything went as planned but someone my brother trusted betrayed him, after the money got to the destination safely the person started blackmailing my brother. They wanted him to use his new position and office to swing some things in their favour, he was very uncomfortable with it so he refused and they blew the lid on the money laundering issue and of course they had enough evidence for it to stick. My brother had some goodwill with the people in power at the time so he ran to them for help. I was being held in detention but when they intervened I was released and the case was closed. The case should have gone to trial, I should have been convicted and my brother should have been forced to resign from office at the very least but none of that happened and now Yinka is digging up the buried skeletons. If I was being framed, then I would have stayed to slug it out come hell or high waters but I am guilty and you know this is not just about us. My brother has a lot to lose, your family too.

Me: What are you saying? We should just give up and let Yinka win? I should marry Yinka? Really?

Okechukwu: What kind of life are we going to have if we ruin both our families and I end up in jail? I have a plan but I need to follow Yinka’s instructions and leave right away. Trust me.

Me: So I guess it’s ok if it’s only my life that gets ruined then. Why do I have to pay the price for everyone’s sins? There is a way out we can get Yinka’s PA to give us dirt on him that we can use as leverage.

Okechukwu: Listen! And stop cooking up plots that won’t work! I said you should trust me!

Me: What is the plan?

Okechukwu: After my interrogation, Yinka came into the room and asked to speak with me privately. At this point it had become clear that they had enough evidence to arrest my brother and me. He just wanted me to name the people we were working for and I didn’t have that information because my brother never told me. Even if I knew I wouldn’t have divulged because these are very powerful people Bella and my brother ratting out on them would mean big trouble for all of us. Anyways, he made me an offer. He said if I were to go away and promise never to contact you again then he would bury the cases against my family and yours. He promised me that you will be fine and well taken care of and he would never harm or mistreat you in anyway. He promised to take care of you Bella.

Me: Listen to yourself! You are actually asking me to marry the man that has put us in this position? What stops him from pulling this stunt again in a few years when I refuse to do something he wants me to do?

Okechukwu: Men like Yinka keep their word Bella. It’s a gentleman’s agreement. He will keep his word but it’s a good thing the wedding date is not even set yet we have time to figure this out.

Me: So you are leaving without telling me the plan?

Okechukwu: Bella what do you want me to say? Am I supposed to let everyone suffer because we want to be together? Do you have any idea how messy this can get? Just trust me I won’t let you end up with him, I swear.

Me: I trust you so stay and let’s face this together.  I am ready to face it with you…anything because to me being with you is worth it. Obviously you don’t feel the same about me.

Okechukwu: How can you even say that? This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my entire life and I can’t imagine my life without you but I have to go for now.

Me: There is always a choice Okechukwu! Let’s go talk to your brother he may have a way out of this for all of us.

Okechukwu: What do you think my brother would say? As it is, the only solution is for us to stay apart for now and I don’t think anyone would be willing to throw away everything so we can have our happily ever after. I will be back Bella and I would take care of it…I promise.

I started sobbing uncontrollably again and Okechukwu came closer and held me in his arms. After I gathered myself together he kissed me gently on the lips.

Okechukwu: Promise me you would be careful and you won’t tell anyone what happened. The story is that I have gone to school abroad for a while ok? It is very important to my safety and yours that you never reveal this to anyone please. Just trust that I would be back for you Bella. This is not how the story ends…the story ends when we are together forever ok?

I nodded.

Okechukwu: I love you Bella.

Me: I love you too.

We made love and I fell asleep. By the time I woke up, he was gone. He left his bracelet, a Cartier bracelet that he never took off by my phone and I knew it was his way of reassuring me that he would be back.

Okechukwu had promised to contact me as soon as he got to wherever it is he was going. I still couldn’t believe he was gone. I knew I couldn’t marry Yinka but how was I to handle the situation if Okechukwu had made me promise not to tell anyone and had also refused to share his plans with me.

About a week later, I still hadn’t heard from Okechukwu and Yinka was back to being his normal sweet self it was almost like I had imagined all that he had said and done earlier. It was like he had two personalities and I was terrified of him. Every time he called me on the phone I had goose bumps, I was always afraid he was about to drop another bombshell on me, and I was right.

Yinka had come to Lagos to “spend time with me” and one evening he came over to the house to see my dad. They were in the study for a long time and eventually when they came out, my dad called me.

My Daddy: Bella, I have been discussing with Yinka and he is of the opinion that we should fix a date for the wedding as soon as possible.

Me: Why? What’s the hurry?

Yinka: Apart from the fact that I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, I am also considering the timing of it all. With your dad emerging the party’s gubernatorial candidate, we have started working on his campaign schedule and it’s going to be pretty intense. When it really kicks off, planning a wedding would be the last thing on anyone’s mind and when he just gets into office it would look bad if one of the first things he does is to throw his daughter a lavish wedding. People would start insinuating he used State resources and all that. I think this is the best time for us to have the wedding plus you being the Vice President’s daughter in-law won’t hurt in the elections at all.

My Daddy: I think Yinka is right but we wanted to run it by you first. Don’t feel pressured if you want to wait, its fine darling. It’s your day and it should happen when you want it to.

Yinka: So Bella what do you think? Is it in everyone’s best interest to have the wedding as soon as possible?

I didn’t miss his silent message. The way he had stressed the “everyone’s best interest” was a silent message to me that objecting to the wedding would come with dire consequences.

Bella: I have no issues with having the wedding soon Daddy.

Yinka smiled and nodded at me. My dad looked genuinely happy.

My Daddy: You know I was initially skeptical about you getting married at such a young age but seeing the way being with Yinka has changed you over the last one year has been amazing. You have grown into an elegant, graceful and strong woman and I am so proud of you. I couldn’t have hoped for a better man for you and I am very confident that your life together would be happy and rewarding.

If only my dad knew what he was getting me into, I knew he would do everything in his power to stop it but I couldn’t tell him. He was so excited about his campaign which was launching in a few days and I knew he would sacrifice his political ambitions for my happiness but I didn’t know if I would be able to live with myself if he ever had to make that choice. I also knew I couldn’t not marry Yinka…there was no way out!

In a matter of hours, it had been concluded that the wedding would hold in eight weeks. Yinka had pushed for six weeks but thankfully his father had to be at a world leader’s conference in Berlin and so we had to push it back by another two weeks. I couldn’t believe that I was two months away from a life of misery. We had instantly commissioned a wedding planner and I now had the task of finding the perfect dress. Mrs. A had suggested we travel together to shop for the wedding and I tried to get out of it in case Okechukwu tried to contact me but Yinka insisted it was necessary. I still hadn’t heard from Okechukwu and I desperately needed to tell him the wedding date had been set so he would know how much time he had to put his plan to action.

The night before I was to travel, The Duchess asked to see me and so I drove to Park View.

The Duchess: Bella, I have been meaning to speak with you for some time now. You may have the whole world fooled but not me, what is the matter?

Me: I am fine Grandma. Really.

The Duchess: Are you sure there is no matter that you feel you need to discuss with me? Something is obviously troubling you.

Me: No Grandma. It’s just the whole pressure of planning a big wedding in such a short time frame. I think the trip away would be good for me and I would be better.

The Duchess: Hmmmmm…you know when you come from a family like this marriage is not just about personal preferences or choices. It is also about fulfilling family obligations to ensure that the next generation remains relevant and then the next generation also accepts the responsibility and extends the courtesy to the next. It is part of the reasons why as they say the rich keep getting richer because after a while of having a whole lineage of wealthy and powerful people, all it takes is one generation to alter the equation and a whole lineage can be reduced to commonness in a matter of years. Do you understand what I am saying to you?

I nodded. Of course I understood what she was saying. Wasn’t it the same lecture I had been receiving from Yinka time and time again?

The Duchess: That said, there is something that is more important than family obligations, power and pedigree. Do you know what that thing is?

I shook my head. Was this a trick question? The Duchess didn’t consider anything to be more important than family, power and pedigree.

The Duchess: Happiness.

I was surprised at her statement.

Me: I don’t understand.

The Duchess: I have almost everything I ever dreamed of. Money, power, influence, fame but I am lonely because none of them have been able to make me happy. I lost my only true source of happiness –my husband trying to hold on to the things I thought made me happy. Now that I have all I dreamed of, I realize what is truly important but it’s too late. Don’t make my mistakes Bella.

Me: I am not making a mistake Grandma. I am sure I want to marry Yinka.

The Duchess laughed out loud. I thought it might be a good time to open up to her about what was really going on but I remembered my promise to Okechukwu to keep quiet and trust him to handle it so I decided to keep quiet and then The Duchess said:

The Duchess: Bella you have always been very terrible at lying. Now let me cut to the chase, when were you planning on telling me about Yinka’s threats?