BELLA'S MEMOIRS (ENTRY #18)

THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.

The Duchess’s question left me shocked. I couldn’t even imagine how she could have found out what was going on. I desperately wanted to talk to someone about the trauma I had been going through but I didn’t know if I could trust my grandmother. I knew how much my grandmother loved power and I knew my father becoming governor was a dream come true for her. Would she believe that my desire for true love was more important than immortalizing the Ayo-Kessington name forever? I had given Okechukwu my word that I would never discuss our predicament with anyone and since I didn’t know what his plan entailed I couldn’t jeopardize it all by trusting the wrong person even if she happened to be my very own grandmother.

Me: Grandma I don’t understand. What threats?

The Duchess: Hmmmmm… you’re firmly keeping your end of the bargain? I think I under-estimated you.

She reached for her mobile phone and dialed a number. I was so sure she was calling Yinka to tell him that I had kept quiet about the whole plan. Was she in on it? Perhaps she was working with Yinka to make sure I didn’t run off with Okechukwu and ruin the family’s chances of gaining more political relevance.

The Duchess: Hold on for her.

She said to the person on the other end of the phone. She stretched out the phone to me and I refused to take it.

Me: But grandma…I don’t know what you are talking about. Honestly…I’m confused.

The Duchess: Go on dear. Trust me, you want to take this call.

I took the phone from her. The screen just showed a foreign number with no name. My heart was beating fast. Who in the world was I about to speak to and why?

Me: Hello

I whispered into the phone. The voice on the other end said my name softly “Bella”

I instantly burst into tears. It was Okechukwu.

Me: Okechukwu! Where are you? I have been waiting to hear from you for so long. You promised to call, I’ve been so worried and scared. I thought…

Okechukwu: Shhhhhh…I know and I am sorry. I just needed to settle some things before I made contact. Your grandmother will explain everything.

Me: You didn’t tell her did you? If Yinka finds out…

Okechukwu: I didn’t have to tell her Bella. That woman is like the godfather or something but I’m glad she is on our side Bella. You can trust her. She will tell you how to contact me. I love you Bella.

Me: I love you too.

With that he hung up and I looked at The Duchess. Suddenly she transformed from being my intimidating and sometimes scary grandmother to my very own fairy godmother. I wondered if she had some kind of magic potion that could transform Yinka into a frog so he could leave Okechukwu and me to live our lives in peace.

The Duchess: Okechukwu didn’t tell me anything. He didn’t have to. I went to him.

Me: How did you find out what was going on?

The Duchess: You mean going on between you and Okechukwu or you and Yinka?

Me: How did you find out about everything?

The Duchess: It’s a long story and I hope you would find it as fascinating as I do. I knew about your little love affair with Okechukwu and I wasn’t comfortable with it. I know your first reaction would be…it’s none of your business grandma it’s my life. But as your experience with Yinka has shown, your life is my life, its Adetokunboh your father’s life, its Anjola your stepmother’s life. We are all interwoven with one single thread and any mistakes from one party can have a ripple effect on the entire family. That’s the price that comes with this life. I needed to be sure Okechukwu would not become collateral damage to the family. You had earlier exhibited poor judgement in character by getting involved with Jaiyeola, your stepmother’s psychotic brother so I needed to be sure you were not bringing another criminal into our inner circle. So I started digging up stuff on Okechukwu, well as we both know my findings weren’t very encouraging. I knew that because at the time you were living here at The Villa with me and I was just trying to build a relationship with you, presenting you with the facts might push you away from me so I went to someone who also had your best interest at heart and who you trusted.

Me: My father.

The Duchess: Yes. I took the facts and I presented them to Adetokunboh. I didn’t necessarily think he would show you all of it. I just told him to take care of it that you are his daughter and I felt it was his place to set you straight and not mine. Now that I think about it I should have handled it my way because he handled it rather poorly.

Me: And how would you have handled it? Paid Okechukwu to go away like you paid my mother to disappear from your son’s life and like you tried to pay my stepmom too?

The Duchess: Lol…you are a smart one Bella. You see that is how I would have handled it but I tried and failed. Clearly money isn’t Okechukwu’s problem. I should have simply found a creative way of making you see the light without it appearing to have been me who did so but I always thought Adetokunboh was the only one of my children who inherited my creative mind when it comes to fixing challenging situations so I decided to leave it to him. Unfortunately, he has shown me once again that he has a lot to learn. He showed you the evidence and tried to compel you to stop seeing Okechukwu. A smarter person would have known that was the fastest way of making Okechukwu become your Prince Charming who was supposed to rescue you from your evil family.

She paused for a bit and then she continued.

The Duchess: Anyways, Yinka’s father happens to be an old acquaintance. His older sister and I were friends for decades before she passed on and needless to say he owed the family one or two favours. When your father expressed interest in politics a while ago, I immediately spoke to him about it because at the time he was running for office. He assured me that if he was elected he would make it happen for my son and so it was pretty much signed. On one of our numerous meetings concerning your father’s political future, your name came up and Yinka who was present mentioned that he had seen you and your dad at an event recently. He said something about you being very attractive and his father teased him about liking you, he admitted he was interested in getting to know you better. I thought it was a good partnership so I suggested to your dad that maybe it would be a good idea to introduce you two. For me it was a way to cement both families and also get rid of Okechukwu. Your father who has somehow become a hopeless romantic since he met your stepmother was against it and said we shouldn’t meddle in your love life. So we reached a compromise. We decided to give you a chance to meet Yinka without any interference from us and then decide for yourself if you were interested or not.

Me: So you intentionally set me up with Yinka the monster?

The Duchess: No pointing fingers lady. No one set you up with Yinka. There was a gala night, Yinka was going to be there. We orchestrated your attendance and informed Yinka. He found you and introduced himself and from there on it was your decision.

Me: No it wasn’t! As soon as I met Yinka everyone started telling me how good we looked together, how much prospect he had, how he could be the next president. I felt pressured!

The Duchess: No my dear. You were seduced by his good looks, and the resources he had at his disposal. It’s nothing to be ashamed of dear. Besides at that point it was clear that there was some kind of strain between you and Okechukwu even though no one knew what caused it.

Me: You caused it! Okechukwu found out about the information I had on his past. He saw all the ugly evidence in my room and he decided he couldn’t trust me that’s why there was a strain.

The Duchess: You are in denial Bella.

Me: No I am not! This is all your fault! I can’t believe you did this to me and my dad too and even Anjola! So she was in on the whole thing and I confided in her!

The Duchess: Your reaction is too theatrical for me Bella. I don’t have time for childish outbursts. Anjola was trying to help, she knew nothing about Yinka until she saw your pictures with him all over the place.

Me: Was that also a part of the plan? The publicity our relationship received, it is weird that Yinka was not very visible on the social scene until we started dating.

The Duchess: We had to make your relationship become a social hot topic for any relevance to come of it. So to answer your question…yes the media frenzy was part of the plan. We had to make your debut as an Ayo-Kessington matter and how better to do it than for you to enter the scene as the Vice-President’s son’s love interest. You had just legally changed your name to Ayo-Kessington after using your mother’s last name all these years, you had to understand the life that comes with the name. So the whole media attention was part of the plan.

Me: And then what happened?

The Duchess: All was well until I got word that Yinka was snooping around asking questions about the family and Okechukwu. I knew something was wrong and so I decided to also start my own investigation. I discovered he was having an affair and being that I am also a master strategist like Yinka I knew he was snooping around for a bargaining chip but for what I didn’t know. So I had to get a snitch.

Me: Who?

The Duchess: Yinka’s PA of course! I found out that the PA’s mother has a critical medical condition which requires a lot of financial resources and he is responsible for the education of his younger siblings. I offered to make life a bit easier for him financially in exchange for information.

Me: I told Okechukwu the PA was a good source, he didn’t listen to me.

The Duchess: He didn’t listen because he didn’t need to. He trusts me to handle this and I wish you would too.

Me: So what is the plan?

The Duchess: Nothing for now my dear. Just keep acting normal.

Me: I don’t understand why you and Okechukwu have refused to share the plan with me. It is my future at stake here.

The Duchess: Okechukwu cannot share the plan with you because he doesn’t know the plan. I won’t share the plan with you and risk both of you doing something stupid and blowing the whole thing open. I don’t know how you got caught in the first place. Dating one man and sleeping with another…your getting caught shows me you cannot handle this so stay out of it.

I was so embarrassed but I knew she had made up her mind to totally keep me and Okechukwu out of her way.

Me: Ok but tell me one thing grandma. How does this end?

The Duchess: My son becomes governor, you don’t marry Yinka and my family remains intact.

Me: That’s all I needed to hear. I will leave it to you grandma, I trust you.

The Duchess: Good girl…you’re learning quickly. Now go home and get some rest, you have a flight to catch tomorrow.

Me: Ok. How do I contact Okechukwu?

She held out a little blue phone to me.

The Duchess: I’ll get this number across to him when I am sure you two can be careful enough not to create a bigger mess. Yinka thinks he has gotten rid of your lover and we need to keep it that way.

I thanked her and was about to leave when she said:

The Duchess: Bella I hope you understand that I am doing this mainly because I want the best for you and I want to protect my family.

Me: I understand.

The Duchess: Good. So one more thing…I am helping to clean up this mess because I am partly responsible for causing it but my darling when this is all over, you still don’t end up with Okechukwu.

Me: I don’t understand. We want to be together, that’s the point of this whole thing.

The Duchess: The decision has been made Bella. My agreement with Okechukwu is to help clean up this mess so we can protect both families and ensure you don’t end up with Yinka and then he is to stay away from this family.

Me: Okechukwu agreed to that?

The Duchess: Yes Bella because he knows without my help all hell breaks loose. I still don’t want him in this family. That hasn’t changed.

Me: I thought you said happiness was the most important thing. Why would you want to keep me away from the man that makes me happy?

The Duchess: You will be happy at the end Bella, just not with Okechukwu. Trust me.

Didn’t The Duchess realize that there was no “happiness” for me without Okechukwu? I realized that I was in between the devil and the deep blue sea. I had to neutralize one of them…but who? Yinka or The Duchess?