Punished for what i knew nothing about (2)

 

PLEASE READ PART ONE BEFORE READING THIS!

 “You mean curses are real?” she asked starry eyed. With both hands firmly clasping her head, she didn’t look so corporate now.

“Curses are real and it makes no difference that you are innocent.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that five sisters in a family are still single and you are the youngest at 33!”

“But I am Christian” Shade protested “My Pastor said old things are passed away and I don’t have to bother about things like curses!”

I could see tear drops starting to form around her lovely eyes. She obviously was getting more confused.

“Look, why don’t you go and find out exactly why your mum believes this has to do with a curse?” I suggested

“But…..” she protested still.

“I have to know exactly what we are dealing with here” I stated firmly.

I really didn’t have to know what the curse was all about to deal with it but I figured that hearing the facts would leave her in no doubt about the reality of curses.

She reluctantly left my office and promised to get back to me as soon as possible. I was however in for a surprise.

My secretary called me at 7am the following day to say a determined Ms Bailey was at the office and was prepared to wait all day to see me if she had to!

I tried but I couldn’t see her until 11am by which time I was feeling horrible for having kept her waiting that long.

‘I am so sorry…,” I began, but she literally waived my apologies away with her hands and sat down heavily before me, breathing rather deeply.

“Can I get you some Tea, Coffee, anything?”

She slowly shook her head, brought out her handkerchief from another Gucci bag and wiped her eyes. She was now dressed in a loose white shirt and Blue Jeans but had absolutely no make up on! Her eyes were all red and puffy and I wondered if she had slept all night.

“So, you spoke with your mum” I began trying to encourage her to speak.

She nodded her head and the she burst into tears.

Oh dear!

Just as I was contemplating calling my secretary for some help, she stopped crying and wiped her tears.

“I am so sorry for all this but I still can’t believe this is happening. How mean can people be?”

“You can’t imagine” I wanted to say but I just shook my head in sympathy wondering what she could have discovered from speaking with her mum.

I didn’t have to wait long. “I spoke with my Mum alright and she’s just unbelievable. How she could have kept it all to herself, all these years, sure beats my imagination”.

I shook my head again. There was no point telling her that her mum had mentioned something about a curse, several times, according to her. 

“My grandfather, that’s my mum’s father, was a great man. I understand that he was one of the first set of Nigerians to study abroad. He was a brilliant fellow and he got a government scholarship to study something to do with Agricultural Science abroad”.

“When he got to England however, he decided to study law but there was a problem because his scholarship was strictly for Agriculture. He was advised to stick to Agriculture if he didn’t want to loose the scholarship”.

I could see that she was struggling with her emotions again.

“Look, let me get you tea or coffee” I stated firmly

“Tea please”

I called for Tea.

“My grandfather was adamant” she continued. “So, he had a problem. How was he going to continue his studies? His parents didn’t have the resources to pay for his school fees to study abroad even though they were not poor. My great grandfather had about sixty children!”

 “About this time, my grandfather met a lady from the West Indies. According to my mum, my grandfather was a very handsome fellow. He was reputed to have had quite a way with women and he was the toast of the West African community in Manchester”.

 There was a gentle knock on the door. The tea had arrived. I took the liberty of pouring the tea myself.

“Milk, Sugar?”

“Plain”

I handed her the cup and she took a sip before continuing.

TO BE CONTINUED