13 WISHES

The King's Queen

“let me give you money, if it isn’t enough you can come and meet me” I said giving Sandra the leftover money from Kath’s bike lessons. She nodded and left. Sam called me to him, he was on the phone. “Mom wants to speak to you” he said handing me the phone.

“Hello? Mom?”.

“David, Sam told me what happened. How is Kath?” mom asked worried.

“She is fine now, she just hasn’t woken up yet” I answered dully.

“It’s good that things are better” mom said relieved, “don’t worry, everything will be fine. God is in control. Abasi mbom mmi, kpa amo”.  I nodded in agreement and spoke a little with mom before hanging up. “Take care my Edidem and when Katherine wakes up, send her my wishes. Inform me as soon as possible” mom said before I hung up.

“I have to leave now but if anything comes up, call me” Sam said. I nodded and he patted my shoulder, “take care”. Sam walked away and Ayo approached me. “We should go home soon” He said.

“I will leave as soon as Kath wakes up. I won’t be able to concentrate on anything if I don’t see Kath awake” I said determined.

“So you aren't going home?”.

“I can't, I have to watch over Kath. I’m responsible for her and I let this happen to her” I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, “if anything happened to her, I don't know what I'd do”.

“But your shift will start soon”.

“It doesn’t matter. My job means nothing if Kath is in trouble”.

Ayo looked at me with a weird expression but nodded and looked ahead. I got up and opened the door to check on Kath. She was sleeping peacefully and there was a drip fixed to her hand.

I sighed and shut the door. I was about to join Ayo when I saw Chris standing some distance away. He was staring directly at me. The look on my face was one of surprise. He is here? What is he doing here? Chris walked away and I followed him. I am sure he wants to talk to me.

When I was close enough to him, he stopped and faced me. “Why are you here? What are you doing here?” I asked surprised.

“I saw what happened. Don Okafor found out about what happened. That we let you go and saved Kath so he sent me to watch over you two from the shadows” Chris answered impassively.

“So you’ve been following me and Kath the entire time?!” I exclaimed in disbelief. Chris shrugged and gestured to me. “Come on, let’s get somewhere to sit so we can discuss”.

I nodded and we went to a canteen nearby. “I already knew Don Okafor found out. He sent me a letter the day we left Lagos”.

“hmm” Chris nodded then asked, “what happened to Katherine Dave?”. I looked up at Chris and saw him staring at me seriously and expectantly. I looked down and narrated every thing to him. He wasn't happy and I can't imagine how unhappy Don Okafor will be if he finds out.

“Well, thank goodness she is okay now but Dave, you got to be careful with her. Don Okafor loves her a lot and she is her father's pride” Chris said, “if anything happens to her, you don't have any idea what he would do. You have to protect her. I will be watching and protecting you guys the way I can”.