It would be nice to justify our actions; a find plausible reasons as to why we did the horrible things we did. But at the end of the day, the end didn't really justify the means-not always.
Lives could be ruined through the means we choose to reach our desirable end. An end that would only benefit ourselves.
So no, I don't believe the end really justifies the means. It only tries to make it less disheartening.
◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈
ＦＩＶＥ ＹＥＡＲＳ ＥＡＲＬＩＥＲ
Kenneth Kanayo had aged too much for someone in his early thirties but he wasn't complaining. The fact that he had an eighteen year old son didn't help matters either.
If he was only thirty four then when had he birthed someone that old?
An annoying question for Kenneth. He loved his children, how they had come to be was irrelevant.
Grabbing the KFC he'd bought earlier from the kitchen table, he bounced back into the sitting room, humming one of his favorite songs by Michael Jackson.
The football game was about to start and Kenneth was clad wearing his blue jersey as though that would bring good luck to his team.
He settled down on the couch in front of the TV. The children were with their mother, meaning there would be no distractions whatever. Kenneth could get used to this.
The game had barely started and he hadn't even opened his KFC when the buzzing alarm resounded throughout the house. That meant there was someone at the gate.
Kenneth ignored it for the first twenty seconds. If whatever or whoever it was was that important to be disturbing at that time of the night, then they wouldn't mind staying at the gate for a little longer. Although he silently wished the buzzing would stop-just to prove that it wasn't important after all.
He reluctantly stood up after a minute, mumbling curses at whoever was interrupting him. Assuming the kids were home, he would've just sent them to check who it was. Now, he was just seeing that being home alone was probably not the best idea.
Even the security guard was on leave. Kenneth was now regretting granting him that leave.
There was a little screen close to the gate that displayed footage from the camera outside the gate. On normal circumstances, Kenneth wouldn't look at him but then, it was past ten in the night, he wasn't taking his chances.
The footage wasn't that clear but he could make out the figure of a girl wearing Kendrick's school uniform, without the blazer. She looked familiar.
He sighed, pushing one of the buttons beneath the screen and the gate slowly slide to the side to reveal Esther, Kendrick's friend-or so Kendrick had said. Kenneth couldn't believe his son thought he could fool him, she was definitely his girlfriend. Or at least he liked her-that he knew for sure.
His eyebrows creased in confusion. "Esther," he called, as if to make sure she was really the one leaning against the pillar, barely standing on her feet.
"Good evening..." her words were drawled and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. She was still in uniform quite alright but she looked messed up.
"Are you okay? What's the problem?"
Maybe she was drunk? But Kenneth couldn't perceive alcohol from her.
She left the pillar and lost her balance but Kendrick caught her in time.
"Easy, easy."
"Kendrick. I'm looking for Kendrick," she managed to say, her eyes shutting every now and then. Kenneth wasn't even sure she knew who she was speaking to.
"Ken is not at home," he told her, still holding onto her shoulders because it didn't seem like she could stand on her own. "What's the problem? Why are you looking for him?"
"Ke-"
She was about to say something but that was it. She shut her eyes and lost control of her muscles as she collapsed fully into Kenneth's arms.
• • •
Confused would be an understatement to describe the man speeding past the streets of Newland Estate at 11 PM with a teenage girl in the back seat while he simultaneously tried to reach his son on the phone.
Kenneth didn't even know where he was driving to because one: he didn't know where she lived and he didn't know her parents, neither did he have their contact.
Two: Kendrick who was at least supposed to have an idea of her address wasn't reachable. He tried their mother's number, the same thing.
He tried to calm himself down but occasionally glancing at the unconscious girl in the backseat wasn't helping matters. He'd tried everything an inexperienced person as himself could to resuscitate her but it was as fruitless as his efforts to wake up early every morning.
He was very sure he was driving like a mad man but that was the least of his worries at that moment.
His phone began ringing and for a second he was delighted that it was probably Kendrick calling back but he was disappointed when he saw the caller ID.
Not now.
First ring. Second ring. Third ring, he just had to pick the call.
He swiped the green button and let the callers voices fill the car from the Bluetooth speakers.
"Kanayo," the deep, familiar and eerily voice called, oozing command and control.
Kenneth breathed out. "Mr. Aloysius."
"My house, now," he ordered with a tone of finality.
"Sir, I'm sorry but there's an emer-"
The loud beep had cut him off. Of course, he wouldn't want to hear Kenneth's excuse. He didn't give a damn.
Kenneth slammed his right hand against his steering wheel in anger. He was already approaching the estate gates. Why now?
He glanced at the lifeless-looking girl through the rearview mirror.
"God, why?" he mumbled under his breath.
He had no choice, did he? He could only pray she would not die or anything. That's if she wasn't already. His freedom-and probably his life and that of his family's as well-was at stake.
But then, Esther?
Kenneth slammed his fist on the steering wheel again. Fuck it.
In one swift, expertise movement, his car was going in the opposite direction, back into the estate.
The streets were empty and that made it easy for him to speed up even more. He had to be quick. He would just go and find out what the devil incarnate wanted and rush Esther to the hospital afterwards.
In no time, he was in the upper ring again, honing loudly in front of the gate to the Mr. Aloysius's mansion. The automatic gates opened and he drove in immediately.
He parked and rushed out of the car immediately. The compound was well lit and it was quite a sight to take in. But Kenneth wasn't there to admire the place, he was going to get out of there as soon as possible.
Mr. Aloysius emerged from the house looking like someone who had just gone through the second world war. Kenneth had never seen him that way, he was always calm, collected and scary. Though, as he approached Kenneth with haste, he still looked very scary.
"There's something I need you to take care of." Mr. Aloysius breathed out, standing very close Kenneth.
Kenneth shook his head. "I have a girl in the car, she fainted and I can't revive her. I don't know what to do... I was taking her to the hospital-"
"There's some money I want you to keep safe. I'll let you know when I need it but I need you to keep it safe for now," the man ordered, not caring the least about what Kendrick was blabbing about.
"That's all?"
"Yes."
"Where is it?"
"It's inside, in the basement passageway," he replied before looking up and taking a glance at the car behind Kenneth. "Go and get it. I'll see what I can to help...the girl."
Without thinking twice, Kenneth dashed into the house, not wanting to waste anymore time.
The large downstairs living room was well lit but the adjourned passageway that let to the basement was the opposite. It was very dark. In fact, Kendrick couldn't see anything, he couldn't make out the sack of money Mr. Aloysius had talked about. Was it even in a sack?
With shaky hands, he hurriedly retrieved his phone from his pocket and turned on the flashlight. The darkness seemed to be swallowing the light but he was able to make out the door that led down to the basement at the far end. He'd always wondered what was down there but he figured it would just be old furniture and other junk.
There was a briefcase lying close the wall when Kenneth looked around. He grabbed the heavy briefcase and began hurriedly made his way out of the house.
When he got outside, Mr. Aloysius was nowhere in sight. He approached his car and could make out the man's figure in the backseat before he even got close enough.
He'd said he would try and help Esther and that was probably what he was-
No, it wasn't.
"What's the meaning of this?!" Kenneth yelled, dropping the briefcase on the ground, grabbing Aloysius by the back of the collar and pulling him out of the backseat where he was hovering above Esther who's clothes were all open.
Kenneth didn't care if the man was nearly twenty years older than he was and if he could have him behind bars with the snap of his fingers, he grabbed him and threw him to the ground. The man managed to stuff his genitals back into his trousers which were unbuckled.
Kenneth couldn't even look at the girl at the back of his car with the way her skirt was pulled up and her undies pulled down. Her shirt was fully unbuttoned and she just laid there, looking more lifeless than before.
He tried to put her in order with his shaky hands before slamming the back door shut.
He hopped into the driver's seat, brought the car to life, reversed and drove out of the compound as soon as the gates came open.
So many things were going through his head and all he could was scream and slam his fist against the steering wheel, not caring if he was dangerously over speeding in the middle of the night.
The estate security had already locked the gates but he not-so-calmly explained to them it was an emergency before throwing them some naira notes. He sped out of the estate after they opened the gates as he fought back tears.
What had he done? What sort of mess had he gotten himself into?
The poor girl.
• • •
The people at the emergency ward couldn't get a thing Kenneth was saying after he rushed in with Esther in his arms, calling for help.
In one night, Kenneth was sure he had lost his sanity. What was he going to do?
The doctors had been attending to her after he told them she had fainted, but that was it. That was all he'd told them.
What would happen when she woke up?
His phone rang but he ignored it. It was Mr. Aloysius calling again. The phone kept ringing as Kenneth paced around the waiting area.
The man gave up soon enough and sent a text instead. Kenneth glanced at the text, couldn't make out his exact words but it was a threat. A threat to his life if anyone found out what had happened.
Kenneth looked towards the direction of the ward where they'd taken Esther in, contemplating on what to do.
He made up his mind and walked out.
His phone rang again while he was driving out of the hospital.
"Hello, dad. I saw your missed call." Kendrick's voice came through the loud speaker.
Kenneth couldn't even say anything in response. He simply tried to keep his breathing in check.
"Dad?"
"Yes, I'm here."
"Is everything alright? You called more than ten times."
He sighed. "Everything is fine. I just wanted to know if you're watching the football game."
"Oh," Kendrick paused, "no, I'm busy with homework."
"Alright. Greet your sister for me."
"Okay, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈
Kasy smoothened her skirt with her hands as she tried to stand upright and maintain poise. That was one of the reasons she dreaded her mother's appearance.
The Kanayos were lined up in front of the house as though they were about to receive the president himself. Kasy stood in the middle of her brother and father. Her short, black hair was pulled back and packed with a rubber band. She wore a stripped T-shirt with a collar. She tucked it into her knee length pencil skirt, all to look preppy.
Her father stood on her right, his hands inside his khaki shorts. He looked as casual as possible with his navy blue T-shirt and gold necklace.
Kendrick was on her left, looking like someone's PA with his plain white shirt and black trousers but he didn't bother tucking in. He also had his hands in his pockets.
The two men hadn't said a word to each other since the previous night. Kasy knew that Kendrick would've left that night had it not been very late already. How had they gone from playing with water guns to this, again? She thought they had been making progress.
In the meantime, she tried not to think of Kendrick's accusation. It was absurd and nothing else. But that didn't mean their father wasn't hiding something. She just couldn't believe all this had been going on under her nose.
Kasy took in a deep breath as the gate slowly parted ways to reveal the black Ferrari making its way into the compound. Kasy wondered if she was the only one feeling anxious. Asides the fact that this was the woman she hadn't seen in a year or so, her mother was a lot.
Before anyone could say Jack Robinson, the car had pulled up and the driver rushed out of the driver's side and walked round the car to get the door for his madam.
Shiny blacks heels hit the ground and the full frame of the one and only Barr. Philomena Udenze followed suit. Kasy unintentionally held her breath as the average heighted woman approached them in all her glory, the stern look on her dark face never leaving it. She was wearing a long, black, shiny gown that fitted her thin body perfectly. Her weave was pulled up in a high bun and her light makeup was nicely done. She definitely did not look fifty.
Now, that was wear Kasy had gotten most of her looks. Black skin, kinky hair, small lips, wide eyes and of course, the skinny frame.
"Welcome, ma." Kendrick gave her a side hug, a small smile on both their faces. He was way taller than her and she had to look up at him as she asked how he was.
"Good morning, ma." Kasy squatted a little only to show courtesy. It was the kind of thing the woman liked. She equally enveloped Kasy in a hug.
"Look at you. Now a young lady." Mrs. Philomena sized Kasy up, a satisfactory smile on her face.
"Kenneth," she acknowledged him after moving on from Kasy.
"Philomena. How was your trip?" he asked even though they all knew he didn't care.
"It was good." She nodded. "It's always nice to be here in Abuja-so much peace and quiet. Unlike Enugu," she blabbed on as they all made their way inside.
• • •
Casper Bassey
Hello beautiful
10:35 AM
Casper Bassey
Are you there
11:06 AM
Casper Bassey
Hurry up and come online!!! 😭😭
11:37 AM
Casper Bassey
WHERE ARE YOU??? 😢
11:45 AM
Casper Bassey sent a photo.
Kasy stared down at yet another picture of Casper's shirtless self. No one needed to tell her that she should be paying money to see a god like this. A smile graced her lips as her fingers began flying against her keyboard.
Kasy K
Missed me? 😏
12:04 PM
Casper Bassey
FINALLLYYY!!!!
12:04 PM
The fact that he'd replied immediately and was still typing made Kasy smile even more.
Casper Bassey
Where have you been? 😒
I've been waiting for you.
12:04 PM
Kasy K
I've been so busy.
12:05 PM
"Young lady will you put that phone away," her mother scolded with a deadly look and Kasy adhered immediately.
Kasy watched her mother give her father a questioning look as though he was responsible for her behavior. "That was very disrespectful. You should confiscate that device once in a while," she said to Kenneth who only nodded awkwardly and took a sip from his glass of juice.
Mrs. Philomena turned back to Kendrick who she had been speaking to. "As I was saying, Nonso," she referred to him with his Igbo name, "you're degree is wasting away in that school. I did not send you to school to become a secondary school teacher. It's been almost two years already, find something better."
Kendrick didn't bother saying a thing. They'd had the same conversation over and over and besides, he wasn't in the mood to argue with another parent.
The awkward silence on the dinning table made Kasy very uncomfortable. She didn't even understand why they were there in the first place. They weren't having lunch, just snacks.
Mrs. Philomena sighed. "Oh, I'm famished. These biscuits are not doing it for me." She moved the plate of biscuits away from her. "What's for lunch?"
"Egusi soup. The chef is already on it," Kenneth replied, not looking up at the woman who turned to him with an incredulous expression. He looked too tired for anything.
"Chef?" Mrs. Philomena asked, bewildered. "What do you mean the chef is already on it? When there's a capable young lady in the house?"
The apple juice was Kasy's favorite but she nearly spat it out when she realized what her mother was getting at.
Kenneth raised his eyes to meet Kasy's and they stared at each other like that. Kasy could also see Kendrick glancing at her through the corner of his eyes.
Kasy jerked back to the present when her mother yelled, now looking very annoyed.
"My friend, get up from there, osiso!" the woman screamed murder. Neither Kenneth nor Kendrick would dare interfere. "Kedu udi iberibe bu nka? Ebee ka ana eme nke ahu? A chef? When a grown woman is in the house?" she kept lamenting as Kasy stormed out and headed for the kitchen.
Enraged would be too small of a word to describe how Kasy felt. Who did the woman think she was? Kasy wanted to give her a piece of her mind but even her father couldn't do that. Asides the fact that she was nearly twenty years older than him, he wasn't even her husband.
He, scratch that, they were just a mistake that she'd left behind.
So what gave her the right to waltz into Kasy's life whenever she felt like it and dictate how they lived their lives?
Just as Kasy barged into the kitchen, her mother stormed in behind her, yelling and nearly pushing the female chef out of the kitchen.
"Jiri ya nwayo, o nwezii ka ihe nka di, biko." Kenneth was on their heels as well just as the chef was sent packing. Mrs. Philomena faced him and they began arguing rapidly in Igbo, Kasy couldn't keep up. She was too angry to even listen to them.
"Kedu ihe mee na agbobia ha otu a amaghi esi nri? Will I be the one to cook for her husband and family in the future? Or she'll also go looking for a chef," Mrs. Philomena scolded. "Kenneth, kedu udi ozuzu bu nka? You're spoiling these children!"
That seemed to tick Kenneth off because he backed up, raised his voice and began pointing fingers. "Philo, I will tolerate every other thing from you, but don't you dare question my parenting! Do you hear me? They are my children and I raised them well, on my own! Don't forget that!"
"And what do you mean by that? What exactly are you trying to say?" The woman began yelling again but Kenneth had already began walking away. She followed him.
Alone in the unnecessarily big kitchen, Kasy turned on her WiFi and headed for Google.
She was going prove her mother wrong. Besides, how hard could it be? Her father prepared egusi soup perfectly, so it couldn't be that hard. Although now was regretting not joining him in the kitchen and learning a few things.
How to prepare egusi soup.
Egusi with goat meat?
Kasy wasn't even sure it was goat meat they'd bought for the soup but she clicked on the link anyway. It might have been chicken but who cared?
Before she knew it, she was redirected to YouTube and she couldn't believe she was about to do this. Her parents' voices could still be heard from upstairs and Casper's messages kept coming in every now and then.
"What are you doing?" Kendrick's deep voice startled Kasy. She turned to see the amused look on his face as he door at the door. If not for the circumstances, her brother would've probably been laughing at her.
She sighed and gave him puppy eyes. "Save me?"
Kendrick tilted his head to the side for a moment before he walked in and grabbed a similar apron to the one Kasy was wearing.
"So you think you can pull this off by watching a video while you're doing it? You haven't even tried it before and you're-"
"I'm stupid, I know. Can we just do this before she comes back?"
Kendrick sighed and got to work. It was like he had done it a thousand times-which he probably did since he lived on his own.
The irony.
The men in the family were the cooks. Kasy had come to that conclusion because she knew that her mother-regardless of all the noise she was making-wouldn't be caught dead in a kitchen. She might've known how to whip up a few things but Prof. Philomena Udenze seldom stepped foot in the kitchen.
Where Kenneth had picked up his cooking skills, Kasy didn't know. But Kendrick seemed to have inherited it and Kasy didn't know what she would do without the both of them.
"It's not weird that a woman hates cooking, is it?" Kasy asked her brother who was cutting vegetables while she washed the meat. It was goat meat after all.
Her brother didn't stop what he was doing and Kasy wasn't sure he'd heard her for a second there.
"I don't know," said Kendrick, "What I do know is that the mentality that woman belong in the kitchen is bullshit."
"So, then it's not wrong if I hate cooking," she stated.
Kendrick stopped cutting and turned to his sister. "What if your husband also hates cooking and most likely don't know how?" he asked with raised eyebrows. Kasy opened her mouth to speak but he beat her to it. "And what if you can't afford a chef?"
A chef was Kasy's alternative. She didn't really think that she'd ever not be able to afford a chef.
She didn't know what to say to that.
Kendrick took the washed meat and put them into a pot. He added water as he responded, "I don't think only women should be the ones bound to culinary duties but I believe everyone should know how to cook, whether they like it or not. Even if it's just rice and sauce."
Kasy watched and listened to Kendrick talk as he moved round the kitchen, mindlessly doing everything like a pro.
"Imagine if two people who know nothing about cooking get married. That's why I asked what if your spouse doesn't know how to cook and can't afford a chef. Trust me, you'd get tired of going to restaurants if that's what you're thinking."
No one needed to tell Kasy that Kendrick was speaking from experience. She was beginning to low-key envy him.
"So, you should know a little, at least. It's much more convenient, especially for a bachelor or spinster who depends on a salary. If I didn't know a few things in the kitchen, I would be spending my entire salary on takeouts.
"But then again, it's kinda selfish of me to think everyone should know how to cook. I mean, someone has to patronize all these people that own restaurants. And chefs also earn a living. They say life is not balanced, but it depends on how you look at it. Everything happens for a reason, so I guess you," he turned to her with a smile, "might be one of those people who will make chefs very rich."
Kasy rolled her eyes at her brother. "Ha, ha. Very funny."
She waited for him to continue whatever he'd been doing but he didn't turn away and she realized everything was already in the steaming pot. "You're done?"
"Almost. There's nothing much left to do, it won't take long now."
She propped herself up on the marble counter behind her and released a sigh. Kendrick joined her.
"I can't wait for this day to end," said Kasy.
"I think she's staying for the weekend."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah."
Kasy groaned loudly but that wasn't enough. She felt like shedding tears. "Why can't I be happy to see my own mother?" she mumbled but Kendrick heard her.
It took a while before Kendrick released a sigh and mumbled, "Ogadinma."
"I'm sorry about what happened to Ms. Isong," said Kasy. "She is a really strong lady."
Kendrick turned to look at her. "What makes you think so?"
Kasy shrugged. "The way she carries herself... I never would've guessed something like that had happened to her."
"Well...it's been years." Kendrick sighed, looking into nothingness. "I don't know why she came back to Newland though, she should be far from here."
"Why did she become a teacher? Her parents are wealthy, right?"
"Very wealthy, and influential." Kendrick was speaking drowsily. "She's always loved impacting knowledge. And she's good at it too. When we were in school, she would tutor a lot of our classmates. I also tutored too though, but they always preferred her because she was much more understandable or whatever."
Kasy chuckled for some reason." You nko? Why did you start teaching? Or rather, why are you still teaching?"
"I started when I didn't have any other job coming my way," he replied, "Why I'm still teaching? I don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe I'm already used to it. And comfortable with it, for now."
"Hmm..."
Kendrick got off the counter and headed towards the steaming pot. "Our soup is almost ready."
• • •
The door swung open as soon as Kasy knocked. She gave her father a warm smile, holding up the tray containing his food.
Kenneth mirrored the smile and made way for her to walk in. He didn't bother shutting the door anymore.
A football game was on on the TV and Kasy figured that's what must've kept him for the past hour. Nevertheless, he wasn't in the nest of moods. None of them were.
"I figured you'd still be too angry too come down and eat," Kasy said as she set down the tray on the small mahogany table next to the large window.
"Thank you," he replied, sitting at the edge of his king-sized bed. He didn't look like he was going to eat the food anytime soon.
Kasy sat next to him and they just stared ahead at the TV, watching the match.
"You know," Kenneth started, not taking his eyes off the screen, "I once wanted to be a footballer."
Kasy chuckled. Of course he did.
"But life happened. My family was so poor, we struggled to eat twice a day so... Football became the least of my worries."
Kasy turned to him. She knew the rest of the story. "And you met mom."
Kenneth took awhile but he managed to reply, "Yes. I met your mother."
"Seventeen year old rascal Aba boy, school dropout, trying to get by, doing anything I could lay my hands on, but it was never enough. It just wasn't working." He shook his head slightly but still didn't move a muscle. "I decided to go and meet one of my friends in Enugu. He seemed to be living the life, and he promised to help me. I was excited, finally, I could make enough money.
"I was ready to do anything for money. But I didn't think Chika would introduce me to... an older woman." Sugarmummy.
"Yeah, we knew these women were married, and they were way older than us but... That was how Chike was making money and... He was making a lot. He managed to convince me and at first... I hated myself. But then, the money..." Kenneth trailed, shrugging his shoulders.
He'd told the story a couple of times and each time he did, Kasy could see him making peace with his past. The first time he'd explained their complicated family and how it came to be to her, he struggled a lot to get the words out. Now, it was almost like he told the story as a moral lesson.
Philomena Udenze was in her mid thirties and already married when she and her other married friends developed the habit of sleeping with younger boys.
When she got pregnant for Kendrick, she played smart and claimed her husband-who she'd been trying to have a child with for years-was the father. Kenneth had no idea she was even pregnant to start with.
Fast forward to eight years later, Kendrick is living and growing up as an Udenze when Chief Udenze starts wondering why they haven't been able to have another child and why his supposed son looks nothing like him.
Philomena decided there was no harm in her getting pregnant by Kenneth again for the sake of her marriage and she did.
But things fell apart after she was eight months pregnant with Kasy and Chief Udenze found out Kendrick wasn't his son. Somehow, he'd heard she had been having an affair and he had a paternity test.
The truth came out and things became messy. Eight year old Kendrick was sent packing from the place he'd known as home and by the man he'd called father.
When Philomena had finally put to bed-in her parents' home-Chief Udenze gave her an ultimatum.
Her children or her marriage.
The wealth, she couldn't leave it. The shame, she couldn't face it. Her husband was ready to take her back and forget everything, she couldn't lose that opportunity.
How many men would be able to take back an unfaithful wife?
Eight year old Kendrick and infant Kasy became Kenneth's responsibility since even her parents were forbidden from having them.
With the little money Philomena would manage to send occasionally, Kenneth left everything-his life, his family-and moved to Abuja to start afresh.
Kasy wrapped her hands around her father and rested her head on his shoulder. He was her hero.
This was the man who had sat with her in class for the rest of the day when she couldn't stop crying on her first day of school. It was the same man who had been by her side when she had her appendix operation. That was the man who was with her during her first menstrual flow even when he knew little to nothing about it.
She didn't care about what his past looked like. Kenneth Kanayo deserved the world.