"I don't like how you now frequent Marlise's compound. If you want her, just say it. Stop using Doctor Kamara as an excuse," Cherish complained to Levi. Since his birthday, he had gone to see Doctor Kamara almost everyday. He talked about her to Cherish non stop, how she was smart, accomplished and everything positive he could think of.
"Why are you complaining? If you like, you can come along," he said.
"I will," she replied grudgingly.
***
"Eli, there is a problem oh," Mado had dragged her friend aside on Levi's birthday.
"Eli looked at Mado with fear.
"You see that woman, she's related to Levi somehow," Mado revealed.
"What? How?" Eli whispered.
Mado relayed what Marlise had told her.
"If this is true, I can get arrested for kidnapping!" Eli said.
"It may not be true but we just need to keep Levi away from her and everything will be fine," Mado said.
Ma Eli called Cherish and begged her to discourage Levi from spending so much time with Doctor Kamara.
"If this is Levi's biological mother, I will be arrested and locked up. Please help me," Eli pleaded. Cherish agreed reluctantly to try her best. That was what she was now trying to do.
"I don't even understand it. Are you going to see your daughter or Doctor Kamara?" Cherish asked.
"Both! If you don't want to come, just stay home!" He shouted, heading out of the house. She ran after him.
***
"I think we should tell him our suspicions," Marlise said to Cherish as they sat in the kitchen in her appartment that day.
As soon as Levi arrived, he picked up Viva and took her to Doctor Kamara's. Marlise wasn't cleaning today because she'd been given a day off.
"We cannot. If it turns out to be true, Ma Eli can go to jail," Cherish said.
"They got to you didn't they?" Marlise asked.
"Who?" She faked ignorance.
"Cherish aren't you tired of playing their games? Ma Eli and mama have asked you to prevent Levi from learning the truth haven't they? stop being a pawn!," Marlise cried in frustration.
"I just don't want him to get distracted. We're in a good place. If this turns out not to be true, he will really be hurt," Cherish said.
"You're just being selfish. You want him to play according to your rules. It doesn't matter if he's happy or not!" Marlise shouted.
"I am his wife and I know what makes him happy and that's me! I am what he needs! He's behaving like a love starved child, following her up and down like a puppy!" She shouted back.
"Of course you're his wife. An insecure one. If you love someone, you give them a choice. I will bring it up as soon as I can," Marlise said
"You will do no such thing. Elizabeth is his mother and that's all he needs," Ma Mado entered the kitchen.
A knock sounded at the door. They suddenly stopped talking.
"It's Levi, Viva is wet, he said," Marlise opened the door. She tried a smile.
"Is everything okay?" He asked.
"All is well," Cherish said with clenched jaws. Ma Mado looked at him with hard eyes. He had known this trio long enough to not dig deeper.
"I'll change her," Marlise said
"Let me do it," Levi said.
***
A message popped up on Levi's phone which he had left the phone on the kitchen counter when he went to change the baby. It was from someone called Bobga PI.
Cherish had just been about to walk out when she heard the notification sound. Looking left and right, she picked up the phone and read the message. He can't see this, she said. She tried to forward the message to herself so she could show Ma Eli but the door opened so she quickly pressed a button without looking and dropped the phone.
"We're all done, have you seen my phone?" Levi asked. She handed it to him without saying a word. He looked at her suspiciously, grabbed it and walked out.
***
Doctor Kamara looked troubled when Levi got back to her house. He met her just staring at her phone as if she'd just received bad news.
"You forwarded a message to me just now, what was that about?" She asked.
"I did? I have not sent anything to you. What did the message say?" He was confused so she handed him her phone.
I found the name of the man who ran away from the hospital. His name is Clement Atanga. There is no trace of him online. I'm not still asking around for the name of the girl. I just wanted to let you know. Call me asap
His mouth fell open.
"I knew someone called Clement Atanga," Doctor Kamara said with a sad expression on her face.
Levi's hands gripped the steering wheel as he drove home later in the evening. His clenched teeth made Cherish know that something was wrong. Her heart was still beating from almost getting caught with his phone.
"An interesting thing happened today," he said with his eyes focused on the road.
"A message from my phone got forwarded to Doctor Kamara's phone before I even had time to read it? Do you have any idea how that can happen?" He asked.
She gasped and convered her mouth with her hand.
"Doc...doctor Kamara? Maybe your phone is faulty," she said
"Probably, because the message was deleted from my phone too!" He said with a one sided smile.
"I have no idea. Maybe that woman has some sort of spell. See how she has taken over your head and now your messages are going to her," Cherish said. Levi just laughed.
***
"But you deleted the message right?" Ma Eli asked Cherish after she told them about what she'd seen on Levi's phone. They were in Cherish and Levi's house in the evening a few days later. She shook her head.
"How can you be this foolish! You had one job and you messed up!" Ma Eli shouted.
"It was a mistake!" She pleaded, looking at her mother who watched Ma Eli insult her.
Marlise's words replayed in her head, "stop being a pawn!"
***
"Okay, so we wait for two weeks right?" Doctor Kamara said to Levi as they drove out of the hospital. He just nodded as he was too nervous to speak. He just wanted to go home and sleep for a full seven days because the anxiety was killing him.
THANKS FOR READING
Don't forget to vote and comment!