Chapter 48

CHRISTOPHER'S POV
Emily and her accomplice kept hitting the door but there was no way they were going to get in here. The door was locked and I had thrown the keys out.
"Stop bothering yourself Emily, none of you can get in here." Micheal shouted from inside the room so that Emily could hear him and maintain some peace.
"Why are you doing this Micheal?" Emily said and before she could say anything further, Micheal shut her up.
"Please zip it. I blame you for everything. You pretend to love me yet you never did." He interrupted her and I was amazed at his guts.
"What makes you think I would choose you over my brother? You never loved me Micheal. I was only a means to whatever you wanted to achieve." She retorted and there was absolute quiet for a while.
"Well, I actually loved you Emily, you destroyed everything we had." Micheal responded.
I actually sat on the bed and allowed the both of them to continue with their banter.
I was glad that the closed door separated them because with the way Micheal was fuming, he would have ripped her apart.
"Stop the emotional blackmail you know fully well that you were not going to use me for anything at the end of the day." Emily lashed out on him after he finished blaming her for the mess he had put himself into.
As soon as she said that he hit his fist against the wall and I was very certain that that would have been Emily's face if he had actually seen her.
"Emily kindly leave that place now with whoever it is that you are with, today is a day of reckoning between myself and Michael and we must sort out ourselves today." I told my sister as I stepped out of the bed and walked towards Micheal.
As I drew closer to him I heard a voice that told me to stop and take things easy for a while. That's why I decided to take a pause and then I walked back to the bed where I was seated.
He turned to look at me without saying anything and I did not say anything to him either. We kept staring at ourselves. Silence engulfed us and threw us into the deepest part of its pit.
By this time I was already very calm and the only thought that came into my mind was to ask him about the documents I had entrusted into his care and also the ones I presumed he took from my room.
"Come over here and sit down Michael, we need to talk." I told him in a very commanding and instructive voice and immediately he walked over, took a stool and sat down opposite me.
Before I could even say a word I saw tears streaming down his face. I felt he was remorseful for what he did but at the same time there was no need to give him the kind of chance I gave him the other time.
I thought he would speak so I decided not to say anything at first but after waiting for a long time without him saying anything, I decided to break the silence again.
"Could you please tell me what actually happened from the day you took that decision because I know for a fact that you are not that bad." I said trying to massage his ego and make him see that I still have some confidence in him even if I have lost all of it.
He still continued crying while still moping at me. I didn't know what to do or what to say to him either at the moment so I decided to allow him to express himself and his emotions as much as he could.
Thus I stood up from where I was sitting and started moving around the room.
I walked to the window to check if I could see where the keys fell but I couldn't see the keys when I looked down so I presumed it was lost and I decided to forget about it. All I had to do was to figure out how I would get out of the room by the time we are done with whatever it is we will do here.
As I turned my back to look at Michael I saw him standing on top of the stool he was earlier sitting on and pulling the ceiling.
I wondered why he was doing that although I didn't say a word to him I just sat down on the bed and continued watching him.
After pulling the ceiling he brought out files and dropped them on the ground one after the other.
By the time he was done he covered the place he had opened and came down from the stool.
Then he bent down and started sorting out the documents as contained in the files one after the other.
He assembled them into different groups and then reached for a pen on top of the dressing table. He wrote some things on the files although I did not see what he was writing from where I sat.
When he was done he picked up the files, carried them in his hands and walked towards me.
He stood in front of me with the files for about two minutes without telling me anything or handing me the files.
I looked up at his face and I realised that he was still crying. I've always known Michael to be a very soft person but this attitude of his that I just discovered spoiled everything. As much as he has lost my trust and confidence I decided in my heart not to deal with him as I had earlier planned.
All I'm going to do is just to forgive him and let him go. After all ,I have done things that are very abominable but how God keeps showing me mercy is what still surprises me.
"What are those you have in your hand Michael?"I asked him when I saw that he was finding it difficult to speak.
Instead of saying anything he stretched out his hand and handed me the files in his hand.
"These are the documents, both the ones you gave to me and the ones I took from your room. There was no way I was going to leave without giving them to you." He stated as he used the back of his hand to wipe his face but the tears won't stop flowing.
I bent down my face and looked at the papers in my hand then looked up to him again and for once I saw the sincere Michael I had always worked with.
Having said that, he walked to his closet and took his things out of it.
I looked over to the spot where he had earlier kept the documents and I discovered that there were still a few lying on the floor so I dropped the other ones on the bed and walked towards it immediately. He saw me approach the documents but he didn't say anything or do anything to stop me.
I reached for them and I looked through the documents and discovered that they were his personal documents so I dropped them back on the floor and went back to sit on the bed.
I knew I wanted him to leave because I don't want a rebel in my house nor do I want him to harm my sister or Louise. But I really felt bad that he was leaving. I had known him almost all my life and he had been the best part of my life. Losing him was kind of difficult but the truth is that I must let him go.
"Are you just going to leave like that?" I asked him because it still felt as though I was losing a great part of me.
"What would you have me do Christopher? everything has turned against me I must leave." He still continued packing his things.
I sat down on the bed and kept watching him until he was done picking the things in the closet. and he moved to the dressing table, opened the drawer attached to it and brought out a few things.
After arranging his boxes, he still stood at a spot and kept staring at me. His expression said he wanted to tell me something but in reality he said nothing.
And then he walked towards the door and tried to open it but he couldn't so he turned back to face me again.
"The best you could do for me right now is to just let me go. I know I have offended you but please let me go." Michael stated and all remorse that I saw all his face earlier disappeared.
"Is that supposed to be an apology?"I angrily yelled at him and he dropped his bags and faced me.
For the first time since we met we had a fight. No matter how angry Michael is with me, he would never raise his hand against me even if I do that to him but things were different today as he fought back.
When we got tired of fighting we both sat beside each other and looked at each other's faces and we looked like strangers to ourselves.
I got up and spat on him and I must say that I regret ever trusting him the way I did.
Thereafter I walked towards the door and hit it with every strength and anger in me and the door forcefully opened although it had gone bad.
"I'm sorry Christopher." Michael said and I turned back to look at him. I realised that I had hit him so badly his face was torn and his mouth was also bleeding.
I also had my fair share from the fight but I wasn't as badly injured as he was.
As I looked at his rumpled face that has been disorganised because of the beating I gave to him, I pitied him and I wish he never did what he did to incur my wrath.
I refused to respond to him as I walked out of the room and met Emily on my way who I discovered to have been hanging around the room all along. She wanted to go in and find out what had become of Michael but I assured her that he was good and made sure she didn't go in to meet him.
Having convinced her not to go check up on him, she followed me to my room and even helped me to carry the documents that Michael had handed over to me.
"Are these the documents you said you had entrusted in his care?" She asked me in a very concerned tune and I nodded affirmatively.
So we walked into my room to drop the documents and also for her to dress the little wounds that I had sustained.
She left me in the room and went to call Louise, who has become the medical practitioner in the house.
Louise walked in immediately with her and they started tending the wounds.
I thanked them by the time they were done and ordered for breakfast which Emily rushed down to get while Louise stayed behind with me.
By the time Emily came back Louise and I had finished going through the documents and we found that everything was accurate.
Louise suggested that I visit the doctor but I told her that it was not necessary.
While I was eating, Emily reminded me about Mr James the police officer that we had taken to the hospital the other time.
Truth be told I had actually forgotten that I took him to the hospital because I haven't checked up on him ever since then.
"I don't know how he is faring right now but I am very sure that he is fine." I stated nonchalantly and they both looked at me like a monster who doesn't care about people.
Well I didn't blame them, if only they knew that old man played a prank on me, they wouldn't be here looking at me this way.
"We should go see him in the hospital tomorrow." Louise suggested and I acted as though I didn't hear her whilst I concentrated on the food I was eating.
When I was done with the meal, I thanked them and laid on the bed.
Both of them were still seated and I wondered why they were still there.
"I want to be left alone." I announced but these two ladies wouldn't even move an inch.
Instead they kept bugging me with questions that I was not ready to answer. Just so I would not make life miserable for myself and themselves, I got up from the bed and walked out of the room.
On my way down I met Michael as he was pulling his luggage behind him.
I acted as though I didn't see him as I walked straight out of the house.
I need to go somewhere to clear my head.
I drove around town without knowing where to stop by. So after driving for a few minutes, I decided to go back home and I hope the ladies will let me be this time around.
As the gate man opened the gate for me and I drove in, I saw Emily and Louise holding Michael.
I wondered why they were dragging him so I parked wrongly and rushed out of the car to meet them.
"What the hell is going on here?" I asked as soon as I approached them. While Michael was very calm Louise and Emily were busy panting heavily.
"I said what the hell is going on here I screamed but they all said nothing later on Emily tried to speak but she was stammering.
"They wouldn't let me go." Michael finally said in a very calm and collected tune.
Then I turned to look at Louise and Emily. They both looked ready for a fight. I tried to make them leave him alone but they wouldn't let him go, not until I yelled at them and forcefully pulled him off their grip.
"I can't believe you're going to let him go just like that after everything he has done to you." Louise shouted at me but I ignored her
"I thought you were brave. You should face Michael and deal with him and not pardon him." Louise repeated herself. Maybe she thought I did not hear her the first time.
"You are in no position to make decisions for me Louise." I shut her up and she angrily walked into the building.
Michael thanked me and continued pulling his bags towards the gate.
"Aren't you going with your car?" I stated and he turned back to look at me.
"It's yours, take it." I said and he followed me to get the car keys from where he had dropped it on the table in the living room.