33

“I heard that Casita was still unconscious, can I ask for your permission to see her?” He said with bated breath as he awaited Black’s response.

Black paused in his tracks and turned to face the kid as he breathed deeply and said,

“Sure thing kid. I think she will like that very much.” He said as Nycole smiled happily as he watched Black leave.

Black wanted to call his wife Farah {Riona} and see if she was still asleep but realized that he hadn’t gone to pay his mum a visit. She had been admitted yesterday to have some bed rest but she was in two floors below Casita. And because of the dinner yesterday and going home, he forgot to see if his mum was awake. But he had doubts about her being awake because he has asked the nurse to make sure that she was sedated so that she would stop thinking much.

Since the doctors were still in the theatre with Mikey and Casita being unconscious. He decided to go pay a visit to his mother. She would be awake by this time.

He walked to the receptionist and greeted the nurse who tried to flirt with him but when she heard his name, she quickly comported herself and behaved orderly telling him what room number his mum was in.

Nodding his head, he memorized the number before walking back to the elevator. Getting to the 4th floor, he came out and saw that the wards were being numbered accordingly starting from 12B. His mum was in 15B so he took the descending number path and soon got to 15B. Knocking on the door, he heard a voice that said come in. Surprised that it wasn’t his mum’s voice, he opened the door and to his shock saw Angelico feeding his mother.

“Oh Black, you are here?” Mrs Selena said struggling to sit upright but Black had his glare on Angelico as he said,

“What are you doing here?” Angelico dropped the food down on the table as he stood up and straightened his clothes saying,

“Black Good morning. I was just….”

“Oh isn’t he wonderful, son. He came to pay us a visit. He had heard of what happened with Casita and came here this morning. He wanted to see his daughter and you but we found out that you guys left for dinner yesterday and didn’t return. So he is taking care of me.” Mrs Selena said gushing as Black nodded his head and replied,

“He sounds too wonderful to be true. I kind of think now that there is a secret agenda to his visit but who am I kidding, am I right Angelico?” He said to his mum as a joke but Angelico knew that Black was far from joking.

“Well, I was just playing the part of a good father in law. I am happy to see that you are well. I believe Casita will wake up soon.”
He said as Black nodded his head and said,

“Mum, can you excuse us for a moment. We have something to discuss concerning Farah.” He said as Angelico waved her bye as Mrs Selena nodded her head and said,

“Okay son, I hope to see you again. It is quite nice to have a familiar face around whenever when things seems to go downhill. You are a good definition of a trustworthy friend and I believe that my husband will be happy when he sees how you are doing.” She said as Angelico smiled and said,

“Now you are just hyping me and making me feel good about myself but thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“Can we go now?” Black said as he opened the door for Angelico to walk out as he did so and Black smiled at his mum before he closed the door and went after Angelico.

“So, Black what was so important that you had to interrupt the lovely time that I had with….” He was cut short as Black shoved him to the wall holding him tight by his collar.

“What did I tell you about staying far away from my family huh?” He said as he tightened the grip on his collar as Angelico gave a mirthless smile and said,

“I was merely being a family friend. Remember my daughter is married into your family. That makes me a part of the family whether you like it or not, so I suggest you start getting used to it.” He said as Black scoffed and said,

“That is a pretty big claim you are putting out here, I sure hope that it doesn’t come to bit you in the ass very soon.” He said as Angelico looked confused for a moment and said,

“What do you mean by that?” He asked as Black kept mute for a second staring at him and then shook his head and said,

“Just because I married your daughter doesn’t mean that you are a part of my family. Remember you sold your daughter to me because you were on the verge of dying. The only reason why I haven’t killed you is because I don’t want to make Farah fatherless. But if you continue to assume things, well there are so many ways to cause a planned accident, don’t you think so? Never forget your place on the list. You are number 4 and I am number and that will never change. So go back to the slums where you crawled out from and stay there. Next time I see you flirting with my mum, I am afraid that we are going to have what we call a accidental discharge. That would be too shameful, don’t you agree?” He said as Angelico could do nothing but nod his head.

“And you wouldn’t want to die a shameful death, would you? Your reputation and your family’s name will be dragged to the mud and that will be the end of your lineage. So I suggest you go find some cheap hoe and start screwing with her hoping she would get pregnant and give you a son.” He said as he left Angelico go as Angelico massaged his neck and said,

“One day Black, the pits of hell are going to come blasting open and not even you would be able to handle the hotness. Make mockery of me now, and watch and see how a coward rat becomes courageous when he is pinned and concerned to a wall. This is not yet over, not till I say so. You may have won this battle but the war just begun.” He said as he stalked off angrily and Black took a deep breath before heading back to his mum’s private ward.

“Hi mum, how are you doing?” He said as he pushed open the door and walked in as Mrs Selena looked up before smiling at him and replied,

“Good morning Black, I am fine and you. Where is Angelico?” She asked looking behind him to see if the man was entering but Black sighed and said,

“He had to go to work mum. Why are you so interested in that man? Do you have a crush on him or something?” Black said coming to sit down as Mrs Selena laughed and said,

“A crush on him? I just like him, that is all. He is really nice and funny once you get to know him. He reminds me so much of your dad you know.” She said caressing his face as Black frowned his face and said,

“That man is nothing like that. The only reason why he is even here is because I married his daughter, he is just trying to squeeze his way into the most powerful family in this city but it won’t work.” He said as Mrs Selena patted his head in a bid to calm him down and said,

“No need to get all angst this morning. It is okay. I am not going to replace your dad with him okay? There is nothing to be worried about. How is Farah? Where is she?” She asked changing the topic as Black allowed a smile to creep on his face and replied,

“Farah is still at home, probably asleep. She is fine, she was really exhausted yesterday, after everything that was going on.” He said as Mrs Selena nodded her head and said,

“Is that the reason why you are blushing? I can see your smile when you talk about her? Are you finally liking her?” She said as Black quickly composed himself and said,

“Come on mum, stop teasing me, I am not a teenager anymore. I am a grown ass man, besides I answered your question. She is easy going and quite fun once she let down her guard.” He said as he shrugged it as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“Too bad this had to happen and spoil the honeymoon. Don’t worry when all of us are out of here, we will go on that honeymoon to Paris. We all need a break honestly.” Mrs Selena said as she sighed and Black nodded his head.

“Yes we do. There was something that happened this morning concerning Casita. But everything is under control now, so you needn’t need to worry yourself. She was almost killed by someone but due to the timely intervention of some nurses and Mikey, she was saved. Mikey is in the theatre room after being shot at point blank rage and the two nurses are dead. I have increased security for everyone to avoid such a repeat of things.” He said as his mum held his hands with tears in her eyes.

*****

Riona woke up stretching herself as the sun rays fell directly on her eyelids. She tossed and turned her hand touching the empty space beside her as she opened her eyes and saw tjat she was actually alone.

“So it wasn’t a dream.” She mumbled to herself as she stretched her arms and stifled a yawen. She had never slept so good in such a long time. It had seem that she was able to let her walls down with Black and slowly begun to see that there was some good in him, and he wasn’t just a cold heartless robot that she thought him to be.

She quickly said her morning prayers as she made her way to the bathroom and soon came out dripping wet. She wasn’t short on anything, there was a lot of classy lotions that had been dropped there for her top pick from and each day, she opened a new one trying to see if she could pick a favourite, this were all the rich things she couldn’t afford to buy being poor and since she knew that it was just for a limited time. There was no shame in her enjoying it a bit. After she successfully applied lotion on her body, she quickly got dressed in a gown as there was a knock on the door.

“Come in” She said as the door opened and two maids walked in courteously. One was carrying a tray of food, while the other had her hands at her back as they both bowed their heads and said.

“Good morning Milady. We are here to help you with your needs, I am your chef for today while my colleague here will help you with your makeup.” The maid carrying the food said as Riona shook her head and said,

“Oh dear, I couldn’t possibly impose on you, that is not right. Don’t worry. I got this, You can drop the food here, thank you so much but I am simply afraid that I won’t accept the help of putting on my makeup. I don’t do makeups.” Riona said as she stood up and took the tray from the maid who wanted to protest that she can drop it herself and fed her but Riona too was adamant and she had no other choice but to give in.