Beauty at the square Episode 17 “I no be criminal ooh! My friend dey process my visa n aim make im hold my passport,” Biola replied. She was sobbing uncontrollably. “That is the point, so you had the intention of running out of the country with someone else’s millions abi?” “Na mistake ooh! I post that money into another person’s account by mistake. I don dey process my visa for some time now. I am not a criminal.” “Well, we need to see your passport before we can release you. How do we find your friend so we can take possession of your passport? Can he bring it here or do we have to go to his house?” “Let me call him and see if he can retrieve it and bring it over here.” “I doubt that he can retrieve it from the embassy that quickly. The way this is going, you may spend the night in our cell tonight.” Numerous haggard- looking prisoners had been around the shabby lobby of the police office in the time Biola had been there. She could not imagine spending a minute with any of them. The stench that oozed from them would certainly leave her in a pool of her own vomit all night. “Can I call my friend?” “Yes! Call am ooh! I hope sey im get your passport for house so, im go bring am quickly,” the scruffy-looking police man said sarcastically. “Nelson, please can you bring my passport to me this evening. It is very critical.” “Are you alright? Your voice sounds like someone has been beating you up all day. Are you still crying over Zuby?” “It is not that. I have some problems at work. I am not in a position to explain now, but I need you to bring my passport to me right now at Algbon police station.” “Algbon ke? Wetin happen? You steal money for work?” “No, I made a mistake and they think I meant to connive with someone to steal from the bank. It is a long story, but the important thing is that if you can’t bring my passport here tonight, I will end up sleeping in the cell, and I don’t want to go through such an excruciating agony.” “Hmmm! You no sey your passport dey embassy, but given the circumstance, let me see if I can pull a few strings here and there and have it retrieved right away,” he replied with swagger. “So, will you call me back quickly?” Biola asked as though her entire life depended on it. Her parents arrived at the station in tears. “Wetin happen, Biola?” Her mother asked. She narrated the situation to them. Her father was the reserved type. He listened raptly, looking for wholes in Biola’s story. He wanted to ascertain that Biola had not been coaxed by friends into such an appalling act. He spoke to the police officer in charge of the case, and he made it clear to them that the bank had insisted on the deposition of Biola’s passport before she could be released, to keep her from leaving the country. “Who is the man with your passport Biola?” Her father Mr. Durojaiye asked eagerly. “I was planning to travel to the USA, so, I he was helping me process my visa.” “Does he work at the embassy?” “No Papa, but he has contacts there. “You children of nowadays, I cannot understand you,” he murmured. Nearly an hour went by before Nelson finally called. He delayed his call to create the impression that he was actually working with embassy officials to retrieve it. “Hello Nelson, how far?” She asked impatiently as soon as she picked up the call. “Well, I have been talking to embassy officials, and given the short notice, it has not been easy to get the actual unit in possession of your passport. Eventually, I demanded to be put through to the ambassador, and he was gracious enough to listen to my plea. Thank God, Biola because he managed to issue an order at my request for your passport to be made available to me this evening. I am making my way to the embassy to pick it up. I will be on my way to Algbon as soon as I collect it. The sad thing though is that the ambassador made it clear to me that they are not able to issue you the visa any time soon. He said you’d have to wait for a year before reapplying for making an unprecedented request to withdraw your application on such short notice,” Nelson lied convincingly. Biola heaved a huge sigh of relief. Visa to the USA was insignificant relative to her immediate situation. “That is fine with me Nelson. Thank you very much. You don save me today.” “My pleasure Biola. I will see you in a while then.” “Thanks.” “Is he bringing it?” Biola’s mother asked. “Yes, Mama, he is!” “Thank you Jesus,” she declared. The owner of the account into which Biola had erroneously transferred thirty five million Naira was apprehended a few days later, to Biola’s relief. Far-reaching frantic efforts by Zenith Bank led to the retrieval of the money he had planned on using to finance a trip out the country. Investigations into the matter failed to uncover any ties between Biola and the hoodlum who maintained his innocence; claiming that he had the right to spend the money he had found in his bank account regardless of the source. Whereas Biola was cleared of any pre- meditated wrongdoing, she was considered a high-risk staff to work in a banking setting. As a result, she was relieved of her duties. She was both relived and disappointed. During the investigations, Ada went over to Biola’s house a number of times to check on her. She was awed by Ada’s forgiving disposition. “I cannot believe you came over actually. I feel like I lost my head, my dignity and my values completely. Somehow, I allowed my quest for money and material things cloud my judgment. I am very sorry for being a horrible friend,” she said unreservedly. “It is okay. Sometimes we lose sight of what life is all about and allow the trappings of life to become our masters. I hold no grudge against you.” “Thanks Adaugo.” You are welcome,” Ada replied with a reassuring smile on her face. “I guess I should be honest about everything since we are shedding the past and our mistakes. I hope what I am about to say does not ignite renewed anger in you,” Biola said. “I think I can take anything Biola,” Ada answered. Biola finally divulged how she had been enticed into giving out Ada’s phone number to Nelson. “I am so ashamed of myself. Not only that I gave out your phone number so cheaply and blindly, I allowed that animal Zuby to mess with me.” “You should stop being too hard on yourself Biola. Let it go!” “I need to bare my whole heart in order to reach that place of peace to be able to let it all go. You know there was this night I was at Zuby’s and they – by that I mean Zuby, the one you call Nnamdi and Nelson were discussing about you. I was tipsy and weary having had a lot of wine, so I was lying in the bedroom while they chatted in the living room next to it. The door was ajar, so I could hear them, but I was in a terrible mental state to make sense of everything they said. Looking back on it now, it appears Nnamdi was using Nelson as bait for you. They were hoping you fall in love with Nelson, and establish a relationship with him. Their intention was that down the line, when you would have fallen so hard for Nelson, he’d dump you in a crushing manner and leave you battered and bruised emotionally.” “That makes sense to me now!” Ada shouted. “I knew they were up to something.” She told Biola of her past experience with Nnamdi at UNN and his resolve to ruin her future relationships. “He has not given up. He is a thug; a brute who should have come into this world as a bull, and not as a human being. How can he be so vindictive? He has been carrying grudges all these years, and I didn’t even do anything to him!” She was distraught by Nnamdi’s mischievous plot. “I am sorry; I failed to think seriously about it, and never really bothered to mention it to you.” “I am glad their plan did not work out Biola. You have done well by telling me today. You need not carry all these burdens. I forgive you completely. I think we should all hang out again like before. I will have a chat with Simbi and Efe. I am sure they will let the past go.” “I hope so. I really hurt everyone.” They took a walk to a nearby Chicken Republic. They took a corner by the window as they used to, and munched on their chicken and rice while observing events in the street. ***The story continues***
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 18:24:18 +0000
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