[Story] The Bonny Island Massacre – S01 E08

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 8

She turned to go back to her room, but she felt a grip on her arm, and she was spun around. She stared into the eyes of the masked man, and her lips quivered in fear.

Yvonne: “What do you want with me? Please, please, don’t hurt me” she pleaded in shaky voice. The masked man pulled her close, and in fright she lifted her hands and it hit the masked man square in the face. She heard a grunt and could tell the masked man was angry and would hurt her.

“Is this how I am going to die on my birthday? Oh God, come to my rescue” she cried in her heart.

The man heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and brought out a knife from inside the coat he wore. He slashed the side of Yvonne’s dress and ran away; just at the same time that Femi came up the stairs. Yvonne rushed to him and encircled herself in his arms.

Femi: “Yvonne, what happened?” he queried anxiously.

Yvonne: “I don’t know how he got in here, he wanted to hurt me and only left when he heard footsteps” she whimpered. But she began to wonder why the man didn’t hurt, he had enough time to bury the knife in her chest before Femi came up the stairs, but he had cut a part of her dress. Why? She wondered.

Femi: “Oh no, are you alright?” he looked her over, and pulled her back into his arms. At that moment, he realized that he didn’t care about mundane things like who was the head in their relationship, as long as he didn’t lose her. He loved her that much, but was their love strong enough to withstand the troubles ahead, time would tell.

Yvonne: “Femi, I am sorry about lying to you, and not listening to you when you told me to let it go. Now, Daisy wants to hurt me” she said whimpering.

Femi: “Do not bother about that, ma Cherie” he replied, and took her to the garden where her guest were waiting.

Yvonne was overwhelmed by the turn out, as she could see very important personalities who she was sure, had left Lagos and Abuja to come to Port-Harcourt, just to honor her. The only sadness was her father who had as usual, sent a gift, which was another Range Rover car she didn’t need. Femi saw the sadness pass over her face, as her eyes rested on the slick black Range Rover decorated with pink ribbons.

Femi: “He loves you, you can tell in the gifts. He probably was not able to make it” he tried to placate her.

Yvonne: “But these politicians could make it, and I don’t even have any relationship with them, why not him?” she retorted.

Then she saw Daisy, her heart skipped a beat because she remembered the phone call that she had received. Could Daisy be responsible for the masked man that tried to hurt her? she pondered hard. Femi noticed the frown on her face and followed her line of sight to where Daisy was standing, watching them, with her thin lips in a tight line.

Yvonne: “I should have listened to you, Femi. Daisy is up to something and I am scared”

Femi: “I could say I told you so, but I wouldn’t gain anything from that. Anyways, do not be afraid, I will not allow anything happen to you” he said.

The M.C called Yvonne to the stage to give her speech, and she walked up regally to the front of her guest close to the fountain. Her mother was aghast when she noticed the tear by the side of her dress.

Annabel: “Yvonne, you ripped your dress!” she exclaimed, not believing that her daughter just destroyed a million dollar couture gown.

Yvonne: “Mother, do not worry about this, it is me trying to modify the style to suit my own fashion taste. If Nicki Minaj is allowed to have a wardrobe malfunction, why can’t i?” she teased and the guests laughed, they were practically eating out of her palms.

Daisy saw firsthand, the charm and grace that Yvonne exuded, that made clients trust her even though she was just two years in the industry. Yvonne laughed when she should, her laughter was lilt and feminine. She also cajoled them, infact she was a good actress, and Daisy wondered why she didn’t go into acting or modeling like her mother. Her eyes moved to where Annabel stood with some of her elite friends who were cheering her for having such a wonderful daughter. Daisy had never felt so bitter towards anyone, she looked to where a man was standing, scanning the crowd with practiced eyes.

She glared at him purposely and he shook his head, ever so slightly, that no one noticed the exchange between them.

After Yvonne’s speech, the guests were treated to fine wine and delicious cuisine, while a live band thrilled them with afro music. Unknown to the guests, there was a force of death lurking in the shadows, waiting to devour them. Even the celebrant was unaware of the tide of death that was about to sweep the place. If she was, she wouldn’t be sporting the smile she had on.

Yvonne’s smiled because of the sweet things Femi was whispering into her ears. Her eyes were lit with joy and even her mother could tell from where she was standing that her daughter was happy.

Femi: “I know you might be skeptical about what we have because of my religion, but I am ready to denounce my faith because of you” he said, his hand was clasped around her waist.

Yvonne: “I wouldn’t want you to do that, Love has no boundaries and even though it is going to be hard, we can make it” she replied him, grinning from ear to ear.

Femi: “This is what I want to do because come to think of it, I am not even sure my real parents were Muslims” he said and Yvonne pushed herself away from him in surprise.

Yvonne: “What did you say?”

Femi: “Yes I didn’t tell you all these while, because my father forbade me to tell anyone. But if we are going to be married, there should be no secrets between us” he replied.

Yvonne: “Oh my God, your mom and dad are not your real parents?” she asked with wide eyes.

Femi: “Yes and for years they lied to me. It was on my mother’s death bed that she told me about my adoption. I have been searching for my real parents since my mother died, but no headway. The only person who can help me is my father and he has refused to help because he fears embarrassment” he narrated to her.

Yvonne: “Now I understand why you take trust and lies seriously. Have you tried an espionage job, like enter your father’s safe and find documents pertaining to your birth, do you even know where you were adopted from?”

Femi: “I knew if I shared it with you, we could come to a solution. I know just want to do. Since my father doesn’t want the easy way out, he is going to get it the hard way. I think we should start planning our wedding, I am convinced that you are the woman for me” he said. Yvonne was too overwhelmed that she rushed into his arms and kissed him.

Their kiss was broken up by the M.C who had walked to where they were and took Yvonne by the hand. It was time to cut the cake and Yvonne was supposed to stand in front of her cake for the unveiling. She told everyone that she had baked the cake by herself, mixing every ingredient with love for the people who had come to support her. The guests were moved by her speech and they trooped out to unveil the cake with big amounts of money. They dropped checks which ran into millions beside the cake. And finally it was time to cut the cake.

Daisy would have left the party but the man she had put in charge of a job at the party had still not performed the job. He circled around the elites wondering where the opening would come from. The job he had been assigned to do had to be done quietly without any trace to him, or fall out on Daisy.

The cake was cut and small chunks of it were passed around to the guests. Mira was the one holding the tray of cakes and she insisted that the politicians ate from it. Her reason was that, they had unveiled the cake with huge amount of money and needed to eat from it.

She took it a step further and walked up to Daisy with the tray of cakes, and asked that Daisy took a cake and eat from it.

Mira: “If you are not going to eat cake, why did you come?” she asked with eyes that looked into Daisy’s without fear. Other guest already had their attention on the duo, so Daisy took the cake and bit into it, glaring at Mira.

Yvonne and Femi watched Mira force Daisy to eat the cake. On their minds, they wondered what Mira was playing at. Femi, now privy to how much Mira was jealous of Yvonne, was skeptical at Mira’s actions and wondered what she had up her sleeves. He turned to Yvonne to state his reservations about her friend.

Femi: “Sweetheart, You need to be careful about…” he did not complete his statement, as a cry of pain erupted in the midst of the guest. Everyone turned to a politician from the ruling party, who was oozing blood out of his mouth.