I can’t believe it, Perry knows about me? How come? In that case, what are we doing here? And how can he say he has feelings for me knowing that I am his father’s slut? Shouldn’t he be hating me and keeping his distance.
“If you know this already, what then do you want? Cant you see this is impossible?”
“Well, I know you are not happy being with him. Are you going to tell me that you love my father?”
“No, I’m not saying that. But how can this even be possible? Please leave me alone. Just go away. The last thing I need is for someone to give me false hope. You and I know this is impossible.”
“Blessing, all I need to know is that you have feelings for me, then leave the rest for me. I will worry about the obstacles.”
What is Perry even talking about? I need to get out of this place before someone hears us. This is too risky. Perry is still talking, trying to convince me about his feelings but I manage to walk out on him. I walk so fast that it is like the ‘Movements of Spirits’. I shut my room door behind me as soon as I get in. Part of me wants to scream for joy, the man I love loves me, but I don’t dare. I’m his father’s mistress for God’s sake. And if Bishop Marc is really who I think he is, then Perry and I may be in danger. Atleast he may not hurt his only son, but then I am the one in danger. What have I done? Have I forgotten that any man I love is always in danger? I am a curse to any man who has the misfortune of falling in love with me. Was Perry really serious or was he just trying to sleep with me? My life just got more complicated. I need to tell Flora about this, she won’t like it but I can’t hide this from her.
The last few days have been crazy, me avoiding Perry, Becca throwing shots at me whenever she sees me, Flora scolding me and asking me to stay away from Perry, Georgina, the Bishop’s wife trying her best to drag me down to her level but I have sworn I can’t go down that road with her again. Especially not after Perry has admitted to having feelings for me. I barely even stay at home these days, Flora takes me everywhere she goes, including work. I don’t know if she’s trying to protect me from Georgina or Perry, or even from myself. She knows I can self destruct at any time. But today, I have managed to stay home. I can’t even remember how I convinced her to let me stay but she left me alone. Truth is, I have no intention of doing something I will regret but I just need her to let me be. Every time I go out with her, all she talks about is her brother and ways to bring down the Bishop. She is scaring me, but I know she is a strong woman. I am only scared for her safety, she can’t carry out her plans alone, she needs help, but where do we get that from? We can’t trust anybody, first of all, no one will believe us. The Bishop is well loved and respected by all, we will be locked up in an asylum if we dare to raise any allegation, that is if the Bishop does not kill us first.
There’s a knock on my door, I wonder who that is. I know it’s not Flora, she left already, I hope it’s not Perry, he knows better than to come into my room, I hope it’s not Becca either, if she messes with me today and in my room, I will scratch her eyes out.
I open the door and it Georgina, the Bishop’s wife. I greet her but she ignores my greeting and pushes me aside, stepping into my room. I don’t care if she ignored my greeting, I only greeted her out of courtesy and just incase someone else was outside the door. As soon as she’s in my room and the door closes, I attack her with my words.
“What do you want? You have no right to come into my room.”
“Do I need to remind you that this is my house too? Who do you think you are? Snubbing me anytime I send for you?”
“Why do you send for me?”
“I think you already know the answer to that question or are you daft too? I wasn’t wrong calling you a dumb blonde.”
“Again with that attitude? I won’t hesitate to throw you out of my room if you offend me.”
“Are you messing with me Blessing? Who do you think you are?”
“I was thinking that by now, you will be woman enough to throw me out. You are just as hopeless as I am in the Bishop’s life. He calls the shots right? You are nobody, you have no say. You only have the nerves to bark at me. But let me tell you something, I am not scared of you Madam. Whatever happened between us was a mistake and I refuse to be your slave. Please leave my room before I do something we will both regret. You are the least of my worries. And FYI, I am not here of my own Volition. I will do anything to get out of here. Leave!”
“I will destroy you Blessing. I swear it. You just made yourself my enemy. I was really beginning to like you. But I will be the end of you.”
“I said leave! Incase you have not noticed, I am not afraid of you.”
“Georgina, you heard the young lady, she asked you to leave.”
We turn to the door and standing there is Perry. How long has he been there. Georgina is now overwhelmed with embarrassment. Without another word, she turns around and walks away. I feel so sorry for her. But what is Perry doing here?
“What are you doing here?” I whisper
“I came to see you, you have been avoiding me for two days.” he replies
“You can’t be seen here.” I panic, the last thing I need right now is a scandal.
“Why do you think I am still standing by the door with one leg in your room and the other leg in the hallway? Smart huh?”
“Very funny. Now what do you want?”
“A chance to know you. Have dinner with me, talk to me. Please I beg you. I have called Flo to come pick you up and bring you to me. Please get dressed. She’s on her way.”
Without waiting for a response he leaves. I don’t know what to say, this is just too much. How did he get Flora to agree to this? I thought she never wanted me to be close to Perry? I don’t know what to expect now, it seems everything is happening so fast and Bishop Marc will be back tomorrow morning, so I guess it’s a good idea to talk to Perry tonight. It maybe my only opportunity.
An hour later, I am sitting with Flora in her car. We are not saying anything so the car is quiet. I am still curious as to why she agreed to take me to see Perry. From one day to the next, she has completely changed her mind? What is she not telling me?
“Okay Flo what are you doing?” I break the silence.
“I’m driving you to go see Perry.” she replies with her eyes fixed on the road.
“Yes, I can see that.” I say sarcastically. “Few days ago, you couldn’t stand the thought of Perry and I together in a place and today you are taking me to him? What do you want? For the Bishop to kill me?” I ask.
Flora pulls over by the road and pushes the gear to Park. Then she turn to face me, she pauses then exhales. “Step out of the car. We can’t talk in here.”
We both get out the car, Flora comes over to my side, she looks me in the eyes and says, “Listen Blondie, this is serious. You want your freedom right?” Without a word, I nod, now I’m scared. Because I’ve never seen Flo with so much seriousness.
“Good. You want your freedom and I need to find my brother. You can help me do that. Infact, we are going to help eachother.”
“You are scaring me Flo. How do you mean?”
“We need you to get really close to Perry, he might help us.”
“And when you say ‘we’?”
“You and I Blondie. You have to get really close to Perry, he can help us bring down Bishop Marc.”
“Are you crazy? We are talking about a father and a son here. Ofcourse he won’t betray his father.”
“You think Perry does not know his father is a sick bastard? Love makes people do crazy things. I see the way Perry looks at you, he wants to have you, and the only way for him to have you is to take you away from his father’s prison. And we both know the Bishop will not let you go without a fight. So Perry will help us take the bastard down.”
“In other words, we should throw Perry to the dogs? Have you forgotten Bishop Marc is a murderer?”
“He won’t murder his only child. Athough I can’t trust that SOB!”
“Flo, what about me? You know he will rather kill me than lose me.”
“Relax Blondie. He’s obsessed with you. He Won’t kill you. I have it all planned out. We need to get someone to find a way into his bedroom. He never let’s anyone in there. Not even his wife. There are lots of documents to bring him down in there. Even some recordings of his sexual escapades. There were times he recorded the orgies. No one knew he had installed a camera in there. I think he likes to watch it and jerk off. It was a private Orgy with few but very important people. There are other documents of his illegal businesses that we can use. He needs to be put behind bars.”
“Wait, wait, wait Flo. This is just too much to process. I can’t wrap my head around anything you just said. You know what? One thing at a time. All I know is that you are pimping me out to Perry, you want to use me so I can in turn use him to bring his father down.”
“Don’t say it like that. You make me feel like a horrible person. This is also for you.”
We get back into the car and Flora drives off. I don’t know what to say, I am so dumbfounded. My life maybe in danger, but I desperately want to get away from Bishop Marc. This maybe my only chance. Flora’s plans really makes sense but it requires courage. It feels like the drive takes forever but we are finally here. It’s a Chinese restaurant, a very small one located outside town. I get out of the car without saying a word to Flora, my habds are shaking and I’m sweating through my head. Flora says something to me as she drives off, I think she was telling me to be safe or wishing me luck, something like that. But the truth is that my mind is far from here. It’s almost 9pm. If the Bishop finds out I was out of the house by this time, it will be trouble. I walk into the restaurant and see Perry signaling me from a corner. I walk up to him and he pulls a chair for me.
I don’t know where I get the appetite from but I eat as if I’m some gluttony bitch who has been starving for days. Perry watches me with concern and doesn’t say a word. I’m sure he senses how tensed up I am. He knows I’m not hungry and can see I’m bothered.
“You prefer getting fat than opening up to me? Not that I have a problem with it, I’ve always loved a little meat on my woman.”
I almost choke. Did he just say ‘his woman?’ That was fast. But what am I even doing? I didn’t come here to eat, I came here to talk to Perry, to seek his help, and maybe let him know how I feel about him. Perry stares at me making me uncomfortable and embarrassed.
“I know you didn’t come here for the food, talk to me Blessing. I want to know you more. Okay answer me this, do you love Bishop Marc?”
There’s an awkward silence, I have never been more embarrassed in my life. I suddenly lose appetite and feel sick. I think I want to run away but I don’t know where I am. And it’s getting late. Perry continues to stare at me, looking for an answer. After about a minute or two, I bow my head and reply, “No, I don’t.”
“You don’t have to be embarrassed Blessing, we all have a past. I don’t know why but I can’t help how I feel for you. I know you are the woman destined for me, I want you. I can take you away with me when I’m leaving the country. I don’t need my father’s approval.”
“Its not that simple, Perry. Do you even know your father?”
“More than you can ever imagine, it will surprise you!”
Perry and I decide it’s not safe to talk in the restaurant, so after dinner, we get into his car and he drives off. We chat easily during the drive. It’s as if Perry and I have known each other before now. I still can’t believe he has promised to help me, that will mean him going against his Father. In as much as I feel very happy that I will be free soon, I am scared. Bishop Marc is a ruthless murderer and will not hesitate to get rid of me or even his son. I am also scared about Perry, what if he’s in cohort with his father? What if Bishop Marc is using his son to test me? Now what have I gotten myself into? What if Bishop Marc is trying to figure out my plans? If that’s the case, I’m going to be killed tonight.
“Do you like surprises?” Perry asks without looking at me
“Yes, yes I do.” I stammer a reply.
I am so worried now that I begin to keep my eyes on the surroundings just incase I need to throw the door open and ‘Comando Roll’ out of the moving car. It’s so dark outside the car, there are no houses anywhere, no street lights lighting up the roads, nothing. Only the car headlights cuts the gloom before us as darkness has closed in around the car. He flicks on the high beams and steers the car around a tight bend. Perry is quiet now and has his eyes fixed on the road, infact, right now he lifts his foot off the throttle and leans forward as if searching for something. I am tempted to ask him where he’s taking me to but I don’t want him to sense my fear so he does not know I am onto him. Where is he taking me to?
I watch as he takes another turn and veers into a rough road. If I was the one driving, I would never have known there was a road there, yet Perry who does not even live in the country can easily find his way around the middle of no where. I take out my phone to send a message to Flora, maybe a goodbye message as I am about to be killed, if Perry was looking at my face, he would have recognized the familiar look of terror. There is no freaking network. What? At a time like this? But wait, what was I expecting? We are in the outskirt of town and in the middle of nowhere. The tiny road is rough and there are bushes on the both sides of the road which really hugs the car. After all I have been through, after all the people who have lost their lives to protect me, this is how I’m going to end up? I’m going to be killed like this? Did the Bishop really travel or did he just hide somewhere so he can put me through a test to see the level of my loyalty? I can’t take this anymore, I have to say something.
“Where are you taking me to?” I ask.
“More like where are we going to.” he replies.
“Perry, what is going on? Where are we?”
Again, he’s silent, he just smiles at me as the car halts. I’m all shaky right now. This place is dark and void of any human presence. I have lost all sense of direction, I have no idea which way is west or east. Without saying a word, Perry switches off the headlight, opens his side of the door and steps out. I sit still, I don’t know what awaits me out there so I stay put, although I unbuckle my seat belt just incase I have to run for it. I can’t see anything outside the car, but then Perry opens my side door and takes my hand, leading me out of the car. I follow him without any resistance. He lead me to the back of the car and we stand side by side now facing away from the car. I don’t know if I should relax and trust this man or if I should just run. But run to where? The stars appear so clear here, glittering from a darkened sky free from clouds. The land ahead appears to continue on for several meters before disappearing into nothingness. I hear waves in addition to the mighty breeze, this can only mean we are close to some ocean. I guess I’m going to be killed and my body dumped in the sea.
“Perry,” I call him.
“Uhumm?” he answers.
“Where are we?”
“Very close to the beach, it’s a small private beach.” he exhales, then he continues. “I bought it a while back and I intend to build my future mansion here.”
“Is that why you knew your way here?”
“Who told you I don’t know my way any where in this town?”
“Then why did you need a chaperon?”
“Well, they just assumed I was a novice. I came home quite often, although I didn’t visit my father, but I was here more. I come here when I need to be alone and think.”