CHAPYER TWO

The whole family was sitting around the sitting room when Imade entered, the snicker on her sister's face was almost missable but it was there. It was no news that Helen thought Imade did some kind of magic and decided to steal all her beauty and outshine the rest of them. At first, she linked it to childhood fantasies and blamed the cartoons but growing up, the hate intensified and Imade avoided her like a plague. She would rather not be in a messy situation with her. 

She wiled herself to calm down because she wasn’t here for that. Not even her stupid sister would ruin her mood, plus they all made her worried for nothing. All the tension in her body slowly disappeared and she was faced with the horror of actually being in the same room with her entire family. Being the least favorite child would do that to you. The supposed person that was sick or in danger was sitting right beside her ad, looking everywhere except Imade’s face. Shady asf!

She took her seat before waiting for whatever reason she was summoned. She knew it was something very important and they had no choice but to include her because she was rarely included in family stuff. She waited for anyone to say something but everyone kept on exchanging glances and waiting for whoever was supposed to talk to start. Not even her father was talking and another bout of fear started settling down in her body. This was looking shady ore and more with each passing minute. 

“How’s your new radio show going?” Her mother asked out of the blues and Imade swallowed her smile. This was someone who didn’t give two flying fucks about her life suddenly asking her out of the blues about her new job. Nobody knew they kept tabs on her and more reason she should be proud of herself. She was pressing their necks and that alone was a relief. They are watching her and they know she is not failing at what she is doing. Maybe she should have just taken that dinner offer from Emmanuel rather than sitting here in silence and fake enthusiasm about her job. 

“We can both save ourselves the stress of pretending to care about how I’m doing and just go straight to the point. We both know you don’t so stop wasting both of our time. Why did you call me?” She replied curtly and she saw him clench his hands. He was already angry but Imade didn’t even give two flying fucks. Whatever suits him, he should do. She didn’t care and she probably would never care.

“You would not speak to your father like that” Her mom screeched and Imade rolled her eyes. Now she’s being antagonized for saying her mind, that’s kind of interesting. They all knew her father barely cared about anyone except his bank accounts and pretending to be caring ain't sitting well with her at all. She didn’t want to be manipulated and whatever madness was going on, they better get on with it and be done forever. The whole study was giving her a creepy vibe. 

“Leave her be, ungrateful child” Her sister chipped in and Imade laughed before leaving back into her chair. Maybe they keep forgetting that this Imade was different from the one they could bully effortlessly and someone needs to remind them about that. She wasn’t the woman they can bully as they wish and she would rather bite off her tongue before she let them trample over her again. Her father raised his hands as if to tell everyone to shut their mouth and it worked. Whatever stupid reply her sister was cooking in her head died in her throat.

“We are in trouble, Imade. You’re the only one that can save us all.” Her father said slowly and Imade resisted the urge to throw her head back in laughter. This was definitely not the emergency she was imagining. Maybe something else but not this one and that kind of made her feel the urge to laugh more. Maybe they needed to play with her a little bit but this was uncalled for. Interrupting her plan and making her sit here only to spew trash about being in trouble and her being the superhero. It was laughable even for a dumb person. 

“Your father took a loan from a mafia don for his new business and his cargo was stolen. Now he owes a debt he can’t pay and you’re the only one that can help up out at this point.” Her mother added and Imade sat up. This was starting to look more serious than she thought and she looked at everyone’s face to see a trace of a smile or maybe a joke but she saw none. 

First of all, she knew it was impossible for a mafia don to be existing in this period but if they were, it means her father was in deep shit. What was more baffling was how they thought she would be the perfect person to solve the problem. She wasn’t even around when they took the loan nor did it even benefit her in any way. So why do they think she’s the perfect person for it. 

“How does all of this concern me?” She asked, unable to hide the irritation in her voice. She wanted to leave here and leave them to sort their problems themselves but she still waited. To hear whatever they have to say. She waited for anyone to say something sensible but nobody was saying anything. She stared on and she watched them exchange looks between themselves. As if waiting for someone to say it. 

“The mafia don has requested that his son be married to you and he would let go of your father’s debt. Once we are automatically related by his marriage to you, we would be pardoned. Or else, you’d father would either provide the money, or everyone would be killed including you.” Her mom said after a while and Imade felt the alarms go off in her head. 

They have to be kidding her because what the fuck was going on at the moment. Forcing her to get married to someone that dangerous and someone they owed a huge sum of money. 

“Why me? He could have gotten married to anybody else. Why did he pick me?” She asked trying to make sense of the whole point and nobody said anything again. It’s not as if they all went to an audition and she won, she needed to know if he asked them for any of their daughters and they decided to make her life miserable. Not like they would pick anyone else. 

“He is impressed with you out of everyone and he thinks you’d be a great asset to the mafia community. You know quite a lot about crimes and he thinks you’re the best woman for the job. I tried to talk to him though so he would pick your sister but he was so adamant about you.” Her father replied and that set her off. He wasn’t even sounding remorseful for him going to ruin her life. He had never been a good person and now she has to clean his shit after him. Things don’t work that way. 

“I’d rather die before I let myself get involved in a crime world because you took a loan due to your own greed. You better speak to him and give him your other daughters because you’re dead to me. I’d not tolerate that at all.” She stood up before picking up her bag and she walked out of the study with anger rushing through her. She made sure to bang the door harder to let the fact that she is angry hit home and she entered the car before instructing them to drive off. That sad part about her father never even caring about her would always make her cry.