CHAPTER FIVE: AND THE PARTY BEGINS

Maggie.

She pressed the button as her white Mercedes Benz responded with a beep sound signifying it had been locked.

Maggie nodded in satisfaction. She had clearly done her job excellently again. She is 'the Calvary', hasn't she always been?

Many years ago, after her lone six years old daughter died of cancer and her husband deserted her she had dedicated her life to working for the Olukoyes. She literally owed the family everything she had and was.

She had always been a petty street hacker living off people's carelessness. She used to somehow manage to steal people's ATM cards, hack their passwords and steal money from their accounts.

She basically did nothing much with all that money. She would just use it to pay off all her debts because she was always in debt.

She was an addicted gambler and would always loose but, was it not the environment that suited her hustle?

She would always steal some ATM cards and do what she was pretty good at.

She was too smart to get caught but always lurked around the dark street corners and lived in brothels, motels and sometimes, hotels.

The money was never enough, never. She only ever wanted more.

One of the days she had stolen an ATM card and decided to go for the big one, stealing millions into an untraceable account.

Unfortunately, the rich man had a better 'computer engineer' with a better code who was able to trace her and recover the money as well.

However, they decided to teach her a lesson. They found her in one of the hotel rooms and raped her, five men in one night! She was brutalized and left for dead.

It was the police who found her in the hotel room after they had been beeped by some staff who'd been suspecting some foul occurrence in the room.

She was arrested after being treated in the hospital for six months as she had been on the police departments wanted list.

However, she was quarantined because she was pregnant!

The pregnancy was the most difficult one. She died many times before the birth of her daughter and due to complications, her womb was severely damaged in the course of child birth - she would never conceive again.

However after her child was born, she had to find a way to take care of her baby while she was serving her prison sentence. She had no family or siblings.

She had to consult a priest who suggested a union with some random rich guy whose wife was dead, who was desperate for a child. In that way, the union could solve their both problems. She had agreed as that was her only hope.

The marriage was quick and soon, the man was in custody of her baby while she served her time in prison for four years. She was permitted to see her child sometimes but she missed the most important parts - her first speech, her first steps, all that stuff!

The man however, took good care of her child as his own leading her to development some sort of family affection for him, a love, a care.

However, after being granted freedom she went home to her husband and child to discover that her child was down with a strange illness.

They fought and tried. Her husband spent most of his money and resources on their baby girl. Nothing worked, absolutely nothing!

When you have so much money and it still can't save a life!

The child lingered for a couple more years before giving up the ghost.

This death plunged her into a life of bitterness and destroyed her marriage.

Her husband couldn't take it anymore, he divorced her and based on the legal agreement they had earlier she got nothing!

She had to start all over again and fend for herself in grief with the little money she had.

She decided to go legit, to Look for a legit job to do but no one would employ an ex-convict and a gambler.

She had to turn to the only thing she knew how to do for salvation. She hacked into government database, changed her details and background. She was untraceable, yes, she was that good!

Her old life was gone, she hoped for something new with her new name - Margaret Idion simply put as -Maggie, a nanny by profession.

Soon, an offer came from a prominent family for a professional nanny for some quality pay too. Her new credentials were superb! - she had created it herself.

"You seem ... overqualified!" Chinny's mother had observed with that fancy smile on her face.

Rich people, don't they always want what they cant pay for? She had thought.

"We just hope you can make do with our payments"

"... I shall manage" she had replied in her well polished accent.

" I'm not in it for the money ..." she lied.

Chinny's mother seemed to be pleased with that last line.

"Oh... dear" she cried holding her palms to her chest.

".. you're hired my dear, come come ... you may start next week Monday as my house keeper would finalize the arrangements with you."

"Yes ma'am"

And that was it, that was how she got that dream nanny job! And soon, the house became her home.

Mr and Mrs Olukoye were never ever home. They were too busy with their celebrity lifestyles that they left her to raise their two girls by herself.

But specifically was Mrs Olukoye - she was an ex model for one of the top magazines and just became the new CEO after her husband bought her the largest shares of the company.

She was never home! Always too busy making more money for the family.

They were already too rich to be wanting more money!

'What is wrong with these rich people? ' She always wondered!

The husband was home sometimes, and would always appreciate Maggie's efforts handsomely.

Maggie later became used to everything and everyone and soon became a part of the family. They couldn't do without her, the kids loved her and couldn't do without her. She was their 'new mother' figure and she loved them with all her heart.

Of the two girls, she picked a special interest in Chinny. She was a genius in the head and a beauty on the outside - just like her mother!

The other girl was just so into fashion, flashy and mundane things like her mother, but Chinny was the quiet and reserved one.

She always loved being in Maggie's room with Maggie's personal computer.

Maggie soon taught her a ' few tricks' and after some years, she became something else, something that scares Maggie till date.

As a teenager in high school she could already write programs and languages that could infiltrate NASA security codes without getting noticed for hours.

She did it once for a homework then, without even knowing what she had done, and it scared Maggie to craps. That is international stuff for goodness sake!

Maggie tried to stop her from then onwards and tried to make her pick an interest in doing the regular girl things like her sister, but, it never worked.

She was getting invisible and more lethal by the day. Especially with the invention of super smart phones. She could basically do anything with any smart phone, or any phone at all!

Irrespective of all that, all Maggie saw in Chinny was a reflection of herself, in a more advanced and modern way.

It bothered her a lot, especially when Chinny got more withdrawn after her elder sister left the country for college abroad.

But, something remarkable happened in Chinny's life. She met this circle of friends she'd always blab about in the car to school every day!

They changed her, made her excited about going to school every morning. They reduced her obsession with the computers and made her more girly, like all teenage girls should be.

She couldn't help but like those kids.

Her only problem was that they were mostly boys - Uche, Ronald and Chad.

They were always good to her , always. They greet her and call her "mom" whenever she came to pick Chinny up from school.

It always got her soft spot, she felt like God was giving her many children from different parents.

Sometimes, she'll drop them off at one local 'aboki' man's kiosk, while at other times , she would buy them stuff from a cool restaurant. Those kids could eat anything!

However, the bummer came - An event that tied her life with those kids for eternity.

Her phone rang at 2.45am exactly and for some strange reason, she had been awake. She couldn't sleep that night, probably because she had let Chinny' go for the conference she was so hype about the previous day.

She let Chinny go without seeking permission from her real parents. That was the new style anyway, teenagers.

She was always going out recently and although it scared her, it made her happy too.

She had an unexplainable bond with the girl Chinny, and now she's out for a couple of days, she could not even sleep.

She was so worried - 'what if her parents found out'? She wondered.

'well, they wouldn't. She would be back before anything happens' she assured herself.

Besides, Chinny, for the first time in her life was having the fun of her life and not being so uptight and introverted.

So, she was lying on her bed in the early hours of the day, enjoying the peaceful quietness which was disturbed by the persistent vibration of her iPhone.

She picked up her phone, and it was Stacy, Ronald's sister calling.

'why would she be calling her at this time'? '' what's could be her issue? Or is this another prank call?' ...

"these kids..." She muttered under her breath... "never let me rest"

She finally picked up.. " hello..."

"Maggie! Maggie!! Maggie, please I need your help right now! It's too urgent!.." she sounded so tense over the phone, and her voice was clearly filled with terror and tears.

"What. What... calm down okay..."

"I don't have time Maggie! My father is gonna kill me like he killed my mother...!!"

She could hear some noise at the background. Some loud banging on a door. Senator Chris' voice at the background, shouting.

"staycee! Open this door! You dare defy me!!?"

Maggie suddenly felt Stacy's fear. She had heard of senator Chris - how monstrous he was - especially from the kids. They say he killed their mother!

He had once seen him in action with his own eyes. Stacy had called her, sounding tense. Asking her to pick her up. She had arrived as quickly as possible. She was lucky! Because immediately Stacy hopped into the car and shut the doors, Came Senator Chris, running out of his expensive estate gate with only a towel tied around his waist and a machete in his right hand.

Before she could reverse her small white BMW sports car with black tinted mirrors successfully, he had damaged her side mirror with a throw of the machete at her sporting beauty!

They had escaped that day though, courtesy of her smart evasive driving skills. This day wouldn't be different!

"Stacy, you need to calm down and listen to me.."

"I can't calm down...!"

"fine, then just listen."

"okay... I'm listening." she was clearly crying now.

"Stacy, you need to get out of that house NOW! Find a way, get out! I'm coming to get you. But I can't get you if you don't get out of that house now!"

"Okay..." Stacy replied faintly.

"I'm coming okay? Just get out! Anyway you can..." the line went dead...

"hello? Hello? Hello?!!, Damn it!!!"

she cussed as she stood up, picked up her car keys and made for the garage.

Soon she was on her way, speeding in her white Mercedes. She was scared, not just for her self, but for Stacy.

That child being outside on her own at this time of day. She was just fourteen!

Senator Chris' Estate wasn't that far, but she was sure that the security there was quite tight.

She had to navigate through the narrow streets with pulse racing speed in that night to stay unnoticed by the security.

She had activated a thermal detector from the space satellite around the senators estate to help her detect Stacy.

Soon, the beeper sounded, it had detected Stacy's location. A peculiar heat signature close to the senator's house.

"Brave child, she managed to escape the building" she thought.

However, there is no doubt that senator Chris would not just leave his daughter to escape. It had been proven from previous events.

Soon, she was speeding on the street close to senator Chris' building. Her Mercedes' running engine clearly the only sound that could be heard at that time of night. Boy, the car could fly!

Soon, the blaring lights found Stacy running, running to no where! The Mercedes' headlamp lights must have scared her too. She caught up in no time.

She applied the brakes and the BMW responded, Screeching to a halt.

She opened the other front door.

"Get in..." she ordered in haste as Stacy hurried in and shut the door after her.

The girl was clearly shaken and terrified. There were blood stains and sweat all over her face. She placed her right hand by her left side, trying cover some bleeding from some severe cut. She was bleeding profusely and breathing heavily!

'What under the second heavens had happened this time?!' she wondered.

It was clearly the worst she had seen Stacy look. She was always that happy child - chubby and fair with brown eyes. One word could describe her - 'sweet'.

"Seatbelt please..." she said as she helped the poor girl fix her seat belt.

Stacy was really bleeding. She was loosing consciousness and needed a hospital! She couldn't even talk, She was clearly in shock!

Just then, she heard the sound of some vehicles closing down on them from behind! Their lights shown through the tinted windows of her sporting beauty.

She turned around and behold, there were black Toyota tundra heavy duty trucks approaching at top speed.

In no time, they opened fire, and started shooting at her BMW.

'Who the fuck are those?' she wondered. 'senator Chris' men would not dare shoot at the big man's only daughter'!

She didn't know who they were but they were clearly coming for her and Stacy!

"not today... bitches" she responded as her right hand plunged her automatic gears to drive!

She turned around and placed her feet on the accelerator as the engines of her BMW roared the car into light speed motion, screeching its tires first, so hard, like friction had come to war.

"Catch me if you can bitch!! " she said out loud.

************************************

Author's Note:

Here is Maggie, the momma of the house. The good, the bad, the all knowing.

I feel like she brings a whole different angle to the the table.

What do you think about her as a character? What about her story?

Can you predict her contribution to this amazing story?

Please tap on the small star below.

Love y'all!