In Episode 9, Sharon receives a fusillade of penalties from the new management in her company. The last is occasioned by the change in her schedule brought about by taking care of little Ikenna. And Raphael bravely speaks up for her telling the new man in the company’s saddle, Mr Chukwuma Igwe, that her absence from work was authorized by the Deputy MD. But does this change anything? Is this a misunderstanding that can be easily cleared up or is there a sinister plot at work? Episode 10 feeds us the answers. Happy reading!

I GET A RING!

Raphael was telling me of his ill-fated meeting with Mr Chukwuma Igwe, our late MD’s first son who had assumed his father’s position. I wondered if he could just take the post when his siblings were yet to return. And did my boss have a will? What did the will say? Which of his children would he have considered capable of running the company if he were not there?
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All these questions were swimming in my mind but it wasn’t really my problem. Raphael had gone to the kitchen for a glass of water. He presently came back and picked up his story again. The Deputy MD had been summoned to disclose the hidden things that Raphael told Chukwuma he needed to know.
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“You will not believe that the man denied knowledge of any hidden thing. He was even insinuating that you were the MD’s girlfriend and that it was the reason you were placed on an outrageous emolument package.” He used his forefingers to indicate quotation marks when he said “outrageous”.
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“He claimed that your total monthly package was higher than that of most managers in the company.”
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I didn’t need further confirmation of what was going on. It was obvious envy, cowardice and plain wickedness were at work but my conscience was clean. Raphael wanted me to see Chukwuma but the man’s mind had been poisoned against me. Seeing him would be a futile exercise. I was certain of it. And I told Raphael so.
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“I know who I need to talk to. The One who, I believe, chose me to care for Ikenna. The managers are thinking they have used looking after Ikenna as a ruse to push me out of the company. They feel they are exacting vengeance because I was placed higher than them by Oga* (Bless his soul!). But they don’t know that I’m not jobless.”
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Raphael was staring at me in wonder and admiration. But I wasn’t through.
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“God has chosen me to care for this boy and that is just as important a job as any. I am going to talk to Him about what has happened. And I will let Him handle it however He deems best. And because I am in His employ, I will depend on Him for sustenance. I know that this storm that is raging will be over but even though I don’t know when that will be, I will weather it with His help.”
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At that point, Raphael began to weep. I didn’t understand it. And I tried to make light of it.
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“Hey, that’s my part. Why are you playing my part?”
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But he kept at it and I got worried.
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“Sweetheart, what are you doing? You are confusing me.” (It was the first time I was calling him that. I used to call him Raffy in school but gave that up once we graduated. I felt it sounded silly! Since then, he had simply been Raphael, although sometimes I empnasised the “el” giving the name a Latin touch.)
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Raphael wiped his eyes and gave me a weak smile.
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“I’m sorry I broke down like that but since it earned me an endearment, I shouldn’t even be sorry at all,” he quipped.
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“At least, we’re even,” I replied.
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“How?”
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“A few weeks ago, I was the one embarrassed to be caught crying like this.”
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“But I don’t feel embarrassed.”
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“So why were you crying?”
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“When the boss died, you asked me, ‘What are we going to do?’ I seemed like the strong one then. But today, I came here to ask you precisely the same question.”
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“I don’t understand ….”
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He stood up, brought out a letter from his hip pocket and handed it to me. I thought the company had put my dismissal in writing. But when I read the letter, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. You see, Raphael had also been sacked for “display of arrogance by invading the MD’s office without permission, making false accusations against the Deputy MD and similar acts of insubordination that have characterized his short stay in the company.”
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“Sweetheart, I came here to ask you the question you asked me when this trouble began to brew but as I listened to you, I saw that you were already answering it. You have spoken for both of us. But what I don’t understand is what happened to make you begin to reason like this.”
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“Darling, it’s a long story, and one I’ll tell you another day,” I replied because Ikenna, who had been sleeping the whole time, was up and I went to carry him. (The endearments had begun to roll off my tongue effortlessly, a sure sign that Raphael and I were truly in sync!)
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Raphael went with me and was tickling Ikenna while I checked if he was wet. He wasn’t but I got him to use the potty. Raphael tried to decipher the meaning of his babytalk while he did and we took him to the sitting room subsequently where he commenced playing with a stuffed animal that produced different soft melodies depending on where he touvched it. We settled on the sofa and resumed our previous conversation.
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“We will trust God but we should also speak out against this injustice,” Raphael said. “I will try and see Madam. She is a mother. She would want to take Ikenna.”
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His words unsettled my heart. I knew that Ikenna wasn’t my biological child but I loved him with all my heart and would use every resource available to me to raise him if given the chance. I wasn’t so sure he would get the same consideration from the Igwes, especially in the area of love. But Raphael was right. The boy needed to be returned to his family. I had become attached to him naturally but I could never give him the kind of material comfort the Igwes enjoyed.
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“Hopefully, she will also talk some sense into Chukwuma regarding our jobs.”
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That I wasn’t sure of. In fact, I detested the idea of going back to the company. Without my boss, it’d be a totally different ball game there and one I didn’t care to play. Not with the lying, conniving lot in that place.
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“Sweetheart, there’s something else. I want your permission to see your family,” Raphael said.

“What for? I don’t want them to know …” I’d been so caught up in what we were discussing that I’d missed Raphael’s meaning but it quickly dawned on me. He wanted to formally ask for my hand in marriage.
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“Are you sure?” I asked. He nodded. “Then do it. Do it whenever you want to. I am ready.”
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Raphael was beside himself with joy. He brought out a small package from the pocket in his jacket and opened it.
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“Oh my God!” I screamed. “It’s a ring. I get a ring. Even at a time like this I get a ring, sweet Jesus!” He took my left hand and slipped it on my middle finger. No ceremony. And it was my turn to cry.
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“You just lost your job. How could you afford a ring?”
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“They paid me 60k.* They said they were deducting 15k, partly for tax and for processing something, I don’t know what. Someone was definitely taking advantage knowing I wasn’t in a position to probe. I mean, how cruel can people be! Anyway, I took the money and went to the market. I didn’t want to mock myself by going to a jeweller. This may not be the best. It’s certainly less than what you deserve but I want us to seal our union without delay.
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“I’ll use this money for the marriage rites as far as it can go. One smart lady said to commit everything to God and look onto Him for sustenance. It’s the wisest thing I’ve heard in a long while and I am going to do just that. You think He can fund a traditional marriage ceremony?”
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“He can do all things!”
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“How about a white wedding?”
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“White wedding or not, we’ll soon be married. I just can’t believe we’ve come this far in spite of everything.”
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“Yes, we have. In spite of everything!”
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Then after I’d given him a well-deserved kiss, Raphael left, promising to see Madam as soon as possible to free us from the responsibility of caring for Ikenna so that we could travel to see our families for the marriage talks. But I was still very much worried and it was beginning to irritate me.
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“What else could go wrong at this point?” I asked myself. “Haven’t the enemies done their worst?”
-To be continued-
Ⓒ Edith Ugochi Ohaja 2016
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*Oga means Boss
*The K in 60K and 15K stands for thousand, meaning that Raphael got sixty thousand Naira.
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So, it wasn’t only Sharon that was sacked but Raphael too. And they are talking about getting married. Do you think they are naive/foolish or do you think they are on the right path?
Sharon refused to state her side of the case to Mr. Chukwuma Igwe. Was that a smart or unwise stance?
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Watch out for Episode #11 of this very entertaining story right here on edithohaja.com.
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