broken and bruised episode 11&12

BROKEN AND BRUISED

Episode 11

Tobi gets home to find his mother waiting for him in the parlor, he could see her when he drove in and knew she must be there for two things one is, thinking he's going to come back home drunk again and secondly the news of him firing those devils must have reached her and now she wants to hear more yet he has no answer for that particular topic, he gets out and says hello to the workers around and walks over to her

"Good evening mum...." she gets up to check if he smelt alcohol or not

"Relax...I'm not drunk"

"I can see that but what took you so long"

"To do what"

"To get back home" he checks his watch and it's still coming to eight

"Let's go in" he leads her inside

"You need a cellphone, I was stuck all day not knowing what to do because I couldn't reach you yet that stubborn PA of yours couldn't connect me three to your office, why don't you get rid of such incompetent people"

"Jane is the best personal assistant I could work with mother and you know that, aside from the fact that she's so disciplined, she's the only person I have worked with longer" he sits down and she sits next to him

"Now tell me about those three guys you chose to fire without consulting me first"

"Not now mum"

"Then when, very time is just the same for you saying not now but I'm telling you, I don't need stories I demand answers that's still my company"

"With all due respect mother, that company is running because of my ideas and efforts but I'm not talking bout that now"

"Tell me why you fired your best friends"

"Because they were incompetence"

"I don't believe you"

"Well that's your problem"

"You disappoint me Tobias.... so so much, you surprise me every day with your attitudes... the woman you will marry in future will truly see no happiness" he gets up

"I know where this topic is headed to mum but listen carefully because I'm not going to repeat myself.... you should start getting used to the fact that there will not only be no girlfriend, but no wife too.... I'm not going to hurt my self to please others, if you want grandchildren be one for your friends grannies" he walks out on her leaving her to shallow this bitter pill............

Several days have passed and it's now a month ever since melanin's life took a new twist, she has managed to live through everything but she still finds it a bit difficult to get comfortable with Ron like they had been in the past, she has finally gotten to know and realise that the only people in the minister's family who truly accept her relationship with Ron are only the minister himself, Perry and Ron but the other two, mother and daughter are just acting along,she doesn't share with Ron because she knows he will never believe her.....the relationship has been made public and their engagement party is scheduled to take place in three days time, the media people have gotten involved in all of this and it's like her private life has been taken away from her and she's so afraid they might learn about her ugly past....she tries to look cheerful and happy with all this arrangement yet in reality she's not...............

Tobi one morning settles for breakfast with his mother in the parlor when the paper man delivers their daily news paper, he normally buys the papers for the business columns for the tips and to know who is doing what in the business arena.....he puts the paper down so ready to flip through the pages when the front headline caught his attention, he reads with the tea cup on his lips.....'RONALD POPE JUNIOR SET TOBE INTRODUCED BY HIS BESTIE FINA MELANIE' he sees the big picture on the front cover and she's starring at him with a forged smile, all of a sudden he drops the cup and the tea spill all over, Monica who was busy reading looks up to see what's going on

"Are you OK" she asks and he nods saying it was only accident...... he gets up to go to his room and read the details there

"So you're called Melanie and you're dating that Ronald!.... what a small world" he reads through everything and realises indeed she's a student of Royal institute, he wonders how he is going to ask for her forgiveness with all those powerful people around her, he's thankful for one thing that's the fact that she has the best man by her side to protect her...............

Two days later

Perry drives Melanie to the saloon to have her hair fixed and every other thing for tonight, they decided to settle for a low key engagement party because they have a plan of having the wedding in two weeks time after Mel is done with her papers, it's now Perry taking care of all the organisation with patience and their mother finally declaring they can't be part of this whole thing, Mel is a little sad but Perry assures her that those two are nothing but just bad elements, she's fixed for the day and they get back home to wait for evening..........

Evening comes and the few invited people start flocking the minister's home, Ofelia is given a big recognition as the mother of the Bride, everything is going on well, the music is on point, the foods and drinks so available and Mrs Pope and her evil offspring are even making a great effort to appear cheerful and happy at least in front of the camera...... the party started with bride price negotiation in the home of Ofelia who had to send a message to Mel's uncles who had abandoned them years ago yet they shamelessly came but now the party in the mansion is only by invitation and people really had a lot of fun..... the party moved and ended so well with Mel and her mum both spending the night in the mansion..........

The following day, Mel wakes up feeling feverish as if she's going to have malaria or something, she tries to assure herself it's because of yesterday's busy schedule but then she remembers she has been feeling like this of late.......she leaves her mother still sleeping in bed and walks to the big guest bathroom..... she tries to brush her tooth but she felt so irritated by the smell of the Colgate.... she sits not even easing herself and then walks back into the room, she checks her phone and realised she got a message from Ron already wishing her a blissful day ahead and reminding her that he loves her, she's not even happy about the message but she texts him back thanking him.......after an hour, everyone comes down for breakfast except Mel, minister is so quick to ask why and Ofelia let's them know she's not feeling well but asked her not to tell them, Ron is furious and leaves the dinning to go talk to Mel but on his way to her room, he makes a call to their family doctor to come quickly.......he enters her room and finds her covered in bed though not sleeping

"Mel, why would you hide being sick from everyone"

"Ron.....I'm not really ready for this and please, let me be"

"I won't let you be until when the doctor arrives and checks you up thorough and assures me you're fine"

"You didn't need to call her here"

"This time I did and she's on her way so don't even move from here" they continue to chat until when the doctor arrives, she asks Ron to excuse them as she does her examination..... but on the first look at Mel, she could tell what her sickness was

"When was the last time you had your periods"

"Oh my God!!.... this can't be"

"What can't be....... look a number of factors trigger missing period and for your case it's understandable you have been stressing yourself a lot lately, getting married to a rich kid is no joke" Melanie is just starring at no one in particular as the nurse does her examination and checks her urine she asked for....she tests it and finally it's confirmed

"Congratulations Madame.... you're going to be a mother"

"What did you just say???"... Ron asks the question, they had no idea he was in the room and Mel fearfully looks at his direction, she knows this is the beginning of the end for them......... to be continued

Episode 12

When the doctor broke the news of Mel's pregnancy, it was a very heavy blow to Ron who has never touched her, he did well to hide his anguish and anger and asks the doctor to leave the two of them alone, she does but tells them to pass by her clinic so they can start with visits right away, she congratulates them again and leaves..... on meeting very anxious others in the living room, she feeds them with the good news, it's only the minister who is delighted for the news and Mel's mother too, Perry looks shocked because Ron had sworn that he has never touched Melanie, their mother and patience some what angry with this new change, they all decide to go congratulate the couple and minister lets Ofelia know that it's now better Mel remains there so she doesn't stress herself and be well taken care of.........they head to the guest room all together...........

Melanie sits covering herself and trembling while shading tears, she has not said a word ever since the news was broken to them but rather everything comes back like it just happened this morning, she could here voices in her Head, voices of mockery and many many telling her she deserves it, that she's cheap and called this on herself, she could still feel his touches in every core of her skin......she tries covering her ears so she won't continue to hear them but that's when she's brought back to herself with a sounding slap, she sits still and looks up to see Ron so furious and enraged

"I'm sorry.....I'm so sorry" she says amid sobs

"Melanie how could you.... how could you be so heartless and choose to break my heart like this"

"I'm sorry"

"Who is the the bastard you have been sleeping with, tell me now before I do more to you"

"Please Ronald sit down and let me explain"

"You have no right to demand that from me Melanie...... you pretended to be an obedient girl and even made me believe you were different from others when in reality you're worse"

"That's not true"

"What's not true huh?..... here you're pregnant yet I have never touched you ......who do you think you're?.... Mary the mother of Jesus?..... I should have seen and realised you're nothing but a cheap prostitute, you made me introduce you to my family, declare to the whole world you're the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with when all you wanted was to ruin me and indeed you have ruined me completely"

"I have never cheated on you Ronald, never and my God is my witness"

"No no no....don't bring God into this Melanie..... don't annoy me more by bringing God into this......you have been acting so strangely and I thought you were just showing me the other side of you that I didn't know, then you started sleeping out side home"

"That only happened once and I tried to explain but you stopped me in the middle"

"Don't use that as an excuse Melanie..... you were lying to me that day and it was obvious, I couldn't let you continue with the lies as if I'm some fool but this is the last stroll, this is the limit" the shouting match continues with both of them talking amid tears, they have no idea they are not now the only ones in the room when Mrs Pope descends on Melanie with the poor girl's second slap

"You slut, how could you bring shame to this family we have worked so much to build, we took you in and accepted you even when some of us saw right through your façade in the first day, I knew you were not the right person for my son but I respected his choice" she's ready to strike her again but Ofelia holds her arms

"I won't let you touch my daughter again.... I'm not justifying Melanie but it would be the right thing to do if we let her explain what really happened"

"Look at this shameless woman, your daughter here who knew she wasn't good enough for my son pretended to be an angel to get her way into this family and now that her true self is revealed you still have the guts to tell us we should let her explain..... truly an Apple doesn't fall far from the tree"

"That's enough" the minister comes in

"Let's not all be carried away by this......miss Ofelia is right, it would be good to hear her side of the story, Melanie doesn't strike me in a way a loose woman would"

"I can't believe you're on this pretentious woman's side Dad" patience adds but Perry shuts her up, Perry has been providing counselling services to troubled people aside from running her Charity organization, she has dealt with so many similar cases and she thinks all of them are not handling Melanie in the proper way, she walks over to her brother who is crying more this time, she for the first time can see Melanie is unwell both physically and psychologically, she could see her tremble in fear, she turns to the rest of the people in the room

"I will have to ask all of you to excuse us, I need to talk to her alone" Ron doesn't want to saying he needs to hear all the lies Mel is going to come up with but Perry says that's the only way they can get to solve this

"Melanie is not alright and if she's not handled properly, she's going to lose her Brain or even take her own life....... they all agree to leave with their mother and Perry hauling insults at Mel on their way out, minister has to tell them the discussion should not cross the corridors...........

Perry looks at a very up sent minded Melanie who is just looking at nothing in particular but the tears continue to flow.....she can tell that Mel's mind is not there but travelling a thousand distance, Perry in her heart can already tell what this is but she's afraid others will not understand this, she sits on the bed next to her yet Mel doesn't even feel, she takes her hand in hers and Mel jerks up from her touch, just the sign Perry needed to be sure

" How are you feeling now" she asks as calmly and gently as possible with tenderness and love in her eyes and voice, Mel could see it's a pure affection in Perry's eyes and it's the first time she's seeing someone truly cares ever since all this happened, she bursts in tears and Perry gives her a shoulder to cry on, Mel cried and cried so loudly for a long time with no interruption until when she finally stops, Perry takes her hands again and looks her in the eyes

"Do you wish to talk about it" she asks

"I'm here listening"

"No one will believe me"

"How will you know if you don't let it all out, would you love it more if they continue to judge you wrongly" she starts to cry again

"I'm here waiting no matter how long it takes, I'm not here to judge you but to understand you...I'm still so sure you and my brother can make beautiful family despite this minor problem"

"I'm so scared"

"Don't be...just tell me, did someone force himself on you?"

"I....I....I was raped Perry, I was violated"

"Oh my God!..... how did this happen" she narrates everything that happened from the phone call she received from their mother to waking up in the morning shattered and broken, the story was so painful that Perry too started weeping, she remembers she was home with her mother that evening playing cards but before that, her mother came from upstairs where she could clearly tell she was on phone only that she didn't hear what the phone call was about, she continues to look at Melanie with no words to say

"Did you tell anyone about this"

"No...not even my mother but I tried telling Ron when he paid me a visit the next day but he would not let me continue"

"Why, you should have reported this to the police so you could get help both medical and in finding whoever was responsible"

"I was scared no one would believe me......I had no money"

"You should have talked to me"

"I had no means of communication, they took my phone and bag, I was mentally unwell and I couldn't leave the house for the next five days"

"If we take this issue ahead,will you be able to identify him any thing on him you remember?" she bursts in tears again

"I can't, I don't know him"

"It's OK I believe you.... let me be the one to talk to Ron and do me one favour, don't cry any more and don't stress yourself, I'm going to lock you up here so no one can disturb you, let me now handle this myself and please no more tears, what you need now is not the tears but you need help" Perry kisses her on the forehead and tells her she loves her, she leaves the room with Mel feeling somehow relived her burden is been taken somehow, the heaviness in her heart is reducing........

Perry comes down to find everyone quietly seated and anxiously waiting for her, Ron is the first to see her but her attention is on their mother, studying her so well and Mrs Pope can tell this pregnancy is somehow connected to what she had planned but she couldn't care less after all everything is working out so well......Perry finally swifts her gaze towards her brother

"Can I have a word with you, dad and Mel's mum alone"

"Impossible..... we're all part of this and you shall have a word with all of us" her mother protests, she's only protesting because she doesn't want the phone call incidence to be brought up

"Well then..... not here though"

"Let's use my study" their father adds and they all head there.......

To be continued