broken and bruised episode 15&16

BROKEN AND BRUISED

Episode 15

Ron continues to drive in a very terrific speed with every pedestrian jumping out of the way for dear life, his tear is about to blarre his vision, he has
never really cried out loud till today, he recalls his happy days with Melanie when they first met, the few beginning weeks were real fun, he would pretend
that he borrowed his friend's car just to come and see her, he would feign hunger and Mel would look for solutions to get him something to eat, he recalls
a moment when he one time called her and lied to her that he was terribly sick and had no money for treatment so Mel had to go look for some work, Washing
for some rich woman for two days and brought the few notes to him so he would get treatment....she completely took his heart by storm and he loved her
more than life itself, he wonders why this had to happen

"Why did that bastard ruin my life like this.....my life was a mess before Mel came into it and just like that, everything was again taken back from me
when she was violated...... why didn't I say yes, why did I humiliate her in this manner.... I'm even worse than that man who did this, I'm going to hunt
you down you good for nothing moron and I will kill you" he continues to drive to no where in particular as he continues to get drunk by his own tears,
he could hear his phone ring but he just doesn't want to talk to anyone, he continues to ignore the calls but they won't stop, he finally switches it off
and continues........

Melanie can't believe what just happened to her today in front of God, she removes her shoes and runs out of the big church barefoot only holding her disturbing
gown, everyone is just taken by surprise so they really can't act but there is only one person who gets up to follow her, her tears have began to fall
by now and she can't even tell where she's going and the means she's going to use but she just wants to get out of there and disappear or even die....she
gets to the door to meet only with the reporters flashing their cameras and taking her picture from very angle, she's trying to hide her face but it's
so difficult to do

"Miss Melanie what do you think could be that reason behind what Ronald junior just did" one reporter fires her the question

"Is it true you're expecting but he's not the father.... do you think it could have made him to humiliate you and run away"

"And how could you have had a secret relationship aside from the one you had with the minister's son"

"Was it all for that money" these media guys are truly heartless, Melanie is not getting away from them easily and no one seems to be coming to her rescue,
she's all alone but all of a sudden, there is a crash and some wrangles ensue, it's Tobi fighting one reporter grabbing him by the throat and finally getting
his camera, he smashes it into piece, Mel takes this opportunity to escape, she jumps onto a bike she found available, the bike man must have also come
fro the wedding, he asks her where he should take her to

"Just anywhere far away" ....Tobi grabs another reporter, he's not a violent man and neither did he ever think he had half of the strength he's having now

"Give me that camera.... hand me the damn cameras, are you guys crazy, are you so insensitive at all" he grabs more cameras and destroys all of them and
it was at this point he got to realize she's gone.....people have started gathering but no one could really tell who this man is because by the time they
got out of the church to witness the commotion, he was already in his car driving at a terrific speed out of there.....Everyone is so shocked to see only
destroyed cameras and a few bloody mouthed reporters.......luckily he took the right direction because he can see the bike man with Melanie behind him,
he follows behind not wanting to go past, it was after twenty minutes of following and driving the bike man finally stopped

"Where exactly should I take you Madame.... we can't be riding around town without knowing where you want to go"

"Just continue....I want to go for away, don't you get it"

"Sorry, you will have to find another bike because I'm stopping here and it's so obvious you're not going to pay anyways so get off my bike Melanie doesn't
have a choice but to, she realizes she's even barefooted, she sits by the road side as those voices come again

" You deserve what happened Melanie...... hahaha you brought it on yourself and it's all your fault,, don't blame anyone but yourself it's your fault,,
it's your fault " she shakes her head continuously and covers her ears with her palms saying no no, Tobi who remained in his car just shading tears continue
to look at her.........

Mel remembers her moments with Ron,, those happy moments she remember him promising her marriage and forever and ever happiness.....she remembers his words
in the church today, the voices start again

"You're completely broken and bruised so the best thing you can do is just to end it all, end it all and take your life so you will not have to face this
humiliation" she touches her tummy and wonders what would happen to this baby if she chose to live, how will she explain to him or her that his or her
dad is nothing but a rapist.....she's finally decided it, she's taking her life,.....she remembers her poor mother and this just brings in more tears,
she looks around and finally spots a bridge...it finally hit her that she's at river enyau where she can jump in and drown in there without much pain,
she walks slowly to the bridge and stands just at the edge.......

Tobi gets out of his car and follows Mel, he can tell her mind isn't there but in the water and could jump any minute from now, he walks to her and stands
behind her, he wanted to tell her not to jump but realises this can easily make her fall given she's not expecting anything of this sort.....he quietly
gets closer as quietly as possible, he can clearly see she's with closed eyes, he suddenly holds her by the waist and throws himself backwards with her
falling on top of him....Mel was so shocked something like this just happened, but she quickly gets up

"Don't come close to me"she's trembling and Tobi gets up too

" I couldn't let you do it"

"No let me do it, let me end this cursed life and forever rest in Peace"

"Then you have to push me in the river first or I won't let you do it"

"Nothing you say can change my mind"she's just crying

" Let me die and don't interfere please"

"No Melanie.... unless if you're willing to answer to God that I took my life and jumped in to the river with you because you refused to see reason" just
to show how determined he is, he walks over the spot where she was and stands there spreading his arms

"Come on Melanie... let's do it" Mel's heart skips

"Please Sir don't do it, I beg of you" people start to gather and Tobi walks over to her and whispers

"Then you follow me and I take you to the ends of the world where you won't be able to face his humiliation.... didn't you say you wanted to get far away"
she backs away from him and looks suspicious

"Look, I'm harmless and here is my car with my name on it, I just want to help" he wants to show it to her but she says it's ok

"So are you willing to trust me and come with me? I swear I won't harm you" she nods and he leads her to the car and they drive away.

Episode 16

Everyone in church finally comes out asking so many questions that no one could answer, Ofelia can't still understand what happened has really happened,
she had rushed out to see how she could help her baby but she's gone, neither Mel nor Ron were in sight and no one knew where they were, the minister comes
out and the few reporters who still have their gadgets still want him to talk, but luckily his PA comes to his rescue shielding him with her body saying
he can not talk, Lillian and her daughter patience are the next to come out and the reporters are ready for them

"Mrs Pope, would you throw more light into this, everyone is still lost in the middle of all this not knowing what really happened..... do you know what
must have made your son to develop cold feet" she is trying her best not to show her happy face

"I can't tell why my son did what he did and it would be best if he be the one to answer all of this when he finally returns" she walks away but they run
after her

"Is it true Melanie is pregnant for another man"

"That innocent child has nothing to do with all of this......this is all I can say"

"So you're finally admitting that the rumor is true after all" the camera could not miss her sarcastic and smiley face, her husband comes and whisks her
away and patience too, they leave for home leaving behind Perry who says she has to find Mel at her brother and also help Ofelia reach home.........Every
attempt to reach either Mel or Ron could not yield any result so Ofelia finally bursts into tears

"I want my daughter back....I want Melanie back, she's going to harm herself I'm sure and I will not be able to withstand it" she melts into Perry's arms
and cries

"It's OK mum.....let's go home now maybe she's there already and waiting for you" Ofelia doesn't want to so Perry has to real convince her more

"Soon the reporters are going to swift their attention on you and what will you say....you might end up saying something that might end up hurting Melanie
more I'm so sure, let's go and I promise I won't leave you alone till when we find her" she leads her to the car where the stranded bridesmaids are waiting,
they leave together and drop all of them off and then the three of them with the third being the maid of honor drive off to start their search not knowing
from where to even start looking..............

The last thing Melanie ever said to the stranger who was now driving to where she doesn't know was agreeing to come with him just because she really didn't
know what she wanted, she closes her eyes as the equally quiet man continues to drive, a million dolor questions continue to run in her head about why
Ron did what he did, she tries to understand but it's not making any sense, she is not blaming him for the decision he made but she doesn't think she deserved
his cruelty and insensitivity, she had asked him so many times if he was sure he wanted to go on with this and he continued to assure him he was and yet
today she got to know how he truly felt in the most painful way possible, she wonders if she's ever going get out if this alive.... she continues to think
and even in her closed eye lids, tears continue to fall and run freely..........

Tobi is so heartbroken seeing Melanie wail in pain, he continues to steal glances at her pretty face without her noticing, he can see why Ronald fell in
love with the damsel, she's truly beautiful and innocent, every tear that fell from her eyes got him thinking whether she's remembering what he did to
her or what Ron did today, he can't tell but whatever the reason he knows there is only one person to blame and he's the person, .........at first he had
no idea where he was driving her to and wanted to drive her home but then he realizes home is not the best place to take her to, he's sure people must
be home waiting with questions and that's not going to be good for her so he knows just the right place to take her, he continues to drive for the next
twenty minutes until when they arrive, the gateman opens the gate so wide for the car and Tobi drives in, he packs the car in the compound and this was
when Mel finally opened her eyes, she can clearly see this is equally a rich man by just looking at the mansion.... right now her mind is not really into
all the luxury around, the man comes out of the car and opens the door for her, she reluctantly gets out and the gateman comes to welcome his boss, he's
surprised to see a woman in her wedding dress by his side but it's clear she's been crying, one more look at her, he got to realise she was putting nothing
on her feet, he wonders if his boss stole someone's bride because both of them look messy.... he doesn't let it show in his face though

"Boss your welcome, i didn't know you were coming"

"How are you Job"

"I'm very fine boss.....everything here is very fine" he excuses himself and returns to the gate but Tobi calls him, he goes to meet him

"No one should know I'm here, not even my mum"

"But what if she calls"

"Simple, tell her you haven't seen me in a very long time understood" he nods and Tobi goes back to Melanie who is still looking suspicious

"Shall we" he leads the way to the house and she follows, Tobi opens the door that leads to the beautiful living room, every furniture and every other thing
in the house is covered to avoid dust since no one lives in there

"I'm so sorry, you will have to excuse me, I need to do some small arrangement and cleaning" he says and gets to work

"Does no one leave here" she couldn't help asking but what really surprises her is the fact that this young man is the owner of this mansion

"No one stays here yet....but in the near future it might get occupied"

"How about your family, do they live far away from here"

"It's a thirty minutes drive from here....that's where they live and we have a family House"

"Why don't you rent this place out"

"I would love to but look around, how much do you think one would pay every month in order to live in here.....I wouldn't encourage anyone to accept renting
this, this is better left unoccupied"

"You talk like a business man" he smiles

"Maybe I am"

"Need some helping hand" she asks when she saw him fidgeting with the covers and dusting, she can tell he's not really trained to do this and just trying"

"Can I help" she asks again

"Won't it be a big bother to you then"

"Not at all....." she walks over and joins him

"Let me do it alone and show you how it's done....it's clear you have never done this" he stands and watches her do all the dusting, he can tell this Melanie
truly has a strong spirit, anyone in her shoes would be wailing and so unconsolable by now yet here she is, acting like nothing happened, he realises she's
still in her wedding gown but she has nothing to change, he remembers there is a boutique in the next street

"Can you continue with this, I will be back" Melanie doesn't understand

"Please I need you to trust me and wait for me here, I won't take long"

"Don't worry, I don't even know where I am neither do I wish to go back home" he collects the car keys and leaves.........

Melanie looks around the breathtaking living room, she spots a picture of the man on the wall, she walks over to the picture and he's name is written on
it......' Tobias Akankwasa' this name sounded familiar but she just can't remember where she heard it from but she's sure she has heard it before, she
puts back the picture and the events of the day comes back, she sits down and remembers her poor mother, how she must be doing at this time because she
ran away without final words to her

"I need to call her" she looks around but realises she doesn't even have a phone, she doesn't even know what she's going to do but she needs to talk to
her mother......

To be continued