Chapter 28

                   Sariah's pov

  It's amazing what having friends in high places, money and certain powers in life can make you achieve. Being on the winning side did not make me happy, it made me hurt and want to cry. Years ago I had taken Sidoney's father to court and he had shunned what the judge had ordered him to do. Now I managed to sew him and win, two and half million was chump change to me. Seeing him lose what he didn't have hardened my heart within me. He had thought to come and scrape from what I've been blessed with, without a thought as to how his child was doing, but nowadays shit is flush down toilets and not left to sit over again and inhale the scent.

  Rajae and Shion's father didn't know what hit him when the judge fined him six million dollars. The fucker had been doing well and not taking care of his other children either. He had only a piece of old car to his name, I was so ashamed to have had associated with him. Worthless shithouse, if he had sold his ass like he had told me to sell myself he probably would now be better off.

  I walked out of court with my head held high, the cameras went off and I paused a few times and strike unsmiling poses. I knew I look good, I feel confident and I had a lot of money. I am the state minister for the African state Cubina, I rub shoulders with royalties and the elite. I am no longer the naive school girl that got pregnant the first time I was pressured to have sex. I am strong, I am independent, I am someone. Those that had stripped me of my self-worth can only look at me from afar, they could not come nigh my dwelling.

  Earlan hugged me to him as I reached the jeep and I never felt more appreciated. We climbed into the back of the jeep and Pelpa drove off with us, leaving my two baby daddies staring after the vehicle. Disappointment and stress written across their faces, a bag of shit bout they coming to claim money from the children they hadn't supported in any way. What a crazy set of crosses I had lain with and stupid too, because Shion and Sidoney aren't even working yet.

  My phone rang and I answered Shion that evening.

  "Mommy I got your messages, but I was in class," she said.

  "That's ok honey. How was the exam?" I said then asked.

  "Well it wasn't too hard so I hope I've passed. Yea so wey mi a sey is, the judge couldn't charge dem more money, especially my sperms donor?" She replied and asked.

  "Hehehehehehheheh, lauuuuddd." I laughed, "if yuh puppa eva hear yuh."

  "A should a me carry him go court and him see, a would a bun dung di courthouse wid him in dey." She stated angrily.

  "Mi sey if it hurt mi fi him one more time," Shion said beginning to cry, "yuh think mi a ever figet how many time he insults mi and none a him promise dem him nuh keep. Bout him want Rajae fi gi him money, him not even say mek him come and apologize and try mek it up to us eeh. Him gone pon tv a exalt himself, fi people know sey yuh did dey wid one cockroach." She vented tearful and angry.

  I allowed her to vent feeling sad, Rajae was another matter two minutes after I finished talking to Shion.

  "Mommy?!" He knocked on my room door and called.

  "Yes, it's open," I answered and he opened the door and stood there.

  "Yuh busy?" He asked.

  "No, a wha happen?" I replied then asked.

  "Nutn, just wan' talk to yuh bout somn." He said taking a seat on the large bean bag near to my bed.

  "Ok talk," I told him wondering what's it about.

  "Ahm, first mi wan' ask if di money wey wi fada ago pay a share between me and Shion?" He asked.

  I huffed out a breath glaring at him. "Yuh puppa nuh have dry shit, so yuh can tek dat offa yuh mind." I told him sternly.

  He sucked his teeth, "di judge fi mek him go find it by any means necessary, how him other pickney dem a survive?" He said.

  "Not my business," I told him while wondering if he planned on taking up that responsibility.

  "Anyway, mi have somn fi tell yuh." He said changing the topic and I look at him sideways.

"Humn!"

  "Simone two months pregnant, you're going to be a grandma." He stated.

"Humn!"

  "So wey yuh start di humn! Humn fah?" He asked looking at me.

  "Anything else?" I asked sensing something.

  He sighed heavily then said, "one a daddy baby mother reach out to mi, a ask fi help out wid mi likkle sister." He stated.

  "And?" I asked.

  "Mi tell har fi go work like how my mother go work and mine me and mi sister. Tsk, not even did know sey a she a message me pon messenger." He said.

  A lot of mean things came into my thoughts to spew out, but I held my tongue in check saying nothing.

"Mi woulda like fi see mi other siblings, yes and mi wan' gi dem things, but mi na bare nuh body burden. Go see how him did a spoil har when we did a suffer, tsk through a man not even know." He said.

  "I think it's good that you want to help them, but I don't want you associating with the mothers. To be honest, I don't want them benefiting from us, especially, " I told him.

Earlan's pov

  I sat thinking about all that Rajae had told me, we have come a far way and going into a new phase. I wouldn't want it any other way, I smiled as the noise of the blender intrude through my thoughts. Sariah was making fruit juice and the tantalizing aroma coming from the kitchen was so good, I felt like I was in heaven. We ate together with Rajae's girlfriend Simone, my favorite brown stew oxtail with rice and peas. The dinner conversation was based on us traveling to America for Shion's graduation. Sariah had booked all of us flights already and I was secretly planning a family getaway for all of us after the graduation. I felt needed, appreciated and respected. The joy of being with them all made me feel whole and I know whenever my mother and siblings come to visit, I will become even more overjoyed.

  Sitting back contented in the living room upstairs, I sighed relaxing and looked over into Sariah's room. She was sitting on her bed doing something on her phone. She looked up and saw me watching her and opened her legs revealing her pink mesh underwear. I chuckled and bite down on my bottom lip feeling my hood getting hard. She roll her eyes at me and smiled, I got up and made my way towards the door. Bam! It shut right in my face and I heard her laughing from within. She was grinning uncontrollably as I looked around for my access tablet and then I remembered I had left it on her bed earlier.

  "Balance, mi life, open di door please," I said looking up to the camera because I knew she was watching me.

  My phone beeped with several text messages coming in at once, I took it up from the couch and saw that Balla forwarded some messages to me. I gasp, in surprise at the pictures of Sariah and the threat message below it. Someone was asking for four million dollars are they were going to post them on all media platforms within the next twenty-four hours. My heart sank, how and when did Sariah expose herself like this and at a public event at that.

  I forward them to her phone and sat down in deep thought. A few minutes later she opened the door and came out, she walked over to me and hugged me.

  "I'm sorry, I was pissing off someone. Do you know who sent it?" She apologize then asked.

  "You were pissing off someone or pissing them on?" I asked her vexedly.

  She took one look at my face and put some distance between us. The pictures were taken at a private party she had attended before coming home some months ago. I rubbed my right foot where it had been broken, it was now healed but itched some times.

  An hour later Balla and Pelpa arrived, we talked about it and none of us know who could be blackmailing us, though it had to be somebody who knew us, because how else could they have gotten Balla's number. I spent the night racking my brain on how to sort it out, we could not just take up four million dollars and hand it over to anyone just like that. The pictures exposed the full view of Sariah's front and I couldn't wait to have Balla delete them from his phone. I felt vexed that they were seeing what's for my eyes alone and just looking at how beautiful and fat her pussy was, have me hardening every few minutes.

  Sariah came out from the pantry as I paused in the passage to make a phone call, she did not see me as she hurriedly went to her office and then back into the pantry. I was puzzled and made to go and look when my phone rang, she came out a moment after with a bottle of vegetable oil and placed it on the kitchen counter. Then she walked off back to her office and close the door.

  Curiously I went into the pantry when she went to bathe half an hour later, but after searching carefully I found nothing, there were only foodstuffs in there. There was no where in there she had stash couple million dollars as I had first thought.

  After careful planning we drove out to make the drop, I was nervous to no end even with a few of Sariah's trained bodyguards with us. I know I have a few enemies that just want to see me go under, for no reason than because I was successful. There was no way we could trust this person asking for the ransom and my heartbeat was uncontrollable as me and Balla walked up to the lone masked man in the early hours of the morning. He told us to stop and put down the bag with the money, then walked to a zinc fence and tek up the chip with the photos. Mi feel fuck up fi a gi him so much money and we nuh sure him a gi we all a di copy dem wey him have, but Sariah on my earpod said we should do it and walk off.

  We got back inside di vehicle and watch him go through the same zinc fence then disappear in a di bush dem. We nuh wan mek nuh move pon him because we nuh sure umuch backative him have wid him.

  "Mek it gwane, as wey Sariah sey if him nuh gi we all a di copy dem, him ago contact we again fi more money and we will fuck him up then," Pelpa said driving off.

  On the news that same night Riri's house was burnt down and her car was reportedly stolen, Torcha was wanted in connection with it. The following day on the news Torcha was found dead two bullets to his head. I sat up in shock as he was wearing the black suit the man we gave the money to had been wearing with the mask lying right beside him. Balla called seconds after asking if I was watching the news and I told him yes. Sariah only nodded when I told her about it and continued fixing the one thousand-piece puzzle she had started doing a day ago.

  There was no report of any money found with him or at his home and I told Pelpa that I felt like someone used him and then got rid of him. I cried even though I was still angry and vexed with him, we had known each other from high school days, he had been a part of my journey and I was bitterly grieved.

  Sariah blew up the photos, framed them and hang them up in my walk-in closet. I smile every time I went in there and see them, they were for my eyes only.

  The mystery of how and why Torcha was killed has not come to light, it was now a month after and Riri's family was in chaos. I didn't care about them, I only wanted to know who got the money and if ever a time that I wish the dead would speak it was now. Secretly between me, Pelpa, Balla and Rajae, we were enquiring via a few sources that were connected to Torcha. No one knew anything and there was nothing to show that they were spending in any form.

  I awoke in the middle of the night and Sariah wasn't beside me, I went to the bathroom and checked my room which she wasn't in either. The house had its normal night time quietness, where was she I wondered spotting her access tablet on the nightstand. I took it and viewed every part of the house starting with the children's room, I did not see her so I went downstairs with one place in mind.

  Quietly, I stepped towards the unlocked pantry door, inside was dark so I switched on the light and opened the door calling her lowly. She was not in sight, but apart of a stock of shelves with the things still stocked on them was moved completely out of the wall space, revealing a narrow doorway with steps. I heard Sariah speaking and turned off the light to listen.

The end...

  A/N I have a Discord chatroom for anyone who wishes to join. Just Dm me for an invite.