A Lawyer For The Devil

AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN

A LAWYER FOR THE DEVIL

A ChrisEffe Bliss

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The Author

EPISODE 2

An Afternoon Scream

That was how it had started between Chris and Elaine.

He had not taken her up on her offer, though, but they had continued to see each other, and he had become more and more engrossed with her.

Eight months later, they made love for the first time, and since then Chris Bawa couldn’t have enough of her. She was a bundle of sweetness, so loving and yet so fierce and protective of him and Sisi.

Curiously, Sisi had really not warmed up to Elaine, and that was what had delayed Chris proposing to her. To him, Elaine was the perfect partner, and she had turned out to be perfect in other ways too, especially the bedroom. And yet, Sisi could not commit wholly to Elaine no matter how hard the woman tried.

But Chris had decided to marry her and settle down. Maybe, with that out of the way, Sisi would be more accommodating of Elaine. So, he had proposed to Elaine, and now they were making plans to set a wedding date and settle down.

Elaine had told him not to rush it. She was still concerned that Sisi felt uncomfortable around her, and wished she could win the little girl’s trust before their marriage. If that failed within the year, she promised to set a wedding date, get married, and then continue with what she called the PWS – Peace War with Sisi.

***

Chris Bawa arrived at the Clever International School with an hour to spare. The parking lot had a few parked cars, and he turned into an empty slot, parked, and got out of the car.

He locked it and idly wondered how he was going to kill one hour. He decided to see the headmistress – who was a friend – and discuss some of the issues he had about the school.

Chris turned from the car, and that was when he heard a shrill scream from a young voice shattering the silence around him. A moment later, the scream came again.

About fifty metres away from him was a black van, and that was where the scream was coming from.

“Daddieeeeee! Daddieeee!”

It was Sisi’s voice!

Chris Bawa’s heart thudded with sudden apprehension, and he broke into a fast sprint immediately.

He saw two men sliding the side door of the van shut, and then they rushed towards the front of the van. Chris intensified his gait just as he saw a woman dashing from around the van and leaping at one of the men.

They tumbled to the cemented ground of the parking lot.

The other man hesitated, then he went to the aid of his friend by grabbing the woman’s legs and trying to pull her off. Another man slid the side door open and jumped out with what looked like a blunt metal in his hand. He hurried towards the woman who was holding on tenaciously and kicked her in the head.

The woman rolled away, but got to her feet and instantly threw herself at the man with the weapon, who struck her quite sickeningly across the face with a fist, tossing her back. One of the men behind her raised a fist to strike her.

“Daddieeeee!” the scream came again.

Chris had reached them.

The man who was aiming a blow at the woman’s back swivelled with a cry of alarm. Chris Bawa struck him with such ferocious power that his body was flung across the space to smash into the side of the van.

The man with the metal was huge and muscled. He growled and swung the heavy metallic club at Chris’ head. The lawyer side-stepped and smashed a short, deadly punch into the man’s ribs. He noticed that the woman kicked the other man on the ground between the legs before diving into the van.

The man with the metal grunted with pain, and a moment later, Chris’ elbow smashed into his face. The thug groaned as blood spurted from his nose, and his legs buckled. He tried to raise the metal, and Chris pivoted, swept a foot off the floor, and smashed it into the man’s head! The thug dropped with a soft moan.

The lady emerged from the van with Sisi in her arms. She began to run fiercely towards the main entrance of the school. The man on the ground turned a dazed face towards Chris as he pulled out a gun from his shoulder holster. He grinned evilly as he tried to point it at Chris Bawa.

“Stay away from Elaine, you arsehole!” he screamed.

Chris Bawa kicked him viciously in the head, then he began to run after the woman, afraid that she might also hurt Sisi. His eyes, however, picked up the registration plates of the van as he ran.

Behind him, the three wounded men were helping each other into the van. The one Chris had struck first limped to the driver’s side, got in, and a second later the engine gunned into life.

They reversed in a tight arc, smashing into the side of a Ford sedan parked beside them, then they roared out of the parking lot.

And, as they sped down the highway, the registration plates of the van flipped over electronically and changed into different registration numbers.

***

Chris marvelled that the woman in front of him could carry an eight-year-old girl for that long and run that far with her.

Already, the security men on duty were running to meet the woman, and other staff were also beginning to be drawn to the spectacle.

“Lady, stop!” Chris said.

“Help me!” the lady cried desperately without stopping or turning. “Security, stop that man! He’s trying to kidnap Sisi!”

Sisi, whose arms were around the woman’s neck and still weeping, lifted her head and spoke sharply.

“No, Aunty Effe! That is my father!”

The lady slowed down her pace and finally stopped running, then she put Sisi down carefully and looked at her face desperately.

“Is he really your father, Sisi?” she asked fearfully. “You know what happened with those horrible men!”

“He’s my father, Aunty!” Sisi cried and raced hard towards Chris with her tears falling.

Chris dropped to one knee and held out his arms. He held Sisi in his arms for some time, speaking soothingly to her to calm her down.

“It’s alright, my princess,” he murmured.

The lady was explaining what had happened to the security guards and other assembled staff.

“Please, call the police,” she said finally. “Call the police immediately!”

One of the guards went back to the office to place a call to the police.

“But what happened?” one teacher asked, his voice puzzled. “They now kidnap schoolchildren in broad daylight? Their audacity is unbelievable. But why poor Sisi, why?”

Chris still held Sisi close and lifted his head slowly to look at the woman who had rescued his daughter. There was a nasty bruise on her forehead which had swelled, but even then, his heart missed a beat when he met her beautiful eyes, and they stared at each other.

He was used to being admired by women, and all his life he had had to fight off advances from women. He had grown up principled, and not been a womanizer even though success and wealth had found him early. Chris hated cheating, and so he had always been a one-woman-at-a-time guy, even when he was in secondary school right through university. To him, all women were beautiful, and there was no fuss in choosing one and sticking to her, and making her happy.

But, seeing those soft, beautiful eyes of the woman opposite him, he was appalled to feel his heart give an unfamiliar lurch. Size, colour, posture, status and figure had really not posed any significant difference in his choice of women. Some of his acquaintances had been overweight, others thin, most in the middle. He loved a woman who was comfortable and lovely to be with, like Elaine, and so his life had always been content love-wise.

The woman who was regarding him coolly was not like any woman he had ever seen.

Not too tall, but amazingly curved out, sleek and fresh with a skin that seemed to glow with an inner splendour. Her face – at that very first glance – was angelic, ethereal, as fresh and beautiful as the morning’s first drop of dew on virgin grass. Her eyes were almost elfin, wide, set-apart, crystal.

And her nose was a beauty, her lips full, luscious, with a hint of mischief playing around the edges. Her hair was pulled off her face and held in a bun behind her, throwing that exquisite oval face into intense relief that heightened the physical symmetry of a creature created with the best of love, and the golden ingredients from the master’s vase.

She was rhythm, a complete celestial composition, a blissful entity whose infinite depth was more than human; she was, without a pause, the most beautiful woman his stunned eyes had ever beheld.

Chris Bawa stood up slowly.

“Thank you,” he said softly. “Thank you for helping my daughter.”