The Operator

SAMUEL COBBY GRANT

THE OPERATOR

EPISODE 16

Finally, it was trial time and Kuuku went to court in the company of his Lawyer, his mother and of course, Pat. Though he had spent a relatively easy night, both Pat and his mother had not. Pat had spent the entire night tossing and turning in bed and his mother had prayed half the night seeking divine intervention for him and spent the other half crying.

“Court rise,” the court clerk cried as the Judge entered the fully packed courtroom. The Press, both print and electronic, were fully represented. There was a cacophony of noise from the crowd as the Judge settled down. Kuuku sat with a deadpan expression on his face. He knew he had already been found guilty in the court of public opinion.

“Order, order,” the judge hit his gavel on the table and the room quieted down instantly.

The Prosecutor, a Police Inspector, took the stand and went on about how Kuuku Laing had deliberately slipped a harmful drug into poor Manza’s drink on that fateful day.

“My Lord, she is still fighting for her life as I speak and I humbly recommend the maximum sentence for him,” he said briefly and sat down.

Lawyer Ato Kwamena Baidoo got up, adjusted his blazer on his potbelly and strengthened his oversized coat.

“My Lord, we would like to change our plea from Not Guilty to Guilty.”

“Never!. Over my dead body,” Kuuku sprung up and shouted at the top of his voice.

It took just a few nanoseconds for the judge and the others to react to what he had said.

He glanced at Kuuku’s way with curiosity.

“Kuuku, exercise patience,” Lawyer Baidoo said with gritted teeth.

“You are fired,” he shot at him.

“You are going to regret this. You are going to end up in jail,” the Lawyer told him with venom.

The court was in an uproar, scandalized.

“Order, order,” the judge shouted and stared at Kuuku with pity. He knew already that Lawyer Baidoo wasn’t the right person to represent the accused.

“Given what has transpired, court is adjourned to 14 days from today,” he said in order to give him enough time to consult with a new lawyer.

“Court rise,” the clerk shouted and pandemonium broke out, with the press and the crowd wanting to have a word with him.

He and his companions managed to squeeze their way out of the crowd and drove off without a word.

Both Pat and his mother kept silent as he drove off as if it was just any ordinary day. They had absolute confidence in his ability to get himself vindicated.

They went to the Mansion for a meal of fried plantain and beans mixed with tuna flakes.

“I am so angry at Ato Kwamena,” his mom finally said about what had transpired.

“Don’t worry, LL. He’s a fool.”

“I believe he has become senile,” Pat said, and they laughed.

They spoke about other things for a while and left despite the elderly woman’s attempt to get them to pass the night there.

Madam Lawrencia called the Lawyer on phone.

“What is the meaning of the stunt you pulled in court today,” she asked.

“It was for his own good. I was going to plead for clemency in the long run. There is overwhelming evidence against him,” he said.

“My son is not guilty,” she said, her voice quivering.

“But Lawrencia…” he stammered.

“You may address me as Mrs Laing,” she said icily.

“I really believe that you should move on,” he said, the tone of his voice changing.

“What do you mean by ‘move on’? With who? You?” she said angrily.

Would that be such a bad idea?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she knew he had been eyeing her for some time. Sometimes, he made suggestive comments but she had ignored him.

He sighed and ended the call.

 She called him back immediately.

“Hello, Dear Lawrencia,” he said when he picked up, thinking that she was going to talk about his interest in her.

“You are fired,” she said. “My new Lawyer would contact you in due course for any documents you have in your possession relating to my Estate.”

Kuuku was exhausted. He hardly had any time. He had been juggling between his job at the factory and the machine shop at Kokompe. Though he had found a trustworthy assistant to be at the shop at all times, he still went there every evening and on weekends to supervise and to have a feel of what had been going on. He was of the view that he needed to quit his job at the factory to enable him to concentrate more on the shop. His heavy schedule was even affecting the amount of quality time he spent with Pat.

Dinah was happy with the way her relationship with Ashalley was developing, even though she still had her flings with Ayi and others.

She went to the hospital to visit Manza who had almost fully recovered. They chatted for a while and she left to see Ashalley.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said and kissed her on the lips.

He bought meat pie and malt for her when she complained of hunger.

“Where are you taking me to this evening?” she asked.

“I have heard of a place at Fijai. With Live Band,” he told her.

“Yeah, that place is bae. Do you have something new to show me tonight?”

“You bet I have. It would tear you apart.”

“I can’t wait to be torn apart,” she said and rubbed her palm on his crotch, eliciting an instant reaction from the way his breath quickened.

She laughed at his reaction.

“Pick me up at 8:00 pm,” and sauntered away.

“This is a bad girl,” he mused and went in search of his ‘fall on’ girl, Anita, with whom he had been having quickies almost every afternoon in the lab.

Dinah got home and received a call from Ayi who was calling to take her clubbing in the evening.

“Ohh no. My mother has asked me to go to an all-night service with her,” she said in a miserable voice. “But I can come now if you are home.”

“Come, I’m home.”

***

Pat had frowned with displeasure when she saw the food Kate had served KL with, but she kept mute. He didn’t eat the food. He just put it aside with the mind of going to give it to his assistant.

“Where are we going this evening?” she asked, drawing him to sit on her lap.

“To the shop, of course,” he said.

“I mean later tonight,” she asked, playing with his fingers.

“I will go wherever you would like to be,” he said.

“Okay. Don’t worry, I won’t make you too tired,” she said, knowing that he wasn’t the outing type.

Kate, went to the Blending Room to see him and almost walked in on them. She saw him sitting on the lap of the HR. She quickly retreated and left, trying to erase the image of what she had seen from her mind.

“Ohh God, is this one too going to slip out of my fingers?” she said quietly, her voice sad.

Pat and Kuuku were in a world of their own. They hadn’t noticed Kate’s presence. He kissed her and shooed her off after a while to continue with the afternoon’s work.

And so, that weekend which was just a month to Xmas was as if it was a dress rehearsal for the  Xmas. He took her to the New York Pub and found himself unwinding from the week’s stress. He found himself enjoying himself and knew right away that it was because he was there with the right person. They hit the dance floor, and he showed her some dance moves which got her laughing ceaselessly. That night, the band outdid itself. They played solely old tunes, much to the pleasure of the patrons. Kebabs, pork chops and drinks of various kinds were on hand.

Kate, had finally accepted her fate that Kuuku was out of reach. She went to the New York Pub which she had heard from a friend to drink her woes away. As she sat in a corner, drinking Shandy and tapping her feet to the music, she felt a hand tap her on the shoulders. She jerked out of her reverie and found herself looking into the face of a handsome fair-complexioned man.

“You are Kate right?” he asked in a rich baritone.

She nodded.

“It’s been a while. I can see that you don’t recognize me. You once saved my life with Banku and Tilapia at a friend’s wedding.”

She made him out then. It was at a cousin’s wedding and when the guests had lined up to be served, she noticed him sitting by himself in his three-piece suit, and she had asked him why he wasn’t queueing for food. He had replied that he was told that Banku and Tilapia was finished and didn’t feel like having anything else. And so she had given him the one she had packaged for herself.

He now joined her at the table as they reminisced on how he had happened to be at the wedding and of his presence there at the Pub. He ordered yam chips and liver khebab which they enjoyed with a bottle of sparkling wine. She opened up after a while and laughed at his jokes. She found him so funny.

“You don’t mean it,” she said and laughed, as he told her about how he once escaped from the tentacles of a sugar Mommy.

Kate was enjoying herself so much that she didn’t flinch when she saw Kuuku and Pat sitting at the far end of the Pub. She waved at him, encompassing Pat in it, and they waved back. Jude, her new friend,  pulled her to the dance floor and forced her to dance, having noticed the melancholy look on her face.

Ashalley and Dinah were also on the floor dancing, with Dinah gyrating and Ashalley dancing erotically with her.  She felt a hand pull her roughly away from Ashalley and she saw that it was Ayi. He slapped her heavily, causing her to fall on the floor, hard. Ashalley hit back at him and he also fell, one tooth loose. Ayi got back up and swung a blow at Ashalley who ducked and gave him another blow.

The Bouncers intervened and Ayi was led away. But he wriggled himself out of their grip, grabbed a half-full bottle of beer from a nearby table and threw it with all his might at Ashalley who ducked. It hit a pillar behind him and exploded. One of the resulting splinters hit Kate at the back of her neck, causing her to bleed profusely. Ayi was re-grabbed by the now angry bouncers who beat him mercilessly and threw him out of the place.

Jude, seeing how profusely Kate was bleeding then took her out to look for a taxi to take her to the hospital.

Kuuku and Pat were also out there and offered to take her to the hospital in their car. Jude removed his shirt and tied it firmly around her neck to stop the flow of blood as Kuuku drove them to the hospital.

As for Ashalley and Dinah, neither of them spoke as he drove her home and left, without going with her to tear her apart as he had promised.

Ayi, badly beaten with a cut above his right eyebrow went home swearing thunder and brimstone for Dinah and her lover.

Kuuku and Pat got home very late and went straight to bed, at her end.

Kate who had passed out on the way to the hospital was revived and treated but was kept at the hospital for observation.

Jude stayed by her bedside the whole night, refusing to go home even when she asked him to.

Ashalley was fuming when he got home. He knew right away that Ayi was in a relationship with Dinah, hence his attack on her, but he called his Police CID friend and told him of what had transpired before going to bed.

To be continued…

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