HOUSE OF THORNS

Nick ondieki

Tricia was wondering why Vince hadn’t called to tell her what’s up with Leonard. He had called to tell her earlier that he was on his way to Leonard’s, he’d fill her in on the details later, he’d told her.

She was picking up her phone to give him a call when she saw that Valerie was giving her a duo call. She didn’t hesitate to take the call as she thought she was calling to show her what she’s done at the Spa.

But the moment the call connected, Tricia nearly jumped out of her skin as her brain interpreted what her eyes had registered. “What the hêll!” Tricia screamed.

She was still trying to ask Valarie what was going on when she noticed Mary approach her sister menacingly. “No ooooo!” she screamed as Mary hit Valerie's phone off her hand.

Tricia ran out of her office, dialing an SOS number as she moved. Before she got into her car to head towards Leonard’s house with some security men from Mcmorrit Holdings, she had already concluded arrangements for reinforcement.

How she was able to sit still why the driver navigated his way to Leonard’s house will forever be remembered. The driver knew how anxious she was to get to her destination, and even though he didn’t have the details, he had heard her talking about her sister and her man being in danger, so he stepped on it like he’d never done before.

They soon arrived at Leonard’s house and Tricia raced out of the car, running ahead of the security personnel that had come with her. The two most important people in her life were in danger after all.

When she got into the sitting room, she saw her sister squatting by Vince, who was sitting on the floor. She got in on time to see Leonard disarm Mary and fold her two arms to the back roughly.

The guys with her swung into action immediately, they didn’t need any introduction to identify the villain. They were taking a vïolent and hōstile Mary out of Leonard’s hands when the men of the State Security Services, Tricia had called earlier arrived.

Mary was duly identified as the culprit and evidences of her assãult since she stepped into the house fully retrieved from the CCTV footages. 

Mary had insisted that  there had been two culprits in the crìme upon interrogation, but the footages only showed Vivian talking civilly with Leonard, signing the divorce papers and getting into the room to get her stuffs after bringing out the drinks.

There was nothing about the way Mary moved so fast to empty a bottle into Leonard’s drink when he suddenly ran into the room, to indict Vivian. So they concluded she was just seeking whom to rope into her misfortune.

Valerie was crying as the CCTV footages showed how Leonard had tried to fight off the effect of the substance he drank. They could all see how he had tried to make a call, and how Mary had craftily kicked the phone out of his hands. Vince had to shield Tricia's eyes when they approached the part he had run out of the bedroom totally unclad. He knew how embarrasing it'd be  to let his woman take in  such sight

Tricia couldn’t resist the urge to slap her when she saw how she had hit her man. “You crãzy desperado” she screamed as she hit Mary hard across the face.

“I’m going to have to tell you to get a grip of yourself and allow us do our job ma’am” one of the State Security Services men told her, clearly unhappy at her outburst.

“I’m sorry officer” she told him, lifting her two hands in the air. “I’m just too pissed that this woman is able to do this again because I let her go the first time” Tricia complained.

“This is why we keep enlightening the public about the need to report any anomaly to the appropriate quarters. It helps nip a disãster in the bud; if you had taken the required action when you found her wanting, your sister, your fiancé and your friend wouldn’t have been in this danger they had narrowly escaped today” another security agent told her.

They asked Tricia to take them back to her office to retrieve the footages that established the case of persistent and determined plan to hurt Leonard and people around him.

Valerie was already applying ice block on the part Vince had received the hit, so Tricia agreed to quickly give the officers what they needed before she returned to Leonard’s house.

Leonard was standing beside Valerie who was looking at him like a ghōst. She didn’t know how to react or behave with him as they stood looking at each other, after Mary had been taken out by the security agents. 

She was måd at him for allowing Mary come into his house, for allowing her share a drink with him after all she’d done to him in the past.

Valerie was biting her lower lips as she stood there looking at him, but it wasn’t because he had allowed Vivian and Mary fōōl him, it was because of the realization thatshe had failed to stand by him when she should have.

When Vince found his tongue, it was to lash Leonard for being so careless. He blamed him non stop for agreeing to let Vivian into his house in the guise of coming to pick her things.

“Why didn’t you send the stuffs to her?” he queried “Why did you let her come into your house when your woman wasn’t by your side?” he continued.

“I have no excuse for my failure to keep my guards while around those evïl women, but I allowed her come get her things to enable me get her sign the divorce papers.  I didn’t expect Vivian and Mary would be working together and I didn’t know Valerie wouldn’t come after we had argued about her letting the visit to the Spa be postponed.” Leonard lamented, his eyes glistening.

“And when I saw that they came together, I sent you the message to notify you of the situation on ground. I also sent Valerie a message, asking her to come ASAP, my aim then was to let Vivian and Mary know that Valerie and I are together, to ensure none of them haboured any thought of getting on my paths again. I regret allowing myself worry about Vivian’s welfare when she screamed, but I never expected Mary to make a move on me while Vivian was there” Leonard narrated

Vince was looking at Valerie as Leonard spoke, he felt like spanking her until she knew she was no longer a baby. “For the love of me! How could you go to the spa after he had practically begged you to be by his sides when Vivian arrived? And even after you got the SOS message, you still stayed back to look beautiful? I’m sorry Valerie, but you need to grow up” he berated her

Valerie was crying, and Leonard was kneeling in front of her, asking her to forgive him. “I’m so sorry I didn’t protect myself from those women. I’m sorry that I underestimated them and let my guards down so easily. I wasn’t expecting Vivian to be that shameless. When she told me of her marriage to the guy who impregnated her here in my house, I felt so f00led that I didn’t think about the fact that I had left my drink open” Leonard was saying when Tricia walked in.

“Vivian is getting married to the  rüffian Mary got to set her up? Just how low is her EQ?” Tricia asked in shock, while walking swiftly to Vince’s sides.

“How are you my love?” she asked Vince, rubbing his neck affectionately. “My head hurts but surely not as my heart hurts to hear that Valerie had contributed as much as Leonard to the events of this night” Vince complained.

“Whatever it is Leonard, you should take a seat and let us talk about what has happened” Tricia suggested, since the one he was kneeling before was neither speaking nor acting, just sobbing and looking lost. 

Leonard reluctantly sat besides Valerie as they discussed about how the events had unfolded. Tricia kept looking at her sister angrily as she heard the details of what had transpired.

Tricia blamed Leonard for getting too comfortable around Mary and Vivian, and blamed him non stop for ever thinking of dining with the devil. “Some folks say it’s important you use a long spoon when you dine with the devil, but Leonard, I’d rather not dine with him! All these wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t gone ahead to celebrate whatever it is you thought you were celebrating. I applaud you though for reaching out and keeping in touch, for things would have really been irredeemable of you didn’t get reinforcement”  Tricia told a very sober Leonard.

“And for you Val, I really don’t know if you're ready for a relationship. I’ll talk to you when you get home. I need to get the doctor take a look at Vince and confirm that he’s okay” Tricia told her sister as she led vice out of the apartment.

Vince had a lot to say, but his head was aching terribly. He couldn’t agree less with Tricia about seeing a doctor, so he willingly followed her out, leaving Valerie and Leonard to decide what they wanted to do with their relationship.

“I’m sorry Leo, but like my sister said, I need time to really evaluate my readiness for a relationship. I need to be sure of what I want and how I want it” Valerie told a dumbstruck Leonard after they had sat looking at each quietly other for a very long while. 

Leonard could neither talk nor react. He just sat there, looking at her and weeping like a  baby. "Goodbye Leonard" Valerie said and made to walk out. "For what it's worth, I should bid you farewell properly then" he told her, shocking her greatly. She paused in her tracks, turn d around and found him already besides her 

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