LEGALIZED
#EPISODEONE
“Inmate twenty seven?”.
“Yes sir”.
“It is time for you to get released”.
Anthony walked out of the cell and stretched. “Thanks for having me”. He winked at the officer.
“Hail the king! Hail the king!!!”. The inmates that he had left behind cried out as Anthony walked out of prison.
During his years in prison, he had been their Joseph.
He squinted at the bright sun that he had missed for five years.
No one was waiting to receive him.
He smiled to himself and walked on.
He had not even dashed properly into the road when a careless driver almost ran over him.
He chuckled when he found out whom it was.
Clara Thompson.
He could see her conscience on her face.
Clara Thompson was his first love since ten years ago. Five years ago, he had gotten into trouble because of her and she had denied him.
It was not worth chuckling about right? Anthony laughs anytime he is bitter about anything deeply.
He was surprised that she knew the exact day of his release.
“Sorry for almost crashing you, Tony. I was so excited to see you”.
He chuckled again. Excited to see him? And for five years she never visited him for once.
“I actually built a house for you that has everything in it”.
“I am not homeless, Clara. Thanks for your care”. He walked on.
“What about a ride? Can I give you a ride please?”. He could hear pain in her voice.
But he walked on.
He did not turn to see her face.
That face that once could make him do anything.
That face that had locked him up in prison for five years.
#fromyourfastfingers
Onyekachi Ikeh.
#LEGALIZED
#EPISODETWO
“Anthony Francis is out of jail”. Clara told her mother as the elderly woman watered the flowers in their beautiful garden beside the spring.
The kettle in her hands fell to the floor immediately her daughter broke the news to her. “When?”. She remained on that spot and did not turn.
“Yesterday. I offered him the house I built for him but he did not flinch at the offer”.
She turned and walked to sit on the rocket chair facing her daughter. “Where is he going to stay?”.
“I tried tracking him down with my car but he just vanished all of a sudden”.
“He is human. He is supposed to be angry”.
Clara sighed. “What do you think will be Tony’s next move mother?”.
“Tony’s next move will be to kill your father”.
(Years before Tony was locked up in jail)
Teenaged Clara Thompson on her expensive yellow sundress walked into the road with her cat in her left hand.
She had left the house in anger after her father had locked her up in that dark room again because she was watching a movie instead of reading the book he had bought for her.
As she walked out of the estate that they were living in, fuming and murmuring to herself, a car on high speed drove to her side and picked her up.
She found herself seated and blindfolded in a place with her arms tied to her back.
She screamed but no one came to her rescue for three days.
On the third day, she heard footsteps.
The cloth on her face was taken off and she could see three hefty men and a young man in the room.
The three hefty men looked so hardened.
One of the men spat on her face. “Your father used us to become a politician. After he became a politician, he began to root for justice and since he knew about our hideout, he killed us. We are just three left. I am sorry. We don’t need a ransom. We need your life”.
She sobbed. “Please I am only eighteen. I just graduated from secondary school last year. I don’t want to die. What will happen to my dreams of being the world best known surgeon? It will go down the drain”.
They hit her head hard with a stick that was on the floor and she fainted.
Few hours later, she woke up and noticed that her hands were untied.
Standing before her was the young man that she had seen with the hefty men.
“They have gone out to drink. Let us go”.
With so much delight in her heart, she grabbed his hand and he pulled her to her feet.
He placed her on a rusted wheelbarrow and began to push because he knew that she was famished and wouldn’t be able to run.
The strong man pulled until they got to her house.
Tears filled her eyes. “Why did you help me?”.
He chuckled. “You remind me of my sister, that is why”.
“Is she still alive?”.
“Yes. She lives far away with my mum”.
“Why are you working for those wicked men?”.
“My sister needs money for her surgery. If I am not able to get money in few months, she will be completely crippled”.
“What is your name?”. She asked him.
“My name is Anthony Francis”.
To cut the long story short, he waited for Clara’s father infront of the gate and to appreciate him for saving his daughter’s life, Smith Thompson sponsored Tony’s education abroad where he studied business administration and developed his art gallery.
And then, Anthony Francis told Smith Thompson that fateful night on the launching of his art gallery that he wanted to marry Clara Thompson.
“If you say that again, I will lock you in jail”. Smith Thompson snarled.
“You can not just lock anyone. Civilization has crept”. Anthony scoffed.
“Yes. Have you forgotten that I begged you to pay a journalist to give a false report about Jordan creams and soaps after one of their workers attacked me on twitter? I still have the full proof of the report and evidence that it was fake. I will tell everyone that you did everything on your own will and that I exposed you because I have chosen justice over sentiments despite the fact that you did it for me”.
“Clara will stand as a witness to defend me. She was there when it happened”
“If Clara stands with you, her father would have to go to jail. She would not even think twice in denying you”.
Clara defended her father in court and told the judge that Anthony Francis had given the fake report about Jordon creams and soap on his own will.
