Complications: Abel in Shock as Alice Kills Father in Lagos

12 Dec Complications: Abel in Shock as Alice Kills Father in Lagos

Abel met Alice at the Murtala Muhammed airport shortly after seven at night. He saw immediately that the scared, frightened, and abused child he left at the medical clinic in Canada had been replaced by a confident young woman.

Abel had always perceived Alice as a beautiful girl, but what he saw before him now was altogether different. Alice radiated a healthy glow. Her skin had a rich, natural hue, and her eyes, which had once been vacant and disconnected, were now full of emotion and life. Even her manner of walking was different. Instead of a shameful hunch, she now carried herself with a genuine sense of dignity and pride.

“Welcome home, Alice”, Abel said softly. He extended his arms and she fell into his warm embrace. “It must seem like years since you’ve been home.”

Alice apparently was not ready to reminisce about her homecoming. She had more pressing things on her mind.

“Please take me to see my mother, Mr. Abel”, she said.

“I’m afraid we can’t see her tonight”, he said. “Visiting hours end about now. If it were an emergency, I’m sure I could get one of the security staff to let us in, but there is no urgency. Your mother is not in immediate danger. The doctors are administering analgesics to relieve her pain. She is probably sleeping quite comfortably.”

“That’s good to hear”, Alice responded. “I don’t want her to endure any more pain. She has been living with it for far too long.”

Abel understood that Alice was speaking of pain that extended beyond Mrs. Udor’s physical condition. He felt certain the medication Mrs. Udor was receiving wasn’t powerful enough to relieve her emotional agony.

“I will take you to her ward first thing in the morning”, Abel said, smiling at Alice. “I’m sure her spirits will rise at the mere sight of you.”

“Thank you. I can’t wait to see her again. I’ve spoken to her on the telephone from Canada, of course, but it seems like forever since we’ve actually been together.”

Abel led Alice through the maze of travellers out to the parking lot.

“You’ve had a long day”, he said. “I’m sure you’re ready to get comfortable in a nice warm bed.”

“That sounds so wonderful”, Alice said.

“I’ve had Ikomma make up the guest room bed for you. I thought it would bring our story full circle”, Abel said, recalling the night he met Alice.

“That’s very kind”, Alice said, “but there is a room waiting for me at the Congrieve Hotel.”

The hotel was located just two blocks from the hospital, which would certainly make it convenient for Alice. It also was the preferred lodging place of visiting dignitaries and affluent businessmen. Some of them were the same kind of people who commissioned the services young girls run by the syndicate. Abel immediately became suspicious.

“Did The Zodiac set that up for you?” he said. “No one at the newspaper mentioned that to me.”

“Oh, no”, Alice said. “This was arranged by the people from Youth Justice International. My counsellor at the clinic called Edmonton, and they contacted the branch in Accra, which made this arrangement. They wanted to find me a place as close to the hospital as possible.”

Relieved, although still somewhat apprehensive, Abel pulled his car into traffic and headed in the direction of the Congrieve Hotel. A voice in the back of his head told him he should book a room for himself just to keep an eye on Alice. But after a glance at the young woman sitting in the passenger seat, he immediately changed his mind. This was a much stronger Alice than he had chased across the globe. He could tell by her demeanour she would sooner die than go back to that horrific life. She had become her own saviour.

Abel escorted Alice through the lobby. The clerk at the front desk checked her in and provided her with a room key.

Alice turned to Abel. “I’ll be fine if you want to go home and get some sleep. The bellman can bring my suitcase up for me.”

“I’d like to see you up to your room, if you don’t mind”, he said.

Alice laughed. “Maybe ‘father’ isn’t the right term for you. More like Mother Hen.” Abel laughed at her description and couldn’t deny it was accurate.

“I appreciate all you’ve done for me, Mr. Abel”, she said, “but I’d really like to go to bed now.”

Abel nodded, slightly embarrassed.

“Of course”, he said. “I’ll allow you some privacy. Come down to the lobby at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. I’ll meet you there and then we can go over and visit your mother.”

******************************

At eight o’clock sharp, Peter Abel arrived at the Congrieve Hotel. He was very pleased to find Alice sitting on a sofa waiting for him. She wore a pale blue blouse and a mid-length skirt. It was very stylish and age-appropriate, not all like the blatantly sexual apparel the syndicate made her wear. Abel knew that after everything Alice had suffered, it was impossible for her to return to a state of innocence, but he was grateful to see her embracing her youth.

“Have you had breakfast this morning?” Abel said.

“Yes”, Alice told him. “The hotel sent a tray up to my room. Can we go to the hospital now?”

Abel nodded and escorted her out to his car.

********************************

Mrs. Udor was resting comfortably. She tried to sit up as Alice and Abel entered her room.

“Oh, mum!” Alice said, her voice unsteady. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too, baby”, Mrs. Udor replied in a tired whisper. “I’m so glad to see you.”

Her eyes scanned her daughter’s body from head to toe. “Oh, my dear!” she gasped. “You look wonderful! You have no idea what a beautiful sight you are to my sore eyes and sore body.”

Abel stood back, happy to witness the reunion. He was touched by the pride in Mary’s eyes as she gazed at her daughter. Alice leaned over and kissed her mother’s cheek. She worked hard not to let her emotions get the better of her. Abel could tell she wanted to cry, but she was determined to hold back her tears and not frighten or worry her mother.

As mother and daughter visited, Mary fought to stay awake. The heavy medication made it difficult for her to keep focused for long periods. When Mary’s energy did flag, Alice patiently pulled a stool up to the side of the bed and gently held her mother’s hand. Abel found the gesture touching and thought Alice certainly had the right temperament for nursing.

“I’m sure you have quite a bit of work to do, Mr. Abel”, Alice finally said. “Please don’t feel you have to stay here all day. I just want to spend time with my mum. You can leave, and I will walk or call a taxi when I need to go back to the hotel.”

“No, please. Allow me to give you a ride back. Just call my cell phone”, Abel said as he handed her his business card.

Alice thanked him, and Abel bid his goodbyes.

************************************

Alice called him at about four o’clock in the afternoon to come and pick her up. As they left the hospital parking lot, Alice seemed distant and distracted.

“Is everything all right?” Abel said.

Alice looked at him from behind a pair of dark glasses she had purchased in the hospital gift shop.

“My mother has aged so much since I last saw her. Losing me, my father divorcing her, and leaving her in poverty have taken a heavy toll. Thank God my siblings were there to keep her company.”

“Yes, it has”, Abel said. He had hoped Alice wouldn’t notice the drastic change in Mary, but of course how could she not?

“I want to see my father.”

Abel turned to her, shocked.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Alice. What could come of it?”

“I want him to see that I’ve survived. I want him to know he didn’t destroy me.”

Something in Abel’s gut told him to fight this idea. Maybe it was Alice’s tone, or the fact that she kept her dark glasses on, hiding her eyes. Abel couldn’t tell what was really going on inside her head. He tried to stall.

“I don’t really know where he lives …”

“Yes, you do. Or you can find out. Your paper will know.” When Abel didn’t answer her, Alice turned and looked at him, dark glasses still in place.

“If you don’t take me, I’ll go on my own.”

Abel knew he had no choice. Letting her go on her own was out of the question. So he called the paper, got an address and drove Alice to her father’s new home. It was a new apartment block in Apapa, an affluent part of town. As they pulled up in front, Alice studied it.

“This is it?”

Abel nodded. He could sense something in Alice harden.

“And my mother still lives in our old place? That dump?”

“Yes.”

Alice got out of the car. Abel moved beside her as they walked up the steps to the front entrance and checked the mail boxes for Winston Udor’s name. He lived on the top floor, 4-A.

“Are you sure you want to see him, Alice?”

“Yes”, was all she said.

A few minutes later, the door to 4-A swung open and there stood Winston Udor, looking much more prosperous than he had the first time Abel met him. His baldhead was still prominent, but he was dressed in a silk shirt and shiny black pants. He gazed out at them puzzled.

“Yes?”

“You don’t recognize your own child?” Alice said, removing her dark glasses for the first time.

Udor registered shock, his eyes going wider, his back stiffening involuntarily. He smiled then, but not spontaneously. What he truly felt was anyone’s guess, but Abel figured it was fear.

“This is Peter Abel. A friend.”

“Yes, we’ve met.” So, Udor remembered him after all.

“Aren’t you going to invite us in?”

Udor nodded, finally. “Of course. I’m happy to see you.”

He tried to hug Alice, but she backed away. “Don’t touch me.”

Udor, obeyed and held open the door. After Abel and Alice entered, she looked around taking in the surroundings.

“You’ve grown into a lovely woman, Alice.”

Alice turned on him, her anger simmering. “No thanks to you.”

“Can we put the past behind us, please? We both made our share of mistakes.”

Alice gaped. Abel couldn’t believe Udor could be so callous and, apparently, neither could Alice.

“Mistakes? Selling your daughter into slavery is not a mistake.”

“You were already selling yourself, Alice. Let’s not forget that you started that of your own free will. You became a prostitute long before I arranged for you to go overseas. It was for your own good. So you could have a better life. The girls here who sell themselves all die young. Look at you! Look how you’ve thrived. It is thanks to me that you are what you are today!”

The audacity of the man was truly breath-taking, Abel thought. He had the strongest impulse to smash his face in with his fists, but he held his temper.

“Mr. Udor. She’s only alive today because she got out of the life you sold her into.”

Udor turned on Abel, regarding him cynically. “And I suppose you didn’t take advantage of this girl yourself? Don’t tell me you haven’t taken your pleasure with her, Sir.”

“He has never laid a hand on me!” Alice shouted at her father. “He saved me. Got me off drugs. Got me back into school. I owe him my life.”

“And I’m sure you’ll show the proper appreciation.” Udor smirked. He was incapable of thinking in any other terms. In his universe, men took sexual advantage of women or girls. Nothing could convince him that anyone acted differently. Abel decided not to try. He wasn’t worth the effort, frankly.

They were interrupted by a woman’s voice. They turned as a pretty young woman entered. She looked as if she’d been sleeping.

“I heard voices, honey. Who is it?”

“This is my daughter, Alice and her ‘friend,’ Mr. Abel.”

Alice turned to the woman. “You are his new wife?”

She nodded, somewhat taken aback. “Yes. I am Emily, and I’m pleased to meet you. I was hoping to be friends with Winston’s children.”

Suddenly, a baby’s cry came from the other room. Emily turned.

“Oh, dear. The baby’s awake”, she said and hurried from the room.

Alice looked stunned. She turned to her father. “Baby? What baby?”

“Our baby. Emily’s and mine.”

Alice looked as if she was going to be physically ill. Emily re-entered, a small baby in her arms. “Meet your half-sister. Becca.”

“Sister?” Alice was clearly alarmed. Abel watched as she approached the innocent child lying peacefully in her mother’s arms. “My god”, was all Alice said before turning and leaving the apartment. Emily looked after her, then spoke to Abel.

“Her father told me about Alice’s drug issues. I can see she’s a disturbed young lady. But I want her to know I’m here if she ever wants help. We are all family.”

Abel had no idea what to say to this woman whose future he could so easily predict. But it was the future of the child in her arms Abel was most concerned about. And he knew Alice was thinking the same thing. Abel nodded to Emily.

“If you want to know more about Alice”, he said, “read the series on her in The Zodiac. It will begin next week.”

Once back in the car, Abel watched Alice, whose breathing was short as she tried to regain control of herself.

“Alice, try to relax.”

“It all came back to me, just seeing him. All the feelings of disgust and fear and humiliation. Then to see that baby, that poor little thing so helpless in the same house with him.”

“I know. And as time goes by you might be able to help the child. For now, there’s nothing to be done.”

When Alice looked at Abel, her eyes were different. Something of the hardness which was once there had returned, and the joy he’d seen earlier in the day was gone.

“Perhaps you were right, Mr. Abel. I shouldn’t have seen him.”

Alice agreed that she would focus on her mother, devote her time to Mary and try to put her father out of her mind. At least for the time being.

For the next three days, Abel met Alice at the Congrieve Hotel and brought her over to the hospital to visit her mother. Then Abel drove to the offices of The Zodiac, where he spent many hours putting the final touches on his series. The storm which had gathered that first day after visiting Alice’s father seemed to have passed. Abel had feared the experience might send Alice back to drugs, if not sexual slavery. Once an addict, the temptation to retreat into a drug-induced haze to obliterate pain was hard to resist. Much to Abel’s relief, Alice seemed to harbour no such impulses. Another hurdle had been overcome.

On the fourth day, early in the evening, Abel sat at his desk agonizing over the third instalment when Taylor, the crime editor, burst through the office door.

“Mr. Abel!” Taylor exclaimed. “The boss said to come get you. You won’t believe what has happened!”

Abel instinctively jumped out of his chair. “What’s going on, Taylor?”

Taylor drew in a deep breath and tried to regain his composure. “Mr. Winston Udor, the one who appears in your article? He has been murdered.”

“Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy”, Abel blurted out before he realised he needed to attend to the gravity of the situation.

He wasn’t shocked by the news. As the saying went, “People who dance too close to the fire are destined to get burned.” Udor was a depraved and contemptible man who made himself wealthy by doing business with other depraved and contemptible men. None of these criminals had any loyalty to anyone or anything other than their own interests.

“Do they have any suspects?” Abel said. He was thinking of interviewing whoever it was for his series.

“Yes.” Taylor said. “Mr. Udor’s daughter.”

Abel wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly, at first. Then the news hit him.

“Alice!” he said. “Are you sure?”

Taylor nodded. “She’s being held in the police station in Apapa.”

Without another word, Abel pushed his way past Taylor and dashed out through the office door.