In the jungle outside Mitete town, as the sun was setting, beautiful rays of the same struck at the parked black peugeot, forming a beautiful rainbow on its rear glass.
A few meters away from the car, a long shadow of a muscular man was revealed.
The man stood tall and proud, towering over two men kneeling down.
The two men were bruised and injured all over and by the look on their faces, they had been brutally beaten and they were bloody all over from face down.
"Minteh, please be reasonable," pleaded one man. "Look, I didn't have any intention to harm your niece, the old man at the bungalow that you killed weeks back was at fault not us, particularly not me," he continued, coughing blood.
The man was the deputy sheriff of Mitete Police department.
"Deputy sheriff, are you trying to talk about being reasonable here? You sodomized my niece and later you tried to kill me!," Minteh snapped.
The men trembled and all hopes of leaving alive vanished.
"Do you suppose that simply because someone is beautiful and weak should be taken advantage of?," Minteh asked, grinding his teeth.
The more he ground his teeth, the more he looked fierce.
"Today I will discipline you and make sure never again will you hurt anyone!," he spoke to the men, in fury.
"Minteh, we are handcuffed, and that has given you an advantage over us. Take off these cuffs and I show you what I am made of!," said one of the men sneering. "I am not afraid of you, Minteh!," he continued.
Minteh laughed maniacally with a voice loud enough to cause the birds in the nearby trees to flee for safety.
"Interesting! You! You want to fight me, huh!? Where have you got that boldness from? Anyways, as your wish is, I will grant it to you. But know this! Whoever loses, his life stops here!," Minteh said, with a serious look mixed with rage.
"Deputy sheriff, do you also want to try your luck?," Minteh asked one of the men.
"Yes, why die like a chicken under the grip of the slaughterer?," he confirmed, in protest.
"Oh! Okay, your wish. Though I still need some information from you; give it to me and the party will begin!," Minteh reminded them.
"What do you want?," the other man, not the deputy, snapped.
"Relax! Just tell me; who sent you?, how many were you?, and why her?," Minteh asked, in an intimidatingly relaxed manner.
"Loo, look, Minteh," the deputy sheriff stammered, "you see, in the whole of the East, I think there is, sorry was, no one as beautiful as your niece and she was very focused." He posed for a moment before continuing, "the three of us, him, me and his father, the old man you killed all worked as one but I was particularly for security. No one sent us."
"Oooh! So, you are the old man's son, right? Where were you at the bungalow while I was disciplining you evil father?," Minteh asked in surprise. "No wonder you are eager to fight me! The urge to revenge mixed with a desire to cover your crimes is consuming you!," he continued, taking a step forward, to examine the man.
"Wait," Minteh stopped himself, "aren't you Chiko?," he asked.
"Why do you mind?," the snapped. "Uncuff me and I swear to the gods I will tear you apart!," he threatened, spitting and cursing.
Back at the hospital, two silver SUVs pulled over in the hospital parking lot.
Matt jumped out of one, and three gentlemen and a lady climbed out of the other.
Matt braced himself, and reached in the back seat, to retrieve a bouquet of deep red roses wrapped in a green rapping polythene. He was now dressed in a grey tuxedo and brown oxford shoes.
He led the group of four and the five entered the hospital. They were so smart that they attracted the attention of everyone in the waiting room of the hospital. They knocked at the recovery room and Vanny opened up.
"Vanny, I hope my son and his mother are well," he said to her, as she blocked their entrance. Vanny rolled her eyes before calling out, "Fatmah, your lover bird is back."
Matt chuckled slightly, and then stepped into the room.
He handed the flowers to Fatmah and carried the baby from her mom.
"My favorite roses! Thank you Daddy!," she thanked him but Matt seemed to not have heard as he was busy playing with his son.
"Matt," Fatmah called, "attend to me also!" Matt turned to her and joked, "you've had me for many years, let him have me also."
Fatmah chuckled and smiled proudly. But as she held the bouquet of roses, something seemed usual with the weight. They were a bit weightier than the usual ones he often brought her.
She reached her hand in the middle of bouquet and she touched a small box. Her heart raced with excitement, and she carefully pulled it out.
As she opened it, the four people with whom Matt came, entered the hospital.
"Congratulations Mrs. Liko," the four spoke out in unison.
She was so surprised at their voices that she nearly dropped the surprise box.
"Oh my God!," she wondered, "Matt, why didn't you tell me that you are coming with them?"
"You have a few more surprises ahead," Matt playfully said.
"Speaking of surprises, I have one in my hands. Matt what's in this box?," she asked, giggling slightly.
"It's in your hands, check it out!," he replied.
Vanny grew tense with excitement mixed with jealous. "I didn't get all this show when I bore my first born," she thought.
Fatmah opened the box and her jaw dropped when she realized what was in the box. It was a key! And not just any key, but a key for a car.
"Matt, don't tell me..."
"Sshhhhh...," Matt silenced her. That's not for you, that's for my baby Mama!," he said.
The whole room erupted in thunderous laughter.
While all this was happening, almost no body saw Matt put the baby at his mom's laps and kneeling down.
Almost out of nowhere, he presented a brand new pure diamond ring. Everyone was still for a moment, and tears started forming at the corner of Fatmah's eyes.
"Please, please, please,.." Fatmah said, trying to look for what to say.
But Matt was already there and he said, "I may not have been the best husband to you from the day we got married. I wasn't a dad but now you have made me one. I made many mistakes but you stood by my side anyways. There's nothing I can do to bring back the joy you missed because of me; but you are now a mother to my only son. That makes you the most special person in my life." And with that, he mustered all the courage and asked her, "Fatmah, will you marry me, again?"
Everyone was stunned by the way he said whatever he said; as for Fatmah, his wife, she was overcome with joy and cried tears of joy saying, "yes, yes dear. I will marry you now and even in our next life."
He took her left hand and slid the ring on her ring finger. The two kissed passionately as though they were alone in the room.
They were interrupted by the round of applause from Vanny, who started clapping, followed by others.
"Alright, having known what I wanted to know, I can now give you a chance to fight for your lives," Minteh said to two men, throwing a key to them, to loose themselves.