“I think she does,” I responded.
“I’m curious. Why did you avoid any mention of your grandfather or Luenah to her?”
“Oh, that? Would she have been able to handle it? I don’t think so. I’ll eventually tell her. There’s an unwritten rule in this house: no-one talks about Papa. I’m lucky that I get to see him once in a while in Luenah, otherwise, can you imagine how miserable I would have been?”
“If you had shared your experience with your grandmother, it would have helped with her healing too.”
“I disagree.”
“Well.” He shrugged. “You have to tell her at some point.”
“I will, but I can’t help thinking about Albert. I hope he recovers soon.”
“I hope so, too,” Okem said. “I feel sorry for him, but when I consider that he may have come to the Palisir hotel to kill me or even you, I feel relieved.”
“That is so true. Albert may not have been part of this conspiracy from the get-go, but he became lethal to our existence the moment he found out he was an impostor.”
I shivered. The wind had suddenly become cold.
“Let me take you inside.” Okem offered.
* * *
Soon after Okem left, I slipped under my covers and lay down for hours on end ruminating on the eventful day we had. The horror of Albert’s wound was enough to rob me of sleep for a whole month. There was no way of knowing what would happen from then on, and what would happen to Albert. Would he live or die?
Chapter Twenty
IT’D BEEN TWO weeks since Albert received that bullet wound on his neck. Two weeks since he’d been in intensive care. Two weeks since he gave me those dirty slaps that sent me running to the Palisir. Yet it seemed like yesterday. The surgical procedure to remove the bullet from his neck left him unconscious. Although he’d bruised and abused me, I prayed day and night for his recovery but swore to never live with him as man and wife. Okem was back, and he was all I ever needed. My years of dreaming and hoping were over. The kingmakers were carrying out a secret investigation into the allegations that Okem and Albert were switched at birth. It didn’t matter if Okem turned out not to be the rightful heir to the throne because nothing would make me turn my back on him. Nothing would make me ever lose sight of him again.
Our lives became chaotic from then on. When we were not at the police station, the police were swarming our space to repeat the process of interrogation over and over again. Okem and I were exhausted from the badgering, and then the fear set in. What if Albert recovered and tried to implicate us? What if he kidnapped me and forced my hand in marriage? What if he had hired assassins before his accident to kill Okem? The questions were endless, and I started to doubt myself again.
The situation made it impossible for us to make plans for our future. As Albert battled for his life, Ekema, whose influence we were sure kept us within the police radar, tormented us. She barged into Grandma’s house late one evening and demanded to see Okem. From my position in the study, I could hear them fairly well as she confronted him in the parlor.
“I will make life miserable for you,” she swore.
“Why? What did I do to deserve a miserable life?”
“What did you do? My son—my nephew is lying in the hospital because of you, and you’re acting as though you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
She had let the cat out of the bag. The moment she said my son and then corrected it to nephew, I confirmed everything Okem had told me about her. It was sad that Okem couldn’t confront her with the truth right away, but I was impressed by his extraordinary composure.
“It’s an accident, Ma.”
“Don’t call me, Ma. I’m not your Ma,” Ekema said in an exasperated tone.
“Okay, Aunty.”
“I’m not your Aunty either,” she said, raising her hand in warning. “Don’t call me that either.”
I struggled to stifle a giggle. I wondered if Okem called her aunty to see if he could elicit a bigger reaction from her. We had discussed the importance of maintaining discretion regarding everything he had told me about Ekema as it was dangerous to reveal things before the kingmakers had finished their investigation. Laying accusations without lining up all the areas of the defense against someone in her position could be dangerous. At the minimum, she could sue for libel. At worst, our lives could be jeopardized. Okem had pleaded with me to be patient. He needed a little more time to sort things out properly. I was running out of patience, though. With Ekema’s reputation, I feared that she might try again to eliminate Okem. Any hint that her actions were getting close to being exposed and that risk could go over the roof. Add the fact that her only child was stuck to a hospital bed, and we may have one evil, irrational human being on our hands.
“I can’t believe how calm you were,” I said to Okem after Ekema left. “Are you sure we shouldn’t take this issue up right now? You know she could hit again before you finalize your plan.”
“We’re on track, my dear. A little bird told me Ekema goes to the hospital every day to visit Albert, and she sleeps there most nights. She hasn’t got any time to plot. Besides, we’re not behind on our plans. The kingmakers will be communing by the end of the week.”
“I heard her threatening to lock you up. What if she succeeds before the kingmakers finish their investigation?”
“Ekema’s threats won’t hold up anywhere. You already know that. Several witnesses saw Albert banging on my hotel door that fateful afternoon. The police interviewed each of them, and their statements matched our own account. Also,
