CHAPTER 32

Shulamite gave one of the models

that she has been chatting with

all evening her car to take home

because she wanted to tag along

with a guy she had just met. They

all went to the parking lot, entered

their different cars, and drove off.

The model who drove Shulamite's

car was listening to loud music

and singing along with it when

suddenly she saw a truck coming

towards her. The truck was passing

the wrong road and coming towards

her. She tried avoiding the truck

by all means but it was like the

truck was bent on crushing her as

it came and collided with the car.

The car fell off the bridge and

bounced down as it rolled along the

rocky hills below the bridge.

Shulammite was asleep after

pleasing the guy she went home

with almost all night. She woke up

to the sound of her phone ringing

and was very angry at whoever

called her at that time of the

morning. She picked up the phone

and spoke into it with a very grumpy

voice and she said, "whatever it is

that you want to say to me, can't it

wait till later in the day?" She came

fully awake when the voice on the

other side said it's the police and

was asking if she knows one miss Lima.

Shulamite ran to the police station

and was terribly shaken when it

occurred to her that she would

have been the one in Lima's

position right now if she had been

the one driving her car. She was

taken to the morgue to identify the

body and she couldn't even stay

there for two minutes before she

ran out crying and scared. Lima was

 unrecognizable and some of her

limbs were detached. When

Shulamite saw her car, it was also

unrecognizable.

She was seated at the police

station answering questions. The

police asked her if she has anyone

in mind who she thinks might want

to cause her harm. She cried and

told them that the only person

she knows that might want to

cause her harm, is Ima. She told

them she and Ima had a very rough

fight over a month ago because

she slept with Ima's fiance and

Ima has told her that she will not

rest until she gets back at her.

For the first time in Shulamite's

life, she was very scared. She kept

picturing herself inside her car the

previous night and wondering if

this is how the world would have

woken up to the news of her horrible

death. She picked up her phone

and called her manager as she

told her manager that she will like

them to have a meeting this afternoon.

By the evening of the same day, the

news of Shulamite retiring from

the modeling industry hit the internet.

She was so scared for her life that

she decided to leave the industry

before it takes her life. Shulamite

is greedy, she likes quarrels and

small fights but she will never go

to the length of taking a person's

life and now that an attempt has

been made on her life, she has

decided that it is time to quit this

deceitful industry.

Ima was in her room trashing

everywhere after she discovered

that the hitman that she hired to

kill Shulamite, made a mistake and

killed another model. She thought

about calling the hitman but

unfortunately, she does not have

his contact number and the person

who connected her to him told her

on the day they had their meeting

that she should never call this

number again because even if

she does, it will not exist anymore

by the time she leaves there. Despite

remembering the warning, she still

decided to call and demand that

the hitman carries out his job or

refund her money. She called the

number and she was given an

automatic reply that the number

that she has dialed does not exist.

Ima's mother was standing outside

her door and begging her daughter

to open the door for her to come in

because it was obvious that her

daughter has gone back to her

psychotic ways. She was outside

imagining who or what could have

upset Ima to the point of making

her go crazy like this again. Since

the last time she had a relapse after

Doja broke up with her and the

doctor advised them to take her to

a psychiatrist, she has not had

anything like this. She became better,

went back to modeling, and has

been taking her medication religiously.

Shulamite called her mother and

apologized to her for leaving home.

She was crying while begging her

mother that she would like to come

back home and start a new life

again because she is done with the

modeling world. Her mother felt

pity listening to her daughter cry

and beg her like that because the

Shulamite that she knows, is always

too proud to beg her for anything.

Hearing her beg like this time, made

her mother realize that something

has happened to her daughter. "Hey

dear, we never chased you away

from the house. You were the one

who packed up your bags and left

after telling us that you will never

come back to this house or

associate with us again because

we do not want you to live your

dreams. We are your parents and

you are free to come back home

anytime you want to. I saw the

news and I know that you are

shaken about what happened.

Your father and I were also scared

as we kept imagining what would

have happened to us if you were

the one driving that car. When you

come back home, we are not going

to ask you about anything that has

happened because we want to leave

the past behind. I want you to have

a fresh start and be responsible for

yourself because you owe that to

only you and no one else. Please do

not leave me waiting because I can't

wait to see my daughter again. I love

you." Shulamite sat on the chair and

cried more as she kept having a

flashback of Lima's body in the

morgue and her dilapidated car.

Her fans felt very bad after hearing

that their goddess is retiring from

modeling. They couldn't understand

why she had to do that especially

now that her career is on the rise.

The police only released a report that

Lima died in an accident and they

are still investigating if it really an

accident or a premeditated murder.

Shulamite did not need any profits

to tell her that that was murder and

it was meant for her but unfortunately

Lima was the one in her car at that

time. Within her, she feels responsible

for Lima's death because if she

had not given Lima her car the young

model would have still been alive.

Ima's mother was alarmed when the

police came to their house asking

for her daughter. They told her that

they would like her to follow them

to their station for questioning as

they are investigating the death of

miss Lima who died in a car accident

last night, in a car belonging to

Shulamite who told the police that

she and your daughter had a fight

over a month ago and your daughter

threatened her life.

Immediately Ima's mum heard what

the police said, she instantly knew

that her daughter was involved in

that model's accident but which

parent will expose their child for

something that they have done

which could ruin the child's life?

She looked at them and said, "my

daughter cannot come with you

now because she is sick and

currently receiving treatment." The

police officers looked at the woman

and said that they would like to see

her daughter to confirm that she is

truly sick else by the time they return,

they will return with an arrest warrant.

She cried as she tried explaining to

them that her daughter is suffering

from a mental disorder and not in

her right frame of mind right now to

speak to anybody.

Despite her explanations, the police

still wanted to confirm her story by

seeing Ima. She took them upstairs

and as they were climbing up the

stairs,  they could hear a man's voice

shouting and trashing up the whole

place. They looked at each other and

nodded at the woman before taking

their leave.

When the police officers got back to

the police station, they started to

analyze what they saw at Ima's house

and they came to a conclusion that

Ima is a suspect in this case as all

their investigations have proved that

Lima was not just involved in a

hit-and-run accident, she was

murdered. But more investigation

is still needed because the case

might be more complicated than it

appears. They also paid a visit to

Doja for questioning.

Immediately the police officers left

the house, Ima's mother quickly

called her husband on the phone

and explained to him what was

happening. She was in tears and

her hands were trembling while she

was talking to a husband. "You have

to come back home now. It's very

urgent because I think our daughter

has killed someone. She woke up

this morning and started thrashing

everywhere in her room and shouting

bitch why did you refuse to die? We

tried getting her to open the door

but as usual,  she refused to open

the door and was only screaming."

Ima's father got angry over the

phone after hearing what his wife

has just said as he shouted at her

"is that the reason you should assume

that our daughter has killed someone?

She is only suffering from a mental

breakdown but she is not a killer.

You had better not let people hear

you say that." For the hundredth time,

she felt like slapping her husband

for interrupting her while trying to

explain something to him and she

said "you should have waited to hear

what I was trying to say. The police

came by today and wanted to invite

our daughter for questioning for the

death of a model which happened last

night. Do you know why they came to

invite her for questioning? It is because

the model who died was driving in

Shulamite's car. Do you remember

the girl Shulamite? The one whom

our daughter caught with Doja and

they had a fight which landed them

in the hospital. The girl is so shaken

that she has retired from the modeling

industry today and she mentioned

our daughter as the only person whom

she has problems with and has

threatened her life." Her husband

sighed and was just frustrated about

the kind of child that they have. "What

kind of troublesome child did the

heavens give to me? Were the police

able to take her away?" She trembled

a little before speaking into the phone

"I told them that she was sick and

could not follow them to the police

station, but they insisted on seeing her

so I had no choice but to take them

upstairs but they couldn't get in. They

only heard her voice shouting and

trashing the whole place." Her

husband was so pissed when he

heard what she said and shouted at

her through the phone "are you stupid

on purpose or you are just naturally

stupid? Why should you allow the

police to see our daughter that way?

Don't you know that she has now

become a prime suspect? If I am

not at home, there is nothing that

you can ever do perfectly in your life.

Sometimes, I wonder why I disobeyed

my mother to marry you when she

was warning me that you have no

sense and I shouldn't marry a

woman without sense because she

wouldn't be able to handle the

house affairs.

Ima's mum sat and was crying as

she has just been insulted again by

her husband because of their unruly

daughter who is just a few steps

from jail. She was upset that her

husband did not even let her finish

talking before he disconnected the

call and she knows that the moment

he steps his feet into this house, he

will come at her again with more

insults and stories of how his mother

told him not to marry her. She got so

angry that she went and began to

bang on the door but her daughter

still refused to open the door.

She went downstairs and told one

of the maids to call someone for her

and when the person came, she told

him to pull down the door. She has

pampered her daughter to the point

where her daughter has almost

become useless and she wouldn't

allow that to continue as her

daughter needs to be taught a

lesson today.

Ima was catching her breath after

destroying almost everything in her

room when she noticed that her

door was being brought down. She

shouted from within "Mum, if you

open that door I swear that I will

kill myself." Her mother laughed

hysterically from outside the door

and said "you coward, I will like to

watch you kill yourself. Why don't

you go ahead and do that before this

door is being broken down because

if you wouldn't do it I swear that I will

kill you myself. I thought I was doing

you good by pampering you and

treating you like a queen but now, all

I've ever received from the good

treatment that I have given you right

from childhood is insult from your

father and mockery from the public

on how you behave." 

 The door was finally broken down

and Ima's mother rushed into where

her daughter was standing and began

to slap her left and right. She descended

on her daughter with blows and slaps.

She beat Ima black and blue and

continued beating her until Ima could

no longer shout. She looked at her

daughter on the floor and said "I

tried my best to raise a respectable

young lady, not a killer who will spend

the rest of her life in jail. Before I start

grieving your departure to jail, I will

make sure I beat the hell out of you.

Instead of raising a queen who is

very confident in herself, I ended up

raising a spineless eel." She kicked

Ima one last time before stepping

out of the room and while she was

at the door, she turned around and

said "you had better clean up your

room before I come back else I will

treat you like a slave. I don't want to

hear you calling out to my maids to

come and clean your room because

the person who knows how to trash,

should also know how to clean. Do

you think that I will let you misbehave

because the doctors said that you

are having a mental breakdown?

You had better wake up because

your mother is now mad and she is

ready to teach you how to be a

proper lady since you have refused

to learn the easy way.