Chapter 7

D and J went and got her out of the torture chambers and brought her to King. She didn't resist one bit this time around, she had already done a lot of thinking on how that would worsen her situation. Getting out was her priority and she had soon realized that respect was the key. As she stood before King, they wanted to make her kneel, but he stopped them. She looks at King and King looks back at her.

"I want to apologise for throwing you in there. But you could have stopped all that, if you just told me what you were doing on my property" King said and Leah looked at him in shock.

"surprised I speak English, good English?" King asked. She shook her head in a no, she was avoiding speaking, maybe that will put in a good word for her she thought. "please, you can speak" King said, permitting her to speak.

"no… I mean yes" Leah said and instantly, she mentally slapped herself. "that's not what you are supposed to be saying? What's wrong with you" she said to herself.

"I like honest people, I do" King said as his cook entered into the living room with a tray of food"

"Oga?" she called, drawing his attention to her.

"oh, e dupe (thanks)" King said as she dropped the food and left. King continued speaking as he went to the table.

"as I was saying, I like honest people, so I'm going to tell you something now. And when I tell you that thing, you will explain to me why you were running last night. I'm not going to hurt you, we will just be exchanging truths" he and looked at her for a response).

"okay" Leah answered.

"good. Now, I'm not in the habit of harming women. But I don't like the way you spoke to my boys yesterday, so I decided to knock some sense into you. That's the truth. Now, your turn" King said in between the meal he was eating.

"look. I'm sorry for the way I spoke. I was scared and terrified after what happened…

"after your car broke down?" King said but it sounded more like a question. That made Leah to remember that they were not the men chasing her and since she didn't know if they were associated with those men or not, she decided to keep the main story to herself.

"yes, after that. So I had to run. The place was dark and I was scared. And then I was being chased by some men, so that's why and how, I ended up on your property Leah said and waited for an answer from King as he was eating. She was already getting a bit tensed, all she could do was hope that he would believe her and let her go, the only thing on her mind at the moment was getting out of here and finding her way back home. He finished the food in his mouth before he spoke.

"I believe you" King said. She sighed and smiled.

"partially" King added, making her smile fade. "but non the less, you will not be going back to that place you slept last night. You will be staying here in the meantime, till I figure out which is the truth among the lies" King said, his word sounding final. The look on Leah's face changed to a sour one.

"you can't keep me here? that's not fair" Leah said.

"who said anything about being fair. We don't know who is chasing you and I can't have you going around so the person can know that you are still in this town and then comes to my home to try and throw a gun fight. You are free to walk around, eat what you want, but only within these walls" King said to her he stood up.

"you can't just decide for me. Don't I have a say?" Leah asked, not believing what was unfolding before her, after all the effort she had put in.

"my say is your say" King said.

"who are you?" she asked sounding irritated and her anger was slowly, but surely building up.

"I, am King. Don't test me" he said, with his tone carrying every note of finality in it, even more than the first time. he stared at her just for a few seconds, to be sure that his words had sunk before he turned around and left with T following him. D called the maids to attend to Leah. She stared at the direction King had headed out, and her anger kept building up. After all the effort she had put in, she still ended up like this, she thought to herself. She huffed after her thought passed her head. she looked around and for the first time did she notice that king's place was really a nice place. It has fine furniture and he had quite an amount of staff. All this was too much for an area boy, she thought. Maybe he was into blood money. The thought of that made her gasp and mentally attacking herself for just having admired his house. She had to get out, she needed to get out. Before she would become the next 1000 naira note he gives to one of his side chicks. Why that thought crossed her mind, she could not fathom, but it sounded like something Simi would say, so she said it.

She leaned back and was ready to spiral down her road of thoughts on her escape plan, but was interrupted when one of King's maids came up to her and asked her what she wanted. She was about to decline then she paused and thought about it for a second. She was not committing any crime by taking a generous offer made to her to treat herself, besides it was an offer, not a request. So she decided to indulge herself, the least she could do was get a good treatment before she ran. She began with telling the maids to get her food, she was hungry and again she still thought, "I'm not doing anything wrong". Simi would do the same, she thought, just to further affirm that she was on the right.