The price of his silence

CHAPTER ONE: The light on the hospital kept on blinking like it was tired and they needed to change it because the light is not constant. Amara Okoye noticed it the moment she entered the hospital. Blink. Pause. Blink again. She could barely hear the sound because the sound was faint, but once she heard it, she couldn't stop going where she was going she kept on moving. Somewhere down the hall, a baby cried. A nurse laughed. When it was her turn, Amara placed the folded paper on the counter. She had folded it so many times that the edges were soft, and rough, almost tearing. Hospital bill, that was all it was, Just paper. The hospital bill was much to the extent that she could not believe what her eyes saw, tears started rolling down from her eyes to the cheeks. The nurse, behind the glass, had her glasses on. She looked down at the bill. She was looking at the bill the nurse had the bill that the nurse was supposed to pay the nurse and the bill. Miss Okoye said this while reading the name of Miss Okoye slowly. Amara said yes. The nurse was using the computer. She typed something into it with her mouse. Her long nails made a noise when they hit the mouse. It sounded like this: Click. Click. Click. The nurse kept typing with the computer mouse. The sound of her nails on the computer mouse was really loud: Click. Click. Click. The computer mouse was being used by the nurse to get some work done. Amara's phone was vibrating inside her bag. It was Amara's phone that was making the noise. Amara's phone had been quiet for a while. Now it was vibrating. She did not need to check it to know what it was because she already knew it was a rent reminder again. The rent reminder was something she was very familiar with. She knew that the rent reminder was going to be about the same thing as the rent that she had to pay. The rent reminder was a thing for her and she knew that she would get a rent reminder every month reminding her to pay the rent on time. The nurse cleared her throat. "You still have a balance with the hospital" becomes The nurse cleared her throat. "You still owe the hospital money for your bill, the hospital bill is not paid in full, you still have an outstanding balance with the hospital. Amara nodded. She said "I know". Her voice came out calm, steady. People always told her she sounded confident. Strong. They didn’t know how much effort she put to look nice and strong in front of people. Amara said that she will pay half of the money today. Then she will pay the rest of the money on Friday. She wants to pay the rest of the money for the thing on Friday, which's the remaining part that she did not pay today. The nurse finally looked up at her. Her eyes looked so fierce and were not unkind, just tired. The kind of tiredness that comes from seeing the same problems every day and knowing you can’t fix them because of lack of funds or money. The nurse said to me "This is the time you are asking for a part payment." The nurse was being very gentle when she said this about the part payment, for the time. Amara swallowed. "Yes, " she said. It was really quiet everywhere for that moment, between them. The light blinked again. The nurse sighed, took a stamp, and pressed it hard on the hospital bill she was holding in her hand. The woman said "I will note it.". She also said that Friday is the last day. The nurse told her that she must not disappoint her on Friday. The nurse really meant it when she said that Friday is the day. The nurse said "do not disappoint me on Friday." Amara released a breath and she hadn’t realized she was holding and was excited that the nurse gave her a little time to pay off the debts. She said thank you fast. She said thank you very much. She felt a little better after that. Then she picked up the paper. Put it inside her bag. She turned away before the nurse could change her mind about the paper. The woman was done with the nurse and the paper so she just turned away. That was it. She had the paper. That is all that mattered to her. The woman was walking to the bathroom when her phone started vibrating. Her phone was vibrating for the time. She was heading to the bathroom and her phone vibrated again. She walked into the bathroom, locked the door and leaned against the wall. The mirror that was right in front of the woman showed her that she looked okay. She was wearing a blouse and a simple skirt. Her hair was pulled back into a bun that was not too high. The bathroom was small. It was where she wanted to be, at that moment. The woman looked at herself in the mirror. She saw a woman who looked fine, a woman who was wearing a neat blouse and a simple skirt and a woman who had her hair pulled back into a low bun. Someone responsible. This person had their life in order. They were someone who had everything together. Their life was pretty organized. They seemed to know what they were doing. This person who had everything together was really put together. Her hands were the thing to give her away. They shook a little as she put them on the sink. It was not a lot. It was enough for someone to see that something was wrong with her. Her hands shook a little bit. She looked at herself in the mirror, really taking a look at her own reflection. Her reflection stared back at her. “Don’t cry,” she said to herself. Crying took time, Time made my eyes swollen,swollen eyes led to questions,questions led to pity. The woman really disliked it when people felt sorry for her. She hated pity. It made her feel weak. She did not want that. She poured water on her face then she dried her face. After that she applied makeup on her face. She also straightened her shoulders. When the woman stepped out of the bathroom the woman looked like the woman that everyone expected the woman to be. Strong,brave,confident and calm. Across the city, on the top floor of Blackwood Industries, The conference room was large and bright, with glass walls and a long table that could contain more than twenty people. Twelve men and women sat around it now, their voices over loud as they argued about, Sales projections,Market risks, Legal concerns. People were talking. The people were talking about something. Everyone was talking at the time. The conversation was about everyone and everyone talked. A man who was really tall walked into the conference hall. The man was very tall. He entered the conference hall. Darius Blackwood was his name. He didn’t raise his voice, he didn’t interrupt them. The man just stood there. He did not. Do anything. The man simply stood. Everywhere was calm when the man showed up one thing at a time. It was calm. The man had this effect, on people the man made everything calm. Things always went down that way. It was always the same things that always happened like that. Darius put his hands on the table. I looked around the room. His face did not show anything, no anger, no impatience just Darius was very calm. Darius had a face. His calmness scared people more than shouting. The man said that the meeting is over. He actually said that the meeting is finished now the meeting is over. That was all. No one questioned him, no one argued, everywhere was quiet, they gathered their files and started leaving the conference room, chairs scraped softly against the floor. When the last person left and closed the door gently Darius breathed out slowly. He loosened his tie a little, not enough to look relaxed just enough to breathe. The city was down, below him. He could see it all through the big glass wall. This place was high up. Cars looked like toys and people looked like tiny dots from up here. The city stretched out far as he could see through the glass wall. His phone vibrates. The man looked at the screen. He was looking at the screen for a while now. The screen was showing something that the man was trying to understand. The man looked at the screen carefully. “Consulting Report — AMARA OKOYE”. He frowned his face slightly. The man did not know who that person was. He had never heard the name before. The name meant nothing to him. The man opened the file anyway. He went ahead. Open the file. The report was clean, clear, sharp,no unnecessary words, No flattery, Just facts,Problems, Solutions. Darius looked at the page. Then he scrolled down once. Then again something about it felt wrong, not bad. It was just unexpected. This feeling was like someone walking into the man's house without asking him. They left his house in better shape than it was when they got there. The man's house was still his. Something was different like someone had been in the man's house and changed things around. The man leaned back in his chair. His eyes narrowed a little. He looked really careful like he was thinking about something. The chair was his. He was sitting in it but now he leaned back. His eyes narrowed slightly. That was it. That is interesting, he said to himself. Amara walked out into the sun of the afternoon. The warm sun was shining down on Amara as she took a breath of the fresh air. It was an afternoon and Amara was happy to be outside. Amara felt the sun on her face. It made her feel alive. The sun was going down making the sky look black and blue. I heard a lot of traffic horns blowing. The city smelled bad like dust and fuel and smoke.. Then I smelled something good like roasted corn from a roadside stand that was close by. The roasted corn smell was coming from the roadside stand. The city still smelled like dust and fuel and smoke. She fixed the strap of her handbag. Then she started walking towards the bus stop. The handbag was what she was focusing on as she walked to the bus stop with her handbag. Her phone rang. She looked at her phone. Saw that someone was calling her. Her phone was ringing loudly. The sound of her phone ringing was very annoying. She did not know who was calling her phone. Unknown number. She stopped for a moment. I did not know what to do next. She was not sure about what she was going to do. The woman hesitated. Then answered. Hello, she said. Someone said "Amara Okoye" on the end of the phone. “Yes.” “This is Blackwood Industries.” Her steps slowed and fear entered immediately. “Mr. Blackwood has reviewed your report,” the voice continued. “He would like to see you tomorrow morning by the 7:00am prompt. Amara just stopped walking. She was not moving all Amara was standing still now. The woman looked at me. Said "Do you see me?" “Yes.” “About what?” she asked carefully. “There was a long pause” “Your findings.” The call came to an end.