The Surgeon and his Bossy Wife

Chapter 4: The Threat

I sat in my study with an envelope on the table. I wonder who had sent it.

Today, I had woken up with a headache, it hurt so much I thought I had hit my head somewhere.

Something had stirred me awake, or rather someone, after about two minutes of ringing the doorbell constantly, I had struggled to walk out of my room leading myself to the front door.

"I am coming,"

I signaled drawing the person's attention, I was sick from hearing the excess sounds of the bell pound my eardrums.

Opening the door, my attention was shifted to a small teen boy of about fourteen years.

"Good morning, Sir, here (handing me an envelope) this is for you," he said.

From all indications in life, I wasn't expecting to receive an envelope so I quickly asked the lad where that was coming from.

"Good morning, please, who sent the letter?" I inquired politely.

In a more aggressive and firm manner trying to intimidate me.

"I think you should hold it first, the answers you seek might be resting here, unless you want to tell me you can't read, dumbass doctor," he fired.

With everything this lad had said, I found it difficult to even reply to him, I was neither happy nor mad about his case, my temperament was just normal.

Pushing the envelope to my face, the kid escape. The first thought that flashed to my head was to call the police, then next, I decided to let it slip by, he was too miserable to do this on his own, there must surely be a pushing force behind this whole scene__ I wonder how many dollars he was been offered to speak to me in such a disrespectful way.

*

I had taken out time to first of all brush my teeth, then wash my face before entering my office where I had earlier left the white sealed envelope indicating that it has not been tampered with.

It was weird how the lad had given me the envelope before rushing off the lane. I have never seen him since I came to this vicinity, and probably he is new in town.

So many questions filled my head as I wondered what all this was about. Reconsidering myself and keeping calm, I decided to tear the seal open. Inside the envelope rested a small letter folded neatly to suit the envelope.

Letter? who will be using a letter these days, a call would have been better and time-consuming too, because in less than a minute the information will be passed across to the other end of the line.

Heaving a sigh, I decided to unfold the letter in order to see what was inside.

The handwriting in the letter was clear, captivating all the same. The writings were unfamiliar, and the words were direct.

There was no way on earth I could please who the speaker was by just staring at the handwriting. I made up my mind to read it then, maybe it will have meaning when it is been read out.

Dear criminal,

I hope this letter meets you in one piece. Killing my mom was enough deal for you, coming to her funeral will pay her no tribute because her soul will be weeping seeing you at the ceremony.

I believe by now you must have guessed who had written this letter__ you guessed right asshole__ I might as well make my point clear.

Dad will be inviting you to mom's funeral on Saturday, when he does, reject his invitation. Refusal to do so may have severe repercussions on you. Hope you wouldn't want to step on my last nerve; murderer.

Yours Hatefully,

T.D.P

"Wooow! who the hell does she think she is to threaten me in such a manner?" I yell crashing the letter to the table.

'She called me a murderer, I didn't even do anything, since when trying to be a doctor to save a life is a sin?' I wondered furiously.

I was not a hot-tempered person, but this was above judgment__ yes it was, a sad reality because if I were all the files on my table would sure have been flying on one part of the office or the other.

For crying out loud, I am guilty, I had done nothing to deserve this, at least if not for anything, I deserve some respect no matter how small it is.

Maybe the lad was sent to spy on me, now that my house has already been sited, they might come in at any time to hit me.

"What if I am even been kidnapped?" the words spilled out of my mouth before I could have the time to put my hands around it.

I got scared by just thinking about it, it might be true as well as if might be forced, what if she was not only teasing me, but she wanted me to feel threatened by her words, to be intimidated by her?

Many questions kept filling my mind, swaying from one direction to the other, it was so frustrating that I had to move out from my desk.

Heading to the door, the moment I touched the knob I heard my phone ring on the table.

Walking towards the table, immediately I sent my hand to grab it, I noticed it was a strange number.

"I wonder who this is," the words flowed out of my mouth.

Although I was a man, my heart was panicking, as I thought that maybe it was that evil girl trying to play more elementary tricks on me. Well, they could turn to pain if I do not take care.

Security is what I need from now on, I do not know when the enemy might attack nor from what direction it might be.

'I am going to install CCTV cameras at every angle of the house, the first one will be at the front door, so that anybody who approaches the house will be noticed. The second will be just fine at the corridor facing the parlor, and the rooms. Any to and fro movements will be detected.

After three buzzing sounds, the phone finally stopped ringing.

I heaved a sigh thinking that the call was over, I decided to go out of the study when my phone started ringing again.

"Whoever was responsible for this had to better stop because I wasn't feeling comfortable about this at all," I let out to myself.

Looking at the Caller ID, the number read "Private". who was going to use a private number to call me? I guess I was been played a dark game on.

Gathering the small courage I had, I decided to swipe the phone to the right answering it.

"Allo! Doctor Norman on the line," I announced giving a heed beforehand for whosoever that was calling, in case they missed a number.

The next thing I heard was, "Good, here is Mr. Tanyi on the line. I would love to invite you on Saturday morning for my wife's funeral program, I will appreciate it if you come," he said grimly.

I recognized the man's ragged voice, and immediately, his she-wolf of a daughter's words that had been written on the letter reckoned in my head, a wave of tear gripped through me as I shuddered.

There was no way I was going to accept this, after a while of being silent contemplating on how I will break the news to him.

At first, the only thought running in my head was that I should tell him the truth, but know not how to convince him, especially as the letter can be written in anybody's handwriting but in her words, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

My silence brought about suspicion as I heard Mr. Tanyi's voice penetrating the speaker, aiming to blow my mind.

"Hello, are you there Norman?" he inquired urging me to talk.

"Yes, I am here, just contemplating if I would have a chance to come there, you know, I have to deal with work and other minor details that will probably prevent me from coming," I lied.

It was an outright lie and I knew that. Punching myself hard across the chest, I pursed my lips in a thin line so that he would not know what is going on with me.

Mr. Tanyi had a calm way of having his way, he was more than determined to have me in his wife's funeral, to me, it was strange, it scared the hell out of me as I never wanted to. Well, I would have loved to accept his invitation warmly, but the envelope from a minute back was a clear indication that things are not going to be the same if I were to show up.

My wits were clear enough to warn me not to attend.

"There is no problem whether you are late or not, by the way, it is a Saturday and it is always a have day at work, I guess by noon you will be free, or will you be having extra hours at work?" he questioned reflectively.

Hmmm! this man had strategized this so well, was he working with his daughter to have me at their place? what if this was all a bad trap and the moment they have me in their den, they will feed me to the hungry dogs to eat.

My head pained me from just thinking about these things, how could I possibly give a ride to myself that will indirectly lead me to hell?

Not wanting to waste the man's time, I answered his request affirmatively. There was no way I was going to prove weak or intimidated by any wimp of a girl, no way at all.

"Okay, Mr. Tanyi, I will make out some time to come to your house and pay homage to your lady," I muttered.

Correcting my words, he said, " Not my house, Norman, it will be in the church, from there, she will be laid to rest eternally at the cemetery behind the. Church," he explained.

"No problems then, I will be there," I assured him.

The phone went down as Mr. Tanyi had dropped the call. I wonder what mess I had gotten myself into, it would have been better if I was never part of the surgical team that worked yesterday, at least, all this trouble would never have befallen me the way they are now.

Tanyi should know that I am not scared of her__ unless she is not the one responsible for this act, because if it happens that she is, she will only have to manage my presence all along the funeral.

Two captains can not sail a ship, so she should go because I have made up my mind to stay till the end of the funeral service, to hear every word every member of the family had to say about their deceased mother, what she has to say about her.

The little wimp will think that I am a weakling and her little threats will do no harm to my ego.

"Tanyi, or whatever they call you, better stay clear from me, any moves of yours will be counterbalanced with a new game of mine. Let the best player win," I shouted threateningly at the top of my voice.

Although I was alone in my house, I still spoke aloud wishing that she was here, wishing that the girl could hear me spit venom to her face.

I will attend the funeral, if she wants to collapse, then let her make haste.

The reason why I thought it wise to accept the old man's invitation was that refusal could even give the girl more grounds to say that I killed Lady Tanyi.

A threat is what I do not need in my peaceful and tranquil life. In fact, my life was already closed to perfection before this drama came through.

"I am ready for you little Tanyi," I sighed furiously.