CHAPTER NINE: MEETING LADY HEW
1353 Words
The hospital room smelled like old bleach and something more personal—desperation, perhaps. Ron lay on the thin mattress, his body half-tilted on the pillows while the IV drip kept up its slow, rhythmic plop into his veins. Outside the window, a crooked mango tree danced in the wind, its branches half-naked like it too had been stripped down by life.
Mami sat in the corner, dabbing her eyes with a balled-up tissue while muttering prayers in a loop.
Jerry sat on a stool beside the bed, chewing loudly on the tail end of a chin-chin he’d snuck in from the hospital canteen. His legs dangled, and his eyes darted between Ron and the door like he was waiting for something exciting to happen.
It was only Minos who looked completely out of place, seated by the door like a sentry. The half-zombie's huge arms were folded, his pale face etched with frustration. He didn’t like hospitals. He didn’t like people poking at Ron like he was a lab experiment. But most of all, he hated being helpless.
“Let Ron die,” Minos growled quietly, “and I will come back here and burn this entire place down with my breath.”
Mami sniffled louder and gave him a glare through puffy eyes. “Minos! Don’t talk like that.”
“You think I’m playing?” Minos stood and cracked his knuckles. “Let them inject one wrong thing in that boy. Just one drop—”
“Relax,” Ron croaked, his voice dry. “I’m not dying today.”
“I didn’t carry you through zombie-infested swamps, abandon my cave, and eat grasshoppers on the way here for you to die of stomach cramps,” Minos added. “You better survive this nonsense.”
The door creaked open. A tall, confident woman stepped in. She wore a burgundy jacket that screamed wealth and power, and her heels clicked like they had authority. She was beautiful in a sharp, expensive way—like someone who could slap you with a lawyer and not even blink. Her hair was pulled into a neat coil, her lips were crimson, and her eyes glinted with something unreadable.
“Is this Room 3A?” she asked coolly, eyes scanning everyone.
“Yes, what are you looking for?” Mami asked, her voice still damp with emotion.
“I’m looking for Ron,” she replied, ignoring Mami and stepping forward. “Ron...Emeka, right?”
Ron blinked. “That’s me.”
She studied him a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly. Then her lips curved into something that could’ve been a smile, or maybe a smirk.
“You don’t look like the type to say no to my sister.”
Ron’s stomach dropped. “Wait—your sister?”
“Yes,” she said, pulling a sleek business card from her purse and sliding it into Ron’s palm like a loaded gun. “Lady Hew. Wyonne’s senior sister. Eldest daughter of Magistrate Dawuda Hew.”
Jerry choked on his chin-chin and coughed violently.
Minos stood abruptly, causing the IV stand to rattle. “Magistrate Hew? That corrupt broomstick?”
Mami gasped. “Minos!”
Lady Hew’s smile sharpened. “You must be the half-zombie I heard about. Charming.”
“You’re lucky I’m not hungry,” Minos replied flatly. “Or you’d be half a shoulder short by now.”
Ron coughed, waving his hand. “Wait, wait, wait—can everyone chill? Lady Hew, what do you mean ‘say no’? Say no to what?”
She tilted her head. “You refused Wyonne, didn’t you? My baby sister. The one every boy in this city is tripping over themselves for. She said she offered you a seat beside her at the governor’s daughter’s birthday. You turned her down flat.”
Ron shifted awkwardly on the bed. “She’s…nice, but I’m not—”
“Interested,” Lady Hew finished with ice in her voice. “Yes, we heard. You weren’t interested in the limousine, the private island, or the entire future we offered you on a silver platter.”
Jerry, still recovering from his cough, whispered to Mami, “We could’ve had a private island?”
Mami elbowed him hard.
Minos snorted. “Your sister’s money can’t cure zombie bites or bring the world back from collapse. Let the boy pick who he wants.”
Lady Hew raised a brow. “Oh, and you think you’re his guide in life? A zombie with opinions?”
“I’m half-zombie,” Minos corrected. “And I’ve killed things bigger than your political family’s ego. If you’re here to threaten him—”
“I’m not,” she interrupted, tone flat but firm. “I’m here to understand. I thought anyone who’d say no to Wyonne must either be extremely brave…or deeply foolish.”
“I’m neither,” Ron said finally, sitting up straighter. “I just don’t like being treated like a prize horse. Your sister’s attention is suffocating. She shows up everywhere I go. She tried to name a perfume after me. That’s not attraction—that’s obsession.”
Lady Hew chuckled, caught off guard. “She did what?”
“She called it Eau de Ron. Had a billboard made.”
Jerry laughed so hard he fell off the stool. Mami slapped her forehead in dismay. Minos looked confused. “What’s a billboard?”
“Never mind,” Ron muttered.
Lady Hew stepped closer, this time pulling up a chair. “All jokes aside, she’s devastated. You rejecting her caused a storm in our household. Father is furious. He says you embarrassed the family.”
Ron raised an eyebrow. “How does turning down a date become an insult to your bloodline?”
“In high society,” Lady Hew said calmly, “everything is politics. Wyonne isn’t used to hearing ‘no.’ Especially not from a boy whose family still fetches water from a shared pump.”
Mami flushed with embarrassment. “Excuse me?”
Lady Hew turned, realizing her mistake. “No offense meant, madam.”
“Well, offense taken,” Mami replied sharply.
“I’m not looking to climb any ladder,” Ron said, folding his arms. “The world is falling apart. Zombies are climbing through bedroom windows, half of the city’s gone. We barely made it here, and you’re talking about birthday parties and perfume?”
For a moment, silence hung thick in the room.
Then Lady Hew leaned forward, studying him like a rare exhibit. “You’re either incredibly grounded… or incredibly stupid.”
“Take your pick,” Ron said, unfazed.
She laughed—this time for real. It was surprisingly musical. “You know, I thought I’d hate you. But I don’t. You’ve got guts.”
“Literally,” Minos muttered, “and some of them were almost spilling out last night.”
Lady Hew rose to her feet. “Fine. I’ll tell Wyonne you’re not interested. But don’t be surprised if she tries again. She’s persistent.”
“She should persist elsewhere,” Ron replied.
Lady Hew paused at the door. “One last thing—”
“Yes?”
“Father isn’t done with this. You embarrassed him, and that’s not a man who forgets easily. Just…watch your back.”
With that, she turned and left, the door clicking shut behind her.
The room fell into a stunned silence.
“Well,” Jerry said finally, “we really could’ve used that private island.”
Mami whacked him again.
Minos stood and stretched. “I don’t like her. She smells like politics and threats.”
“She’s not the problem,” Ron said, rubbing his temples. “It’s her family. This isn’t over.”
“No,” Minos agreed, pulling back the curtain to peer outside. “It’s just beginning.”
From beyond the hallway, another voice echoed faintly—a nurse yelling about a missing syringe cart, a patient complaining about soup without pepper, and in the distance… the unmistakable sound of someone shouting Wyonne’s name.
Ron sighed deeply. “Here we go again.”
- Writer
