“Your presence and support showed how much you cared about us, and we are not taking it for granted. We promise to live up to our promises to remain law-abiding and contribute meaningfully to the economic development and the growth of the country. Thank you very much.”
Subsequently, he handed the microphone over to the MC and stepped down from the podium with his lieutenants amidst clapping. Edwin collected the microphone happily and continued.
“Thank you so much. Thank you for loving us.”
He paused to make room for the fanfare that heralded the Chairman and his lieutenants to their seats to stop. Subsequently, he made a few announcements and brought the event to an end.
‘I knew that the General Manager will rise. All those who said that he was sleeping with his secretary (me) had been put to shame,’ Edwin said to himself happily, and continued, “Thank you very much. I hope everyone has gotten his or her souvenir? The lunch will be served at the same serving points. I wish to appreciate my co-MC. It is a great honor to work with you. On this note, we are bringing this year's Independence Anniversary Celebration of the Cherry Fields Oil and Gas Group to a close. See you coming year. In the place of closing prayer, we are taking the second stanza of the National Anthem.”
Thereafter, the event came to a happy ending. The Chairman hosted the President and his entourage at the Grandcrest Luxury. The security around the Chairman and his lieutenants was beefed up at that juncture. The youngsters were led into one of the staff buses. Leon accompanied his parents to the luncheon. The traffic at the gate was heavy, while the audience queued up for their lunch. Meanwhile, the Chairman, his lieutenants, and their wives' vehicle were also in the President's convoy, and Ahmed heaved a sigh of relief because he could concentrate on other security matters.
When he turned to check on Mr. Fredrick Ike and the other pilots to ensure that the attendees would be evacuated seamlessly, he saw a woman running towards the Chairman's stand with two children, a boy and a girl. She held the four-year-old children in each hand. Ahmed stopped in his track and watched her. The other security guards thought she was going for lunch. Unfortunately for her, she was late.
She was the mother of the two children who vowed that they would never return to their community when they saw the General Manager and his wife in the jingle, they wanted him to be their father. Their mother assured them that she would help them to achieve that. Therefore, she made them to recite what they should say.
“When I take you to him, just hold his legs and begin to say, 'father, why did you abandon us? Why did you stop coming to see us?' Am I understood?”
“Yes Aunty.”
The children were not permitted to address her as mother. She was a free girl who got the children from one of her clients. She could not ascertain the real father of the children because she slept with several of them. Likewise, she had the twin against her wish because no doctor agreed to carry out an abortion on her. Since the time she got them, she had been looking for whom to dump the children on. It was lack of affection from their home that made them to feel that the General Manager and his wife would give them the affection that they needed from a family.
Before she set out to run with them, she had told them that they should hold him—the General Manager, as soon as she stopped in his front. Unfortunately, the General Manager and his wife had left and Ahmed was dressed in the same sports attires as him. Likewise, she was blocked by Ahmed and she stopped abruptly. Then, the children concluded that Ahmed was the General Manager, and held his two legs and began to act as their mother had instructed them.
“Father, why did you abandon us? Why did you stop coming to see us?”
At that moment, she gave them a sign to stop, but they misunderstood the sign as a rebuke because they were incompetent, so they intensified their acting skills. This time, they were screaming louder.
“Father, why did you abandon us? Why did you stop coming to see us?”
Now, Ahmed could not decipher the mystery. The first thing that came to his mind was 'distraction'. He felt that there must be a predator lurking around, and for that reason, he put his guards up.
“Who are you?” Ahmed asked the ugly looking short lady with an unhealthy skin. The only good thing about her, was her sports attires. Meanwhile, the children shouted louder, which attracted the other security guards.
“Father, why did you abandon us? Why did you stop coming to see us?”
At that moment, the lady was drenched with fear. She would have ignored the obstacle and moved on, but the children started acting before time, and she could not stop them. She only looked at Ahmed apprehensively. Now, Ahmed was feasibly shaking with rage that the children holding his legs could feel the vibration.
“Answer me now,” he shouted at the girl. The vibration from his body was too vigorous that the children felt it as though it was an electric shock. They quickly left his legs and stood beside their mother, who was already sweating.
“Who sent you?” Ahmed thundered again. Nevertheless, the children thought that the question was meant for them and quickly responded to avoid being punished.
“It was our aunty,” the boy responded, looking at the mother. Now, the Chief Security Officer was already at the scene and did not wish to see Ahmed create a scene, lest he put the company in a bad light. Then, he took over the interrogation and asked, “Who is your aunty?”
They looked up at their mother, and that was enough answer, but the CSO inquired further, “Where is your mother?”
They looked at her again. This time, the children were tearing up because their mother's silence was scaring. They decided to open up, thinking that it would save them and their mother. The girl responded, “She is our mother, but we call her aunty.”
“Why do you call her aunty instead of mother?”
“She doesn't like us to call her mother,” The boy answered innocently. Meanwhile, the wimpy children cried the more as things turned messy, and they were totally on their own. They perceived that their mother was not happy with them, and they would be punished.
“Where is your father?” The CSO continued. Now, the children stopped crying abruptly and looked at their mother who was bewildered to answer the question, but she kept mute. She had never thought that her plans would not work. Now, the Chief Security Officer, and the others around, were beginning to get the picture of their plot.
“Where is your father that you were asking; why did you abandon us? Why did you stop coming to see us?” He asked with a harsh tone, and the children were forced to explain one after the other.
“It was our aunty who said that we should say so.”
“We saw that uncle and his fine wife on the television.”
“Yes. We said that we liked him, and she said she will help us to get him to be our father if we held his legs and cried.”
Now, Ahmed gave her a quizzical look that sent goose bumps all over her body. By now, Mr. Fredrick Ike and some of his pilots have come to see him.
“Why did you bring them? We invited only school children.”
Ahmed asked, looking at Mr. Fredrick Ike, who was already confused. Fortunately, the pilot who brought them explained.
“She said the children were ill and under medication, and she wished to accompany them and administer the drugs.”
“We are not ill.”
“She did not give us any drugs.”
The children, who did not understand the gravity of their words, explained. They were only trying to correct the erroneous impression the pilot was giving against their mother. As far as they were concerned, they were defending their mother.