93

CHAPTER NINETY-THREE.
Adele barged into their bedroom, fuming in anger and banged the door hard behind her.
“Adele.” Called Jamal, frightened, but she did not answer him. She just stood on her the spot, breathing hard and violently threading her hands through her hair as hot tears spilled down her cheeks.
She was angry. She was furious and she was hurt by all the things Shannelle had said to her.
“Don’t you dare deny it!” Shannelle’s warning echoed in her mind. “What normal woman in her right senses will accept a man who hurt her so much back into her life without an ulterior motive? You’re back to get your revenge against him aren’t you?” The words sounded in her mind and she began pacing helter-skelter around the bedroom. By that time, Jamal had stepped down from the bed and he was watching her pace around in awe.
“I need you to tell me the truth now, why are you back in my brother’s life? Are you here to bring him down? Are you here to avenge the child he made you lose? Are you here to bring down this entire family?” Shannelle’s words jarred in Adele’s head as more tears spilled from her cheeks.
“I don’t believe you. If you accepted him back after all what he did to you after all the bad treatment you received from him and mum, including me, it means you are really desperate to be his wife. It means you are indeed a gold digger, because a woman with dignity, will never accept such a man back in her life. If you aren’t here for revenge, then you’re just here for his money!” Shannelle’s accusation jabbed her heart and she let out a loud scream as she fell to the ground on her butt and sobbed hard.
It hurt!
It hurt to hear someone accuse her of something she wasn’t even thinking about and it hurt even more because the person making the accusation was her sister-in-law. She was doing everything in her power to be in her best behavior so the girl would stop hating her, but she wouldn’t and Adele didn’t know what else to do.
Jamal was terrified at her sudden reaction. He rushed over to the spot where she was seated and stooped down by her side.
“Baby, what’s wrong? You can talk to me about it. What happened in there?” He asked concerned. He was confused at that moment with all her crying. He didn’t know whether to stay and comfort her or go and confront Shannelle.
“Why does she hate me so much?” Adele finally asked as she looked up at him with a completely drenched and red face. The look she had in her eyes showed how much she had been hurt by Shannelle’s words and it broke Jamal’s heart to see her cry.
“What did she say?” He asked calmly.
“I felt really bad for her after she got betrayed by her best friend and I wanted to comfort her, but she took it the wrong way and blasted me. She accused me of things I did not do Jamal.” She cried hard and Jamal was enraged, but he knew he had to be calm inorder not to overreact and do something he will later regret.
“What… what did she say to you?” He asked, trying to curb his anger and not leave to go and confront Shannelle instead.
“She started by asking me why I came back into your life and I told her I came back because you explained yourself to me and the reason you gave was good enough to forgive you. I told her I came back for love, I came back because I loved you and she called me a liar. She went ahead to say I was back to get my revenge on you for how badly you treated me and for making me lose our child. I told her she was wrong and that’s when she called me a gold digger. She said if I wasn’t back for revenge, then I was back because of your money. She called me a gold digger Jamal and that’s when I lost it. I said horrible things to her and right now I feel terrible and I’m angry and furious at myself right now because I feel bad for telling her the truth. I want this feeling to go away. I don’t want to feel bad for airing my thoughts to her!” Adele explained amidst tears and Jamal calmly took her into his arms to comfort her.
He knew his sister and how bitter she could spit out her words to someone she greatly disliked. She was just like their mother.
Jamal wanted to go over and confront her that same minute, but Adele was crying so much and he couldn’t leave her alone. He needed to comfort her and make sure she was calm again before leaving to talk with Shannelle.
“Come on love.” He calmly urged her to ride to her feet and took her to their bed where he placed her to seat on it. “Look at me.” He calmly instructed and Adele obeyed. He slowly wiped her tears away with a heavy heart and tried hard to keep his from spilling down.
“She’s not worth you crying…”
“She said mean things to me Jamal. You think I like crying over her words? I have tried to keep them in but I just can’t. She insulted me and it hurts. It hurts because she’s family. I can’t help but cry.”
“I’m sorry.” He calmly apologised as he thought of what to do to get her to calm down and a brilliant idea crossed his mind. “I’m going to talk to her and make sure she never insults you again, but for now, let’s go somewhere fun so you can relax and calm your raging nerves.”
“If we go out now, people are going to recognize you and gather around.”
“We are going to disguise, then. I will ask the guards to stay low key while we drive together. We’ll dress up casually…”
“Casually?” Adele asked and giggled. “Jamal, do you have single casual outfit in that closet of yours? It’s packed with suits and tuxedos and pajamas!” She pointed out and Jamal laughed.
“Allow me to surprise you then. Come with me.” He held her hand and led her into their walk-in closet.
**********************************************
Adele was surprised when Jamal showed her the lot of jeans and t-shirts and caps he owned. In less than no time, they were casually dressed up and had hit the road.
Jamal was dressed in a pair black of denim jeans and a black t-shirt over it. On his feet were a pair of white converse and a black blazer graced his entire outfit. He also had on a black face-cap which would conceal the most part of his face.
Adele had on a pair of boyfriend jeans and a blouse tucked into it. A leather belt held the jean in place on her tiny waist and on her feet were a pair of black Balenciaga. Her hair was wrapped up in a messy ponytail and she had on no make-up. She held her little handbag on her left hand while her right arm was wrapped around Jamal’s left arm as they walked on the street.
Their bodyguards, including Sean, were following them strategically so people wouldn’t notice.
It was about eight in the evening and the city was still pretty much buzzing. The traffic was getting worse as people were trying to get to their homes, the delicious aroma of roadside food from food stalls filled their nostrils as they walked by. Laughs from random people enjoying themselves filled the atmosphere and all Jamal felt at that moment was pure Bliss. It has been a while since he took a walk down town.
Ever since he got so famous, he lost his freedom. He couldn’t go anywhere without being spotted and paparazzi following him around, especially during the day.
“Jamal” Adele called as sge shook his arm.
“Yes Baby.”
“I wanna eat some hotdogs.” She said, pointing to a hotdog stall just a few meters away from them.
“Sure ” he agreed and Adele dragged him all the way to the stall which happened to be owned by a middle aged man.
“Hello sir, we’d like two please.”
“That will be eight dollars.” The man told them as he went ahead to prepare it for them. Adele danced on her spot as Jamal took out his wallet and opened it up. It was staked with hundred dollars bills, lots of them. Adele was not surprised.
“How’s business going, Sir?” Jamal asked the man who was focused on getting their food ready.
“Not as good as before.” The man flashed him an uncomfortable smile.
“Why not?” Jamal asked, curious.
“Because of the inflation rate and look.” He said pointing to the distance which had about six other stalls selling hotdogs. “Competition is not easy.”
“Haven’t you thought of another good business strategy?”
“I have, but what can I do? There’s no time or money to stop this and try something else. The kids need to go to school and the bills are piling up, I have to keep trying here.”
“How many are there? I mean the kids.” Jamal asked and the man handed the hotdogs to Adele, smiling proudly.
“There’s five of them. The first is preparing for his GCSE. Very proud of him. He’ll be here soon to take over for the night so I can go home and rest.” He explained and Jamal nodded.
“I see…” Jamal said nodding. “So, how much are you expecting to make by the end of today’s sales?”
“Well, say, five hundred dollars if it goes well.” The man estimated and Jamal looked down at his wallet again.
He counted out ten hundred dollar bills and held towards the man who took a step back in shock.
“Whoa! What…”
“That’s a thousand dollars, you can pack up and go home after you sell out the hotdogs you’ve made. I’m doing this so the guy preparing for his GCSE wouldn’t have to come out here tonight. Let him stay home and read his books.”
“But sir…”
“Take it, please.” Jamal urged and the man looked at Adele who smiled heartily at him. He stretched his trembling hands and collected the notes from Jamal’s hand.
“Oh my Goodness, thank you very much Son.”
Jamal took out his business card from his wallet and give him as well.
“That’s my business card. You can stop by at the location on it so we can discuss that business strategy you have. The GCSE guy needs to go to college next year, hotdogs won’t pay his tuition.”
The man looked at the Card and when he saw Jamal’s name, he trembled so hard that the card fell off his hands. He looked up at Jamal with his eyes wide open, completely petrified.
“Shhhh, please don’t raise an alarm. I’m just trying to have a quiet night without any attention.” He pleaded and the man quickly nodded his head.
“Of course!”
“Thank you”
Adele picked up the card which had fallen and handed it to the man who was still shocked.
“Remember, we have an appointment tomorrow. Don’t fail me.” Jamal reminded.
“I won’t dare to do that sir.”
“Good then, have a good night.”
He said and walked away with Adele following closely behind.
She was also shocked by what he had just done.