chapter 35

Tobi turns around to look at them and Varisha sees the devilish smile he always had, which she had always hated.“What is this?” Vary demands, her voice low and weary as she stares at Tobi in horror. There is fear and panic in her eyes and the last thing she wants right now is him anywhere near her or Keenan, but here he is, standing in her home.Keenan wraps his arms around her waist and she slowly looks up at him, wondering why on earth he would bring him to her?Why would he do this to her?Keenan is oblivious to what’s going on in her head, but he notices the tension that has built within her, and so he smiles. “I know you think what happened in the past is your fault, but your father is already past that and he has also forgiven you and only wishes you to forgive yourself.”A bitter taste grows in her mouth and she wonders what lies her father has fed to her husband. “Forgiven me?” Vary asks ridiculously, and squeakily as she repeats the question.He stares at her understandingly, “I knew you and Andrew were close as you grew up, but it wasn’t your fault how things turned out. It was his decision, and you had nothing to do with his death.” Keenan assures, rocking her slowly and rubbing her back in comfort.“Andrew is dead?” Vary gasps as pain captures her heart at the sudden news. Her eyes are wide and fear and agony register in her eyes.The last time she saw him was eleven years ago. She told him not to go back to her father, and he told her to come along. They both love each other and they were all they needed from each other, but Andrew felt he needed his father. Vary didn’t want to go back, and neither could she tell her brother why she wanted to be as far from Tobi.She can believe she won’t see her brother again and she can’t believe Keenan believes she had something to do with his death.Keenan, who is clueless, nods and wipes the tears running down Vary’s face away. “Tobi just wants to make amends and hope you two can finally move on from it all,” Keenan says, hope written in his deep blue eyes. “I’ll give the two of you room,” he kisses her head and before Vary can make a protest against his words, he walks out of the room.The grief and sorrow Vary feels causes her weakness and numbness and she doesn’t run after Keenan so he can shield her from the monster he has brought into their home.“Don’t look so sad.” Tobi’s voice draws Vary out of the subconscious state that she went into the last few minutes and she bites her lips to hide more of her emotions. She looks up at the grey-headed man with a stubble beard and rough skin and, most of all, is her worse nightmare. He doesn’t seem to have aged a day since the last time she saw him.“The weakling wasn’t meant for this world,” he continues with a dry voice, stepping closer, “but you, you, my darling, were always meant for greatness. Look at you rich, successful and with a man that can provide you with what you can imagine! I hear he’s the second most successful man in the United States and the fifth in the world. Can you believe that?”He’s the same annoying man he’s always been.Vary would have not believed her ears if she didn’t know the man her father is, but she did and she believes her ears and she fumes angrily. “You are a monster, Tobi Klean. You let Andrew die!”“No, Vary,” he waves a quick finger in her face, “‘cause according to your loving husband you did and he just hoping to make amends. It’s your fault that he doesn’t know a thing about me.”Vary’s teeth grit and she grinds them together, not wanting to explode or work herself and the baby up. He wasn’t worth her time and wasn’t, and he wouldn’t get it anymore.“You killed your wife and sexually assaulted your daughter, and you say it’s my fault for wanting to bury your existence in my life!” she demands, scoffing in disbelief.“I never touched you.” He counters in his defence.Her eyes flare up and her voice rises. “Would it have been less disgusting if you did? Would it have been less assaulting if you did? I was your daughter. I was supposed to be under your protection, but you made me into a toy you undress whenever you felt horny! That was why I never look back when I left because I finally gained my freedom and I’m sure you killed Andrew after he found out what you had done to me just like you killed mom!”“Your brother killed himself the day he decided I wasn’t his father and called the social services on me!” Tobi thunders angrily, his face stony and hard and unapologetic. “Until you are dead, I won’t stop being your father.” he sneers.“I will not let you ruin mine and my husband’s life the way you did mom and Andrew’s. I’ll fight you even if it’s with the last breath in me!” she turns and heads for the door.“Varisha Ada Klean, don’t you dare take another step?” Tobi orders and Vary knows that tone of voice so well because it was the same he’d used when she wasn’t doing what he wanted in his bedroom.“Varisha Ada Klean, take off your clothes!”“Varisha Ada Klean, spread your legs!”“Take off your pants, Varisha Ada Klean!”“I will not say it again, Varisha Ada Klean!”Something clicks and Vary turns around to see a black gun in his hand and it is pointing directly at her.She isn’t shocked at this point and instead of being scared, she grows angrier at him, “So you’re going to kill me the same way you killed Andrew and mom uh!”“I brought you into this world and I’m going to be the one to take you out!” He says, pulling cocking the gun.“Then go on, pull the trigger ‘cause there is no way I’m going to let you ruin any more lives. Go on ‘cause this child will never learn about you and I’ll make sure of that even if it’s the last thing I do.” She storms over to him and stops just when the gun is touching her chest. “Go on, do it! Cause you killed me the first day you walked into my room and made me take off my clothes!” A painful tear slid down my face.He smirks at me, “You were always so stubborn, and that turned me on the most about you.” He says, his voice laced with humour and mockery.“Fuck you!” Vary cusses out at him and grabs hold of the gun and they both struggle for control. Varisha manoeuvre the hold of the gun turns it around, so it points to Tobi and then she pulls the trigger.At the sound of the gun, Keenan feels his heart run into his throat and he runs up from the bed out of the room and rushes to the guest room where Tobi and Vary last were. A terrible feeling he has never felt before consumes him and he fears for both the life of his wife and his baby.Many questions run through his head like how did they go from meeting each other for the first time in many years to one of them pulling the trigger on the other?How do they even have a gun?Varisha doesn’t own a gun to the best of his knowledge, so the gun that went off isn’t hers, and that only means one thing. Tobi brought a loaded gun into their homes. Why on earth did he bring a gun over?Did he just expose his wife and unborn child to an even greater threat of even realising it?As he opens the door and runs in, he stops in his tracks when he sees Tobi's lifeless body in a pool of blood and a trail of the same blood leading outside the guestroom. He races outside, following the trail of blood on the ground to see Vary opening the door to her car and about to get in.“Var—y, my god.”Her face whips up at the sound of her words and he sees the teary and panicking eyes. “Don’t come close to me!” she warns, putting her hand out.He doesn’t listen to her warning though, ‘cause he steps closer to her, and he sees her gown and hands covered in blood and a gun in her hand. He stares into her eyes in alarm and worry.“What is happening?” he asks in utter confusion and panic, waiting for the answer.“Call the police, he is a liar.” is her only response.Keenan takes a few delicate steps towards her, being careful not to spook her up. “Vary, he’s dead, and whatever conflict you two had is no reason to kill him. He’s your father.”“He’s not my father, he is a liar!” she says louder than the first time.“And you are a murderer!” the word flies out of Keenan’s mouth before he can stop it and when he realises what harm he has done, Vary is already in the car and starting it and before he can run to it, she drives off.****“I’m sorry,” Rory says, rubbing his shoulder for comfort.Keenan wipes off his tears. “It’s my fault she’s here. She said she needed more time before revealing things to me and I just didn’t want to be patient. I should have asked her what happened between her and Tobi. I didn’t, and I acted like I didn’t know her at all.”Rory tries to console his friend by saying, “You were trying to help her work things out with her father, which was a great thing and you shouldn’t blame yourself less.”While they still speak, a police officer approaches them. Keenan looks up at the police and nod at him.“Mr Hilton, we got a call from you two and half hours ago saying someone shot and the police are running an investigation to understand it. I am detective Sean and we just need your statement.” He informs, pulling out a pen and a jotter from his back pocket.“He’s—was my wife’s father. They haven’t seen each other in years and Vary never talks about him. I thought it nice to invite him and try mending a broken relationship, so I invited him for her birthday and I gave them room a few minutes later, I hear a gunshot and when I ran in Mr Tobi Klean was lying in a pool of blood. There were trails of blood, so I followed it and it led me to where my wife was, holding a gun in her hand.”“Where was she exactly?” asks Sean interrogatively.Keenan rubs his forehead in pain. “She was about to get into her car and she said ‘he is a liar, call the police.’” he answers, the pain in his head not leaving as he’d hoped. “And we argued, and I called her a murderer and she ran off, so I called the police like she asked me to.”“Mr Hilton, I’d like to ask, does your wife possess a gun?”Keenan shakes his head in a negative gesture. “She doesn’t, at least not to the best of my knowledge.”“So there is a possibility that the gun was not your wife’s gun, but Mr Tobi’s gun?”“Yeah, maybe,” he mumbles, absentminded with the whole interrogation.“So there is a chance that she was defending herself and that might be the reason she asked you to call the police and also that he is a liar.” he further asks.“There could be.” he agrees, nodding his head.“Mr Hilton,” the doctor calls and Keenan gets up from the chair and walks over to him.“How are they? How is she?” his eyes searching for hope in the doctor’s brown eyes.The doctor gives a sad shake of his head, “The baby was stillborn,” he replies apologetically, “but she has been stabilised and would wake soon.” He taps Keenan's shoulder slowly, “I’m sorry for your loss.”“I’m sorry, man,” Rory says from behind and Keenan turns to him with a half-relieved half-torn gaze.“She’s alive, but I know she wouldn’t want to be when she finds out we lost him.”Rory walks over to him and wraps his arms around him for comfort and strength. “Everything will be fine.”Kennan's arms around Rory tighten as he loses all the little strength has had all this while, and he sobs for his loss, both the baby and Vary..Â