Ice Cream

Chapter Twenty

I felt foolish and I felt hurt as each tear ran down my cheeks. Foolish for being oblivious of their schemes for months. Hurt for the reality of their betrayal. All I could think of was 'why?'.

"Uncle, Harriet, why?" I asked amidst distress.

They remained silent.

"Tell me, please. Oh please tell me why you both decided to kill me. You owe it to me." It was almost impossible to formulate words in my turmoil.

"It was all for the best Chiké." You know how hilarious it was whenever he pronounced my name in his super weird accent? Well, now hearing him call me, made me feel sick to my stomach. I chose to let him speak instead.

"You and your family took everything from me! My father knew I was more capable of running the business yet he handed it over to my younger brother and left me with peanuts." my Uncle spat out in so much hatred. I had never seen this side of him before.
"And after supporting my brother after dad died, he had the guts to tell me he was going to will the business all to you. He chose you, a nobody he picked up from the streets of Malaysia and adopted as his kid. You, who had no pint sized blood related to the McAdams family. You, an African, a black man, to rule over our business, the one I had sweated and bled over. Impossible!" my uncle was a racist? Who would have thought he hated me for the colour of my skin? For my race?

"So I had to go for plan B since he wouldn't change his mind. I begged Janelle, my sister in law, to persuade him into making me the sole CEO of the business and perhaps, give you the post of a manager or something substantial. It was the most I could do but then she refused. She had stars in her eyes whenever you or her husband were concerned and so she she resisted my plea."

"I opted on plan C which was my only shot at getting what I deserved. Harriet and I had been dating long before she wss hired as your nanny." he grabbed her hand and placed a subtle kiss on it. "This woman right here fought so hard with me, she deserves to be by my side forever." he kissed her on her cheek this time, making her swoon over him. Yuck!

If he hated me for my skin colour, how then was he capable of loving a woman who shared the same skin and race as I did? I reasoned, keeping my thoughts to myself.

"Harriet helped with the herbal poison which she gave both my brother and his wife daily for three solid years. It was a slow but highly effective substance that would deteriorate one's system until it permanently destroyed it and the good thing about it was, it was rarely detectable, being able to hide in the blood and veins without a trace. Oh bless you, my sweet Harriet!"

Oh God, No!! He killed my parents! They both did.

Swiftly, I ran to him and held him by the throat just so I could strangle him. Oh why had he decided to kill my innocent and compassionate parents? I wanted to choke him until he had nothing left of his miserable life. I had nearly reached my goal of cutting short his life when I felt hands dragging me back.

No, leave me alone so I can kill this bastard!

But they wouldn't listen. The astonishingly strong and brave doctors, successfully pulled me away from Gerald while he coughed, all red and deathly pale. When he recovered, he straightened his tie and grinned wickedly at me. I cursed under my breath and lunged for him again but the doctors restrained me, threatening to inject me with a sedative if I didn't behave.

"Where was I? "the bastard had the courage to speak. "Oh I know now! I watched my brother and his wife degenerate until they eventually died and then I thought my time had finally come. However, my evil but extremely smart brother, I'll give him that title, had already written his will long before he passed on. Precisely when he had begun to notice the symptoms of his poor health. My heart shattered when his private Lawyer recited his will, informing us that Gabriel, my brother, had willed all his possessions including the family business to his adopted son. It was the worst day of my life! No heartbreak felt as worse as it did."