Chapter 3
They had met at New Jersey University where both Tom and Tim studied mechanical engineering. Hilda was studying medicine, while Tilda was in the faculty of law. The four two zygote splits made the most of their identical appearances after meeting at University. As much as it was by the coincidence of looks, it could also be safely said that their peers insinuated their relationships on common biological grounds, and as fate had it, they ultimately celebrated happy marriages, and flourishing business and professional careers as the gods continue smiling on them. Herbert who could often visit them ended up venturing into fully-fledged real estate dealings with the help and guidance of his experienced brothers-in-law upon completion of his accounting degree at Oxford where he had been awarded an achievers scholarship. Upon the traumatic death of his wife, Herbert would often tell people that God had taken what was meant for him, and the only things that he believed remained designated as his primary concerns and worries were his son and business.
"I don't even have a far-fetched desire to remarry, as long as I am happily endeared to my son and real estate business. They are my fulfilling consolation after losing Anna" he uttered to a journalist in one of his archived television interviews that Trey always bragged about whenever he talked of him.
Herbert and Anna were both accounting students at Oxford. The two often spent study and leisure time together and complemented each other in everything they did so well. It was a matter of time before Anna fell pregnant in their final year at University. It was very solemn and traumatic for not only Herbert, but the rest of the Oxford community to lose such a promising and distinctive twenty-two-year-old young accountant three weeks before her scheduled graduation. The graduation day was hellishly unpalatable for poor and wounded Herbert who could not hold his tears when the Chancellor called for the observation of a minute of silence in memory of Anna's painful and untimely death, in fact, the podium hanging university staff, and almost every gowned and capped graduate on that momentous occasion could not go through that sorrowful and emotional juncture with ease. Such is the traumatic experience that he had to endure.
Anna's unseen death drilled a deep dark hole in his fragile heart, no wonder why he vowed not to remarry, and successfully he kept his word. Trey was placed under the responsible custody of their close Anglican congregant upon her sympathetic and empathetic request to do so. Sister Dorothy made sure that the motherless innocent soul was taken good care of. In the house of the resourceful aunt Dorothy, the little innocent Robert was provided and pampered with almost everything a well-raised baby could get. Herbert who hardly went a day without visiting them complimented the efforts with both material and moral support. Herbert only assumed sole custody of Trey when he was now four years old, in spite of that, aunt Dorothy as she was affectionately addressed, barely went a day without making a courtesy call on Herbert's usually tranquil Oxford residence.
With the connecting influence of his USA-based brothers-in-law Herbert, who had assumed the chief accountant post at Mason Real Estate a year back, got promoted to the post of General Manager. Mr. Mason was father to Danny, a passionate classmate of Tom and Tim at New Jersey University. The mention of a distraught brother-in-law hunting for a big job to fend for himself and his motherless child touched Danny who then worked as the Executive Director at Mason Real Estate. Danny came to the rescue in no time. Being an accountant graduate, a chief accountant post was specifically created for him to oversee the two bookkeepers who had been in charge of all accounting matters in the fast-growing company. Since growth is associated with the establishment of bigger and befitting structures, the creation of a post of that magnitude was in line with the real estate company's upsurge agenda. In his second year, Herbert had proven to be as good as they come to warrant recognition and promotion to the post of General Manager. His constant and close professional links with his brothers-in-law-in-law, let alone Danny's trust in his proficiency in terms of delivery, created an atmosphere that suggested the sky to be the only limit for him in this line of business.
Anable enthusiastically relished the societal concept of being the all attention-given lady in rich Trey's charismatic and extravagant lifestyle. She always made sure that she dances to almost every tune Trey plays, no matter how she disliked it. She was good at playing to the gallery. She had so many cats in her tightly locked closet, but she made sure that they did not come between the two of them. Trey had given her some respectable startup funds to undertake a black market forex exchange business in and around Pretoria. Such an interactive and networking line of business meant that she was usually out, and always on the phone handling clients. No amount of money in any currency, be it rands, pounds or dollars was beyond her services. Trey would always cheap in whenever a top-up was required. She always left around 8 bells every morning for this and other accompanying errands that would emanate out of it. She also had the audacity to insert her own secret dealings into her busy errand-filled routine. Trey was also ever busy with his own solo parallel market dealings in diamonds and gold. He was known for his instant cash payments and had established himself as one of Pretoria's diamond and gold heavyweight dealers. He made it clear to all prospective sellers that he did not want to be disturbed before 9 o'clock, and would often defer any early knocking business to his standard working hours. Nonetheless, he had no timetable for tempting windfall deals involving 6 figure cash. In such situations, time was money. He was always by himself and trusted nobody, not even Anable with his precious stones errands. Just like Anable, he had a lot on his plate of vices for anyone to fathom without tiring. He knew how to play it very low with almost all of his lone errands.