Ivy Kedem had given Tony a big packaged box which Effe carried to Tony's car. As he said his goodbyes to the Kedems, Effe stacked the package in his boot for him.
Tony pointed to Eyram's car.
"What's with the popped bonnet?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing," Eyram said quickly.
"Liar!" Effe said as she walked back towards them. "Alternator belt tore, I guess. She asked to use Daddy's car for the day."
"Come on, I'll drop you off, Eyram," Tony said quickly.
"Nope!" Eyram said, much too quickly, and her sister and parents looked at her with surprise, and she had to shrug and smile. "I mean, I can't bother you that much, Tony. Coming back home would be a problem if I don't have a car because of the rush hour traffic. I should go in Dad's car."
"I'll bring you back, no worries," Tony said with a smile. "I've got you covered."
"Don't mind her," Ken said. "It's just a matter of the belt being fixed, and then the mechanic would take the car to her at the office if that's what she wants. Go with Tony, my dear. I promise to let the mechanic send it over when he's done."
"No need," Tony said. "Let the mechanic take all the time. I'll be her chauffeur for today!"
"You're such a darling," Ivy said with a smile. "Hurry up, Ram. Don't keep him waiting."
Eyram hesitated a moment, and then she reluctantly went back inside for her bag. Tony put an arm around Effe's shoulders, and she draped hers around his waist.
"So, I went home early last night," he said gently.
"Thought the guys gave you a wild night?" Effe asked. "Rammy told me you had something planned."
"Nothing can replace you, Effe," he said with a shaky laugh. "I went home. So, the way I see it, you owe me a day off your busy schedule."
She sighed and squeezed his waist.
"I know, darling," she said softly. "I'm sure we'll have Chris Bawa behind bars before Friday, and then we'll have the whole of the weekend together, my love."
"Now that sounds exciting," he said, dropped his head, and gently brushed her lips with his. "And I'm going to hold you to that."
Eyram, who was coming out of the door, saw this intimate scene again, and she dropped her eyes quickly with a confused little sigh. She had to force herself to smile when she hugged Effe briefly and then got into the car beside Tony.
Effe's phone rang just then, and when she glanced at the screen, she turned away quickly from Tony who was speaking to her. She picked the call without any word of excuse to Tony and began to move away from him.
"Hello, sir," she said quickly. "Yes, I'm home."
Eyram saw Tony's sad look as Effe walked away.
"I'll be ready in thirty minutes, sir," Effe was saying as she walked quickly past her parents. "Yes, I think I know where Chris Bawa would try and go next. Alright, sir. I'll be waiting."
When Effe entered the house without a backward glance, Tony sighed and forced a smile as he entered his car and turned the ignition.
"Seatbelt, please," he said to Eyram who was watching him critically.
"Oh, yes, sure," she said quickly and fastened her seatbelt.
They waved to her parents, and as the car gathered speed, Tony pushed the button that rolled up the windows.
He slowed down at the electronic gate and waited as it moved gently to the side, and then they waved to the security guard and drove out and soon joined the main road to Eden Central.
"You're not taking me to work, Tony," Eyram said calmly without looking at him. "You'll drop me at the roundabout, and I'll take the subway or an Uber."
He shook his head.
"And you think that will solve the problem we have on our hands?" he asked calmly as he fixed his eyes on her.
"We don't have a problem, Tony," she said sharply.
"Oh, come off it, Eyram!" he said, irritated, and hammered the steering wheel with his hands. "This attitude won't help. Last night –"
"Last night nothing, Tony!" she cried, and her voice sounded unsteady now. "Don't even think about it! What the hell do you want to do, huh? Date twin sisters? Are you out of your frigging mind?"
"Don't be silly, Eyram!" he said angrily and looked at her. "Damn it, give me some credit! I'm not a player, and neither am I some damn ugly Casanova out to have fun! Don't behave as if I'm some dirty garbage from the gutter! I believe I have a sensible brain in this big head of mine!"
"Good, Tony!" she said with furious eyes. "Then let that brain work and stop your nonsense! Even if I admit there was something – which I don't, which I won't – there's no way I'm going to hurt my sister, do you understand? I love Effe more than anybody on earth, my parents included."
"I know, Eyram, I know!" Tony said in a confused voice. "And until last night, I was focused on Effe, and I meant to make her happy."
"You will make her happy, Tony."
"Oh, shut up, Eyram!" he said furiously. "Effe does not love me! Well, maybe she loves me in her own way, but I'll never be a priority to her! Her drive is with her job, and now that she has crossed over to the SPF, I'll just be a liability to her! Damn it, can't you see what is happening here, Eyram? As unpalatable as it is, as dirty as it might seem to you, we have to be adult about it and address it appropriately! You can't just brush it aside and be cold towards me with the attitude of the proverbial ostrich hiding its head in the sand! We have to face this head-on!"
She turned slightly in her seat and looked at him.
"Solve your issues with her, Tony, and enjoy your life with her!" Eyram said coldly. "If you hurt my sister, I swear I'll take a knife and carve out your heart from your chest!"
He stared at her, and his handsome face was furious for a while, and then he sighed and shook his head.
"Eyram, you girls are twenty-eight! You're coming from a relationship, and if it had not been for the unfortunate thing that happened, you would be married by now! You're the passionate kind, just like me. You're committed, Eyram. You believe in family! Effe doesn't even want to have kids! She was asking me the other time if I could consider that because she was not ready for the restrictions that came with motherhood! Her obsession is her work, and she sees a family as a distraction! She had not had any serious relationship until I came along, and even that you virtually forced her into it! Can't you get it? Effe and me we will never click!"
"Shut the hell up, Tony!" she screamed at him. "Shut the hell up already! What's wrong with you? You have written off what you have with Effe simply because of what? The fact that we were in each other's arms last night? Are you out of your mind? What's the matter with you?"
"No, damn it, Eyram!" he hissed at her. "Stop reducing it to something dirty and insignificant! You felt it too, and today I was watching you! Every time I held Effe, you felt pain. Don't run from this one, Eyram! You also feel this thing that has sprung up between us, so you better admit it and face it!"
"Oh!" she hissed at him, and her hands balled up into helpless fists on her lap. "Oh, I can smash you, Tony Ogum, damn you! You're sick! Nothing of that sort happened! Nothing has sprung up between us, you sick bastard! And I feel absolutely nothing for you!"
"Bloody liar! Look at how your face is pained, and your lips are shaking, Eyram! You can deny it all you want, but it is there, and I know it is there!" he said grimly. "I wanted you when you were in a relationship with Ebow Mintah, but you were not ready for me. You forced me to meet your sister, and I fell for Effe."
"Aha, that's the truth now, you see, you damn cheat!" Eyram said savagely. "You fell for Effe, and you still love her. Maybe you wanted to sleep with her, but she has this thing about being a virgin! Now, you're sexually frustrated, and you know I was making love with Ebow, so now you began to fantasize about me, hmm? You want a bit of the pussy you think Effe is denying you, right?"
"Oh, you're so pathetic, Eyram, shut the fuck up!" Tony almost screamed at her. "Effe is an enigma, a cold-hearted beautiful woman every man would want to have, but she will never be conquered, Eyram. At least, not by me. I can fix things between me and Effe, and I can get married to her. Damn, she's a virgin, and she'll probably be committed to me, just as I'll be committed to her. I'll love her, sure, but she wouldn't love me. She doesn't love me, Eyram, not in the way you can love, or the way I deserve to be loved! I did a lot of thinking last night, and I think you and I need to work this out in a dispassionate manner and see the way forward!"
The car had stopped at a traffic light, and before Tony knew what was happening, Eyram's door was opened and her right leg was already out. There was a car in front of him, and another on his left on the dual carriage road, so he could not move the car to stop her from getting out.
"Eyram, damn it, what are you doing?" he cried.
She looked at him coldly as she picked her bag and got out of the car fully.
"Go back to bed, Tony, and do better thinking!" she said with disgust. "Let me tell you this for a fact, though. Even if you and Effe break off on the best cordial terms, and even if you are the last man on earth, I'll never, ever, eeeeever, go into a relationship with you, Tony."
"You're lying!" he shouted at her. "Look at your face! Your mouth is saying something your heart doesn't believe! This is not the end, Eyram, do you hear me? This is not the end of the matter! I will force you to face this and admit to it even if I have to spank you to do what is right!"
"You're sick, Tony!" she shouted at him as tears came to her eyes. "Leave me alone! Don't do this to me, bastard!"
She slammed the door and moved quickly off the shoulders of the road, joined the pedestrian lane, and descended quickly down to the subway route.
The traffic lights changed to green, and impatient drivers blew their horns savagely behind him.
"Hey, fly over me, assholes!" he screamed insanely in his car, and then he engaged gear and drove off with a squeal of tyres. "Damn those twins! Damn them!"
He did not notice that Eyram had come back to the roadside and was staring after his car with both her hands pressed to her lips.
Her body was trembling slightly, and the look on her face was one of sheer horror, abject misery, confusion and helplessness.
And yes, fear.