Chapter Three

Not long after they drove out of Macy's Shoprite, a police van was spotted and within two seconds a police officer popped out signalling to Joe to slow down and also using his hand to direct Joe's car where it should be parked, although it was a checkpoint center.

Joe was smiling to himself while Bianca was totally engrossed, staring at the pictures on the phone.

The police officer came forward, nearer to Joe's car, and bent his head downward, looking at them. It was difficult for the policeman to identify Joe because of the sunglasses covering his eyes.

"Can I see your license, sir?" the police officer summoned.

"Do you mean seeing the license would make us leave?" Joe retorted.

"Obey all instructions, sir," said the police officer.

"Alright," Joe answered, searching through the glove compartment and bringing out his vehicle particulars.

"You can have a view of it," said Joe.

The police officer collected it and glanced through the first page, then flipped it to the second page and glanced at it again. He continued the routine until he was done with it.

"Take this," he said, handing the papers over to Joe. "Please remove your eyeglasses for proper identification, sir."

"That's none of your business or either your work." Joe responded, frowning at the police officer.

"I hope you know you are talking to an officer."

"Damn you!" uttered Joe angrily.

"Please come down from the car," the police officer ordered.

Joe laughed at him in a sarcastic manner, attracting the attention of Bianca, who kept mute and watched the both of them. Joe frowned again, as if it weren't him who laughed seconds ago. "You know this person, right?" Joe responded by removing the sunglasses from his eyes gradually and slowly, like a snail moving on the ground.

"JK?" He said, in a rather stunned and confused manner, almost immediately, "I didn't know... I am sorry for the harassment. I am so sorry, JK."

"You've got to take your time unless you want to be rendered useless. You got me, right?"

"Yes, sir," the policeman responded with a lesser tone.

Joe drove out of the checkpoint center, changing the direction of the car to the major road, and then drove into the main road with speed. Bianca got scared at what she saw and heard; a lot of imagination was going in and out of her mind. Who is Joe? What was his occupation? Police in the past? Or a politician? Something was certain: Joe had authority, but how did he get it? She thought, this is probably a question I am going to ask him, but not now.

She stopped staring at the phone, fixing her eyes on the freeway, then took a second, staring at him in quite a suspicious manner.

"Bianca, are you surprised at the situation?" Joe asked as if he read her mind, knowing almost everything there.

"You got me shocked... I mean the way you stamped in your authority to the extent that the police officer pleaded for you to have mercy on him. This got me thrilled somehow."

He nodded his head, smiled mischievously, and uttered some words: "You would get to know as we get fond of each other."

"Alright, JK," she said, pronouncing the last word with the greatest of her strength.

Finally, they got to Prince Ville Street, where Joe's mansion was built. The houses built along the street were painted the same color—white with a starch of blue; the roofing was corrugated and all the houses had coconut trees in front of them. No house along the street was an exception. Bianca was amazed by the exhibition she was seeing and continued nodding her head mysteriously.

"Is this an estate?" Bianca asked in a reverent way.

"Oh, is it because of the similarity? It is a street, but they have the same seal. What I mean is that the ancient landlord bought them all at once and then divided them up into acres and sold them differently; then the people came together to make it look the same. That is why it is like this."

Joe drove to his mansion and then he pressed the brake until the car grounded to a halt.

"Are we there?" inquired Bianca anxiously, looking straight at his face.

"Of course," he smiled.

Bianca got out of the car and was about to run towards the gate when Joe called her back. "Where are you going?"

"To open the gate for you," Bianca responded.

"Enter into the car. Are you a gate man?"

"Oh," she said and entered the car, while Joe pressed the horn of the car until someone peeped out of a small opening located on the gate and quickly opened the gate as Joe drove in.

Immediately the car stopped, and someone rushed to the car and opened the door of Joe. "Welcome, sir," they said. Joe didn't respond and gave him a signal to open for Bianca as he ran to open it. Bianca couldn't believe what her eyes saw. Could this be a dream, or am I seeing a vision? She asked herself, rubbing her eyes repeatedly.

"You can go now," Joe ordered his assistant.

"Dear, let's come down and go inside the house." He beckoned at her.

Bianca's feet wobbled as she walked toward the gigantic house. She could not tell if she was being shy or terrified, but both words were intertwined together. There was no doubt about that. Joe got to the door and brought out a key to open the door, then the two of them went in.

"Wow!" she exclaimed after getting a glimpse of the interior view of the house.

Everywhere glittered like gold; there was a chandelier on the passage bringing out different rays of light—blue, green, orange, and purple, just to mention a few. The wall boasted sparkling tiles, and opposite the passage on the left was the sitting room. Joe held Bianca's hand, taking her around the living room. It was a big one; a big plasma TV about 50 inches wide was hanging on the wall, and there was a refrigerator underneath it. Flowers were kept around the four corners of the room, which added beauty to the sitting room. At the opposite end was a demarcation, within which a door was placed. Joe opened it with a key, and what Bianca saw stunned her—packs of drinks stacked on top of each other, cartons of biscuits, and a lot of edible items.

After all the exhibition show, Joe took Bianca to a room where there was a big foam placed on the wall, a reading table near the bed, and a mirror above it. Creams and other items were located in a drawer, with just 1.5 meters between the reading table and the drawer.

"This is your room from now on," Joe said, with a smile on his face. He then brought out a key from the bunch of keys he was holding in his hand and gave it to her.

As she collected the key, she became emotionally depressed and started crying profusely. How would an orphan become the owner of a beautiful room? How would a beggar like me become someone who would be given a key to a room with all the embellishments placed at her disposal? When last was I given a bed on which to lie, and even though I was being given one, was it to be compared to this large one? This was all the drama going through her head. Joe didn't understand her and mistook her for being hungry, quickly calling her his servant's name.

"Lucky!" Joe shouted on top of his voice.

"Sir," Lucky answered.

"Is there any food in the kitchen?" Joe asked, patting Bianca's shoulder and stroking her hair.

"I don't think there is any food available for now" Lucky replied.

Lucky's statement made Joe a bit angry, but he controlled it.

"So, what were you really doing all this time while I was gone? That you can't prepare a snack even," Joe curtly said.

"Get down to the car and bring in the item placed in the booth. P.D.Q" Joe harshly said.

Lucky obeyed the instructions issued by Joe.

After Lucky had left, Joe held Bianca by her hands and took her to the bed, where he made her sit down on it. Joe brought out his handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned the tears dripping down from Bianca's eyes.

"Dear! Are you an ulcer patient?" inquired Joe briskly.

Bianca didn't answer, but she nodded her head in a way to show that she wasn't an ulcer patient.

"Then why are you crying?" Joe asked, still patting her shoulder.

Before Bianca could answer, a knock was heard on the door. Joe knew it was Lucky, so "bring it in," he ordered.

"Sorry, sir, I don't know the exact car you are referring to."

"Oh," Joe answered in a sarcastic manner, "you must be sick in the brain. So, you don't know the car I go out with on Tuesday?"

It was as if Lucky had been expecting the insult that was coming. He chuckled in a croaky voice and then pretended to be coughing in order not to get Joe's attention.

"Okay, sir," he responded, and he left.

Bianca stopped sobbing and stared at Joe in an appreciative manner, almost laughing, and then mumbled words together so quickly that no one could hear what she said.

"What are you saying?" Joe inquired, kissing the top of her head.

"Thank you, Joe, I appreciate your love and kindness to me," she said, almost in a whisper, "May God bless you and reward you."

"What have I done?"

"A lot JK… you are a divine helper."

"I have…." Joe got interrupted by the knock on the door and asked the person to come in. Lucky came back with the 'Ghana must go' bag, huffing and puffing and sweating profusely as if being beaten by someone and having to run for his dear life.

"What's wrong with you?" Joe asked.

"Nothing," Lucky responded, showing his muscle.

"JK, don't you know that I am very strong? In fact, I am the strongest man on earth."

"And you are sweating."

"No, it is because of the heat in the car. That car is a murderer." Lucky said, showing his muscles with exuberance, forcing Bianca to smile at his funny words.

"Don't mind him, dear, he's always at that," Joe briskly said, smiling all along.

"Is that all?" Lucky inquired, cleaning his sweat with his palm.

"No, you will help in opening up the bag, but before you do it. Close your eyes, Bianca,"

Bianca closed her eyes.

"She is deceiving you, JK; how would she close her eyes? And if there is a big snake in it, will she not run?" Lucky observed. "Use your hands and close it tightly."

Joe obeyed and closed her eyes with his hand, saying, "Open it now."

"Alright, JK, close it tight, very tight; don't allow her to see your fingers."