Chapter 3

Homeless

Brian's heart began to thump violently like a legion of soldiers were on parade. He nervously pressed down the receiver button. 

"Mr Macpherson!” the angry voice of his landlord boomed over the speaker almost instantly. Brian knew that tone, it meant trouble. 

“Good evening, Mr Howard,” he said, trying to sound confident. “I just found out…” 

“It's a good thing you've finally answered your phone,” the man carried on sarcastically, not letting Brian explain himself. “The tow truck is just pulling out of your apartment this minute. Do not bother returning home because all your worthless properties have been moved out and the locks changed." 

"Oh no! Please sir, don't do this to me. I'm just leaving the hosp..." 

"I warned you that the deadline for remittance was today at noon,” he fired on without listening to Brian's pleas, “and this is already evening. If you're seen anywhere near my apartment building, I'm calling the police to arrest you for breaking and entering. 

“Nonsense!” he concluded tersely, and the line went dead. 

Brian's fingers holding the phone began to shake, the phone slipped through and landed on his laps. His mind was preoccupied with a myriad of thoughts. 

When he left home that morning, he'd planned on asking Miss Charlie for a three-month advance payment from his salary to enable him to offset part of his rent. 

Mr Howard always demanded his money in full, however he was hoping for an extension of the days of grace until he got paid from his other two jobs to make it up. 

He never envisaged today's ordeal at the hotel. 

"Sir, we are at the end of Parklane Street and the next turn is a T-junction, which way is the direction to your house?" the cab driver asked after slowing down and Brian spoke no word. 

His question was greeted with more silence. The driver's furrow creased with concern. "Did the accident that cause his head injury also affect his hearing too?" he wondered. 

"Sir?" he repeated a little louder, watching him from the rear view mirror. 

Brian's face contorted with a mixture of pain and anxiety. The painkiller injection he was given earlier had started to wear off causing his head to feel a bit fuzzy, especially around the part of his face where the gash was. What he needed was a warm bed, something to eat, then take the next dose of medication. 

He shook his head slowly, somewhat regretting his insistence to get discharged from the hospital. 

"Are you alright?" 

"I really don't know," Brian finally said. "My landlord just evicted me and seized all my house properties." 

"Oh, that's a pity," he empathised. Then enquired, "But don't you know anybody who could accommodate you until you sort things out with him?" 

"I don't have anyone who would even let me pass the night," Brian admitted bitterly. 

The man gasped. "What about a fiance or girlfriend maybe? Surely you must have a lover." 

At the mention of the word girlfriend, Brian's heart twisted like someone pierced him with a dagger. The thought of Aleya's betrayal returned to taunt him. His stomach churned with jealousy and anger as he imagined what she and her lover might be doing at that moment. 

"The bitch left me for a rich and powerful man," he grumbled. His tone was so low that the driver could barely hear him. 

Or maybe it was due to the noise from an impatient Jeep driver honking behind them when the traffic lights showed green at the intersection. 

The cab man pulled over to the side and turned off the ignition. The driver of the Jeep cussed at them. 

"She broke up with me this morning." Brian spoke out but his voice broke off as another wave of pain hit him. 

When he spoke again, his tone was levelled. "Please turn around and take me back to the hospital. I want to make a few calls.” 

The driver gave him an understanding nod and started the ignition. 

Brian picked up his phone, pondering how best to broach the subject of advance payment to Freya. 

Just as he was about to dial her line, a call came into his phone. 

It was Melvin. 

Brian hastily pressed the receiver button. "Hello Vin!" 

"Thank God you're awake!" Melvin exhaled with relief. "I was worried that someone else would answer the phone." 

"Seb told me how you saved my life. You're a lifesaver, my friend," Brian remarked, trying to force a chuckle amidst his pain. 

"How are you feeling now, man?" 

"Worse," he admitted truthfully. 

"What? Didn't they administer treatment on you? I thought your friend took care of the hospital bill?" Melvin asked quizzically. 

Brian groaned. “It's not about the hospital bill this time." 

"What is it about?" 

Melvin wondered whether Brian knew about the conversation with his girlfriend. He hoped not, because it would shatter him. 

Brian heaved heavily and blurted, "My landlord has ejected me!" 

"Oh shit!" 

"He confiscated my house properties and warned me not to come anywhere near his apartment building." 

"That's ridiculous!” Melvin exclaimed. “What about your personal belongings?" 

“Seized too. And as we speak, I'm in a cab heading back to the hospital hoping to call the manager from there and plead for an advance payment,” he intimated him. 

Melvin went quiet for a few seconds. 

His silence told Brian something was wrong. 

"You're not saying anything, Vin. Don't you think it's a good idea?" 

Melvin hesitated, then cleared his throat. "Miss Charlie called an emergency meeting shortly after I returned to work from the hospital. She addressed the incident that happened and consequently instructed the secretary, Dahlia, to send an email to you stating that your appointment as a staff of The Presidential Villa Hotel has been terminated." 

"Argh!" Brian cried. A bead of sweat trickling down his forehead. “An email?” It had not occurred to him to check his messages or emails since waking up. 

"I'm so sorry, Brian. I should have called earlier but I was worried that it might not be a good time." 

“What am I going to do now?” Brian thought, his face crestfallen. 

"I thought you'd already received the email,” Melvin went on when Brian said nothing. “I'm truly very sorry.” 

"It's okay, Vin. It's not your fault.”

“I haven't opened my mailbox or checked my messages since I woke up,” Brian explained. 

“Hmm,” Melvin exhaled quietly. 

Brian sensed there was more than Melvin was letting out. He asked, "Are you alright? I hope Freya didn't take it out on you too?" 

Melvin sighed. 

"Let me not bug you with any more bad news. You've had enough trouble for one day, my friend." 

"No please, Vin, it can't get any worse than this. Please tell me she didn't sack you too." 

“Not really. She just instructed the accountant to slash my salary by half." 

"Bloody hell!" Brian slammed his fist into the car seat, it was all he could do to fight the anger rising inside him. “That's not fair.” 

"I think it is," reflected Melvin calmly, "considering that she initially wanted to suspend me for six months without payment."

"All because you helped me?!" Brian asked rhetorically. "I knew she'd do something sinister. I just wish I hadn't passed out and you weren't obligated to take me to the hospital." 

"Oh come off it, Bri, don't talk like that.  Freya has always had it in for us. She just found the right excuse to act." 

Brian groaned inwardly. 

Melvin quickly added, "I wish I could come by to see you. Unfortunately, I've got to work a double shift tonight as part of my punishment. I'll drop by tomorrow morning after I close," Melvin promised. 

"Thank you, Melvin. I won't forget all your sacrifice," he said in an emotion-laden voice. 

"Do look after yourself buddy!" 

After Melvin's call, Brian reluctantly went through his emails and saw the sack email. 

Then he glanced through his messages: two messages were from DSTV and N*****x respectively reminding him that his subscription had expired, then another message from the bridal vendor he'd contracted for an engagement ring for Aleya saying his order had arrived for pick up.

The last message however came from an unknown number. Brian was about to open it when a notification from W******p with Aleya's number popped up.

"We're here sir," the cab driver announced as he pulled into the hospital parking lot, interrupting Brian from reading Aleya's chat. 

"Oh, how much is your fare please?"

"No additional charges needed. Just get well soon," the man said with a grin. 

Brian's heart did a tingle. He couldn't thank the kind man enough. 

"Thanks for your kind understanding. I'm grateful." 

He stumbled inside the hospital reception, anxious to read Aleya's message. 

A decision he regretted almost immediately.

Because she'd just uploaded a picture of herself in bed with Felix and captioned it: "The best weekend ever." They were both lying on a daybed by the swimming pool facing each other and smiling contentedly, their legs were crisscrossed wearing swimming suits. Then she highlighted the picture and wrote, "This is how a real man spoils his babe, loser!"