Fanny was unhesitant, after sliding out the credit card. His eyes gleamed and his jaw sparkled.

A beam of smiles clouded his face before he flashed the credit card at me.

Instantly my avarice increased at the sight of the credit card, and I winked nervously, wished he would gift me the card without conditions.

“This is a credit card for half a million dollars. It is for you,” he sounded, with an emphatic chuckle that sounded from him.

I was abandoned to doubt and argument within me. I gave a half-smile before a lopsided grin. My cheeks couldn’t stop curving. My hands fidgeted. I swallowed hard and winked more than a million times. This must be a dream! I scratched my eyes and confirmed that reality was actually smiling at me. It wasn’t a dream after all. A credit card for half a million dollars all for me! Fortune has fallen down to me. Mom, wherever you are start girding your loins to recover, because not only will I sort out your medical bills, also our family status is about to change for good. No more poverty; I thought, smiling cheek to cheek at the entire Fanny’s.

While lost in the shallowness of my thought, I went on my knees, shut my eyes and started rendering all manner of appreciation. I eulogized Fanny Luis and felt within my head that I had emptied my praises.

“Oh thank you, so much, Sir! This is just an answered prayer. What would I have done without you? You are indeed known in Rio Hondo for your generosity. You are the savior of the poor. I can’t describe my joy over what you just did but I want you to know that the God of the poor will pay you in hundred folds. You will continually be the richest man in Rio Hondo…” my voice hung over the sitting room amidst tears.

I was yet speaking when Fanny interjected, “May I know what you do for a living, dear? He demanded still holding unto the credit card. At the time his mouth that had curved into a smile had given way for his hardened expression.

That question spiked my heart in such a trice that I wondered from where came the sweat that trickled from my armpit.

Was I ruffled or what?

I exhaled fearfully once I gazed upon his sullen countenance. “I am a poor vegetable seller,” I replied coldly and bowed my head in shame. “Poor vegetable seller”, he retorted with a grotty scowl hanging on his face, “How do you intend to pay back half a million dollars by selling cheap, dirty vegetables, uh?”

Those words by the billionaire tingled me so badly, that I searched for saliva to swallow down my throat. My excitement had over shadowed my thinking faculty that I forgot I was going to repay the loan.

What even came over me to think that I would be able to pay back half a million dollars by selling vegetables, even if I sell all the vegetable in the world, and given more than a century, I didn’t think I would be able to repay back that money; it was just too much for poor Melissa to repay.

“Speak up, young lady!” he barked and his jaw set before he narrowed his eyes at me.

At that, the girls and the maiden were staring at me with bated breath, save Eva, who gave me a morbid stare.

I flinched and my excitement was nowhere to be found within me. Reality left my head hovering.

“I…I…” I stuttered, smacked my lips and said yet further, “I am eager to be your servant or be your slave for life as repayment for that money. Please. I don’t mind being enslaved to you as a maid without salary, Sir,” I uttered, still bowed my head.

“No, no,” he jerked his head in disapproval, “I am surrounded by maidens, security and slaves. I have no need for them anymore. Listen up, young girl, I can’t risk my half a million dollars, my hard earned money on the altar of generosity. You have to figure out ways to repay me or I will figure it out for you,” his voice beamed at me.

Quickly I shook my head, “I am ready for anything Sir, anything sir,” I repeated, still niggled by the fact that the money wasn’t yet mine.

Did I actually hear myself? Anything? Hmmm.

“Security,” Fanny snapped, “Bring out my adorable son, Brian,” he commanded and held a huge smile. The smile would have been contagious if not for the situation at hand.

I bowed my head as I was still on my knees, lost in my imagination of what he intended to do, when the rustling sound of chains being dragged on the floor ravaged the entire place. Soon after the party of security dashed out to fetch his son, I heard voices.

“Out! Out! Now!”

That was the shrieking yell of men, who seemed to be struggling with something and yelling at someone.

“Out! Out! Now I said!”

“Please don’t whip him! Drag him out gently,” Fanny commanded yet further.

The yell came again, and I raised my head wondering what was happening. I thought the billionaire ordered the security to bring out Brian, his adorable son, so what was keeping them and what on earth would make Fanny give out such orders if his son was sane.

Suddenly one of the securities ran out and whispered in the ears of Fanny.

“If he refuses to wear his cloths, then whip him and drag him out!” the billionaire beamed and shot his reddened, angry eyes at Brian’s chamber before returning his gaze on me.

Kate raised a furrowed brow before protesting, “But father that will not be nice. I suggest they take it easy on him and not whip him. Brian will wear his cloths,” she said and almost became all tears.

Those words tinkled in my ear. Whip? He refuses to wear clothes? Why would he refuse to wear his cloths? Why would they whip him? And who is actually this Brian.

Those questions dazed me so much that I couldn’t wait to see what the billionaire was up to.

Finally the billionaire’s order was carried out. Brian refused to wear his cloths.

“Ah! Ah! Ah! Aye!”

He groaned and wailed at the tops of his voice and I perceived they were whipping him now.

But why would a rightful thinking person refuse to wear his cloths? And why would they whip a grown up in his right senses. I was beginning to suspect mental derangement.

“Ah! Ah! Ah! Aye!”

The wailing ravaged the entire mansion, and Opula was forced to go on her knees and pled on his behalf.

“Father, please, I beg of you. Have mercy upon Brian you know his condition. If they continue to whip him with such callousness, they will hurt him and he doesn’t need to appear distraught since today is his day. I suggest we opt for gentler way of bringing him out…”

Fanny interrupted her, “Enough of that!” his voice frisked. “That boy has cost me a lot pain and impairment. He has embarrassed me before Rio Hondo. He has dragged the name of my family in the mud and if he is not careful, I will disown him and send him to the home for the insane. Yes I can do that!”

Fanny ground his jaw as I could see thunder and brimstone etched on his face. His expression hardened as he gazed upon Opula, who was still on her knees.

Opula bowed her head, “No father you would do no such thing,” decorum possessed her voice “Permit me to go right away and bring him peacefully,” she demanded.

Fanny gazed upon her with a mesh scowl on his face, as though he was reminding her that he would inflict more annoying pain on Brian if he should refused to come out with her.

“You may go and bring him if only he will cooperate with you”, he ordered.

At the time, the securities were still struggling with him and whipping the hell out of him. Brian’s heavy wailing and gnashing of teeth hung over us. And once Opula got there, every struggle came to an abrupt end and the wailing stopped. The whipping paused and gently she came out with Brian, and stood holding him by the arm.

The image struck in my head; those thick, pink, kiss-it lips, watery, blue eyes that smeared like the sky above, body that seemed skinny yet with traces of muscles and ridges he earned at the gym. Yet with those traces of cuteness, he was still looking unkempt with scraggly unshaven beards and saliva gathered around his mouth, just like the other day at the market.

I shouted, “You!” I pointed at him and felt like demanding for repayment of my vegetables which he squandered at the market

Everyone glared at me, and Fanny shot his frown at me in bewilderment.

“Wait a minute. Have you met my son before? Do you know Brian Fanny before now? “Fanny queried me and shot an obnoxious star ate me.

I pointed at him and broke down in tears. “This is the same mad boy that ate my raw vegetables at the market while I was fast asleep! It is him!” I wailed.

“You keep shut!” Opula barked at me, “How dare you refer to my only brother as mad, uh? What insolence,” her jaw clenched.

Fanny interrupted with a chuckle.“Steady on, daughter,” he said to Opula, and then burned when he flashed his scowled face at me. “He had a huge grin and continued, “For the record, his name is Brian Fanny, my only son. He became mysteriously mentally deranged and we as a family can’t sit back and watch him deteriorate and live an abnormal life that is why we are trying to give him the best out of life. Your mother is ill at the hospital. She needs half a million dollars to survive. My son is mentally deranged. He needs a companion to keep him warm at night and take care of him whenever he needs a heart and a hand. My lawyer is here,” he pointed to a lanky, tall, ponytail, Caucasian young man in twenties. “Barrister Coleman can you advance to the front please,” he beckoned and kept at his grin.

The barrister advanced just then and brought out some documents from his brief case.

“Melissa,” Fanny called yet again “You will sign to a contract marriage with my son this minute. You will become his legally married wife and be bound by the contract, and in return, I will give you this credit card of half a million dollars, which I believe will sort out your mother’s medical bills. He repeated himself more emphatically, “I will give you the money but you must sign a contract marriage with my mad son.”

I swallowed hard and rolled my tongue within my mouth to swallow hard yet again but couldn’t find any saliva. My entire body shook in fear and disgust. Balls of sweat had wet my brow and delivered chilled nervousness across my skin.

Me? Melissa? A virgin? What in the name of thunder would make me sign to a contract marriage with a mad man! What were they thinking? Were they thinking I would jump into the agreement because I was a poor vegetable seller? Or did they believe I would have no option than to accept the marriage because my mother was dying in the hospital?

I looked at Brian and I became even more irritated; his hair had turned gray, unkempt and thong-like. His hands were scraggly, grisly and beards unshaven, all over his mouth was saliva and each time he smiled, his once-white dentition flashed at me. The blisters and reddened fresh wounds on his body were in their numbers. His cloths were torn, and rumpled as rags. He often gave a toothy smile and scratched his beards and hair, even slapped his cheeks at interval.

Obviously this boy was violently mad and this rich family wanted me to sign to a horrible contract marriage because they knew I was earnestly in need of money.

No. it can’t be!

I raised my head confidently and said, “Sir, with all due respect I am not interested.

All eyes flashed at me…

I returned to the hospital all tears and sucked into my gloom. My head heaved upon me and I felt withdrawn from this world. What was that? Can somebody remind me what just happened at the Fanny’s mansion?

Am I dreaming or what? God forbid that I marry a mad man. How could they be so cruel and heartless? They knew I was in dire need of the money. They perceived the money meant the whole world to me right now and the only way they could rip me off it was to give me the condition of marrying their mad son.

Who does that? Can you imagine! I can’t picture myself settling down for a mad man all in the name of marrying a billionaire’s son. I was often niggled by its impossibility whenever I thought of it.

Mother’s health was plunging me into all this. I didn’t want my mother to die. Neither did I have money for burial. I was naïve and rudderless at the moment. I would be twenty two in few days and the last factor on my mind was marriage.

What would become of me now?

“You could still scuttle back to the Fanny’s and sign the contract marriage.” A voice said in my head.

“No. No” I mumbled within myself, rejecting the idea of returning to the Fanny’s villa to sign the contract marriage agreement. If I could remember the last time I peered between my legs I was still a virgin. I looked forward to the day I would fall in love, with a handsome looking, responsible man with his sanity intact and before that I would have been through with college.

I couldn’t imagine myself opening my legs for a madman. Oh my God. How would I survive staying in the same room with a mad man, who could bite me to death the next minute? I could feel the palpitation going in my heart and I could tell I was not fated to be married to a mad man.

His unkempt looks were still in my thought. The saliva that smeared around his mouth and unshaven beards still offended my decency. Hmm! no! There must be a way out.

A contract marriage wasn’t the way out and would never be.

I would speak sense into the doctor and he would treat mother on credit, later I will work hard and pay up; I thought.

Did I actually hear myself? Will I be able to pay back half a million dollars? Is it with the dirty looking vegetables I sell?

“Oh my God! I am stuck! No!”

I was swallowed in my predicament when the door creaked, opened, and the doctor pranced into the ward hastily.

I looked at his lab coat and the badge pinned on his chest and I saw his name; Dr. Peter Northwick. He looked elegantly charismatic and easy-going, but inwardly he could be a hard nut to crack.

“Oh Melissa, you are back right on time today” his voice sounded optimistic, and I wanted to take advantage of his contagious smile to demand he treat mother on credit.

“Yes, Dr. Peter,” I said calmly and lowered my gaze, not interested to lock eyes with him each time he dared to meet my gaze.

I wanted to speak yet further when he interposed me, “Do you have the half a million dollars now?”

I kept silent as the wind and fondled with my fingers. Would he ever be smart to know that this girl fondling with her fingers couldn’t afford a square meal let alone half a million dollars?

“Melissa! Am I not talking to you?” he let an emphatic tone and his expression hardened.

I cast a pitiable look at mother, who was on live support now. I stole a glance at mother and wished the doctor could follow my gaze and see enough reason that poor woman shouldn’t ‘kick the bucket.’

Doctor peter ground his jaw at me; indeed he was upset now. “Well I can see you don’t have the money. I believe you can see your mother’s condition; she is on life support. Do you know the meaning of life support?” he queried with his face peered at me as though he was my class teacher.

I raised a furrowed brow at him and forced a nod.

His lips curled when he said, “It means your mother is an inch away from death. I gave you twenty four hours. And by the time now it is eight hours to twenty four hours. As soon as it is time, I will disconnect the life support mechanism and she will breathe her last. That will be her abrupt end. I don’t think you know what autosomal dominant polycystic is.”

I fell on my knees. My eyes swam with tears as I pressed my lips together to fight back sob.

“Please doctor, I beg of you. Attend to my mother on credit. I promise to work hard and pay up later,” I wailed, and clenched on his feet.

“Can you hear yourself? If I may ask; may I know what you do for a living?” he queried, and gave me anxious glare.

“I didn’t want to reply him initially but for the anxiety hanging in his eyes.

“I – I” I stuttered, sniffed repeatedly and got swallowed in shame and peril. Unhesitant, I mumbled, “I am a vegetable seller.”

“Or did you forget to add poor to it? Do you think I don’t know you ar the poor vegetable seller at Rio Hondo Market? Listen up Melissa, or whatever you call yourself. You can’t afford half a million dollars even if you and your generations sell vegetables till the end of time.”

Those words by the doctor ravaged my heart so greatly that I covered my face in shame. Most of the horrible words spoken to me by people often resurrected forgotten nightmares about my poverty.

Indeed the poor were limited in this life and I have experienced it.

My lower lip trembled as I said coldly, “Ok doctor, please attend to my dying mother. Let her just stay alive while I and my generation work for you till the end of time without any salary. Please,” I begged and fell down to his legs.

“You must be insane,” he pulled out his feet from my grip. “Let go off my feet. You have twenty four hours! Twenty four hours!” he beamed and gave me a dirty look.

The door slammed – he had left as thunder.

I wailed, carried mother’s palms into mine as my tears trickled and dropped into her palms.