Chapter 13

“Yes, that’s him,” the brunette lady said as Mr. Matthew and the other policeman came closer. Mrs. Lupita and Mrs. Grace both came out of Mr. Matthew’s car and walked towards the policemen.

Mr. Matthew gasped in horror when he found out what was happening. Somehow, the brunette lady had managed to take pictures of him when he was paying the man in grey hoodie the money in exchange for the purse.

“Sir, please can you explain this?” The policeman who was standing beside the brunette lady said as he showed the photos which were on the brunette lady’s phone to Mr. Matthew.

Mr. Matthew looked at the pictures silently and thoughtfully as he tried to form up a good storyline in his mind. Mrs. Lupita and Mrs. Grace had already gotten to where he was by then.

“Oh, such a kind gesture,” Mrs. Lupita started which made everyone turn to look at her.

“Excuse me ma'am?” the policeman with the photos asked, he didn’t understand what Mrs. Lupita said and wanted her to expanciate.

“It’s such a kind gesture that this here young man had to pay the thief some money in order to get the purse, the thief might have realized that it was no longer necessary to hold the purse once he had the cash in hand, such a kind gesture,” Mrs. Lupita said and touched Mr. Matthew’s shoulder amidst smiling. Mr. Matthew was dumbfounded but made sure he didn’t show it.

“Is that what happened there young man?” the second policeman asked Mr. Matthew. Mr. Matthew nodded.

“Yes…yes, exactly. That’s exactly what happened sirs,” he said and handed the phone back to the brunette lady who stood there looking at him shocked.

“No, not at all, that was not what happened, I saw it with my own two eyes,” she said as she shot Mr. Matthew an unbelievable look. She wished she had video recorded what happened instead of taking photos.

Mr. Matthew shook his head and disagreed with the woman. This got her furious. She shouted at the policemen and showed them the photos. The policemen looked at themselves, then at the brunette lady and Mr. Matthew.

Mrs. Grace decided to step in, as the brunette lady was making a fuss and delaying them. “I think I know this woman,” she started as she brought out her phone and played a video for the policemen to see. Mr. Matthew stared in shock as he saw what his mother was about to do.

The policemen looked at the video on Mrs. Grace’s phone. It was that same video of Mr. Matthew on the News O’Clock channel. His mother had managed to save it in her phone.

“Ooh, that’s gonna hurt,” the second policeman said as he looked on and watched as the brunette lady jumped on Mr. Matthew’s back and they both fell into the swimming pool. The video then ended and Mrs. Grace put her phone back in her handbag.

“I see what’s going on here,” the older policeman, who had brought Mr. Matthew out of his car, said as he put his hands around Mr. Matthew and the brunette lady’s shoulders. “This two here are lovebirds but don’t just know it yet,” he said and smiled while looking at the two people he was squishing under his large buoyant arms.

The brunette lady tried to protest but her words were drowned in the loud booming laugh of the policeman. The other policeman just chuckled and seeing the matter was not a big one, went inside the police car to wait for his partner. Mrs. Grace smiled.

“Exactly,” Mrs. Lupita said and laughed along with the policeman. Mr. Matthew looked at her and frowned. “Mrs. Lupita had better not make things worse,” he thought to himself.

“Ok, you know what we’ll do?” The policeman started as he paused and looked thoughtful, “I know a guy who works at a big restaurant, I can get him to set up a table for you two for free, you know, dinner for two,” he said as he smiled.

“No sir, I don’t think that will be necessary,” Mr. Matthew tried to object but was cut short by the policeman.

“Nonsense! You two lovebirds need to get along with each other,” he said and squished them tighter.

“We are not lovebirds,” the brunette lady said as she shot Mr. Matthew a harsh stare, Mr. Matthew stared back at her harshly.

“You can’t say no, if not I would arrest you both for delaying an officer and preventing me from doing my duty,” the policeman said and laughed. He then removed his hands from both their shoulders and scribbled something on two papers before handing one to each of them.

“That’s the address, see you this evening,” he said as he turned to enter the police car amidst some laughter. “Oh, and one more thing, it’s either you both have this date in a comfy eatery, or in a cell, I know a guy that can set up a table for two in the police cell back at the station,” he said as he laughed and entered the police car. His partner laughed and then drove off.

Mrs. Grace and Mrs. Lupita both heaved a sigh of relief then turned their gaze towards the brunette lady. Truly she was beautiful, but also troublesome. The brunette lady frowned at them and walked away.

Mr. Matthew looked at his mother, then at Mrs. Lupita before turning around towards his car. He really needed to relax on his small bed.

~~~

Mr. Matthew found the seat reserved for him and the brunette lady in no time. He sat down and adjusted his tie. His mother had chosen a suit for him to wear that evening for that occasion. Some minutes later, the brunette lady walked towards Mr. Matthew and sat on the second seat. She still wore the same clothe that she did earlier that day. A large brown coat with a black inner t-shirt on black jeans.

Once the both of them were seated, a band came to their side and started to play smooth romantic tunes on their violin to lighten up the mood. One of the band members kept a rose flower in the jar of toothpicks that stayed on the table.

“Hi, I'm Matthew,” Mr. Matthew said as he tried to start up a conversation. She gave him a bad look and then brought out a book from one of the pockets of her coat and started reading it. Mr. Matthew frowned.

The waiter came towards them and handed them a menu card each. Mr. Matthew looked at the waiter. It was the same policeman from the afternoon; the older one. He laughed heartily at Mr. Matthew’s surprised expression. The brunette lady continued reading her book as she remained unfazed.

“Oh, so that time when you said you knew a guy, you meant you, right?” Mr. Matthew said as he folded his arms.

“Yeah well, I’m a policeman at day time and I take night shifts here. My wife is heavy with a baby, and so cannot work,” he said and laughed again. Mr. Matthew nodded.

“It’s just that I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he said as his eyes navigated through the menu card.

“How would you? When you stay cooped up in your house all day, it’s either school where you work or your house where you stay all day,” Mr. Matthew heard the brunette lady say. He dropped the menu card and looked at her. Her book covered her face.

“How did she know I am a teacher?” Mr. Matthew thought. He told the policeman what he wanted as he handed the menu card back to him. The policeman smiled and turned to the brunette lady.

“The usual,” she said, still facing the book she was reading. The man smiled and then walked away. The violinists continued to play sweetly.

“How do you know me or where I work?” Mr. Matthew asked hotly.

“I don’t know you, I managed to drop off my cousin at Milton High and saw you there, so that’s how I knew you were a teacher,” she said as she put her book down to look at Mr. Matthew’s eyes.

“Ok, well, I'm Matthew, Matthew Bale,” he said as he relaxed back on the seat.

She looked at him for a moment before speaking. “Phoebe Durns,” she said and picked up her book to start reading. Mr. Matthew put his hand on her book, stopping her from pulling it up from the table.

“I’m sorry about the library incident Phoebe,” he started.

She shook his hand off the book and continued reading. “And the birthday party?” she asked.

“No, I am not apologizing for that, you bumped into me, and jumped on my back,” Mr. Matthew said angrily. Phoebe dropped her book on the table with a thud.

“I don’t think I did, and I jumped on your back because you poured your juice on me,” she said angrily.

“You spilled your drink on me first,” Mr. Matthew said and frowned. He didn’t like people who couldn’t admit their faults.

“It was a mistake, and you know it!” Phoebe said hotly. Mr. Matthew’s frown deepened.

“If it was a mistake, why didn’t you apologize?” he said as he adjusted himself on his seat.

“You stepped on me,” Phoebe said angrily as she stared under the table. Mr. Matthew apologized quickly. He might have stepped on her when he was adjusting himself. She gave him a harsh look before stepping back on him.

“Hey! What was that for?!” Mr. Matthew asked angrily.

“You did it on purpose,” Phoebe said and scoffed. Mr. Matthew fumed. He then stepped on her leg again, a little harder this time.

She gasped and stepped on his leg again. He tried to step on hers but she had withdrawn her leg to her side of the chair, so Mr. Matthew pushed the table forward and stepped on her leg when he found it before quickly withdrawing his leg. The violinists continued playing sweetly.

Phoebe pushed the table back at Mr. Matthew, squeezing his stomach against  his chair and stepped roughly on his leg twice. Mr. Matthew was about to retaliate but stopped when the policeman came with their food.

He dropped it on their table and smiled at the both of them. Mr. Matthew rushed his food and after thanking the policeman, walked out of the restaurant. Phoebe sneered.

Mr. Matthew entered his car and drove home. He checked his time. It was 9:42pm. It was too late to visit Miss Stacy now. He sighed as he parked his car in his house.