A few days to start our final exam, Scott and I are just coming back from school when we come across my dad's political party doing a campaign rally for him for the election.

I can't believe a lot of people would be at his back for him to win this election. This is crazy.

As they are parading in the street of Ikoyi, some are dancing and singing to the beat of drums and other instruments. Almost everyone put on t-shirts with a custom picture of dad and the logo of his party while they are all holding and displaying his posters.

This has also resulted in some hold-ups for vehicles on the way and my car is not an exception. We just have to wait till the road is clear for us to move.

"Your dad has already won the election, I can bet it," Scott reacts as we can't stop feeding our eyes through the closed window glasses by our sides.

"Yeah," I reply briefly with a lot on my mind.

"You do not seem happy," Scott says as he stares at me.

"That's because I'm not,"

"Come on guy! You should be happy for your dad, it's a great opportunity for him," He advises and I let out a sigh. I know Scott is saying all this because of what he thought about my dad, the same way I did before knowing some shocking stuff about him.

"What if he is not the right person to win this election?" I reply rhetorically.

"What made you think that way?" He throws back a question at me in confusion.

"With what I have been finding out about my dad, I don't think he is selfless," I try to express myself. "He can't...be...self-sacrificing to others or strangers except for his family,"

"You mean he is going there just for him and his family?"

"Exactly, take a look at Tracy and..." I wanted to say Jeff but I paused immediately  I recall I still do not want to disclose to anybody that he is a drug dealer. "I told you why she is with my dad,"

"Of course," He admits.

"What do you think?" I inquire for his advice.

"You have always had a big heart Mike and I can see how hard it is for you about your dad," He begins to say. "But you have to keep doing the right thing no matter what. This country and every state in it needs good and selfless leaders. We all make our choices including all these folks rooting for your dad but sometimes we don't even know what our choices are. We don't know if they are good or bad, we are just trying, being humans and if there is one person that has the opportunity like you to reveal a bad one for us, it's still worth it for people not to suffer for another four years," He adds and I take a deep breath as his words touched my heart.

"Thanks for this," I mutter to him, gulping.

"Anything guy," He responds and holds my shoulder. "And I will always be there for you," He adds and I nod okay with a smile.

Then we heard a horn behind us and facing front, I can see the way is open and other vehicles before us had moved. I start the engine and I continue driving.

"So I'm thinking we should have some time together with the babes before our exam officially starts," Scott suggests. "Like double dates,"

"Well, Ren and I are not dating," I roll my eyes.

"I know, even though you sound jealous,"

"Jealous? No way," I denied. "I will ask her tho,"

"Great," He says.

"So tell me what has been going on between you guys," I inquire while focusing my eyes on the road.

"Everything is just perfect," He is saying and I cut in.

"Says a guy who has fallen in love again," I say and we both laugh.

That is the only difference between us, Scott had been in serious relationships that had led to breakups before heeding my advice of having short-term relationships while I have never been in a serious one before and do not fall in love except with Karen.

"You can say that again," He agrees. "And it might break our rule if it continues going this way,"

"Wawu!" I react, raising my brows in surprise and we both giggle.

*****

While I was having my ice bath after I came back from the studio, I keep thinking about how I'm gonna get into whatever happened between Ren's dad and mine. I do not trust dad, nor believe what Karen's dad told her.

Scott motivating me earlier to do the right thing made me wanna get into the matter, besides my assumption could be wrong, so I need proof or evidence.

This leads to me now in my bathrobe, sitting on my comfy chair,  texting Jeffrey on Whatsapp.

Hey, anything you know about the printed photo stuck in dad study's vase?

He is online and waiting for him to reply to my text, something else comes to my mind.

I dial mom's number. It rings for some moment before she picks it up.

"Hey, Mike," She greets.

"Hey, mom, what's up?"

"I'm good and you?"

"Same here," I answer. "I would like to ask some questions about dad?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Sure mom."

"Okay, I'm all ears,"

"What was dad job before you relocated to the UK?"

"He was the security man at a jewelry store back then,"

"Was it the man who owned the store in jail?"

"Of course not, based on what I heard, your father's senior colleague was the one in prison and that was the reason your father quit the job,"

"What did he do next after that?"

"Well, a lot of stuff I can't start to mention. Why are you asking all this?"

"I'm just curious,"

"My son just called me to ask some unnecessary questions when I thought he willingly called to say hi to me," She teases and I chuckle a little.

"Come on mummy, you know I love you,"

"I love you more baby, talk to you later?" She says.

"Sure," I say and hang up.

I let out a sigh and notice some notifications have popped in on my phone including Jeff's text message.

I don't know anything about it. Whatever your dad told you is nothing but the truth, trust me.

"Ah ah," I laugh sarcastically, rolling my eyes. Why would I even believe that?

Thinking about what next to do, I hear a sudden knock on my door.

"Come in," I say, and the door is opened to see Karen stepping in.

"Hey, babe," I say as she gently shut the door and walk close to me.

"Hey," She replies to me. "The chief asked me to check on you," She adds and sits beside me on the couch while I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

My dad asked her that.

"That is so...strange...of him," I react and she shrugs in whatever.

"Did he ask you any questions?"

"Yeah, he commended me about my job and asked me some normal questions,"

What the hell? I wanted to ask what the question was all about but she might be suspicious of me.

"He asked me about my parents," She proceeds as if she could read my mind and I gasp in shock while she suddenly furrows her brows in confusion.

"Wait, did you tell him about my dad?" She adds, frowning at me.

"Of course not," I answer and she lets out a deep breath.

"I don't want anyone else to know, please," She declares nervously. I hold her shoulder in relief.

"Trust me," I assured her, looking into her eyes and she nods okay.

"So you lied to him?" I inquire.

"I told him my parents stay in Abuja," She answered and I nod okay. Why would dad ask her after I told him that Ren's dad is the man in the photo? I need to get to the bottom of this matter to know what exactly happened between them.

But what am I going to do next? Probably sneaking into his study to find anything that could help my investigation.

"So are you not gonna join them for supper?" She asks and it makes me snap out of my thought.

"No," I answer. "I will rather have it with you,"