We got to Ajah around 8 P.M. that night. Dracula asked Bayo to stop a few meters from Ajah market. ‘Buy...buy...fri...fried yam and...and...akara,’ Dracula said, handing a one-thousand-naira bill to the back. Joseph snatched it out of his hands. ‘Buy...buy...for...for all!’‘Okay, boss,’ Joseph said and got out of the jeep. He disappeared into the crowd and soon returned with a black polythene bag in his hand. The smell of bean cakes ran through the car the moment he came in. Bayo started the jeep and we moved on. Tolu missed the way to the building twice before he eventually found the road to the street. The building was the only house at the end of the street, but it was fenced and secured with a gate. Bayo stopped the jeep in front of the gate and Joseph the Brute jumped out, brandishing his pistol around as if another gang waited in the surrounding bush. Tolu came down and unlocked the gate and Bayo drove us through the gate. He parked in the middle of the compound.The headligh

'Who is Paul?' The inspector asked, with the black eyes still on me.'I am Paul,' I said. I didn't recognize my voice; it was low and frightened, and I felt shame for revealing my fear to him. The inspector stood in front of me. I smelled beer in his breath, and I wondered if it was from a hangover. He stared at me for a couple of seconds longer and I shifted my eyes to his middle again, seeing the pistol tied to the side of his hip.'So, you are Paul?' he asked, and licked his lips. 'I heard you are stubborn. But as a policeman it is my job to deal with hardened, stubborn criminals and believe me, after eighteen years in the force I know how to do that. It's what I do every day; I deal with criminals, and I love the job. In fact, I was born for this job.' He paused and I imagined it was to allow his words to have the proper effect on me.'You don't want to be stubborn or difficult with me or with my friends here,' he said, 'because you will regret it.'He stepped closer and his sta

'Leave the road,' I shouted and jumped into the grass again, dragging Mr. Potter along. Tolu scrambled after us and we ran through the grass blindly, moving away from the road. The grasses' sharp edges cut my arms and my face, and the ground got softer by the minute. 'We can't escape,' Tolu said behind us. 'They know we hadn't gone far.' I stopped and turned. Mr. Potter, walked like a wound-up toy, and he bumped into me and stopped; his eyes roamed over me with no recognition or understanding. 'Shh,' I whispered. 'Let's check which direction they are heading.' We heard no sound at first—except the sound of the wind dancing with the grasses—but the sound of the jeep soon overshadowed it. Then I heard the voices a little later, faint at first, but they grew louder and nearer. 'We have to go slowly,' I whispered. 'Running will give our position away.' 'Are we running to London?' Mr. Potter asked. 'Do you know the way to London?' I turned to Tolu. 'Get us out of here; this is yo

I sank rapidly until my legs hit the bottom of the river. The current pulled me away and the thought of drowning crushed everything else out of my mind and caused me to beat the water frantically. My hands spread around grabbing at the water and catching nothing. My lungs screamed in pain and my muscles felt as if two horses were pulling them apart. My head broke out of the water at last, and I took an automatic deep breath, easing the pain in my chest. I rubbed the water off my face and saw Tolu and Mr. Potter standing on the bank, their clothes dripping water. 'Run,' Tolu cried. 'Run.' I turned. Joseph and Bayo had reached the other side of the river. Joseph stopped and raised his hand. I waddled faster, my heart beating rapidly. 'Don't shot them, you baboon,' Eric's voiced cried somewhere far and disappeared in the cry of the gun shot. I heard the slugs zipped pass in the water. I came out of the river and into the grasses, just about the time I heard two loud splashes from th

Joseph and Bayo rushed me as if their lives depended on who got to me first. Joseph shoved my head down and rammed his knee on my back while Bayo packed my legs together, his rough hands holding them in a vice's grip. I stayed in that position, making no effort to come off their grip. I felt warm all over and my heartbeat slowed to a regular beat.'To the...the wall,' Dracula shouted. 'His...his back to...to...to the wall.'Joseph jerked his leg away from my back and Bayo threw my legs into the air and they fell on Mr. Potter's motionless body. Joseph dragged my arm, pulling my body along. He brought me close to the wall and stood between the wall and my back. Then he held my hands, twisting them upward on my back. 'Don't struggle, or I break your arms,' he croaked into my ears. Bayo clamped my legs to the floor again and Dracula bent over me, pointing the snake down at my face. The snake hissed and more slime dropped from its mouth. I saw the inside of the mouth, the pinkish and fu