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I looked into Talatu’s big round eyes as we stood in front of her father’s house on Tinna Street in the city of Jos and my heart bleed. ‘Don’t do this,’ I said. ‘Please, don’t do this.’ Talatu sighed and rolled her eyes in a way that says, you just don't get it, do you? ‘There is no point going over this again,’ she said. ‘It’s out of my hands. His parents have met mine and they have agreed to go ahead with the wedding. There is nothing I can do about it.’ ‘But you love me,’ I said, my voice shaking. ‘Why do you want to marry him?’ ‘You don’t have a job,’ Talatu said, her voice rising. ‘How many times do we have talk about this? It’s over two years and you keep telling me the same thing. How do we get married if you don’t have a job? How do we afford a wedding? And you know my parents’ stand on this: we can’t get married if none of us has a job. So don’t blame me—’ ‘We are soul mates! We share the same birthdays, same genotype...and nobody can love you the way I do. You know that
I had the dream again that night, and, like the rest, I was caught in the middle of it. The snake coiled around the door’s handle and hissed. Then it slithered downward from the handle, its unblinking eyes fixed on me. I looked around the room; there was no window in the room and the snake blocked the only way out of the room. How I allowed myself to be cornered in a room with no window and one inaccessible door remained a mystery that the dream did not care to reveal. Talatu stood behind me and I felt a new burden to get out of the room overtook me. She whimpered from behind me and I guessed she had just seen the snake. The snake reached the floor and coiled up, the head pointed towards me. It hissed angrily. ‘I want to go to London,’ Talatu screamed at my back. ‘I want to go to London. Take me out of this place. Take me out, please.’ I turned to the white wall on my left and scratched the surface. My fingers met bricks, solid as the ones used on the pyramids of Egypt. I turne
The call met me at breakfast, and Eric’s name showed up on the phone’s screen. I spoke to Eric two days ago and our conversation had held little of my interest and I wasn’t in the mood to continue from where we stopped. What does he want? I thought, looking at the phone. I wasn’t ready to hear about his successes with Lagos girls. My relationship problem was already too big for me to handle. Besides, my heart was as broken as a politician’s promise, and was in no mood for other people’s issues. I sat back and allowed the phone to ring through. If it’s important—and there is hardly anything important coming from Eric apart from girls’ issues and his plans to get abroad—he will call again. The phone began to ring again. I took another bite of the bread in my hand and quickly poured the black tea into my mouth. I shot straight up and spilled the contents of my mouth out, spraying it over the dining table. I had forgotten that the tea just came out of the pot and still very hot. I st
I returned home that afternoon and found mom waiting for me in the sitting room. I smelled trouble even before she opened her mouth. It was on her face, in her posture, and on the rest of her body. I had a feeling my plan had fail before I put it into action. ‘Where have you been?’ she asked. She sat on the old faded settee, changed into her night gown. ‘Why don’t you find something productive to do with your life instead of wasting it on that stupid game?’ I stood against the door. I didn’t go to play chess. I went to Talatu’s house to tell her I was travelling to Lagos to get a job. I wanted to assure her that everything was going to be fine. But when I got to the house, I found the doctor’s Mercedes Benz parked in front of the house. I stood opposite the house for close to ten minutes, devoid of the courage to meet her in the doctor’s presence. They came out together later and drove out in the car. Talatu had a dress I had never seen her in, and she had a smile on her face. I wa
Mom and I left home before my two brothers, Jasper and Yusuf, got home. Mom insisted on following me to the park as if I was a teenager, giving the excuse she wanted to get greens in Terminus. I had the feeling she wanted to make sure I wasn’t going somewhere else from Lagos. We got into a tricycle at Fototech Junction and I send a text to Eric telling him I was taking off that night and that he should pick me up the next morning. I got an instant reply: Great! See you tomorrow. I felt a tinge of uncertainty again and I wondered if I was doing the right thing. But the thought of Talatu and the doctor getting married ran across my mind and pushed every doubt out. This was the only hope I had left to counter the doctor from taking Talatu to the UK. Mom and I sat in silence like strangers while the tricycle sped toward Tafawa Balewa Street. ‘Did you pick your credentials?’ mom asked. ‘Yes.’ We sat in another silence listening to the tricycle’s engine until we got to the motor park.
We got to Lagos a couple of minutes after six the following morning and I stared through the window, seeing the cars trailing each other like coaches on an unending train. People moved in a hurry like ants in a disturbed colony and hawkers ran along the sides of cars and buses selling their wares. Yoruba music, loud and piercing, rose from music stores, probably to soothe the chaotic scene, but ended up enhancing the frenzy. I felt exhilaration and dismay at the same time—like a man on a plane for the first time. The bus crawled through the traffic at a 2G internet pace. My mouth yearned to be brushed, and my stomach grumbled for food. We stopped at Ojota and some of the passengers got down. Another bunch dropped at Maryland later and eventually we reached the park in Ijora. The bus gave a loud hiss and the engine died and everyone got up to carry or drag their luggage down. I came down with my bag clamped to my shoulder, looking around. Eric was not in sight. I pulled my phone out,
We got to Eric’s house on Alpha Beach on the Lagos Island about an hour later. It was a one room apartment attached to a huge uncompleted building that looked like a warehouse. A settee lined the wall of the little room while a gigantic, old TV sat facing it. A mattress lay on the carpet to the left-hand side of the room. Two bags lined the bottom of the unmade mattress and a couple of trousers and shirts hung by the window pane; no wardrobe was in sight. I looked up and saw two huge spiders hanging on the ceiling, their well-established webs giving away the secret that they had not been disturbed for the last one year. The smell of dirty socks and unaired shoes hovered over the room. ‘Welcome to my bunk,’ Eric said, pulling his shoes off before stepping on the carpet. ‘Make yourself comfortable. The toilet and the kitchen are the doors you saw outside before we got in.’ He pointed to the bottom of the mattress. ‘Keep your bag at the bag station over there.’ He sat on the settee and p
I finished the noodles Eric cooked and dropped the plate on the carpet. It wasn’t properly cooked, but it filled my stomach and that was what mattered. The room was stuffed with the smell of the noodle’s spice and I felt nauseated all of a sudden. I leaned back on the settee and took long breaths, calming my stomach. I turned to Eric, who was also sitting on the settee, and found his eyes on me. Tolu was still planted on the mattress, his eyes glued to the phone and his left hand buried in his trouser. ‘Are you ready?’ Eric asked. ‘What do you think?’ I said. ‘You have kept me in suspense for two days.’ Tolu chuckled. ‘Eric, spill the beans! It’s not fair keeping us in suspense.’ Eric coughed and nodded. ‘It’s a strange plan, but just listen, and give your comments and objections later. Is that okay?’ I nodded and wondered why he said the plan was strange. Eric coughed again and his brown eyes twinkled like brown diamonds. I could hear his breath coming in fast, excited rhythm.
“Someone is asking for you,” Mrs. James said, an hour after we came back from the restaurant. We came back for Esther to pack her things so we can go to the hotel. “She has two police officers with her,” Mrs. James added. “That must be Talatu,” I said. “What does she want?” Esther and she got up and walked out of the house. I ran after her, holding her hand. Mr. and Mrs. James came after us. I wondered where Dorathy was, because I knew would have taken over the fight. We found Talatu standing between the two policemen and behind them stood a police Jeep. They came prepared, I thought. They came to arrest me. But for what?” I looked at Talatu and saw that her eyes were bigger than they originally were. She was staring at Esther as if she had seen an alligator’s ghost. “What’s going on Talatu?” I asked. “Why are you here?” Talatu kept staring at Esther as if I had not spoken. I turned to the officers. “Sir, why are you here?” I asked. “She said you assaulted her,” the officer
There was no one in the living room. I heard voices outside, and I looked through the window. I cleaned my eyes, wondering if I was seeing right. Mom and Jasper were standing in front of the house. Esther and her father and mom also stood beside them.“What's mom doing here?” I asked.Then I saw the G-Wagon coming.“I thought I told Isaac to wait for my call before he would come?” I said.The car stopped in the parking space and then Isaac came out of the car and then a man came out from the passenger seat. He was carrying what looked like a bible in his handIsaac opened the back of the car and brought out a black suit. He hung it behind his back and walked toward the house with the man with the Bible following him.“What’s going on?” I asked.“You don’t know?” Dorathy asked.She stood behind me, also peering through the window.“Know what?”She looked at me and smiled. “Come outside and find out,” she said and walked out of the room.I wore my shoes and walked into the toilet. I cam
I walked back into the house and found Esther sitting on a large mattress, waiting for me. I noticed another mattress to my right, and I knew without a doubt that sleeping together wasn’t encouraged.“Where is everybody?” I asked, whispering.“They have gone to bed,” Esther said. “There food; what do you want to eat?”“It’s late. I will eat tomorrow.”“You are not hungry?”“I am; but if I eat now, I would have constipation,” I said. “I will just wait for breakfast.”She tapped the bed she was sitting on. “Come and sit,” she said.“Not come and lie down?”She smiled.“You know mom and dad won’t approve that. But soon everything would be fine.”“Is that right? Everything would be alright?”“Yeah” she said and smiled.I sat down beside her and held her hand. My heart was biting so fast I thought I might faint.“We have to talk,” she said. “That’s why I asked you to stay over. I don’t like the way things are going and I am afraid.”“You are safe now—”“I am not talking about that. I am ta
I took Esther to her house at about quarter pass midnight. Esther had spoken to all the members of the family after I called and told them we were on the way. They were ecstatic and they kept asking if Esther was really with us.The road was rough, but I was driving a G-Wagon. I sped like I was coming out of hell, and since the traffic was light at that time of the right, I tested the car to see what made it thick.“I have to leave,” I said. “I have my driver in the car. I will drop him and head home.”Mr. James extended his hand and held my shoulder. “I can’t tell you how much we are grateful to you. I can’t thank you enough. Thank you for bringing our daughter back.”Mrs. James held my other hand. “We are grateful,” she and squeezed my hand. “You can come to our house anytime you want.”“Does that mean he can marry Esther?” Dorothy asked.“We will see what happened,” Mr. James said. “It’s no longer in my hands though.” He looked at Esther. “She has the final decision. We would just
“Let me go back,” Isaac said. “I will find the key and return immediately.”“No; I have to come with you. You can’t go there alone. What if they wake up and you find three of them? what are you going to do?”He brough out the gun. “I have this; I will make sure none of them lives to tell what happened to them if they attack me.”“All the same,” I said. “I will still go with you. We have to do this together.” I turned to Esther. “Please, wait in the car. We will come back soon.”“I want to come with you,” Esther said. “I don’t want them to come and meet me alone. I want to come with you.”“You are safer here,” I said. “Lock yourself in the car and then you will be safe. We will come back now. I promise you we will be back soon.”She looked at me doubtfully.“I promise,” I said again. “Just wait in the car. No one would be able to get to you.”“Okay,” she said, and she walked back to the car. She looked lean and tired. She sat in the car and closed the door.“Let’s go,” I said to Isaac
I heard the footsteps at the door and knew that they were backs.Time to face the music, I thought. Maybe I should offer him more money. But I knew within my heart that Dangin will just collect the money and still kill me. I decided against the idea. But the thought of dying and leaving my money behind was one thought that I didn’t like at all.The footstep stops, as if waiting for the other man to come along.“What are you waiting for?” Dangin asked, his voice loud and angry.I heard the steps coming in our direction.“What are you guys waiting for?” Dangin asked. “Let’s finish what we are doing and get out of this place.”The door creaked opened, slowly.“Hurry up,” Dangin said and pointed the torchlight on my face.One of the men came into the room and tiptoed toward Dangin who was backing the door and facing me.I took in a deep breath and then I saw Dangin eyes widened. He reached for the pistol by his side, but Isaac was already upon him.I heard a punch, a hard punch, and I hea
They dragged me with my hands and legs bound into a dark room, and they quickly closed the door behind us. Then they searched me and removed the packet of dollars I had kept in my pocket as soon as I had come into the dark corridor. “I found the money, boss,” one of the men who dragged into the room said. I heard footsteps coming toward us. “It is complete?” Dangin asked. “I don’t know,” the person said. “It better be,” Dangin said. “Or I will kill him.” “Relax,” I said. “It’s complete. Everything you asked for its in there.” “Relax?” Dangin asked. “Who are you to tell a police officer to relax? Who do you think you are?” “See,” I said. “You have gotten your money. Just let me and Esther go. I don’t want any trouble. You asked for money and I have given it to you; what else do you want?” Dangin laughed. “So, you thought I was going to let you go after giving me the money? Was that what you were thinking? I am sorry, that’s not possible. Remember you cut off one of my toes, and
We waited for two more hours and by that time evening had come. No other call came and I was beginning to wonder if I had heard the instruction right. Isaac dropped from the car and bought some sausages and bottles of Coke for us and that was the food we eat for that day.At about six in the evening, another call came.“Take the route to Government College,” Dangin said. “Go to the gate and wait for further instructions. Remember, no police or she dies.”“I don’t know where the college is,” I said.“There is a man coming toward your car with a white shirt. Come down from the car and ask him.”I looked to the front but there was no one with a white shirt coming. I turned around, looking at my back.A man with a white shirt was coming toward the car. I came down from the car and waited for him.Isaac opened to the door,“Just stay inside,” I said. “There are watching us. I don’t know where they are, but they are watching.”Isaac closed the door and I waited for the man to reach the car.
This was my chance to make things go my way. I was sure Esther’s parents were disappointed with the way Kennedy reacted to the rescuing effort I was putting in place to bring back Esther. He could he love her and not go to rescue her; I know that’s what would be on their minds.So, if I am able to rescue her without any incident, and without them knowing she was kidnapped because of me, then I will be the hero and they may give me their blessings to marry their daughter.The thing about life, I thought, is that people are ready to forgive your evil if you turn out to be do more than they expected. And I will do more than expected. I will not only rescue their daughter; I will marry her.I got the dollars that evening and then I came back to the house with Isaac by my side. I looked around but Kennedy was not there.I asked Dorothy where he was and she told me that he was going back to the UK.“Coward,” she added. “And he said he loved my sister.”I chuckled. “He never thought he would