By the time I reached home, the time was ten minutes past eleven. But I saw the car parked in front of my house and knew that Stephen, Sarah's brother, had come to see me. I parked the car and got out, and then Stephen came out of his car too. I walked to him, and he came and embraced me."I am so sorry," he said, and then he cleaned the tears from his eyes.I was crying too. "I shouldn't have left her alone," I said. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have left her."Stephen pulled back from me. He cleaned more tears from his face."Is that what you think this is?" he asked. "Are you blaming yourself for Sarah's death? Are you the one who drove the car that knocked and killed her?"I took a deep breath. "But if I was there with her…if I had gone with her, Sarah would be alive. It was all my fault; I shouldn't have let her go alone. I should have gone with her.""Nonsense. You had work, and she needed to collect her gown. What could you have done? Would you have asked her to go to the of
I dreamt about dying. That I was running in the field and policemen were chasing me, calling me to stop. I ran, but the faster I ran, the closer they got to me. Then I saw Sarah. She was standing right behind a tree, and she was frowning at me, an expression she carries on her face when she wasn't happy with me. I stopped and stared back at her, afraid to draw close to her. She seemed strange, different, a ghost of her former self. She stretched out her hand to hold me, but for some reason, I drew back again."Don't you love me?" she asked."I love you," I said. "Come back to me, Sarah. I love you.""Then hold my hand," she said. I hesitated again. "Come, my love," she said. "I won't harm you. I love you."I stretched my hand and held her hand. "That's lovely. Now I know that you love me, and you would avenge my death."Then her face turned into Talatu's face, my former girlfriend who jilted me to marry the doctor. She had longs hairs that had the heads of snakes at their end.I s
The next morning, I called Dr. Agaba. "Can we meet at the hospital?" I asked. "Sure." he said, and I could hear the sleep still in is voice. "What time?" "Would ten o'clock be convenient for you?" "Yeah, ten is okay," he said. "Okay," I said and rang off. Mom and Jasper came to see me in the morning. Mom brought a bowl of soup and packs of noodles. "At least this would hold your stomach," she said. "I know you have not been eating." "Thank you," I said, keeping the packs in the store. "Jasper, help me keep the soup in the refrigerator. I am going out." "Where are you going to?" Mom asked. "Are you going to the office? Did they ask you to come?" "No, mom," I said. "I just want to find out if there are other things we need to handle. Then for us to make preparations with her brother." "Alright," mom said, but her eyes were still looking worried. "Do you want us to follow you to the hospital?" "No," I said. "I will be with Steve. Everything would be alright. You can go home
Sarah was buried two weeks later. It was an event that I would never forget; it rained that day, and the crowd was more than we expected. The school gave me a three-week break. I stayed in the house all by myself. Mom wanted to move to the house or for Jasper to come and stay with me, but I refused all of these suggestions.Steve also offered to stay with me or that I should move to his house. I also politely refused this. I think they were all worried I might kill myself or do something that might be injurious to me, probably mentally.I stayed in the house for a week, not mourning, but thinking of what to do with Dr. Agaba. I thought about nothing else but how to harm him, and how to harm badly. He wasn’t at the burial, and I think that was rather wise of him, because I didn’t know what would have happened if I had seen him there. With my emotions out of line, I was sure I would have attacked him, not caring if a burial was going on or not.On the fifth day after the burial, I hea
I called Mr. Potter. "You got the money?" he asked."Yes,""Well, it's all yours. There is no need for me to die with money in the bank, is there?""What about your wife and family? They are not going to take this decision sitting down. They will contest this, saying you are not mentally well, and I tricked you into giving me money."Mr. Potter laughed. "You know, sometimes I do underestimate your intelligence, thinking that you are just a crook after my money. But you are not. You are really smart. But you need the money more than they do here. And that's why I am giving it to you." He chuckled. "And now you would have the problem of being a rich man. And for my family, I have had a meeting with them. Nobody is going to bother you. They have their own money as it is.""I don't know what to say," I said."There is nothing to say. Besides, you can use a little part of the money to defend yourself against anyone coming after you. The Bible says money is a defense, or something like tha
We walked on for a while without any of us saying a word.“I heard you postponed the wedding,” I said.“Yes,” Talatu said.“Have you fixed another date?”“No yet.”“Sorry about that,” I said. “Shit happens. You just have to adjust to disappointments. That’s life.”We walked again in silence.“I am sorry about your fiancée,” Talatu said, breaking the silence. “I never thought he would be the one to…”“To hit and kill her?” I asked. “Well, he did. Now I can’t get married to Sarag, and he is getting married to my former girlfriend. Isn’t life grand scheme of wonders? He deprived me of happiness and he is about to be married and to live forever happy.”“It was an accident,” Talatu said. “It could have been anyone—”“He was drunk!”The silence returned and we walked with the sound of our shoes speaking for us. We reached the car park.“I didn’t know he was drunk that afternoon,” Talatu said.“He bribed the policeman who checked him to see if he had been drunk.” I said, and clenched my fist
"What do you want me to do?" Jasper asked, after we had gotten to my place in the school compound. Jasper was looking at me with a different eye now. He seemed to be seeing me for the first time, and each time I caught him looking at me, he had admiration and awe on his face. He was like a man who had suddenly discovered that his wife was going to be the president.He talked to me more slowly now, with a respect that I had never know before. And I could see that he had many questions, but he was also respectful not to push the boundary of our familiarity in order to satisfy his curiosity."I want you to go to Tala's house," I said. "You would wait there for a Mercedes E-Class, ash in color. Once you see it, I want you to follow it until you find out where the owner of the car is staying."Jasper nodded, and I also saw that he had many questions tucked behind his eyes."Follow him until he gets to the place he stays." I said. "Take note of the place and come back and take me there.""
Jasper called at about eight in the evening.“I have found the place he is staying,” he said. “I have the address.”“Where?”“Tudun Wada G.R.A; he is staying at number 12.”“Okay; thanks. Do you know anyone working in the government lands and survey department?”“No; I can’t remember if I do. But I will think about it and ask around.”“Okay, do that. I will also ask around to see if I can find one.”“I will come tomorrow morning,” Jasper said. “And thanks for the car. How is your G-Wagon doing? I love the sound of that car.”“It’s outside.”“Okay, good night.”“Good night,” I replied and turned to my thoughts. Then I felt pain in my stomach and got up to make tea. I hadn’t eaten since morning, but I wasn’t hungry for a moment. It was then that I knew I was totally consumed by the revenge I was planning. Jasper called by 9.30 in the night.“Mom knows someone who works in Lands and survey department,” he said.“Okay,” I said. “Please get his number and call him. Give him the address o