This is a classy piece of work. keep it up bro

Oga come update na

niyah24:


I think it should rather be UNDER the sun.

mtcheew.... for dis tin na him u copy d whole post for..
'IN THE SUN' is perfectly correct

Bro, I am throwing my full weight to this work. Bro, truly, you are a rare gem I guess we need to talk privately

franklin000:
This is a classy piece of work. keep it up bro

Thanks a lot Sir @ Frankline000

Uncleluke1:
mtcheew.... for dis tin na him u copy d whole post for..
'IN THE SUN' is perfectly correct

Uncleluke1 thanks but I do appreciate the suggestions for corrections. Even though this particular one isn't totally wrong, it was nice for such to have been noted by Niyah24. I appreciate both of you. Thanks.

freshwaters:


Uncleluke1 thanks but I do appreciate the suggestions for corrections. Even though this particular one isn't totally wrong, it was nice for such to have been noted by Niyah24. I appreciate both of you. Thanks.

happy weekend i have started a story,i want to discuss something with you

jnichole:
happy weekend i have started a story,i want to discuss something with you

That's awesome Jnichole. I will like to help.

freshwaters:


That's awesome Jnichole. I will like to help.

thanks i will love to partner with you,i write stories you publish and we share the proceeds 80-20 or 70-30 with you taking the larger share.

freshwaters:
That's awesome Jnichole. I will like to help.

Pls when are you dropping your next update?

jnichole:
thanks i will love to partner with you,i write stories you publish and we share the proceeds 80-20 or 70-30 with you taking the larger share.

I will not encourage that @ Jnichole. Reasons being that:
a. Intellectual property, such as books aren't things anyone who wants to build a legacy would trade in such way;
b. The act of writing, or any other act of creativity doesn't flourish when money is the key motive. While money is a necessary reward for good work, it blurs creativity. So, going into such with the sole aim of making money isn't good, make good stories, create a good name, keep legacy and money will come;
c. You should always take credit for your work, (no creative person does otherwise willingly). That's the priceless beauty of creativity, I want you to experience that feeling;

As I told you, i'm ready to help. I can help you through the processes and help you become a better writer and all that. I'm building a strong career in writing, and I strongly believe in the very near future I should be up there as a widely celebrated author.

It's a thing of joy to help someone up.

freshwaters:


I will not encourage that @ Jnichole. Reasons being that:
a. Intellectual property, such as books aren't things anyone who wants to build a legacy would trade in such way;
b. The act of writing, or any other act of creativity doesn't flourish when money is the key motive. While money is a necessary reward for good work, it blurs creativity. So, going into such with the sole aim of making money isn't good, make good stories, create a good name, keep legacy and money will come;
c. You should always take credit for your work, (no creative person does otherwise willingly). That's the priceless beauty of creativity, I want you to experience that feeling;

As I told you, i'm ready to help. I can help you through the processes and help you become a better writer and all that. I'm building a strong career in writing, and I strongly believe in the very near future I should be up there as a widely celebrated author.

It's a thing of joy to help someone up.

Are you updating here or not

Updates please!!!

Chapter Twenty-Nine
BARROW KNEW, upon dropping the call with Koso, his cover was blown. Even though the call wasn’t to MX5, it had been made, and the underworld had a way of connecting itself. Sooner or later, the news would be everywhere that he was alive. He knew people were looking for him; he would not have them smoke him out like some rat. He wouldn’t give them that opportunity. Annabel! Annabel! They would have put a surveillance on her by now, he thought. He wouldn’t let them hurt her.
He was beginning to feel much better, even though he had flashes now and then and intermittent pain from the injuries. A few things might never change; the rage and mood swings were part of it. He had always thrown emotions all over the place, but he couldn’t help it. It would be different now. He could only focus on what he was able to make out of the future.

Barrow nagged that he was going home. He would rather get better at home. The doctors had maintained that he would have to spend more time at the hospital, but when his troubles became unbearable, they let him go. A private nurse was arranged to attend to him at home.
His new friends were there the day he was discharged. Steve tried to pay the hospital bills, but Annabel would not let him. She was possessive all over Barrow. When the taxi she had called finally arrived, they said, “Good bye,” to the nurses and everyone. She and Barrow left for his house which she had remodeled within the past few days. She did it in such a manner she felt it wouldn’t remind Barrow of any of his past life.

DAYS BACK, while Barrow was still at the hospital, she had gone to inform him of her father’s death. He was unusually cool and distant acting, when he saw her. Annabel had expected him to be angry with her, considering that they fought the last time they were together. But he did say he was sorry.
“My Love, I’m sorry,” Annabel had responded, believing it was over their argument the other day.
“No baby, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry,” he had repeated.
“Is it about the other day?” She asked. “Please forgive me. I…”
“No, it’s not about the other day; it’s something far worse than that.”
“Then, what is it?”
“I’m not the guy you think I am. I have never been the guy you have known me to be.”
“I don’t get you.”At this point Annabel questioned if he was still having the same memory problem or something else? How could someone she had known for years suddenly begin to claim to be a different person? Something told her to keep quiet and just listen.
“I have been a killer, a murderer, a secret cult leader and a criminal,” Barrow said. He trembled and heaved with shame once he had let it all out.
“That must be in your dream or something.” Annabel was laughing and she added, “My love, see how serious you look with this joke. You are so funny.”
“So you don’t believe me?” he asked, trying to look more serious.
“Of course, I don’t believe you. You!” she pointed jokingly at him. “You mean that you are a killer? You that can’t even hurt a fly!”She thought it wise to laugh more.
“Those were all part of the tricks we played to prevent people from knowing.”
“Oh, I see,” Annabel mocked. “Wait, are you trying to scare the shit out of me? Oh, I’m scared. My boy friend is a killer, I’m scared!” she added playfully, “I see, so you want me to believe you are some tough guy, so I don’t get to think my father’s boys were the ones that did this to you.”
“Baby, I am not trying to scare you. Your father is one of my clients,” Barrow interrupted.
“Now, you are beginning to lie,” Annabel insisted.
“Annabel, I am not lying. I can tell you things you don’t know about your father. I was his number one killer.”
“That’s not true. I have been watching you make this joke, maybe that’s a tough joke, but such a joke with a dead man. I consider that…”
“Did you just say, a dead man?” Barrow was startled at the statement.
“I was going to tell you about his death before you started this whole thing. He was found dead in his car. He’s been dead for days now,” she revealed and shakily dried her eyes with the back of her palm.
“I am so sorry, baby. I am sorry,” Barrow said, and he meant it.
He considered it for a while. The MX5 must have killed him in their reprisal attack. It was obvious they did it. He thought. It was one secret he would have to take to his grave. She had no idea who her father was.
“Baby, I’m really sorry about your dad,” he said.
“It’s okay. I will get over it soon; at least I have you.” She forced a smile.
They stayed quiet for a while, and Barrow added, “Baby, I am serious about what I told you before. I am the leader of the MX5.”
Annabel just stared at him.
“I mean I was. I’m not going back to that lifestyle again.” Barrow said and came closer to her.
“Why do you think those boys flooded my house? You know how they came every time, and we pretended we were a study group. You could tell from their looks that they were no study group. Most of them have even dropped out of the diploma program. I remember you warned me about them. Why do you see me go out most nights, and I lied I was going for night classes? I travel all the time, and I lied that I was going to my village, to one Uncle or the other. Uncles that I refused to introduce to you. You think I liked that? Baby, the truth is that I don’t have any Uncles, none that I know of. I’m an orphan and I don’t have any blood relation.”
Annabel was still staring in disbelief.
“The last trip I made, the one I told you I was going to my Uncle’s place. I lied. I didn’t go to no Uncle’s place. I went to Lagos to execute a job for your father. I have known your father for many years even before I met you, and I’d gone to Lagos to kill for him. On my return to Abuja I was going to kill Mr. Steve, the same man that saved me. You can ask him. Your father was mad at me because he didn’t want someone like me around you. He’d hired me to watch over you and not to get personal with you.”
Annabel stared on with red-rimmed eyes of tears.
It better not be true that the same guy she knew was this stranger. The same guy she shared the same bed with and everything was a criminal, a secret cult leader.
“I’m telling you this because I have repented,” Barrow continued. “I’ve changed. I’m not going back to any of those: Barrow, Code 555, X or whatever they called me. Baby, I’m different now. I’m going to make all the changes I can. It’s going to be difficult for me. Baby, it’s going to be difficult, because they will come after me. The underworld will try to pull me back into itself, but I give you my word even in death I will never be associated with it. Call it cultism, criminality, evil, anything. I promise.”
Barrow was glad he’d finally told her the truth. He, however, feared she wouldn’t forgive him, with the way she stared at him. But Annabel had forgiven him, and she was happy he told her the truth; at least she hadn’t heard it from some another person or even worse, a stranger.


@ Royalkeed, Kingphilp and others, kindly get the book at Okadabook and amazon. Those of us that want print copies, do let me know.

You can email me: tony@tonyekwoaba.com

Thank you.

Shadows continues..

freshwaters I need the print copy

kingphilip:
freshwaters I need the print copy

Please email me your location and phone number. I will get it across to you or tell you the closest bookshop to get it once I have more copies available. The copies we have now have been exhausted.

Persons interested in the print (Hard) copies should kindly send me an email.

tony@tonyekwoaba.com

Thank you.

Awesome!!!!

freshwaters:
* * * * * * *
LONELINESS HAD BECOME a haven for Barrow. Moments after Annabel and the two nurses left the room, he slipped into deep meditation. It was always a painful exercise nowadays, but he had to think. There was nothing else he could do, lying on his hospital bed. He had to find his footing again; he had to discover who he was. He had started the discovery while Annabel was there, and now he would go the full throttle all by himself.
He began with his name – Chris, Annabel had called him that. He wasn’t sure if he had other names, and he hadn’t remembered anything about his family. Perhaps he didn’t have one. When he had asked Annabel, she too did not seem to know anything. It was strange, he thought. There had to be a mother, a father or sister somewhere. He would find out someday.
But what about her family? It was obvious she had a family, he thought. Why had her father shot me? Could it have been because I was dating her daughter? That didn’t fit. It made more sense if there were other reasons, but how? Then he remembered the man always called him Mr. X. It seemed his other names began to surface in his head. Annabel’s father called him X because he knew him differently. Suddenly, he heard sounds. The gun shots, as they were being fired by Chief Amah, vibrated in his head. Barrow held his hands across his head. Flashes, flashes and more flashes of his killing escapades were flying in, with the sounds banging about in his head. It hadn’t stopped when Steve walked into the room. He was a little later than his usual timing. Some appointments had held him up.
Wearing a familiar smile, with Papa Edi behind him, Steve came right in through the door.
“Hello, how are you today?” Steve asked, as he dropped some orange, pineapple, and pawpaw fruits, somewhere by the bed.
“Hello! Can you hear me? How are you today?” he asked again, but Barrow did not say a word. He just lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling, with his two hands on his head.
“Papa, please go call the doctor. Something isn’t right with him,” Steve screamed. Papa rushed out to fetch the doctor and back in with a nurse. He couldn’t find the doctor.
“What’s it?” the nurse asked.
“Please check him. I don’t know.” Steve gave way for the nurse to examine him.
The nurse slapped Barrow on the cheeks and stirred him so hard, it jerked him to consciousness.
“What’s it? Nurse, what’s going on?” Barrow said angrily.
“Nothing, nothing,” the nurse pretended.
Barrow looked up, and his eyes met with the smiling face of Steve. It startled him because he’d just seen Steve in one of his flashbacks. In the flash, he was given a picture of Steve and instructed to kill Steve. He would have killed the man that saved him?
“Oh shit. O shit! O…,” Barrow shouted. And his eyes were soaked with confusion and shame.
“What’s it? Nurse, please see if he is having any pains,” Steve implored with worry.
“I am okay, Barrister Steve. Obi, I am fine,” Barrow said.
Steve and Papa were surprised to hear their new friend address Steve by his name.
“How did you know my full name?” Steve asked.
Barrow’s eyes were heavy now, and after some minutes he murmured, “Please, could everyone leave me and Mr. Obi alone for some time, please?”
“Okay then.” The nurse started out for the door. Papa Edi stayed behind, glancing at Steve.
“Go ahead, Papa,” Steve urged. Once it was just the two of them in the room, Barrow sighed deeply, “Mr. Obi, I don’t know where to begin, I don’t…”
“You can begin anywhere, dear. Start just anywhere. I am here. Tell me, what is it?” Steve proposed with a gentle smile.
“I remembered who I was; I was just getting the flashes of the memories of my past life.”
“That’s great news then. That’s what we have been praying for…”
“No, no, no, it’s terrible. I was a terrible person. I was a killer, an assassin, a cultist…”
“What?” Steve said, with smiles vanished.
“I was an executioner for politicians,” Barrow continued in-between cautious sniffles. “And – and I had been contracted to kill you.”
“Oh, my God,” Steve said quietly.
“I had every detail about you and your wife, house and office address, just everything.”
“My Jesus!”
“I don’t think I deserve your forgiveness, sir. I don’t think I deserve anyone’s forgiveness either. I was evil, and I was an instrument of the devil.”
“It’s okay,” Steve managed to utter.
“At least you now realize you were bad. It’s okay.” He tapped Barrow by the shoulder, and then he helped him to sit.
“No, no it’s not okay,” Barrow cried. “I killed your partner Barrister Kunle. I …”
“That’s not possible,” Steve objected, still trying to convince himself that all this was a lie.
“I confirmed his kidnap and the execution.”
“No, I got a text message from him that he was in his cousin’s place in Lagos and I have even spoken to him.”
“Did he tell you he was kidnapped?” Barrow whispered.
“No, he never mentioned anything like that.”
“Then he wasn’t the one contacting you. Someone may have used his phone to reach you.”
Steve stood there, staring at Barrow.
“I’m sorry, Barrister Obi. I’m so sorry.”
Steve stared blankly at the Barrow, while his mind worked on the possibilities.
The last time he spoke to Kunle, he had sounded odd, and since then, he had called but the phone had been off. Kunle had said he was at his cousin’s place in Agege. What was he doing in Agege?
“Sir, I know I have caused you immense pain. I think God saved my life for a reason. He gave me a second chance, and I am going to use it to fight all my evil.”
Steve reluctantly grabbed Barrow by the hand, and urged, “Let’s pray.”




End of Chapter Twenty Four. The story continues...

Hi Freshwaters...I chose to quote the whole chapter so the mistake would be easy to find and correct n now i know IN the sun is correct. Had to continue reading cos i think every chapter of this story is a hit backto back.

freshwaters:
Chapter Twenty-Three
THE ERA OF HIDING had dragged on, long enough; it began to frustrate Kunle. He had thought it would be a brief break, but he was wrong. Now, he was beginning to believe he would never recover from it. As the days dragged by, he’d managed to speak with his office, Steve and other friends a few more times, reassuring them he was OK. But he remained quarantined in his cousin’s place at Agege. He would wake up, eat, read the papers and play with the kids. The only person he had been regular with on the phone with was Philip Ekpenisi, whom he had arranged to hire private investigators to discover who was after him. He would remain in Agege while they got the details. And he had been doing just that, hiding, cooling off. It was terribly boring. He had never lived in such idleness.
He was in the little room that had become his room, in his cousin’s place, thinking through his plans with Philip when suddenly, one of his little nieces, about five years old, ran into the room, shouting, “Uncle, Uncle, my Mummy said that lawyers defend criminals. Is that what you do?”
Kunle stood up, grabbed her and swung her up in the air.
“Yea, that’s one of what lawyers do. Sometimes we defend criminals.” Kunle smiled reassuringly as he released the girl to her tiny feet.
“Does that mean that lawyers work with criminals?”
“Not at all! They don’t work with criminals; it’s just that everyone including criminals have the right to be represented in court by a lawyer.”
“Even when they know they are criminals?”
“Yes.”
“And they still defend them?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, uncle, that’s very terrible. That means lawyers are criminals, too?”
“Lawyers are not criminals. I am a lawyer, right?” Kunle asked, and she nodded her head. “And as a lawyer, I can represent criminals. Does that make me a criminal?”
The little girl nodded her head, and then she shook her head and said, “Uncle, Uncle.” The little girl was dragging Kunle by his cloth. “I want to be a lawyer like you, but I don’t want to be helping criminals. I don’t want to be a criminal.”
Just then the mother, Kunle’s cousin, walked into the room, holding a plate of groundnuts. She smiled as she joined the discussion.
“Egbon, that’s what I have been telling her. She has been disturbing me in the kitchen, I even got lost with her army of questions, so I asked her to come ask you. At least you are the lawyer here.”
“Insha Allah, she is full of wisdom. I tried the best I could answering her questions.”
“Egbon, take some ground nuts. I peeled them for you.”
“Thank you. Before you turn me into a glutton, I don’t want to start getting fat.”
‘”Egbon, nawa for you o, it’s just ground nuts,” she beamed. “Don’t worry. Your colleagues won’t say anything about you getting fat. I just want you to look good when they see you, I promise.”
“Mummy, mummy! Uncle said that lawyers are not criminals.” The little girl had left Kunle’s side and ran towards her mother.
“Yes, but that’s the same thing I told you in the kitchen.”
“Mummy, but why are lawyers called liars? If they are not criminals, why would they be called liars? Is that not true?”
The mother frowned and said, “Are you calling your uncle a liar?”
“No, Mummy, not Uncle…,” the little girl said apologetically.
“Oh, my Queen, lawyers are not liars. The truth is that lawyers defend their clients. A lawyer uses the law to ensure that justice is done. That’s all a lawyer does; he is not a liar,” Kunle stated.
The girl at this point felt she might have offended someone. She playfully ran out of the room and as she sped away, her mother said, “Her questions get me crazy sometimes. She seems to want to know everything.”
“It’s okay; I think she would make a good lawyer. That’s how it starts. I already see it in her,” Kunle said.
“Maybe you should try and take her along to one of your court proceedings. You might have her sit behind and watch the proceedings. Would the court permit that?”
“Yes, but maybe not in my suit. I think I could take her in other times when my case is not being heard. Then, I can watch over her.”
“That’s okay.”

* * * * * * *
MEANWHILE, as Steve traveled back to Abuja, Matilda stayed behind in Owerri, to help with her niece’s wedding preparations. The wedding was planned to take place in Owerri because the bride’s pastor had insisted to hold it in his church. The would-be couple attended the church and had met in the church, though they hailed from the same town.
Talking about the wedding, it was going to be a family reunion. Lots of Matilda’s relatives would be attending. Her mother had called to inform her that she and her father would be attending the wedding, and they would be visiting her place in Owerri. She wondered why they remembered her now. Her parents had not spoken to her in months. This upset Matilda. She awed over the fact that her parents would travel such distance from Kogi to Owerri, to attend her niece’s wedding when they didn’t attend hers close in Abuja. And since she wedded, they would not visit her in Abuja.
But what was my offence? …that I married Steve? That I married an Igbo man? She thought. Aren’t they coming to Owerri now, an Igbo land? Is it because Nene’s husband is Ebira too? She was drawn to tears.
The truth was that Matilda’s parents were of the view that since she “disgraced” her family by not marrying their tribal man, she was no longer their own, at least in the cultural sense of it. And her father had warned her siblings to stay away from her and her alien husband. She wondered why they suddenly cared.
But it had not always been like this. Matilda was once the golden child of her parents until she had fallen in love with Steve. And when she insisted, against their order and got married to Steve, an Igbo man, her parents concluded she had lost the substance that made her their daughter. But could anyone control who he or she fell in love with?
Her thoughts swiftly drifted to her husband.
Thank God Steve isn’t here to see them. I can’t bear them coming all the way to cause problems in my marriage. But why do people judge others by their tribe? Why do people discriminate against others so terribly? She shrugged. Those days, it was that the Igbos were wicked and evil people.
“Thank God! Thank God, I did not listen to them. She thought. Steve has been divine gift; he has been a caring, loving, and adoring husband. He is the opposite of all they said about him.
Thank God I listened to my heart! Thank God I have him and I will never lose him.
Thoughts of losing Steve dazed Matilda, and what scared her more was his sudden insistence for politics. Politics seemed to be the monster she must defeat to have her Steve all by herself. Steve would not listen to any advice to stay clear of this monster. When he was released from detention, she had pleaded with him to abandon this politics thing and go back into full legal practice. Steve would not listen. He said he was on a mission. Which mission? The Pastor had said his move into politics was for divine purposes.
Oh God, please guide him through the dark places. Oh God, I bring him before you.
[font=Lucida Sans Unicode][/font][color=#006600][/color]



Please Drop your comments.

The story continues...

In Sha Allah means "by the grace of Allah" while insha Allah means "create Allah". i believe u mean the former but maybe u should correct it.....it's just some arabic grammatical tins

niyah24:


Hi Freshwaters...I chose to quote the whole chapter so the mistake would be easy to find and correct n now i know IN the sun is correct. Had to continue reading cos i think every chapter of this story is a hit backto back.

Niyah24 thanks a lot for pointing those things out. Good to see your attention to detail. You will make a good editor.

freshwaters:


Niyah24 thanks a lot for pointing those things out. Good to see your attention to detail. You will make a good editor.

Amen o . You have a fine story there n I hope to read your next story soon. Enjoy ur day.

niyah24:



In Sha Allah means "by the grace of Allah" while insha Allah means "create Allah". i believe u mean the former but maybe u should correct it.....it's just some arabic grammatical tins

are u a learner? Na y u copy dat whole post?!

Uncleluke1:
are u a learner? Na y u copy dat whole post?!

R U A PEST OR JUST A MENTALLY DERANGED INDIVIDUAL.THE FIRST TM U TRIED THIS I IGNORED U. THE FACT THAT THE MEDIA IS SO FREE FOR ALL DOESN'T MEAN U SHUDN'T THINK OF BUYING SOME SENSE FOR YOURSELF OR AT LEAST GET BUSY SLEEPING. YOU JUST COME ONLINE TO TYPE RUBBISH N DISPLAY YOUR FOOLISHNESS ALL IN THE NAME OF TRYN TO B FUNNY. GET A LIFE B4 IT GETS TOO LATE!!!!!

niyah24:


R U A PEST OR JUST A MENTALLY DERANGED INDIVIDUAL.THE FIRST TM U TRIED THIS I IGNORED U. THE FACT THAT THE MEDIA IS SO FREE FOR ALL DOESN'T MEAN U SHUDN'T THINK OF BUYING SOME SENSE FOR YOURSELF OR AT LEAST GET BUSY SLEEPING. YOU JUST COME ONLINE TO TYPE RUBBISH N DISPLAY YOUR FOOLISHNESS ALL IN THE NAME OF TRYN TO B FUNNY. GET A LIFE B4 IT GETS TOO LATE!!!!!

..............

Hi Niyah and UncleLuke...easy. there isn't any reason to exchange such words. I appreciate both of you and your great contributions

* * * * * * *
ABOUT THE FIFTH NIGHT after Barrow returned from the hospital. Annabel was sitting down with Barrow, peeling oranges for him, while he watched Super Story on TV, she’d said, “Baby, this burial thing is really weighing me down. It’s as if we haven’t even done anything. We need to travel early to the village, so we could have things done there, too.”
“Okay, baby,” Barrow said, with his focus on the TV.
“The funeral wake is here in Abuja, that one, too. It’s as if I have to do everything myself.”
“Sorry about that baby,” he said, still facing the TV.
“I was wondering if I could get someone to help me out in some of these things.”
“Okay, that’s good.”
“I could tell my friend Maggie to come over and do some things for you since I would be away for some time.”
“Maggie, which Maggie?” He’d moved his face away from the TV. He was looking directly at her.
“Maggie, my female friend, the one in sociology, you remember her?”
“Of course I remember her,” Barrow snapped. “Sorry, I know her. The one I call Miss Africa?”
“Yes, she is the one.”
“That’s okay, if that would make you happy.”
“That reminds me, wonders shall never end. Maggie told me this story I can’t believe it happened.”
“What story?” Barrow asked. His face was back to the TV screen.
“She said that a white man from America came looking for her in the school. The man said that he and Maggie had been dating for months now. He even said he was in love with Maggie.”
“And does Maggie know him?”
“Maggie swore she has never seen him before. I would have had her head reexamined if she had said otherwise, baby. The man is in his late fifties. Imagine a nineteen-year-old in love with her grandfather’s age mate.”
“Did the white man say how he met her?”
“Online.”
“Online scam, the Man has been duped by scammers.”
“Oh, my God! Could that be true? But the man still insists he was sure, that he had been speaking with Maggie on the phone. In fact, he has several pictures of Maggie. How could he have gotten them?”
“Scam, anything is possible with those guys. I know their method of operation. I will talk to Maggie and find out.”
“Lord Jesus! These scammers won’t kill us in this country. Oh, my God!”



Chapter Thirty
IN THE LATE AFTERNOON BREEZE, Barrow stepped out on his crutches and strolled towards the balcony of his house. It was his second effort at stepping out in the open, and his first towards the gate. The nurse said he needed the fresh air and some exercise. When he got around the grassy area, he noticed that some of the grass needed weeding, something his boys would have cleared if it were before all this. They would be hiding somewhere watching him; he knew that. He was however surprised they hadn’t made any move yet. What were they waiting for? Was it that they wanted him to notify them on his homecoming? He wasn’t going to do that; he would wait on them. Whenever they showed up, he knew just how to handle them.
He staggered forward, making sure the clutches didn’t fall. Lots had changed; he was thinking, so small a time with too many a change. This grassy part of his house was the area he strolled, taking surveillance, and if Annabel wasn’t around, he smoked while he did this. He wasn’t sure he would be smoking again, not with the doctor’s warnings, not with the growing indifference he was beginning to have over such things.
Some noise was made at the gate.
“Who’s that? Open,” Barrow shouted. He wasn’t expecting anyone.
“It’s me.”
It was Maggie. He knew from the voice. Once she’d succeeded in opening the gate, she walked into the compound, a bag of clothes in one hand and a set of books in the other. Long legs, big sexy eyes, she wore a jean trouser and a sleeveless top.
“Hi dear. Was the gate locked?” Barrow asked.
“Yes, I locked it while I was leaving.”
“I thought I told you not to lock it?”
“You did, but I had to all the same.” She still locked the gate from the inside.
“Ani said I shouldn’t leave it unlocked for security reasons, and I share her reasons.”
“You girls and fear, I don’t get it.”
“Don’t mind us. How are you, Jare?” Maggie asked, and she turned to face Barrow.
“I’m fine, as you can see; I am learning to walk again,” Barrow replied and limped forward.
“What about the nurse? Has she been here since I left?”
“I didn’t hear her knock on the gate, but even if she’d come, the gate was locked.”
“I’m sorry about that. Who will now dress the wounds?”
“She will come and dress the wounds; they are healing fast and the pus is dried up.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Let me help you,” she offered, dropping her things by a cement pavement nearby so she could help him with the crutches.
“No thanks. It’s good that I walk on my own. The crutches are enough help already, and I’m looking forward to when I can walk without them, when I can run, dance and do other things I enjoy doing, without pains. So tell me how did your day go?”
“It was just same old things,” she stated and sat on the pavement. “It’s been all about reading, lectures and preparation for exams.”
“And your lover man, any news from him?” Barrow inquired.
“He embarrassed me again today. He was already in my department, when I got to school. He saw me and started following me about, complaining I wasn’t picking up his calls.”
“And did he call you?”
Maggie winked, “How could he call me when he doesn’t even have my number?” She shook her head. “And I will not let him have it. Who knows who he’s been calling in the past that said she was me?”
“But he may have called someone. That would be the same person he’d been talking with thinking it was you. It must have been the fraudster.”
Maggie stood up, as if her time was up.
“That’s his business.”
“That’s your business, too.”
“How do you mean?”
“You have to do something to stop the man from following you. The only way you could stop the embarrassment, as you called it, is to help him discover who defrauded him. Let me ask you; don’t you pity the man?”
“What do you expect that I do? Kill myself for him?”
“That’s far from it. Then I will help you do it.”
“You will do what?”
“I will fish out the fraudster, but you have to lead me to your lover man or lead him to me.”
“But I can’t bring him here. I can’t have him following me either, a man old enough to be my father. And you can’t go anywhere with your condition. Tell me, how then will you do it?”
“Just watch. I will.”
“Whatever,” she said, walking away. “I have things to do. I’m out of here. I want to make you rice for dinner. Don’t stand too long a time; try to sit a little.”
Barrow didn’t say anything.

While Barrow was still outside, his phone rang in the room.
“It’s Annabel. I will get it for you,” Maggie ran and gave him the phone.
“Thank you,” Barrow said to Maggie and into the mouthpiece, he said, “Hey Baby.”
“Hi love, how are you?”
“I’m fine, just stepping out into the open.”
“Great, how is your body? Any injections from the nurse today?” It was a joke. Barrow could hear the giggle on the other end; Annabel was laughing because she knew he could faint at the sight of a needle.
“No, it’s just the capsules I have been taking.” He pretended he didn’t notice that. “She hasn’t come today. The wound is healing.”
“It’s good to hear the wound is healing. Baby, I miss you.”
“I miss you, too, and thanks for your friend, Maggie. She has been helping a lot. She’d just brought those clothes you dropped at the laundry.”
“Say, ‘hi’ to her. Is she there?”
“No, she has gone back inside. I think she is cooking or washing dishes in the kitchen.”
“That’s great. I will call her. Baby, I have been thinking about you all day here.”
“Me, too, but just do what you ought to do and get right back, okay.”
“I will.”
He was beginning to feel pain from standing too long, so he stooped until he sat on the cement pavement. Once he was seated, he said, “So tell me, how the arrangement is going?”
“It’s not been easy. People have started coming to the house to sign the register. We have opened the condolence register, and we are doing the wake here tomorrow.”
“When are you traveling to the village?”
“The day after tomorrow. Baby, I can’t leave without seeing you. I will come see you by then.”
Barrow didn’t say anything. She continued, “We are flying my dad on a chartered plane, with Ambrose accompanying him. They will keep him in a mortuary in the state capital until the funeral on Friday. I’m going by road with the driver.”
“Baby, I hate to say this, but I got to go. They are shouting my name outside, seems some more condolence visitors are out there in the sitting room. I will call you back,”
“Okay then.”
“I love you.” She hurriedly dropped the call.





Shadows continues...

I just want to specially appreciate my Manager. Michael Agene. Amic Network. A truly dependable and awesome guy. I will say again and again that I wouldn't be here without you.

Michael at @iamAmic https://m.facebook.com/amicnetwork, http://www.thinkfulfillment.net/contact/ I remain ever grateful.


Beautiful people. Shadows is available at amazon, konga, okadabooks etc.

Its really SHADOWS oo. Op,nice work ehn.

dimssy:
Its really SHADOWS oo.
Op,nice work ehn.

Thank you Dimssy

freshwaters:
Thank you Dimssy

I've been waiting for you

nice one boss have been glued to my phone wen i stumble on this great piece..... Just like fresh water.

Seh popcorn dey for me and freshwater ni?

kingphilip:
I've been waiting for you

Freshwaters, I do miss your updates. Hope everything is fine. Please update soon.