virgo:
ANGELA


I reach out as he leaves the bed.

“Wait!”

He turns towards me, brows drawn together in a frown. I puzzle over the questions in my head as I look at him.

Why this case?

Why did strange men visit Hussaina and her mother?

“Yes?”

I say the next thing I think.

“You can sleep on the bed if you want.”

He stands at the other side of the bed, his face giving nothing away as he watches me.

“I know the floor is not comfortable.”

His lips thin. “I am not complaining.”

“I know, it is just…it will make me feel better.”

“I have been sleeping there for weeks Angela.”

I manage a smile.

“Okay.”

I pull pillow behind me and plump it with tight fists. I see him move from the corner of my eye. Soon the bed sinks with his weight. I place my pillow back in its place and turn from him.


***********************


EHOR FOREST

EDO STATE



The kidnappers led Senator Nosakhare Osarodion out of the forest, beams of torchlight dancing on the trees ahead of them as they fought the thick darkness that surrounded them. The senator was blindfolded and bare feet, his white lace native attire, torn and hanging loosely from his emaciated form like rags. He was led forward by one of the kidnappers, while the other followed closely behind him. Something poked into the soft over pampered feet of the senator and he whimpered in fright.

“Shut up there,” the fat kidnapper behind the senator growled, swinging the butt of his rifle into the back of the senator’s knees and causing him to stumble. “Ordinary stick na im dey make you cry like baby.”

“Sorry…sorry,” senator Nosakhare said, bound hands clasped and lifted upwards as if in prayer. “Sorry sir.”

The men continued their journey in silence, their boots making squishy sounds as they crushed leaves swollen with dew and light rain. They found themselves at the edge of the forest and approached the narrow road that led to the express. A Honda Element stood waiting for them on the road. It was empty. The kidnapper in front switched his gun from his right hand to his left one and fished for the keys in his pocket.

He opened the doors of cars and directed the second kidnapper to put the senator in the backseat. Nodding quickly, the other kidnapper shoved their victim into the car. The senator tumbled headlong into the car and landed in an awkward twisted heap on the floor of the car. He stayed where he was, mumbling incoherently as the car started and shot forward.

The kidnappers drove to the expressway and turned in the direction of the place they had described to the senator’s family. They drove for several minutes, eyes checking the rear view mirror and everywhere for suspicious movement behind them. They began to relax after driving without any incidence. The kidnapper in the passenger seat had a wide grin on his face. They had gotten through. Twenty million was theirs.

“Did you notice anything?”

The smile hobbled on the kidnapper’s face as he looked at his friend and driver.

“Notice wetin?” he asked in the same low tone his friend had used.

“It felt like someone was following us.”

Turning in his seat, the other kidnapper looked back and checked for cars behind them. He saw only pitch darkness. He laughed nervously.

“I no see anything.”

They finally arrived at the deserted filling station where they had ordered the ransom money to be dropped. They flashed their headlights on the Ghana-must-go sitting on the pavement.

“Na the money be that,” the passenger seat kidnapper said, his eyes growing bigger. “Make I go carry am?’

The driver seat kidnapper nodded, eyes showing worry as he looked at the bushes flanking their car on either side of the road.

“Yes. Go.”

His partner never made it to the bag. They were surrounded by the state’s anti-crime squad before they could reach their bounty. The police released Senator Nosakhare from the bounds that kept his limbs immobilized. The senator at once free, became a Christian again. He jumped and sang loudly in the dead of the night as his kidnappers groaned under the knees of red eyed policemen with fierce expressions.

Convenant keeping God, there is no one like you….Alpha and Omega, there is no one like you…


***********************



NADEN


I wake up suddenly, my heart pounding loudly in my ears. I try to remember the dream but my memory is a blank sheet. There is nothing there to remind me of the nightmare of a few minutes ago. I become aware of the weight on my arm and look down to find Angela sleeping, back drawn against my chest. I forget all about my nightmare as she moves in her sleep, pushing her backside into my groin. She mutters something in her sleep. I am torn between putting her back in her space and letting her sleep in my arms. As I bother myself about options, the room comes alive with the light from the screen of my phone. I stretch my hand gently and pull it from under my pillow. I squint at the screen.

My mother.

I check the phone. It is exactly three in the morning.

“Mum?”

“Naden, abeg help me pray,” my mother says, a sob catching in her voice….”I dream say dem kill Boma. Help me pray. Na only two of una I born o!!”

There is a clicking sound and the call ends before I get a chance to ask questions. Dialing her number immediately, I wait for several frustrating minutes before she picks. Her words are punctured and stretched by deep uncontrollable sobs this time.

“I dream….help me pray….na only two of una I born o!”

I finally let her go, but not without the assurance that I would pray for my brother. It is hard to sleep after her call.

Something has happened to Boma.

I know it.