₦airaland Forum

germaphobe:
glued to the sofa in the living room in my home in fortune city.

Funny enough, I just rested from writing the story I intend to use as competition. I inserted Malachy road, Maroon City and Queenitee's hotel.

gabi98:
Divepen1, I swear the hunger for more of this is real. Please do something

Hopefully today or Tomorrow

Olasupreme:
Ikeja, Lagos. Why am i excited already.
If they can buy for me and send down. I ll appreciate and pay for it.

Sorry for the late response
http://www.business.atelewo.org/shop/

skubido:
Lobatan


Tanks for the update

You're welcome..

Deejay1000:
The grass is not always greener on the other side

Not always bro. Not always

dammyd46:
so painful... i only have pity for tunde and Cecilia....

Awawn...Cecilia's got a fan

queenitee:
I dunno what I feel for them all

That's life jare ..

16

Ade kept turning to look at Jude but the gunmen urged him on until they entered another part of the camp. The gunmen directed them to a place to sleep, Lizzy chose a bed near him. He laid on the bed, facing the roof and imagining what would happen to Tunde. Why will they say he should not leave? They should have given them the right to choose if they wanted to stay back or not. Lizzy placed her hands on him after a long period of saying nothing. He shouldn’t have listened to her or her useless advice. They all would have looked for a way to pay Jude, not minding the pain they had to go through. Lizzy climbed down the bed and turned to the other side of the bed to face. She placed her hands on him and he flung it off.
'But I thought this what you wanted?' She said.
'What? What are you saying? I wanted this? How could I have wanted someone to hold my brother back? I thought...' He said and his voice faded as he tried to hold back his tears. He thought his brother would be returned. Now, he was the one leaving to Europe.
'You thought what?'
'I thought... He would be taken back. Deported. But here he is. God what have I done?' He mumbled and his voice began to break.
'So, you're saying it's my fault'.
'When did I say that?'
'You just did?'
'What? Me? When?'
'You flung my hands away'
'But I didn't even say anything when I did. Have I even said anything about you?'
'You transferred the aggression at me and that could only mean one thing'.
'That...?'
'I'm the cause'.
'No...'
'Leave me', she said and climbed back to her side of the bed.
'On a second thought', Ade said as he stared at her back that was turned to him. 'It's your fault. Your freaky fault. You should have allowed me pay the money'.
'And?'
'Pay for both us. What foolish 'and' are you adding to the sentence? What's 'and''
'And you too would have been there if we didn't betray your brother. You would have been among them. You're at fault'.
Ade stared at her as he panted horribly with the hope of not hurting her. 'It was your fault. It was your fault. You shouldn't have betrayed us', Ade shouted at her and didn't mind that people hissed or murmured.
'Me, betrayed you? You're drunk. You need to take fermented crayfish...'
He hissed and slumped on the bed. Cecilia refused to sit near them. Instead, she continued crying into her bed. She was probably crying because of Tunde too and he felt for her. He had been hoping for a chance with her since her brother refused her but now he needed to console himself first. He wondered why Tunde refused her offer too. She had been ready to give them all they needed.
The next morning, Cecilia cornered him on his way from the bathroom. He paused in his track at the sight of the ferocious look on her face, which was swolen and red at this time.
‘You’re not a brother. You are a snake’, she shouted.
His mind went to all the things Tunde had ever done for him and he could only stare at the floor.
‘I can never believe it’, she siad. ‘You...’
‘All of una, it’s time to talk’, Jude called at the other end of the passage. Cecilia stared at him for a while and the venom in her eyes made him feel like hiding under the rock for his transgressions. Tears streamed down her eyes.
‘You are not a brother’, she cried just the same time a slim lady walked by. Cecilia pushed the lady aside and walked off. Ade gestured for the lady to forget it.
When they all gathered in the big room, Jude had changed from his barely haggard look to a more sophisticated one. He greeted them and thanked them for their patience.
‘We will leave in the night’, Jude announced. ‘I have been able to create a connection. You will be pushed tonight'.
They all responded positively. Many of them were jubilant and they rushed off to prepare for the night. Ade couldn’t help but wish he hadn’t been the cause of the gloomy face Cecilia carried throughout the time he saw her. He refused to talk to Lizzy, who also looked angry most of the night. At night, they all filed out after Jude called out to them. Ade looked stunned at the number of people they met at the port. Many of them were talking rapidly and excitedly but some were just looking aloof and didn’t mingle with others. Cecilia was like that and she sneered at one of the men that tried to make an acquaintance of her. The sea itself looked calm and Ade wished he had such peace in his mind but that would never be the case again until Tunde probably forgave him. With the number of people waiting for them, he was sure they would be expecting close to four ships. Well, they would likely board five ships.
However, some people pulled three large boats towards them and that made his heart thump in fear. Nothing could have scared anyone like it did Ade that moment. There should have been a better way of dealing with the issue on ground. Now, the way things were, they all couldn’t stop shouting, making ludicrous claims, and threats that Ade wasn’t sure could have effect anymore.
'But...These are boats', Ade muttered at last.
One of the men in charge of the boats shot thrice into the air. Ade covered his head as he could feel the heat of fear in his mouth. Everything in him expanded as he looked about fearfully. No one was hurt. They all protected their head with their hands as if their hands were bulletproof vests.
'Listen, carefully, Jude yelled. 'This is the only boat we're pushing this month. We only have one of these boats. You have to know if you'll stay. If you'll stay with us, no talking to one another. No voice. If the authority hears your voice across the sea, we're all dead. So dead. So, climb in’.
People protested and called for his head but it was a fruitless effort. After much rants, the gunmen began to direct everyone towards the boats. They were filled in their numbers. Ade sat among women that had just their bags. The light from the big lamp the gunmen held did the job of helping him see clearly in the dark. Cecilia sat far from them and didn’t stop crying silently. Ade wondered why she took Tunde’s matter that serious. Although they didn’t connect for a long time, he understood the feeling she had. But what he couldn’t deal with was the continuous tears that flowed from her eyes.
One of the men beside her yelled and when he raised it into the light, a finger was sliced off. He wriggled and gasped for breath, pointing at her. Jude’s men became infuriated. They rushed towards them.
‘What happened’, Jude screamed at the side of the blood. The injured man kept wailing and calling her horrible names. She gave them an icy look.
‘Why?’ Jude yelled again as he covered the man’s mouth. They dragged him off the boat. Jude faced Cecilia, ‘what did you do?’
‘He had been grabbing my ass all these while’, she replied blandly. Jude swallowed hard and pointed a shaky finger at her. She pointed a knife at him and blood dripped from it. Jude withdrew from her, making Ade feel a dread in the spine. They dragged the maimed man off the boat despite his protest to be left in the boar. The men continually ordered people into the boat. By this time, the men around Cecilia had changed position with some other people. Even at that, people were too scared to sit near her.
After what seemed like hours, the engine roared to life. The men reduced the noise and the boats moved on at a great speed. However, as their jouney continued, someone kept fiddling with something in the engine that made its voice reduce intermittently. The worse thing to do in the world was to seat quietly. Ade felt horrible that he would keep quiet to stay safe. Despite their differences, Lizzy laid her head on his chest. He shoved it off. She pushed her head on his chest and he tried to tear it away.
'Leave me', she murmured and wrapped her hands around him. Cecilia stared at him with cold eyes and he could feel fear in his guts.
Their boat kept moving silently until they got to a point that a storm started rearing its ugly head. As if its wheel were engineered, the wind increased and circled them in such a way that would assume the Italian government built it to prevent people from entering their country.
They all screamed following the swaying of the boat. Ade feared it would capsize. Jude climbed through the stuffed passengers alongside his men. The night made his huge body look monstrous.
'Bags', someone shouted from the front. Jude turned and clasped his megaphone to the mouth.
‘Everybody, throw off your bag’.
Cecilia opened her bag and began to put things in different parts of her body. He couldn’t see the things well but his fear made him stare at her actions more than his need to keep something s to himself. She had been staring at him angrily. His fear at that moment was that she would attack him the way she did the man. When one of the gun men got near her, she threw the bag away. Ade couldn't shake the feeling about her. Yet, the boat kept swinging and people were trying hard to keep quiet. Ade could only grit as he held on to the edge of the boat with the weight of Lizzy on him.
'Boss. Now', one of the gunmen shouted.
'Now?'
'We're dying'.
Jude rubbed his face and picked a man. The man, perplexed, stared at him. Jude shook his head and pushed him into the sea, making the man, as well as the people around, shout.
‘Shut up’, the gunmen screamed.
Lizzy whimpered into the shaky body of Ade.
'Call Italy', Jude yelled at the men.
'More', shouted the person that initiated the idea of people being thrown off the boat. The same noise came from the other boats around. Jude began to look around and point at people. The gun men picked the people and jettisoned them.
Ade wished, at this point, that he hadn't left home. He wished he didn’t steal the money to escape. He could have done better. Everyone was definitely shaking. The ones that weren't showing their fear soon began to have themselves in the sea. Yet, the boat kept rocking from side to side.
'They said people are on the way, but Libya is near', someone called out to Jude.
'Libya? Don't call Libya. Italy'.
The night drew colder and darker yet the boisterousness of the sea kept nagging at them. Suddenly, they saw a ship heading their way from afar.
‘I see something’ the person at the front shouted.
'Get ready. Keep your gun. Don't do something stupid', Jude yelled at his men.
The men hid their gun and that gave the people a reason to shout for help. A boat became visible and sailed towards them. Then, the number of the boats increased. When they stopped near them, they also had gunmen, who looked ferocious. They had several very large halogen lamp that showed everyone's face.
'Thank you for heeding our call', Jude called and clambered towards the man that looked like their leader. The man slapped Jude’s hand away and smiled.
'We're not here to help you. We're not the Italy rescue. We're business men'.
Jude understood what the man meant and jumped into the sea, but if he had any hope of living again, it was soon disannulled by one of their invaders. The man shot into the water and Jude's men shouted in surprise. Some of them aimed for their guns but were either shot dead or injured by the people their invaders.
They climbed excitedly linked their boats to those of the fearful people. They did the same thing to the several boats surrounding them. The leaders of the invaders looked about and soon shouted, 'all the fine girls come out. You have work to do in Italy'.
Soon enough, their boats were linked to other boats. They barked orders at them and led the women and the children into their own boats. Lizzy screamed as one of the new gunmen dragged her out of the place she hid. Ade grabbed her arm even as she did the same. The gunman stopped pulling her and pointed the gun at Ade. Seeing this, they released each other. Cecilia looked about and jumped at the slim lady that passed their side the other time.
‘Leave me’, the slim lady shouted.
‘You can’t get me’, Cecilia shrieked and they fought hard. The gunmen were too stunned to react. She pushed the lady into the sea and held her there for a while. One of the gunmen reacted to the fight and clambered towards Cecilia to pull her back. He did so successfully after hitting her with the butt of the gun. That did the job because Cecilia became weak for a while. The slim lady fought her way out of the sea and rocked the boat trying to climb it. However, things changed for the worse, Cecilia recuperated very fast and she kicked the knee of the gunman. He yelled his horror but couldn’t fight back before she hit him on the chin with her elbow and long at the slim lady.
She pulled a knife from a part of her clothes and repeatedly stabbed the slim lady as she shouted, 'you're a woman and can't catch me'.
Another gunman was by her side in no minute and pulled her off the dead slim lady. With a final fight, she kicked the body into the sea. The man pulled her away. She shrieked but didn’t fight back even as he fell and stood up quickly. She rose hurriedly too, spun round and raised her hands with a big bright smile. ‘I’m okay. It’s okay. We’re okay’.
The gunmen dragged her away towards their own boat. Then, they removed the engine of the boat. Afterwards, they rowed away. The darkness was the only thing left to soothe them. Even the wind seemed to have hidden amidst the fading roars of the ship. Ade looked about as he became apprehensive. The truth had finally dawned on him- he was alone in the world. He would die alone, with the knowledge that he had betrayed his brother.
The boat rocked as the men in their various ships cried for help. They couldn’t go far because for some odd reason, the wind had begun to build momentum. Even the clouds had gathered to make the moon look jaded. Ade joined the men in the fruitless call for help. After a while, he realized the uselessness of their actions and slumped into the woods of the boat. He cried for a while and soon most of the men couldn’t help but join him in becoming silent. Many of the men looked about the boat for something to row the bow but they came out empty. Ade could only stare into the darkness. At least, the heavenly bodies should have been there to wish them goodbye. But the cloud over them couldn’t make him see them.
What would Tunde have done? He thought.
'Guys', Ade shouted. 'Get your shoes and begin to paddle. Till we die'
He couldn’t say if they heeded his call but he removed his own boots and used them to paddle. The boat waddled a bit and that geared the men into bidding his command. They hurried towards paddling but were too gruff to do so smoothly, which consequently made the boat tremble and shoved them to a side of the boat. The men in the other boats yelled and that aggravated the issue because Ade’s boat became unbalanced. Ade dragged the nearest thing to him, which was a man. They both fell into the coldness of the sea, making Ade cry and gargle from the salty taste of the sea. The touch of the sea water on his skin burnt into his pore. He gurgled in the water and fought his way back to the boat but the falling men made matter worse.
After splashing about in the water for a while, he finally got a hold of the boat. By this time, his body felt as if the sea water wanted to peel off his skin. He yelled and held onto the shaky boat. The wind shook through the water and sent ice into his eyes. They stung him into crying and shedding tears. Men wailed around him like babies but they held on.
Nothing else mattered at that point. The wish to get to Europe couldn’t be met and he should have read the signs and stayed back. Emeka’s death pointed him in the direction of death. Now, he couldn’t even enjoy the hardship of Nigeria. All that remained was death.
At that point, a ship blared its horn. They cried, ‘help’.
This little action made him slip off the only hold he had of the boat and plunged him into the sea. He fought his way back to the boat but others had gotten there first. He pulled at them but they were adamant, kicking wildly at him. In a few minute, he was losing his breathe.
The water grew on and on as he sank deeper. With his hands flying amidst the sea, he fought through the waves that had increased but it was a futile effort. He sank and lost consciousness.
He woke later in a boat of Italy officials and they asked for his paper. Though tired, he fished out his passport from his pocket. Wet and sticky, the paper flapped in the hand of the officer assigned to him, who shook his head.
‘This paper is fake’.
Ade swallowed hard. He couldn’t believe it. ‘They gave me for this travel’.
‘You are… These papers are fake’.

skubido:
Front page tinz,

Yesooo

Rockyrascal:
Wow every piece of this story, every line, every chapter was/is worth reading. I love the attributes you constantly reminded your readers about the main characters.

From tunde's persistent coughing, Ade's love for Tuface being his favourite artiste to emeka's wise quotes!

The robbery scene created quite an emotional moment for me while reading, and I love every humour that made your readers relate to this interesting story "my people say... Please forget what your people say" tunde retorted! I can totally relate to this line

Divepen you are a genius! I hope you would be posting more chapters here, or is there any alternative source where I can read the full story?

Wow.. wow.. Thanks. Yes, there's an update...Now

westernized:
Divepen1 Good one boss, I av finally become a retired ghost reader on nairaland after 1 and half days, I must applaud you for your style of writing. It feels so real and quite enchanting too. More ink to your pen boss.

. Thanks a lot. .

jaydave226:
The story line is captivating right from the beginning,your choice of words are good-very insightful... Good job

Thank you, graciasss...

Ann2012:
Hmmmmm, it's well
Thanks for the update

You're welcome...

Rockyrascal:
saved for offline reading....story seems interesting

Drop your comment when you're done.

MichaelBlake40:
Interesting story

Thanks...

skubido:
Chai, nawa ooo

Tanks for the update

You're so welcome...

dimssy:
Dear Divepen1,

Sure this mail meets you well.

On behalf of friends, well-wishers, readers, commenters, ghost readers, farmzers, family, colleagues, haters, nairalanders, Uites and others, I humbly request you start the second part of this great story.

However, if you hae started or completed already, kindly send the link to the story here.

Much regards,
Me.

Cc: queenitee
Bcc: IRALIFE

Patience sir. I fear for the next mysteries to be told from it.

germaphobe:
divepen, one day i will surely sue you for being such a good writter, how can someone be this good and hide behind nairaland all this time.

Wawu. I'm short of words. Thanks a lot for the kind words...

germaphobe:
why won't i cry, call it a novel, a fiction or what ever you want, but tell me, just tell me why won't i cry when it feels so real. Tunde!!!

Well, that's really what many of those still in Libya face.

Streetmade:
chai,divepen you are too good thanks for the update

Thanks. I hope you give the next Novel a better rating than this...

skubido:
Tanks for the update

You're welcome boss...

germaphobe:
"agreed with himself that he had been among pretenders all these while". I'm feeling for tunde, that his thought is so so real to me.

We all do bro...

15

Ade, Lizzy and Cecilia joked despite being tired on the way. They spent the rest of the night on the way, with most of them exhausting the water with them. By the middle of the next day, the boy whose mother had been making him suck her breast began to cry for water. Everyone relayed how piteous the situation was. They wished they could help her. Tunde grabbed his bottle of water and Cecilia edged nearer.
'You don't want to save that boy's life at the expense of your brother. We have one bottle left and I can't let you go when I still need you and well… Still love you'.
Tunde gritted and held himself. The woman with the child kept pleading for water for her child. But everyone had drained their water. Normally, Tunde shouldn’t be afraid of her, but the thought of the fact that she had killed six people without batting an eyelid made him know she was to be feared.
When no gave the woman water, she banged the side of the van. They were all bereft of food and water, which was glaring. She got no response and that made her bang the door erratically. Jude and Leo stormed out of the van to talk some senses into the head of the person that banged the van. When they saw her and heard her plight, Jude understood her plight, 'we will reach there soon. Leo, give him small water from the carburetor'.
Some people exclaimed. Jude was infuriated by their noises.
'Which should I give him? Your urine or water from the carburetor'.
'Carburetor', the woman shouted and ran after Jude with a bottle she grabbed from the van. Tunde wished he could warn Ade before he and Lizzy fell into her trap. At least, Lizzy was clingy and loved sex. She would have a reason to hold Ade down from trying to flirt with Cecilia.
He saw many men staring at her and wished for their sakes that they were looking away. One of them kept staring at her and he smiled at Tunde, after he caught him looking at her.
'She is taken', Tunde shouted at him and gave him a look that showed that he would do anything to make sure she didn't get a chance to even talk to him. She waved at the man and moved near Tunde.
'What are you trying to do? You're putting Ade's life at risk. Don't you dare pursue these evil men away from me. I'm their nemesis'.
He refused to answer her even after they got to the gate that bordered the Sahara Desert from Libya. Jude bribed his way into the country and in a short while, they were in the country. They were driven to a camp. There, they met a lot of people. They all rested there and were given sumptuous meals. Tunde sat aloof and didn't try to move near of them. Ade didn't care about him as he snuggled away with Lizzy. Tunde was disappointed in Cecilia and tried to sit away from her as far as possible. It was better to be with people he didn't know than to with the ones that he assumed were his people.
Ade too had become exceptionally silent. Probably from tiredness, but Tunde could help relating that reactions the others he had seen in people. He only saw that reaction in people when they have done something bad. Even if he had done something that Ade felt he should guilty of, they were there in Libya already and that proved that they were free from any trouble on the way. The only trouble they should be wary of was Cecilia.
After a while, Jude came and directed them towards a compound. They all gathered at a large room that would have fit a modern day sitting room. When a young rotund lady, wearing her skinny blue jeans and a red top, served them food alongside a thin one with a glaring waist bead, Tunde watched Ade from the corner of his eyes while Cecilia stood between he and Ade.
'Tunde, can we talk?' Ade said. 'It's important'.
Cecilia looked from Ade to Tunde, smiled and moved back. She carried her food and walked on with her hand now dipped into the bag. Tunde rubbed his nose, looking at anything or anyone that could stop them but she was at a vantage point. The slim lady edged towards her. Tunde seized the moment.
'Ade, you need to be careful. C…'
At that moment, Cecilia walked past the slim lady and threw her food away. She moved off to another side with her bag in her hand. The slim lady stared at her for a while and seemed to have come off short of words. Tunde knew Ade's life was in danger because of him.
'I'm tired. Can we make it another time?' Tunde said and walked away, leaving Ade confused. They were given some flat worn-out foams to sleep and like before, they were to sleep two-two in a room. As much as he tried, she wouldn't leave his side until Jude called her away. But she ensured he was within her view. Not minding her threats, Tunde picked a foam and entered the room that was opposite the one they carried the foams from, seeing that it was empty. A guy dragged one into the room but went out immediately. Cecilia came in a while later, dragging hers and placing it on the bed.
Tunde used some of his clothes as bedsheet and slumped into the bed. She smiled at him and made tongue at him.
The guy that brought his foam the other time entered, went near her and tapped her. 'That bed is taken'.
'You should have brought your family's bed here. When there are other beds around, get a life and get out'.
He wanted to say more but she shouted him down. 'Are you gay? Don't you see this is my man?' The guy looked about, sighed, took his leave, fuming but making no audible comments. Tunde could only stare at the ceiling as others left the room for them. The place Jude brought them was massive. The compound could contain thousands of people and if they decide to pick a room each, they will all get one. After a while, she tried to touch him, he smacked her hands away.
She was relentless. Searching for a major weak spot, she caressed him but he flung her hands away and hissed. She rose and went off to lock the door of the room and sat on him.
He grumbled as he said between clenched teeth. 'Don't you dare'.
'You have no choice. You'll obey me come hell or high waters and to be clear I'm the hell and high waters'.
Tunde turned from her and she left her bed and rammed herself in front of him. She held him and did all sort of things to him. She kissed him and when he raised his hands, she shook her head. 'Your brother'.
'Get a life. Get another man'.
He refused to heed to her cravings and that made her burst into tears but he looked away. He wasn't one that would be blackmailed by someone's emotion. He had read a lot of books and knew silence was the only thing that could work.
She sniffed and whispered. ' I love you. I still do. My father was the worse of men. I had no choice than to kill him because he always wanted to rape me. I had no choice. The sweetest part was that watching those men die gives me joy. I know one less evil is gone. I don't kill random men. I kill men that are known to be rapist or perverts'.
That got to Tunde. 'You'll kill all the men in the world because they were pervert at one point or the other. I don't love you. I never did. I can never love any woman in my life. I'm gay'.
She stared at him, sniffed and laughed loudly. 'You, gay? Stop deceiving yourself. I've seen the way the brother under always rises whenever you see me. It means you're attracted to me but had learnt to hold yourself even the day I was drunk'.
He nodded and swallowed hard. Maybe he loved her. Maybe he didn't. But he came to realize that she knew just how to make him talk and that was something he would avoid hence. He felt bad for all the things he had lost because of going to Europe.
He had lost his family, almost lost Ade, lost his respect by exchanging words with Lizzy, lost his freedom by being loved by a serial killer. He was lost.
She began to battle with his belt but he wrestled it out of her hand.

'This is your last chance, I'll go out, kill Ade, Lizzy, and that slim lady and leave this camp'.
Tunde stared at her. They showed how resolute she was. He didn't want to play to chance so he rested back in the bed. She unloosed his bed and used it to tie him to the bed. He gritted when she used clothes from the bed to tie him there.
'Want me', she murmured as she played with his trousers but he wasn't ready to look at her. She stopped and stared at him and burst into tears.
'What's wrong with you, Tunde', she wept. 'Do you want me to rape you?'
'It's the only style you understand. Go on with it'.
This statement rattled her that she cried the more and move to the other bed. She cried for a long while then tied him well, then returned to bed. They slept off. When she woke, she woke him and took him wherever she went. It was glaring that she was sad because she too like Tunde made no jokes.
Ade also was too quiet for Tunde. Only Lizzy was chatty as she kept provoking wry smiles from Ade. They were there for another three days and that got most people worried, especially Tunde because he felt he would get the chance to lose Cecilia once they got to Italy. However, the fourth day, things happened beyond his reasoning. It started with the blaring of a horn. Then, a husky voice shouted into a mega phone,' everybody, come out'.
Some men with guns came into the rooms and led people to a large room. They surrounded the room and Tunde swallowed hard as he could feel fear in his mouth.
'Stand up', a hefty man shouted. 'All of you. This is Jude's connection house. Here, no one. I mean no one, not even Jude, has a say over who and who will cross the border. I'm the general in charge and what I say, happens. That's why many of you should have made proper deal with him'.
He brought out a piece of paper and despite the light that hanged above them, he asked someone to point a torchlight. They began to call names.

Tunde anticipated the call of his name. And when they got to Ade, and skipped him he glanced at
Ade. But Ade wasn't looking at him; instead, he was staring at the ground. Cecilia hobbled on to
him, but he brushed her hands away.
When General finished calling their names, it dawned on Tunde that he had just witnessed a foul
play.
He spun towards Ade. 'Ade, what happened to the money?'
Ade sighed and looked at him like someone that was failing at being strong. 'You'll be given the
remaining one hundred and ninety thousand and you'll return home. It will help you'.
'Return home?' Tunde and Jude exclaimed.
Tunde's mind quickly raced through the journey and trouble he would face. He placed his hands
on his head and slumped to the ground. General and Jude rushed to his side and poured water on
him.
'I'm alive. I'm just...I've been betrayed'.
'Sorry, he will get revenged', Jude said with a mocking smile.
'Yes. But please don't let me return'.
'Of course, you're not returning. The remaining one of you are being...Erm...Transported to a point that you would work until you have the money. Europe is the goal'.
'That seems good', Tunde said and that made General laughed
'This boy is a fool. You're in for trouble. Work that will make you wish you never came to Libya without completing your money. Works that will make you wish death was on your speed dial', Jude said. 'That's what you Nigerians did to my wife too. And my sister. At least, I'm better than the people who brought them'.
'That wasn't the plan', Ade shouted.
'Will you like to join them?' Jude said and gestured for his men to lead them away.
'A minute', Cecilia said and she ran to Tunde. One of the gun men tried to pull her off, but she slapped his hand away.
'Let her be', Jude said.
'Let me help you', Cecilia said. 'I'm rich. I have a lot of wealth'.
'No. I'd rather die'.
She heaved as if she had suddenly become possessed by Leviathan himself. 'I'd be with Ade'.
Tunde shrugged and shook his head. 'Be with him. Sleep with him. Kill him. If you even do, I'll love to watch it. Try to send his heart to me. You can do anything you want'.
'Tunde, don't do this', Cecilia and tears flooded down her face.
'Come and take her away', Tunde shouted as he drew away. He returned a corner of the room and stared at the empty space until the men were gone. Then, he burst into tears. He never believed Ade could betray him in such a way.

14


The next day met them expectant of a vehicle like the previous day, till the night. And Tunde wished he could die before the day ended to avoid looking at Cecilia. At some point, she pulled him back till everyone had gone ahead of them. Sticking her gun in his back, she made him drink the remaining half bottle of the one she drank. Ade trudged back to see if all was alright and Tunde had to adjust.
Yet, he felt bad when he watched the remaining people falling weakly and he had to pretend to be weak to avoid suspicions and losing Ade's life. However, their adrenaline made them feel strengthened when they saw the headlights of a van. With much joy, they all set to work especially as the moon refused to shine its light over them.
The person that was chosen for the part of delaying the van, removed his cloth and began to wave. Apparently, they were weak themselves so it was easy to deceive this people. They heard a lot of noise from on-coming as the driver seemed desperate to increase his speed. The passengers made noises that showed that he couldn't possibly leave the weak people behind. When the car slowed down in front of them, someone was shouting 'we don't have anything left'.
Another person argued fiercely. 'To save two people. You're callous. Wicked and from the end of the world'.
The driver and some people jumped down. They were still arguing and tried to help the fallen men.
'Everyone, get on the ground', Pastor screamed and shot into the air. Many of them jumped down from the van and laid flat on the floor. Jude had told them how he couldn't show his face in case the driver lived.
Following the queue, those among Jude's team with the guns shot into the air and shouted instructions.
'Everyone enter the van', Pastor shouted. Every of their team members ran into the van. Soon, they were on their way. As they drove off, they searched the bags for anything to drink. The water bottle in the bags weren’t much, but Pastor was able to share it among them. Pastor encouraged them to throw the bags out so that the people too would get enough comfort.
Tunde felt he was somewhere else but Cecilia held him as she had been doing before his discovery, making it look as if all was alright. Once-in-a-while, she would look down at him and wink. He would glare at her then glance at the slim lady. Then, he looked at Pastor and agreed with himself that he had been among pretenders all these while. At least, Ade wouldn’t betray him. That was the only hope that rang in his mind as their van drove off.

queenitee:
It is
B....b.... bu.......but I thought Cecilia is a gentle girl

So it seems.

dammyd46:
wow...... short of words..

Happy it has that effect...

moseph:
nice one divepen

Thanks. ...

germaphobe:
bloody malachy, i thought she was actually an emotional person, not knowing she can kill and unkill. Tunde don finally enter. I used to hate that tunde character but he's now my main man

Me too oo. Until it happened Let's pray for Tunde...

skubido:
Tanks for the update

You're so welcome...


Hope you weren't crushing over Cecilia

Ann2012:
Thanks for the update

Thanks too..