₦airaland Forum

Chapter 13

He glanced at her every once in a while but didn’t say anything. In his eyes, she could see he was trying to make up his mind on his next move. When she brought out her phone and he grabbed it from her, she knew she was in a lot of shit.

“Why did you have to get in the way?” He said and looked at her menacingly for a few seconds as he changed gears. “Why couldn’t you have just gone back to Lagos?” He added. Her heart was beating so fast it lifted up her blouse every time it beat, “Just like the other girl, you just had to be in the way.” He said and pounded his fist on the dashboard twice. He took deep breaths and then honked his horn twice. The car in front slowed down, and he yelled out “follow me” as he overtook them.

They were on a dual carriageway, and she saw a van approaching them from the other side of the road. She thought to herself, ‘it is now or never.’ In one swift move, she stuck out her head from the car door window and shouted out, “Help!” Before Tunde quickly pulled her back into the car, and gave her a back-hand slap. Her tender lips busted and she could feel blood roll down her mouth. She looked in the side mirror and saw the police patrol van pick up speed and then climb the median to make a u turn. Tunde hit the dashboard continuously as he picked up speed.

There was traffic up ahead, and the police van was almost behind them now. When he saw there was no escaping it, he hurriedly parked on the side of the road and made a run for it on foot. The guys in the car behind them did the same. Ngozi stayed in the car in shock and watched them run off into an adjourning street. The police van stopped by the car she was in long enough for one of them to jump out and then it sped off in pursuit of Tunde and his gang.

Chapter 12

She stared at her laptop in amazement; on the screen was a picture of a girl that looked just like her, flanked on the left and right by Tunde and Wole respectively.

“She was a youth corper that stayed in one of the single room apartments I managed for my Dad.”
“Oh! Okay. And…What was her name?”
“Actually, she was from Niger state and had a really long name, so Tunde and I just started calling her by her BBM username.” He said and stopped to crack his knuckles before saying, “Pretty woman.”
“Hmm! Now I get it.” She said, still studying the picture. “Were you guys…Did you…”
He smiled before answering with, “Let’s just say it was a complicated love triangle.” Then his face got serious. “The last thing I remember was going on a trip with her to Abuja. We got on a bus…that’s all I remember.”
“Hmm! That’s strange. So my doppelganger is out there somewhere?”
“Maybe; or maybe not.” He said and Ngozi looked up at him, trying to deduce what he meant by his last statement.

………………….

They went out to get new clothes at a mall in the center of the city that morning and came back to the hotel to change before heading out to Wole’s aunt’s house. Ngozi thought it would be best to keep the hotel room for another day as they didn’t know what to expect where they were headed. As awkward as it seemed, the thought of the whole saga ending in a couple of hours made her sad. She hadn’t had this kind of excitement in years. Even though she had spent the most part of her savings on this, she felt it was well worth it.

It was a quarter past 3 in the afternoon when the cab dropped them off at a house with low fences and a palm tree in front. She got out of the car before him and took time out to tuck in her pink blouse properly into the jeans she was wearing. She usually felt self conscious while wearing clothe for the first time.

They were at a cul-de-sac with just about 6 houses total, and everywhere was quiet like most of the occupants of the dead end street were holidaying in some other part of the country. Two expensive looking black sedan cars were parked a few meters away from where they stood. He looked up and down the street before grabbing her hand and walking towards the gate of the bungalow. She didn’t know where that came from but she flowed along with him. They hadn’t taken more than a few steps when the doors of one of the black cars flung open and two hefty looking men jumped out. Wole instinctively put Ngozi behind him, and moved backwards towards the direction of the streets only exit. The door of the second car opened, and a third guy came out and walked over to where the other two men were standing in the middle of the road. She peeped from behind Wole, and recognized Tunde as the third man.
“Reporter lady, please step away from him.” Tunde said
“Why? What’s happening?” Ngozi enquired.
“Wole can be very violent at times like this, so please step away from him.”
Ngozi stepped in front of Wole and said, “No, He is alight now. No need for force.”
Tunde laughed lightly before saying, “You just met him yesterday. What do you really know about him?”
Wole took a deep breath and walked out from behind Ngozi, “What are you doing here?” He said to his half brother.
“Sorry, you aunt doesn’t live here anymore. But I knew you would come here.”
“I asked what you were doing here!” Wole backed out.
“I am just trying to save our family from more embarrassment.” He said and looked at the two guys before saying, “Get him.”
The two muscular guys approached them and Wole put his fists up while guarding Ngozi from harm. “No!” She screamed and ran in front of him again. One of the guys grabbed her petite figure off the ground in one swift move. It was now Wole and the other mean looking goon, face to face. Wole threw the first punch which connected with the man’s mouth and burst his lower lip. The man stopped to observe the damage and smiled.
The other guy handed Ngozi over to Tunde as she kicked and scratched. “Leave her alone.” Wole shouted out. Just then, the man with the injured mouth tackled him to the ground and gave him a few dazing slaps that left him disoriented. He then turned Wole around so his face was to the ground, brought out ropes from his pocket, and he and the other guy proceeded to tie him up.

Still being held back by Tunde, tears rolled down her eyes as she repeated over and over, “Don’t hurt him! Don’t hurt him!” The white button down shirt she had just bought for him in the store was dirty now, and she noticed a few bruises on his face when they stood him up.
A couple of people came out of the other houses on the street and approached them. But Tunde said some things in Yoruba to them, and they shook their heads and walked off. “This is best for everyone.” He whispered into her right ear. She was no-longer struggling, and he had let her go, but she just stood there in dismay as tears continued to roll down her eyes.
“Where are you taking him?” She backed out when she saw them leading him into the car they had come out of earlier.
“We are taking him to the hospital. I will drop you off where you can get a bus to Lagos.” Tunde said and led her towards the second car.
“Ngozi, they are going to kill me. Call my Dad.” Wole shouted out as he was being forced into the car by Tunde’s goons.
“You see what I told you.” Tunde said and smiled at Ngozi, “He sure needs his meds. How can I kill my own blood?” He added and opened the door of the car for her. She hesitated for a second, and then decided to get in as that was the best option she could think of at the moment. He shut the door and hurried to get to the driver’s side of the car as the other car zoomed off.

Thanks for all the comments...constructive criticism and all...I am learning from them all.

Chapter 11

Christmas Morning, 2016

A cold shower at dawn had gotten her ready for the day. Now she was sitting in bed, wearing her red gown, using her laptop while Wole got a haircut. The barber had come in around 9 am and was almost done.

He still insisted he didn’t want to see his family yet, and she had to come up lies to tell Gloria when she called to ask when they were to continue the search. She remembered one of her professors telling her back in her university days; ‘Ngozi, when you feel you are on the verge of getting a big scoop, you have to make a lot of sacrifices.’ She didn’t care if she had to tell little lies, share a room with a mentally unstable man, or spend her Christmas without her loved ones; she was determined to follow this story till the end.

After the barber left, she got a good look at his face and he looked like an entirely different person. It was like a transformation from a Daddy Showkey look to a Tuface Idibia look. He smiled when he caught her staring.
“Thanks by the way.” He said and headed over to the window. He opened the curtain and look outside for a few seconds before saying, “I need to go and see one of my aunties.”
“Oh! Okay.”
“Yea…She will have answers.”
“Why don’t you just go home?” She said with a curious look on her face.
He turned around to look at her from where she sat at the edge of the bed and said, “Home? I don’t really have a home.”
“But your Dad was so excited to have found you. And your brother…”
“Ngozi...my stepmother doesn’t really like the fact I exist.”
“Hmm!”
“And my brother and I were closer when he didn’t know I was his brother.”
“That’s strange.”
“They feel I might get more than them when the old man dies. I think my brother even…” He was saying, but stopped midsentence. He left the window and walked over to lean on the chair, and then his eyes lit up like something just hit him. “So, you said my Dad was living in the place you described to me?”
“Yea, that’s what it looked like.”
“That’s really odd.”
“Well, the past two years hasn’t really been rosy for him.” She said and cracked her neck. “And it is clear he really misses you.”
He looked at her for a long while till she started to get uncomfortable, then he smiled and looked away. “Sorry.” He said and laughed lightly. “It’s just weird. It feels like I have known you for a long time.”
“Really?”
“Can I use your laptop? I need to show you something.”
“Okay.” She said and placed the laptop on the wooden table beside the bed. He squatted next to the table, did a little typing and scrolling, and then turned the laptop around so it was facing her. “Oh my God!” She said out loud.

chii8:
Tunde n wole r one n same person

Nice analysis, but...

Chapter 10

11:47pm 24th December, 2016


She sluggishly got off the couch when the movie ended. “I want to take a quick bath, hope you are okay?” She said to him.
“Yes. I am.” He said between coughs.
Ngozi picked up a red paper bag from the side of the bed, and headed to the bathroom. The place was considerably standard compared to how the room looked. It was almost half the size of the room, and had a sparkling white bathtub that looked like it had just been installed. She pulled off her red gown and held it up, examining in it under the bathroom’s fluorescent light. After a few seconds, she shrugged and hung it on the door. Her hands went back to remove her bra when she suddenly stopped, turned around, and tiptoed to the door. She opened it gently and looked into the room. He was in the same position she had left him; in bed, with his back against the wall, and his eyes on the laptop screen. She laughed lightly at her paranoia before shutting the door.

Being under the shower felt so cleansing and rejuvenating; she felt like staying under it all night. Her mind went to her parents and what they would think if she had told them the truth when she spoke to them earlier on. She couldn’t even tell her friend, Susan what was really happening. Even as wild as her friend was, Susan would have thought she was crazy. She chuckled at the thought.


………………..


The clothing she had on was for men; the t shirt stretched down to her knees and the boxers shorts looked a bit baggy on her, even though it was the smallest size she could find in store. She just hoped her panties and bra dried up before they had to leave the room the next day.
She was heading to the couch when his baritone voice stopped her with, “You should sleep in the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“Are you sure?” She said with concern, but deep down she was happy. She had been longing to lie on the bed since they got into the room.
“Yep! I think I have conquered my fear now.” He said and moved his weight over to get off the bed. He stood inches from her now, and he cracked his neck here and there with his eyes closed. She took quick glances at his lanky body, and noticed a scar on his right lower bicep area. Other than that, his skin was flawless. It was hard for her to believe he had been sleeping on the streets and eating thrash for two years. She felt bile in her mouth at the thought of that and had to stop herself from vomiting. “Are you okay?” He said and instinctively held her.
“I am. It’s just something…something that happens to me when I eat late into the night.” She said and slowly moved out of his hold.
“Oh! I think some more water would help.” He said and handed her his bottled water. She took it from him and was happy he didn’t know the real reason why she was about to throw up.
“So…” She was saying as she slowly got on the bed. “Do you have some answers now?”
“Well…not answers to everything, but to most.”
“Okay. Let’s start with the one that has been bugging me all night.”
“Okay.” He said and sat on the couch.
“Why did you call me pretty woman earlier today?”
“I did?” He said with a quizzical look on his face.
“Yes; after you saved me from getting hit by a car.”
“Oh! I think I can remember that. You…You kind of remind me of something.”
“What?”
“That’s the thing, I can’t remember.”
“Well…I am curious cos your half brother also called me pretty woman.” She said and he looked shocked but didn’t say anything. “I don’t look like Julia Roberts, so I am just really curious to know why…” She was saying and then let her voice trail off when she saw he was deep in thought.
After a few seconds of silence, he scratched his dreads and he looked up at her from where he sat on the couch. “Let me sleep on it. I am sure I will remember in the morning.”
“Okay.”

debdave:
Yaaay!! .
Ofcourse i'm still here. Where i wan go bfor

lol! Okay.

debdave:
. Does this mean i'm right?

Not 100%, but you got some things right. You have to wait and find out which parts you got right.

Chapter 9

The room lights were off, and the only illumination came from the TV and the HP Laptop that was on Wole’s lap. She sat on the dusty old chair opposite where he was on the bed and watched him as he typed away, with his eyes glued to the laptop screen. He was going through his online journal and other things that might help him put the pieces of his life together. He had taken a long bath and changed into the white t shirt and brown khakis that she had bought at the store next to the hotel. He scratched his dreads every now and then.

The last thing he remembered was being in a bus, headed out of town. He handled his Dad’s real estate and was meant to go and check one of Mr. Ade’s houses in the neighboring state. Ngozi’s theory was that he had gotten into an accident, which would explain why he had regained his sanity when she was almost hit by a car earlier on. But he thought it was more complicated than that. A knock at the door derailed her train of thought.

She got to the door and was met by a chubby teenage girl in a tight fitting black and white striped turtle neck gown. Ngozi thought she was too young to be working late nights at a hotel. She concluded the girl was probably the daughter of the lady she had spoken to at the hotel kitchen when she went to make her order earlier on. The girl handed her the tray and Ngozi blocked her view as she tried to look into the room.

Ngozi shot the door and walked slowly back to where she was seated. She placed her food and water on the table between her chair and the bed, and handed Wole the tray. He put the laptop to the side and collected the food tray from her. Even though he had specifically asked for the meal, he didn’t seem excited when he took the cover off his plate of food. The smell of fried egg and boiled noodles filled the air. She watched him as he ate slowly at first, and then picked up the pace and started shoving strands of noodles down his throat, fast. It made her chuckle.

She didn’t exactly like kung fu movies, but she was watching a Jet Li film. The adrenaline filled fight scenes helped her stay awake. Wole had told her earlier that he was scared to fall asleep as he feared he would wake up in the state he was when she found him earlier in the day. The plan was to get him somewhere familiar to his past, so that his brain would register with who he once was and not who he was for the last two years. They had been lucky to find a barber online that was willing to come over to give him a haircut at the hotel room the next morning.

Missmossy:
Nothing should happen to Ngozi biko nice piece kayo80, keep it coming.

I just posted an update.

Chapter 8

Ngozi stood there, with her eyes closed, waiting for the hit. When it finally came, her body was lifted off the ground as screams filled the air. She heard the car driver scream abusive words as he sped off. She waited for the pain, but she felt nothing.

She felt deep breaths on her face, and as she opened her eyes, she saw him looking down at her, with his body arched over hers on the ground. Then she realized it was him that saved her from getting hit by the car. His facial expression went from concern to surprise, then he said, “Pretty woman?”
She looked into his eyes, and pulled strands of dread from his face to help her get a better vision of him. And then he became conscious of himself, and looked at his clothing as he hurriedly got to his feet. He looked at her one last time before running off along the pedestrian walkway by the express way.

“Wait!!!” Ngozi shouted out as she got up and ran after him. She was almost catching up with him when she realized she had forgotten her bag. She quickly ran back, picked it up and continued the pursuit. “Wole! Wait!” She shouted out when she realized she was going to lose him. He stopped but didn’t turn around. Heavy duty trucks drove by on high-speed and almost blew her petite body off the road as she hurried towards him. “Why did you call me that?” She said as she walked up behind him. When it seemed he didn’t understand what she was saying, she added, “why did you call me pretty woman?”
He studied her for a few seconds before saying, “I don’t know.”
“Are you…” She was saying, and stopped herself, trying to be sure of the right choice of words to use as not to trigger anything in him.
“Who are you? And how do you know my name?”
“I was meant to interview your Dad today, but then I...” She was saying and then noticed a crowd was approaching them. “Wole, we need to call your people to come get us.”
“No!” He said sharply and grabbed her hand as she reached into her bag. He looked down like he was thinking of what next to do.
The crowd was almost by their side now, and Ngozi looked towards the opposite side of the spot where they were standing at and saw a white building with A 1 Hotels written on it.

Goldenprinz:
Nice one bro......happy Sunday

Thank you.