₦airaland Forum

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A SHORT STORY. ONCE YOU SEE 'THE END' THAT'S THE END OF THE STORY. IT IS COMPLETE. THANK YOU.


The Last Twelve Hours
By
Kayode Odusanya

© 2017 Kayode Odusanya

Monday, 13th November, 2017
It was two in the afternoon when he opened his eyes in bed. Lying next to him with a smile on her face was a light skin beauty, his girlfriend, Maryann. “Were you watching me while I slept?” He asked as he rubbed his eyes. She nodded before getting off the bed. Maryann was in a sky blue silk nightgown that accentuated the curves on her body. He sat up in bed and watched her brush her hair at the standing mirror in front of the bed, and he thought how lucky he was to have her in his life. Not only was she beautiful on the outside, she was beautiful on the inside as well.

He reached for the A/C remote by the bedside stool, and pointed it at the split unit at the top of the wall to his right. The temperature had been set for when they were cuddled up in bed, and now he was starting to feel the cold. His eyes went back to Maryann standing in front of him, and a smile appeared on his face as he traveled down memory lane. She had shouted out his full name in a crowded room. He was mostly popular behind the scenes in the movie industry, and even though most of his colleagues knew his name was Sola Agboola, no one called him by that. Everyone called him Agbo. He later got to know that she was an admirer of his works, and wanted to shoot a movie with him. A lot of Nigerian musician had started picking up acting as a means to get more income, and they weren’t really doing it for the passion. But after his lunch with her that day, he knew he knew she would be great to work with.

They never got around to making the movie, but they hit it off immediately; becoming almost inseparable. At some point, she stumbled upon his medical records, and he thought that would scare her away, but her love for him continued to grow. In the beginning, they had both agreed to keep their relationship secret because she had just gotten out of a messy high profile relationship, but today was the day they had decided to come out as a couple.

“So, what are you going to wear tonight?” She asked as she turned around to face him. With no makeup on, she still looked as pretty as ever.
“I don’t know; maybe jeans shorts and T Shirt.” He said as he gently massaged the back of his neck. “By the way, I am going to hang-out with Goliath a little before coming over to the venue.” He added. She stopped brushing her hair and the frown on her face grew bigger. “Come on! It will just be for a little while.” He continued. But she didn’t say anything back. Instead, she turned around to face the mirror, and continued brushing her gorgeous long hair.
“Sola, you are an adult and you can do what you want.” She said and stopped to put the brush in her hand on the nightstand before turning to face him. “Come on Agbo. You know what happens when…when…” She was saying and stopped when she saw his facial expression change.
“Maryann, when was the last time I got drunk? I’m not a kid.” He said with a frown on his face. As he made an attempt to leave the room angrily, she rushed over and grabbed his hand. He stopped, but didn’t turn around. With her hands around his waist, she held him tightly from behind, and placed the side of her face on his bare back.
“Please don’t get angry.” She said in a low voice. He turned around to face her and cupped her face in his hands before leaning in to kiss her.

……….

4:30 pm

He hit traffic right from the foot of the third mainland bridge, going into the island from Lagos mainland. Some work being carried on the bridge had caused the traffic, which was unexpected for an off peak period. He wished he had her by his side to keep him company. “She’s out of your league.” People would say every time they found out they were dating. It was hard for them to comprehend how a skinny ordinary looking guy like him could get a beauty like her. Heck, she was the hottest female musician in the country. She could be with anyone she wanted, but she chose him. After her last relationship, she had decided she was going to embrace true love, regardless of what anyone thought of the person she was dating.

He felt something underneath his seat as he tried to adjust it. It was an almost empty bottle of Martell. He guessed one of his friends forgot it in the car from their outing yesterday. He was tempted to take a quick swig of the Cognac, but he remembered what he had promised her, and he put it back under his seat.

His mind wondered again and he remembered his last drunken episode. It always seemed like he was in control till he would wake up the next morning with a headache, wondering what he had done the night before. It wasn’t like he didn’t know his limit, but sometimes, he would just be thinking, okay, just one more sip and I would stop, and then it will be another drunken episode all over again. He never used to get drunk in his college days, and his past always kept him falling into the trap all over again, and again. All it took was for someone to hype him up, and he was at it again. He considered giving up drinking all together, but it was hard for him to do that, when all his friends and colleagues drink socially when they hangout. Being a buzz kill was something he never liked to be. But today, there sure won’t be any drinking.

……….

6:30 pm

Goliath’s white 2017 BMW i8 was one of the few cars parked at the bar’s parking lot as Agbo pulled into the bar's premises. It was a small place Goliath had opened to make money off of celebrities like him, and fans of his movies. He was someone that Agbo had worked with multiple times, and every time they did, the movie was a success. So, even though he was a lot younger than Agbo, they were really close friends.

She flashed white set of teeth at him and waved as he drove past the car to park further down the parking lot. Angela was one of Goliath’s many girls, and she was sitting at the front passenger’s seat of the BMW with the vertical door up. BMW had borrowed the scissors doors technology from Lamborghini on the particular model. He parked his Honda next to a white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with two police men in it. They were escorts that followed Goliath everywhere. His dad being a popular and rich politician gave him that nickname, because he really was small in size, but the power he could wield if he needed to made him larger than life.
“Oga, well done o!” One of the police men greeted him in broken English, saluting Agbo as he came out of his car. Agbo nodded at them with a smile, and remote locked his car. They had gotten to know him from his hard partying days with Goliath. He checked himself in the mirror, wiped the sweat off his brow with a white handkerchief and adjusted the black Lacoste polo top he had on, and then walked off.

Goliath was already out of the car and heading his way when he turned around. “Go shorty! It’s your birthday!” Goliath was saying in his raspy voice, doing the dab dance as his girl stood and watched with a smile on her face. He pulled up his sagging jeans at some point, tucked his gold Jesus Piece chain underneath his blue Versace long sleeve shirt as he continued to dance to Tekno’s 'Go' song. With a wide smile on his face, Agbo greeted his young friend with a handshake and an embrace. And then he gave Angela a quick hug. She pecked him on the cheek and said happy birthday. She dressed casually in blue jeans, and a white t shirt; a dark skinned petite girl, with a look on her face that said I love to have fun.
“The guys are waiting for you inside.” Goliath said and pulled Agbo away from Angela.
“Okay.” Agbo said with a laugh before adding, “I can’t stay long though.”
Goliath looked at him with a frown on his face before saying, “Okay. Come inside first.” Walking side by side, they headed to the club entrance at the front of the glass bungalow, sharing small talk, until the doors of the club opened up, and the quiet inside made them stop talking. It was dark, and Abdul wondered what was going on till the lights came on, and a thundering, SURPRISE!!! reverberated through the room.

……….

After Agbo saw all the people in the place, and thought of the time his friend would have taken to put this together, he thought it would be unfair of him if he didn’t appreciate it all and a least merry with them for a while. From having it in mind that he wouldn’t go past 5 shots, to ten, to twelve. That was the last he remembered, before he started going in and out of consciousness, and seeing himself talking loud, and acting out of character. One time, he went and grabbed Angela from behind, and instead of her getting angry, she just started gyrating to the music, and rubbing her ass against his crutch. That was the last thing he remembered before he blacked out.

At some point, when people got to know that he wasn’t just hyped about his party, but was actually drunk, they stopped giving him shots. He got angry, and started cursing out his friends.

After a while, Goliath had to attend another party close by, and almost the whole club moved outside. Goliath was moving from one car to the other, trying to coordinate his convoy. Agbo was staggering from one person to the other, saying gibberish. When Goliath was ready to leave, he told his boys to go get Agbo, but Agbo was pushing everyone away, saying he was okay. Even Goliath tried to pull him into his BMW, knowing the state his friend was and not wanting to leave him alone, but Agbo pushed him away too. When he saw he wasn’t getting anywhere with the move to get Agbo in his car, he told some of his boys to wait behind and make sure Agbo got home safely before heading to his car. His phone started buzzing as he got in. He checked and saw it was Agbo’s girlfriend, Maryann. He knew she would delay him if he picked, so he muted the phone, started up his car, and made his way out of the car lot. His friends drove out with him in his S Class Benz, but his escort stayed behind. When Agbo saw Goliath had driven out, he staggered back into the club.
11:45pm

……….

12:01 am. Tuesday morning.
Maryann had been trying to get in touch with Agbo for hours, without any success. She even tried Goliath’s line when she got frustrated, but even he didn’t pick up. She was outside a restaurant on the mainland. The place usually closed by midnight, but the owner was her friend, and she had rented the place for Agbo’s birthday party till 3 am. She was looking ravishing in the red mini gown and black Christian Louboutin high heels she had on. Her friends, Agbo’s friends, and friends of friends were all waiting for the celebrant. Most of them knew they were dating, but some didn’t. When she tried Goliath’s phone one more time and got an ignore tune, she walked back into the well lit restaurant and whispered her plans to her best friend before heading out.
She got into her white Range Rover Evoque, fired up the engine, and drove out the lot; headed for the island.

……….

12:30 am
Back at the club, Goliath’s friends were trying to get Agbo in their car to drive him home, but he was still pushing people away, saying he wasn’t drunk. He kept telling them he had to go meet-up with his girlfriend, and then he would mumble some other meaningless words. When they saw there was no stopping him, they told him they were heading to where Goliath had gone, and that they would take him there, and then drive him to meet his girlfriend later. He finally agreed to their plans, and even let one of them drive his car. The Toyota Tacoma with police escorts inside drove behind them as they left the club.
A few minutes after they drove out, Maryann drove into The Goliath Club premises.

1:05 am
With the windows up, and engine off, Agbo was sleeping in the backseat of his Honda Accord. They had locked him in the car because no one wanted to watch him, and his drunken episode was killing everyone’s vibe. He was sitting in the middle, with his head bent all the way back, and then all of a sudden, he woke up, and coughed twice. He was about to throw up, but the vomit went back down, and he choked on it. He tried to cough again, but his windpipe was blocked, and his breathing became erratic.

The air in the car was heavy, and he was finding it hard to breath. He put his palm on the side glass, and took a deep breath, then started banging on the glass. At that moment, Angela from had been heading out to check on him, and when she saw him banging on the car window, she rushed over and tried to open the car door, but it was locked. She tried all the other doors with no success, and then ran inside the quiet looking brown colored building behind her. She appeared a few minutes later with two guys. They overtook her, and one of them hit the Honda key fob in his hand to unlock the car. As he opened the backdoor, Agbo fell out. He quickly supported him, and pushed him back into the car. At that moment, Agbo looked at them, and took his last breath before collapsing on the car seat. The guy holding him slapped his face a couple of times, but nothing. He shouted out, “Agbo! Agbo! Agbo!” There was no response. He looked back at Angela with fear in his eyes. The chubby guy standing next to Angela said, “He is drunk. He’s just sleeping.”
“Timmy, are you crazy; why! Why?” Angela started shouting and pushing the chubby guy. “I told you guys not to lock him inside the car alone.” The guy holding on to Agbo gently stretched him out on the back seat of the car, and got out quickly. He ran into the building, while Angela entered the car, shaky as she checked Agbo’s condition.

Some seconds later, the guy that had run into the building came back out, ran towards where the escort pickup truck was, said something to the two police men in it, and ran back to the car. “We have to take him to the hospital, fast.”He said before heading to the drivers’ side of the car.

……….

1:59 am
The Toyota Tacoma drove out the hospital with the lights off, and then turned it on when they hit the road. The two police men were in the front seat, and two of Goliath’s boys in the back seat. Everyone in the car was quiet. They had just been told what they had all known about half an hour ago but were too scared to accept; that Agbo was dead. Brought in Dead was term the doctor had used, before they all said they had to get something from the car, and disappeared from the hospital.

It was too much to handle. Timmy wished he could turn back the hands of time. They were all having fun just a couple of hours ago, how did it all go wrong, he thought to himself as he looked out the car. The street lights started looking like tall trees on fire, and he felt like he was on the highway to hell. His phone started ringing, and he saw ‘Goliath’ on the caller ID. He picked up, and Goliath kept repeating, “What the Bleep!” After saying the same thing about half a dozen times, the line went silent. He had been busy with fans when everything was happening, and you could hear it in his voice that he felt if he were around, his friends would still be alive. “Don’t say anything to anyone yet.” That was the last thing he said before the line went dead.

……….

2:15am
After getting off the line with her best friend, and telling her to disperse everyone at the venue for the surprise party for Agbo, she tried Goliath’s number once again. It rang multiple times, but no response. She was still at the parking lot of the Goliath club, in her Range Rover, with the engine running, and AC on. She threw her phone on the front passenger’s seat and took a deep breath as she prepared to drive back home when her phone started to ring. It was Goliath, and she quickly picked up the iPhone 7.
“Hello!” She said into the receiver, and waited, but all she got was silence. “Where is Agbo?” She asked. She had never really liked Goliath and never hid how she felt.
“Hmm!” Goliath exclaimed and took a deep breath.
“What? Is he drunk? Where is he?”
“Mary, Agbo is dead.”
It felt like someone had hit her on the head with a big hammer. The imaginary sound of the hammer hitting her skull echoed in her ear for a couple of seconds. After a while, she put the phone down on the center console of the car, and looked straight ahead. Goliath’s raspy voice could be heard shouting, Maryann, multiple times, as she drove out of the club. When she got out on the street, she stopped suddenly and killed the engine in the middle of the road. She looked to her side, and her phone was ringing again. She picked up, and Goliath was asking her where she was. “Just bring me Agbo.” She said with a calm voice into the receiver, and ended the call. She threw the phone in the back of the car and took a deep breath. She exhaled through her mouth as she fired up the car and started driving again.

She hadn’t driven up to a distance of 20 meters when she pulled over on the side of the road and broke down in tears; crying out loud, with snot bubbles coming out her nostrils.

The End

This is a short story I have been working on throughout this week. I am happy to share it with you guys.

EvaJael:
Lol u guys na...I'll make it another tragedy o. Kayo80 come and see what I told u o. These people are tempting me

Lol!

bellefidel:
1. fiyah

2. souloho19

3. larrysun

4. kayo80

5.

6. shewrites

Thanks a lot for the vote. It is good to see someone recognize the conscious effort I take to add some humor into most of my stories.

yorhmienerd:
Can please post the link to the first two part??

Kayo80

Okay.

https://www.nairaland.com/3926881/nigeria-love-part-1-romance

https://www.nairaland.com/3968520/nigeria-love-part-2-romance

Chapter 9

Lilly heard her name being called, but she was so lost in thought and it wasn’t till her mom squeezed her hand that she snapped out of it. She held tightly onto the piece of paper in her hand walked down the row she was in to the get to the aisle. She had on a black sheath dress her mom had given her to wear that morning, and it made her look older than her age. As she made her way down the aisle to get to the front of the church, she tried not to look at the large portrait of Abdul that had been placed at the center of the church. It felt like he was there beside her when she walked past the portrait.

The extremely dark skinned pastor nodded at her and handed her the microphone before stepping aside. She faced the sea of heads in front of her, all in black clothing of different sorts, looking up at her, and she wondered what was on their minds. She saw someone familiar in the crowd, but couldn’t place the face.

“Abdul Amodu was a good friend of mine.” She said and stopped to clear her throat. “He was like a big brother to me. He was a big guy with an even bigger heart. Everyone that knew him can testify to how much of a great guy he was.” She stopped talking and broke into a sob, with tears rolling down her eyes. “He’s gone now.” She said with a shaky voice. The pastor had been approaching her, but stopped when she started talking again. “He’s in a better place now. He’s probably having a good laugh with the angels.” She laughed a little and whipped the tears from her eyes with a white handkerchief before continuing with, “I’ll see you again Abdul. We will all see you again someday; Rest in peace Abdul.” She concluded and looked back at the pastor with a bow before walking off the stage.
……….
Mariam wore her dark shades, picked up her bag and walked out of the church from the back. Her high heels made a click clack sound as she made her way down the church stairs, and onto the major road. A car drove up to her, and she got into the back seat. Inside was quiet for a few seconds, and then Wole looked back at her from the driver’s seat. He was dressed in white Yoruba traditional attire with dark shades covering his eyes. “How was it?” He said as he removed his shades.
“Well, it was more believable than yours.” She said and turned to the side to look at the person dressed in orange dashiki with Rick Ross’s type beard, “Your friend killed it.” She said and clasped her hand in his.
“How?” Abdul asked.
“She gave a speech; a very touching speech.” She said with her eyes focused on the Plaster of Paris on Abdul’s left arm. And then she looked forward and smiled at Lawrence. “I’m going to miss you guys.”
Abdul had been lucky; the bullet that hit his shoulder went in and out without hitting any vital organs. He only broke his arm when the force from the buller had caused him to spin around swiftly and land on the arm.
Mr. O had gotten the information that the squad was going to be killed as they had been exposed to too much information. There was really nothing he could do to stop the hit, as the command had come from his superiors.
The best he could do for them now was to help them stay dead. He had worked a channel through which they could travel by road to Ghana, and then fly over to Mexico with new identities. They had to make everyone they know believe they were really dead for their own safeties, but it really broke them down to know their loved ones had to suffer that fate.
It was a smart move by Lawrence, making sure the fourth person in the mission, Mariam, was unknown to The Man, so Mariam was safe to live a normal life.
“I’ll come see you guys in Cabo by December.” She said enthusiastically
“Christmas?” Wole asked.
“Yes. Christmas in Cabo.” She said and squeezed Abdul’s hand.
“That’s in 3 weeks time.” Abdul said.
“Yea. It’ll be here in no time.” She said and the car went silent again. Then she leaned in to kiss Abdul, before getting out of the car. She stood there as they drove off, and tears rolled down her eyes. When she turned around to take one last look at the church before heading home, she saw Lilly at the top of the church steps, staring at her. As she opened her mouth to say something to her, Lilly turned around and walked back into the church.
Mariam stood there looking up at the church steps for a few seconds, and then turned around to cross the road. She got into her Toyota Camry, slot in a Lana Del Rey CD, and drove home.

The End

This is the end of the first trilogy; the first part of Book Two will be out by the second quarter of 2018.

Chapter 8

The bank was located just off the highway, so getting away wasn’t hard. Now, they were at Eko Atlantic; a new city the Lagos State government had been building on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. The road networks had already been mapped out, and most of the roads had been completed. They were on a road that ran parallel with the coast line, on the east wing of the city. The Man was sending someone over to meet them there for the documents they had gotten from the bank, and their mission would be complete afterwards.
Mr. O’s number wasn’t reachable at the moment, but Abdul kept trying. Mariam came down from the car and walked over to where he was seated on the hood of the car. He had taken off his suit jacket and was folding the sleeves of the white shirt he had on. She looked at him for a few seconds before saying, “You took off your bullet proof vest.”
“Yes. It was so uncomfortable wearing that thing.” He said and pulled her towards him.
“I got a question. Why do you guys call Mr. Raji Mr. O?”
“Well, when we were first recruited he used to…”Abdul was saying but his voice trailed off when he noticed she was staring at something behind him.
He turned around and saw a white Toyota Hilux Pickup truck driving towards them. “Hold this.” He said as he handed her his phone and walked over to the side Wole was seated at the back seat of the Mazda.
“Are you sure it’s them? It could be construction workers.” Wole said, with his head out the window.
“The Man told us work had been put on hold here for now.” Abdul said, with his eyes on the approaching vehicle. “Hand me the documents.”
Lawrence pulled out the black backpack from underneath the front passengers’ seat, and handed it to Wole, who pulled out a brown envelope from it and gave it to Abdul.

The pickup truck stopped about ten meters from where they were parked and one man came out dressed in grey safari suit. He had tribal marks all over his cheeks and Abdul couldn’t conclude what part of the country he was from.

“I’m from The Man.” He said, and waited. That was all he had to say to signify he was really who they had been expecting. It was clear from his accent that he was from the northern part of the country. Abdul looked at Mariam one last time before walking over to deliver the package.
As he handed the envelope to the man, he looked at the inside of the truck and wondered why they were so many men in it. Then he turned around when he heard footsteps behind him. It was Mariam, and she had his phone to her ear, speaking to someone. “He wants to talk to you. It’s Mr. O.” She said and handed him the phone before turning around and heading back to the car.

The tough looking man stopped examining the content of the envelope and looked up at Abdul suspiciously. Abdul made an apologetic sign, and turned around to speak into the receiver. “Hello.”
“Get out of there.” was all Mr. O said, and the line went dead. He turned around to look at the man, and just then, the guy pulled out a pistol from his back and shot him in the chest. Abdul fell to the floor. The man was about to shoot Abdul, execution style when a bullet hit his hand, and another his shoulder. The gun fell out of his hand and he staggered towards the Hilux. One last bullet from Mariam hit him in the back and made him fall to the ground.

Without breaking her strides, she fired two more shots at the Hilux truck before sliding on the ground next to Abdul. A few shots from the other men in the Hilux hit the ground around them, and she dragged Abdul’s body to safety. Gun fire from the other side whizzed over their heads as the Mazda moved towards them. Mariam lay there, with her hand pressed against the part of Abdul’s chest that blood oozed out from. She was hyperventilating as tears flowed down her eyes.

Wole brought the Mazda to a halt, shielding Abdul and Mariam from gunfire, and Lawrence jumped out of the car with an AK 47 in hand, raining bullets at the Hilux as it drove off in reverse.

bukola89:
Nice one

Thanks.

Lildiamond:
Too interesting

Thank you.

Fyi0:
Wow! Wow!! Wow!!
Just read thus story now

An electrifying and intriguing read.
This is a magnificent piece of literature!

Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it.

nikky9:
this is my first time of commenting here since January,this story really get me,thumbs up

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

NiggaBoi:
I felt it would not be good not to salute Kayo the writer here. This is a very interesting read. I like your style of writing also. More inspiration to your mind. Thank you for the story.

Thanks a lot.

MhizDherbee:
Whew!!! Thank God he didnt die.... More updates please...

Later tonight.

Chapter 7

Daniel Ekpo was employed as a secret security officer for a job like this, but he never thought the day would come when he would actually have to act out his real job description. He was about 5ft7 with a slim athletic build. His hands shook as he looked at Lawrence’s lifeless body on the floor. With the gun still pointed at him, he looked at the lady at the desk and asked, “How many are they?”
“I don’t know.” She said in a low voice and quietly got out of her seat. She assumed a crouching position by Lawrence’s body and examined him for a few seconds before adding, “I think he is still alive.” She looked up and a shrieking scream escaped her throat. Daniel instinctively turned around with the gun still in his hands. His eyes popped out when he saw the hulking body in front of him with a ghost-face mask on. A reflex action caused him to pull the trigger. Right at that very instant, Abdul deflected the gun by pushing it to the left with his right hand. The glass door behind them shattered, and the gun flew out of Daniel’s hand. In one swift move, Abdul spun him around 180 degrees, held him in a chokehold, and hit his temple. He let go of him, and poor Daniel went down like an old oak tree.

The lady was curled up in the corner now, next to her desk, mumbling some incoherent words. “Don’t worry, he is not dead.” He said, looking down at Mr. Daniel Ekpo. Then he walked around his body to get to where Lawrence was, on the floor. He helped his friend up and sat him down on a desk.
“It stings like hell.” Lawrence said as he slowly loosened his tie and unbuttoned the white shirt he had on underneath his suit. As he pulled out the bullet proof vest from his chest, Abdul took a squatting position beside the lady and pulled out a duct tape from his inner suit pocket. “Go and help Wole downstairs, we are already a couple of minutes behind schedule.” He said to Lawrence as he tied up the lady.

Lawrence sat on the table for a couple more seconds to button up his shirt, and with his bullet proof vest in his hand, he walked out the office, making crushing sounds as he stepped on broken glass on his way out.

Outside, Mariam had gotten out of the car after she heard the gunshot earlier. She was already by the bank’s backdoor entrance, but remembered what Abdul had told her earlier that day. “Whatever happens, do not leave the wheel.” She took a deep breath, and walked back to the car. She grabbed the rubber stop watch from the dashboard, stared at it for a couple of seconds before saying, “Three minutes behind schedule."
Inside the vault, Wole was loading some brown envelopes into his black backpack. He turned around when he heard footsteps approaching him. “Are you okay?” He asked Lawrence.
“Yeah. My back hurts like hell though.” Lawrence said as he stared at the table that once held stacks of cash in different currency. Now, the table looked like a painter mixed different paint colors on there, and tried to wipe off the paint with a lot of toilet paper.
“I got everything. Let’s go.” Wole said as he zipped up his bag. Lawrence collected the bag from him, unzipped it, and put his bullet proof vest in it.
Abdul was coming down the stairs into the banking hall when they were jumping over the counter. With no words exchanged, the guys walked out of the bank through the backdoor entrance.

A smile appeared on Mariam’s face when she saw all three of them walk out of the bank. She lowered the cap on her head, and sat up. As soon as Lawrence got into the backseat, he took off his mask and took a deep breath. Abdul got into the front passenger’s seat, and Wole got into the back seat with Lawrence; they slammed the doors about the same time, and it sounded like the kicks in a hip hop beat.
Mariam backed the Mazda out of the tight corner they were parked, and made her way out of the bank slowly.

dammyd46:
Love this story, nice work Mr kayo80

Thanks.

AryEmber:
I love your last update, it seem so real! Felt like I was watching an action movie, good job.

Thanks.

itsandi:
Interesting Read other interesting stories on Tushstories via

www.tushstories.com

#Click

Dude, you are so freaking annoying the way you spam lit section. Someone will see comment thinking it is a fan, only to spam comment.

Chapter 6

They were parked in front of the bank’s restricted entrance area now. It was Lawrence’s idea for them to wear black suits, as he said they would blend well into a crowd if anything ever went wrong with their getaway plan. Mariam, was dressed in jeans and white t shirt because she was going to be behind the wheel all through the operation. She adjusted the face cap on her head as the guys covered their faces with ghost-face masks. She took a deep breath before honking the car horn twice. Abdul got out of the front passenger’s seat, and Wole followed. They heard footsteps, and then the gate opened. The guard on the other side of the gate was met by a powerful punch from Abdul’s fist.
The car was shielded by the bank’s main building, but a few security guards were closing in on them from the back, probably wondering why they had parked at that corner. Lawrence opened the left side backseat door and jumped out the car with a pump action in his right hand. Three bank security guards who had been approaching the car froze when they saw him.

He fired the first shot, the second shot, and then the third. In a matter of seconds, the three guards were down. It happened so fast that the people walking to the bank entrance stood still like they had been hypnotized for a couple of seconds, and then they all scampered here and there.

By the restricted entrance gate, Abdul laid the guard he had punched flat on the floor, while Wole walked past them, making his way to the back entrance of the bank with the black backpack swung around his shoulder bouncing here and there as he moved.

The parking lot was deserted as Lawrence went from one guard to the other, tying their arms and legs with duct tape as they groaned in pain, making sure to tell each one of them that they had been hit with rubber bullets and that they would be alright.

In the car, Mariam had her eyes on the rubber stopwatch in her hand. “One minute gone nine minutes to go.” She said.
At the back entrance of the bank, Wole knocked twice, waited for a second, and then knocked twice again on the metal door. When the door opened a crack, he leaped forward and covered the guard’s nose with a white handkerchief that had been dipped in chloroform. The muscular guard struggled for a few seconds before going limp. Wole laid him down on the ground as Abdul walked pass him into the room, and then into the corridor that led to the banking hall.

As expected, there were very few customers in the bank, and no guards. He walked past the customers who looked in shock, wondering if it was some form of Halloween prank. When he jumped over the counter, one of the customers shouted, “Jesus!!!” before getting off her seat and running towards the security door. Wole held her back from behind, and covered her nose with the white handkerchief. The other two customers ran in the opposite direction, towards the back entrance Abdul and Wole had appeared from. They stopped dead in their tracks when they met Lawrence at the back door entrance. There was silence for a few seconds, and then Lawrence stepped out of the way and asked them to go. They took to their heels, almost tripping over each other as they made their way out of the bank.

Mariam turned around to watch the two middle aged men dressed in Agbada run out of the bank like they had just seen a ghost. When they were out of sight, she turned back around and looked at the stopwatch in her hand for a few seconds before saying, “Three minutes gone, seven to go.”
Back in the bank, over the counter, Abdul had pulled out the branch manager from his cubicle and was leading him to the bulk room. He didn’t bother saying anything to the two bank staffers who still had their hands in the air like they were under punishment. They raised their hands even higher when Wole jumped over the counter.
Lawrence walked into the banking hall, looked at the counter for a few seconds before heading towards the staircase by the main bank entrance. One of the bank staff was walking down the stairs, probably coming down to find out what had caused the earlier scream when he saw Lawrence and quickly turned around to run back up. He didn’t make it far before he was hit by a Taser gun Lawrence had fired.
Outside the bank, Mariam cursed under her breath when a black salon car pulled into the bank’s car park. She reached out to the back seat for the pump-action Lawrence had dumped back there and was about to step out the car when she saw the car reversing, and driving off. She dropped the firearm, turned around and looked at the stop watch again before saying, “five minutes gone; five to go.”
Back inside the bank, after tying up the two bank staffs that had been at the counter, Wole walked into the bulk room to meet the branch manager of the bank punching numbers into a security lock by the wall of main vault door with a stun gun held to his lower back area by Abdul. When he opened the large metal door, Abdul stepped in, and Wole instructed the man to lay flat on the floor. After tying him up, he also stepped into the main vault.

The reason why they had picked today to hit was because Mr. O had gotten inside information that there was going to be a major movement of cash. Right now, they were standing in front of a table with neatly stacked bundles of cash. Wole reached into his backpack and pulled out two water bottles, and carefully placed them on the floor. Then he pulled out a pair of black gloves, handed them to Abdul, and reached in his bag for another pair.

As he wore the hand gloves, he looked at the bed of money in front of him. American Dollars, Japanese Yen, British Pound, Saudi Riyal, European Euros were all part of the neatly arranged stacks of cash in front of them. He gently picked up the water bottles, and handed Abdul one. “Four minutes left.” Abdul said looking at his wristwatch. And then they both proceeded to opening the bottles in their hands and pouring the content on the cash. A hissing sound could be heard as the chemical dissolved the paper money.

Upstairs, Lawrence was outside a glass door that had ‘Foreign Exchange’ written on it, waiting for the lady inside to get off the phone before walking in on her. They had been told that there would a total of six staff at the bank branch, and four of those were already tied up. He was about to walk in on the fifth one.

When she finally ended the call, he walked in quietly with his index finger up in front of his masked face. She jumped in her seat, and was about to scream but he raised the Taser gun in his left hand up to his face and made a ‘Ssshhh’ sound. As he approached her, he noticed her gaze had shifted from him to something behind him. He was about to turn around when a shot rang out and he went flying in the air.

donsimo:
Bro how far, continued the stories naw, haba, we dey wait oh.

Don't mind the guy. He just leave us for suspense.

AryEmber:
Intriguing as usual Boss Kay

Thanks for the compliment.

Chapter 5

He had headphones on, listening to Lana Del Rey on full blast. Her music always helped him stay relaxed, and he needed that right now. The front passenger’s seat of the 1987 Mazda 323 felt uncomfortable, and he couldn’t slide the seat back because Wole was seating directly behind him. They had gotten it from Mariam’s Dad’s garage the night before. It was perfect for the operation; small enough to maneuver through traffic with, and fast. The navy blue car had been a gift to Mariam’s Dad from a Japanese expatriate back when he was still in the Army. It was very dear to his heart, and he had kept it in top condition for thirty years.

Abdul had a really bad feeling before they left the house that morning, but he didn’t want to be the buzz kill. “If shit goes left, Mr. O will pull us out of it. And if he can’t, Mariam’s father will surely do something.” Lawrence had told him just before they walked out the house to join Mariam and Wole in the car.

The plan was full-proof, he didn’t think anything could go wrong; yet, he had a gut feeling something bad was going to happen. He turned his head to look at Mariam at the wheel. She had her full concentration on the road and didn’t return his look. He didn’t blame her. He was sure the reality of what they were about to do had just hit her. Lawrence and Wole were super chilled at the back seat when he stole a quick look at them from the rare-view mirror.

Last night before going to bed, he had done a Google search of what twenty million Naira in cash looked like, and the image flashed through his mind again. He thought of how he and his friends’ lives would change after this last operation, and it made him feel a lot better.

Mariam had said something out loud, and he quickly removed his headphones. “Yes, plot 41.” Lawrence said from the back seat in response to what she had asked. When the car slowed down, Abdul knew they were almost there. This was it; the most potentially dangerous OP he had ever had to do with his team, and yet the simplest one.

He removed his headphones; put them in the glove compartment as the car drove into the bank premises. It had no gates, but there were about 3 guards directing cars on where to park. One of the guards was waving Mariam over, but she ignored him and drove very slowly to the locked gate by the side of the bank. She stopped a few inches from the grey gates, pulled up the Mazdas hand-break and turned to look at Abdul for the first time since they got in the car about an hour ago. He nodded at her and turned to face Lawrence and Wole before saying, “Let’s do this.”

Chapter 4

He wondered why she hadn’t asked him anything about Lilly, then he remembered her saying she didn’t care if he saw other people the first day they met. Where is she taking me to anyway, he thought to himself but was too tired to ask. He sat there, thinking of the mission at hand and how it was going to change his life forever.

Being an expandable mercenary was getting more and more dangerous in the country, and he was hoping this was going to be their last operation. He had already hinted Mr. O about their intentions, and although the man didn’t seem happy to hear that his elite team wanted to quit, he had promised to organize some sort of retirement package for them.

Abdul couldn’t believe he and his friends had been working for the man for three years now; it felt like yesterday when Wole first told him and Lawrence about the arrangement. He still had nightmares from some of the missions from the early days, but their occurrences weren’t like when he first started out. They had all grown so accustomed to the life, and found ways to fit into the society as regular citizens after every mission. While he had women to thank for helping with his internal demons, Wole buried that part of him with humor; Lawrence just lived it every day.

His phone beeped twice and it jolted him back to consciousness. He pulled it out of his jeans pocket to see a message from Lawrence; it read- ‘Her Dad is a great asset. I’ll tell you more when we get back.’ Just then, the car slowed down, and he looked up to see an electric sliding gate opening in front of them. She drove in slowly, and stopped by the two military officers that had appeared from a security post by the gate. One of them had an AK47 Rifle hanging from his shoulder. He walked forward, leaned into the car window, and said something to Mariam in Hausa with his eyes fixed on Abdul. They exchanged a couple a few words before he leaned back, and Mariam drove off.

He wanted to ask her what they had discussed, but he was left in awe at the sight in front of him. The driveway was about 50 meters long, with well trimmed gardens on both sides, and a monumental building up ahead. Abdul had only seen a building of such magnitude in movies. It was painted in white, except for the all glass penthouse.

She took a right turn, just before the house, and it took them on a path around the house to an underground area. There, he saw about a dozen cars parked under bright fluorescent lights. Most of them were cars he had seen her drive before, but some were vintage cars. She parked next to an old black Mercedes Benz that resembled the one Murtala Ramat Muhammed had been assassinated in back in the 70s.
After turning off the car engine, she shifted in her seat and faced him, but said nothing. “What?” He asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“Follow me.” She said and got out of the car. Abdul looked around the quiet car garage, wondering what she could be up to. He shrugged and got out the car. She was dangling the bunch of keys in her hand, heading towards what seemed like an entrance to the main house, but instead of going through the door, she went down a dark corridor by the side. She turned on the lights from a wall socket, and the buzzing sound of fluorescent lights coming on filled the air. From behind her, he could see a door ahead of them; the bottom half was wood and top half glass. The inside looked like a bowling alley. It wasn’t until she opened the doors that he knew what the place really was.

As they stepped in, she walked over to the extreme left, picked up an earmuff and goggles from the top of a cabinet, handed them to him, and then picked up another set. She slowly put the protective gear on, opened the cabinet, pulled out a stainless steel 9 MM pistol with a rubber grip and placed it on top of the cabinet. She adjusted her earmuff, picked the gun back up, and removed the cartridge to inspect it. She reinserted it into the bottom of the gun, released the safety, and pointed the firearm at the cardboard shooting target in the distant. A few seconds of silence went by before the first deafening shot rang out, then the second, then the third. She stopped after the fifteenth shot was fired, dropped the gun on the cabinet, and pulled a liver by her side that started moving the cardboard man towards them.

The place was quiet now, except for the sound of the cardboard target moving towards them. When it was in front of them, she turned around to get his reaction, and he had a smile on his face. All the fifteen shots had hit the same region around the chest area of the target.

Chapter 3

“Sorry, I should have knocked.” Mariam said and walked backwards out the room. The door closed gently and the room went silent. It was funny to Abdul when he looked to his side and saw how far Lilly was from him on the bed. She must have really jumped out of his hold when Mariam walked in.

She had her back to him now, but he could make out a little smile on her face. “I’ll be right back.” He said and walked out of the room. He caught up with Mariam just before she made it out of the gate. She had on a white mini gown that made her curvy figure very pronounced. “Hey! Wait up.”He called out to her.
She stopped and turned around to face him. “She’s cute.” He was surprised to see a smile on her face as she said that. He tried to read her mind but he couldn’t tell what was going on in her head. “Sorry once again, Lawrence didn’t tell me you were with someone.”
“Oh! You spoke to Lawrence?” Abdul said and a frown appeared on his face. “What have you guys been talking about?”
“Well…”
“Mariam, I don’t know what got into his head that made him tell you about…about the thing, but…”
“I can do it, Abdul.” She said, cutting him off.
“We…” He was saying, but stopped when he heard the room door open. Lilly appeared, and walked towards them. “My mom called. I have to go.” She said when she was a few feet away from where they stood. Abdul looked at Mariam with a face that said, we still have a lot to talk about, and then turned to face Lilly. “Hello.” Lilly said to Mariam.

“Hey! Hi.” Mariam responded enthusiastically with a genuine smile on her face. Lilly and Abdul walked out of the gate. After a few words were exchanged, he hugged her and she crossed to the other side of the road. She got in her Peugeot, fired up the engine, and honked the horn twice before driving off.
He watched the car speed off into the night for a few seconds, lost in thought, and then he turned around and walked back into the compound. Mariam was still standing at the same spot she had been earlier, head bent, staring at her phone screen. She looked up when he got a few inches from her and the lip gloss she had on shone in the moonlight. “So, what’s up?”
He took a deep breath before responding with, “Let’s go and talk in your car.”

……….

Inside her Toyota Camry, Abdul tried to explain to her why she had no business knowing what he and his friends were up, but she wasn’t having it. He caught her off every time she tried to tell him why she would be great for the job. It wasn’t his choice, but he felt he had to tell her everything about them since Lawrence had taken the step of letting her in on their upcoming operation without first informing him.
He started out telling her how the Government had recruited Wole first to a special unit of the state secret service to help hack and monitor phone calls and internet use of suspected terrorist. It was a ghost unit set up by Mr. Ramon Raji, a government contractor, who went by the code name- Mr. O. After most of the intelligence was gathered about the inner workings of the terror group, Desert Boys was compiled by Wole and a couple of computer geeks, Mr. Raji needed muscle to do the field work, and Wole let him know he had some friends that could be brought into the fold.

Wole, Abdul, and Lawrence were flown out to the northern part of the country, where they underwent weapons training, bomb detonation training, a crash course in Judo and Aikido, and some other forms of martial arts training for the next 3 months. They were still in college at the time, and Wole was to have an extra year from missing too many classes, but Mr. Raji pulled some strings to have that disappear. That was 3 years ago, and ever since then, they had been used for top secret ops, not the types that make the news.

Revealing all these to her didn’t make her understand how dangerous the whole thing was and chicken out; instead, it made her more interested. “I just don’t get why Lawrence told you about this in the first place, we already had a fourth guy we were going to use.”
The car got quiet for a few seconds, and then Mariam sat up and turned the key in the ignition. He had a curious look on his face when he turned to look at her. She let out a sigh before saying, “I think I need to show you something.”