Update 2
Chapter One
I
His old friend had resurfaced; he was finding it very hard to believe what he was just seeing. How could it be? How is it possible? After five years, Basky had suddenly appeared; and he had not just appeared, he had appeared as a police officer – a profession Peter Black passionately despised. Where had she come from? And what was his connection between him and the lady that had just entered his car without permission.
Officer JB. The name rang in his dome like the tolling of a church bell. He was trying to wrap his head around this new strange revelation but he couldn’t. Basky had become a policeman; it was incredible. But this was not the time to dwell on that; something was going on here and he didn’t know what action to take next. In fact, he didn’t know whether to be happy to see Basket or not. For a few seconds, he continued staring at his friend. He was many metres away from him.
Peter fully stepped out of the car to have a closer look at his old friend; the history they had both had in the past came flooding into his mind; it was as if someone had recorded their lives together since the past thirteen years and was playing it back to him in a fast motion. Everything was pouring in very fast, but it wasn’t fast enough. He remembered everything; he recalled all that had happened between them. How would he forget something like that?
He stood close to the car; he could hear the girl screaming at him, begging him to drive, but he was not ready to listen to her, at least not now. There was something a lot more important than her, at least at the moment. Surely, something must have occurred between Basket and this girl; surely, the girl must have committed a certain crime for Basket to come after her. But did she know that Basket himself used to be a criminal, too? All these didn’t matter; what mattered was this moment. He needed to know where they stood now after the past five years.
He wanted to see it; he wanted to see his expression. Had Basket forgiving him? Did he still despise him? Peter Black needed to know. It was Basket’s expression that would determine how he, Black, was going to react. They both had the right to be upset, he thought; Basket, too, was somehow culpable; he had taken the money they had bought found and kept away. He had selfishly taken the money and had left; that was another form of betrayal. Besides, he, Peter Black, had been the one who found the money and had called his friend’s attention to it. How could he now just grab the money and leave in the name of feeling betrayed? But all these were in the past and Black was willing to let go of the past; this was the future and he was willing to open another chapter of their lives. He wanted to know if Basket was willing to let go of the past, too; after five years, bygones were supposed to be bygones. What had been done had happened and there was nothing anyone could do to change. Surely, after all these years, Basket would have met other amazing women along the way. Peter Black needed his friend back. He had not been entirely complete without Basket; for the past five years he had been living a lonely life. Stealing was not so exciting as it used to be when he and Basket did it. But he knew something like that would never happen again, not after Basket had become a police officer. But at least, they would be friends and would look out for each other. Besides, he had quit stealing; he was no longer a thief. He had a lot of things to tell Basket; a lot of stories that would blow the mind of his friend. But first and foremost, he needed to be sure that the man he was staring at right now, the one in the police uniform, was the same friend he grew up with.
Peter Black smiled; it was that smile that always passed him off as a devious and unserious person. But his smile was like a coded message to Basket; it meant that he was glad to see his friend. If Basket smiled back, he knew it would mean his friend shared the same feeling with him. Then he could go ahead and run to hug him tightly. He tried his best to hold back the tears welling in his eyes as he waited for Peter’s reaction.
He saw the expression and his heart sank. Basket was livid. He had paused for a moment at the shock of seeing him; then just as the memories of the past were flooding into Peter’s consciousness, it had also been happening to him. But Basket didn’t seem to have acknowledged the good times they had, instead he had been dwelling on the moment of betrayal. He was red in his face and his face had lost colour. Black had never seen anyone full of anger before in his life; he wondered what Basket would do to him if he got his hands on him; he might strangle him to death. And the fact that he was a police officer would make the task an easy one. He would just tell his superior officers that Peter Black was a criminal and he had to put him down to save himself. And that would be the end of him, Peter Black. He had seen Basket in such a fitful of rage in the past, and he had no doubt about what his old friend was capable of doing. This time around, he was rushing towards him with that murderous intent Peter knew so well. He had seen this expression in Basket eyes the moment riot broke out in DGS during the inter-house sports competition that occurred that year, even though he, Peter, had found an escape route as fast as possible when the fights started; also, he had witnessed that cold dust rage even earlier, when to boys were beating him up in the rain for robbing them of the money they had stolen from their parents. He could remember vividly that that particular night was the moment Basket nursed the idea of becoming a policeman. Although he had told Black that he had only been joking, he hadn’t sounded very convincing in his joke.
And now here he was running towards him; the hunted had become the hunter, a thief had become a policeman – it was almost unbelievable. And Peter knew Basket very well; no matter what profession he chose, he would always struggle to be the best at it. And if Basket had been a policeman since the past five years, Peter knew without the shadow of doubt that he would be a damn good one, the best if there would. And fired by the passion of betrayal, he might have risen high in rank.
As he ran towards them, Peter noticed that his old friend was still a lousy runner; no wonder the lady was able to outrun him. Black returned to the car and attempted to drive, but the engine was dead and the girl beside him was looking behind her nervously; she was sweating profusely and her long hair was matted against her face, covering one eye. Even with that, she looked very attractive, indeed quite admirable. He didn’t remember killing the engine. He turned the ignition but there was no response.
“Fast,” the girl pleaded, “He’s coming!”
Black wondered what was wrong. He turned the ignition again, the engine gave a fitful cough and died. He was starting to panic but managed to cam himself down. Experience had taught him that panicking in a dangerous situation never did anything good. The girl on his right, however, was not helping at all. She kept screaming and pleading him to start the car. He looked in the side mirror, Basket was closing the gap. Any moment soon, he would catch up with them. He wondered what would happen afterwards. Would Basky arrest me? What if I resist arrest? Would he shoot me? It had been five years for crying out loud. A lot of things can change within five years. The Basket he thought he knew might have become a different person entirely. Besides, every indication had pointed that this particular man had become a different person entirely; he was almost like a total stranger.
Peter Black knew one thing for sure, he was not ready to meet this particular Basket now. One thing stood clear like the surface of a mirror; if he got caught by Basket, nothing could stop the policeman from making sure Black ended up in prison.
Basket was just a couple of steps before catching up now. Black breathed in and then out, then he turned the ignition just as the girl was about to excuse herself from the car and seek safety somewhere else. The engine came to life at the last moment.
“Drive! He’s here! Drive!” the girl beside him urged, shutting back the door she had opened.
He quickly revved the engine, pushed the gear lever forward and pressed on the accelerator. The car suddenly jerked forward and Black controlled it at the last moment of hitting the vehicle in front of them. He pulled into the street and pressed forward. Basket was by the window now; what he was trying to do seemed ridiculous to Black; his old friend seemed to be trying to stop the car with his hands. But regardless of everything, Black was able to see the face of his friend more clearly. Their faces were about an inch from each other within a few seconds, only separated by the window glass. Had the glass not been there, their noses might have touched.
Black increased his acceleration and left Basket behind. From the rear-view mirror, he could see that the policeman was not giving up. Basket was running to catch up with all his might as he ran after the car. Had the situation not been so serious, Peter would have burst out laughing. How hilarious it was; Basket who could not catch up with a female thought he could catch up with a speeding car.
A few moments later while still driving Black began to feel bad about the whole situation. He would have loved to meet Basket in a different circumstance; he wouldn’t mind if his friend was still angry at him; he would find a way to beg him and make peace. Words could not explain how much he had missed Basket. But it was so sad that his friend had become a policeman; that was the straw that crippled the camel; he knew there was no way he could reconcile with Basket now; the only thing that would be the result would be a jail-term.
As he drove on, he wondered if he was ever going to see his friend again. That was the first time of seeing him after half a decade and he had left almost immediately. It was sad indeed; they had always lived together for eight years until the event that separated them. He knew without a doubt now that he was Basket’s greatest enemy, and the young man would not rest until he ended up behind the gate of a prison. Peter, however, was not ready to let that happen. Still, he looked forward to meeting Basket again. He must find a way to reach him without having to put himself in danger. There was only one link: the girl beside him. If anyone could help him with any useful information about Basket, it was this beautiful girl.
“Do you mind concentrating on the road?” the girl told him.
Rather than facing the road, he faced her instead and asked, “Why was Basket chasing you?”
She frowned. “Basket? Who is Basket?”
“Officer Jay, or what did you call him?”
“Officer JB,” replied she, “His name is John Balewa.”
Black nodded. “Of course. Why was he chasing you?”
“He obviously wanted to arrest me.”
“For what?”
“I don’t see how that concerns you.”
“Really? Did I not just rescue you from him?”
“Barely.”
“And you don’t suppose I have the right to know? Rescuing you already means that I am an accessory to your crime, whatever crime you might have committed. I think I have the right to know why he was chasing you.”
She stared at him. “You can’t fool me, Mr Man. I saw everything that happened there. You were not saving me. You were saving your own skin. Why were you running from him? What crime did you commit?”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about. You know who he is; both of you know each other, stop pretending to me.”
“How do you know him?”
“He has been pursuing me from High Cross Hospital.”
High Cross Hospital. The same hospital he had put his friend, OMB. Peter Black suddenly smiled. “Oh! Now I understand.” He started laughing; he was laughing very hard. The girl was staring at him in confusion.
“What’s funny?”
Peter stared at her and burst into laughter again.
“Are you okay?” The girl was beginning to suspect that she had entered a madman’s car.
“Basket must have underestimated me,” Black finally spoke.
“What do you mean?”
“Of course, you know what I mean,” said Black, he was calm, “You both think you can get me. Tell me are you his girlfriend? Are you trying to trap me, too? Is all this charade part of his plan?”
“It seems to me like you’re saying gibberish,” the girl was looking worried, “ I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
You don’t have to deny.”
“Look out!”
There was a truck speeding directly before them. Peter swerved to the right at the last second, missing a collision by a few inches.
“Please stop the car.”
“Tell me, what’s the plan?”
“Stop the car, you crazy bastard!” she screamed at him, “You want to kill me. You madman!
Peter pulled over at the side of the road and had a full view of the girl. She was truly beautiful; her eyes were both bright and soulful, as if she had seen as much crazy things as she had the beautiful ones. The shape of her nose was appealing; her lips seemed to Peter like the pathway to paradise. He was seeing her as an enemy but he couldn’t stop the feelings cursing through his body. He had never felt like this with any woman before, not even with Rhoda or Ejiro, the only two people he had ever slept with.
“When are you planning to arrest me?” Black asked cheerfully.
“Arrest you?” the girl regarded him with a stare that could kill, “You’re not making any sense.”
“Isn’t that the plan?” asked Peter, “You will draw me into your confidence and then arrest me when I’m not suspecting.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying you’re a police officer pretending to be a criminal. You and Basket planned it together. For how long have you both been watching me?”
The girl stared at him. For a few seconds, she said nothing to him. Finally, she pulled her hair away and turned the back of her head to him. Peter recoiled back on seeing the wound. It was deep and gory.
“Does this look like I’m a police officer? Do I look like a police officer to you?”
“That wound needs to be taken care of. It’s not looking good at all.”
She flipped back her hair to its right position. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Did Basket do this to you?”
“Who is Bas – oh, Officer JB. No, he didn’t. This happened to me when I was trying to break out of prison.”
Peter was rocked. To feel impressed was an understatement. He had just met an extraordinary woman; he had no doubt in his mind that this was the perfect woman for him.
“You were in prison?”
“Yes, Officer JB put me there.”
“Wow!” he was flummoxed, “What for?”
She stared at him. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all these.”
“At this juncture, we have to be completely honest with each other. Basket and I share a past, too. It’s so strange that we met in this circumstance. The last time I saw Basket, before today, was five years ago. And he wasn’t a policeman at the time.”
“He wasn’t?”
“He was my friend. We both used to live in Port-Harcourt.”
“Interesting.”
“Why was he running after you?”
“I wasn’t supposed to leave the hospital. I was supposed to be treated and then returned to prison.”
“Were you caught when you were escaping from jail?”
“I would have escaped had I not been hit on the back of the head by someone I was also helping to escape.”
“You seem to have a very interesting past.”
“You have no idea,” she replied him, “You will burst into tears if I tell you all I went through in life.”
Peter cocked his head to one side. "I doubt that you have ever suffered as much as I did. I don’t think anyone could survive what I went through as a child.”
The girl laughed. “You’re very funny. When you hear my story, you will feel like you grew up in paradise.”
Peter smiled. “Funny. I was just about to tell you the same thing.”
“Maybe we shall find out someday.”
“My name is Peter Black.”
“My name is Maria.”
They shook hands. Neither of them knew that this handshake was an alliance that would last for generations.
And behind them was Officer John Balewa in a motorcycle at top speed.
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