₦airaland Forum

CONTINUATION OF T. D. A 11.





The door wasn't locked at all so it was very easy to get out of the room. I was so hungry and thirsty because I never took anything since the night of the previous day and that was before the jailbreak. I managed to stay active because that's the only way I can pull this through.
The voice in my head have probably finished its mission as I couldn't hear it anymore. But nonetheless, I don't need any voice to tell me that I really need to be extra careful out there. I already have enough enemy waiting for me outside. Starting from Jarter (Lovelyn's crooked husband) and his gangs, Lewis and his and if the Head Garrison of the prison have heard about my escape, he and his boys will also be on my trail by now. So now guys, you see why I needed to be extra careful out there.

After stepping outside the room where I was detained earlier, we arrived inside the narrow but dark passage of the building which appears to be a guest house . It was still uncompleted at the time of the event but it was close to finishing. The doors of each room was already installed. Because of the darkness of the walkway, I quickly went back inside the room to pick the touch light on the floor. I pointed it towards where I expected the window to be but surprisingly there was no window in the room.

Time is of the essence so I quickly went back to where Chris was waiting for me. I held his right hand in my palm tightly never to let go as we marched on slowly and carefully towards the front part of the house. I held the touch in my left hand as we trekked the lengthy length of the passage. My heart was beating heavily with each step I took and I could sense the fear in Chris body through the wetness of his palm and his rapid breathing.

The passage was a very long and curved one. If I guess right, it must consist of ten guest rooms on each side. Each door we passed was closed but there is no time to check if they were locked or not.

"Angel Zeus, where are we going? When are we going to fly? " He asked in almost whispers that made us pause momentarily in our tracks.

My brain worked fast in that moment as I didn't want the boy to start doubting me as an angel because I believe the reason why he still had a total trust in me is due to my character as an angel.

"Chris, do you remember what I told you about my wings? "

"Yes... You said its outside our house.. "

"Yes, we need to go there right now to get it before we can be able to fly away... Do you trust me? "

He nodded his head affirmatively.

"Then don't say anything again because if we keep on talking, uncle Lewis might be around somewhere and if he hears us, that will be trouble.. Shey you hear? "

"But you can beat him, right? "

"I can, but I'm tired right now.. I don't have any strength... "

"Tired? " It wasn't until Chris asked that question before I realized the mistake I made in my statement. Before I could think of saying something else he spoke again.
"You are... you are not suppose to be tired.. You are an angel.. " He said candidly to my face.

"Chris, I am tired.. Am an angel not a machine... "

"Are you saying a machine has more strength than you?"

That question hit me hard and unexpectedly to the extent that I started thinking of how to go back inside the room to pick the Aspirin.

"Chai.... Drugging you dey hungry me.. " I said under muffled breath after taking a long stare at his face.

"Angel Zeus, You can speak pidgin language too? "

"Hmmm.. Yes... I'm an angel, I am multi-lingual." I answered him softly and sharply because I didn't want to give him further signs of my fake angelical ID.

"Can you speak Chinese?"

"Yes.. " I answered in haste.

"Spanish?"

"Sure thing.. I invented that one for you humans.. "

"Really? "

"Come on.... "

"Tell me the meaning of Hasta LA vista?"

This is why I don't like talking with this boy at all. His questions tends to get me in trouble, I always end up shooting myself in the leg.

"Errmmmm.... Its a cooking ingredient... " I replied to his question.

"But that's not the meaning of it when Terminator said it. " He argued.

"What are you talking about? You are comparing what an angel told you with what a Terminator said? Something that has no sense or human feeling at all? come on Chris, you should be smarter than this.... "

"hmmmm.. " He sounded very skeptical to hear that but I wasn't ready to give him any chance to say anything else.
We are wasting a lot of time on one spot. Still I don't want to be too harsh to this boy for fear of what he might do if he senses my ridiculous claim as an angel.
"Chris.. Let's go... " I said softly. I reclaimed his little hands and continue the walk.

"What of....? " He blurted out midway.

"Chris, no more talks remember... " I said to him and he went mute immediately.

We got to the end of the passage where the exit door is situated only to receive another shocker.
The door was locked from the outside.
I released Chris hand and begin to try my luck with the door but all my attempts ended in total futility.
The feeling of dropping to the floor and start crying crossed my body but the fear of encountering another session of unending questions from the boy made me push the feeling out of my body quickly.

Chris was watching me closely as I struggled with the door.
'Chris will be wondering which kine angel be this one? Angel that has no wings or power. Angel wey dey tire. Angel wey dey even speak pidgin english...an angel that can't even open a damn door! Chai, I don suffer. He will be wondering if I truly come from heaven.. Poor boy... ' I thought out loud to myself after a quick glance at his face.

Something crossed my mind in that moment.

"Chris, you know what, I want to go back to the room where I found you... There is something there that I need to use. Okay... Stay here and don't go anywhere...okay? "

He didn't answer me.

"You hear me?" I said again when I got no reaction from him. I quickly bent low to match his height. "Chris? What is wrong?" Still he gave me no reply. He just stood motionless in front of me. His eyes were widely open but he wasn't responding. Fear quickly gripped my heart. I became nervous. I dropped the touch on the floor so I could hold him with both hands.

"Chris? What is going on? Did I hurt you? Talk to me please..."

Still he said nothing. He was just staring at me. My lungs were getting dried at that moment.

"Maybe the aspirin is affecting him. " I thought out loud again. "But his eyes are not closed na... Is he sleeping? "

"Chris, you can talk to me... Do you understand? "

"Yes..." He finally said out. I dropped a sigh of relief and I didn't know when my buttocks connected with the floor.

"Why didn't you talk before? " I asked with a faint voice.

"You said no more talking... " He said in his baby tone.

"Ah.. Geeeze!. I said out loud when I remember the instruction I gave him earlier that he should not talk again. "This boy, you are funny o... Do you want to kill me?"

"Kill you, Can you die?"

Oh, not again. This is not the time to engage in your unending questions. Answering one question will open up another one. So no need of answering this.

I pretended not to hear what he said, so I quickly got up on my feet and pick the touch light.

"Stay here, I'm coming. I want to pick something okay? "

"Okay sir... " He answered.

I turned around quickly and begin to walk back in the direction of the room. I was almost at the door when I remembered what Chris said. He said "okay sir" something he never said to me since we met hours ago.
"Why did he say SIR instead of 'Okay Angel? " I didn't have enough time to get my mind worried on that so I plunged into the room to look for anything to open the door with. I saw nothing useful in there. The only thing I saw was the unfinished entrance of a place destined to be a future toilet of the room. I headed there immediately. I pointed the touch light in every direction but all I saw were used cartons of broken tiles neatly arranged in one corner of the toilet. I approached the cartons and begin to search in between them. I was very happy when I saw a sack of working Instruments that was covered by the cartons. It definitely belongs to the Tilers working in the house. I checked inside and was very happy when I saw three hammers. One was made of iron while the other two were made of rubber. I picked the iron one and proceeded outside the room.

I rounded the last corner that leads to the exit where I left Chris and pointed the light straight forward only to get a shocker that sent a lot of shivers down my spine lane.

Chris was no where in sight.
I was flabbergasted and distraught at the same time. A stupefied glance at the aluminum door gave my heart another provoking reason to jump out. The door was half opened.

My eyes opened wider as I approached the door and before I got there, I begin to hear footsteps from outside the door.
Sounds of footsteps that contradicts that of a six year's old boy.

"He's still inside? " A voice that sounds familiar queried from outside the door in almost whispers.

I know what you are thinking but, that wasn't Lewis voice, it was that of someone else. Someone very...very very and very very..very.... Let's just continue with the VERY till a word that will survive it arrives.


T. B. C

CONTINUATION OF T D A 11.



I breathe in and out deeply for three times to prepare my mind for what I'm about to do.
My brain that has been offline since Lewis dropped that bombshell is now back online ready to provide all the necessary strategy to outsmart the idiot.

I first started by using my elbow to lift my weight up a little bit. My neck region is where I first felt a sharp agonizing pain that acts as a reminder to the pestle he hit my head with earlier. The rope from my hand was also tied to my legs so it wasn't easy to do but still I never give up. I keep on trying till I was able to get myself into a sitting posture. It was an excruciating task but nothing can stop a determined mind, not even the ropes used in tying my legs and hands together. The flashlight on the floor was still doing its job perfectly. I can still see my child very well from my position.

I released a satisfactory sigh for that achievement. The bastard said I can't get up, now I've proven him wrong.

"Weldone. Now, let's check on that boy. You are his angel remember.. ". The voice remarked again.
Slowly, I started dragging my buttocks towards my child in an Ezenwa-jubilative pattern. Only fans of soccer can relate to that.

When I finally got to his side after ten seconds, I managed to get my tied hands to his neck to feel his pulse.
Feeling its activeness, I was somehow relieved for that. I studied his breathings and everything points to the fact that he was only sleeping.
I smiled again and took a quick glance around to see if I can see anything useful to get my hands free. Then, my eyes caught a glimpse of the bottle of medicine that Lewis had placed beside my child. The light from the touch only reflected on a small portion of the inscriptions written on it but I was able to read the first five letters. They were; ASPIR'

"You see? That fool is only bluffing...He didn't drug him." The voice commented.

"Ye.. Yes.. You are damn right..... Now what next?"

"Think... "

"Okay. " I replied. Shifting my gaze towards the other body parts of my child especially where his hands were tied together, I first noticed that he was also tied with the same rope on my hands. The rope is big for his hands but it was still tied anyways. The bigness of the rope is an advantage for his tiny hands. No wonder Lewis drugged him with aspirin. He surely knows that the rope can't hold the boy for long which is why he drugged him with a sleep inducing drug.

"Wake him up.... Time is running fast.. "

"Okay.. Okay... " I said and drag myself forward a bit, precisely towards his ears. I lowered my head to his ear and begin to speak.
"Chris... Chris... Chris... " Like a whisper, I continue to call his name out but he was too deep in sleep. I tried for more than twenty times on calling his name but it didn't produce any result whatsoever. So I introduced another trick. Lewis can come back anytime soon and that will definitely spell another doom for me.

I placed my mouth directly to his ear, I formed a big saliva in my mouth and after getting a mouthful one, I spit it all into his eardrum, hoping it will make him wake up. The only thing I got was a squeeze on his face. He only squeezed his face momentarily and continue to sleep. I wasn't ready to give up so I tried it again for three more times until the boy eventually opened his eyes. I nearly screamed for joy when his eyes connected with mine. The sleep could still be seen on his face but the saliva in his ear drum is also affecting him.

"Youghurt in my ear mummy, Josiah have pour youghurt in my ear..... " Still half asleep, he complained in his typical baby tone.

"Huuuussshhhh.... Chris, its me.. Angel Zeus... " I said in almost whispers.

"Angel Zeus? " His voice was filled with a little portion of life.

"Yes... It's me.. "

"Have you come to remove this rope from my hand? " He asked that with eyes open. He stared long into my eyes for quick answers, obviously because he hasn't seen the rope in my own hands too. He doesn't know that we were both sharing the same fate at the moment and I plan to keep it that way before he starts his sweaty triggering questions again.

"Yes... But first, I need you to sit up and be fast before bad uncle Lewis comes back... "

"Uncle Lewis is still here? " He seemed surprised with that question.

"Yes... But if we hurry up, we can get out of here before he comes back.. "

"No angel, let's wait for him so you can deal with him for beating me... Let's wait for him angel, I want you to beat him again like you did in our house.. "

Arguing with him now will only continue to waste my time, so I decided to play along with him, at least until we are free of this bondage.

"Okay.. Okay we wait for him. But first you need to get up and remove the rope in your hands... "

"Its hurting my hand, I cannot remove it, it will pain me.. "

"Nooo... Listen to me Chris, if you really want to make me deal with Uncle Lewis, you have to believe in me." I said quickly as I was already sweating heavily. This is our golden chance and this boy is proving stubborn.
"Okay. Help me remove it Angel Zeus.. "

"I can't... You have to do it yourself Chris... "

"Why? "

"You know one thing that king Yuri told King Samuel in the book of apostle Paul chapter 56 verse 80? He said, to King Samuel when they were both held captive in a prison in Madagascar.... He said, Heaven helps those who first help themselves. If you really want heaven to grant me the permission to help you defeat Uncle Lewis, you need to help yourself first... "

"Ooookay.. " He finally said and I was almost screaming with excitement when he managed to sit upright.

"That's a good boy.. Come on, heaven will multiply your coast as you obey my words. " I comended with a prayer filled tone. The light from the touch was still pointing towards his direction and thereby making it a little bit difficult for him to see me clearly but not wanting to take any thing for granted, I still managed to hide my hands perfectly in between the oversized garment I was putting on.

"This thing is paining me... " He cried out loud after trying several times to wriggle himself free of the rope.

When I heard that, I saw the need to help him out or else we might get caught anytime soon.

"Let me see what you are dealing with... "
He raised his hands close to my face and I surveyed it briefly. I noticed that the rope wasn't tied too hard all it just needs is a third hand to remove the loose end of it and a little wriggle effort from his own part.
There's no third hand here except my own tied hands and I don't want him to see it. So I quickly invented another trick.

"You know what else I can do with my mouth Chris? " l

"What? "

"I can use it to free someone from bondage. All you need to do now is, let me touch that rope with my mouth and you will pull back your hands once my mouth touches it. "

"Okay.. " He replied and we carried out the exercise. After a few seconds, the rope was released from his hands. Then he quickly untied his legs and the ropes were already on the floor. I was so excited at the moment.

"Where do we wait for him? " The boy suddenly blurt out.

"Here ofcouse it will be h.... ouuuuchhhh!" I suddenly cried out in a low tone.

"What is it angel Zeus? "

"My hands.... Yeeehh... My hands... " I said and quickly brought them out to his face. He was shocked to the bone to see the ropes on my hand. "I think heaven wants to punish me for helping you out of bondage.. Now they have tied me the same way you were tied.. Ah God... "

"Ah, what do we do now? " Worry filled his tone as he bent close to me. His legs were shaking on the floor, evidently telling me that the aspirin is still battling with him and he his also fighting back.

"You will have to help me remove it. I don't know why heaven is doing this to me. "

"Maybe you are not suppose to use your mouth.... " He chipped in.

"Oh.. Yes... You are damn right Chris, How can I be using the same mouth I'm using to praise God to touch something invented by human beings...? That's my mistake... " I stretched my hands forth towards him so he can see the situation I'm in.

"Let me help you before Uncle Lewis comes back... "

"That's right... We need to hurry up... " I said hastily because Lewis might walk in anytime soon. He should have been back by now ganself, the twenty minutes he gave me should have passed by now. Only God knows what he's doing outside.

By the time the ropes were released from my hands, we have both worked up some sweats. Nonetheless, I was quite ecstatic when the ropes on my hands dropped to the floor. I rose to my feet and released another breath.

"Let's go Chris... " I held his hands firmly in my grip and begin to head towards the exit.

"To where? "

"You will find out soon... "

With that, we both proceeded towards the exit and Chris was submissive.

CONTINUATION OF EPISODE 11.T. D. A.

DEDICATED TO FEMZIECARLOS.





It took me roughly three seconds to notice that another man came inside with him. The position I was in, coupled with the darkness of the room didn't give me the perfect view of the second man but his heavy footsteps indicates he is heavily built.

I stiffened in fear as their footsteps got nearer to me. Lewis stood in front of me and bent down low while the other man stood behind him.

"You know what Darous? This my guy here have given me another idea on how to perfectly handle this situation. Forget about the recording and all that. No need of it agai.. I'm sorry for disturbing you.... "

"Wait... Why? " I managed to ask him that in an attempt to conceal my fear and worry of what he might do to me or my child.

"Tatata... I would have loved to tell you... But come on where is the fun in that? No fun at all.... Just wait and see what's going to happen next... "

"Are you going to kill me? "

"Kill you? I already told you there is nothing to gain in your death.. Like Fang said, I will be shooting myself in the foot if I kill you just right now... But what I plan for you will get me what I want.. Just stay calm..its only a matter of minutes... " He patted me softly and got up to his feet.
"Fang, give me that level." He demanded from the guy standing beside him.

I strained my eyes upwards to see what he wants to do. I noticed something like a small phone in his hands. He quickly wore a nylon in his hands and continue with pressing the phone.

Few minutes passed with none of us uttering a single word. I couldn't stop wondering what he was doing.

"Done. ". Lewis announced to no one in particular. He bent low to look at me in the eye and my tied hands before he dropped a scoff-filled-laughter and stood up.

"With this Darous, you will be gone forever... "

He turned around briskly after saying that and they both begin to walk away.

"What will you do to my boy.... " I blurted out as they near the door. "I don't care what you do to me, just don't hurt him.... "

"Again Darous.... " He stopped in his tracks to reply me. "Stay calm..you will hear from me soon. "

The next thing I heard after that was the closing sound of the door that informs the absence of their presence.


I feel like doing something after hearing all that Lewis just did but the anxiety and perplexity of my body wouldn't allow me to think. Merely staring at the unconscious state of my child is sending cold shivers of fear down my body. I don't care what happens to me as long as my child is spared from this. The thought of something bad or worse happening to him due to my failure as a father is enough to get me a permanent resident in the WORRY ESTATE adjacent Anxiety Boulevard.

"There's nothing I can do to extricate myself from this situation anymore. That sonofagun have almost break my neck earlier and he has even come back to instill more fear into my body.... I'm in deep pain here like seriously.... . ". I lamented in complete agony as I lay on the floor. I was almost weeping right there. If not because I've decided earlier in the day to stop complaining about what this life is throwing at me, I would have started my usual ranting and complaints. But still what can I do in this situation? Only God knows what that bastard wants to do with that phone.

"One thing is certain here... Everything depends on how much you want to use your brain here..." The voice returned to me. "All you have to do is think... Think.. Think, it won't cost you a dime to think out. He's playing mind games with you and you should have figured it out by now... ". The voice spoke again.

"Mind game?" I queried out loud. "Which kine game be that one? "

"It's a mind game... That dude is only testing your limits.. And you are letting him get away with it. Use your brain... Don't just lay idle there and be expecting things to get done for you.. Where is the younger version of you ganself? The playboy part of you would have sort this out without putting things in jeopardy. I trust that part of you would have let him know outrightly that no matter how loud the volume is, Headset no fit be like Home theater... "
I saw sense in everything I just heard. Truly, the younger version of me would have come up with something to extricate myself from this palava, but this is who I am now. These version of me too can still show Lewis that no matter how big the MAh, Power Bank cannot carry Air condition.

"Do you remember what Principal, one of your cell mates use to say to everyone going for trial?"

"Which of his words? "

"He use to say, ', you don't know the true power of a Well during the raining season, you know it in the dry season, so also ypu don't know your true strength until you are presented with the most unexpected daunting situations... Secondly, Train your mind to be calm in every situation. Let your brain master the art of calmness under no matter what you are facing' Those are exceptionally brilliant words.... All you need to do now is to calm down... ".

"Hmmmm" I sighed out loud as I remembered that.

Putting Principal's quote into a handy use, I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes in an attempt to calm my mind. Fortunately for me, it worked. All I could hear during those moment of calmness exercise were plainly the sounds of my heartbeat and shortly after, the voice returned.

"Believing you can't do anything because your hands and legs are tied is where you got it all wrong.. You are tied physically doesn't mean your brain should share the same fate. Keeping your brain calm and thinking actively is the greatest weapon you can ever have cos its only then you can get the better version of yourself."

I sighed deeply again as my nostrils continue to inhale dust due to their closeness to the ground. The white garment on my body is the only thing preventing me from the deadly clutches of the mosquitos parading the room.
"Get up now and check on that child, confirm for yourself if he's been drugged or merely sleeping.. "

"How do I know that? ". I asked out loud as if I'm speaking to someone and fortunately, a reply came instantly.

"Shhhh.. First things first... Check him first then you'll know what to do.... Believing in yourself is the key..you are a son of thunder for crying out loud "

I smiled sheepishly to myself after hearing that. I decided to heed the advice given by the unseen voice.

Abdulreheem:
hi darous. the defination of father almost took all the story , chai but i'm still gratefull for ur return. what happen next ? i'm eager to know hw songo or the second commander of chai have forgot that phrase uhm not my fault o. any way T B M ,U ARE THE BEST.

boss, update never finish

890. THE DOG ATTENDANT.



This Is not an update, but rather more like a voice out.


Its funny, how the absence of updates can generate more comments than the presence of it.

I'm seeing some people's comments for the first time on this platform. Its not good for my moral o.


Secondly, I want to tender my sincere apology to my frequent commenters. Those that hardly read without dropping comments. I say a very big 'I'm sorry' to you guys. I have no right to be absent for that long.

But that being said, there is a reason for everything. What I'm passing through right now is enough for me to close the part of my brain that deals in writing so I can focus it more on how I will avoid an impending shame. But that's not what I'm going to do. I will do my best on here.


To those that supports me no matter what, I say a very big thank you to you guys. You are the only ones that still make writing look leisurely to me while the others are making it look like a burden.

I know sorry is not enough to compensate for the absence but that word seemed like the only available thing to say.

If you endure me when I'm still a chronic struggler, I know you will enjoy me when I'm less struggling.

Thanks.

11. THE DOG ATTENDANT. [T. D. A] by T. B. M.



The word 'FATHER', when you hear it or come across it in writing, what comes to your mind? I mean if you were asked to define it explicitly, how well can you put it?

Well, as for me, the word 'Father' can be defined in a lot of ways and it can never ever be over emphasised.

The professors will tell you that a FATHER is the male parent of a child. Whether it is in the Adoptive form or the Biological form, all that matters is the ability to carry out the parental, legal, and social relationship with the child.

That definition makes sense right? Abi no be so?

Okay now, we ain't finished yet, let's go to another part.

During the occasion of my forty seventh year as a father, Gtbank sent me a mind blowing message as a congratulatory text to celebrate the father's day anniversary of that year. I can never forget that message in my life. Here is what they sent to my Gmail box.

The message reads as thus:
'There are no perfect fathers, just loving fathers.
Fathers who stop the world for their children's happiness.

Fathers who motivate their child to achieve amazing things.
Fathers who are there for their children no matter what.
There are no perfect fathers but there is you, the best man for the difficult job that is FATHERHOOD. '
Take it from me, that message is priceless. Gtbank really made my day when I read that text. I was all smiles through out the whole day.

Now that the Professors and the banking industry have given us their own definition and explanation of the word FATHER respectively, its time for me to tell you my own definition of the word FATHER.
As for me o, Darous Emmanuel, I think A father is someone that can follow his children to school when ever a teacher beats them too much.

Well if that is not enough, then nothing can ever be enough to give the true meaning of the word FATHER.

Still yet, I don't think the case can be totally closed unless we take a short trip to GLOCOTEL, (Global College of Thunder and Lightening) to hear their own perception of the word FATHER.

**

After driving at the speed of light for close to 7hours, we finally arrive at the Axe-like Gate that leads to the inside of the main buildings of GLOCOTEL.
O'boy, our journey doesn't stop there, we still need to embark on another 2hours of light speed to get into the main buildings of the great school that produced writers like Darous Emmanuel, Lord Rayden of the Mortal Kombat, Legendary writers like Larrysun, Racheafst, Audreytimms, Apollux and other great writers in the world.

Now that we are there, precisely inside the office of the V.C, let's ask the VICE CHANCELLOR, Dr Shango, the god of thunder himself what he can say about a father.

"Prof Shango Sir, with due respect and unlimited humility, we will like you to kindly share with us, what you think about the word 'FATHER'"

"Hunununu... ". He clears his throat with a smile and puffs out the genetic smoke in his mouth and nostrils. The smoke was so enormous as they continue coming out of every available hole on his body and there is no doubt that some will be passing out of his anus too. He gave us a last askance glance before he spoke up in his thick and hoarse voice. " A father? The truth of the matter is, you can't explain what you can't explain, but as a learned professor I will grant you your request..... Hmmm, in my own stagnant point of view, I believe the true meaning of A 'father' is someone that have the ancestoral ability to send thunder to fire anyone that tampers wrongly with his child... He should be cruel, unforgiving, intolerable and heartless to anyone found hurting his children. That's who a father should be.... Not someone that will be saying, "don't disturb me, go and meet your mother" all the time......Thank you.. That's all I have for now... "

Chai! Did Shango just said all that? Kai, that's the height of hypocrisy. Help me ask him, what is Lewis, Nike and Chioma still doing on earth if he truly meant what he said? Or am I no longer the heir to the throne?

Wo, o'boy, please let's just go back to the story. Enough time spent on trying to define a father.

****


"Could he be bluffing?" That was the first thing I asked myself the moment Lewis announced his exit from the room with the sound of the closed door.
It's like one of those decisive awkward moments you face in an exam hall, where the option of cheating to pass, seems like the only option for you to pass the exam or you risk failing by sticking to your morals.

Truly, nothing compares to the life of one's child but at that moment of daunting tension and apprehension, the thought of telling Joke that I never loved her or do something bad to her that can make her hate me the more suddenly seems like an impossible thing to do.

"Could he be bluffing about this? With my child's life?" I couldn't stop asking myself that as I lay on the ground with my side.

I've been laying down for a while now and my sides are starting to hurt. I groaned exasperatedly as the awful predicament continues to dawn on me.

'Maybe I should just grant his request to at least save the life of my child.... Something bad must not happen to my child... The short moment we spent together in his room still sends shrills of excitement to my troubled mind each time I remember it.' I told myself that and was already preparing my voice to shout Lewis name before I heard something from with in.

"Like seriously? Darous? You really want to do that? . call him to do what? surrender to defeat? Can't you see he's only playing games with you? Ask yourself this, how was he able to get a drug to use on your child during that short period you were unconscious? Or you saying he already knows this will happen thereby planing ahead? . Chai, where is the younger version of you. Darous, think.... Don't let this dude outsmart you.. You must get out of here either by fire or force. Haven't you had enough of all these nonsense already? haba! Trouble no dey tire you? " I heard all that from the inside of my brain and before I knew it, I was already replying to it.

"I'm tired of it truly ooo... But what can I do? My hands are tied.... "

"And how is that disturbing you? Can't you get up? ". The voice challenged again.

"Get up? How's that possible? He said I can't get up.. Its impossible for me to get up.... "
"He's playing mind games with you and you are letting him. He's gotten into your head... No wonder he's a neurosurgeon.. He knew perfectly how to manipulate your mind. He did it to Joke and it worked on her. He's doing it to you too... He knew you will try to get up which is why he told you not to even try it and you also believed it.. Its mind game.. Its as simple as that... ". The voice said again.

Five seconds of silence followed before the door gave out a loud squeak to announce the re-emergence of Lewis.

Holuwabojan:
Thank you for giving us this, u r indeed a rear gem. Thank you for the messages u passed across to humanity via dis medium. I celebrate you and i pray God will continue to bless you and make you happy always. More wisdom and more funds to your account. Truly Darous is smart. #Darousmart #holuwbojan

thanks boss.but the story still continues ooo...far from the end

Kaycee9242:
Nice one tbm and thanks for putting us on the know about ur proposed absent

I'm not returning the phone again jare. At least for now bro... The site wey I dey work this week far from home no be small. So, maybe later. Update go show sha

CONTINUATON FO T. D. A 10





I smiled as those memories crept into my mind. I remember everything quite well.

"But bit by bit, you forkked up Darous... You made me hate you buddy.. I hate the fact that you made me hate you. I hate you for mis-using the chance I gave you...I hate that you were hurting the only person in this world that keeps my soul intact. I hate you for.... ". His voice trailed off on the last word. He seemed to be crying.. I myself couldn't bring myself to say anything at all. I only buried my head on the floor as those memories continue to flood the drainage of my brain.

"Darous why? " He asked in a faint voice. "Why did you do this to our friendship? Come on... Why! You were hurting her with your lies and you keep doing it... Did she make a mistake by giving you her heart? You messed up big time buddy.... You don't deserve her... " He declared and sighed.

"But, lemme guess, you do? ". I curt in after some seconds spent on deliberating on his words.

"I earned it.. She owed me first.. But I later earned it... "

"Owed you? Come on, don't be ridiculous.. "

"Yes... She was responsible for the deaths of my mother and sister ... She owed me that... Giving me her heart willingly would have solved all that but still, I wasn't going to force her into doing so... Which is why I decided to work for it.. By staying by her side everytime you hurt her, and also, I have helped her get rid of almost every obstacle in her path... The only way she can ever pay me is simply by becoming mine for eternity.... "

Suddenly, I busted into laughter upon hearing that. It sounds as the most ridiculous thing I ever heard.

"Le... wis, You.. You... are...si... sick.... " I said in a laughing voice. My nostrils continue to inhale dust each time I pronounce a word due to their closeness to the ground "Officially, Lewis, " I continued after getting a hold of myself. "Sickness have domesticated your entire brain... You really think she will be with someone like you? Your education is a mess if you don't realize the difference between obsession and love. You are obsessed with her because no one loves you. You said it yourself, that your own father has given up on your case, so what makes you think you are in anyway worthy of her heart? She's too precious for you guy... Stop being delusional... Joke can never marry you... Not in this life not in the next one.... Wait, why am I even saying the next one? I don't think God can make the mistake of creating you twice... This one life is your only chance to be recreated again and see how you have been using it? Betraying your friends and stealing their wife... You are a bloody fool for thinking the wildest impossible things... Marrying you? Ahahahahahaha, stop provoking my ribs with your comedy jare... Marry ko... Marry ni... "

I was expecting him to get furious or very angry, but apparently, I predicted wrongly.
He only chuckled with a wicked tone. "See who is talking... Darous? You have the audacity to lecture me about morals and what's not? Weird.... Maybe you have forgotten quickly about everything you did yourself. Its like those nonsense foods they have been feeding you in prison has tampered with your memory. Let me do you the favour of reminding you. ". He dragged the chair he was sitting on closer to me and sat back in it. His oblong face was still perfectly hidden behind the darkness of the room.

"First, you slept with her mother while you were still dating her... Call that one. Two, you raped her younger and innocent sister when she threatened to tell her about your affairs with her mother. That's two. Three, you impregnated her mother, and it was that pregnancy that lead to her death. Indirectly, you killed her mother.... Her own mother.... Okay,... Then what next did you do? You came back to her life to disgrace her on your wedding day with one of your past atrocities. That's four. With evidences, you killed your ex-wife, a woman old enough to be your own mother. That's five. Six, you sent your just wedded wife to the hospital on the eve of your wedding with your lies... Should I continue? okay... Seven, you abandoned her in the hospital and ran away for how many months? .... Eh? How many months? I am asking you.... To make things worse, Your own child was injured in the cause and still that wasn't enough for you to stay by her side. Your blood was needed to revive your son but you still choose to run away. As if you haven't caused her enough pain, you still go ahead to reappear in her life. One would have thought you have changed by coming back to her but what did you do? You still inflicted another damage on her soul.... That's how many now? I think I've lost count already. So Darous, You are in no position to tell me about morals. "

Those words hit me very hard as they bring back old memories. I was emotionally weak in that instance. I regret lashing out at him before. Feeling of guilt punctured my heart and it began to bleed remoursefully.

"So, what are you going to do now? ". I managed to ask that with a relatively weak tone.
"To complete what I started. To rectify the error I made in entrusting her in your care when I should have killed you. Your face once made me abandon the urge to kill you but thank God I already off the light so I can't see your face. Nothing can stop me now... Not your face, not God, not any fucking shadow. You just have to die Darous, so we can continue to live our lives peacefully. You don't worth sharing oxygen with........ She gave her heart out wrongly and I'm going to help her get it back and your death is the only way to achieve that buddy.... "

"So that's it? You will kill me so you can have her? " I said that with a perplexed mind. I was already getting scared of his statement. I don't want to die without seeing my son.
My thoughts was immediately disrupted by the ringing of a phone. The phone was Lewis'. He raised it to his face to see the caller and thanks to the light on the screen, I was able to see his face. Expectedly, it was still covered in thick traces of blood and sweat.

Suddenly, he rose up and drop the phone on the chair. He turned around and picked something on the floor before he begin to approach me.
"Joke is calling me, I have to pick it, but at the same time I don't want her to know I'm with you." He said to me and the next thing I heard was the sound of something like a nylon being open. Next, I felt something like a tape being plastered to my lips.

"Fine... Now, let me call her back... " He said satisfactorily and walked back to where the phone was. I watched as the lights of the screen came back on and the dial tone of the phone disrupted the short trip of silence in the room.

"Hey dear... ". He said.
"Lewis, we've not seen him yet... " Joke's voice sounded from the loudspeaker of the phone. Her voice was full of worry.

"What! Really? Gosh... But have you really checked the whole house? He might be hiding somewhere you know... That boy can be silly at times. "

"If I tell you, we have searched almost every space in the house.. Even we are on our way to Amaka's house, maybe he went there when he couldn't find me in time... " Joke explained as I continue to listen with curiosity and axiousness.

"Really? You think he could really go there? "

"I don't know gan self... I just want to find him before he gets to the wrong hand... " She stressed with a strained voice.

"Okay... Let me know when you find him okay? Keep calm... He can't get lost..."

"But are you sure that guy didn't get him? " Joke asked again.

"I told you already, I chased him to the other street after our fight in the compound. There is no way he could have gotten him. Because when I came back to the house, Chris was already out of the compound... I shouted at him to come back but, thank God you know how stubborn he his...I already explained to the police so they should have some leads by now to get that bastard kidnapper.... "

"But the officers here are saying those kidnappers might me more than one. "

"Hun- ? why did they say that...? "

"Let them speak to you theirself. officer, take.. " Joke was heard saying that.

Shortly after, the voice of one man was heard from the phone speakers.

"Mr Lewis, we have reasons to believe that those kidnappers are more than one. Reason is, we found a car that belonged to no one else parked not too far from madam house. The things we found in that car gave us the hint that they may be more than one. I think their main plan was to use the man you fought with to divert you out of the house knowing that the only person remaining will be madam and the child they came for....the others would come in to pick the package.... "

"Don't you ever call my child a package again... You hear? ". Joke was saying that in the background to the officer. The officer apologised gently and Lewis spoke up.

"Hmmmm.... That's quite an hint.. Okay what do you want to do now? " Lewis asked.

"We need your help sir... "
"My help? How? I already told you all I know when we met at the house.... I don't know what else I can do in situation like this. I'm a neurosurgeon, I deal with mental cases not criminal ones.... ". He explained.

"I know sir. But if you can at least give us the full description of the man you fought with, then we can start a stop and search in the perimeter... "

"Okay... "

"Where are you so we can pick you up sir? "
"Nooo... That's not necessary.. Let me just tell you on phone. " He declined.

"Okay sir, but we still need to keep you for your safety.. You never know what those guys are planning for you? "

"Don't worry about me officer... I will be fine.. I was fine before you came so I should be without you.... You should concern yourself more with getting that child... " He argued.

"You know sir, your father will have our necks if anything happens to you sir... "

"And he will still have it if you don't find that child in the next three hours. I will send the image of my face to him and we both know he won't be nice with you.. So get that child.... "

The officer hummed some incholerent speeches briefly before he spoke again.
"Okay sir. Let's have the description... "

"White garment, like a celestial type, full beards..... ". Lewis continue to give them the full description that perfectly matches my appearance.

Evidently, judging by that conversation, my son is missing. Fear gripped my heart as that realization hit my brain. Nothing must happen to my child or else I will never forgive myself. He's the only thing I cared about most in the world. I will be damned if my actions made me lose him. I pray Lewis doesn't have a hand in his disappearance. With all the lies he just told the police, he can't be trusted.

I began to pray for the safe return of my child. I will be soo happy to see him again. Safe and sound. That boy is too precious to me.

The call ended and Lewis returned his attention to me. First thing he did was remove the tape on my lips.

I was so tempted to attack him with questions about the whereabouts of my son but somehow I managed to conceal my nervousness and anxiety behind the curtain of a mean look. I don't want to let him know my weakness.
The room was in total darkness again as as the light on the screen of his phone blacked out.

I was left to wonder how he had managed to tricked the police out of the house. Surely, his father must be a very powerful person in this country for him to be speaking to the police like that. I never met his father, he only told us once that his dad his in the force. And you know, force plenty for naija, so it was hard to know how powerful his father his.

Lewis used his tongue to produce a 'tatatatata' sound before he spoke. "All you need to know about that call is simple and let me summarize it for you in few words. Your Child is missing and they can't find him... "

He was probably expecting me to say something to that but I wasn't ready to give him the satisfaction of predicting me. So I was just silent.

"Thank you for not saying anything to that.... It just shows how useless you are as a father... Okay... That's that.. Now let me answer the question you asked before the call came in. You asked if I was going to kill you so I can have your Joke right? Well, that's a rhetorical question. But let me tell you this.... When we sent you to prison, my expectation was that, all her feelings for you would have gone with that situation.. I thought that was the perfect time for me to have her, but just then her father showed up. He was just released from prison. I don't know why she keeps having prisoners in her life... Well, I'm about to change that for better. Her father came with a lot of threats, he was threatening her up and down. Again, she was in trouble. She was always crying. She couldn't sleep or rest. She was always saying her father could come and kill her at anytime. Then and again, I thought if I could help her get rid of her father, surely she will have no reason to keep turning me down. So I set out to solve the situation. I eventually succeeded in it. Her father was no longer threatening her. She should be mine now. Unfortunately, today again, she turned me down. And she told me the reason why she can't give her heart out to another man.... Darous... ". He called out gently and like in a whisper. "Do you know what she said? Eh? She said she still loves you. "

"And that seemed like a suicide utterance to you... "

"You are almost right. But I wasn't planning to commit any suicide... Instead, I was devising a way that I can get one of my boys to prison so he can help me kill you.. You are now the only thing standing between us. With your death comes our marriage... "

I scoffed again upon hearing that.
"Wait Lewis, do you really really think Joke will marry someone like you? Even after you kill me, you think she will not find out about all the things you have been doing behind her back? Just go ahead and Kill me.. You know what, you will be caught, my spirit will make sure of that, then you will go to jail... You will also be killed... And Joke will never be yours..."

He scoffed again. "Let me pretend for one second that I didn't hear your last statement.. But I heard the former ones clearly.. . Me go to jail? Its like you haven't been listening to the news at all. Oh.... I forgot, you were in prison... News don't often go to that place... That's why you never heard of the new deputy inspector general of police in this country which happens to be no one else but my father... There's little I can't do in this country that can get me caught.... "

That sunk in deep into my brain. No wonder the officer on phone was addressing him with the 'sir' title.

"Hehe, " He chuckled again. "You surprise me o Darous. How do you think your wife was able to get the comissioner of police to her birthday party? You think she's that influential? Nooooo..... It took only one call from my dad.... Now you see how bleeped up you are? You shouldn't have let me live.. You should have killed me instead of beating me. If you have done that, you wouldn't have been in this situation... But sometimes its not all about the survival of the fittest, its about the survival of the smartest.. the smart in your name is not worth it. Darousmart? Puahhhhh..... Effectively from now, I remove the Smart in your name and add it to mine. Lewis is now Lewismart..... ." He busted into laughter as I resigned myself to fate. This is too glaring to avoid... This is certainly the dead end.

"You've won.. So get over it and just kill me. My side is hurting. End my misery and send me on the path of peace... " I didn't know where those words came out from. But I said it already.

"Oh...... Nooo.... Not yet, at least... You want to be stingy with your death.... No way.... I can't let you die without fully convinced that Joke will be mine. "

"What nonsense are you saying? Just kill me now! ". I shouted at him.

"No... Not yet... " He said calmly. Then I felt his presence just inches away from me.
"I already miscalculated twice, thinking she will give her heart to me once you are in prison but I was wrong. Then about her father too, I was wrong. This is my third attempt, I must nail it this time around buddy and only your death can do that. "

"Then what's stopping you? Are you scared my ghost will hunt you forever? Noo, don't worry yourself about that. My ghost will be more occupied with fighting God for creating me to come suffer in this world... So you have nothing to fear Lewis... Kill me now... " I pronounced out slowly and returned my neck to the floor.

"Okay.. I will kill you but before I do, you will do one help for me... "

"What help? " I asked confusedly.

"I need you to make an audio recording for me..."

"What will I be saying in it? Praise and worship? Or national anthem? "Sarcastically I said.

"None of the above... You will just help me to tell your wife in it of all the things you think will make her hate you. "

"How am I suppose to know that? Incase you've forgotten, she hates me now more than ever... "

"Noo, I doubt that... She loves you.. And as a neurologist, I think she still loves you because she still thinks you love her and she had done something wrong to you by sending you to prison... But now, I think if you tell her you never truly loved her, that you just want her for sport, I think she will find it more easier to fall out of love with you... "

"That's not gonna happen.... " I declared firmly. "You hear me? Possibility of humans landing on the sun is a lot higher than me telling her I don't love her when that's actually the only thing I ever do with my heart. That's my legacy.. And nothing will ever make me change on that.. I love her.. That's the legacy I'm leaving behind. .. Go to hell.... " He didn't flinch a bit as I said that to him. He made no sound for the first ten seconds before he spoke.

"I'm not suprised. Darous.. I wasn't expecting you to do it easily. Which is why I came prepared... ". Immediately after he said that, he switched on his flash light and pointed it to one far corner of the room. The room was empty as my eyes followed the light to the corner. Then my eyes settled on the sight that no parent will ever pray to see.

The plain sight of my child, tied the same way I was tied, also lying on the floor like me except he appeared to be in deep sleep.

"Darous meet your son... Chris, meet your father.." Lewis anmouced in a mockery tone... ".Oh poor Chris can't see his father now because he has been injected with a sedative and a drug that can kill him in the next.... ". He paused to check his time before he continued. "Next twenty minutes.. Unless I give him this antidote. " He waved a bottle of liquid across my horrified and shock ridden face to cement his words.
"And to do that, I need that audio...so Darous, what do you say about that legacy? " He asked and rose to his feet. He placed the light permanently in the direction of my child so I could constantly see him. Then he begin to approach the exit. My eyes returned to the sight of my child instantly as Lewis stopped at the door.

"Tick tock, your time starts now... I will be waiting outside. Call me when you are ready to trade your Legacy with your Child's life. "
Moments later, the door was slammed shut.

Who said the devil doesn't have a human face?

LEGACY or LIFE?. Two dreadful 'L' situations presented by LEWIS. ANOTHER 'L' in the form of Human.


T. B. C

WhatsApp @08162128141..

Fb page. @Darousmart Library.

10. THE DOG ATTENDANT. [T. D. A]


The human eye and the camera of a phone, there isn't much difference between the two.
Before you ask me how, let me quickly tell you the reason why I said so.

The eyes they say is the mirror to the soul while the camera also stands as the mirror of a phone's soul. Which means if there is no eyes, the body of humans will be blinded with nothing ness and likewise also, there will be no selfie or facial recognition or adaptive brightness features in a phone. So in that wise, its only logical to say that the eyes is the camera of the human body, except that it doesn't have flashlight like the one in our phones but that is not to say we don't have some people that have witchy pixels in their eyes. What I mean by witchy pixels is literally based on the ability of some humans to see very well in the dark because we've never heard of a situation where witches are carrying touch lights to their nighty meetings.
Now lets break it down bit by bit. Some people's cam-eyes is 40 pixel while some carry around with them 6pixel. Some people's camera eyes is so bright to the extent that it can see very well in the dark but will unfortunately turn blur in the light. Those are the perfect examples of witchy pixels. Hence, your ability to see objects and living things just depends on the kind of pixel you carry around. Like me now, my eyes is just 8 pixel which is why I couldn't see anything when my eyes popped open after I'd regained consciousness on the cold floor of my alien environment.

I first realized that my body was in a lying posture. Born out of sheer curiousity, I tried to sit up but the sharp pain I felt in my neck region reminded me of what happened moments ago. I released a painful yelp as I struggled to sit up again using my hand but it was then that another reality set into my brain. My hands were tied with something that felt like a rope. I tried vigorously to wriggle free of the bondage I found myself in but all attempts proved futile.
I tried and tried and tried several times over and over again until I used up the faint strength that remained inside of me.
I released a disappointed sigh as I resigned to fate. There is only little I can do in such circumstances other than start to think things through, starting from how I ended up in this kind of situation. How someone that was almost at the brink of fainting after getting a serious beating from me could still manage to outsmart me to the extent of even having enough strength to carry a pestle to bash my head with. Its really frustrating and I know you feel the same way by just hearing me tell you this.

I was silent in thought for a brief moment before another thought that's worthy of deliberation crept into my mind again.

'Why am I not in the police custody yet? ' I asked out while still lying on the ground. 'Why am I not inside the police car that will convey me back to custody? Why am I instead tied down like a goat in this place?... I remember hearing the police siren moments before Lewis striked me with that unmerciful pestle, but where did they go?'

I had little or no time to reflect further on those nagging questions before the sudden sound of an opening door and flashlight disrupted the silence and tranquility of the place.

The light was directed at my eyes, making me to close my sight in that second. I tried to sit up again but it was again to no avail.

"Don't waste your strength trying to stand up..no even try am, Its fruitless, trust me.. and mind you, if you like shout from now till night, the nearest distance of another person to this place is very plenty, so if I were you, I will stop wasting my strenght".That was the voice of no one else but Lewis. Those are the things he said to me as he stopped a few feet from my location. His words did not even derive a flinch of emotion from me because I didn't know what to feel at that moment. Whether to hate myself for being so unlucky to get caught up by him or to get angry at him for the injury he inflicted on my neck. Seriously, my neck still hurts.

The warmth of the room, (due to lack of ventilation) coupled with the garment and prison uniform underneath it have vandalized the pipe of sweat in my body. In simpler uncrude-oil terms, I was sweating profusely. My breathing was becoming heavier as Lewis' footsteps got nearer to me. I still couldn't see his face as the dim light of the torch continue to frustrate my sight. I could only hear his footsteps but his being his what I couldn't see.

"Hello, Hello, Agero, " He seemed to be making a call. "You dey hear me wella? Okay... Listen to me.... Agero, tell Accurate to abort that mission for now.... I go let you know the next thing wey you na go do for me very soon.... Okay? Okay? You hear me ba? ...nooo, the package dey with me right now... ". He cleared his throat as he stopped talking. Sounds of what he was doing is what I could only hear before he eventually switched off the light totally. I was somehow relieved for that. But even still, the light have already corrupted my eyes so it was still very difficult to see him.

"They say our shadow will bear witness against us when we get to the jugdement throne of God. ". He begin to speak in a hoarse voice. The next thing I hear is the sound of a plastic chair getting dragged on the floor to somewhere near me. "They even say our shadow will give a detailed account of everything we do in this world either good or bad.... You know why I switched of the light? Hun? ". He asked but he probably wasn't expecting me to give a reply so he continued. "You know why I shut every window?.... ". He chuckled. "Because our shadow will cease to exist when there is no light.... Darkness is the only thing that God didn't create... Who knows, maybe he himself is scared of the dark. Maybe," He dropped his tone on the last word before raising it again to say the next one. "Perhaps, that's why he made sure he created light first so that darkness will not overpower his creations.. . That's a logical reason right? Now I have switched of the lights, no more shadows, nothing can record what's about to happen here... God himself can't even see you right now incase you are planning on calling him for help." He ended. Yet again, all his words refused to yield a flinch of emotion from me. I've seen worse in my life. I've been through hell that I've become a regular visitor there. So, nothing he does can make me feel anything. I just blame myself for letting things get to this stage when I could have easily finish him earlier.

"Where am I?" I didn't know why I asked him that question but I'd asked anyway.
"Darous... you will find out soon.. Just be patient with me. I promise you will know your location soon enough..I will first like to tell you something you never know before about me.... I pride myself to be a trusted personality. "

"Indeed..." I hissed out as I returned my neck to the floor.
"Five years ago now, my life took a horrible turn. Darous, I never set out to be like this.. I never plan to hurt anyone in my life.. But something changed me. Five years.... Just five years, buddy, My life was a mess." He lamented sadly. He took a long breathe and continued in a dolored tone. "It was as if everything in my life was meant to die" He released what I percieved to be another painful sigh the moment he paused again. "Everyone I ever loved died... Starting from my mom, my younger sister whom I always confide in...it was a regrettable experience... Their deaths came too quickly. They died within seconds. I held them both in my arms as they both took the last painful breathe that announced their demise from this world..." A tensive moment of silence followed his word before he continued again. "it was an accident, A brutal accident that shouldn't have occurred if I had not been looking in another direction while driving the car... Looking at something that was strong enough to capture my heart. Something that could have finally answered my mothers prayers. She has always been pestering me to bring a girl home... But sadly, the day I found someone strong enough to capture my heart was the same day she died. I was driving the car when I spotted her beside the road. All in the most astonishing beauty I've ever seen. In that second, my heart skipped a beat and I couldn't concentrate on the driving anymore. Before I knew it, the car was already under the trailer that was going in front of us on the road. The trailer had marched its break pedals because of the pot holes but my lack of concentration didn't allow me to march the break. The most painful thing is it should have been me. I was the one driving the car not them. It was my mistake so I don't know why they had to pay for it... I don't understand why I survived that tragic accident until last year. God wants to make me pay for my sins. He wants to make sure I live the rest of my life with the memory that I killed my own mother and only sister. That's harsh. He should have take me instead of them. I shouldn't have survived that accident by just a scratch and some bruises.. I should have died so they could live... But how God do his things is sometimes beyond us.... I no get choice... "

At that junction, while lying down on the floor, I could sense his emotions, the way his voice were breaking with every word he says.

He scoffed gently again. "you know, as a neurosurgeon I've had a large share of interacting closely with the human brain... All these clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, psychoanalysis, and other therapeutical remedies, as fun and effective as they sound, they can only try their best to make one better... They can never make one to permanently forget that thing that you are truly feeling in your heart. Take it from me, I'm speaking from both professional experience and personal angle... "
He released another sigh.
"Hmm, Lewis, your story really really touches the heart string and I'm deeply sorry for your loss. Please tell me why I'm here.. That's what I want to hear... I seriously don't know why you are telling me these things... "

He scoffed. "You go dey wonder why I'm telling you abi? no worry, you go soon understand why I became friends with you for four good years until last year when things turned sour between us... "
That statement was strong enough to make me budge for a second after hearing it. How this is related to me increased my raging curiosity. But I just have to listen on.

"Do you know how it feels to carry the pain and burden of losing two people for five years? Eh? Apart from that, Shey you know how it feels to look inside the mirror everyday and the face that stares back at you is that same face responsible for the death of two precious people?.... Eh? Up till today, my daddy doesn't know the cause of the accident. He must not know I was the cause or that would be the end of me.. "
Silence dominated the room again as our breathings became more loud.
"Darous, for a whole year, I was broken.. The doctors couldn't fix me, my dad could not fix me, the best therapist in this country could not fix me.... Nothing they try.... Nothing worked at all... I was presumed as a lost cause... my life was in a mess... My dad was starting to get fed up on me... Those blank periods of my life... Those moments of plain blackness seemed to have come to stay for all eternity in my life until I saw that face again... I saw it..the same face I was looking at when I was driving my sister and mother to the airport... The same face that made me lose concentration on the steering of my car..... The same face that made me lose control of the car, the same face that got my Lexus 350 under the trailer.... "

I was just listening quietly as he continues to pour out his pain and what appears to be an abject trauma.
"I think it was my sixth month at the hospital... That face was on a visit to the hospital on that blessed morning .. She was there as an ambassador of UNICEF to offer some free medical apparatus and medicines to the hospital and handicapped patients... And that was how I saw her again... In that moment, I felt something strange within me. Something in form of a relief from all the pain and trauma I'd been passing through for almost six months... The doctors noticed my sudden change.... Up till now, they still don't know the main reason behind that... "

Again, he was silent for some minutes. I didn't know what to feel for him at that moment. Maybe to feel sorry for him ni o, or to feel otherwise. The tone of sorrow he was speaking with was too emotional to ignore.

"She is the only thing that ever worked.. Damn the drugs and medications...The way her beauty shone in her white top and blue jean still up till today continue to mesmerise me. The way she smiled, how her neckline moved when she speaks made me to instantly fall more deeply for her... Buddy, she worked for me.. She brought me back to my normal self after she had unknowingly sent me on the distructive path.. My spirit was revived by merely sighting her. I knew on that day that I have to do everything in my power to have her close to me all the time. But what can I do? I must seek her out of course to get details about her. I did all that, and that was how I came to know about you...

"Wait Lewis," I blurted out when I could no longer hold it. I raised my neck from the floor to try to see him well before I continued. "What exactly are you trying to say? That I killed your wife or what? Is it your mom? Do I even know her? Do I even know any body from your family? How then can you say I impregnated your wife? "

He chewed his teeth loudly upon hearing me say that. "When did I tell you all that? Have you not been listening to me at all?" He lashed out loud. " I'm trying to tell you how things got to this stage between us... How you messed things up! ...At least for what its worth, that's the only thing I owe you...! Get that fooooooool! " He fired with emphasis on the last words.

I took a lengthy breath after hearing that. I then returned my head back to the floor where my other bodies were lying like a goat awaiting slaughter.

His heavy breathing gradually subside and he continued to speak..

"like I said earlier, I did my findings and it was then that I know you are dating her... When I found out that you are her boyfriend, the first thing that came to my mind was to have you killed so I can have her for myself. But then, on second thought, especially after we met at the Davido concert at the 02 arena in that year, I had to accept fate. You know why?"

He asked but gave me less than two seconds to reply before he answered himself. "I couldn't bring myself to hate you talkless of killing you. You were the most handsome man I ever seen all my life, cool and funny at the same time. I still remember how you made sure the table never got bored after David had left the concert. That was when I knew I had to let her go for you. The only thing stronger than my desperation to kill you was my likeness for you... I was happy being friends with you for as long as you keep her safe and happy. Seeing her happy makes me happy too. She keeps me intact. My soul to be precise..... Whenever I'm near you and Joke, Darous, I always feel happy. You guys were the most beautiful thing to ever happen to me after I lost my mother and sister... You both made me forget the painful memory of loneliness. Remember how I would often show up at your office during work hours, and I will be telling you to let's go out with your wife? You remember right? How I begged you for days before you eventually let me be your best man on your wedding day? How you keep telling me that we just met not long ago? Hun-hun.. " Lewis chuckled again. "Darous, do you know how I felt during those days? Getting the opportunity to drive you and her to the wedding? Remember I terminated the agreement with your initial driver so I can drive you to the wedding? Ooooooohhhhhh.... Those are the moments I cherished most in my life....... ". He paused again.

Elviswifey1:
Qhat is holding d update nah

Busy-ness.... But will soon get over with it. Update will surely arrive

honourable356:
So the self acclaimed son of thunder is back,huh?

Back again better than before with an improved use of words and humours intact...

He sigh..

I will be back to analyzed this master piece thoroughly. I need to read it again slowly!

Excellent job Emmanuel!

the boss himself, always spanking me like say I thief meat for inside pot.....

I dey feel you sir....

Mach respect I gat for u.

efeteb:
TBM please can you put COUNTLESS on Okada books so that those of us that like to keep a copy to read when we feel like can get it. make the price affordable so you can make more sale and make something for yourself.

I believe it will sell

As we continue reading TDA from here

Hmmm.... Will think about this brilliant advice sir... Thanks sir

Adesammy111:
No vex bro.... We go change

lol.... You are mouthed boss

pablobellins:
something doesnt add up here TBM... how can some one tht suffers more than 30 strokes of lashing all over his body with a mopping stick still hv the strenght to get up and walk and carry peston and still hv power to swing it?

good work from day one, pls make the story relatable as it has always bn.

I have only two things to say to this comment.


1. I was as shocked as you when the old Darous said that. I was like, how can this be possible? Someone that was well beaten to a pulp still had the strength to carry a pestle to wound someone?
..



2.Maybe that part just emerged from the NEVER GIVE UP part of my brain. May be Lewis was perhaps the RUGGED TO DEATH TYPE....


Either way, its still something that can be possible.

Thanks bro

emmadejust:
The titles of this story doesn't fit the events of the story

just fold your hands bro.... The elderly Darous said,

"Now let me tell you how I become the dog attendant..".. So, listen please sir

Adesammy111:
Haaaaaa.... Police must not catch him ooo

keep it up boss. I dey feel u steady

The rate at which you guys are commenting is morale killing o. Its not encouraging at all. This is not how we did the part one na....

I beg you all, your comments are what I feed on. Its the only thing that can make me get better and more eager to update frequently.


Are you trying to say I'm better off on my own? Eh? Are you saying am now independent as a writer? Abeg, no bring that one o.. Or else, you and me go fight o... I'm damn serious o. What is worth doing is worth doing well.

Countless wouldn't have gone that far had it been it was this kind of response and reaction it got from you o. Abeg no let T. D. A die before it even begins o....


The more the comments, the faster the zeal to type the next episode.

I'm begging you all.. Please

chisiudeh:
Nooooooo nahh. Haba. After all the whipping u give Lewis you still allowed him do you an Anthony Joshua? Abeg re-edit this one or better still anoda round of fight between dia two. Police must not catch him again o. Haba.

Thanks for the update though.

Anthony gini? Lol....

icekidmuktar:
Oga TBM abeg show us love na

ready bro. Update have land

CONTINUATION OF T. D. A 9.






Apart from it being the closest way out, it also has a door at the other side that links to the kitchen terrace where I can easily get out of the house.

Remember, I built the house.

"Chris, is that you? ". Joke voiced out in anticipation to hear a reply.

"I don't think so.... I think we have an intruder.... " Lewis announced with a tone that depicts fear and anxiety and I could hear him making frantic attempts to get up from his seat.

In the split of seconds, I made a furious dash towards the kitchen, while I could hear Joke making some nervous noise at Lewis who was already on my trail.

"Don't follow me... Call police....! " Lewis shouted back as he ran after me.

Being a fast runner myself, and remember that I was also in this similar situation hours ago when Jarter's crew were breaking me out of prison, so I was still as fit as Samson against the philistines before the intervention of Delilah.

Like a speeding bullet I have rounded the corner of the terrace and was already heading towards the back gate where I plan to hide myself behind the generator house that is situated there. The garment was holding me back but still, I managed to push forward.

I got there panting heavily as Lewis footsteps grew nearer. I'm not planning on running outside, at least not without my child and at the same time, there's no scaling the fence, the barbed wires on it will make sure a potential climber bleeds out after getting past it. So I hid myself in between the fence wall and the generator house. I stood still while cautiously anticipating the arrival of Lewis so I can deal with him there before Joke would get any chance to see my face. Even though my face was covered in beards, Joke is the only person that can recognize me by merely staring deeply into my eyes.

The footsteps of the betrayer-turn-police in the name of Lewis reduced slowly but he was still approaching. From the holes in between the Generator house, I peeped and saw him holding the same stick I had dropped earlier in his hand. Surprisingly, his whole cloth was rumpled and covered in white powder. I wondered momentarily how his appearance could change so fast but then I got an hint of what happened. He must have fell down inside the kitchen and hence falling on the flour bag on the floor. I also saw it when I was running out, I was lucky to have escaped it.

He gripped the stick firmly as if his life depended on it as he continued his approach towards the rear fence wall.

Then, the experience of boxing kicked in. I slowly rounded the generator house back to the other side where I planned to get him from behind while he proceed towards the back gate with the keen intent of getting the intruder that disrupted his toasting unawares.

I completed the first breadth of the Gen house just as he arrived at the other side of it that leads to the back gate. Slowly again, I rounded the second length where the door of the Gen house was facing the backside of the house. I peeped again and saw him trying to figure where the intruder have gone. He stood before the gate and stared at the other length of the rectangular Gen house. He must be wondering where I'd vanished into.

A puzzled look appeared on his face as he starred down at the compound again and I seized that opportunity to rush at him from behind.

Fortunately for me, I got him before he could say Jack and before he knew it, my left kick has landed on his crotch region. The garment I was putting on reduced the effect of my kick but it still served its purpose.

"Ohhhhh! ". He cried out painfully as he bends to grab his affected crotch. The stick in his hand has already fell off.

A knee kick on his face was what quickly followed the kick I gave him before. He raised his battered face up and before he could get a chance to see my face, a direct hook on the left side of his cheek has sent his back on the floor.

He groaned in pain as he held his bleeding oblong face on the floor. He was rolling and cursing fervently on the floor.

I quickly picked up the stick he brought to the scene and like a late comer's fate when we were in public secondary school, I started flogging him heavily. I made sure every part of his body received my cane before I let him be. One way or the other, he needs to pay for how he's been treating my son.

I made no sound whatsoever as I continue to beat him because I don't want him to see me.

"Yes! " I looked up towards where that tiny voice of excitement emanated from.
Staring back down at me from a window of one of the rooms upstairs was the cutest face in the compound. The face of my son. Although, I couldn't see him clearly, but I could feel the excitement in his body.

This feeling spurred me on and another round of beating befell the poor Lewis.

At least, 25 new strokes landed on his body after the connection with my son's face. I unleashed every anger and hatred I've been habouring inside of me on him through the merciless flogging.

He was all the while rolling on the floor, wincing in pain and agony with every stroke that landed on him.

After some minutes, I got tired of beating him. He was just coughing out blood from his mouth. His eyes and nose have been battered. His hand and tommy are nothing to WhatsApp about.

So I dropped the cane and left him under the sun. I decided to go inside to face Joke, now that the main threat has been eliminated.

So, I got back inside the kitchen. Just like I presumed earlier , I saw the flour powder scattered all over on the kitchen floor.

I decided to disguise myself before meeting with my ex-wife. So I first remove my garment and used it to rub my face with plenty amount of flour powder. All that's needed of me to become a full puff-puff is just a hot vegetable oil.

I wore the garment again before returning to the sitting room where I was expecting to meet my ex-wife. I got there and couldn't find her.

I hurriedly searched everywhere inside the house except my son's room for her whereabouts but still couldn't find her.

Two phones were still on the dining table where they were sitting before. I pressed both but they were switched off.

I remember hearing Lewis giving her instructions on calling the police.
I became more alert when I remembered that. I dashed towards the compound to see if she has truly went out, I got to the front gate and saw it locked. Not from inside but outside. That means someone has gone outside and has locked the gate from outside so no one will get out or be able to follow her.
'Well, she's not mainly the reason why I'm here. Let me go and get my child so we can both get out of here before Joke comes back. We will get out through the back gate before she comes back with reinforcement. Thank God none of them have seen my face. My identity still remained hidden to them.
I head back inside the house, and begin to mount the steps that links upstairs once again.
I was almost at Chris doorsteps when I feel my garment pockets for the key I picked earlier to confirm if it's still there but to my shock, it was gone.

"What!..... Not again.... Where would I find this key now? " I lamented as the awful reality sets in after I had completely searched all my pockets the fifth time.

Frantically, I head back downstairs to look for another type among the bunch on the dinning table but again, the bunche was gone also.

I was almost crying at that time.

With jittery hands and trembling toes, I got on my knees and begin to search for a single key in the big house.

I retraced my steps to everywhere I've been to recently since I got out of my son's room. I searched the whole sitting room, back to the stairs, to where I first hide beside the refrigerator but still couldn't find the key.

'Without it, I'm doomed. My ex-wife will be back with the police to arrest me again. The judge will have no choice than to sentence me to death once the full account of my escape has been brought to him. They will easily link multiple deaths to my neck. Starting from the two people that died during my escape up to Lovelyn's death.

Therapist Sarah will be so disappointed to hear of this. She will probably hate herself for meeting someone doomed for failure in her life.
What of my mum? My siblings? My friends? Don't let me even go there.'

"Darous, check the kitchen, it might have fallen inside the flour when you were rubbing it over your face.. " An inner voice suddenly communed to me.

It was as if I was stung by a bee, I got to my feet and hurried towards the kitchen.

The flour that poured on the floor was too plenty. But nonetheless, I dived into it, deep my two hands into it while I got my nerves and neurones in an attentive mode to get them ready to send a signal to my brain once my hands finds the key.

I was sweating. I was trembling. I was breathing hard. But all this didn't stopped me from searching further. Just like Barca, they were not enough to stop my Liverpool from getting the champions league.

Yes, I did got it. My own champions league in the form of the key to the back gate. Buried under the depths of unreachable was where I found it.

I smiled happily when my hand got it. I put it inside my pocket quickly and made to go back upstairs.

I had barely set my foot on the first step when I begin to hear the sounds of siren coming from a distance away.

No doubt about it, Joke is coming with the police.

Embracing Haste and divorcing Slugishness, I made to run upstairs but unfortunately I heard a small sound from my back at that moment.

Swiftly, I turned around to see what it is and the next thing I saw was the battered face of Lewis, swinging a heavy pestle across my face.

In full force, like a sledge hammer, the pestle connected with my neck before I could weave or dodge it and the last thing I felt before going into oblivion was the heavy landing of my body against the floor.

Na Mopping stick I use, but na Pestle he carry come.

Na only me wakka come?

T. B. C

On Facebook. @Darousmart Library.

Twitter @ darous_Emmanuel.

WhatsApp on +2348162128141.

Dedicated to all that wished me well on my birthday. Thanks all.



9. THE DOG ATTENDANT. [T. D. A]


The other half of my brain was telling me to have a rethink of what I was about to do as I continue my steps down the stairs in slow and sneaky motion. But apparently, the coordinates of the vengeance mood that has overwhelmed my mind since I was remanded in prison has fully locked on the other part of it.

From where they were sitting in the dinning, Impossible is the name of the neighbor to their chances of seeing me because the wall that coupled both the sitting room and the dinning forms a confluence with the stair rails I was descending.
I was taking the slow steps with one aim. Which is to get them off guard. That's the best way to deal with them both without suffering any damage myself.

The broken mop stick I held was perfectly hidden behind my oversized garment.
Four some months now since I was locked up, I have always have this raging feeling of dealing mercilessly with both Joke and Lewis, not to even mention Nike and Chioma. Although Chioma is presently under coma from the effect of the stray bullet she received on the day of my wife's birthday part, notwithstanding, I still feel like that bullet should have ended her life on that day.

The reason why she was at that event on that specific day is none other than to come and witness my downfall. Be as it may, I somehow feel so relieved when I stared down at her agonizing face while her back was lying on the floor of the Peak-Olam event center.

Never for once have I ever feel guilty for not intentionally shooting her down. After all , she deserves worse.
Enough said on her, Let's go back to the present situation.

My steps were barely audible as I descended the steps that links to the big sitting room of which dinning, Joke and Lewis were sitting down.

The betrayer still had the meat he was trying to feed my ex-wife in his hand. I was very angry for seeing such scene in front of me.
I will do anything to draw blood from Lewis today even if it means I get to jeopardize the mission at hand. The mission to get my child out of this house unnoticed is now being challenged by this latest development.

"Lewis, you are so dead today.... ". I swore under my breath as I finally land inside the sitting room unnoticed and quickly hiding behind the painted wall. I did all these within the space of thirty seconds, so don't let my lengthy narration make you think otherwise.
I took a peep at them from behind the wall to see if the time is ripe enough to strike only to see that Joke is still staring at the meat Lewis was offering her.
I quickly returned my head back behind the wall where my remaining body was standing.

I quickly wondered why Joke was hesitating to collect the meat from her hand. Are they not suppose to have gone past this stage of awkwardness already? Its been close to seven months since I was arrested. I don't know why she's staring at Lewis like that.

"Take it na? " I heard Lewis say with a pleading tone. I waited patiently to hear how Joke will react to that.
Silence dominated the moment briefly and I was starting to think she has collected the meat, but I was surprised to hear what she said next.

"No... ". She declined with an equally soft tone.

"What nau..... ". Lewis groaned.

"I told you several times already.... ". Joke said.

"Don't go there... Joke please don't go there. " Lewis was saying with a tone that portrayed more of caution than warning.

"But you keep giving me reason to open wound that is already healing.. " She spoke in metaphor or na figurative we go call am.

I was so shell shocked to hear that from her. Which wound is she talking about?

"How long will you continue to nurse this wound? After all said and done? I can't believe you are still talking this way Joke. You really surprise..to say the truth. " Lewis lamented bitterly.

"I myself don't even know... I feel guilty whenever you tell me of his latest condition.. I feel as if I made a hasty decision in my life..."

"Hey, look at me,... He should never have been in a decision for you in the first place... He played you for a fool for Godsake Joke? What more do you need to feel justified of what you did? " Lewis be moaned.

"I know... Lewis I know I shouldn't be feeling this way, but I just can't help it... I feel like a bad person for doing that to him... His mother is somewhere suffering from the agony of what I did to her son.... "

"And what did he do to your own mother? " Lewis chipped in abruptly and I could hear how Joke grumbled at that.

"Maybe you have forgotten how he impregnated your mum and raped your sister... you forgot soo soon how he lied to you about his past...you forgot how his lies gave you an accident that nearly wiped out a part of your memory.. You seriously can't tell me you've forgotten how he even abandoned you at the hospital and ran away? Eh? Joke seriously? If I didn't know better I would say he has bewitched you... Get yourself together and stop crying over a spilled milk... Darous is gone for good and nothing in this world can get him out of that place. Even if he manages to sneak out, am sure he won't be able to go any far before he meets his end. He came into your life to destroy you.. Now God has answered your prayers, he's gone forever.. Like a wind.... HE HIS GONE!" He ended with emphasis on the last words.

"I think that's where the problem lies. He's gone but I'm the one bearing the brunt? Isn't that a sign?" She paused before she continued. " He may be gone now but he still remain the only man that I truly love and I think that's why I'm suffering like this. Betraying someone I love... . ". Her voice was already breaking when she finished saying those words.

Hearing those words from her melted my heart. I didn't know when I subconsciously put the stick in my hand uprightly against the wall I was standing against.

"Joke, listen..." I hear from Lewis. " Its more than half a year already.. By now you should be enjoying your life to the fullest. You should be glad you were able to get rid of that riff raff before things got far between you. You should count yourself lucky that God was on your side... "

"Really? ". She scoffed. "How do I know everything that happened was for my own good? "

"Seriously? Are you really asking me that?"

"Yes! ". She stressed. "Don't get me wrong, I really do appreciate everything you have done for me, but if truly what we did to him was what he deserved, then tell me why I'm sharing a part of the punishment too? "

"How? If I may ask?"

"Okay.. for example, when last did I visit a boutique? When last did I attend any social gathering? When last did I get to roll with my friends in an open place? I had to resign from UNICEF for fear of people using my publicity against me? Even when going to the market, I always have to disguise like an Alhaja because of fear of encountering any of his family and friends. It was after I sent him to prison that my father started hunting for my life which isn't suppose to be so. What is the difference between me and a prisoner? All the properties I got from him, the human right body of UNICEF is telling me to return them to him if I want to continue working for them.... I was an ambassador for heaven's sake Lewis..... Isn't all that a pointer that what I did to him wasn't fair enough? "

There was another moment of silence when she paused.

I couldn't believe it. Hearing all that from her? Is this truly real? Or this is just another bad dream sponsored by the ill-rations they serve us in prison?

I had to pinch myself two consecutive times before my brain assured me vehemently that I wasn't dreaming.

Then I begin to think fast. Is this not like a blessing in disguise? There must be a reason why I'm hearing this at this particular time in my life. There must be a reason why my presence inside the house still remain unknown to both of them.

There must be a reason why Lovelyn and Jarter's attempt to kill me for my money foiled woefully.

There must be a reason why the prison warders have decided not to go public about my escape.

There must be a reason for everything.
The reason shouldn't be far fetched. Its can only be for one sole reason. And that reason is, nature still wants me to get out of this country with Joke. If I'm to go about what I just heard from her, it means I can easily convince her to follow me out of this country. All I just need is the courage to show myself to her.

I concluded in my thoughts to show myself to her in that very moment without having to fight neither of them. I will appear to her and let her decide on who to follow. If she chooses me, then it will be easier to handle Lewis without the fear of Joke raising any alarm.
But if on the contrary, she chooses Lewis, then this broken mop stick will taste human blood be that.

I returned my attention to their side to hear what they are discussing but they were just silent. I took that as a sign for me to proceed with my decision.

I peeped my eyes to see them before I step out only to see Lewis resting his head in the dining table.

I smiled happily when I saw that. Like I said earlier, everything is happening for a reason. What perfect time to give your enemy a surprise than when they are not looking? There definitely is a reason.
I made the sign of cross as I prepared to step out when I wasn't hearing anything from them again.

But just as I was about to show myself fully to them after taking two steps from the wall I was hiding, I hear Lewis say;

"So if you have the chance to see him now, tell me honestly what you will do.... , will you go back to him? "

I stopped instantly upon hearing that. I was frozen to the spot. My cloth that was getting blown by the giant fan inside the dinning is the only thing standing between their chances of seeing me. I was almost into the open.

"Why would I do that? " Joke blurted out to my chagrin. My eyes flew wide open to hear that. "Did I say he's innocent? Did I say he didn't do anything wrong? Why will I go back to such an idiot? Someone that impregnated my mother, raped my sister and still went ahead to marry me without confessing his sins and let me decide for myself? Nooooooooooooooo! " She lashed out.

Wait, what did I say I want to do before self? Show myself to her? Seriously, I no get sense... Ahswear.

"What do you even take me for Lewis? ". She continued while I retraced my steps back to where I was hiding before. "Someone so easy to manipulate? I've learnt my lessons the hard way and I'm not going to repeat that class. "

"By turning everyone else down? ". Lewis chipped in a sarcastic tone.

Joke scoffed at that before speaking.

"maybe, but perhaps, its for the better... At least not now. I can't rush into anything now.. And I'll like you to respect that for me please. "

I clutched my head inside my palms after witnessing all what just transpired between those two.

Me that was previously feeling like beating them is now suddenly finding it hard to stay on my feet. How fast things can change into unexpected course.

"I think you need to follow me to the clinic next week.. You need a therapist... " Lewis declared.

"Nooo... What I need is for you to stop pestering me about all this... So please... You do that and I'll be fine ... "

"Okay... But promise me you will always consider me first above others.... ". Lewis uttered but I couldn't bear it anymore. I can't keep standing there and be hearing all this rubbish talks.

I turned around and aimed to sneak back into my son's room so we can both get out of the house immediately but out of my unsettled mind and shaking body, my leg accidentally kicked the mopping stick that I'd earlier put against the wall.

Just like how a wood will sound once it collides with a tile floor, this one was no exception. It produce a sound that was loud enough for Lewis to speak up.

"Who is there? "

I can't let him see me. Things will get ugly and I may never get out with my child. Meaning all my attempts and efforts will go to waste.

Based on those quick judgments above, I turned to my left side where the kitchen door was opened and calculated it as the best option for now.

jbtobsyn:
Happy birthday to the best writer on Nairaland. You should be the only one winning that monthly prize if it was possible. Wishing long life and prosperity with sango guidance.

thanks to u baba.. U are mouthed. I feel u

SmartestPopQUEEN:
Even if I don't com online frequently, there is one day I will never dare to not show up. The day someone special was born. Happy birthday to the man setting the pace on this section. You are indeed a blessing to literature. Age with sufficient grace dearie. I miss u

Matilda's mum, I miss you plenty. Thanks for the honor.

crossfm:
HBD bro,wishing you enless joy 2day and forever.
I will like to tell you that you are a great writer any day anytime.just keep on doing what you know best to do.please claim your snake peper soup from lala...

lol... Thanks brotherly.....

Thanks all

jchioma:
In deed, he deserves it. That guy is one hell of a blessed writer. He goes to show the unlimited imagination of man.

Happy birthday brother.

thanks brotherly. I really do appreciate this sir

Wow, a whole topic created for me? God... This is so unbelievable... You guys are simply amazing. You are the best.

I can't thank you enough for this truly. But I pray to repay you someday.

I remain humble to the last kilobyte.

CONTINUATION OF T. D. A 8.




Picking my words one by one, I said;
"Yes Chris, you can go and meet her.... But please don't tell her that one angel is here at all...., or a white angel or angel Zeus or angel Gabriel. Don't mention any angel to her at all. You hear me? " I stated in what seemed like a whisper.

He assimilated my words briefly before he spoke up.
"Why? You don't want my mummy to follow us? "

I sighed little and bent my neck again to meet his face again.

"I want your mummy to follow us...but I can't take her now with me... "

"Why? ". He asked again.

"Ah.... You know, it can't work that way... "

"Why? "

"Chris! Don't let me to come and meet you there!" Joke's voice echoed again.

"See, your mum is waiting for you. When you come back, I'll tell you why okay?

"Okay" He finally said after a shrug.

"Remember, don't tell your mummy about any angel at all... Okay? " I warned lastly.

"Okay.... "

"You promise? "

"Yes"

"A promise is a.... "

"A debt... "

"Please don't disappoint me Chris. " That was what I said with a pleading tone, but the boy just moved closer to me and said in a whisper,
"My mummy said I should not be like her friend, aunty Amaka.. "

"Oh, and why's that? " I asked back still on my knees.

"She says she disapoints her every time... " He said out smiling again.
Poor me, my brain was too tensed to capture the real meaning of his words at that time, so I just flashed him a smile and tell him to go.

He answered back smiling after which he dashed towards the door and exited the room .

I released another breath the moment he closed the door.

After a minute of his absence, I decided to check if Lewis is still in the house or not, so I sneaked back to the lobby where I will be able to see the whole sitting room from upstairs.

I couldn't find him anywhere in the sitting room. Then, I head straight to the front terrace of the house situated upstairs to see from there if his car is still inside the compound. Unfortunately, his car was still there. It means the idiot is still somewhere inside the house or in the environment.

I begin to wonder where he may be but I couldn't quite come up with anything.
Just when I was about to give up, I suddenly hear the crying voice of my child. His cries was so deafening and very loud. Hurriedly, I made my way in a sneaking motion towards the direction of the crying voice.

I hid behind the giant refrigerator located inside the lobby of the upper chamber to see from there what is going on inside the sitting room downstairs.

To my total suprise, Lewis was there with the boy. The boy was looking at him with a deadly face while he was rubbing his cheecks. Evidently, Lewis has slapped him again. Only God knows what the boy did to him this time around. Just as I was still trying to figure out what happened, Lewis moved closer to my child again and gave him a slight knock on the head.

The boy yelped in pain as he tried to fight off the new level of pain from this maltreatment.

The Anger inside of me has quickly put the water inside the pot. It has placed the water on the gas stove and he was about to light the matches when the emergence of Joke made it to wait.

Joke walked from the kitchen with a tray containing beverages and meat sauce in her hands. She seemed to careless about what was happening there until Lewis spoke up.

"Joke, imagine what this boy told me now again? "

While still busy with arranging the foods she had carried to the dinning table, she said, "what did he tell you? "

"Ehehe, he said God has sent someone to come and kill me"

Upon hearing that, Joke turned around towards the boy with a lot of fury in her eyes.

"Chris, you really said that? "

"Must you always verify anything I tell you about him before you believe me? " Lewis blurted out in angst expression.

"Not like that Lewis, I just find it hard to believe that this boy could be doing all this to me after everything I've been teaching him concerning standard moral.... ". she lamented with a frustrated tone that got Chris shaking.

"You have not been listening to me. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree... " Lewis said to her while I watched on without being able to do anything to help my son.

"Not this apple." She pointed at Chris. " This one fell in America while the tree that birthed him was here in Nigeria. So don't expect me to give up on him so easily." Joke stressed.

"Well, good luck on that.... I'm starving.. ". Lewis declared and moved to the dinning area.
Joke proceeded to scolding the boy for some minutes until she got tired .
"Now, Chris, go back to your room and think of what you have done. If you see no wrong in it, please I beg you in the name of God, don't let me see your face throughout today. Your breakfast, and lunch and Dinner will be inside the Microwave when you are ready to eat. When we get to church tomorrow, I will tell Mrs Ezenwa to show you to other kids as a very bad child that no one should be friends with. I know you don't want that. So, Now get out of my face before I slap your stubborn face... " She barked at his face from close inches that visibly terrified the boy. He couldn't hold it again, he broke down in tears.
He was crying hard and unable to hold the tears.

Pain and anger struck my heart for witnessing such things being done to my child. I hate myself for being so powerless to help him out in that instance.

I wanted to get very angry and destroy things. They will be so shocked and terrified once they just see me coming to them. I can deal with them without any external help but the fear of Joke raising alarm while I will be busy battling with Lewis made me to tell the anger in me to drop the matches it was trying to ignite.

My son stood motionless for another seconds before he used his hand to make a gesture of 'DON'T WORRY' at Lewis. He followed that quickly with some mouthed that I couldn't depict their actual meanings.

That must have irritated Joke a lot because she also walked to him and spanked him on his buttocks,. He cried out loud again.
Lewis shouted at him but he didn't bulge for like thirty seconds. Then all of a sudden, Chris turned around with a teary face and started running up the stairs and back to his room. He didn't see me beside the refrigerator or else he would have run straight to me and doing so would definitely make my presence known to the adults.

I bit my lips very hard to suppress the anger again.

I spent more than two minutes behind the refrigerator, thinking of my child's plight with a very angry mind. I casted a look down the house again only to see what will escalate the boiling rage that was already swelling inside of me.

Lewis, with a meat in his hand, sitting before my wife on the dinning table, trying to feed the girl that once dominated the atmoslove-lic portion of my heart.

That was how I lost it. The control switch to my anger lock.

The pot was still beside the gas stove when the Anger picked the matches I told it earlier to drop from the floor . It grabbed petrol and pour it on the gas stove. The matche stick was already begging to have that last kiss with its mother before bidding this world a badbye. Nothing goodbye from setting yourself ablaze because of a kiss.

Damning the consequences, I grabbed the broken mopping stick located in front of the game room at the lobby. With total determination to get things bloody, I begin to descend the steps.

One thing is to betray me, another is to do it to steal my Wife.


ANGEL ZEUS ON ANGRY MODE...EVEN JOKE WILL PAY..........!!!!! .

T. B. C

@whatsapp, 08162128141.

Fb page @ Darousmart Library.

CONTINUATION OF T. D. A 8.






He tapped me gently on my hand and repeated the same words when he noticed I wasn't giving him any attention. He repeated the exercise two more times before I had no choice than to answer him.

"Of course, who do you think published the bible in the first place?...I was part of the people that proof-read it before God agreed to its publication. " I expressed with a wry grin that perfectly hides my growing apprehension. "I'm just trying to do your assignment like a human being so that your teacher will not know that it was done by an angel"

"Shebi I will get all the marks?"

"Trust me, no mark will go scotfree by the time I'm done with your assignment. " I assured him and re-focused my attention on the book in my hands.

Number 7 reads, " On which mountain did Moses died? " Option (a) mt Sinai. (b) mt Everest. (c) mt Kilimanjaro. (d) mt Olive.

Ah, this one go hard o, how am I suppose to know this one? Out of all the Moses wey dey for this world, na the one wey dey inside the bible dem come dey ask about which mountain he died?

Suddenly, my eyes reconnected with the heading of the page and it reads,: Moses and the Israelites at Egypt.
Oh! I remember now. Na that moses wey do prison break for Egypt in the bible dem dey talk about. I remember hearing about how he carry some people comot for Egypt when I still dey follow my mama to church. I still be small pikin that time. I remember the story but I still don't know on which mountain he died.

Cold sweats have started forming on my head by merely trying to find an answer to that question. Still, I can't let this boy detect anything that will make him to doubt my angelic status. So I started racking my brain for the possible mountain.

In a flash-like hurry, I glanced through the page again and saw the country Egypt written among the headings again. Seeing Egypt inside the page made me to stop reading the page immediately. I've already gotten the answer.
Egypt is located in africa. So the event took place in africa. The only mountain located in africa among the ones listed among the options is option C which is Kilimanjaro. Which means, it has to be Kilimanjaro.... Egypt, Africa, Kilimanjaro, Egypt, Africa, Kilimanjaro, Egypt, Africa, Kilimanjaro........ I recited the same sentence three times inside my brain as the book cotinue to shake inside my hand.
'Wow... I screamed in wardly as my brain finished processing the answer to that.
"The answer is C. Kilimanjaro... Underline it. "

Without doubting me at all, the boy took his pencil and underlined it the option C.

"That will be 8 over 10." He remarked gleefully.

I smiled satisfactorily upon hearing that. " I pity you... " I muffled and moved to the next question.

It reads: "Explain what you understand by Manna".

I looked for the options but none was given. Instead a blank line was drawn underneath the question.

"No options? " I asked out loud.

"Yes... They said we should check inside our bible for it... "

"Which kine nonsense be that one? Why will you suddenly stop the options? Ahah? " I was almost crying when I said that to myself. The boy was just looking at my face.

"You know it? "

"Erm.... Ye..s. Yes, of course. I told you I'm trying my best to do it like a human being so your teachers will not think an angel helped you. ". That seemed to have convinced the boy, because he just said "okay" and rested his jaw in his palm as he watched me.

'Manna, which Manna be this? The word Manna ring a bell, but I can't quite remember how it relates with what they are asking. Chai, na here all my brain go burst. See as I dey sweat as if na inside court I dey?

"Manna... " I said out again but the boy gave me no reply so I didn't bother to look at him. I would have read through the passage to look for answers to that question but unfortunately, there's no luxury of time to spend on reading the lengthy passage.

Then I got my brain into thinking mode again.

The only biblical names I know all my life are mostly starting from letter 'M'. Maria, Messiah, Mary, Matthew, Mark and all sorts. What if this Manna is someone and not a thing just like the other M's in the bible? What if, what if.. Yes, What if she's a woman? Because na woman full that egypt that time o. Hmmmm. Maybe those examiners are just trying to test the brain of this little child, just like a brain teaser.

Wait o, why am I even stressing my polygamous brain on this stewpid assignment? This boy will not even be there tomorrow so there's no way he will know if he fails or gets all the marks. Let me just write anything jor. He no hard at all. I smiled sheepishly as the thought crossed my mind.

Here is what I'll write.
"Give me your pencil... " I demanded and he gave me instantly. So I begin to write. "Manna was the first daughter of the former king of Egypt that ran away with the isrealites. She died at the age of 52. She was buried on the way out of Egypt."

I checked the boy's face and saw him smiling. I took that as a sign that he sees nothing wrong in what I just wrote in his book.
So I checked the last question.

This one reads:

"How did the isrealites destroyed the wall of Jericho? " I read that finish and the first answer that came to my mind wasn't far fetched atall. Yes, you guess right...

I went straight for the blank line underneath the question and wrote; They used a lot of sledge hammers on the first day before the arrival of bulldozers the following day. The walls of Jericho eventually bowed to the power of the bulldozers.

I didn't even let the boy see what I wrote before I closed it and gave him to hold. I got up on my feet and told him to lets go.
With a satisfactory smile, he offered me his palm and I held it.

"Are you ready to go and meet your father now Chris? " I asked him just to be sure he's really willing to go.

"Yes... Uncle Lewis cannot be beating me everyday again... " He murmured delightedly again.

"Oh, sweet boy, don't worry, all will be over soon. " I assured him and we both proceeded towards the door.
"Okay.... Lets.... " I was still saying when the sudden voice of Joke cuts into my words.

"Chris....! Chris!.... ". She was calling his name very loud and her approaching footsteps was very audible.

I panicked, not because I was afraid of facing her but rather because I don't want anything that will spoil show for me, not when I'm this close to fulfilling my mission. I wouldn't have cared assuming I had the sedative mixture and other ingredients with me that can make her sleep.

"My mummy is calling me, angel... " Chris told me in almost whispers. .

"Tell her you are coming..... " I told the boy in a whisper as I begin to frantically look for where to hide.

"I'm coming!!!!!! " He shouted on top of his voice.

"Okay. I'm going downstairs now, hurry. " Joke informed and everywhere was silent for five seconds. I heaved a sigh of relief when her foot steps was no longer approaching us.

"Can I go now? " Chris asked me after studying the look on my face. .

I quickly got down to my knees to meet his height. I placed both fingers on his shoulders and begin to talk to him in low tones.

.