EPISODE 15


My mom stood there as all tribes of crazy thoughts flashed through her mind. At the end of the day she was blank. She got frustrated and banged the gate hard that seemed to have surely awaken some slumbering neighbors just on that verge of turning away an old shaky crackled voice spoke out of the dark.

"Who is that nonentity disturbing my sleep this frosty night"

My mom was stunned and held the gate tight like she was going to force her head through the tiny openings "em please sir I'm looking for my children they never came home this afternoon."She said

The possessor of the scary voice emerged from the dark. Just as you would imagine the voice was a perfect match for the appearance. An over aged man certainly way too old to be working as a security guard in a local primary school. He had a little hunch and his posture was similar to that of a crowbar. He walked very slowly with the aid of a metal walking stick as he closed the few yards that hindered him from the gates. his eyes were almost sold out by his eyelids that already began covering it his skin was wrinkled and folded almost falling off. You could literally put a number to the strands of hair found on his head.

He got to the gates close enough to my mom and looked her in the face "look around woman, do you think any soul would still be in this kind of place at this ungodly hour? Madam if your children are still out there at this time you better start praying because only a miracle can save you"

He was actually making some sense out of this situation. Only a miracle would bring adaobi and gozie back. But as we know it God's not dead, miracles still happen. As she turned away hopelessly towards the vehicle a sweet smooth female voice yelled in distinctively "wait wait open the gates"

The voice came from within the dark but she couldn't still spot the figure. She squinted hard until the being was fully out. Alas it was aunty ijeoma again saving me. She held gozie and adobi in her hands as she ran briskly towards the gates. The security guard was startled at this unbelievable sight. The lunch flacks and water bottles held swung from side to side at the wave of the speed.

She finally got to the gates panting like she just finished a cross country marathon. "Wait old man open the gates." Ijeoma ordered.

My mom was shocked and happy and the same "ijeoma how come you're with the children at school at this hour. Where is david."

"Ma as usual you know I sit your kids before david arrives. And today wasn't any different but he didn't show up. The other day he came late I had to sit him down and talk to him, I advised him but he obviously didn't yield to it."

"So you how come you're just bringing the kids out now its really late" my mom questioned.

Aunty ijeoma immediately resulted to itching her head where no itching occurred and gave that embarrassed face. "I mistakenly slept off" she said in a low tone.

The security man bursting into laughter at the sound of her voice. Ijeoma gazed at him with a deadly look and gave off an annoying sigh.

"So my son is missing" my mom said as she laid her two hands on her head.

"Common ma we have to go to the police straight away" ijeoma suggested. As they turned to leave the security man drew back the attention of my mom "hey woman, if one miracle can happen in one night, I believe two can" he said. My mom nodded in accordance and jumped into the car. She hurriedly placed her shaking hands on the keys and looked behind for a second at adaobi and Gozie. "Hey my little angels are you okay?" She asked "they both nodded with a tear almost falling out "just hungry" Gozie said.

"Don't worry my baby, mummy's here" she said

**********************************************

"Fire up this engine!" The boss ordered one of the men who didn't seem to meet up to his specification. We arrived at the cities main entrance. The road had barely any life in it. The street lights were faulty and the gully almost had the road in two. We hopped out of the cars and surrounded the boss.

"Okay you you and you that way" he started as he dispatched the crowd to bank at strategic ends. "Tiger take the wheels you're our way outta here".

After duly dispatching everyone I was pretty much what's left. He took a cursory look at me and ordered. "Hey little school boy come over here" I ran immediately and stood directly in front of him. He placed his left hand upon my shoulder like a father would do when advising his 15year old son about to go into boarding school. "Look here my boy you are going to do a very crucial job for me today. You're the bait all you gotta do is lay life less at the middle of the road. When the cars stop we'll take it from there" he narrated

"But...but those people are soldiers driving the governor. What if they kill me" I questioned with fear all over my eyes.

"Don't worry my boy I'm 20 percent sure they wouldn't run you over. If other wise God bless your soul. You'll be remembered you died for a noble cause" he teased. He turned around for a minute to ensure everyone was in place "the politician will be here in a couple of minutes with his clan of soldiers heavily guarding him. And we shall bath the roots of the ground with their blood" he yelled to the crowd "school boy get on the damn floor NOW!!!!"

I quickly took my position on the cold coal tar road, I was shaking profusely yet I couldn't decipher if it was a result of the cold or the shock I was in. I thought for a minute and I still had a hard time figuring how I got myself in this mess. "I'm not dying tonight, I'm not dying tonight, I'm not dying tonight" I kept murmuring to myself until a very bright light shun in my face, the array of cars that moved with the politician were terrific, they had a siren similar to the average military van we see on the road every day. The jeep got very close to me and stopped. It blew its horn but I knew I wasn't supposed to move until the soldiers were vulnerable to attack. The car just stood there still for a couple of minutes and I began to think the person behind the wheel had thoughts of running me over. I was just on the verge of standing up and running for dear life when I heard a door open.

"Hey you what are you doing lying on the floor at the middle of the night" the soldier yelled as the walked towards me. Just a few metres away from me I heard a very loud gunshot that hit the soldier on the chest. He maintained his standing position for some seconds and began to stagger, I've never seen someone shot right in my face, blood gushed out of his mouth like a spilling water tanker. He held the place he had been shot but couldn't do much to help his life, as he fell to the ground with a thud.

Before I knew what was going on the soldiers ran out of the vehicles and started spaying bullets. The conibrus brothers jumped out of their corners and started firing in return.

"Shoot to kill boys. Kill them all" the boss yelled

"Protect the aspirant at all cost. Take cover" one of the soldiers yelled.

I was still on the ground at the middle of the road. Bullets were flying everywhere, and I was in the middle of this cross fire, this was a typical war front. I couldn't stand because a bullet would surely hit me.

"Ahhh!!!!!" A soldier yelled as he got shot in the abdomen

Not long after dead bodies started falling everywhere the soldiers were tougher than anticipated. The conibrus was loosing. Some started spraying bullets randomly, I buried my head in my arms as I couldn't stand the gory site, I knew I could still get shot even lying on the floor when I saw a bullet still hit the dead soldier that was coming towards me earlier. He was just a few metres away.

"Withdraw, withdraw, withdraw the injured boss yelled, he had got shot on his left arm, some of the gang boys ran into a near by bush. Most of them were dead already and a couple of soldiers. The jeeps of the politician were all damaged as a result of gunshots I wasn't too sure if he was still alive. Suddenly I heard tires screeching behind me. I turned immediately and saw it was tolu.

"David get in" he yelled

I didn't know exactly why I was relieved to see him but I was. I crouched and walked stealthily towards the van I tried to open the door when a bullet flew just across my shoulders and shattered the window of the door I was about opening

"JESUS" I lamented. I dived into the car and tolu turned around to speed away. The boss held his shot arm and ran slowly towards the van yelling "hey wait, wait for me" but tolu was obviously ignoring him

I turned and saw hopelessness in his eyes. "Hey tolu stop the car, your boss is out there"

"Come david are you mad. Do you want to die?" Tolu asked

"Tolu please just stop the car. If you leave him there he'll die" I pleaded.

"Okay dave if you get shot I'll leave and I'm not coming back for anyone" tolu said

"Okay fine just stop the car already" he stopped the car and I quickly hopped out and headed towards the boss. He was on the verge of giving up. I held him by the arm and put it around my shoulders to support him. We leaped towards the van I hurriedly pushed him in. "Go go go go move this thing" he ordered. As tolu stepped on it another series of bullets shattered the back wind screen of the jeep as we hid our heads to avoid being hit. Tolu managed to speed us away from the war zone. So that day the soldiers won. The politician could be dead, I guess we'll just have to wait and find out on the news

As adrenaline flowed through tolu's veins he drove with this incredible speed. The boss kept yelling out of pain. And I couldn't help but feel pity for him. "I'm gonna drop you off now" tolu said

"Yes please" I replied with joy boldly written all over my face.

It was a ten minute drive and we finally arrived at my gate. I quickly hopped out of the car and attempted running into my house when the scary voice of the boss stopped me.

"Hey school boy" he called. He dug his hand underneath the chair and threw a bunch of money at me through the window. It was one thousand naira notes all through. I caught the money at a reflex, it was so big I couldn't wrap my fingers all around it.

"You save my live today kid. For all its worth. Thank you" the boss said. I have never seen him speak in such a humble and calm tone. I stood still not able to believe what I held in my hand as I watched the jeep speed away.

"So kidnapped, beaten, shot at, blood, face to face with death and now a whole lot of money.............. Well today was fun" I said to myself as I ran into the house

EPISODE 14

"David what the hell are you doing here?" He asked with a lethal frown on his face


"Tolu tolu please help me, I know we aren't best of friends but please tell these men to......." Before I could finish my statement one of the men loaded my ear with an outstanding slap. "Shut up you fool" he yelled. The slap sent impulses to my brain and my ear was temporarily numb for a couple of seconds all I heard was a certain ringing sound in my head


"Guy chill na" tolu pleaded on my behalf. He crouched and untied me. That gave him the opportunity to get very close to me. He adjusted till his mouth was close enough to my ears and whispered "if you want to survive the night, do exactly what you are told." He assisted me up as I shook my head vigorously to regain normality. The boss bounced into the room slowly turning his head around scanning and surveying everyone. He spotted me still in the firm grip of tolu.


"Tiger you think say na joke we dey for here abi? We suppose don comot here tey-tey" he said and turned away to lead the gang out. He suddenly turned to face us again almost immediately as if he suddenly remembered a vital information that had skipped him prior to this time.
"Oh and if you want your little school friend here to live, keep a very close eye on him" he added.


His threats seemed to get the better of me, my heart began to pound at no specific rhythm and I was on the verge of bursting into tears. I accepted the reality that this may be my last day on earth. Tolu looked at me with disgust as he scanned my uniform from head to toe.


"You can't go with us looking like that"


"What do you mean go with us, look tolu I'm not following you anywhere. Just let me go my own way please I beg you" I pleaded


"You really are a fool aren't you?" He asked me rhetorically "look around you dave. You are in no position to dictate what you want, your life is in the hands of these men so don't beg me, this is no joke. These people won't think twice before putting a bullet through your empty skull. Maybe in your next life you'll mind the kind of places you lurk around" tolu scolded.


"See please listen to me, its like you don't understand I have a whole family looking for me right now. My siblings are still at school, my mom is all alone in a matter of time the police would be looking for me too, please you have to let me go" I insisted


"Your family seems to be doing pretty well without your dad. Am sure they'll be fine without you too, follow me" tolu ordered.


He took me to an inner room, raised an old looking sack totally covered in dust. He selected a black khaki overall and threw it at me. "Get dressed quickly, we leave in five" he ordered.


I held the dress which was obviously heavier than it looked. I contemplated and battled with my conscience. I had totally no clue what I was doing but if there's one thing I did know. It was that I wasn't ready to die that night. I quickly released myself of the possession of my school uniform and jumped into this thug looking one. The buttons were rusted and I struggled to get them into the holes.


"All set" I said looking at tolu in a calm face.


"Good" he replied "hold this close, for all we know you may need it" he said as he shoved a pistol against my chest with his right arm.


I held the gun with both hands and I was visibly overwhelmed in fear.


"Tolu what is this??" I yelled. " I can't use a gun I'm not a killer or a robber or a cultist please I can't do this just let me go ok?"


"Okay fine you sisi , you have a dilemma here you either take the gun and do as you're told quietly or I put a bullet in your brains" we stared at each other for a moment in silence .


"Good, so follow me" he uttered as he broke the silence. My silence meant I didn't need death that night. I braced myself and followed him. We met the rest of the gang gathered outside obviously waiting on everyone to be complete before departing for their operation , not long after we were complete the boss began his speech.


" Okay boys, we have a big night ahead of us tonight. When I say something is big. Believe me boys I mean it is really big. Comrade Bello Issah is coming into town tonight as you all know him. He's one of the aspirants for the governorship position. Our job is simple, capture the old fool and kill anyone who stand in your way. He would be heavily guarded with able bodied men. And these men have guns. Big guns I tell ya. Although we do have an advantage. These men don't see us coming. We are ghosts tonight. So brace yourself boys, for all we know anyone of us may fall tonight, but if we fall, we fall as a brotherhood" he yelled.


"THE CONIBRUS BROTHERS!!!" He added


"WE STAND AS ONE, FIGHT AS ONE AND FALL AS ONE" the rest of the gang chorused in reply.


I just stood there completely the green horn perplexed of what went on around me. These people are cultist of a high degree. Planning kidnap the possible next governor of the state was no job for amateurs. I couldn't he'll but imagine the kind of atrocities these men were capable of. I had never been this close to the devil my entire life.


"What's wrong with you?" Tolu inquired


"Tolu so this is what you do?" I asked


"Look dave if you're going to keep asking me silly questions I'll just have to let these guys finish you off"


"Okay I'm sorry. So what do I do" I asked.


Tolu looked at me with an embarrassed face "don't die" he said with an unrelenting chuckle and gave me a reassuring tap on the shoulder.


"Hey tiger what the hell are you waiting for, take your friend into the vehicle" one of the armed men yelled. The gang had two sparkling new black chevrolet jeeps with tinted windows.


We hopped into the jeeps and departed the hideout with speed similar to that of the race cars in the formula one competition.

***********************************************
My mom drove furiously towards outstanding nursery and primary school. It was very late and I was supposed to be home over 3 hours ago, she had contemplated leaving the house since she wasn't much of a driver . She beckoned on the hope that something came up at the school and I had to attend to it, maybe I'll have a reasonable explanation to give when I return. But at this point she had given up on that hope. She knew she had to come for us. No one would survive loosing a spouse and children in one month.


The speed at which vehicles drove past her was outrageous with the extremely bright headlight of the cars going in the opposite direction blurred her vision at intervals. On getting to the school she flew out of the car not caring if she put off the car or even removed the keys from the ignition.


The place was deserted. Dead silence. She stood at the gate with her brief height barely allowing her peep over the openings without a clue of what her next move would be, she stared into the immense darkness and her sight was interrupted by the rickety security bulbs that blinked off and on simultaneously. All she could hear was the creaking ear-piercing annoying sounds of toads mating and crickets hopping. The night was dead.


"I'm dead" she exclaimed..........

TO BE CONTINUED!!

Danie94:
Donkross so u are select pple dat u r welcome to dis rum bah? wen i am came did u welcome me...........i yaff cry 4 u pple today. Is not gud o jare

dey should leave yeye english for u

Babice:
chai,gud/nice/sweet/beautiful/interesting/entertaining/educative writeup,its been long i read such,keep it up dear. and pls continue the story ooo

I will continue surely. thank you very much

unitysheart:
Duoz, thou promised you'll drop the next episode since 30 days ago. Hope all is well!

I'm really sorry for dissapointing u all dese while. my fone was stolen nd d whole story along wit it. had everytin in my fone. but no worries I'm retyping nd in no time d story will continue pls bear wit me. and know dat I avnt forgotten abt it. everyday I'm working on it

Mattkent:
Carry on bro DUOz. Your story is obviously captivating judging from the comments.. I will be following you once I end my story tomorrow. Cheers.

thank you

EPISODE 13





LOCATION: DAVID'S HOUSE
TIME: 12:45PM, THURSDAY

My mother slowly sat on the couch in the palour. She placed her jaw in her arms, a position. Regarded as the thinking posture. Flashes of graphic memories of that night zoomed across her mind and the force of a tear sliding down her face could not be apprehended. She quickly wiped if off before it had the chance to reach the mouth level and quickly shrugged off the grief. She was a strong woman physically and psychologically, I certainly got my strong side from her, when my parents got married my father just started working in a marketing company which he had risen to the position of the branch manager before he died. My mom was a business woman but by the time she had adaobi my dad advised her to stop any form of work and concentrate solely on being a house wife to ensure she takes good care of us. But now that the bread winner of the house is gone, she'll have to find something to keep is alive. My mothers dream was never to be a business woman, she always wanted to work in a real company. But with the kind of result she graduated with the curriculum vitea didn't find much favour in the eyes of any company or embassy. She graduated with a third class in international studies and diplomacy from the university of lagos.

At this point in time she would love to go back into business but it was more than obvious that it wouldn't be enough to put food on our table. She suddenly remembered. My simon my fathers childhood friend. She could recall very clearly the last time mr simon visited just before the death of my father, he promised to help my mom if she ever decided she wants to blow off the dust laying on her CV. Mr simon was a very successful lawyer and he was well known in our city and a little around the country. His block busting case of a condemned terrorist brought him to limelight. He eventually vindicated an actual terrorist, everybody had written off this terrorist and concluded there was no way out for this guy, but mr simon being a very good lawyer did the miracle and left the city completely speechless. So his dexterity at what he did opened some doors for him and brought him a lot of connections. And he was willing to help my mother.

She quickly reached for her telephone and dialed mr simons number. "To copy this tune press one" the female automated machine responded. "Hello ma, how are you doing" mr simon answered the phone. "Good afternoon I'm very fine" my mom responded. "Hope everything is okay. Its quite unusual for you to call" "yes sir I was thinking about finding a job now that my husband is no more, and then I remembered you promised to help me out" my mom said in a tensed tone "yes ma I'm indeed very glad you decided to call" "please do swing by the office next week, I'll be more than glad to see you" mr simon said. "Thank you very much sir" my mom replied. The line went dead.


LOCATION: SOMEWHERE DOWNTOWN. (THE UNCOMPLETED BUILDING)


"I said don't move" the horrifying voice repeated as I was startled in shock. "Please don't kill me" I uttered visibly looking tensed. I couldn't help my body from vibrating randomly as my adrenaline rose without control. I slowly stood up with my hands in the air, and my heart was racing faster than usain bolt in the olympics. "Now move" the unknown voice ordered. He led me straight to the gathering, as I moved slowly with my hands in the air. Drops of urine trickled down my shorts. Slowly and slowly as I moved my entrance that was being ignited by the unknown voice behind me caught the attention of the cult members. The air was filled with thick smoke of 'igbo' and the floors were littered with broken bottles of different kinds of beer. I coughed vigorously as I inhaled the thick smoke of 'igbo' in the air. the. Men were surprised to see me and they all cocked their guns and pointed it at me. "Boss look what I found. I found him spying on us" the unknown voice that led me there said to one of the men.

The horrible looking guy referred to as 'boss' raised his hand to signal the men to lay down their guns. He walked majestically towards me with his fist clinched tight. As he got closer to me his image submerged from the thick foggy smoke and I could clearly spot his bearing. He was a fully built guy with muscles popping out of his arms and chest like 'the rock'. He was extremely dark in complexion and his eyes were brick red as a result of incessant smoking. He carelessly hung a double barreled shotgun on his shoulder and supported it with his left hand. He had very big tribal marks on both sides of his face and stitches all over his bald head. He moved really close to me and scanned me from head to toe "you're just a little school boy" he said in disgust. "Please let me go, I beg you" I cried out in distress as I tried to shrug him off. He grabbed me tight on the neck and raised me up slowly. "Look boy I have some questions for you and after the questions I'll kill you. Do you understand?" He yelled. I nodded almost choking. To death in his arms. He released me as I fell to the ground breathing heavily. "Now sit" he said as he slided a stool towards me. I hastily stood up and balanced on the stool. "Why were you spying on us?" He started with his questions. "Please sir I wasn't spying, I just lost my way I didn't mean to see you people" I said pleasingly. "Shut up you fool" he yelled. "No one spies on the conibrus brothers and goes scot free" he added. "We are like the ghost of the nights, we move swiftly and kill silently. No one I repeat no one sees us" he continued. Tears streamed down my face as my fear increased rampantly.


"Boss this no be tiger uniform?" One of the ratchet looking men asked, the boss took a closer look at me and shook his head in confirmation "so you dey tiger school eh?" The boss asked me. "I don't know anybody called tiger please let me go" I pleaded. "You are a big fool, shut up joor" another of the men yelled at me. "Boys, boys calm down" the horror looking boss ordered his boys. He slowly turned his gaze to me looking more annoyed. "School boy I'm gonna ask you one more question. And if you lie walahi I swear I will kill you" he touched the earth with his forefinger, placed it on his tongue and then rose his hand up to demonstrate. He quickly placed his shotgun comfortably on his hands and cocked it and pointing it directly to my head "school boy who sent you to spy on us" he yelled as I could sense the bloodlust written all over his face. "Please sir I swear on my life I'm innocent. I'm just a little boy who lost his way. Please sir I beg you spare my life. I wouldn't tell a soul what I saw here" I cried out with tears drooping down my face. He slowly placed his hand on the trigger and applied pressure little by little just before the trigger was pulled one of the boys placed his hand on his shoulders and whispered something in his ears. The boss shook his head in accordance and gave me a deadly grin. "Ok school boy I guess we could use you as bait in our operation tonight , before I finally delete you. You just got five hours added to your life. Congratulations school boy." He said as he tapped my head. "Kit up boys we leave in 2 hours" the boss yelled as he left the scene. I shifted my gaze to the man that was obviously responsible for topping my life with five extra hours as I stared at him perplexed. He just winked at me and left.

Later that night they were all ready to move out when one noticed they weren't complete yet. "Where is tiger" he asked "ohh damn it" he's late again another replied. The boss stormed in looking like an armed soldier ready for war. "Where tiger dey na?" He yelled. "That boy dey try me abi?" He added. Immediately the so called tiger walked into the place looking all kited up too. They all yelled his name and hailed him one after the other. I rose my head and I was extremely shocked to see the person they referred to as tiger. "Oh no it can't be you" I said to myself. He saw me and was bolted from the blue "david what the hell are you doing here" he yelled with wrath written all over his face............

END OF EPISODE 13

14 WILL DROP ON SATURDAY

STAY TUNED

GOD BLESS YOU CALL

hey guys. am sorry I haven't been able to update for a long time. its because of school the session has fully kicked off and y'all know uniben is no joking matter.so I'll make sure I update every weekend unfailing. I think that can fit into my schedule and urs too. its a reasonable space I guess. okay guys till next week end. thanks