Kelvin’s side of the story continues
‘’Kelvin dear what did you tell them about me?’’ Jessica asked accusingly as if she already knew what I could have said about her but before I could say anything, the rude inspector dragged me to the other section of the room where I was made to declare my things.
A minute later I found myself in a police cell, a place I very much dreaded. I just couldn’t believe it. It looked as if I was dreaming.
‘’enjoy your day’’ the policeman who dragged me to the cell grinned as he pushed me in without any consideration. For some seconds my mind went totally blank. And as my brain slowly recovered from the blackout, I desperately thought of how to act before my new cell mates who were busy weighing me, probably getting ready to pounce on me like wild cats.
There were about fifteen young men in the poorly lit stinking cell which was as small as my bathroom. Of course as a new comer I knew the kind of reception that awaited me and it was something I was in no state of mind to face.
I had just my body size and strength as the only advantage but I knew I had no chance facing all of them at once in a free for all fight. I equally had no money to share. In fact I just wasn’t prepared for the stuff I was facing that morning.
Slowly i remembered what a friend who once was locked up for a long time told me about police cells.
‘’once you find yourself in a hardcore cell, show no fear and don’t take one more step once you are inside for the first time. Just stand with the guy at the entrance and examine things first if you have no money to bribe your way’’ he had narrated as we laughed about his cell experience. I never took his words seriously back then till that fateful moment when I stood face to face with strange hungry looking men. Of course the cell just looked like a hardcore one. I simply stood like someone out-numbered in a ‘’hell in a cell cage’’, waiting for the first blow or intimidation to come. I wasn’t ready for a fight but it never meant that I was ready to go down or intimidated without a fight. Moreover just like the guys in there, I was equally a street guy even though mine was in a matured level.
Surprisingly no one laid a hand on me, it was as if they were too weak to look for my trouble or probably scared of me. My heart pounded furiously as we all exchanged glances.
‘’This man!’’ I suddenly heard a voice scream out as a lanky looking guy slowly stood up from the floor.
‘’Kelvin Kelvin, o boy wetin bring you here?’’ he asked in Pidgin English as he approached me a smile. I instantly heaved a sigh of relief as my eyes fell on the young man’s face. He was no other person than the guy I bought my first laptop from years ago. Of course it was a stolen laptop and he was honest about it.
‘’o boy! I was just arrested for kidnapping one lawyer’’ I explained quickly while the whole room fell silence as my explanation hit every one of them.
‘’chai my chairman, kidnapping?. Mehn. I knew you were going to run this town the first time we met. Just look at me, running things here just for a small robbery while you are out there doing big things’’ he proclaimed with admiration while I scoffed and shook my head. I couldn’t say anything else to him. I was yet to even come to terms of what was happening to me. I just couldn’t wait to get out of that smelling hell hole. However I was happy that I wasn’t embarrassed or bullied.
Around 3pm, I was dragged out of the cell to meet the rude police inspector who arrested me earlier in the day. He smiled as his eyes scanned my appearance. He was satisfied by what he saw.
‘’Mr. Kelvin, the kidnappers called two hours ago to demand their money once again and with the look of things, it seems you were right about not being involved. But you see in this case, it’s very unwise to bring in a lawyer or to form Mr. Innocent when all you need to do is just to play ball with us. You dragged your girlfriend into this by mentioning her in your statement and it won’t help your case, moreover we got an unlicensed weapon in your house and if we should start tracing the source of that gun, you won’t like what we will discover’’ he said softly.
‘’so what do you want me to do now?’’ I asked seriously while he smiled.
‘’relax don’t be in a hurry’’ he muttered
To be continued
