He was parked on the side of the road now, with C Caution in place, trying to make calls, but no one was picking up. He felt chilly, and he didn’t know if it was the cool breeze from the Lekki lagoon that was responsible for that or the fear of being robbed. He always prided himself for being a physically fit guy, but the packs on his chest won’t mean anything if he was approached by guys with guns. A few cars still passed every now and then, but there was no one walking about. Even the police men that were usually at the junction ahead were not there today.
“Hello.” A female voice said
“Whoa! You scared me.” He said in a low voice as he turned around to examine her. She was short and curvy, and had on a black dress, which was why he hadn’t seen her coming.
“This spot is really dangerous. You shouldn’t stay here too long.”
“Thanks. I have a flat tire, my friends will soon come pick me up.” He said.
“You don’t know how to change a tire?”
“I do, but the extra is also bad.”
“Oh! Okay.”
“Yep.”
“I know a place you can stay till tomorrow morning. It’s very cheap.”
“Thanks. But my friends are on their way.” He lied to feel confident.
“Okay. Just don’t stay here too long.” She said and started walking away. He dialed Molano’s number again, and listened as it kept ringing. His eyes were on the strange girl, and as she was about to disappear into the night, he shouted out, “Wait!”
……….
After booking a room, they decided to get some drinks at the bar before retiring for the night. The place was a small motel with 6 rooms lined up on a straight line, with a gated car garage just outside each room. Opposite the rooms was a line of palm trees, and beyond that was the bar, which had five straw roofed small tents scattered around, where people could have some privacy. David was in one of them with his new friend, Mary. He had learned that she was a prostitute from the way she related with the people at the bar, but they hadn’t reached any agreement of s*x for pay. All she wanted was a place to sleep.
Bob Marley’s classic song, I Wanna Love You was playing in the main bar and it was funny watching her sing along with her thick Efik accent. She was a very pretty light skinned girl with curves in all the right places. The red lipstick on her supple lips made her appear so enticing to David. He had never been the type to do hookers, but the girl was getting to him.
“Please can I use your phone?” she said in a sexy voice. He hesitated as he usually didn’t like giving out his phone, but reached into his pocket and handed it to her anyway. He took down the last content of his cup and poured himself a full glass of Heineken. His hand went from the cup to his chest to reassure himself his other phone was still in place. For some reason, it felt like he was carrying seven million Naira on him.
“Thanks.” She said and handed him back his phone. “I’m ready to go in whenever you are.”
“Oh! Okay.” David responded and took down half the content of his cup before getting off his seat. “Okay. Let’s go in.”
……….
A small bed, a bedside stool, and a TV were what the room had to offer; standard for a cheap motel. The air-conditioning was really working to the max though, he would give them that. It was so cold he zipped up his jacket instead of getting out of his clothes. Laying face up on one side of the bed, he felt awkward as she started to undress. Sitting on the other side of the bed with her eyes on the TV, she bent down a little to take off her shoes, and then she started to unzip her dress from the side. He couldn’t help but notice her well curved shape, and glowing yellow skin. Her hand stopped all of a sudden halfway, and then she started zipping up again. “I forgot something with the barman.” She said and started wearing her shoes again. “I’ll be right back.”
He watched her walk out of the room and pulled out his phone after she shut the door. He tried to reach Molano again. The phone was still to his ear when the room door opened slowly, and Mary walked in, fear in her eyes. Behind her was a short muscular guy with a shiny bald head, holding a pistol to the back of her head. He pushed her forward, and then pointed the gun at David with the index finger of his left hand up to his lips; signaling to David to keep quiet or else he would get his brains splattered on the room wall. Behind him came a taller, more muscular guy in a black unbuttoned short sleeve shirt, with a white t shirt underneath. The guy moved over to the TV and turned it up to the maximum.
David could remember seeing them at the bar when he first walked into the motel compound with Mary. He could have sworn she set him up, but the fear in her eyes was genuine. His hands were up as he sat in bed, with his back against the wall. The tall guy walked over to him, and started going through his pockets. He found his wallet and pulled out all the cash in there, plus the ATMs, put it in his pocket, and then grabbed David’s phone from him. As the guy went through his phone, the one with the gun kept it pointed at him, but his eyes were on the prostitute. For a second, David felt he could take them both, but he feared that Mary might become a causality of war.
“What’s your First Bank five digit pin?” the guy with his phone shouted out. David guessed he had gotten through his email messages and seen the seven million Naira alert. The one with the gun walked forward and had the gun barrel on David’s head, a move to get him scared. The line in his Smartphone wasn’t connected to his account, so they couldn’t access the account even if he gave them his five digit pin, but then they would get the message that that wasn’t the line connected to the account, and search him for another phone. He didn’t want that to happen, so he just went mute. The guy with the phone moved closer and gave a back hand slap. “I said, what is your five digit code?” He said, slowly this time.
Gun to his face, his whole life flashed through his mind. Are you willing to die for seven million Naira, he thought to himself. If he gave up the phone and his code, Molano and his goons will still kill him anyway, so he just stood still with his hands up; and then came the punch to his face. He had seen people take punches in movies and shake it off like it was nothing, but right now, he felt like he was losing consciousness. He couldn’t even hear what they were saying anymore; all he could hear was a buzzing sound, and his vision had gone blurry. He felt blood trickle down his nose. The two guys were arguing now, and Mary was crying looking at his bloodied up face.
After a few minutes, he regained full consciousness, and the aggressive guy asked him for his code again. When David remained mute, he told his accomplice that they had to take him back to their place. He disappeared into the bathroom, and came back with small bowl with water in it. He reached into his pocket for a handkerchief, handed it over to Mary and ordered her to clean David up. With tears in her eyes, and a shaky hand, she succeeded in wiping all the blood off his face after several minutes. The guy with the gun had tucked it away now, and was pacing the length of the room, restlessly. The other guy was going through David’s phone.
“We have to go now.” The short guy said in a low voice. The mean guy pulled Mary away from David, examined him for a second, and then motioned for him to get up. Although woozy in the head, he managed to stand up on his own. The guy with the gun pulled it out from his back, and waved it at him. “Try any funny moves and I will blow your brains out.” David nodded and the guy put the gun back behind him, held in place by his belt. The taller guy walked out the door first, then the short guy, and then Mary and David.
Outside was quiet as a song had just ended and another slow jam was coming on gradually. The barman was dozing at his stool, and the security man David had seen earlier was nowhere in sight. The short guy got into the driver’s seat of a black 190 Benz, and the other guy held the back door open for David to enter. He stopped Mary from going in after David, and signaled for her to get into the front seat. He looked around before getting into the back seat with David. The heavy engine of the Mercedes Benz came to life, and they drove towards the gate. The security man appeared from nowhere, and with no questions asked, pushed open the gate for them to drive out.
……….
They hadn’t driven far from the motel when the guy started pressing David for his bank pin again. Like earlier, David said nothing. He got vexed and hit David on the mouth with the back of his gun. “Patrick, you want to kill him? Wait till we get to the house.” The guy driving shouted out.
“His silence is pissing me off.”
“Don’t worry, he will talk when we get home.”
“Can I drop off now? I don’t want any money again.” Mary said with a shaky voice.
“Shut up bitch.” The guy said and slapped her head from behind. “Why did you bring us this hard head?”
“I did what you guys said, okay. Just let me drop. And please don’t kill him.”
“Maybe we might just kill you both, bitch.”
When David heard that, his survival instincts kicked in and he head butted the guy with the side of his head. He tried to wrestle the gun out of the guy’s hand, but his grip was still tight on it even as he was in a dazed state. Mary started clawing at the guy driving. Screams, grunts, tires screeching; it was chaos as the car zigzagged along the road.
Three shots rang out in close successions, and the back windshield got shattered. The tall guy was obviously more powerful than David, and in the struggle, he managed to point the gun at David’s groin. Click! Click! He pulled the trigger, but he had run out of bullets. With fear for his life, David had a rush of adrenaline, and he head butted the guy again; this time getting him smack in the face with the back of his head. The gun fell to the floor of the car, and the guy slumped back on the car seat.
The car was moving at a slow speed now as Mary was still kicking and clawing the other guy. David opened the back door and jumped out of the car. Just then, the driver stopped the car, gave Mary a resounding slap that sent her to sleep, and then he put the car in reverse. He moved in reverse for a bit, and then he swerved the car around, hitting David in the process, and sending him flying in the air. He landed hard on the sidewalk with a big thud. The guy came out of the car, and hurried over to where David lay on the sidewalk. He released the safety of the pistol, pointed it at David and pulled the trigger. Click! Click! Click! “Shiit! Patrick had the gun with the bullets.” He said as he kicked David angrily in the face, and rushed back into the car. He looked at David’s unconscious body on the sidewalk through the rare-view mirror. “Lucky freaking bastard.” He said with a frown on his face before zooming off.
The End
