HAWA’S RETURN
CHAPTER 5
Hawa had gone. Where she went to, I didn’t know. She didn’t tell me. All she told me was that she would be back. However, I knew that wherever she went to, she had gone to fortify herself before coming back to face whoever had been behind her misfortunes for the past several weeks. I hoped and prayed that she be safe.
After she had gone that was when I got all the information, I needed to know about her. Hawa was a s*x worker. That was the reason she was always going out in the evenings and coming back only late at night or in the mornings. Everything made sense to me now. I had been practically living with a prostitute without knowing. It all made sense to me now. I now understood why she had once told me that I was unique. She said she found it difficult to sleep with one man many times, but when she met me, everything changed.
I also remembered one day that she and I went to the market to purchase some stuffs for my birthday. I remembered the number of people who greeted her on the way. They were all males, and I also remembered the strange way people looked at me. People were like, ‘it seemed this guy doesn’t know that this girl is a prostitute.’ Poor me, I was so innocent that I didn’t notice anything.
However, I was not the kind of person who would be scared of such things. I decided that what had happened had already happened. I was a bit annoyed that she had kept her trade from me. However, I understood why she had done that. It was not an easy thing to tell someone you love that you are into that kind of business. So, I decided that I would forgive her while waiting for the day I will see her again.
The next day, the landlord came to survey his house. He was terribly vexed and blamed Hawa for keeping bad company. He said it was thanks to Hawa’s bad company that his house had been burnt. He promised to take the matter to the competent legal authorities for reparations from Hawa. But where would he see Hawa? She had vanished into thin air. Because he couldn’t find Hawa, he transferred his aggression to me. He said Hawa and me were pals. So, I somehow knew something. I told him I didn’t know anything. He refused to believe me. We quarreled and he asked me to leave his house.
The next day, I started moving. I was even happy because I was tired of living in that compound. I called Nerissa and told her I would be moving. She was very happy and came to help me move. I was moving to a better neighbourhood with good apartments. Nerissa was the one who cleaned the apartment for me and helped me park in.
For two months straight, I didn’t see or heard from Hawa. One Sunday, I hadn’t gone to church because I wasn’t feeling too well. So, I was in bed when I heard my doorbell ring. I ignored it because it was still early, but the ringing persisted. I woke up, went to the living room and opened the door. Lo and behold it was Hawa standing there.
“Good morning, Ike.”
“Good morning, Hawa. What are you doing here this early? How did you find my house?”
“I went to the former neighbourhood and asked. Someone directed me here.”
“Alright, so where have you been?”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“Why have you come back?”
“To take revenge. I told you I was going to be back, right? I have come back now and the people who hurt me will hear from me.”
“You still intend on killing them? I thought you got over it.”
“Got over it? Who can get over a thing like that? I have come back to take my pound of flesh.”
“Have you been able to find out who burnt your house?”
“Yes, I was able. It was the younger brother of the guy I killed, and his friends. But I have already taken care of them. Don’t worry about that.”
“I want to join you join you in your quest.” I proposed.
“Nope, not again. It’s my fight and I will do it my way. I don’t want to mess up your life. I don’t want to get you involved. I will do everything myself.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked.
“Very sure.”
“Listen, Hawa. I can’t in good conscience allow you to go face those guys alone. Facing hardened criminals, rapists and murderers is not a safe thing for you to do alone. I insist, I will go with you.”
“You really want to do this?”
“Yes, I want to.”
“Alright, how about your girlfriend, Nerissa?”
“She is good.”
After the killing of the first guy, hitherto unknown to Hawa, the guys had suspected that their friend didn’t die a natural death. That was because during his funeral, his brothers said they saw him bring a girl back home on the night he died. They had asked him who the girl looked like. From the description that was given to them, they suspected, correctly that it was Hawa. They looked for her to kill her, but they were not successful. That was why her house was burnt.
The guys now were on their guard. In fact, they had intensified their search for her, especially when she sneaked into town and murdered the younger brother of the guy she had killed. It was the guy who burnt her house. She sneaked into town at the dead of night, laid ambush and shot the guy and his two friends on their way back from the club. She had been monitoring their movements for hours and struck when they least expected.
One mistake Hawa made was that she thought she had the element of surprise on her side. Up until now, she thought the remaining three guys had no inkling that she was behind all the killings. She forgot that the guys were hardened criminals and their criminal instincts had helped them put the pieces of the recent happenings together, and they had unanimously concluded that Hawa was behind everything. They couldn’t go to the police to report the matter because it would only expose them. So, they came to one resolve – hunt down Hawa and kill her before she killed them.
Another thing she didn’t know was that they knew she was in town and had been tracking her. In fact, they had tracked her to my house. Poor me, I was oblivious everything. My interaction with Hawa was going to put me in serious trouble. I wish I knew better. Because I was a friend of hers, and they had tracked her to my house, they had concluded that I was helping her out. They therefore decided to earmark me for slaughter since I was her accomplice.
“Have you ever used a gun before?” She asked me.
“Nope.”
“Do you think you can handle one?”
“Yes, it easy na. I have watched many videos on YouTube on how to handle a gun.”
“Good, I will give you a gun and some ammunition. You need to protect yourself.” She cautioned.
“Protect myself from who?”
“Are you not the one who said you wanted to join in the hunt?”
“I said that.”
“Good, now, you have to be used to carrying a firearm around because you can never tell when the enemy will strike.”
“That is okay, I understand.”
“One other thing you should know is that I am not the easy going, beautiful and calm Hawa you think you know. I am more than that. I am sorry to drag you into my world. It was because you showed me so much love and concern. By going on this quest with me, you will be going deep into the crime world of this city. I have lived in the streets for many years, known many criminals, did a few unsavoury things myself. I finally decided that I should live a quiet life and put my past behind me.
“I am sure by now you must have heard that I was a prostitute. Yes, I was a prostitute, a call girl, a s*x worker. However, I just wanted to raise enough money to start some business and then put my former life behind me. But fate had decreed otherwise. I was kidnapped and raped by those hoodlums. Now, I have to eradicate them from the surface of the earth. Wherever I find them, I have to kill them because they are vermin and must be eradicated.”
“I understand Hawa. I understand everything you have told me. However, now that you have vividly explained everything to me, I cannot tell you a lie, I am a bit scared. However, my resolve remains strong. I won’t and I can’t let you do this alone. I will stand by you to the very end.”
“Thank you, Ike. But how about your beautiful Nerissa?”
“Let’s forget about her for now. She was supposed to be here today since it’s Sunday. However, she texted to say she wouldn’t be able to make it anymore, which is a good thing since you are around. I don’t want any complications.”
That evening, Hawa and I went to town to get something to eat. She said she was hungry and hadn’t eaten all day. It was risky going out like that. She thought no one knew she was in town. So, she had to disguise before leaving. She wore a hijab and dark glasses before we left the house.
While I was in the university, my Procedural Law lecturer, Prof. Michael Adeleke had always told me that as a good lawyer, you should always be aware of your surroundings, and you should always be alert at all times. He said being watchful and observant while you are in a particular place could save your life in more ways that you could imagine. He said you might also notice something that might be useful to you in court someday.
That was the reason I was able to notice two strange guys monitoring Hawa and I closely as we sat at City Fast Food, enjoying a delicious plate of rice and chicken. I noticed that one of the guys seemed to be taking pictures of us and he was constantly on the phone with someone. I drew Hawa’s attention to it.
“Hawa! Hawa!” I whispered. “Look at the far end of the restaurant. Look at that fair skinned guy.”
“Which one particularly are you talking about? There are three guys there with light skins.”
“The one who’s on the phone. Please, don’t turn around. Just look with the corner of your eye.”
“Yes, I see him now. What about him?”
“He seems to be watching us. I think I caught him taking pictures of us. I suspect him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Wait let me take another look at him.” She said and turned to look at he guy again and opened her mouth in shock and fear. “Jesus Christ, Ike. I know him. He is a killer. Ike, I believe our cover has been blown. Let’s get out of here immediately.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
