NIGHTCLUB CHRONICLES
CHAPTER 10
The lady and her boyfriend saw me approaching with the two bottles and knew they were in trouble now. My friend, Philbet’s hope was restored as I joined in the scuffle. The boyfriend charged at me and I broke the bottle on his head. He was stunned for about a minute as blood spurted out of his head. His girlfriend saw the blood and lunged at me. My first impulsion was to broke the other bottle on her head, but she was a woman. In spite of my constant and unholy appetite for fights, I could never lay my hands on a woman.
She gave me a series of punches on my face and tore my shirt. However, I kept my calm and instead tried to get her away from me. When I succeeded in doing this, I turned my attention to her boyfriend and realized that his head injury, caused by my bottle, was being attended to. I felt a bit relieved then I realized I had made a serious error.
The owner of the bar was a police commissioner. He was just returning from work when he noticed that there was fighting going on and everything was in disarray. He was extremely vexed and bundled all of us into the police van he had brought and took us to the station. After haven been questioned, we were all asked to be detained. However, he was told that the cells were full and there was no more room for any new occupant. Because of this, we were all taken to the central prison uptown to be kept in holding until the judge was able to hear our cases.
The Central Prison was not a nice place to be. As soon as I got there, I noticed that most of the prisoners were starving and the grounds were very, very untidy. The walls were very high and my hopes for escape were immediately crushed. We were all kept in one big hall which was designed to hold about forty inmates. However, a quick count proved that we were about three hundred of us there.
Philbet and I went to one corner of the hall and sat. We were very miserable and that kept me on the edge. The prisoners had no knowledge that I was a fighter. Which explained why they decided to cross my path before I had even settled down. I was sitting on the floor, half-asleep, minding my own business when I saw two thin looking guys of about twenty-two approaching me. I pretended not to notice them until they spoke.
“Hey!!” One of them called.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Chef de Celui say e want see you.” He said in pidgin.
“For weti?”
“Bo, you di ask na who that kind question?” He asked, angrily. “A beg wokop for dey before I drag you me sef sef.”
“I no di go any place. Tell him I didn’t come here for him.” I said, switching back to English.
The guys looked shocked. Apparently, the “Chef de Celui” or Capo of the cell was generally feared. They couldn’t understand why a new inmate would have the guts to disobey him. However, they went back to him to report what I had said.
“Are you sure about what you just did?” Philbet asked as soon as the guys were gone.
“Damn sure. I don’t have any business with him. If he wants to see me, let him come here. This is my territory. Why would I have to be the one to go to him?”
“Ric, I am scared. The prison has its own rules. That guy sure runs this place and it will be foolish to cross him.” Philbet warned.
“He’s a normal prisoner, just like me. I don’t care how long he has stayed here.” I said, patting Philbet on his shoulder. “Don’t worry bro, I will take care of things, trust me.”
“Okay, if you say so, but I am still scared.”
The two emissaries from the Chef de Celui obviously had given my reply to him. I am sure they did a good deal of exaggeration too. This is because almost as soon as they left, I saw five rugged looking inmates coming my way. Philbet was damn scared. He was so scared that he peed in his pants. I quickly rose to my fit and waited for them. The biggest of them was the first to get close to me. He got hold of my hand and tried to pull me away. He would regret that for the rest of his life.
I pushed him away and as he staggered backwards, well, if you are an ardent reader of this story, then you would know my next move – I greeted him with my favourite move; a hard kick on his stomach. He fell backwards, holding his stomach. He was in deep pains. The other four all came at me at once but my six years of learning the ancient Chinese self-defense art of Karate and some judo paid off. I did a summersault over them and landed on the other side. They quickly turned around to resume their attack. This time they came one at a time. I caught the first one and applied “ipon soyi nagi”. He dropped on his back as I held his hand and twisted it. He cried out in pains. The second one came in full force but I applied “Kami shio gatami” and flung him over my head. He landed hard on the concrete floor and stayed motionless.
I was going to finish off the remaining two when I felt a sharp blow on my head. I had been taken down by a prison guard. I felt my legs weakening. My vision blurring and my head spinning. I passed out.
I was woken several hours later and realized immediately that I was in solitary confinement. I cursed under my breath and wondered if I had been cursed with fighting. My head was still aching terribly and I was damn hungry. I hunkered on a little stool and thought about many things. I thought of my girlfriend, Linda and wondered if she knew what was happening to me. I thought of my job. Was I going to be fired if I don’t show up? I thought of my family. How was I going to contact them?
I cupped my head in my hands and wept quietly.
I decided that I was going to look for a means to contact my politician in-law; the incoming mayor and ask him to help get me released. I hated to do that because I had been rude to him the last time we had met, but I had no option. I decided that if he doesn’t help, then I will have to look for a means to escape. No prison walls can be able to hold me for more than a week.
TO BE CONTINUED…
