THE EMIRATI CONNECTION
CHAPTER 6
THE END
I yanked open the door and the events that followed immediately were full of violence. Like a trapped and angry animal, Hermine pounced on me. She threw her phone, her wig and her handbag at me all at the same time. After, she grabbed me around the neck and attempted to strangle me. I fought back viciously but it seemed she had been possessed by a strange and ancient animal that had given her extra strength. She tore the T Shirt I was wearing, a T Shirt that was given to me by my mother as a gift. I became greatly angered, pushed her and she hit her head against the wall. Temporarily free, I rushed back into the house and changed into another T Shirt.
She recovered herself only to discover that I had gone back into the house and had locked the door behind me. That got her very enraged and she abandoned ringing the doorbell and started hitting the door instead. Good thing my door was an iron door otherwise I am sure it would have been broken. She knocked on the door so loudly and so violently that my neighbours all came to their balconies to find out what was happening. They realized that once again, it was Hermine and I.
I was afraid that I was going to run into problems with the landlord since she was disturbing the whole compound and threatening to cause chaos. So, I opened the door again and met her outside. As soon as she saw me, she grabbed my T Shirt again and tore it. I had just lost two expensive T Shirts in one night, in fact within a few minutes. I got angry and pushed her again. She fell on the cold tiled floor and passed out. I stood there looking at her. She was barely breathing.
“Christina!!” I called one of my neighbours’ daughters. Her father was a police officer. Two of my neighbours were actually policemen, both working for the much-dreaded rapid intervention unit. “Please, help me get a bike. We have an emergency.”
“Okay, Uncle Chris.”
Realizing that Christina was going to get a bike for her to be taken to the hospital, she quickly got up from the floor. That meant she hadn’t really passed out. She was just pretending. She came and tried to grab my already torn T Shirt again but I held her both hands and shoved her away. She struggled to free herself but it was a futile attempt. I was way stronger than her. I turned her around to make sure her back was facing me, Then, with both of her hands pinned to her side, I carried her and tried to take her away from the compound, but she resisted and fought back. She managed to break free and tried to rush into my house but I grabbed her again and pinned her.
“Leave me alone.” She shouted. “I want to see whoever is in that house.”
“Nope, you can’t go into my house like this. If you want to go into my house, you will have to calm down.”
“I am not calming any down. You had s*x with me for nothing and the very next day, I came to your house and met a girl.”
“What is it about having s*x with you? I thought you wanted it. I thought you loved it. What are you talking about?”
“I never wanted any s*x with you, and I didn’t even enjoy it. Now, let me get into that house.”
“You are going nowhere. I have noticed that you are a very violent person. I now understand why none of your relations ever work. Who wants a woman like you?”
“How about you? Do your own relationships work?” She fired back.
“Whatever the case, I made it very clear to you that I had a girlfriend. I did that since when you were still in the UAE. I never lied to you. I have been honest from day one. I only slept with you because I had broken up and I thought we could make something good together. Now, I have realized that that would be a grave mistake.”
“Who wants to be with you? I just want to see the lady in your house, that’s all.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“If I had my way, I would kill you.” She threatened.
“Why don’t you do it now? What are you waiting for? I heard you came with a knife.”
All this while, Lindsey had locked herself in my bedroom. She was a very calm person and had a great aversion to violence. She was afraid that she was going to be hurt. So, she locked herself so that she could be safe. However, she was hearing everything that was happening outside. I wondered if she would ever forgive me after that night.
Hermine broke free from me, picked her phone from the floor and went away from a while. I couldn’t tell what she went to do but I guessed she went to make a call. I suspected the call wasn’t a good one or why would she not want me to hear what she was saying. When she left briefly, I went back into my house and locked the door behind me. I went to the bedroom and met the door locked form inside. I knocked.
“Who is there?” Lindsey asked from inside.
“Me, please, open the door.”
She opened the door quickly and looked at me like I was a ghost. She had every right to look at me that way because I still had the torn T Shirt on.
“What happened to you?” She asked, her hands at akimbo.
“The mad lady outside.”
“How did you get yourself entangled with such a lady?”
“It’s a long story, dear. Let’s leave it for another day.”
“What are we going to do now? I told you I needed to see my mum this night and it is already getting very late.”
“You can’t go now, babe. Please be patient a bit, just a bit. That mad woman is still outside, lurking around in the dark. I don’t want any harm to come to you.”
As I said this, I heard the sound of approaching footsteps and I suspected it was Hermine coming back after a hiatus to go make her call. I quickly changed into another dress, locked Lindsey in the bedroom and met Hermine outside. I was expecting more violence but what I saw surprised me. She looked calm and untroubled. I couldn’t understand the cause of the sudden change of behaviour.
“What is it now?” I asked, exasperated.
“I want to go home now.”
“Bright idea. Smart choice. Let me go get you a bike. I am sure we will see one soon though it’s almost midnight now.” I spoke.
“I want you to take me home.” She proposed.
“Me? Take you home? Why?”
“Because it’s late now. It would be risky for me to go home alone. I can’t trust any bike man.” She explained.
“Well, that is true.” I concurred.
As we moved towards the main road to get a bike, I kept suspecting that there was something sinister and treacherous about her sudden change of attitude. However, there was no way I could know what was in her mind or what diabolical plan she had hatched up. As we walked, I texted Lindsey. I told her that I was taking Hermine away. I told her that she could leave now since it was getting late. She shouldn’t bother about locking my door. She should just go, and I would see her another day.
Soon, we saw the bright light of a bike approaching. When it came close, we stopped it. I negotiated the fare and the bike man, and I came to an agreement. He was going to take both of us to her house, drop her and then, bring me back to my own house. I agreed to give him a one thousand.
We got on the bike and the bike man brought the engine to life and sped away. Since it was a few minutes past midnight, there wasn’t much traffic. The road was very clear. So, the bike man could ride at top speed. As we went, I noticed that there was another bike behind us. The bike had been making sure not to overtake us. When we left the main road and branched into a side road that led into her neighbourhood, I looked behind and noticed that the other bike had also gotten into the neighbourhood.
I became scared. I remembered the secret call she had gone to make and I was very scared. I was afraid that the people on the other bike were bad boys whom she had recruited to deal with me. In my mind, I started thinking of the best possible way to defend myself if and when I eventually got attacked. I told the bike man to increase his speed so that we could lose whoever was chasing us. He did exactly that and after a few minutes, I looked behind and didn’t see the bike again. I smiled and congratulated myself for being smart.
As we sped on, Hermine told the bike man that the normal road to her house had a lot of potholes. It had rained and it would be dangerous for us. That was actually true. The last time I had taken her to her house on a bike, we were almost involved in a serious accident on that road. Therefore, I was in full support when she proposed that we took another road that was better but lonelier.
The bike rider deviated and went into the lonely road. I looked behind just to make sure we were not still being followed. I smiled when I didn’t see the other bike. A few minutes later, the bike man screeched to a sudden halt. The road had been blocked by God knows who. As soon as he stopped three guys came out of the bushes. We were still trying to process what was happening when Hermine spoke.
“This is him, guys.” She said, pointing at me. “This is the guy. Deal with him. You have my blessings.
“What is happening, Hermine? What are you doing? Who are these people?” I asked, scared.
“Shut up and get off that bike. You think you could toy with me and go free? You came into my life, tortured me, ravaged me and broke my heart and you think I would just let things go like that?” She looked fierce.
“But you know this is not true. You wanted this more than I did.”
“Shut up, you fool.”
“Hermine…” I tried to speak but I was dragged off the bike and taken into the bushes beside the road.
When I got to their small bush hut of a camp, they pushed to the ground and all three of them fell on me. I was given serious beaten but I didn’t take the beating lying down. As a proud man from Manyu division, I fought back viciously and that got them angrier. I was afraid they were going to kill me.
Back on the road, Hermine paid the bike man and told him to go and never return. The bike man collected his money in panic and sped away. She now joined the beaters in the bush just when one of them had pointed his gun to my head and was threatening to shoot me.
“Don’t shoot him.” She shouted. “I just wanted you to torture him not to kill him, please.”
“But he was fighting back. He has even wounded Tony. Look at his head, he is bleeding.” The guy with the gun spoke.
“I understand. He is a stubborn man. Let him go. He has learnt his lesson.” She pleaded with them.
“Grand soeur, why don’t we just waste him? He is useless.” One of the guys spoke.
“Nope, I am paying you for this. Therefore, I decide what happens. That’s enough. Let him go.”
“I know you are paying us, but the rules have changed now. He has hurt one of us and he has to pay.”
He put the barrel of his pistol on my head and was about to fire when a single shot rang from behind us. I shook, thinking I had been shot but happily realized that I was still alive. Instead I saw the guy who wanted to kill me slumping to the floor, he had been shot and was dying. The two other guys tried to run but they were stopped by two policemen with their guns drawn and ready to kill. They were the ones who had shot the first guy. They were my neighbours. An ambulance was called, and the dead guy was taken to the morgue. Hermine and the other two guys were arrested.
As Hermine was being taken away, she looked at me with tears in her eyes and begged.
“Please, Chris, tell them, tell them I am innocent. I didn’t want them to kill you. Please, if you ever loved me, then do this for me, save me.”
I turned my back on her. She had brought me nothing but trouble since I met her. She didn’t want me to die, no doubt about that. However, she created the situation that put me in grave danger and would have ultimately caused me my life. So, she deserved to pay back. She didn’t love me. What she had for me was obsession.
Now, let me explain what actually happened. Remember I told you that two of my neighbours were policemen. They were both home when Hermine was creating that scene in front of my house. When she went to make the call, one of them suspected her and sneakily followed her. He heard everything she said on phone and communicated it to his colleague. When Hermine and I got a bike, they decided to use another bike owned by one of them to follow us so as to prevent her plans. However, they lost us when I asked the bike man to increase speed.
After Hermine paid the bike man and told him to leave and never return, he met the police on the way. He stopped them and reported my kidnapping to them. They told him I was the same person they were actually looking for. So, he brought them back to the place where I was taken. You know the rest.
It’s been a month now. The guy who was shot during my rescue operation had long been buried. Hermine and the other two guys are still in police custody, awaiting trial. I am grateful to God to be alive. I have resolved to be more careful next time with my life and with the kind of girls I entangle with.
THE END
You’re so lucky Chris you would have been dead by now