Don't! Look Closer - Episode 20

 

Six Years Ago

Kike meandered around the weeping students as tears dripped down her own eyes too. Aunty Janet had just escaped with the money she was meant to use for their school. Unknown to all of them, she had been redirecting the money to a personal website, which had been cloned to look like that of the government’s.

Many of the students cried theirs out because the amount used in making one’s way in NOUN was really expensive. Words failed her as the only thing that crept into her mind was the way she would ruin Aunty Janet . In total, Aunty Janet had redirected about 20 million Naira to her account. The funniest part of the whole ordeal was that their accounts had a semblance of being paid and they gained access to their portals on NOUN’s portal.

“You’re a thief”, Kike cried after she called Aunty Janet’s number. This time, she didn’t encounter the tiny voice of Aunty Janet; rather, she encountered the voice of a man, who later turned out to be Bayode.

“Wrong number… A lot of your people have called me today inquiring about one Aunty Janet. This person must have given you a wrong number. I’m not a thief”.

Kike had always watched Aunty Janet from afar and couldn’t stop noticing the façade

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/don-t-look-closer

. Nothing about her had a tinge of reality in it. Her br*asts were too tight just like her backside. She had muscular hands like men’s. Yet, she trusted him because she got the job done faster than her competitors. Moreover, people favored her shop. So, calling her phone number and meeting a male’s voice didn’t really rattle her like it did the others.

“It’s you. It’s you. I always knew you were a man. But everyone said your place has the best function. That I would be sure of my admission here. I suffered for this money. Please”.

“Hmm. The first to decode. But what can I do? You weren’t wise”.

That struck her hard. Everyone at home had always told her the same thing directly and, sometimes, they insinuated it. Now, another person had just told her the one statement that brought out the beast in her always.

“I will catch you. I will send you to prison”, Kike cried. “Please…”

“In another life. Get off and be a good girl”.

Kike burst into tears. Idowu tapped her shoulder. She looked up into his face. Despite being older than she was, his height gave him a younger look. She was sure he was one of those students that got their admission late.

“Is that Bayode?”

“Who’s Bayode? This man is saying he is Aunty Janet”, she replied as her mind wandered off how she would have to start the journey again. She burst into tears.

“That’s Bayode”.

She wept and sniffed for a while. “I’ll catch him. My dad will say ‘patience can be useful to catch a wise thief’. I will catch him”.

Idowu looked at her intently and that didn’t rattle her belief. ”Why are you so sure?”

“Is it not me?” Kike said. “I’ll catch him and make him rot in prison”.

Idowu stared at for a while and smiled. “Hmm… Follow me”

They moved to a corner of the school and he made her calm down a little before finally sitting beside her. “I like your resolution. We need to catch him. He keeps getting off court case because of evidence and godfathers”.

“But it’s not as useful as the horror I have to face again”, Kike said.   

“I can help with your fee!”

The effect this had on her was instantaneous. She went on her knees to thank him and he shook his hand in disagreement. At that time, different questions sprang up in her mind.

“Thank you!” She cried.

“It’s a federal school o. Not NOUN”.

“Anyone. I couldn’t go to a normal school I don’t how I’ll take of myself. But with this, I can do that”.

"Don’t bother. We will deal with that later. But note, it’s not a free one.

Read " Grabbing The Hot Gate " by the same author ( Akíntayo Akinjide )

. You will work for the government. You will study hard and train hard. It’s an ongoing project. You might need to help us catch some horrible people in the future. But you are the second recruits in the university”.

She stopped and stared at him for a while as she weighed the option in her mind. Living with her only family members would never make a cut in her most desired place to stay. So, she nodded. “Thank you! I will do anything?”

Some years later, they spent most of their lives shuffling between their reading their educational materials and the various books the government set for them to read. Most of these books were those that dealt with wars. They plunged them into reading the laws of Games, the laws of power, the laws of wars, and so many books. They were also made to undergo rigorous training sessions including physical and mental ones.

Later, Kike got a plan that could catch both Bayode’s crew and Chief George’s family and she laid it out for Idowu, who accepted it.

{)(}