Don't! Look Closer - Episode 21

 

So as she stared at Bayode in his prison’s uniform, she couldn’t help chuckling at the surprise on his face.

“After all these years”, he muttered and nodded. “ Damn, you’re patient, girl”.

She smiled and rose. “Indeed. I’m not waiting for you to steal my bone anymore. I’m snatching the damn thing off your hand before you steal anything from anyone”.

He nodded understandably and gestured for her to move nearer . “As much as you try, I will get out”

She shrugged. “Before that, you will suffer a great deal. I wish I could bring all those students here to see their Aunty Janet”.

Bayode altered his voice to sound like that of a lady, “you got me again. We will meet one day”

She smiled at him and moved towards the door.

He banged the table. “Wow! You set the picture as a trap and I fell for it. That beats my imagination. One day, I’ll get out of here and we will continue this battle. I will show you a bigger me then”.

“Not possible”.

She smiled and drove home. Her work had only begun. Later, they would have to go undercover to catch some other miscreants but now she had a better cover. She could pose as a rich person and court the favour of the wealthy corrupt people.

As she went home, her mind slipped back to 22 years before

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

. She was just four years old when her parents were killed. That Saturday evening had been a happy one because her mother decided to engage her in a hide and seek game after many months. She hid well under the bed and wished her mother wouldn’t find her in time. Her mother suddenly popped her head under the bed.   

“Baby, no matter what happens, don’t come out”, her mother instructed.

“But you have found me. I’m the next seeker. Go and hide”, Kike said and crawled out of the bed. Her mother shook her head and pushed her back into the bed.

“Stay there! There are bad men! Don’t shout! Hide well”.

Then, after a few seconds, she heard Chief George’s voice and saw his leg. Her parents’ feet moved backwards. That astounded her little mind but she had to obey her mother.

Someone shouted, “Lie down! Both of you”.

“I warned you both… Kill them”, Chief George commanded.

The men shot her parents and they wailed as gunshots spattered into their body. Kike had to hold herself from screaming.  She covered her mouth as her mother’s eyes locked with hers. Her dying lips curled into a smile.

“Search the house for a little girl. If she is around this place, kill her. But if she’s lucky, she won’t have to die”.

They left the house in a hurry. She didn’t know if her parents were still alive or if the men were still in the house and that made her remain there till night fell. She got out the next day, crying as kept walking away from the house. For hours, she kept walking until a man saw her and took her to the nearest police station. They asked for her name and she told them who she was but couldn’t bring herself to tell them what she saw.

Chief George came to get her later that day. At first, he treated her like an egg but when they got to their house, everyone began to maltreat her and soon became part of them. As soon as she came off age, they reduced the number of maids in the house and she did most of the jobs.

Read " The Thorny Path to Europe " by the same author ( Akíntayo Akinjide )

. In Mrs George’s words, “why shouldn’t we train you to be better? This is our opportunity to train a woman out of you?”

As she drove into her house, she couldn’t stop the tears the flowed down her face. Now that she had all to herself, she had no other one to call a family member. So, she drove out of the house to the nearest orphanage home. Two children would enough for her. She would train them as family members. As much as she and Idowu loved to have an affair, she couldn’t go on with it. He was married and that would ruin them. She wanted the relationship nonetheless, but he wouldn’t go on with it.

On her way, she received a message:

We need your financial help to keep our city intact- Fortune City League of Rebels.

She didn’t understand what that meant but it was comforting to know she can also be of financial help to a dying Island.

The End…

Writertain E-Publishers

Contact: [email protected]

Other Books By Akintayo Akinjide

- Purified Tomorrow: The Mad Awakening

- The Thorny Path to Libya

Acknowledgment

All thanks to the almighty God. This story started out as a script, then became a prose and here we are. I really appreciate everyone from Nairaland, the Fortune City Citizens- Oyelami Oyebisi, Skubido, Ann, Fijumokesayo and the ever growing citizens.

Then, I want to thank Oluwapamilerin for her patience when I started out writing this story. Thank you! Thank you all!!!