Lost But Satisfied - Episode 11

 

Jerry smiled, lying down on the bed, listening to Nigerian Asa's 'No one knows tomorrow'.

Just the other day, the other day

I was talking to the weatherman about today, oh, oh, oh

And all, all he could say, was no one knows tomorrow.

See I can read the weather, child. I can say maybe the rain will fall...

The rain, Jerry thought.  The wind had been blowing horribly for days now as if it would rain but there was no rain . Thick, dark clouds have been hovering over Greencity. News had it that rain hadn't fallen in Brown valley since January- wells were dry; borehole engines were spoilt; Rivers, streams and ponds were drying up as if all the water was on strike.

 He was still thinking of these when he drifted into sleep and had slept for two hours when he felt someone tapping him. He imagined the shake in his subconscious, wondering if he was still dreaming. But the shake was rough and real. So, he opened his eyes to see a man pointing a pistol at him.

 The night has arrived and Fortune City’s Electricians had been able to restore the electricity. Jerry jumped up and backwards when he saw what a lanky man was pointing at him. And he swallowed hard as he watched his assailant eye him terribly with a big smirk.

Suddenly, the room became small

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. The fan began to sing a lullaby as the man kept staring at him as if he was a specimen that needed to be studied for a once-in-a-lifetime examination. Jerry swallowed hard in preparation to talk.

‘Who are you?’ Jerry asked.

‘Leech, you…’

‘Leech’, Jerry heartbeat waxed in anger and every of his fear disappeared into the thin air, manipulating his thinking pattern as he stood, not minding that a gun was pointed to his head.

‘So… You are the Leech that almost got me killed. Someone almost killed me because of you and here you are pointing a gun at me’, Jerry said and stood in anger as he faced the man, on a kneeling position. The man pushed him back and tighten his grip on the gun.

‘Shut up! You are Leech. You are Leech. Idiot, do you want to play me? You can’t deceive me. You will die. But before that, what happened to the man that almost killed you?’

‘He is dead’, Jerry said as he braced himself to die.

‘No….’ his assailant groaned. Jerry had to shift back as his assailant moved forward.

 ‘How did you kill him? Why did you kill him’, he said slowly as he hit Jerry with the butt of the gun on the face, making Jerry fall sideways on the bed. Jerry rose immediately so as not to be killed without a fight.

‘I didn’t kill him’.

‘Then who killed him? You are a liar. If you want to revenge, why him…?’

'Revenge?'

 The door opened, making Jerry almost faint, thinking he had been shot.

 Suddenly, the pop sound of a silenced gun reported and his assailant staggered back. Jerry stood immediately and ran to the corner of the room, and hid under the table. His assailant screamed in pain and fell with a thud, making Jerry think he was dead at first. However, he gave a loud cry and tried to reach for his gun, which flew out his hand. Another bullet was shot into the injured man, who m*aned in serious pain and stopped moving: Died.

‘You are crazy…’ A gruff lady’s voice shouted in pure anger as Jerry began to see clearly.  The person who shot at his assailant was none other than his beautiful night thief.

‘Why did you rush?’ The lady shouted again, coming into the view of the light, making Jerry see her very well. He had to hold himself from shouting when he saw her. It was none other than the poor beggar that he had been helping, the one he loved to give money. This time around, the wrapper around her was no longer wrapped around her body. The only thing she wore was the brown sweater she was known to wear. Jerry couldn’t fathom how he had been fooled for days. What was he? What do all these people want from him? Why was someone watching over him for months?

‘Spoil everything. Do you want to spoil everything we have been doing for months? For your information, I suffered for this thing’, the lady shouted now at the top of her voice, not minding what would happen to her.

The beautiful thief turned to face this lady-the old haggard beggar- squarely and smiled at her.

‘You don't want to understand anything about this life at all…’ She said as she moved back, ‘Mat… I'm sorry…’

 She shot Martha on the right thigh, her expression not changing. Martha screamed with intense pain, folding and sprawling on the floor. Then, she reached for something within her cloth.

‘Martha, you know I trained you… Even though, you are now getting the glory that is mine’, the beautiful night thief said, smiling broadly as she moved to where Martha was wriggling in pain, removed the silenced-gun Martha was about to bring out and placed it away from Martha’s reach, her big smile lingering on.

‘C' mon, stand up’, she ordered Martha, who was still moaning in pain as she held on to her injured leg, limping, ‘go, and protect Jessy’.

 Martha stared dagger and limped off. 'I will get you for this’.

‘In your dreams… Now, leave before I change my mind about letting you live’, the beautiful night thief snarled, shooting the grounds around Martha, making Martha hop off in haste.

‘What are you? Who are you?’ Jerry asked.

 ‘Leech… Jerry, we need to leave here now’.

‘I said who are you? Who am I? What did you people do to me? Why are you doing all these?’

‘I promise to tell you everything if you follow me’, she said with her usual raspy, whispering voice.

‘Follow you… So that you can do what did to me again. So, what we did that night was a means of deceiving me,’ Jerry said as he edged near her.

‘They were true. It was from my heart. I love you sincerely, and dearly’ she said, as her eyes became red and tears began to well up in them, ‘all these were for you, to save you, to help you, to…’

‘Then, tell me everything now’.

‘Now?’

‘Yes, now’.

‘There is no time. Please, let’s go. Let’s leave this God-forsaken place. What they are planning will destroy many people’s lives, so your life is nothing to them. Please, Jerry let’s go’.

‘What? Who?’

‘Them… Chief… The people we all work for’, the beautiful thief said, pointing at the dead man, 'they will stop at nothing to succeed, and they are ready to send anybody to the slaughterhouse as a sacrificial lamb even their children’.

‘Before I follow you, what is my name?’

 The beautiful night thief looked at him with remorse, shook her head, and moved near him. She put her hand on his head, ruffling the little hair he had on it. At first, this warmed his heart, but he let the thought go, and concentrated on the present need. He looked at her as she stared into his eyes.

‘Tell me. This moment’.

‘Your name…’

‘Good evening…’ two voices said- a male’s and a female’s voice, with the female’s voice being exceptionally loud.

 Jerry and the beautiful night thief were startled.

‘Who is there?’ He roared.

‘It’s the-’

‘Bidemi’, a lady said as she ran to him, hugged him tightly, crying over him like she found a lost pearl.

 ‘What now?'

 With the new twist of event, he knew he would go mad.

‘Who is Bidemi?’

‘Bidemi, It’s I, Grace’.

‘Grace?’

‘Yes, your wife. Grace. Bidemi. Why did you leave me? Bidemi’.

 Jerry removed her hands and moved back  Although, he had seen beauty, especially that of the beautiful night thief, and Shade’s beauty, he had never seen anyone as beautiful as the lady in front of him. Quickly, his eyes roamed to the man at the other end and he felt blood pumping faster in his heart. The man at the other end was the police that came days before to ask questions.

           ***

 Ever since the day the Rachael could remember waking up without memory of the past, she had never ever felt so inferior to anyone, none- be it her elder or mate. Neither had she felt so drawn too quickly to a lady like she just did.

 However, she knew that if she didn’t take Leech with her, she would lose him to Grace, his wife, whom Jerry always loved. She cringed as she watched Grace hug him and almost ran to stop them from hugging. She had to make Jerry follow her, to forget Grace or not know her because the moment he did, he would give up everything for her. She had watched them from afar years before he lost his memory and knew what he could do if he remembered who she was.

‘Jerry, you have to follow me’, Rachael said raptly, holding her pistol well, making it visible enough.

‘Where are you taking him to? Bidemi, look at me.’, Grace said with such a tone that even the daughters of Aphrodite in their beauty and splendour would obey. Her voice was more enchanting than that of any charm talker. Grace stared at for a while and turned to Jerry. He looked at her.

Read " Don't! Look Closer " by the same author ( Akíntayo Akinjide )

. ‘I’m your wife. You are going home with me’.

‘Please, Jerry you can’t go home now’, Rachael said with her pleading voice, ‘please follow me. Remember, I am the one that have all the information about you. Please, let me help you’.

 She herself knew that her pleading voice could be also charming and confusing. Jerry glanced at her. She had once used this pleading voice to destroy a whole family- a family of ten. Jerry seemed ready to succumb to her request.

‘Bidemi, you have to follow me’, Grace said again, firmly. Grace gave her a prolong look like a wounded Lion, who was ready to pounce, finish, and destroy any obstacle, making Rachael feared for her life for the first time in many years, despite the gun she held.

‘Jerry… See you need to leave her, even if she is your wife. There are more to this than meet the eyes. Look at me, I have a gun. I would have used it to force you away, but if you need to make any decision, you need to make it now’, she said with the expectation that her word had sunk into his brain.