Lost But Satisfied - Episode 12

 

Jerry looked from one woman to the other.  He was angry with this woman that called herself his wife for showing up at a wrong time to declare that she was his wife. She should have come a long time before he fell in love with the beautiful night thief. She should have come before the beautiful night thief gave him the enticing choice of following her for information about himself. Also, he was angry with the beautiful night thief for playing with his emotion, memory, and intelligence.

 Jerry looked around angrily, roughly picked his bag, phones, and his diaries, dropped the diaries, and hissed . He should have guessed that the diary was falsified but he wanted to believe in the lie that had been propounded for him. The others watched him attentively, waiting for what he would do. None of them talked.

The room was plunged into a grave silence as he continued picking one thing or the other. He picked his wallet and checked to see that it contained his ATM card. He removed the I.D card in it and flung it around the room, which hit his dead assailant. He picked a piece of paper, wrote Rita’s number on it, and slipped the paper into his wallet. And then, he removed his Sim cards from his phones, made sure the others could see what he was about to do and broke the Sim cards. And with that, he moved towards the door

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/lost-but-satisfied

. With the bag at his back, he went out of the room.

‘Jerry, where are you going?’

‘Nobody should follow me or find… I don’t know you… Any of you’, he said gingerly, still clutching the bag.

 ‘Bidemi, come back’, Grace shouted as she rushed to him, and held his cloth. This action infuriated Jerry; he roughly removed her hands off his cloth and pushed her away, not minding if she fell.

‘Nobody… Nobody should follow me’, he shouted, to the extent that he himself felt pain as his veins expanded, ‘leave me alone…Let me be’.

‘Bidemi Adeoti… Come back, we need to talk about all these murders. I need someone to explain all these to me’, Yemi, the police officer, shouted, making Jerry pause and turn.

‘Go and investigate it yourself. I must never ever see any of you in my life till I die. Any of you’, Jerry warned as he turned back.

 ‘You cannot go anywhere… Not until you tell me ….’ Yemi began to say but stopped midway as the beautiful night thief pointed her gun at him.

          ***

‘He said nobody… Nobody… and that includes you’, she growled, ‘now back off’.

 Rachael moved back to a point where her gun could cover both Officer Yemi and Grace, who still looked at her quizzically.

‘Now, the two of you, move back. Do you know how it feels to one’s lose memory?’ She barked at them, and watched their expression, ‘Do you? No, you don’t. I know how it feels and that’s why you must leave him alone’, she shouted, tears flowing from her eyes. At this point, her logicality was eluding her and was creating a space for sentimentality, but she wasn't concerned.

‘But he would… I need him’, Grace cried, moving an inch. She glanced at her as if she was trying to come out of a misty position to open space.

‘To survive? If you move again, I will turn you to watermelon’, Rachael said, eyeing Grace’s feet. Then, she gulped the bottle of coffee.

Grace paused and stared at her.' You are…It's you. I know you o. Oh! My God.’

 ‘Ehy… Don’t try to enter into my head. You want to play me’, Rachael growled, and later scoffed,’ you can’t do anything to me’.

‘Rachael?’

Rachael's hand faltered and she began to lower her hand. However, she quickly steadied her hands.

‘How did you know my name?’

‘Rachael?’ Grace mouthed and moved forward, not minding that the gun was pointed to her chest, ‘I knew it from the moment I saw you. That bottle of coffee. The gouts. Watermelon. I should have known it was you’.

 Grace ran to Rachael and hugged her, crying like a baby.

‘Oh! Rachael’, she cried, her cry piercing the peace of the night, ‘oh! Racheal’.

 Racheal, who was still confused, withdrew herself from Grace’s grasp and looked at her intently.

‘Who are you?’ she said as her expression lightened up with joy and hope that she had gotten a missing link she had looking for.

‘I should be the one not knowing you’, Grace said, ‘you have suddenly become fairer’.

‘Fairer?’

‘Yes, you were fair but not as fair as this. It’s I, Grace’.

 Racheal swallowed hard and looked at Grace intently, hoping that the message she was passing would have meaning.

‘I found out that I was injected when I was small, maybe around 15 or so, and I can’t remember anything that had happen to me when I was small’, said Racheal,’ so, I might not know you’.

 ‘We will talk later. I can know you anywhere with your watermelon’, Grace said hurriedly, ‘That guy, the one that we've had encounters with many times. That’s Bidemi. He is my husband’.

‘I know he’s your husband but I truly can’t remember the times we've met before. I used to watch from afar but you shouldn't know me…’ Racheal said.

‘Well, he is my husband now. You have to help me find him. I thought he was dead but that’s him’.

‘No…’ Racheal said as she shook her head, and raised her gun to the chest level of Grace,’ you can’t. Let him be. He is safe if nobody knows where he is. The bad people that want to kill him wouldn’t get the chance to do so’.

‘Please, I can tell you everything you were before you were kidnapped. I’m sure that would help you remember the things happened to you when you were small’, Grace said like someone, who had a very hot potato in the mouth,’ I will tell you everything, ranging from Mama Agba, to how Ngozi, the girl that treated you inhumanly and about Madam Flourish, and how ….’

 Flood of images flowed into her head; Racheal saw images from her nightmares coming back into her head at that moment and it was horrible and tormenting.

‘Arghh…’ she yelled as she raised her hand to her head, and held it firmly, bending her head a little.

‘Stop. Stop’, she shouted and held the gun firmly, stabilizing her hand and the look.

‘Please, how are you sure he would be safe?’ Grace pleaded.

‘He would be…’ Racheal started to say and stopped midway as she realized Grace was right. She had to snap out of her emotional roller coaster and pursue Bidemi before he fell into the wrong hands. What if he fell into the hand of Chief himself or those that had the intention of killing him?

‘Alright, let's go....'

 They all ran out into the street.

‘I will use my car to search this side', Racheal said after they had searched the street fruitlessly and they got to a two-way junction.

‘And if I see him', she continued hurriedly, ' I'll persuade him to follow me, or make sure he gets to a safe place'.

‘Ah-ahn', Grace said and stopped talking when Racheal raised her left hand, her gun still in her right hand.

'If you find him', Racheal continued,' please, take care of him. Try to persuade him to follow you. Move out of this dung hole. Go very far from Fortunecity. Nowhere is safe. Go to Lagos or outside Nigeria'.

 ‘And what about the dead man?' Yemi said moving towards her.

‘Guy, what? Please. Go and do your investigation. The dead man is a crook. Now, be gone before I change my mind about letting you also live'.

‘What about your memory, your past?' Grace said agitatedly, moving towards Racheal,’ what about our friendship?’

‘Forget me, and search for Bidemi. Leave my memory, my past and our friendship'.

‘Friendship? You were my half-sister. Our father was… Can’t you bring him back when...?’

‘Half-sister? No bargain. I’m not bringing him back. Be fast and be gone'.

‘In case you don’t see him, what will you do?'

‘I’m leaving the city, of course'.

 Grace ran to her, hugged her, and pecked her on the cheek, dazzling Racheal. Grace sniffled.

‘Take care, Racheal. We've been meeting like this before. We will surely meet again'.

 ‘Hun’, Racheal murmured.

 Racheal ran to her car before the policeman decided to follow her, seeing that he was adamant and wanted to know more about Once, who was in pain in Jerry’s room. She almost missed the bangles in his breast pocket. Now, she was happy the idiot had it on him. And so, she drove off.

 She searched the whole area as she went on, with the fear that Chief and the few F.A.L.T men with chief would be awake, and that meant she would soon start having one police problem or the other.

 She didn’t see Jerry on the way and she had to double back to go through another area. Racheal glanced at the time and decided it was time to leave.

‘He’ll be fine', she whispered to herself, the glasses wound up. She blinked back tears. So she had a half-sister that loved her.

      ***

Jerry was sure none of them saw him when he doubled back to go the carnal area of Agric. He entered the deep, into the bush, trying as much as possible not to make any sound as he entered. When he found where he was going, he parted the bush and saw the frail path.

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

. He followed it and walked for fifteen minutes before he finally came to a large expanse of land that had been cleared. In the middle of it stood a wooden house from which slow music flowed into the atmosphere, making it fit as a place one would find joy in resting, thinking, and imagining great things. 

He trudged forward and knocked, heaving with relief that he would be safe from everybody now. He withdrew his hand to knock again,

‘Come in, Mr Jerry. I've been expecting you', Pastor Matthew said.

 Jerry opened the door and felt peace radiating in his bones and marrow.

          ***

Once rose at last, after he was sure every one of them was gone. He removed the bangle that was in his breast pocket and stared at it admirably.

‘Guy...’ he said as he tried to stabilized himself with the wall,' you saved a man's life. You are my hero'.

 Once took the bangles from his last operation. When he fell in love with the rich woman, Juliana, he was supposed to kill; in fact, he decided not to kill her again and was ready to defile every authority because of this woman. However, the tide turned when he couldn’t hold his guilt anymore and told her his initial plan. When she heard about the consequences of his not-killing-her, she gave him her bangles as a good-luck charm and poisoned herself.

He kissed it and stared at it admirably again. Rachael really wanted to kill just as he wanted to kill Leech.

‘Thank you, Juliana’.

 He removed the bullet that was stuck to the bangles and threw the bullet away, smiling happily that he was still alive, and that he knew where he should go first- not hospital, neither would he chase any of those buffoons nor will he look for Leech: He would return to Chief's place to renew his contract. He would use Chief’s love for riches to do his biddings.