The Picnic - Episode 6

 

Rukky heard a knock on the door then opened it to see Duro standing by the door with a dark shade on. "First you got my number and now my address"
"I told you I'm persistent"
"I believe the word was deterministic"
"See who was paying attention" he answered with a smile then heard someone cough from behind. 
"Who be that?" Her mother asked, "Na one person like that. Mr . Daniels I'm about to go to work, else I'll be late"
"I'm not letting you go until I get a reply to my offer"
"What offer?" Rukky asked, "Oh" she finally remembered. "I gave you a response last night"
"I'm not the kind to take no for an answer"
"Mister Man, I'm late"
"Just say yes"
"I don't like you, you're rude and besides you're supposed to wear sun glasses when it's sunny, it's not even 8 in the morning"
"Let's do this again; I'm inviting you on a date, you and me tonight"
"No. You're just like your brother. Flirting runs in your blood."
"Wait you know Bola?"
"Who doesn't know Bola? He's a fiancé of a very good friend of mine" 
"I don't know what Bolaji must have done but I'm different. Just give me a try" "As what?"
"A friend" Duro answered with a smile

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/the-picnic

. "Okay... Fine, I'll go on that stupid date with you. Just stop disturbing me" 
Duro sighed, finally something to take his guilt away.

As Duro stepped out of his car, cameramen surrounded him then a woman, Brigitte Akinpelu; blog Queen and a reporter walked over to him holding a microphone to her mouth. "Good morning Detective Durodola Daniels. My name is Brigitte Akinpelu, you must already know that already"
"What do you want?" Duro asked, "I'm here concerning  your reopening of Bolaji Daniels case"
"Do you really feel like Bolaji was murdered?"
"No comments" Duro answered, He knew more than to talk to the press when the actual truth has not been found out. The press is capable of making any molehills, mountains. "Are there any suspects in the case?" She asked and Duro walked away.
 He found Caroline sitting on a plastic chair definitely waiting for him since he had called her the previous day. He signalled for her to enter into his office and she did.
Caroline walked into Duro's office then closed the door gently. "I got your call and your reminder." She chipped in and Duro laughed. "How are you holding up?" He asked, "Duro we haven't seen since you came back, don't even ask me how I'm holding up cause I'm so angry at you"
"Get in line! I've been making a lot of people angry"
"Bola needed you"
"That's a lie, if he did, he would have called me. You know very well Bolaji wanted nothing to do with me" "I still don't understand what happened between you two" Caroline stared suspiciously at him. "Before Bola died, he needed you"
"How do you know? The guy never called"
"Cause he had pride so he sent you a message on his inbox, did you even open any?"
There was a cold silence from Duro, "I'll take that as a no"
"Did you see the content?"
"No, Bola wouldn't let me in, it was one of his many secret and if there was one person he lets in with all of his crazy secret, it was you. But instead you shut him out"
"Not like I'm blaming anyone" She pointed out,  "Seriously?" Duro asked in sarcasm. "Who do you think might have tried to kill Bola?" Duro asked, "I don't know"
"Caroline I need your help ehn, please, did Bola engage in any fight with anyone in the course of the picnic?"
"He argued with Kazeem and Ugo but they possibly couldn't have killed him except..." She paused, "Muna" she chipped in. "Who is this Muna?"
"She's this girl that hates me and she had a huge fight with Bola during the picnic, she's the only one I can think of for now." "Do you on have a way we can reach her?"
"Sure Duro" "Thanks for your cooperation" "Anytime dear, anytime"

In a fancy restaurant, Duro stared continually at Rukky who was beginning to feel uncomfortable. "You've been staring" Rukky picked up a serviette cleaning her lip. "I don't find it amusing" "Well I find you amusing" Duro glanced over his shoulder at a couple laughing. 
"They're having a good time, I'm jealous of them" he confessed not looking at Rukky.
"Did I mention that I'm a policeman?"
"I guess you skipped that part but I've heard from Dunni" "There's this case I'm working on and because we're in Nigeria with the bad record-keeping it's proving difficult"
 "Bolaji's case?" Rukky asked, "Yes"
"Your sister is pretty much angry about it" "I just want to catch those who killed my brother" "How are you sure he was actually murdered?" "I don't know, some things don't just add up, I promise to catch whoever did this" Duro promised while Rukky kept quiet. "Let me not bore you with all this police crap"
"They're not crap.. it's just that I've never been a fan of policemen" Rukky's visage turned into a sad one, Duro wondered why.
 "My father served as a policeman for ten years"
"Wow"
"Yes and when one criminal case went wrong, they didn't waste time to accuse him of being an accomplice" "Was he?"
"Of course he wasn't!" She replied in anger. "And they say police is our friend. They tortured my dad, a man who has served faithfully in the force. They then forced him to give up his badge. That was the end for dad. He lost his job and mom had to take care of us with the little she could make" Rukky explained blinking back her tears.
"Where is he now?"
"He had stroke and then months later, he died of heart attack"
"I'm sorry" Duro apologized, he sincerely felt awful about Rukky's story. He wanted to know more about her. "Tell me about yourself" he requested, "What exactly?" "All"
Rukky chuckled leaning her hands on the table trying to figure out where to start from. 
"My name is Rukerwe Johnson, I hail from Delta State. I wasn't privileged to attend a university, so I went to a catering school. I have three catering certificate, not like it matters in the real world and I'm a chef at daffodils hotel and my favorite hobby is"
Duro took a wild guess, "Cooking" he answered. She laughed bowing her head slightly then looked at him. "I love helping people too." She added and Duro arced his brow in surprise. " I have it in mind to start up an establishment where people  can seek redress" "We have the police for that"
"Not everyone feels comfortable about policemen Mr. Daniels"
"Call me Duro, please"
"There are people out there, most rich folks term them as miscreants, well this miscreants act the way they do because they have no choice, I've done my research and I've found out that these people needs attention and that's one thing the government would never look into without super persuasion and connection but I don't have the influence and even the so called police, no offense to you, would want nothing but to see these people jailed but I've met a lot of persons, I've talked to them and all they need is attention. Opportunity to matter in life. That's why I've been soliciting for support from those that have the influence including your sister. That day you sent me out, I was going in to discuss my new ideas"
"I'm sorry Kerwe but has anyone ever told you that you have a bad timing" Duro asked, "Has anyone ever told you that you are very rude" she snapped and they both chuckled. Agnes suddenly walked towards them. "So na this babe you reject me for?" She asked waving her hands at Rukky. Duro bent his head in shame while Rukky looked up at her.
 "I knew you couldn't have refused me if you didn't have someone else warming your bed. You could have done better"
"Excuse you?" Rukky retorted and Duro stood up holding her hand. "Let's talk else where"
"Leave me alone! Duro is it the s*x?" She asked almost in tears, "No one can rock your world better than me Duro and she's not even your type"
"Agnes" Duro muttered then muffled something in shame.

Duro stopped his car by Rukky's compound still embarrassed about what had happened.

Read " Palm lines 2 " by the same author ( Essien Eno )

. Rukky hasn't stopped laughing, not until five minutes ago. Immediately, she resumed laughing as the whole incident came flooding through her mind.
"I'm sorry" he apologized, "It's okay Duro, it's just funny...." "She's just an overbearing ex-girlfriend"
"She was jealous, it's understandable since you refused her the other time"
"Don't even pay attention to the rubbish she was saying"
"What about the part about hot s*x with you?" Rukky asked in a flirty tone, she hasn't flirted in a very long time. "Yeah"
"So there wasn't a hot s*x" she teased. "There was... Just I meant when she said you're not my type, I don't have a type"
"Chill Duro, it's not like we're dating. That scene was the best part of the night"
"Ouch" Duro fiegned hurt. "Sorry, it was one of the best. Good night Duro" she added pressing the knob to open the door.  "I had a wonderful time with you" he chipped in, "Me too" she agreed and Duro moved his lips close to hers, gunning for a kiss which Rukky rejected by withdrawing. "I don't kiss on first dates. I never kiss on first dates"
"Okay" Duro agreed tapping on the steering. "I can't kiss on first date" she argued with h erself, and this time Duro glanced at her wondering if she was actually giving it a thought.
 "Screw it! one kiss wouldn't hurt would it?" She asked pulling him by the shirt, kissing him on the lip.