"Who is there?"
"Kopa! Na me, Chuks"
Sani stood up to answer & unbolt the door for Chuks to come in.
"Ah! Aboki na you? Sanamakum"
"see your mouth, na so dem de talk am na him we still de use am?"
Sani replied & they let laughter occupy the atmosphere. Fred switched his focus from the desktop monitor to Chuks.
"Guy ha fa na?"
"I dey o"
"sidon na"
"I de hurry, popcy tell me say you de complain about the sockets for your room, naim ɪ say make ɪ check you"
"that is true, none of them..."
"No worry..." chuks interrupted "...first thing tomorrow morning, I go come run am, i know the problem, I for even do am now, but person de wait me"
"dan iska, na woman abi?"
Sani reacted
"before nko? You think say na aunsa land we de? Here nobody go cut my prick"
Chuks responded chuckling
"na you go cut am with your own hand, shegey kawai"
Sani replied
A smiling Fred added "Abi? Come Chuks you nogo free my home boy for me?"
Then they all burst out laughing. Chuks stamped his bare foot on the ground twice
"omo! Dis una rug make sense o"
Fred who had re switched his attention to the monitor, replied flatly
"na God o"
while Sani just seemed to be lost again in Social Network. Chuks opened the door to take his leave and squatted to wear back his shoes
"Ehen, my Dad talk to you yesterday about cigar abi?"
"Yea..." Fred replied & went on "...he said ɪ can’t have gas around & still smoke cigarettes nearby"
"pardon that old man joor, him no just know how to preach quit smoking for you make you no go take am personal, you know say na Pastor, dana why him tell you that one"
"Shebi you see your life?" Sani said sarcastically
"shut up there my friend, Aboki like you..." chuks fought back & by this time he was done lacing his shoes. "...Guys till tomorrow na"
"okay"
"oya na"
Sani & fred responded in a chorus.
"Use condom o" sani added as he bolted the door after chuks who was already motioning for a commercial motorcycle (okada).
4 MONTHS LATER
The door leading to the third house of an eight flat apartment opened & a pretty lady walked in. She wriggled her nose once again and looked over the balcony to the ground floor
"so na wetin de smell be..." A sudden movement caught her eye & she saw her Boy friend sneaking to the kitchen window with his right hand behind his back. "...Baby you startled me… & what is that you are hiding?"
"your wedding ring, its suppose to be a surprise you know"
she rushed at him pushing him back away from the window & wrapped her hands around him groping for whatever thing he had behind his back.
"Sweety! Stop this joor, must you see everything?"
"Baby you've been smoking"
"God Forbid"
he tactically brought his hands behind her back without her knowledge & hugged her. She declined the hug.
"Answer me, you've been smoking"
"no I haven't, stop this na"
she retreated trying to break his grip while he followed her with hands still behind her back.
"I hate it when you lie to me, just.. let.. me.. be"
she broke free from his hug & slammed her back on the window protector.
"It’s the cigar you are hiding ba?"
He raised his hands up
"see, my hands are empty"
"it’s a lie, you threw it out the..."
BOOOOOOOOOOOM
The floor shook under their feet as the house rocked a little.
"Jesus!"
both of them cried out as they dived to the kitchen floor. Hanging serving spoons shattered to the floor while used mugs in the wash hand basin rattled at their position. Silence fell in that vicinity for like 20 seconds
"Bomb! Bomb!!"
Someone yelled from a distance, then the whole house resumed its activities, only that this time it was fleeing for safety. Babies started crying, mothers shouting out children’s names, in no time, the stairs was crowded
"Fire! Fire!!"
Someone else screamed. The window by the stairs leading to flat 3 & 4 was covered with smoke that was thickening by seconds. A lady fell down the step & was stampeded, occupants of flat 3 & 4 who couldn't join the struggle for survival at the stairs resort to jumping down from their east wing balcony, of course it was the first floor, while a man & his family at the top floor (7 & 8) thought it wiser to take refuge at the roof top so they escaped through their back door. Other than getting out of the house, nothing else mattered to the residents of no 4A, Ogo Street, Afikpo road, Ebonyi State.
3 HOURS LATER
Residents of Ogo Street gathered in their hundredths at the blast scene ratting while awaiting the arrival of the team who conveyed Mr. Obi to the Hospital. The fire men had taken their leave having put off the fire at flat one while police & other accident response agencies combed the scene to ascertain the explosion. Reporters had arrived in the scene 2 hours ago & everybody interviewed seemed to be accusing Bokoram (A radical religious group that emanated from Northern Nigeria & have been terrorizing Nigerians in the North)
"they kill our people for Hausa land, we no talk, they burn our Churches for there, we still keep quiet, now na to bomb us for our own house? Because we don run leave their place for them?"
One angry man told a reporter.
"Na God go punish Bokoram"
a lady blurted. Just then, 3 Keke napep (tricycles) & an old model Peugeot 504 arrived with passengers all wearing drawn faces, this was the team who conveyed Mr. Obi to FMC Abakaliki.
"They succeeded"
A man said calmly as he alighted from one of the tricycles,
"they have killed Mr. Obi".
Just then a lady from the crowd slumped, uproar sprang, weeping & wailing ignited.
"Bokoram has killed Him for me oh" a woman was crying. At one corner of that vicinity, a smaller crowd was gathering momentum around one angry speaker who was blustering.
"All these aboki men are evil, they are wicked, they have penetrated us because una no fit talk say nobody see person where him think say na him plant this bomb."
Fred, Sani & Helen who hadn't recovered from the shock where approaching this other crowd, just when Chuks took an excuse to speak to the crowd.
"They no penetrate us at all, una no know say one Aboki de stay for the compound?..."
The crowd 'wowed' & 'what?' in amazement. Sani who was just reaching the crowd stopped upon hearing this. Chuks continued"... see the idiot for there"
As the crowds' gaze shifted towards Sani's direction which chuks was pointing, Sani couldn't wait for any further explanation since his legs suddenly only responded to the 'run' stimuli. Bulk of the crowd turned and followed him in pursuit screaming
"Catch am! Catch am! Na Bokoram!"
2 DAYS LATER
Virtually the whole of Azuiyokwu was a bee hive of activities, Ogo Street with incoming & outgoing viewers of the current blast site, the small market located at its west end had resumed business following its reopening having been shut down a day before due to bomb scare, the State Environmental Board had done a good job of what was left of Mr. Obi's back Yard, while some kids where running through the shattered fence into the compound in the name of play. The police station was not left out of this hullabaloo as angry youths who were gathered at the front of the station, seemed to be passing the same message in a different manner & language. Majority of the crowd spoke in Ibo language while others passed their message in pidgin (broken English). They wanted the police to release Sani who submitted himself to the police for refuge 2 days back whom they believed is in connection with the recent bombing in the state & the police seemed not to be taking appropriate measures. Police officers coupled with some NYSC officials were trying to explain to the angry crowd that the reports from the blasted site didn't come up with any explosive material but this crowd seemed to have done their own autopsy & where so willing to take laws into their hands. Meanwhile, a particular house in Azuiyokwu was rescued from this swarm of activities as Fred pointed a dagger at Helen.
"If I stab you now, just have it in mind that you are the cause, you don't just want to let me think, haba?"
"What is..."
"Shut up!..." He barked, "...Shut up! Must you raise your voice?"
She calmed herself down, threading carefully not to provoke him.
"Sani has been like a brother to you, just tell the police that it was a mistake. Moreover, if you had showed me your hands, I had already perceived & confirmed that there was a leaking cylinder somewhere, ɪ saw two cylinders down stairs."
"Like it’s that easy, a mistake that has cost the life of someone, you expect the judges to treat lightly abi?"
"Is the Nigerian constitution against smoking of Cigar?"
He stood up, went to the curtain & pinched it a little, allowing tiny rays of sunlight penetrate the room as well as checking out for any suspicious movement.
"The landlord had warned me before, what if he asks me to pay for the damages, where do I want to find such amount of money?"
"That should be the least of your worries right now, your own best friend is about to be lynched, don't you get it?"
"My parents would kill me if they hear this"
"fine, let me go, you've kept me here for over 24 hrs now & seized my phone, I'm no longer finding it funny"
"baby I'm sorr..." He held his head like they wanted to burst open "…ɪ can't take that risk, you’re the only one who knows the truth & you don't want to cooperate"
'i would leave here soon' she thought. When He brought her to this old & dusty house at first, she suspected she was being kidnapped because her boy friend was acting very different. She knew it was cigarette butt he threw away through the window before the blast so she immediately excused herself for the restroom upon reaching the house & sent an SMS to her roommate giving her the address of the house & permitting her to take the message to the police station if she didn't return home the previous night. She was very sure the police would be on their way by now, so all she had to do was stall any development and play along till their arrival. Fred paced around for a while, banged his head with his palms like four times, did some mental calculations & was so jumpy. She sight a teardrop in his eye & didn't feel any pity for him, to her, he was evil & had been pretending all along, he felt embarrassed as their eyes locked again & left the room for the next. For some 30 hours when they arrived here, Fred hadn't let Helen off his sight for once so this was like an opportunity as such she made efforts to utilize it. She tiptoed to the door with the hope that it would be locked, nevertheless, it was worth the try. Upon reaching the door, she silently & slowly turned the knob & to her greatest surprise, it was unlocked.
"Come & take your phone before you leave"
Fred called out from the next room. This startled her, for a while she thought it was a trap, but doubted it. This isn't Fred at all, she knew Fred to at least an extent but at this moment, instinct told her there was more to Fred just being in trouble. She no longer thought of her safety but that of Fred. She braced herself up, threw all caution to the wind and headed towards the direction of the voice. Fred was standing behind the door, looking like a ghost in the darker room. His face drawn & he was looking very thin & white.
"Baby what's wrong?"
"Just take your phone & leave, do as you wish"
She discovered the dagger was no longer in sight so she reluctantly ruled out 'suicide' from her thoughts. She was now very alarmed & didn't make any effort to conceal it.
"baby what's wrong with you?"
In a resigned gesture, he muttered
"I will tell them the truth"
"thank Goodne..."
She coughed roughly as he held his nose & sneezed.
"What's hap... tear gas?"
"Jesus Christ!"
They both scrambled to the door, seeking safety as they held their faces down while they choked in the gas.
"Freeze there & put your hands up!"
A mobile police man yelled alongside two other men pointing their big guns at Fred & Helen while three others in oxygen masks proceeded to the house for scrutiny.
1 WEEK LATER
Sani was released & redeployed alongside Fred & Helen to Kaduna, following Helen's police statement that she actually perceived gas when she came to visit both of them, checked through the balcony & saw Late Mr. Obi adding another cylinder to the one outside already & either one or the two seemed to be leaking. She proceeded to Fred's room where she saw Fred & Sani playing TV game joyously like kids who just played their first game for the holidays before the blast. In her other statement, as regards the SMS she sent to her roommate, Helen claimed that she & Fred had agreed to send that SMS because of their safety. According to her, they were afraid that if the crowd couldn't lay their hands on Sani, they might come back & pounce on them being a roommate & friend of Sani. Luckily for Helen, the police didn't retrieve the dagger in the house. The people of Ogo Street saw so many reasons to believe Helen's statement as some neighbors actually attested to the fact that Late Mr. Obi was really a very careless man who on several cases caused minor fire incidents as a result of the same Gas spillage.
Sani casually wondered at Helen's alteration of facts but couldn't bring Himself to ask his best friends in the World questions. He was very grateful & was looking forward to reciprocating these heroic gestures of his friends upon arrival in Kaduna were his Dad, Alhaji Abdulha Kim was the Secretary to the State Governor (SSG).
Helen detested Fred from that day & quit their relationship for a mere act that would prevent Sani from suspecting anything at least for the time being.
Fred! Well... I am finally telling the real story now na, I thought you knew?
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