An Unusual Christmas In Ibadan – Episode 7
© Kayode Odusanya
He glanced at her every once in a while but didn’t say anything. In his eyes, she could see he was trying to make up his mind on his next move. When she brou-ght out her phone and he gr@bb£d it from her, she knew she was in a lot of sh*t.
“Why did you have to get in the way?” He said and looked at her menacingly for a few seconds as he changed gears. “Why couldn’t you have just gone back to Lagos?” He added. Her heart was beating so fast it lifted up her blouse every time it beat, “Just like the other girl, you just had to be in the way.” He said and pounded his fist on the dashboard twice. He took de-ep breaths and then honked his horn twice. The car in front slowed down, and he yelled out “follow me” as he overtook them.
They were on a dual carriageway, and she saw a van approaching them from the other side of the road. She thought to herself, ‘it is now or never.’ In one swift move, she stuck out her head from the car door window and shouted out, “Help!” Before Tunde quic-kly pu-ll-ed her back into the car, and gave her a back-hand sl@p. Her tenderl-ips busted and she could feel blood roll down her mouth. She looked in the side mirror and saw the police patrol van pick up speed and then climb the median to make a u turn. Tunde hit the dashboard continuously as he picked up speed.
There was traffic up ahead, and the police van was almost behind them now. When he saw there was no escaping it, he hurriedly parked on the side of the road and made a run for it on foot. The guys in the car behind them did the same. Ngozi stayed in the car in shock and watched them run off into an adjourning street. The police van st©pped by the car she was in long enough for one of them to jump out and then it sped off in pursuit of Tunde and his gang.
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Tunde was caught hiding in a dog cage in of the houses on the street he had run into. His two goons had escaped and the police was still trying to locate them with information they got from Tunde. After writing her statement, she was allowed to go. Waiting outside the police station, she watched police vans come and go, people coming in arguing about their domestic disputes, police men flir-ting with female hawkers that c@m£ to sell in the police station premises; she was sure a writer would get a lot of inspiration for dozens of stories spending time at the police station. Ngozi still hadn’t let Mr. Ade know what was going on, and she hadn’t picked her boss’s calls all day.
After about half an hour of restless waiting, Wole finally walked out of the building, smiling. She walked up to him and met him half way. Standing inches ap@rt, Wole said, “This sure has been one hell of a Christmas for you.”
“Yup! Quite unusual I must say.” She said and dusted off dirt from the shoulder area of the shi-t he had on.
“So…what’s next for you?” He asked.
“Well, for starters, I’m just I am still alive.” She said and they both laughed.
“Thanks for everything.” Wole said when the laughing st©pped. There was silence for a while as they searched each other’s eyes. Wole smiled and shook his head. “Hi…My name is Wole, you look really familiar.” He said.
“Well, I don’t think you know me, but I sure would like to get to know you.” She said and smiled up at him.
“That’s cool. I would love to take you out on a d@t£, but I don’t have any money.” Wole said and they both laughed again. Just then, Ngozi’s phone rang. She pu-ll-ed it out of her jeans pocket, had a face like she didn’t know whether to answer or not, and then she picked up. “Hello.” She said into the receiver.
“Finally. You better have that story down.”
“Sorry sir. I don’t have it. But I have something bigger than that story.”
The End
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