Black Widow?
©Tobi
Episode 1
Shelby checked her wristwatch, it was alre-ady some minutes past 12pm, the p@rty would start by 4pm and thankfully she still has enough time to get things re-ady. The balloons were alre-ady b!own and left to be tied up
. She hoped Michael would be back soon to help her with the rest of things. Being the only Black in the neighborhood had been really challenging but hopefully, the birthday p@rty they were throwing for her six months old baby would give them the recognition they nee-ded in the suburb..
“Honey, we don’t nee-d these people to like us.” Michael had said to her when they had moved here some weeks back.
She knew that was a lie. The hostile glare she received anytime she took a walk down the road or at the shopping mall was just more than she could handle right now. She nee-ded Tracy to grow up in a friendly environment where she would not be scared of being an African. Michael of course hadn’t seen it as a big deal so she had brilliantly brou-ght up the idea of a birthday p@rty and had invited some of their neighbors. Hopefully, some would show up.
She was tying the last ribbon around one of the balloons when her l@pt©p chimed. A quic-k glance at where the l@pt©p l@yand she found Michael’s blue inhaler beside it.
He has forgotten his inhaler. Why did he always do that? She might nee-d to tie a rope around it and attach to his n£¢k one of these days, maybe by so doing; he would never leave it behind again. Probably he was the one who s£nt a message to her right now-
She cli-cked the ‘enter’ bu-tton on the keyboard but to her surprise, her friend’s face popped up on the Skype mess£nger. “Hello Nicholas.” She said with a little enthusiasm. He was one of her friends at the IT dep@rtment of where she worked.
“Hey Shel, how are you doing girl?”
“I’m good. Whatssup?” She replied, now taking another balloon to herl-ips.
Nicholas brows were raised. “Wow! Quite a job you get there. What about Michael?”
“He went to the sto-re with Tracy, should be back any minute.” She was tying one end of a green balloon to the end of another. “Where are you at?”
“Well, you know, nothing much, just working as you know, some of us nee-d to work during weekends to keep this place floating.” He said, slouching comfortably .
Shelby smiled. “Your pride will be the end of you one day. So are you coming over?”
“Oh sure! What will I not give for a free food.” He replied. “So have any of your neighbors brou-ght anything yet?”
She shrugged. “No. I think it’s a little early, they will soon start showing up by three thereabouts.”She was sitting down and starring at the screen now.
Nicholas smiled. “I love your courage. Does Michael un-derstand why you are doing this?” He asked.
“Well, I think he does.” She replied and continued. “He hasn’t really been bothered whether our neighbors liked us or not. I believe we nee-d to show the white folks that not all Nigerians are Boko-Harams besides, I believe that Nigerians are the victims. I don’t know why they have to,…” She st©pped as Nicholas bur-st into laughter. She could see his bulging Adam’s apple as he raked with laughter.
“I’m serious Nick. St©p laughing, you have no idea how staying here has been.”
“I’m sorry…sincerely.” He apologized, now smiling. “You guys don’t look like terrorists; I wonder what they would do when they see me. Actually, maybe I should come with my head wra-pped in a turban with my beards…” He started laughing again. His head slightly bent as he went throu-gh the phone he held in his hand.
“Don’t you even try it Nick, else, I will be the one to call the cops for you. Staying here for almost five years with my husband, you would have expected me to have gotten used to this but…this East-End just makes things worse and every day the bombing continues back in Nigeria and we all have to suffer for it here. It’s so not fair, what if Tracey grows up…” She st©pped as she realized that Nick was no longer paying any attention to her. Instead, his eyes and mouth were frozen wi-de open in an expression of stunned surprise.
“Nicholas! What happened? Are you okay?”
He stared at her blankly. “D..did you say Michael went to—the sto-re?”
“Yes..yes, that’s right. So?”
“Oh God! This is happening again.” He whimpered.
“What is it Nicholas?” She demanded more curios now.
Nicholas shut his eyes ti-ght and shook his head sorrowfully.
“Nick, for God’s sake, what is it? What has happened to Michael?” Just then she received a video from Nicholas and she pla-yed it immediately.
The scene was a bit shaky at first and slightly bent sideways, as if whoever was recording the video was trying not to be caught. She saw the white men in uniforms, whose faces where a little blur, there were two of them confronting a man in a familiar T-shi-t and Jean. The sound wasn’t audible enough for her to un-derstand what was going on.
However, Michael seemed to be protesting against something. He soon spre-ad his arms out, frantically waving some papers at the uniformed man who held handcuffs in his hand.
Michael, what did you do? Shelby thought to herself, her breathing becoming ra-pid now.
Michael looked more furious, he seemed not to be complying. He could be stubborn at times,only when he knows his right.
Rose knew what would happen next if he loses his nerves…he would nee-d his inhaler…the inhaler he had left behind… Now, he was searching his pockets and at the same time tapping his che-st with the other hand gently, continuously.
She clasped a hand to her mouth as she kept watching…She knew her husband was running out of air…
One of the men, the one that was more built with a double-stubble chin was talking to him. His cheeks kept bouncing up and down and his brows bu-mping into each other as he poked his index f!nger at Michael’s broad che-st several times.
Michael stood-arms akimbo, his eyes were shut, his head was slightly bent while beating his lowerl-ip. Just as the man st©pped talking, he attem-pted to walk away and immediately, the other strangled him from behind, with his arms around Michael’s n£¢k. The first joined and together, they pu-ll-ed Michael to his knees.
While doing this, they laughed…
Michael was pinned down to the ground now, he was lying on the ground, faced down and his hands were alre-ady cuffed behind him. He seemed to be saying something…she could see fear in his eyes but they laughed on…
The same man placed his leg on Michael’s back pressing him firmly to the ground. He took a puff from a lit cigar which dangled at the corner of his chappedl-ips and bending down, close to where Michel writhed in pain, he snorted the smoke out of a flaring nostril into Michael’s face. Then he grinned, revea-ling his nicotine stained teeth.
Michael squinted, and began to j£rk. He kept j£rking continuously, his eyes wi-de-ned in horror. Both men were talking now, they were trying to talk to Michael at the same time, the c@m£ra zoomed in to Michael’s face, ma-king the video more blurry, but he was no longer j£rking, he seemed to have grown limp and his eyes were wi-de open, unblinking, his mouth agape.The one that was smoking took the cigar from hisl-ips and exchanged glances with the other. Then second one suspended a hand over his nose and then Rose caught the movement of hisl-ips as he said. “He’s dead.” The other g@sped.
She felt the panic begin like a clvster of spark plugs in her abd0m£n…her heart was beginning to race like a rabbit trying to jump out of its skin…
“Dear Lord! plea-se let this not be real…”
There was a ra-pid movement and the scene bent in a 45. angle. Debby recognized the interior of her Toyota Corolla, the one Michael had driven to the sto-re. She could see the back view of the police, the one who was smoking, he seemed to be searching for something at the driver’s seat, then he directed his attention to the back seat and that was where Tracey lay, in her seat, her tiny baby eyes were wi-de open-unblinking, her n£¢k was a little slanted to the back which was unusual for she seemed to be starring at the roof of the car, herl-ips were open, she was still and there was a little swell around her n£¢k. Her small left palm had painting from a pen and on the seat l@ythe spring and the tube of a ballpoint pen. The rest of the seat were filled with bags from O’mac sto-res.
Michael had gone to O’mac to get souvenirs for the p@rty.
The cigar dropped from hisl-ips and he left the scene, then he c@m£ back with his other p@rtner and immediately, their voices could be heard.
“She dead too?”
“I think so”
“She is a baby, baby don’t die”
“Think she choked on that pen right there.”
“We should call 911?”
“No nee-d, she is gone to meet her father. What a loss or a reunion as the case may be.”
She stood up, unable to watch anylonger.
Something was terribly wrong.
. Someone was definitely pla-ying joke on her. She quic-kly took her phone and dialed Michael’s number, it wasn’t reachable. No ..no,,no! She nee-ded to calm down, why was the house spinning…everyone and everything should just calm down!
It was like a hurricane starting from de-ep within her, shutting her br@in out like a machine gun. She was immediately covered in sweat, She felt like her b©dy was covered in another h0t b©dy like a bin bag and she knew she was going to explode.
Suddenly,she began to feel a deluge of ice water surrounding her every limb, until it pas-sed her mouth and nose, causing her to lose her grip and she dropped to the floor, curled up in a foetal position. She wanted to scream, to cry, to run. She wanted to freeze…she wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
Just then, the door suddenly bur-st open and Nicholas ran to her side. Holding her. He was saying something but she couldn’t hear a single word.
“My baby is cold, Michael nee-ds his inhaler, plea-se Nick, my baby, my baby can’t die. Nick…Michael must not die…my baby..Michael….”
She felt paralysed as Nicholas lifted her in his arms and was carrying her out of the house.
“My baby…can..not breathe” She said finally, before the agony enveloped every p@rt of her consciousness.