CHAPTER 10 –
© OPEYEMI OJERINDE AKINTUNDE
My phone was on fire, I could tell Daniel was calling, but I cared less. I picked up my phone ready to turn it off, but I saw a
different caller ID “Reuben Acme”
“Why is he calling me? If not for him, all these
troubles won’t have started. If he had not spoken to
Mum about me, mum would have been okay with
Daniel,,,”
I angrily tapped on the side of my phone to turn it off
and that almost cost me my life because as I took my eyes off the road, I hit a young boy who was on street
hawking satchet water…
Time paused in that instant…
I sat in shock as I didn’t know what to do. My phone
started ringing again. Apparently, I didn’t do a good
job at turning it off. I hoped it was Daniel or my
mother but no it was Reuben still calling
“Hello Reuben, can you let me be, Because of your
stupid call I just hit someone now and I think he is
dead” I screamed
“What? I am sorry! Where?”
“I don’t know!” I replied in a scream.
“Give me a landmark, what do you see?” By this time, hoodlums had started hitting my side
glass… Fear gripped my heart. “Tammy’s Pizza”
“Ok! At Agedo junction?”
“Yes…”
“Open the door madam, you don kill pesin child”
( You have Killed someone’s child)…A hoodlum
screamed…
I unlocked my car and stepped out in fear…
I got a slap at the back of my head…
“No slap am , she be woman” Another hoodlum said.
“Madam, wetin happen, you no see am?”
I walked to where the child laid…
“Oh my!” The boy laid in a pool of blood…
“Please can we take him to the hospital” I said visibly
shaking…
“There is a hospital there” A woman said pointing ahead…
“Please help me…” I said
The hoodlums put the boy in the car and got in. I couldn’t trust myself to drive…
“Please can someone please help me to drive’ I said
shaking”
“Oya bring the key”
“It doesn’t use a key, you will just press the button” I
replied
“Ha! I don’t know how to drive that kind of car, I don’t
want to enter debt… Madam gather yourself and drive. If this boy die, we go kill you here, before police reach
here”
I rushed to the driver seat and drove…
* Amara told me the scene had been out of the world. She said she saw Reuben rushing out of the church
towards his car and furiously looking at his phone. She said…
” Call it instincts or better still the Holy Spirit told me
it had something to do with your sudden
disappearance from the church. I ran towards him” Amara had said to me
“Does this look on your face have something to do
with my cousin Nwala?” She said at the mention of my name, he paused…
“Is she in trouble? If she is, I am her voice of
reasoning, she listens to me. I was the one who
brought her to the front earlier”
“Ok sis, get into the car” Amara said she had jumped into the car and the
Reuben that drove didn’t drive like the calm and
collected gentleman she perceived him to be in church.
“What’s the situation?” Amara has asked
“She said she hit a boy”
“Oh my God! My God!” Amara said she just kept shouting “Oh my God” while
Reuben’s mouth was moving like someone speaking in
tongues silently. They got to Tammy’s Pizza and there was no accident
in sight. Amara suggested they asked one of the hoodlums, Reuben walked up to him and without
saying much, he pointed them in the direction of the
hospital…
I sat at the reception shaking. A million thoughts on
my mind. I knew if the boy died, I was going to
prison…
Reuben and Amara breezed in . I wanted to run
towards Reuben and hit him terribly, he was the
source of all my recent problems, instead I turned to
Amara for comfort…
“Amara, I am finished, if the boy dies, I am finished”
“He won’t die” Amara said
I saw Reuben speaking to the nurses at the reception, but they kept shaking their head in the negative. I
didn’t know what he asked them…
“Is he dead?” I rushed at him
“No… I hear he is in the E.R”
“So why were they shaking their head?”
“I asked if I could get an update and they said not yet”
“Amara, please call mummy to tell her”
I said to Amara, I needed Mother Bear to help here. “Why don’t you let us keep this among us for now… If
you call mum, you know she is still in church, she will
scream and half of the church will hear and Nwala, this is a sensitive situation. We don’t want all these
soft sell magazines picking this up”
It felt like someone poured a soothing balm on me. Was he trying to protect me?
Hmmm…..
To be continued…