SACRED_OATHS

Author: Samuel Frederick

Episode 27: BAD NEWS.

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I cried my eyes out that night; I could remember vividly.

In only a matter of days, within a very short period of time, in the twinkling of an eye, my whole life was in shambles. I had lost almost everything, almost everyone.

A week passed by, but the incident of that day kept on repeating itself in my head from time to time, even in my dreams. Her memories clouded my mind over and over again, haunting me like I had a hand in her death, making me so restless. I cried and cried till I couldn’t cry anymore. I had to move on.

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In just a matter of time, I had gotten used to the people I lived with in the new place I called ‘home’. Contrary to my first assumption about them, they were all nice, welcoming people with good hearts and simple lifestyles. In fact, I confirmed it by the way they shared in my period of mourning and their endless efforts to console me with words of encouragement.

The ladies especially, Nancy and Rita, were like sisters to me. Even though they smoked all sort of cigarettes, drank all sort of alcohol and spoke all sort of vernaculars and hardcore slangs, a part of them still had human feelings. I felt like an actual family member with them.

However, I was restricted from contacting my family, due to ‘security reasons’ as Boma had put it. I was warned to steer clear of making and receiving calls from anyone throughout that period. Although I had lost my phone when I got kidnapped, I still retained my father’s numbers in my head. I had the urge to call him, at least to know about his welfare and about how he was coping without me, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t take the risk!

On a certain Tuesday afternoon, I was summoned to meet the rest of the house for a meeting downstairs. I had wasted some time to freshen up, so I wasn’t surprised to see that the living room was crowded with people and that almost all the seats had been taken when I eventually went down. I apologized for the delay and took a seat too.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you are all welcome.” Simon began as he looked around the room, clearing his throat.

“As we all know,” he continued, “we have someone new among us. I won’t refer to her as a guest, nor as a stranger, but rather as a reliable sister from another mother, because she is one of us. I must confess that I am delighted by the hospitality you have all shown her so far, and I hope it goes on that way. I wouldn’t want to see us fighting over unnecessary issues with each other, or quarreling, or keeping enmity and holding grudges either. I would like us to act like a big lovely family that we all are, and by doing so, I believe we would live in peace and flourish together,” he finalized.

“I have a question.” A guy among us spoke up, raising his hand.

“Yes?” Simon answered.

“It’s about these ladies and their obsession over the Telemundo channel. I just don’t understand anymore. I mean, I’m fed up! Every time we come to the sitting room to watch a football match, we would meet about three or four of them already here. I can’t take it any longer. Please, help us look into this matter on time. I’m literally on my knees right now, begging you big time!” He pleaded jokingly, sending an uproar of laughter across the room.

“I even think sey na better thing the fool wan talk oh.” Bauchi chipped in, still laughing. “Such a mad fellow.”

“He has a point, though. I’m fed up too!” Eagle said in agreement, keeping a straight face. “And I’m very serious about this.”

“Anyway, that aside for now, let’s face the real issues at hand. As we are all aware, Fifi lost a dear friend of hers to a cold-blooded death a week ago.” Simon said, sending a wave of silence across the room. “May her soul rest in perfect peace.”

“Amen!” We all chorused aloud.

“I believe that wherever she is now, her blood cries from the depth of the Earth for vengeance. It’s high time we start reacting to these people’s threats, fire for fire, blood for blood!” Simon exclaimed and banged his fist on the table. “It’s time for war!”

“Naso baba! If dem bring am to us, we go give dem double trouble!” Eagle exclaimed, raising his voice higher than Simon’s. “We go terrorize dem, hunt dem back to back, gun dem down and burn dem all with no mercy! Because when-”

“But guys hold on,” Boma interrupted, “we don’t have any plans; we don’t know who they work for; we don’t even know how to go about this issue, and we all know that they are well equipped with connections almost everywhere. It’s suicidal to proceed without caution. I suggest we table a plan down.”

“I agree with him!” Nancy spoke up. “I totally agree with him. He’s right. We need a plan.”

“But how do we go about it?” Bauchi said. “Because, honestly, that’s the problem concerning this whole thing.”

“Well, I’ve seen him once.” I muttered, and as expected, everyone turned their attention to me.

“How do you mean?” Simon asked, confusion evident on his features.

“I mean the Senator in question whom these guys work for, I’ve actually seen his face once.” I explained, sitting back properly as the memory came flashing back. “Here’s how it happened.”

—
—
—

Flashback:

The macho guy behind me lit a stick of cigarette and handed it to him. He took a deep drag and then puffed it to my face. I choked from the thick smoke.

“So it’s you.” The Senator simply said, with a deep voice, laughing slightly.

“Untie her!” He said next. The macho guy behind me loosened the ropes on my hands and legs, and then ungagged my mouth. For the first time since I regained consciousness, I felt comfortable. Yet, I wondered why I was let loose.

“I want us to reason like humans,” he said, after taking another long drag of the cigarette with an avid stare on me. Afterward, he threw it down and mashed it roughly under his feet.

“Like humans?” I repeated. He nodded.

“Like humans, yet you kidnapped me, tied me up and held me hostage here? What kind of human are you?”

With that, the guy behind me raised a hand to hit me, but the Senator gave him a sign to be calm.

“I gave you a chance, child. You had the chance, and you blew it up.” The Senator said, shrugging. “I offered you money. I gave you gifts, and I was willing to give even more, but… well, you had the guts to tell me to take my money and bundle myself to hell, isn’t it?”

I didn’t talk.

“Well, I am a man of patience, so I forgive you for that.” He said, and added, “But, it also depends on how well you cooperate with us henceforth.”

—
—
—

End of flashback.

“He told me that if I cooperated with them against you guys, he’d let me go, but I didn’t budge. I spat on his face and it angered him immensely, and he slapped me, and after that I was beaten brutally. I was held there for three days until I managed to escape with the help of a boy named Emeka. Emeka got gunned down while we ran but I carried on and escaped. I don’t know who this Senator is, but I know him to be a very short, fat pot-bellied man with a hideous, wrinkled face.” I explained, noticing how eager they listened to me. “That’s all I know.”

“If you see his face anywhere else, would you still recognize him?” Boma asked.

“Of course, I would!”

Instantly, Boma dipped his hand into his pocket and took out his phone. He made a few clicks on the screen and stretched it to me.

“Is that the person?”

I glanced down at the screen and, surprisingly, the exact picture of the Senator was what I saw.

“I swear, that is him! He’s the one!” I exclaimed concisely, handing the phone back to him.

“Are you sure?” Boma asked.

I nodded with certainty. “It’s him. I’m sure.”

Boma stretched the phone to Simon, who in turn gave it to Bauchi and they all started to pass it round to have a view of the image.

“I thought as much! That bastard!” Boma snapped, fuming gradually.

“Isn’t this Senator Randy Ogbonna, the man contesting for the position of a governor who claims to be humble and meek during interviews? Do you mean he is the one behind all of this?” Rita exclaimed, looking shocked as she passed the phone to someone else.

“Don’t be deceived, my dear. You can’t easily tell who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing these days!” Nancy answered Rita as she shook her head in utter disbelief.

Suddenly, we heard a loud honk at the gate—outside of the compound.

Bauchi stood up with Nancy to answer it. Shortly, they returned with a guy who lived in the same house with us.

“Baba yawa don gas o!” The guy panicked, pacing the room. “Problem dey!”

“Wetin happen?” Simon asked, alarmed.

“See wetin one of my guys give me earlier today baba.” He said as he handed a white envelope to Simon. On opening it, Simon’s countenance changed to a frown, and he looked at me and sighed deeply without a word.

“What is it?” I asked, confused.

Simon handed it to me. Everyone focused on me as I opened the paper to see its content. Immediately I did so, I bulged my eyes in shock, seeing the reason behind Simon’s pitiful look.

I had been rusticated from school.