FEMI

My foot dragged me out of his house. Having walked a distance, I glanced back at the house and heaved a sigh.
An owl hooted in a distance, forcing me out of my thoughts.. My eyes momentarily glanced up to the skies. It was still morning.

      It hooted again, this time loudly. I shuddered and hastened my steps. Whether good or bad, owls are nocturnal birds, for it to hoot as early as 7am was obviously a bad sign.

As I raced through the enormous farm land in the church campus located close to Adrian's house, I couldn't help but imagine if all these were mine.
The church, the house and all those investments in the church, plus all the pastors offerings and first fruits and......

My mouth involuntarily hissed when I realized the benefits were enormous.

          "Foolish Femi, you should never have given the church away!" I knocked my head to reset my brain. And it was painful.

Finding Adrian's house was one of the best things I accomplished in recent times. And thanks to Emass for giving me the hint.
Whoever told Adrian that this church will remain his and his alone had lied to him. Because, it would not stand neither will it come to pass.

   Church campus came Into to view as I busted out from the less known farm path Near had shown me. If not for that little information, I wouldn't have given Adrian and his family this early morning surprise. And I would have been blocked by his security. 

The guy had been calling the shots and I had just had enough of that nonsense.
I glanced around the campus again and tears almost came out of my eyes. "Who could have thought 'Love Circle Church' would become all of this beauty?"

Someone almost bumped into me before I realized I'd been standing in place for a while. Quickly,I raced to the main gate, and made a quick exit.

          Buses lined the streets as I made my way to the ticketing hall. My steps slowed when I realized how less busy the bus stop was.
Very few people were in the waiting area. I quickly purchased my ticket back to Ibadan.

        Still sitting there waiting for the bus to fill up, A hand tapped me. It was one of my guys from the ghetto back in the day when everyone knew me as 'Eriri'. I laughed when the name crossed my mind.
I didn't even know how I came about that Name. It wasn't even Yoruba but Igbo name. Eriri =Thread.

I glanced up at my disturbance and yes I recognized him. Tunde. But people called him Thunder.
We shook hands and shoulders and then rubbed our heads together before we pulled away from each other.

         "Men, you haven't aged A day!" He exclaimed, shooting his eyes all over me.
My eyes rolled involuntarily. People of African dissent knew how to exaggerate things whether be good or bad.

I didn't tell him what I thought, I just acknowledged him with a scanty smile. But to me he looked pleasant, with enough tattoos to drown a person.

          "And you too." I commended. He bared his whole set of teeth at me. Thank you."

         "So where to?" His eyes gave my body a quick wash.

         "To Ibadan of course."

He nodded too many times that I got a little light headed watching his head move up and down.

           "Sure. Sure." He replied.  I agreed, nodding even when I had no idea of what he was sure about.

We went silent for a few as we both stood there staring at the unfilled bus.

       "And where are you going?" I asked, seeing that he was unwilling to move himself from my personal space.

Another fits of laughter left his mouth. With his thumb and index finger, caressed his very long dark, bushy, beards. "Bro, no where o! Na here we die."

I shot an apprehensive glance at him. "Still with the cult?" I asked, to make sure my words were properly stringed before I say them.
He flashed quick glances around the park, before steadying them on me.

         "Bros Fems, you know as this country dey na? Man gats to survive."

I nodded, agreeing with him. Who was to judge whatsoever he did or was doing. Even I myself was returning from my swindling, blackmailing gig. Anyhow the money drops it drops.

Thunder runs another trip of surveillance with his eyes again before focusing them on me. "Yes Baba, I still dey there." I shouted and hugged him, not out of excitement but out of fear.

I had seen his tattoo symbol and I knew he belonged to one of the deadliest cults in the country.

       "Am I on your hit list?" I asked, so I could say my last prayers before they off me.
Guy raised his hands in the air. "Ah! Baba! Never never! I no go fit kill you na. You no dey para for people. So why I wan kill you?"

I shut my eyes and prayed for my crazy heart beats to normalize.

       "I just wanted to see if you have anything for the boys?" Thunder was still talking, ignoring my unplanned moment of silence.

         My fingers went into my pockets and fished out an old dirty five hundred Naira. I handed it over to him.

His face reddened when his eyes captured the state and the ridiculous low change I handed over to him. He took it from me and checked it.
Pushing it into my face, he roared. "What is this?"

I whimpered, glancing everywhere but his face. "Money." I muttered.

        "Even your papa no go collect this nonsense from you!" Thunder barked.
I fell on my knees and begged, rehashing my stories about my journey with cancer and how I didn't even have money to feed my seven children.

He watched me intently before shifting his gaze above me. With his left hand, he waved something or someone to come.

            "Buy him better rice for 'Mama-Put'. Make sure them add better meats, okay?" He said to a young boy of nine who listened attentively. The boy ran off, leaving us to our conversation.

Focusing on me again, he spoke. "Oga Fems, A beg get up. I no go fit collect money from person who death dey use do yoyo." With that he gave me back my money and added another one thousand Naira to it.

My shaky feet sustained my rise and held me in place until he was done talking. Slowly I eased my self on the chair I'd been seating on as soon as  he left.
Whatever that brought me to Lagos was a complete orchestration of the devil. I didn't come for any thing important but to swindle Adrian.

My eyes followed him as he barked instructions at some yellow bus drivers. It then dawned on me that he was the tout in-charge of this motor park.

        "Thank you Lord." I quickly muttered.

          Hurriedly, I swallowed my free food and decided not to go home anymore. Instead, I went in search of Thunder.
He was bent over a plate of massive meat concoction, I watched his jaw do justice to the meal.
From the corners of his eyes, he saw me watching him. He waved me over and continued eating.

          "I sure say your bus don leave. Wetin you still dey do here?" He asked with his mouth full of the delicious meat he was chewing.

I almost swallowed my tongue while imagining the meat in my mouth.
Forcing the saliva down my oesophagus, I refocused my mind on my mission.  "I just wanted us to talk business."

Slowly, I  lowered myself onto the make shift plank he used as chair.
He nodded, still forcing lumps of cow tail in his already filled mouth.

           My gaze followed the many bus drivers who dropped Naira notes on his table while hailing him by his street name, Thunder.
More teenage boys stood around the make shift shack he used as his office. It was still morning but the sweltering heat was on the highest level. I tugged on my Shirt repeatedly to get air into my body.

As soon as Thunder was done eating, his boys ran forward and washed his hands whilst the youngest took the remnants in the plate.

         "Eheh, you were saying?" I tried to move closer to him but he lifted his left palm to halt me.

After narrating my ordeal with Adrian, he looked both ways before resting his gaze on me. "But you are the one who gave him the Church, abi?" He asked, pointing at me.
My head nodded. "Well, yes. But I didn't think it will grow this much." Unplanned words jumped out of my mouth forcefully.

He gave me a condescending look. "Don't ever scream at me!"
My body shuddered while my senses flat lined. I hadn't realized he could string one good line of English sentence.

My mouth stuttered in submission. "I'm sorry."
Lifting himself off his worn out  kingly chair, he walked to the edge of his make shift office. "What do you want?"

I rose and met him half way, standing behind him while his boys stood behind me. Some stood next to him, waiting.

        "I need him to humble. I need some money from him."

         "How?" Thunder asked.

My breath came to me as rushed. I tethered the raging fear in the pit of my stomach. "I want the church raided!"

His head swirled around so quickly that I ran back. A deadly stare came to meet me where I hid behind one of his boys. "I don't rob churches! Somebody cannot come and bring enmity between me and God. Do you understand?"

My head moved up and down in acknowledgement. "Okay." I mumbled, lifting my hands up.

         Thunder walked back to where he stood overseeing the activities in the park. "But we can shake up the Pastor. We fit carry fear enter em body!" He suggested.
I blinked in agreement, watching his head move left to right, surveilling movements in the park.

           "Wetin be the pastor name sef?" His furious gaze returned to me.
Silence forced its way to my vocal cords and kept me mute. " Doesn't he have a name?" He reverted to his real English.

           "Adrian. Pastor Adrian Abujan!"

Thunder's eyes rose and his mouth flapped open in awe. Then his eyes did what I didn't expect. Tears, real watering tears came off his eyes. Then he busted out laughing, wiping them.

           "The one and only pastor of Generation Christian?" He pointed behind him as if Adrian's church was nearby.

         "Same one." I answered and followed it up with a nod.
He went mute and searched the floor thoughtfully. "Okay. Just because of you. Because on a normal day, that man is the man of the people. His money isn't just for him alone. He dey help people well well."

He searched my face one more time. "Make I warn you, we will not kill him. Don't expect us to."

I agreed. Anything that will make Adrian give me more money or even monthly payments to my account would be awesome.

We agreed that whatsoever Adrian coughed out, that I would remit thirty percent back to him. Later we shook hands after I voiced out my plans to him.
Before I left, we agreed that the earlier the better. After Emass gave us Adrian's itinerary, we plotted to do the job the next day.

     Early evening came faster than expected. I Stayed home and waited to get a call from thunder. I couldn't be seen as an accomplice, then every thing I'd planned would just fall apart.

Hours came and went by, yet nothing from Thunder. It was almost night when I decided to call him myself, yet no response. No one seemed to have seen or heard from his boys.
My head kept pounding relentlessly as the outcome of the mission couldn't leave my thoughts.

  It was already late at night when I watched Adrian stand in front of my house from the window. Shocked, I hid in my room, until Nara came to call me. Maybe Thunder didn't come through.
When I made it outside, he was worried. His face had fear written over it as though someone had died.

I was surprised when he brought up Shukura. What befuddled me was the way he was full of life as though nobody hurt him.
But the lingering question in my mind was, "Where is Thunder?"