Bitch – Last Batch

EPISODE 40

“Have they called?” Henry asked Zainab as she
returned with the three million naira, he
looked rather cool and relaxed compared to
Zainab who looked like someone whose
brother had just been kidnapped… Well, her
brother had just been kidnapped.
Her mind was somewhere else and Henry had
to ask the second time before she shook her
head in response.
“Good! That gives us more time to get ready.”
Henry replied.
“Get ready? They requested for ten million but
we have just three million. They obviously
don’t want the police to be involved and
surprisingly, you don’t want the police to be
involved too… I’m beginning to wonder whose
side you are on.”
“Firstly, I didn’t say I don’t want the police to
be involved. I said, I don’t you to call the
police YET, we would involve them in the right
time.” He replied and started walking out of
the room. “Now, while I go get the bags, can
make yourself useful and divided the money
with you into three equal parts?”
Zainab really wanted to reply, but non of the
responses that popped into her head made
sense. She just closed her opened mouth and
started doing as she was told.

**********@@@@@**********

“Are you enjoying the meal?” John asked.
Jummy had her mouth full so she had to
quickly chew and swallow before she replied.
“Enjoy? That’s a modest word to express how
good this food tastes. How did you know that
I loved Pounded yam and Egusi with STRICTLY
goat meat?”
Henry smiled, “when you date someone long
enough and love her truly, everything she says
is important and you don’t forget it even if
you want to.”
Jummy couldn’t help but blush, but the
thoughts of how much John had hurt her
crossed her mind once more. She just couldn’t
accept him because of a fancy dinner and the
few changes he had made, after all what’s
worse than walking home and catching your
husband s——g his best friend who happens
to be MALE.
“It would have been much better if it was a
female.” She suddenly said out loud without
even knowing.
“What did you say?” John asked looking
confused, he heard her clearly but didn’t quite
get what she meant at the time and was
wondering what that had to do with the meal.
“Nothing.” Jummy replied and started rinsing
her hand. “I’ve lost my appetite,” she added
as she did so.
John was more confused now, what have I
done wrong? He thought
“Jummy…” He called out her name.
“John… Please don’t even start. You know one
funny thing, even after what you did to me…”
“Jummy…” He cut in.
She continued like he hadn’t said anything. “I
still love you, and I hate it that I love you. But
wiether or love you or not doesn’t matter
anymore…”
“Jummy…” He cut in once again.
“I’m glad you have changed because that
would make things easier for the next lady you
meet. We can be friends but you and I can
never be together again.” She picked up the
napkin and wiped her mouth then stood up to
leave.
“Are you done?” John asked.
“I’m going.” She replied as she fought back
the tears that were in the mood to let loose.
“I know I’m a jerk and a huge idiot who
doesn’t deserve you especially after what I did
to you, and I also know no amount of ‘sorry’
can relief you of the pain I caused you. But
there is a small problem, I just don’t want to
be just your friend.” Henry paused, stood up
and walked to the front of Jummy, he held her
hands. “Jumoke, you are the one I see
anytime I sleep, the one I can’t survive a
minute without thinking about, the makes life
worth living… I mean I think about you and its
like nothing else matters, you bring me joy…
Jummy…” He looked her straight in the eyes,
“you complete me.”
Jummy was speechless. No one had ever said
such beautiful things to her and she really
wanted to k-ss him on that s₱0t and forget
everything, but the ugly memories of what he
had done crossed her mind once more.
“John, I wish it was that easy. I’ve forgiven
you but like I said earlier, you and I can’t
work. I’m going home, don’t bother about
taking me home, I’ll find my way home.”
With that, Jummy stormed out, tears rolling
freely down her cheek as she did so.
John sat on the floor confused. He finally
realized something; he really meant everything
he said to Jummy and he hated himself for
hurting her.
He stood up and walked over to the roof’s
slab and looked down. Without having
Jummy, life didn’t seem worth living anymore
to him.

**********@@@@@**********

A few minutes later, Henry reappeared with
three identical bags but instead of them to be
empty, they all seemed to be half filled with
something.
He walked closer to Zainab and dropped the
bag at her front grinning.
Zainab looked up at him and saw he was
grinning. “What’s making you grin?” She
asked.
“Never mind, just put one million into each
bag and make sure the money covers the
newspapers under totally.”
“Newspapers? What are you talking about?”
Zainab inquired.
“You are a smart lady, you can’t possibly tell
me you don’t get the idea of what we are
going to do yet.” Henry said with a sigh.
“Wait… Wait… Wait!!! We are talking ’bout my
brother here. We aren’t going to try and trick
the kidnappers, they might get angry and I’m
sure I don’t want them to throw their anger on
my brother. When they call…”
Speaking about the devil, Zainab was
interrupted as her phone suddenly started
ringing.
She looked at the screen and saw the number
was hidden just like the first time the
kidnappers had called. She knew it was them.
She picked the call and put it on loud speaker.
“Hello.” She said.
“Have you gotten the money ready?” Mr Dayo
asked.
Zainab had to make a decision quickly. She
could either say yes and hope Henry’s plan
worked out as planned or say no and let her
brother stay in the arms of people who could
really ‘hurt’ him. She was still weighing her
options when she suddenly heard a scre-m in
the background which sounded a lot like
Taofeek’s voice.
“Who was that?” She asked.
“Oh! So you are still there? I thought you had
died while answering the phone so I decided
to motivate you… NOW IS MY MONEY READY
OR NOT!!!”
Without thinking Zainab replied “yes! Its
ready.”
“Good, now we are talking. Here’s what you
are going to do, get into you car now and
drive to Cele express. Look around and you
would see two bridges, a motor bridge and a
pedestrian bridge. Carry the three bags and
walk to the pedestrian bridge. I’ll call you in
twenty minutes time so that means you have
twenty minutes to get there.”
“Okay.” Zainab said with her voice shaking.
“I don’t think its necessary to tell you to come
alone right?”
“Yes.” Zainab replied and a beep followed as
the call was disconnected.
Without saying a word to Zainab, Henry
unzipped one of the bags and started loading
it with the money… Zainab paused for a
minute, staring at him in silence.
“You have twenty minutes and you are
admiring me?”
Zainab didn’t bother replying as she snapped
back to reality. She unzipped another bag and
started filling it up.

**********@@@@@***********

For someone who was in the hands of
kidnappers who just opened a tool box filled
with weird looking things that could really hurt
someone, Taofeek looked pretty relaxed.
“Do you know what this is?” The other man
who had walked in with Mr Dayo asked Henry
as he held a tool that looked exactly like a
screw driver.
“A screw driver?” Taofeek replied as if asking
for some sort of confirmation.
The man pressed a button on the screw-driver
and the tip of the screw-driver splited only to
reveal two sharp looking pin-like objects that
replaced the tip of the screw-driver.
“No my friend, this isn’t a really a screw-
driver. Its more like an injection with two pins.
The problem I have with it is that it doesn’t
cause much pain.”
Taofeek opened his mouth in shock, why
would he want it to cause more pain? He
wondered.
“What do you plan on doing with that?” He
asked.
“Just to motivate your sister.” Mr Dayo cut in
and the dialed Zainab’s number.
Everybody was quite for a few minutes and
then Mr Dayo spoke “have you gotten my
money ready?”
Taofeek listened carefully and tried to
understand the conversation. The next thing
he knew, the weird looking screw-driver was
stabbed into his laps and he let out and ear
deafening scre-m.
The only tangible things he got out of Mr
Dayo’s conversation was one: he definitely
was somewhere about a place called Cele
Express and Zainab had the money prepared.
He was going to be free at last! He thought to
himself and smile formed on his face.
He forgot things don’t also go as planned.

**********@@@@@**********

In no time, the bags were filled and the
newspapers were properly covered with the
money.
“Let’s go, I’ll drive.” Henry said to Zainab.
“Didn’t you hear the part where I’m meant to
deliver the money alone?”
“And you would deliver the money alone, but
I’m driving you there, besides, I’m a better and
faster driver.”
Zainab wasn’t in the mood to argue. She tried
to pick up the the three bags and take them
to the car, but they were too heavy. Henry
folded his arms and watched her struggle with
the bags in amusement. When he had had
enough fun, he walked over and snatched the
bags from and her hands, easily lifting then
from the floor.
“And later, you females would say ‘what a
man can do, a woman can do better’, when
you can just carry a few newspapers.” Henry
said as he walked away.
Zainab smiled.
By the time they got to the car and were on
the road, Zainab picked up her phone and
dialed a number.
Henry saw that she held the phone to her ears
and became curious, “who are you calling?”
“Someone. You don’t expect us to go without
the police knowing and not even a friend in
case thing go wrong?”
“Nothing would go wrong.”
“Well, I’m not taking any chances,” she replied
and before Henry could reply, the recipient
picked up.
“Do you know what time it is?” Jummy asked
from the other end of the line.
“Shut up and listen, this is serious.” Zainab
replied then when she got Jummy’s attention,
she went ahead to tell her the wh0le story and
made Jummy promise not to call the police…
Jummy promised then Zainab hung up.
“Now, someone knows where we were last
seen.” Zainab said to Henry.
They got to the bridge as instructed and
Zainab walked out of the car alone, dragging
the three bags along, she stood at the
pedestrian bridge just as instructed.
Her phone went life at exactly twenty minutes.
“Are you there?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Good. Now, do as I say. Drop one of the bags
beside the middle pillar of the pedestrian
bridge the take the remaining two back to the
car and drive to Mile 2 – Oke, you have ten
minutes to do that.” The call went dead.
Jummy did exactly as told and went back to
the car.
“Why did you drop one bag there and what
would happen to the remaining bags?” Henry
asked looking confused.
“That was the instruction, now drive to Mile 2
– Oke.”
“Wow!!! This just got quite interesting.” Henry
said as he started the car.

EPISODE 41

There are times in life where we feel all hope is
lost. A time where everything goes wrong and
our best friends seem to suddenly be our
worse enemies. Its times like that we know
who we truly are and we know our full
capability.
***
John had lost it all. He had quited working for
his father and the business he was trying to
set up wasn’t growing as quick as he wanted,
but all of that wasn’t really his main problem.
His main problem was Jummy. He had lost
her all because of his foolishness, he hadn’t
always been bis€×ual and it took loosing
Jummy to know that he can be straight… If
there was one thing he was sure of now, it
would be he sincerely loved Jummy with all
his heart.
As he stared down from the roof of the GNP
building, he realized committing suicide isn’t
as easy as people portray it. His brain was
fighting a war with his broken heart. While his
heart told him to jump and he would feel no
other pain again, his brain told him to go
home and think about how to win Jummy
back.
At a point, he climbed the pavement and just
a step forward would have sealed the deal but
his brain finally won the war. He stepped
down from the pavement and decided to go
home. He believed he still had a chance with
Jummy if he was alive, but if he killed himself,
then nothing can happen.
As he sat down on the chair, he realized he
was crying and that was a very strange thing
for him, considering he hadn’t cried in ages.
Suddenly, he heard a voice. The voice seemed
to flow with the wind and he wasn’t sure until
a heavy wind blew once again and asked him
the simply question of faith.
DO YOU WANT ME TO SAVE YOU?
John was so astonished to reply so he just
nodded. And the next thing he knew, his heart
was filled with joy. He didn’t know why, but he
was smiling and all he could say was “thank
you”.
At that s₱0t, on the roof of GNP, John gave
his life to Jesus.
He was truly saved.

**********@@@@@**********

Jummy was worried. After the dinner with
John, she had gone straight home, showered
and laid on her bed in an attempt to sleep, but
Mr Sleep didn’t seem to be her friend so she
kept on tossing and turning round the bed,
thinking about no other person than John.
With a clear head, she saw things differently.
She started thinking maybe she was too harsh
on him. She couldn’t deny the fact that she
loved him so much it hurt.
Her thoughts were interrupted by her ringing
phone.
She glanced at the wall clock and silently
cursed the person who was calling at such
ungodly hour before picking up the phone and
saw it was Zainab. She knew Zainab would
never call at such a time without having a
good reason.
She pressed the green button.
After the call, she only became more worried
after hearing what Zainab had to say.
Toafeek had been kidnapped, the kidnapper
requested for ten million naira, Zainab had
less than half of that and she wanted to trick
them with it and finally she wasn’t supposed
to call the police.
Can tonight get any worse? She thought.
She knew she wasn’t meant to call the police
but she had to help somehow, she need advice
and only one person came into her mind.
She took a deep breath and dialed a number.

**********@@@@@**********

Henry drove like a thief being chased by the
entire New York Police Department (NYPD).
He knew he didn’t have much time to get to
their next destination but he also knew that
the kidnappers didn’t care about that so he
drove like his life depended on it.
Although Zainab complained about his speed
out loud and requested he reduced it before
they ended up spending the rest of their night
in a hospital or at worse a morgue, she
silently prayed that he even increased the
speed and silently thanked her stars that he
was involved in the matter, she didn’t know
how she would have kept herself together if
she had done this all alone.
Eight minutes later, they drove past the Mile
2/ festac intersection and at exactly Nine
minutes later, they were at Mile 2 – Oke as
instructed.
Henry looked at Zainab and saw a kind of
expression he had never seen on her before.
Usually, he could read her facial expressions,
but this time, she was blank. He knew playing
the cracking-a-joke card at this time would be
a bad idea, he decided to play a different card.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “your brother would be
rescued, trust me.”
Zainab didn’t even act like she heard him. He
continued. “When next they call, request to see
your brother so that you would know he is still
alive.”
A minute later her phone rang.
“Hello,” she said.
“Are you there yet?”
“Yes.”
“Take one bag this time and get out of your
car. Look around and you would see two
buses parked besides each other, one red, one
yellow. Drop the money beside in the red one
and go back to your car.”
Zainab remember Henry’s words. “I want to
speak to my brother now, I want to know that
he is still alive and safe.”
Mr Dayo sighed. “Okay, I’ll do better than
that. I’ll show him to you life and direct.”
Zainab ears opened w¡der as he said that.
“When you drop the money in the red bus, go
to the back of the yellow bus and don’t try
fast move.”
Zainab dropped the money in the red bus as
she was told and walked to the back of the red
bus. Through the glass, she saw her brother.
He was tied to a chair with his mouth taped
together. Zainab walked closer and wanted to
open the door when she saw a gun appear
beside Taofeek’s head, she couldn’t see the
face of the person because of the darkness.
She reluctantly went back to her car.
She had barely sat down when her phone
rang.
“Now that that’s settled. Drive back to Oke-
Afa now, locate St Pauls Anglican Church and
wait for my call. You have twenty five minutes
to get there and locate it.” Mr Dayo paused as
if thinking of something then he added. “So far
you have been pretty obedient and I like that,
just do as I say, and you would see your
brother. And don’t think I don’t know you
brought a friend along even after I told you
not to. I’m not angry yet… Don’t give me a
reason to be.” Mr Dayo hung up.
Henry started the car and drove off, heading to
Oke-Afa, the call had been on loud speaker
and he heard everything.
As they drove, Zainab received a text message
from Jummy: WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
Zainab replied: ON OUR WAY TO THE LAST
DROP (St Pauls Anglican Church, Oke-Afa).
Please I know you want to help but don’t do
anything silly.
Jummy had other plans of her own.

EPISODE 42
Nowadays, people say love is overrated. They
say love is an excuse to get hurt. They say
love is for the weak. They say all sort of
things but they forget that love is sharing,
love is forgiving, love is honest, love is
peaceful, love is patient and most especially…
Love conquereth all.
***
“You know you shouldn’t have done that,
right?” The man with the tool box, who
Taofeek now knew as Mr K, said to Mr Dare as
he saw that Mr Dayo let Zainab see Taofeek at
the back of the bus.
“The girl has been pretty cooperative, the least
we can do is give her a reason to remain
cooperative.” Mr Dayo replied.
“You could have just let her speak to him not
expose our location… The most important rule
of this our business is never expose you
location!!!” Mr K yelled.
“Why are you being so paranoid?” Mr Dayo
said calmly, “aren’t we changing location
right away?”
“That doesn’t mean we should…” Mr K tried to
say.
“Take a chill pill K, everything is under
control. Now can you be a gentleman and
drive us to the next location?” Mr Dayo said in
a way that sounded like a question, but was
more of a order.

*********@@@@@**********

Once again, Henry found himself driving like a
madman all the way to Oke-Afa. One thing
was certain; Taofeek was still alive and Zainab
had seen him so it was obvious the
kidnappers haven’t noticed the bags they were
filled with newspapers.
“Do you have any idea where the church is?”
Henry asked.
Zainab l-ips curved into a light smile, “so you
don’t even know the place and you are driving
with such confidence.” She leaned back on the
chair. “I thought you knew everywhere in
Lagos.”
Henry could sense she was trying to tease him
so he quickly shut her up, “do you know the
place? Yes or no,” he said sternly.
Zainab shrugged, “take a left turn at the next
intersection.” She replied.
Henry did as told but then again, he had
barely driven for a minute before Zainab
instructed him to take another turn and then
he saw it.
The church was pretty big and seemed to have
over four distinctively big buildings within its
compound and apart from a couple of light
bulbs that had been left on from the previous
evening service, the wh0le compound was dark
and seemed totally des**ted.
It was a perfect place for the final drop, Henry
thought out loud as he couldn’t help but
admit that it he were to be a kidnapper, he
would have chosen same place.
They had few minutes left before Mr Dayo call,
so Henry suggested they surveyed the area
just in case. Zainab didn’t object.
They both walked out of the car and walked
into the church.

**********@@@@@**********

“Hello!” John said as he picked up the phone
call.
Silence.
“Hello… Jummy?” John said again.
“I need your help,” Jummy finally reply.
“Hmmm… Do you know what the time is?”
“Yes… I need you to come over to my place,
please.”
John pondered a little but accepted anyway.
“I’m on my way,” he said and hung up.
**********@@@@@**********
“Is that your phone that’s ringing?” Henry
asked as he and Zainab walked into the main
auditorium and heard a phone ringing echoing
round the church.
Zainab knew it wasn’t her phone just checked
anyway just to be sure. “No, it isn’t. Maybe
someone forget his phone in the church or
something like that.”
The ignored the first ring, but then it rang
again and again and again until the were
forced to locate the phone out of mere
curiosity, they their greatest surprise,
ANSWER! Showed on the screen of the phone.
Zainab gave Henry and inquiring look in which
he nodded and then she picked up the call,
putting it straight to loud speaker.
“I was starting to wonder you would never pick
up,” the caller said.
“Errr… Is this who I think it is?” Zainab asked.
“Yes, I had my reason for not calling your
phone this time.”
Zainab sighed, “okay, so where is my brother!”
She asked almost immediately.
“Hey! Patience dear. You have to give us the
money first then we would give you your
brother.”
Henry shook his head vigorously at Zainab,
telling her not to agree.
“I don’t agree with that! We have made two
drops already, the least you can do is give me
my brother then I’ll make the third drop.”
There was a short moment of silence as if the
caller was thinking or talking to someone
before he replied. “Okay, because you have
been so cooperative, this is what we are going
to do: take the money and go to the church
complex, at the other side of the compound.
Go to the middle floor and wait. We would
make the switch simultaneously and please
don’t bring you boyfriend along if you know
what’s good for you.”
“Okay, I’m on my way already.”
“Good, don’t hang up.”
Henry was reluctant to let Zainab go alone but
he had no option, the threat was pretty clear.
Zainab went alone to the location, just as the
caller – Mr Dayo, had instructed.
She looked around and saw nothing at first,
just pure darkness, so she said “I’m here,” into
the phone and then suddenly, she saw a dim
light radiate at the front of the building.
She walked closer to it without thinking twice
and then she saw them; two men dressed
casually. One wore a blue Jean and a red
Polo, while the other wore a a similar blue
jean (only darker) and a long sleeve corporate
shirt, they both wore black masks.
Zainab heard a beep from the phone she held,
only to look at the screen and see that the
call had been disconnected.
“I don’t think we would need that any more
since we are both here,” the one with the long
sleeve shirt said, he was Mr Dayo.
Zainab found herself going straight to the
point. “Where is my brother?” She asked.
“Oh! That, are you always all about business?”
Mr Dayo asked. Zainab could see his white set
of teeth even in the dim light as he grinned
widely.
“I’ve got your money here, now where is my
brother.” Zainab replied coldly.
“Very well then.” Mr Dayo replied. He snapped
his finger and out of the shadow, Taofeek
appeared.
Mr K placed a gun at his back and said “no
smart moves mister.”
“Now can I get the money?” Mr Dayo said.
“You let my brother go first and I’ll hand over
the money.”
Mr Dayo stared at Mr K inquiring and just as
if the had a quick but silent conversation with
just their eyes, Mr K lowered the gun from
Taofeek’s back and pushed him forward.
Taofeek limped forward towards Zainab who
let the bag of money slip from her hand and
embraced Taofeek tightly. Taofeek placed his
arms around her and tightened the hug.
“I was so scared.” Zainab said.
“You don’t have to be,” Taofeek replied. “I’m
here now and in perfect condition.” A sudden
flow of pain hit the leg that was stabbed and
he grunted. “Well, almost in perfect condition,”
he added with a grin. Zainab chuckled.
“Awwww… So touching.” Mr Dayo said
sarcastically. “I hate to interrupt with this
family reunion but time is a highly priced
factor in this transaction.”
Zainab didn’t need to be told what Mr Dayo
was talking about. She disengaged from
Taofeek’s hug and picked up the bag. She
walked forward and dropped it at their front
the turned to leave. She let Taofeek place his
left arm around her shoulder to aid his
walking.
They were almost at the door when Mr Dayo
stopped them. “I’m sorry, but my partner here,
seems to doubt how you were able to raise ten
million naira in one night without any bank
opened.”
Zainab froze in her tracks. Her hearts started
beating so fast and loud she feared the
kidnappers could hear it. She took a deep
breath and turned. “I’ve got friends who have
friends that have friends.” Zainab said, trying
to keep her voice leveled.
“That’s what I said to him but he insists we at
least, count the amount in this bag.” Mr Dayo
replied. “So kindly do us a favors and take a
sit somewhere around while we quickly count
it.”
Zainab knew she was doomed. The one million
covered just two layers of the bag’s content.
The remaining three layers below were nothing
but outdated newspapers.
She sat down slowly, and Taofeek sat down
beside her. Her mind was racing. If only Henry
hadn’t suggested such a stupid idea, she
thought.

**********@@@@@***********

It was easy for John to locate Jummy’s house
since he had paid a visit a couple of times.
He parked his beat up beatle at the front of
the building and called her. She came out few
minutes later and joined him in the car.
It felt strange seeing her twice the same night
considering how the first time went but he
somehow composed himself and tried to
sound as casual as he could. “So what’s up?”
He asked
Jummy went ahead to tell him everything
Zainab had told her and then rounded up with
“I can’t just stay at home and do nothing. But
I don’t know what other option I have.”
John sighed and for the next minute he was
quite and stiff, like he was in a trance or
something then he replied. “Firstly, we would
be taking your car since its faster and you
might not like what my idea is, but here is
what we are going to do…”

**********@@@@@**********

Henry was worried. Zainab had been gone for
ten minutes now and she hadn’t shown up.
He paced endlessly round the church
auditorium and the walked down to the
complex. He glanced round the building and it
was obvious where they were because only
one source of light happened to be switched
on.
He decided to wait another five minutes before
walking in. Five minutes came and went within
the snap of a finger and Henry did the sign of
the cross and walked into the complex.
He traced the light to the middle floor and
when he got there, he first peeped through the
window and could get a clear view of what
was happening. He s₱0tted two masked men
going through the bag at few meters from
Zainab and Taofeek who sat on a chair.
Taofeek seemed obviously injured and weak,
he looked like he would pass out any moment
from now. While Zainab looked straight at the
the kidnappers as if she was hoping for bullets
to come out of her eyes and shoot them.
There was no way Henry was to enter without
the kidnappers noticing him so he had to
think of some other way…. Fast.
He finally decided it was time to call the
police, so he tip toed out of the building and
placed a call to his friend in the police who
was a DPO and the friend said they were on
their way. So one thing was certain… Back up
was coming, but what use would the back up
be if they were all dead before it arrived.
There wasn’t much time left and Henry knew
this. He had to do something. He climbed
back to the middle floor and tried to get
Zainab’s attention from the window.
He made funny sounds like a bird and after a
few seconds, Zainab turned to look at the
mirror.
He mouthed, “can you sneak out without them
seeing you?”
Zainab looked at the kidnappers and was sure
she could since they were too engrossed in the
counting of the money, but by the time she
looked down at Taofeek, he was at the verge of
passing out. There was no way she could
carry him out without making a lot of noise.
“No” she mouthed back to Henry then
explained why.
Henry knew they only was was a distraction.
He mouthed a plan to Zainab and she didn’t
agree to it saying it was risky but he went
ahead with it anyway.
He left the window and ran past the front door
at the speed of lightening. Mr Dayo saw him
run past the door and instructed Mr K to go
and deal with him. He looked up at Zainab
and said, “at least I warned your friend first.”
Then he continued counting the money.
Zainab picked up a hymn book that was
beside the chair and threw it outside the
window.
Mr Dayo was startled. For the first time that
night, he brought out his gun and c*cked it. If
you want something done properly, you got to
do it yourself.” With that, he warned Zainab to
stay where she was and he went after the
supposed Henry.
As soon as she was sure she was alone,
Zainab tapped Taofeek until she got his
attention and helped him up and they both
headed downstairs: out of the complex.
As soon as she got out, she started heading
for the car and suddenly, she heard footsteps
running towards her from behind.
“And where do you think you are going to?” Mr
K, who was supposed to be chasing Henry
asked.
Zainab paused and stood still.
“You see, unlike my partner, I don’t give a f–k
about you and I suggested we kill you both
but he kept on talking trash. Now, who is
going to save you?”
Mr K c*cked the gun and Zainab knew it was
game over for her and her brother. Two
‘BANGS!!!’ From the gun and they would both
be history. Without turning to face Mr K, she
braced herself for the inevitable.
And then it happened; BANG!!!
The trigger was pulled.

**********@@@@@**********

Henry hadn’t been in the church complex
before but he navigated round it with ease.
It was a four story building with two big halls
and several offices on each floor. The halls
were obviously for special occasions such as
weddings while the offices were for workers in
the church, although most of the offices were
empty. Each hall had four doors; one at each
wing.
Henry was a sharp minded fellow, so it was
easy for him to understand the structure of the
building.
He had no weapon and at this point, he was
sure only one person was chasing him. As he
ran to the third floor he picked up a plank
that seemed to be the broken leg of one of the
chairs in the building and he stood behind a
pillar, waiting for the person chasing him to
come closer so he could hit him with the
stick… Or at least, that was the plan.
Mr Dayo, who was now on Henry trail saw him
when he slipped behind the pillar and smiled
at how stupid Henry was to think he wouldn’t
be seen.
He tip toed closer and then jumped right at
the front of Henry with the gun placed directly
at his front. He was about to wave the plank
as planned but Mr Dayo warned him “I
wouldn’t do that if I was you.” He said.
Henry dropped the plank and rose his hands
as a signed of surrender.
“Wise choice young man, but you are to late.”
Mr Dayo was about to squeeze the trigger
when he heard a BANG!!! Somewhere in the
church premises and he was startled.
In one quick movement, Henry hit Mr Dayo on
his wrist so hærd he almost let the gun slip,
then without a second to spare, he use his
other hand to snap the gun out of Mr Dayo’s
hand and just like in an action movie, the
table were turned and the odds now favored
Henry as he was now pointing the gun at Mr
Dayo.
“Don’t shoot… Please… Don’t shoot, I have-”
Mr Dayo babbled but Henry didn’t even have
plans of shooting him in the first place, he
spinned the gun on hit Mr Dayo’s head with
the butt of the gun. He passed out
immediately.
Henry was certain Mr Dayo won’t be a
problem anymore for the night.
He left the body there and ran towards where
he heard the gunshot, hoping the worst hadn’t
happened.

**********@@@@@*********

Zainab had once read in a book that the bullet
of a gun is so fast that you would be dead
even before you hear the BANG!!! Sound that
follows.
She heard the bang sound and which only
meant one thing, she was still alive but she
couldn’t say the same about Taofeek. Her eyes
were closed tightly and for some reasons, she
couldn’t open them.
She patiently waited for the second bang
which came almost immediately but she heard
a male voice grunt and heard someone fall
down, but she didn’t as much feel a scratch.
Two bangs heard and she was still alive? She
opened her eyes immediately only to turn and
see everyone… Or almost everyone was around.
In a split second, Zainab tried to absorb all
that was going on around her. Jummy stood
at a distance with her mouth wide opened in
shock. Henry was on motion, running towards
the mini crowd. John was directed at he front
and his eyes were focused on Jummy. Samuel
was holding a gun in his right hand and
smoke emitted from the mouth which could
only mean it was just shot and finally, Mr K
was still standing where he was earlier with
his gun smoking too and a h0le in his head.
She heard two bangs, and can see two
smoking guns and just one gun h0le in Mr K
head, where did the second bullet go? She
wondered.
As just as an answer to her question, John
slopped right in front of her.
Jummy scre-med and ran towards John. She
knelt down beside him crying furiously.
“John please stay with me… Somebody help!!”
Jummy yelled, using her statements to
punctuate her tears.
John wh0le cloth was soaked with blood
already and seemed to be loosing more blood
than his body could handle.
“Jummy…” He tried to say as he coughed out
blood.
“Shhhhh!!! Don’t say anything.” Jummy
replied.
“Jummy!” He said a little louder. It was
obviously he was struggling to talk.
“Shhhhh!!!”
“I Love you.” He finally said.
“I love you too.” Jummy replied.
A light smile formed on John’s face and he
closed his eyes shut… Only a drop of tear
escaped.
Jummy went hysteric. She wailed so loud the
occup-nts of houses two streets away woke up
from their sleep.
Zainab finally understood all that had
happened. Probably Jummy called John who
then called his only friend with military
knowledge – Samuel.
Just as Mr K pulled the trigger, John had
selflessly jumped in to take the bullet for
Zainab and in response, Samuel had shot Mr
K.
Zainab was speechless.

**********@@@@@**********

Taofeek who now had a little energy placed
his arms on Jummy shoulder and lifted her
up. He gave her a warm hug.
Henry and Samuel ran towards John’s body.
Samuel ripped out John’s shirt and saw the
bullet had pierced the right chest- very close
to the shoulder. He placed his ears on John’s
chest and with a beam of joy he looked
straight at Henry and said “he is still alive.”
Just then, the sharp sound of the police siren
could be heard and in a few minutes, John
was placed in one of the police trucks and
driven to the nearest hospital with two police
esc-rts and Jummy beside him.
Henry told his DPO friend the where about of
Mr Dayo and then told him the wh0le story.
He then walked to a slab near by and sat
down, reflecting on the events of the day.
Zainab s₱0tted Henry and to sit beside him.
For several minutes, they both said nothing
until Henry broke  the silence. “I guess this is
the best date I’ve ever been to.”
Zainab giggled. “Do you always joke about
everything?” She asked the question the
second time that night.
Henry looked straight in her eyes and said
“no.” Then he leaned forward and k-ssed her
lightly. “That wasn’t a joke,” he said.
Zainab smiled. “That was errr…” She searched
for words, “serious.” She finally said.
“So do you want me to stop joking around?”
He asked.
Zainab just grinned in response.

THE END. 

Thanks for reading, pls do well to comment below.

⬅️ PREVIOUS episode