In Murky Waters – Episode 1 (A rom-nce Story)

In Murky Waters – Episode 1
© 2018 Kayode Odusanya
The girl coughed a few times, and Frank turned around to look at her, Unclad under the sheets. Her bronze complexion shone under the white lights of the room; slim wa-ist, wide h¡ps, and big round butt. She told him she was 24, and when he told her his age, she didn’t even flinch. It was a rule of his never to go below 25, but with this girl, he had to make the exception. Apart from having a great body, her personality was so appealing to him. She reminded him of his ex wife earlier on in their relationsh¡p.
Never had he thought he and Esther wouldn’t work. They had been so much in love for years, but things changed after the marriage, and Esther’s family members started getting in her ear. It had gotten worse when Frank had started losing weight all of a sudden, and rumors started making rounds that he had gotten infected with the deadly virus. He had gone from having a 6 ft 2 athletic body, to an unattractive lanky stature that clothes looked horrible on. Esther didn’t care at first, but the freaking bloggers wouldn’t let the story die. People around her started asking about it was all the time, and she ended up losing her banking job over it.
Money from his writing wasn’t coming in abundantly at the time, and things got pretty hærd. Esther finally decided to go for a test, and when she found out she was negative, she left him; five years of marriage gone. They didn’t even have a kid together. Even when he finally went for a full medical checkup and found out he was also negative, and that he had lost all that weight because he was diabetic, she still didn’t want him back. He wouldn’t say he was a saint either, as he had had a couple of girls on the side at the peak of his career. Now, he was 41, 4 years after the divorce, and he still hadn’t found love again.
A flash of bright light from the Plasma TV on the wall caught his eye; he robbed his nose bridge a few times and Put his glasses back in place as he focused on the TV. There was news about a terror attack in Paris. A couple of Arabs had gone on a crazy rampage, stabbing and killing multiple people in a park, before they were gunned down by the police. He wondered how the family members of the victims would feel knowing their loved ones had lost their lives. Why do innocent people always have to die this way? He thought to himself.
The girl turned around, and without opening her eyes, she found his arm and put it over her body, making him resume the spooning position. He moved in closer, holding her tightly. She mo-ned silently and went back to sleep. After his divorce, he had sworn not to ever fall in love again. He didn’t ever want to put another woman through what he put Esther through, so he lived a solitary life, and paid for s€× whenever he needed to. Tomorrow morning, the girl in front of him would be gone, and maybe he would never see her again. He felt it was best that way; no one gets hurt, and everyone leaves happy, no strings attached. The way he looked at it, he always got inspired to write a new novel with every new girl he got with, so at least he got something out of his philandering ways.
His phone started to vibrate on the side stool by the bed on his side, and he quickly turned around to get it, not wanting to disturb the girl’s sleep. He scratched his beard as he stared at the caller ID, wondering why his agent would be calling him this late. He sat up in bed before picking. “Hello.” He said into the phone as he sat up in bed.” He said with a low voice.
“I knew you would be awake.” The person on the other end said.
“Why are you calling me this late? It’s…” He was saying then stopped to look at his wristwatch.
“I have a job for you, and you need to get here ASAP!”
“What are you talking about? Where is here?”
“Are you at home?”
“No. I’m…I’m somewhere on the island.”
“Perfect. Please come right now to Federal Palace hotel. Someone wants to meet you.”
“Who?”
“Fatai Mohammed.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“Fatai Lion.”
“What tha…” Frank was saying and lowered his voice before continuing with, “Why does he want to meet me?”
“He wants you to write his biography.”
“What? Can’t you get him someone else to do that?”
“Frank, I can’t tell him no. Just get here as soon as you can.” His agent said and the line went dead.
___
He had heard a lot of scary stories about the Lagos drug kingpin, Fatai Lion. The guy was a small time gangster before politicians picked him up as a thug to be used during elections, and over the years, he elevated himself to a corporate thug. Now, he owned companies here and there legitimately, but he was still someone no one wanted to Bleep with.
Frank had left the fast life a few years ago, to live a quiet life of solitude till he died, now he was about to be drawn back into it…further deeper this time.
His agent, Demola had called him again before he left the hotel room that they had left Federal Palace Hotel, and were now at a club Xcape, drinking at the club’s lounge area downstairs. He was parked outside the club now, with his phone to his ear. A complete ringing session went by and Demola didn’t pick up. For a second, he felt like switching off his phone and going back to his hotel room. He waited a few seconds before dialing again. Demola picked up on the first ring. “What’s up? Where are you?”
“I’m parked outside.”
“Come in. You will see us immediately you walk into the lounge.”
“Umm! Okay.” He said and cut the line. He looked around his car to make sure he didn’t leave anything lying around that might attract thieves, then killed the car engine and stepped out. It was around 1am and there was still a lot of human and vehicular traffic around the pace. There was even a roadside barber setup opposite the road from where he was parked. He found that odd; not only was it weird to him that anyone would want to get a haircut this late, he also didn’t think he would see something like that in a highbrow area like Victoria Island.
He tucked his long sleeve denim shirt properly into his brown khaki p-nts, adjusted his glasses, and walked towards the main gate of the club.
The security guards, about four of them, saluted him as he walked into the club premises. They were dressed in black and heavily built. He nodded and kept walking. It was quite a long walk from the gate to the club building; through a narrow driveway that surely couldn’t take more than a car at a time.
The main club building had glass walls, and he could see the in,side before he walked in. The place was scanty, and he saw Demola seated at a table by the left, talking to a man in white. There was a pool table to the right as he walked in, and he saw three mean looking men hanging around the place; he was sure they weren’t there to play. They all had on white native attire and blue cap, like they had been coming from a wedding. One of them, the biggest one, sized up Frank for a second before looking away. He was the tallest man Frank had seen in real life; tall and buff. He had a nasty scar on his face, running from beneath his right eye to his chin; it looked him he had a half-moon on his face. Frank swallowed saliva as he kept moving.
“Sir, this is Frank.” Frank’s fat and short agent, Demola said as he stood up to welcome Frank to their table. Without smiling, Fatai Lion stood up to shake Frank’s hand. He was also wearing white native attire with a blue cap. Fatai Lion was about Frank’s height, but his build made him appear quite intimidating. Frank didn’t think he needed bodyguards at all.
“Good evening sir.” Frank said with a smile.
“Please call me Fatai. It’s quite an honor to finally meet you in person.” The man said and it threw Frank off. Not only did his English sound polished, he also seemed to know who Frank was. He saw the shock in Frank’s eyes and smiled before saying, “Please take a seat. What would you be taking?”
“I think I’m good with Hennessey and Coke.” Frank replied with his eyes on the table. There was a half empty bottle of Hennessey and two plastic coke bottles on the table.
The man waved the waitress over. “Please bring a new glass cup.” He said with his eyes on the drinks on the table, as if doing some mental calculation. “Also, bring another bottle of Hennessey with a bucket of ice. We are going to be here a while.” He added.
To be continued