In Murky Waters – Episode 7

In Murky Waters – Episode 7

© 2018 Kayode Odusanya

Frank leaned on the veranda, looking down at a quadrangle of open space. There was a standard ping pong table below with two amateurs female players trying their hand at the spot, and laughing every time either one of them played wrongly. Beside them was a more serious looking duo behind a large screen TV, playing video games. Frank focused on them for a while trying to guess how long they had been sitting there from how they sank low in their seats.

He finally got tired of the scenery below and turned around to face the cinema entrance. It was busy as usual for a Friday; people coming and going- some loitering, others taking pictures, and some others waiting for their movies to start before going in.

Then he saw her; a light skin goddess in red. Her lips looked so kissable with the right amount of lipstick on them. She caught him staring, smiled and started a slow catwalk towards him. Her red pumps, making a click clacking sound…the only sound Frank could here as she approached him. He searched his memory bank, trying to figure out how he knew her, but he came up with nothing. When she was inches away from him, she placed her hands flat on his chest, leaned in and gave him a kiss. And then she leaned in even more and whispered in his ear, “You should run.” `As she pulled away, he smelt her fresh minty breath again, and her smooth, supple cheeks brushed his. He watched her sashay away to his right as he thought of what she had said. Then from the corner of his eye, he saw three men in black suit walking towards him. When he turned to face them, he saw them cocking the AK47 rifles in their hands. He tried to run, but it was too late. The first set of bullets hit his chest, making him do the Harlem shake dance backwards, before going over the railing. His glasses flew off his face, and a few more bullets hit his lower region as he started his decent down to the quadrangle. His hands and legs going here and there like a puppet on a string as he fell. The white native attire he had on was all bloodied up.

As soon as his body hit and shattered the ping pong table, he woke up in cold sweats; his heart beat irregular. It was a dream but it felt so real. He was still gathering his thoughts when his phone rang and startled him. Caller ID showed it was Fatai Lion. His heart beat went up again. He took a few deep breaths before picking up and saying “Hello” in a raspy voice.

“Hey Frank. Sorry for calling this early.”

“No problem. You’re the boss.” Frank said with a little laugh at the end.

Fatai cleared his throat for a few seconds before saying, “So, the thing is, Pascal wants us to go to the police station this morning.”

“Oh.”

“It’s better we clear the mess early before they start looking for us.”

“Good idea.”

“So i called because a different car is coming to pick up.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah, you know the ride you normally move in was totaled yesterday.”

“Yeah.”

“So, Frank, expect a black Toyota Highlander by your house at 7 am sharp.”

“Okay.” Frank answered and grabbed his glasses by the nightstand. He looked up at the white wall clock on the wall in front of him; time was 5:45.

“See you soon Frank.”

“Okay boss.” Frank said and Fatai laughed lightly before the line went dead.

___

Just as Fatai said, the black Highlander was outside his apartment by 7am. Frank was officially dressed and ready, with his back suit, white shirt, but no tie this time. The first few minutes of the ride had him and the driver talking about yesterday’s encounter, and then the car became quiet. The silence got Frank paranoid. Kiki had been so calm about the whole thing yesterday, but he didn’t know if he would be able to keep his calm around Fatai any longer. Even if his change in demeanor could be ruled as effects of post-traumatic stress disorder from yesterday’s incidence, what would happen if Fatai Lion remembers to ask him again how he knew Kiki; what would he say then. He wasn’t a good liar and wished the question of how he knew Kiki never came up again.

Traffic was light, and the SUV was driving at top speed. Frank guessed the driver was following instructions given to him by Pascal or Fatai. It was weird not being in the convoy; he always felt safer. Frank, relax. A voice in his head said, and he sighed. He looked out the window and admired the greenery on the median strip. The other side of the road had heavy traffic, and as usual, cars were impatiently trying to form a new lane. The duality of the two roads made Frank think of how life was; the rich and the poor; the poor live in a crowded world, and the rich are few, just like the number of cars on his side of the road. With how imbalance it seemed, it was totally balanced. There can’t be a world with many rich and a little poor. Even America has 20% of its population controlling more than 90% of its wealth. Frank was on his way to the other side; the rich side, but he felt like Kiki might have messed that all up.

As much as he liked her, and wished he could be with her for the rest of his life; she was a forbidden fruit he had eaten, which he didn’t think was wise to continue eating. If they were characters in one of his books, they would have run off to a foreign land to live happily ever after. But this was the real world, not fantasy. In real life, things don’t usually go the way you want. In the real world, you always pay for your actions.

He had been so deep in thought and hadn’t noticed that they had gone off the main road, and were going through the quiet GRA area of Ikeja. Frank wanted to ask why they had gone off course, but thought the driver was trying to beat traffic. But there is no traffic on this side of the road, Frank thought to himself.

When they slowed down on a quiet street, his heart beat quickened. Henry turned around to say something about Fatai wanting them to meet at one of his homes for a quick rundown of assassination attempt before they head over to the police station. Frank nodded, trying to hide the mini panic attack he was having. He took a few deep breaths as Henry properly parked beside a beige colored wall. The pinging sound cars makes when a door opens sounded louder than usual as Henry opened his door. Frank said a short prayer before getting out of the car. His paranoia was getting the best of him.

To be continued

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