Dining in hades (final chapter)

Written by @majeedsalako
49
I woke up disoriented. I had agreed with Yvette that going home was not the best option, now that there was a big chance of sorting the issue with Pope out, it was best that I kept a low profile. However as I stared down at Yvette’s head where it lay on my exposed chest, I began to question the outcome of the whole plan, her plan.  I admit that more than once before this whole thing went down, it had occurred to me that she would make a good life partner; if I ever decided to settle for one that is. Now that she was forcing my hand however, I saw things differently; yes the soft spot was still there but she wasn’t the docile, malleable and polished girl I thought she was. This was a hard, cold and calculating woman and I had no doubt if I messed up, it would be the death of me as she had promised, my biggest fear however was not the part involving other women, yes there was a big chance I would stray at some point, after all, she was talking about marriage and kids, a whole life time, but then I am very sure I can cover my tracks without any issues. My biggest fear was what could happen if she felt I let her down at any point, doing any of the million things that one could and would do during a life time. I was sure her threat would not only be limited to “women” at that point. Or what if she got bored with me? Yes she could let me go but then again she could kill me. It was at this point that it occurred to me that if I killed her first and I had access to all the money; then it would be a win-win situation for me. I toyed with the idea for a while and then smiled ruefully as I discarded it. I was many things but a killer wasn’t one of those things.

“Hey baby.”she stretched as she looked up at me, I had to admit getting married to Yvette was not a totally bad idea but certainly not under these circumstances and not at this point in my life. It was difficult to believe this woman could kill me, but after talking to Yvette the night before, I knew she was capable of things I couldn’t even begin to fathom.

“You want some coffee?” she had sat up in a lotus position after pecking me on the cheek.

“Yes please, and good morning.” Coffee was not a bad idea, I really needed to think and this required a clear head.

I smelt the coffee way before it got to me and I was ready with my first idea by the time she handed the mug to me.

“Hey babe.”

“Hmmmm” she responded as she carefully sipped her coffee.

“This whole thing yeah?  How about we pay off everyone and stay here in Nigeria, make a honest living. We could pool our resources together you know, our ideas too. I’m sure together we could make it big in no time. And then we could get married, have the biggest society wedding ever.” I finished with a flourish.

Her smile told me she wasn’t buying it, it didn’t get to her eyes.

“Faruk, you and I know it could never work, first off, there isn’t enough money to do this, what with the ridiculous profit we promised Pope? We are paying it out of the pool remember?”

“Yes I do but we could come up with that portion, with my money and the of the money, we could also delay paying one or two of the others. Pope is about the most dangerous of them.”

“And Chief Jacob?”

“I am sure we can find a way around that babe.”

“You think I’m not that important to him? That because I am not his wife, it won’t matter to him that I am now with you? Okay assuming you were right about that, you think he’ll let me stay with you and still let you keep the money as well? Use your head Faruk.” The hardness returned to her voice and her eyes.

“Let’s think some more about this babe, I’m sure we could come up with some plan that doesn’t involve us eloping.”

“Eloping? You selfish bastard” she spat, “you really want me to help you think up a plan, to help you escape from getting married to me. Faruk, you really are lucky I feel this way about you and that I know that somewhere in your selfish mind you actually do love me otherwise, I’d disappear with the money and leave you to face whatever Pope has to dish out.”

“Babe…”

She silenced me by raising her hand “If you push this any further, I will leave with the money, all of it, without a trace. Trust me it won’t be so hard. I will get over you and I will live that good life. All I need is to have Florence with me, after all we have taken on life alone before now, we haven’t done badly and I’m sure we can do it again and better with this kind of money.”

I had no doubt Yvette was capable of carrying out this threat, she had me right where she wanted me. I saw no other way out. I sipped my coffee, it was bitter. I dropped my mug on the bedside stool and reached out for Yvette with a smile. She hesitated and then dropped her mug before spinning around and dropping into my arms.

“Let’s do this babe.” I told her.

We will pay the ransom, I will speak to my mum before I leave the country, I will tell her I am leaving as it is the only way to save her life. I will tell her I will be back someday. And yes I will be back some day, on my own terms. I have to come back here , I have to get where I have always planned to be because this is not how my story ends.
The end.
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Dining in hades (chapter 47&48)

Written by @majeedsalako
Ff us on Instagram @talesofhearts for more stories.

Chapter 47

I woke up with a start, I couldn’t believe I had slept off and I frantically peered at my wristwatch, fortunately I had been sleeping for about twenty minutes. I was disoriented, I had not decided on my next move. I had to act fast but what was I to do. My phone was still ringing; it was its insistent ringing that had woken me. I sat up, it was Yvette; I still was deeply confused. What if this was a further set up? My phone battery was getting low; everything was working against me. I reached for my phone charger, plugged the phone and then dialled Pope’s number, I had no plan yet but first I had to talk to him. I put the phone on speaker so I could talk while changing clothes and picking up other stuff I might need, my power bank, a more comfortable pair of shoes….

Pope took his time answering the call, picking up just when I thought he wouldn’t. His unmistakable voice filtered through the speaker phone. “You have my money already?” I could sense some dry mirth but I was not in the mood for this. I had to get through to this man somehow ; how do I do this? I had no idea. 

“Sir, can I come over?”

“Do you know how to get here?”

“No sir, but …”

“Do you have my money?”

“No sir but…”

“But what Faruk, I thought I made myself clear, my money for your mum, there’s nothing to discuss, no terms to negotiate, nothing. When I see you , if you have my money, you go with your mum, I am a business man Faruk, not an assassin. If however I do not see my money when your time is up, well you’ll be dead, good news however, is that your mum gets to live. Unless you refuse to show up; then she dies, and your demise follows shortly. Trust me I have my ways.” He hung up. Dead end there, time was running out, my phone wouldn’t stop ringing; dad, Frances, Yvette, Alhaji Bukar, the police boss; it was insanity, and I felt like smashing the phone against the wall, but common sense prevailed, I needed it, if there was any chance of anything giving, it would come through the phone.

Yvette’s name was flashing again on the screen and finally I picked it up. “Yvette.” I spoke through clenched teeth.

“Faruk” She expelled her breath in relief, “What’s happening Faruk, who has your mum? Talk to me.” I almost believed she didn’t know about this, but common sense dictated otherwise.

“Stop these games Yvette, what more damage can you people do? You have my mum, You have the money and you’re still asking me to refund you guys? It makes absolutely no sense…”

“Exactly Faruk, no sense what so ever, who has your mum, I’ve told you this earlier, did you read my sms? Chief Jacob doesn’t have her…”

“Oh so you’re saying you’re not all in this together”

“What? Faruk; all? What do you mean all, you’re not making  sense babe, who else do you think is involved?”

Babe? She called me babe? I almost choked with anger.

“Don’t act like you don’t know Yvette…”

“You’re not listening to me Faruk, who has your mum? We are running out of time…”

That triggered me; “Oh so you know my time is running out but you say you don’t know who has my mum? Seriously? I am hanging up now Yvette, looks like you have nothing to offer.”

“Faruk, don’t hang up , I have all the money, it’s our money, that’s what I meant by we are running out of time, you need to level with me, who has your mum, what do they want?”

It took a while to register, and even though I didn’t believe her, I was grasping at straws, and if there was a chance no matter how slim… “Pope.” I finally offered, “Pope has my mum.”

I heard her breath catch sharply, it appeared she really didn’t know about this, “Oh chief Jacob didn’t tell you about this part of the plan did he?” I taunted, “Didn’t show you the big picture did he? Only what you needed to know…”

“Faruk, use your head,” her voice was surprisingly firm, “it doesn’t make any sense, “Jacob has no hand in this, he wanted the money, wanted revenge but he is certainly not working with Pope, think about it, he knows there is no way you can come up with that kind of money, so why would he work with someone to kidnap your mom and then ask for money he has already taken from you?” It makes no sense Faruk.”

“Well maybe they need a reason to actually kill me.”

 She made sense but I was not backing down, there had to be a reason, they had to be working together, it was the only connection that made sense.

“Faruk you are not listening and you are not using your head, Pope doesn’t need an excuse to kill you, from what I have heard, he is a mad man. Where are you? We need to meet up, do you still have the address I sent to you? You have to get there, be very discrete, everything depends on discretion Faruk, we can still salvage this.”

“I am at my place, if you want to see me you can come here.” I said stubbornly.

“Faruk you are not listening.” She snapped impatiently, “Everything depends on discretion. Go there, NOW.”

I was silent, I knew there was practically no other way out for now. “Faruk, it is very important you get there right away. Trust me on this Faruk.”

“Okay.”

“And Faruk?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

I almost screamed at her but once again common sense prevailed and I said a quiet “Thank you.” There would be time enough to dispute this “love” much later, if and when this was eventually resolved.

Yvette was still speaking, “You may not understand now Faruk but you will eventually.” She hung up. This time I didn’t flag down a cab, I exercised more discretion, I walked some distance and flagged down a commercial motorcycle; an Okada as it is called, I made sure a couple of them had passed and flagged down one that was at top speed, I took it all the way to the nearest major junction, and then made it circle back, all the time keeping a sharp look out, the cold wind against my face helped clear my head a little bit, it was also much easier to keep a look out as it was getting to the wee hours of the morning and the roads were mostly deserted, still I got off at a junction that I knew had a link street to another major junction and walked the distance till I came to that junction and then flagged down  cab, it was an exhausting exercise really, the only highlight being the cold air stinging my face; making me feel at least alive. It appeared however that there was nobody trailing me, Pope must be certain that I would not attempt to take off now that he had my mum in his custody. I finally made it to my destination without incident, I called Yvette to inform her and she told me to walk straight up to the gate , this was after ascertaining from me that I was not followed. I walked up to the smaller of the two gates and lifted up my hand to rap on it but it slid open before I could knock on it.

At first glance, I almost mistook her for Yvette but she was darker and had a slightly fuller figure, she also had bigger eyeballs. “Hi Faruk,” she said quietly, as she tried to look beyond my shoulder also trying to ascertain that I was not accompanied.

“I’m alone” I assured her and she moved  aside to let me into the compound, she double bolted the gate behind us. She did not say another word till we were in the living room of the small duplex. She motioned me to seat in an overstuffed chair which almost swallowed me up and made me feel really small; “Florence” she offered, “What?” I asked, “My name is Florence.” She spoke really slowly this time.

“Oh, I’m Faruk, I’m sorry, I’m not usually this slow, just some stuff that’s going on…”

“Oh I know all about it, and now seeing you, I can see what she sees in you.”

I gave a weak smile, flattery was not going to lift my mood, not tonight. “You’re her sister, I can tell, the resemblance is striking…”

“Half-sister,” she responded with a smile, “I have my dad’s eyes. We are closer than most siblings who share both parents though; it just the two of us, and we were both raised by our mum only so I guess, those factors affected us. You want a drink?”

“Yes please, something strong.”

The vodka went straight to my head, and I asked for some more; “No Faruk, you need a clear head. There is so much you guys need to sort within the next few hours.”

I nodded solemnly and asked “What exactly is going on Florence?”

“You don’t know?” she feigned surprise , I thought your life was just thrown upside down. I could sense she was trying to cheer me up, but the humour was totally lost on me. I was hoping she could shed some light on the plans Yvette had for me but she was pretending I was talking about the events of the past forty eight hours .

Her phone rang and she looked at it, smiling as she lifted it to her ear, “Sis,” she listened briefly “Yup, he is here, and boy is he a looker?” Yvette must have said something funny because she burst into laughter “Keep your breeches on sister, I know he is yours and I like them older trust me, I don’t make any exceptions.” She stopped talking and a serious look crossed her face as she nodded over and over before speaking again.

“Yup, all sorted, and delivered, how far away are you? Ten minutes? Oh cool, come in from cedar drive, use the other gate, he said no one followed him but caution is key, I’ll be waiting at that gate.”

She hung up and turned to me, the smile was gone, she was all seriousness now, “She’s almost here, I have to go and get her. Stay here Faruk.”

Chapter 48

I stood up and sat down at least twice before Yvette walked in. I was standing when she finally did come in. She jumped at me, throwing her arms around my neck; her relief was apparent, and in spite of myself, I held her to myself. It had been less than a week since I saw her but it felt like forever. I had missed her , she after all had been a source of constant balance in my life and it had been a while since there had been any balance in my life.

“Baby, I’m so sorry, I really am,” She was planting kisses all over my face; “Have you had something to eat? Did Florence treat you well? I came as fast as I could. Come, sit down, we have to talk.” I took my seat once again, and she walked towards the mini bar, “I am getting a drink, I’ll get you one too, you need it.”

She walked back towards me, and handed me a large vodka, no ice no chaser nothing, the smile was gone. For lack of an appropriate ice breaker I asked where her sister was; “She’s gone Faruk.” She dragged a side stool and sat right opposite me before she spoke again.

“She had to leave, her safety is very key, I don’t want to risk more lives than necessary.”

“But you risked my mum’s.” The anger was building up again.

She raised a finger indicating that I be quiet, I had never seen Yvette this way, so hard, so in control, yet it was still her that sat opposite me, the Yvette, my Yvette. I shut my mouth but my scowl at least remained in place to show my displeasure.

“Faruk, it’s dangerous people we are dealing with here and they’d kill us all if they could without batting an eye lid; your mum, your dad, Florence, you, me. The only thing we’ve got going for us is that the love of money is more important to them than the thirst for human life. This is the only leverage we’ve got right now. Now I need you to tell me how Pope got your mum and what he’s asking for. Of course I know it’s money but how much?”

“He wants all his money and the profit he was supposed to make Yvette, you know there is no way I can raise this kind of money.”

She looked thoughtful as she spoke “Faruk, we do have the money.”

“Where and how? Chief Jacob and yourself wiped everything off.”

“Yes we did and no we didn’t, when he told me his plan and what my cut was, I was all for it and you were really just a mark but that first time I told you I loved you, I really meant it, I crossed a line I’ve never crossed all my life. I’ve always been a chess piece on the chess board of life, this body and face never really gave me much of a choice. First time I did a job, it was for my uncle, my mum found out because I had so much money and I was uncontrollable. I was drunk one night and I bragged about what I did to get the money, she called me a prostitute, I told her I was bigger than that, I was a con artist , she killed my uncle the following day, she’s never coming out of jail. That was another life; that was America. This life, the jobs, this is why we came back home Florence and I. It was either that or we joined mum in jail for some jobs we later pulled off.”

She took her drink in two big gulps before speaking again. “Our first con job was chief Jacob, we pulled it off successfully and took off, next time he saw me was at a party, I tried to take off, but he was all cool and stuff, he sat me down and told me he’d been looking for us, not to get his money back apparently, but so we could do business together. His proposition made sense and I opted for it, Florence opted out, one; because she had found some other gig that was paying off and two because she didn’t think it was wise to put all our eggs in one basket. I agreed with her. This is how my thing with Jacob began. He sent me to a finishing school first, I had to be polished to be able to really get at the kind of people he was targeting, he was not planning to run scams in the sense that I understood it,  what he needed was information and the power to be able to undermine people who are in the same business as he is. I am free to make as much money as I can from this scheme but what he needs is paramount. This has so far worked well Faruk but then he set me onto you and by God I fell for you and I fell hard. I wanted to you to myself but you were such a dic head that you couldn’t see this. But it paid off because things probably wouldn’t  have turned out this way.”

“What way?” I asked “Nothing is working out as far as I can see. Things are absolutely fucked up from where I am sitting.”

“No they worked out, we have more money than we can ever spend and we certainly can grow it. What we can do with this money is limitless.”

“How are we supposed to get it back from Chief Jacob? He certainly doesn’t strike me as someone who is stupid enough to give you his account details like I did, after all he is a master at this game you guys are playing.”

“No he isn’t but I set plans in motion the moment I realized I had to have you . But I had to make sure that I could get you. That you loved me. She sighed, “Why is it difficult for you to show love baby, all you see is the money.”

“Well I could say the same about you Yvette, this is why we met remember?”

“Would you have given us a shot if you didn’t think I had money to throw around? Contacts to make available…?”

“Would you have given us a shot if I wasn’t a mark?”

“Probably not Faruk, you would have just been that playboy to me. Look we’re past all that now, we have each other and our whole lives ahead of us, we’re still young, let’s leave all these old people behind, let’s make magic.”

“Look Yvette, I think it’s a beautiful dream and all but we have real problems here. You have told me it will be sorted but you have said nothing concrete. If there is a plan here let’s discuss it, we can dream all you want later.”

“Shut up Faruk,” her voice was calm, cold even; “I am your only chance here I am in control from here on. I didn’t choose to love you but here  we are. I have tried to be detached, believe me I have because trust me you are sometimes the worst kind of asshole. You really thought flaunting all you affairs or whatever you chose to call them would not get to me? How stupid are you?”

“Babe…”

“I’m not done Faruk, I need to get it out, all of these have been bottled up for too long. I tried to love you, hoped you would see it, I hoped I could simply save you from this mess, tell you about it, get you to leave the country with me. But if I had told you, you would have felt it was some stupid fairy godmother somewhere saving you ass as usual, you would have felt untouchable and you would have moved on for me. So it eventually came to me and so I improvised, stick with the plan, take the money from you, and then when you’ve seen what could really happen to you, I’d show you I was your only choice, your only way out. Then when every other thing falls in place, take the money from Chief Jacobs as well, I would have let this play along a bit further so you could really see it, the big picture. Fate has however sped things up. Fortunately the rest of the plan is just a few clicks away.”

I took a long swig, I was still confused, still not sure how this would work, I knew now from what had happened to me that she could take the money from Jacob just like that but then what? Chief Jacob was no small fry, I was certain he mess us up in a dozen ways without losing sleep. Yvette certainly had to be just one of his pawns and I wasn’t sure what other forms the other pawns could come in but I was not ready to find out. Not again.

“You’re scared?” she didn’t wait for my response; “Good, you should be, but not of Chief Jacob,or Pope, or any of these other old idiots, your greatest fear from here on should be me. I’m taking over from here on, and if you mess up just once, just once Faruk, I swear it will be the death of you. And yes I am talking about women. You and I were in this for the money and from here on, that will not be a problem. I will take care of it. It is our money, we have worked for it, me more than you but it is still our money we will have equal access to it. I will be the best wife ever to you, the best mother for our kids…”

“Wife?” I spluttered, she had said this at the exact moment I took another swig. I was drinking from the bottle now.

“Yes wife, you think I’m taking the biggest risk of my life just so we can date? Faruk really how stupid are you? I knew there was no way you would agree to get married to me, hell to anyone in the next ten years. Not because you did not know somewhere inside that I was the one for you but because you were blinded by money, power and  influence but all you have made plans for is the money. There is more to life than that Faruk and it took me knowing you to see this. That’s all I want now and if I this is the only way I can make it happen, I’m sorry but then so be it. I’m sure you’ll come around to seeing it my way.”

“Can we sort out my mum first Yvette? We can discuss this later please.”

“There is nothing else to discuss Faruk,we will sort her out but only when we are about  to leave, we are running out of time,so we need to move fast.”

“Leave? Where to? You haven’t told me everything here.”

“I’ve picked a South American Island, your documents are ready, we will transfer the money at the airport. If we don’t leave immediately, every other idiot involved in this will see kidnapping your mum as the way out.”

“Here call Pope and tell him, he’ll have his money by the deadline.” She handed me my phone.
To be continued....

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Dining in hades chapter 45&46

Written by @majeedsalako
Chapter 45
I should have been paying more attention I guess but with so much on my mind, who could blame me. It also did not help that I really did not know how to locate the address Yvette had texted to me, I however was very aware of the moment the cab screeched to a halt. Before I could not even ask what was going on the door beside me was pulled open. It all happened so fast. It was dark but from a nearby street light, I could see the man's face, physically he and my man Friday could pass for twins however this fellow had a long scar running all the way across his face, from his left cheek, across his nose, passing just under his eye and ending somewhere past his hairline. All in all, his face was not a pleasant sight to behold and I made a mad scramble for the door handle although I doubt I would have made it,  half frozen with fear as I was. My feeble attempt at escape was halted when I felt a gun poke me in the ribs.

I've read and heard people say that a gun muzzle is cold against the skin. I've always felt that a gun muzzle would be at room temperature, or hot if has recently been used. When a gun muzzle poked in the ribs, I didn't feel its temperature, I did not feel anything, well I felt the initial poke but that was it. My body felt numb, completely numb and I felt lightheaded and I did not need "Scarface" to tell me not to move. I let go of the door handle and sat back when he told me "Relax, the boss needs you alive but he did not say I should not demobilize you." His stinky breath fanned my face, I felt myself throw up in my mouth, but it was not from the bad breath, the fear I felt was that intense. This man looked like he would have no qualms killing me, now or later.

"How far?" he hailed the "cab driver"

''I dey" he looked over his shoulder to smile at his partner before he continued speaking "Jackson lost him at Babalola so he called me, I was waiting to give him a ride." He burst into raucous laughter. Something he said must have been funny to him because neither Scarface nor I joined in the laughter. Scarface leaned towards me and I flinched as the gun poked me even harder in the ribs. Scarface was reaching for his phone with his free hand, the phone seemed to be caught in something which was also in his pocket but he was finally able to extract it. He punched buttons on it, he was confident that I was going nowhere, and I realized making a scramble for it at this point was a very stupid idea.

''I'm with him boss." he said and then listened for a bit before he spoke again.

"Yes boss, he is fine, no fight nothing, Musa is at the other location and they will meet up with us as soon as the asset is acquired."

I wondered what this “asset” was but I had more pressing problems.

"Yes sir, hold on for him." Scarface handed the phone over to me.

"Hello sir" I had a very good idea who I was talking to already and I was right, it was Pope.

"Faruk, what's your plan?” Pope sounded businesslike, bored even, but I was not fooled.  I tried to come up with something but all I succeeded in doing was mumble.

“Speak up Faruk, be a man, you weren’t mumbling when you were telling me all about the money we were going to make from this contract, so why are you mumbling now?”

“Sir, I am working on…”

“Ahhh spare me all of that Faruk. You were planning to leave the country Faruk. With my money? Really that was your plan?”

Yvette had screwed me one more time it appeared. How stupid could I be I questioned myself? Was she working for Pope as well?

“Faruk” Pope brought me back to the present “I’m always a step ahead of you believe me. You really think I got here by just sitting around and getting screwed by little idiots like you. You’ll give me what is mine Faruk.”

“I’ll get your money sir.”

“Oh yes you will, believe me, I am working on something, and it will help you get my money trust me. Just get your ass over here.”

It was not as though I had a choice. I mumbled a subdued “Yes sir.” And handed the phone over to Scarface. He spoke for a bit and got excited at some point as he said, “Oh that’s good boss, that asset is very key sir, so do we let go of him?” He looked at me as he said this and I felt a glimmer of hope, stupid optimism yes but I was already grasping at straws. “Oh okay boss, we’ll be with you shortly.” I guessed I was not going anywhere anytime soon.  The drive continued and surprisingly I became a lot calmer than when we were first joined by Scarface. I began  to think about what this asset was that would make Pope consider letting go of me but I could come up with nothing so we rode in silence for a while. Then Scarface spoke  “Chief, you dey watch American film shey?” I wondered where he was going with this, I also assumed it was a rhetorical question so I said nothing, he was not bothered by my silence at all as he continued “Na here we go cover your face.” I tried to place his accent, the pidgin he spoke was generic and I needed an accent to place him geographically. Why I needed to categorize him by tribe, I do not know, probably it was just an exercise to keep me from dwelling too much on what was happening to me and the fact that I had no control over it. He produced a small black sack, about the size of a pillowcase and then prodded me in the ribs with the gun. I needed no further prompting. The last I saw of the drive was our ascension of the third mainland bridge.

“Open up Abass, we’re at the gate.” He was on the phone again, the car slowed down and I heard gates being pushed open. We were at our destination.  I reached for the covering on my head, Scarface hit my wrist with the gun barrel; “Keep it on until I tell you to remove it.”he hissed. So I sat still. I heard him open the door on his side and get out, then he came around to my side and pulled the door open, he proceeded to lead the way, I could not see anything and Scarface for some sadistic reason would not tell me when to lift my legs higher to avoid stumping my feet, when to brace for a step down or when to duck to avoid hitting my head. I was led through several doors and finally the covering was pulled off.  I took in my surroundings, the room was sparsely but tastefully furnished , it had an un-lived in feel to it.

“Have a seat, the boss will be with you shortly.” He was in the company of two other thugs, my man Friday was one of them, he had somehow gotten here before us and he looked particularly angry with me.

“Do you want something to eat or drink?” Was he kidding? Scarface appeared to be the leader of this three as he did all the talking. He stood there apparently waiting for a response and so I told him no and that I was fine. He found that funny and his friends joined in the laughter.

“Okay,” he said when they were done laughing “make yourself comfortable, the boss will be with you shortly.” They filed out of the room, they didn’t pull the door shut behind and I could see their backs as they walked down a long hall. If I had expected to hear them lock and bolt doors behind them or leave one of them behind to stand guard, I would have been disappointed but the truth is that at this point, I was not expecting anything; I just wanted this nightmare to come to an end.

I sat for a while awaiting the pleasure of my “host” if you could call him that and he did take his time, so I had time to take in my surroundings; leather seats, a center table made primarily of marble, a regular sized television hanging from one of the wall, a large chest with a leather covered top stood in the further most corner and that was it. Certainly not a home, neither was it a love nest, judging from the kind of man Pope was, it was probably where most if not all his shady deals went down. It was probably also where he “skinned” most of those who crossed him. The latter thought made me shudder; I had after all crossed Pope and in the biggest way possible. I sat up straighter and tried to come up with a plan, a story, something, anything. I had nowhere to come up with the money, no plan whatsoever but I had to at least leave here with most of my skin still in place. I had no doubt that Pope’s goon would be allowed to have a go at me even if he would allow me to leave and complete the thirty six hour deadline, I could only hope that they would not tamper with my face, it was after all my greatest asset and if I was even going to come up with anything, not a lot of people would be willing to do business with or throw a lot of cash the way of a gigolo with a battered face; yes I said it, gigolo. It was time to focus on bigger issues and not what name was appended to me. Whatever I had to do at that moment to raise Pope’s money, I was willing to do, in fact, at that very moment it actually did occur to me to make enquiries about anyone who knew voodoo, black magic, whatever you want to call it, and get a witch doctor to make money rituals on my behalf. I quickly discarded the thought; first because I did not believe in it and secondly for the practical reason that I did not think a money ritual no matter how potent could come up with the kind of money I needed and in so short a time. Let us not forget that time was running faster than usual and I had barely twenty four hours to go.

I heard pope long before I saw him, his voice was not raised, it was the same trademark rumble but still it preceded him and I quickly got out of my seat, standing with my head hung and my hands held humbly behind my back. He was on the phone and he casually waved me to take a seat . I did not take the seat indicated, how could I ? I stood till he hung up the phone. He looked at me for a while, his look was unreadable, “Faruk,”he addressed me finally, “take a seat, and take this as a business meeting please. What do I offer you?” Was he kidding? What was it with these people and offering people refreshments? I shook my head mutely in response to his offer..

“Have a seat.” It was not a request or suggestion this time, it was an order. I sat down immediately, on the edge of the seat.

“Your plan was to run away? Leave the country? Really?” he laughed, a short mirthless laughter, I shuddered, making a mental note not to ever trust a woman again.

“Anyway,” he continued without waiting for a response, “like any business, there has to be a motivation for either party to perform and perform to the satisfaction of the other party. In this case we need the kind of motivation that will ensure that you do not abscond. I have her in my possession.” I hid a very secret smile. “His plan is to use Yvette to force my hand” I thought to myself. He would pretend to kidnap Yvette? That was it? How stupid could this people think I was? Not only were they biting me twice, they were doing it in quick succession, all I had to do now was get the hell out of this place and follow dad’s plan. But first, I had to pretend to be truly stricken by the fact that he had kidnapped Yvette.

Pope reached for a remote control on the arm rest of his chair, he switched on the screen; I did not have to pretend to be stricken, I was indeed stricken, almost to the point of a heart attack. Right there on the screen, looking as calm as ever was my mum, her hands were tied in front of her and she was sitting on a lone chair in a bare room. I choked and coughed severally to clear my throat, “Pope, please…” He raised his hand to cut me off, “I’m not planning to kill her, well not unless you do not return with or without my money in…”he paused to check his watch “twenty two hours and twenty eight minutes. If you return with my funds, we are all good, if you return without my funds, I’ll gladly let go of her and take your life, if you do not return at the set time, then you would have killed her your fucking self.” He switched off the screen. “You can go.” It was yet another order and at that exact time, his goons filed in, I stood up to go and Scarface raised the black hood to cover my head once again.

“Faruk,”we both turned to face Pope before the cover came on, “the police can’t help you, the DIG will handle that, no one can help you Faruk, get my money.” The cover came on, I heard pope get on the phone and start another call.

My face was finally uncovered, I felt a murderous rage, it was an alien feeling but I was sure I could have killed Yvette if I laid my eyes on her at that very moment. Now that my mum was involved, everything that had happened prior to this moment seemed like child’s play. I still had no plan but I was already at a point where if all else failed I would walk up to Pope at 6.15pm tomorrow secure mum’s release and get what was coming to me.

 Eventually I was dropped off by Scarface and the “cabman”; they actually dropped me off at my house, and waved goodbye. It was all so surreal. My phone had been ringing, the DIG and Alhaji Bukar would not let off, and neither would my dad. I needed to speak with my dad urgently but I couldn’t speak with him in the presence of Scarface so I waited till I got dropped off. I pulled out my phone  to dial dad, but it rang before I could tap the buttons, it was Yvette; I almost smashed my phone on the concrete side walk that ran past my gates, so angry was I , but I still needed the phone to make calls so I cut the call off mid-ring. I was waiting for dad to take my call when my phone beeped, it was text from Yvette;

“Are you there yet?

Call me.”

I was tempted to respond to the text with a death threat but before I could dad picked up the phone. I took a very deep breath before holding the phone to my left ear.

“Dad.”

“Faruk!”he yelled before I could say anything else. “Where the hell have you been? James said you did not come to him. What did you mean by you’re handling this yourself?” The rest was lost on me, I let him vent and run out of breath before I spoke.

“Dad there is an even bigger problem, I am on my way to you.”

“What bigger problem Faruk, what could be bigger than this, what stupid thing have you done since you left here?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there dad.”

“No you’ll tell me now on the phone or don’t bother coming here, I gave you precise instructions, you refused to follow them and now you’re telling something else has gone wrong, what did you expect you bloody fool?” One again I let him finish before I spoke; “It’s not something I can tell you on the phone dad.”

“Then I don’t want to hear it!” He hung up.

Chapter 46

My phone started ringing almost immediately dad hung up. It was him calling back; “What happened Faruk?”

I thought he just said he didn’t want to hear it, under any other circumstances; I would have laughed or at least found it funny. “Dad, I have to see you to tell you what is going on.” I explained patiently.

“Where exactly are you now?”

“At my place.”

“Doing what?”

“Trying to get a cab to your place dad.”

“Get here right now.”

“Yes sir.”

He had already hung up. I got on the next available cab, I didn’t even bother to scrutinize the driver. What more could happen? Another one of those whose money I had lost would have me kidnapped and trade me for whom exactly? Pope already had mum, I was past caring what happened to me, I just wanted to get mum out of this mess. The ride to dad’s place was uneventful. I took my time walking into his living room; I was in no rush to give him this latest update.

He stood up immediately he saw me, he was on the phone and I assumed from his last words before he hung up that he had been speaking with the person he had instructed me to go and meet then. I sat on the edge of the nearest chair, I needed to be seated to say what I had to say and I needed him to be seated as well. He refused to take a seat; I asked twice before I proceeded to tell him. I didn’t beat around the bush, neither did I sugar coat the situation.

“Dad, Pope has mum.”

He reached out to feel for the seat behind him before falling helplessly into it. Almost immediately he jumped up again, going from weakness into an adrenalin overdrive.

“He told you this? Have you called her? Have you been to her place? When did this happen? When did you get to know about this?”

The questions were tumbling out, he wasn’t waiting for answers, I cut in as soon as I got a chance to speak.

“I saw her dad. I saw her with my own eyes.” I have never before that moment known the kind of sadness that I felt, and I have never felt that kind of sadness afterwards.

“You saw her?” he had an incredulous look on his face; “And you didn’t secure her release? You just came to me? You left her there? How selfish can you be Faruk?”

“Dad there was nothing I could do, he showed her to me on a monitor.”

“And you walked away? Like the selfish little bastard that you are!” He was swinging between extremes; anger, despair, worry. I knew this was all my fault but it was beyond me, it was not a situation I could ever have envisaged and certainly not something I would have embarked on if I had thought it would endanger anyone , especially not my mum. I said as much and he shouted me down. I was getting angry, he was not proffering solutions, my phone kept ringing and I kept muting it, the only person whose call I was tempted to take was Yvette’s. I needed to give her a feel of my rage; impotent rage I agree but she needed to know how angry I was, how much I wanted to hurt her but I had a feeling she would not care.

Dad was firing questions at me, faster than I could answer them and when I did not answer fast enough or satisfactorily, he either shouted at me or insulted me. He certainly was not coming up with any plans, ideas or solutions and he was beginning to get on my nerves with his refrain of how selfish a bastard I was. He also asked me over and over if I had any money tied up in bonds, securities or properties to put up for quick sale so we could attempt to pay Pope off.

“No properties dad, all I had was in this deal, they took everything.”

“You stupid thing, not only are you selfish but you are unbelievably stupid. And in your selfishness and stupidity, you have failed your mother as a son. To think you’re the only one she has. And all you can be is a failure!”

I had had enough, I stood up; “Well she had only one husband and you failed her as well, You at least could have avoided it but you did not. You are an even bigger failure. I guess we both failed her. Think about it dad, I am exactly like you. We both can’t keep it in our pants and this our biggest undoing…” He hit me and my ear rang. I stared him in the face, stared him down. I was done with him at that moment and I made  for the doorway.

“Faruk” I turned to take a last look, he had aged in that one moment, he was a weakened version of himself. I had never seen him this way. I must have unwittingly hit a really sore spot. He had never let on how affected he was by my mum leaving him. I felt sorry for him as he slumped into a chair.

“Faruk,” he called once again, please have a seat, let us find a way out of this. He wouldn’t apologize for slapping me; that certainly was not him. At least there was still a part of him that was “him” . I knew it took him a lot to call me back. Dad was and is still the proudest man I know. I took a seat.

“Get Pope on the phone let me talk to him. How long did he give you again?”

“I have less than twenty hours left dad.”

“And then he kills her?”

“No dad, if I can’t come up with anything, I’ll go to him, he can kill me instead.”

“Use your head Faruk, no one is dying. I think we should call the police at this point. Salim is an old friend; he is an AIG now I should think.”

“Dad you know that won’t work I’m sure, besides, there’s a DIG involved in this already. He also wants my head I’m sure.”

My phone wouldn’t stop ringing.

“Put that damn thing on mute or switch it off Faruk. Lets think.”

I put it on mute, there was another text from Yvette;

“Faruk, you need to pick up the phone,

 I need to speak with you,

 we need to act real fast otherwise all will be lost.”

What else could be lost? I wondered, what more was she planning to take from me? Who else was she working for? My message was short and to the point.

“You people have my mum,

What else do you want?

If anything happens to her,

I’ll have your head.”

“Faruk, is there a solution on that phone? If there isn’t, break the stupid thing and listen to me.” Dad was getting testy again.

I dropped the phone on between my laps and sat forward to listen to him.

“Now you’ll put Pope on the phone. We need to bargain for more time, I’ll give him an undertaking, we’ll put a couple; hell all of my properties up for sale and as we sell them we’ll pay up, I’ll also liquidate some securities and make a down payment as a show of good faith. In fact if there’s any he if particularly interested in, we could transfer them directly to him but first he has to release your mum.”

I was shaking my head way before he finished speaking. I knew he knew this wouldn’t work. Pope was not someone you tried to reason with. He simply wasn’t built that way.

“What? Why are you shaking your head Faruk, we should just leave your mum to die? We should make no attempt to save her. You know what? I think we should go and meet with Pope. Where is he?”

“I don’t know dad.” I was exhausted; it was well past one a.m. already.

“What do you mean you don’t know Faruk, you just left him didn’t you?”

“I was blindfolded dad.” He dropped his head between his shoulders and I felt really sorry for him, after all he truly had no hand in this whole thing.

“Get him on the phone.”

I didn’t argue anymore, I was tired so I reached for the phone. It was blinking, there was another message from Yvette, I would read it later.

“Hello Faruk, you have the money now?” his tone was mocking.

“No sir, my dad would like to speak to you.”

“What?” he laughed, “Well I guess I started it by taking your mum. Well since we are involving parents now, would you like my dad’s number? I guess he is the one your dad should be speaking with. Let the parents deal with this right?”

I remained silent.

“Where is your sense of humour Faruk? Lighten up man, you have nothing to worry about, at least not for the next 18 hours I think. I’m not even sure any more but when the hour cometh I’ll know.”

I still didn’t know what to say so I remained mute.

“Okay okay, I guess you are not in the mood for jokes, put your dad on.”

I could only hear my dad’s side of the conversation but it didn’t take long for me to tell that much progress was not being made.

“Yes it’s chief James here, Faruk’s dad. I’m sure you know me…Oh good…you have my wife…I understand this…”

I kept wondering what was being said on the other end of the phone and I wished I had put the phone on speaker instead.

“It is unfortunate; what has happened…”dad continued “but this is where we find ourselves…Yes a solution is what we are after, I think we need to meet however…okay that’s fine as well…yes I am looking at liquidating some assets…I am sure the most important thing here is getting your money back, not necessarily making an example of Faruk, this is why you are a business man…What?”

He threw his head back in shock; “That’s not enough time to put together this kind of money…yes it probably took you less than that to put up the funds but…72 hours is just three days Pope… Hello, hello, hello!” he looked at the phone screen.

“He’s hung up, Faruk, you have done it this time, Pope is a mad man, in other climes, he would be certified. Three days from today, it can’t be done. It simply can’t, I think you should go home and get some rest, I need to sleep over this and try to think up something else. We have to come up with something, so think up something as well, in fact, you should sleep here, your old room I’m sure should not be too dusty.”

My phone was ringing again, he looked at it and handed it over, it was Yvette again. I cut it off and slumped back in my seat. The unread text message from her was still flashing, I opened it up;

“Faruk, you need to pick up the phone, what are you talking about,

Who has your mum, Jacobs does not have your mum, it was never part of the plan,

He doesn’t need her for anything. You need to talk to me Faruk,

 trust me, I am the only one who can

help you out. Call me immediately.”

I was starting to get confused, could she be telling the truth? Was it possible she didn’t know about this situation with Pope? But she was there when Chief Jacob talked about Pope. Maybe she knew about Pope but didn’t know he would go as far as taking my mum, I was thoroughly confused and exhausted, I dragged myself out of the chair and said good night to my dad. My old room had never felt so comforting, I slumped on the bed, my mind was working overtime, and sleep was the farthest thing from my mind. I had to decide whether I could trust Yvette on this or not and even if I decided to, what was her plan and did it cover the current situation with Pope and my mum?

Dining in Hades Chapter 43&44

Written by @majeedsalako
Chapter 43
My phone rang, it was mum. I sighed, why did he have to involve her in this?

“Hello mum.”

She was frantic and at first I panicked thinking she was calling on an entirely different matter. My mind raced as I wondered what the problem was. I had never heard or seen mum in a state other than calm. She was a bit incoherent and it took a while to piece her words together.

“Mum, this is about Chief Jacob?” I was taken aback by her panic, how bad could this situation be?

“No I am not sleeping with his wife.” I responded to her query.

“I did not snatch his girlfriend mum.” I was getting irritated.

“Just come over to my place now Faruk.”

“Mum…” I took a deep breath clenching my teeth as I did so “I have a very important meeting right now but I’ll be there as soon as I can mum.”

“Faruk” Her voice was laced with steel “cancel that meeting and be at my place in thirty minutes”

“Mum, it’s with the commissioner for housing, I have spent months trying to secure this meeting, I can’t cancel.”

She hung up. I was pissed, very pissed, I had come this far without any help, and farther than they could have envisaged I would without dad’s help. I was in control of my affairs, and I wondered why they couldn’t see this. Why they thought I needed help wiping my butt. Even if I did, why would they think it was them I would come to especially seeing as I hadn’t come to them for help so far?

Yes I was worried about the situation, but after the whole brouhaha put up by both mum and dad, I was more pissed than worried. Thing is I couldn’t see what harm he could really do, most of the jobs I got, I got as a front, rarely did my name appear on documents and even when they did, it was usually in a technical capacity. There was so much he could trace to me. I used to be upset that there wasn’t really a trail that could be used to show my job experience and I kept telling myself that I needed to have more of a presence as regards the contracts and the supply jobs that I performed on. I recently contracted a lawyer to register a proper company in my name so that when the time came, I could build up on it and on the strength of that get jobs. That way I could build my own conglomerate- an even bigger one than dad’s . At this point however, I was glad that things had not been set in motion. There was little or nothing for Chief Jacob to bring down. It was then that a dark thought crossed my mind. What if Chief Jacob having found nothing, decided to get me killed? I dismissed the thought as quickly as it came; it certainly couldn’t be that serious, he was too highly placed to risk everything he had built over a woman; well two women, I told myself, but the thought found a place in the darkest and inner most recesses of my mind and stayed there occasionally rearing its head mostly in the middle of the night. On those nights I would get up and creep around my house, checking to see that all doors were firmly locked.

It took a while but I eventually had to admit that the situation affected me more than I initially thought it would. So I followed the dictates of common sense. I kept a somewhat low profile, avoiding nightlife and any women whom I felt may have the slightest connection with Chief Jacob or any of his associates. I did proper background checks on my marks and avoided any women who hit on me with no prior connections.

Silence . Nothing happened, no one troubled me, none of the contracts I was working on got terminated, no payments were delays. Nothing out of the ordinary happened; Chief Jacob did not take the matter as seriously as mum and dad did apparently. I dropped my guard considerably but I was still careful with the new women I met, I still did my due diligence. It was at about this time that I first saw Frances, at a bank, one of the old generation ones. I had a cheque to cash and I kept telling myself how backward the bank was, how old the tellers were, how the security guards were slouched. I couldn’t wait to get out of the building and then she breezed in. Frances Olanbiwoninu, she wasn’t pretty, neither could she be described as beautiful in the true sense of the word, but she exuded wealth and smelt of money, she also looked like someone who was highly connected. So I tarried in concluding my transaction, making sure I got as close to her as possible, her letter head bore her name and it was my lucky day that one fell out from a sheaf of papers she was holding. I handed it to her and walked out. I had to do a background check first. What I found out surprised yet pleased me. She was definitely moneyed but more importantly she was into younger men.

Truth is, I didn’t get as involved as I thought I would with Frances, yes she was into me, yes she thought I was heaven sent sex wise, yes she threw money my way, but she held back where contacts were concerned. She didn’t want a scandal she said, she was a married woman and irrespective of what went on behind the scenes, she was seen as respectably married and this was not something she was willing to risk losing.

Yvette was another factor, I met her around the same time I met Frances; well seeing as that night at the club was the first time I actually met Frances, I have to say I met them the same day and Yvette even though younger was the one who sprung up the contacts; she was madly in love with me.

.                                                            .                                             .                                   .

My phone rang, it was pope again, I waited till it rang through and then I dialed Yvette’s number once again. I needed her desperately, the adrenaline rush had still not subsided, it was the first time ever I was getting shot at and if this has not happened to you before, I assure you it’s one of the worst feelings ever and it doesn’t feel any better even if you do not get hit by that bullet. That whole thing about your life flashing before your eyes? Well it didn’t happen to me instead I got this constant buzz in my head and this awareness of being alive that I had never felt before; that’s what I felt. I was very aware of being alive, I really don’t know how to explain it but I’ll try to. I felt every nerve, every heartbeat, every single strand of hair, the hardness of each of my finger nails in its nail bed. It was not a fleeting feeling; it stayed with me for hours. I think the knowledge that the danger I was in was nowhere near gone also kept the adrenalin pumping. The only part of my body I didn’t feel or that I was not completely aware of was my legs. I felt a crippling numbness from wait down, and it was a miracle that I kept driving, I drove till the temperature gauge hit the roof and till I ran out of fuel, what else could I have done. Still I couldn’t reach Yvette, I eventually got out of my car, gingerly testing the ground with my feet; I didn’t trust my legs to support me but thankfully they did. My phone rang again and this time it was Alhaji Bukar, I stared at my phone unsure of whether to pick up or not. I did not pick up and he called right back; I started trying to put two and two together, in less than two hours, I had been shot at, my car had been crashed off the road, everything I had and a hell lot more had been taken from me, the people who owned the “hell lot more” and who would not hesitate to snuff the life out of me were calling me and relenting in with their calls. This was certainly more than a scam or the money would have been moved quietly and I would have been left out to dry but there was certainly more to this. One of the things that occurred to me as I walked away from my car was the possibility that Pope and Alhaji Bukar, were behind this scam, but that made no sense, they stood to benefit greatly from the success of this project. And then I came upon it, it probably took so long to occur to me because it was so long since the occurrence or occurrences that led to my dilemma. I had expected him strike swiftly but he hadn’t and I must have let down my guard a lot more than I realized. But how did he do it? As though on cue, my phone rang and thanks to the true caller app, a name flashed on the screen and it was his “Jacob” I picked up my pace, common sense told me I needed to put as much distance between myself and my car. It most likely had people still tailing it.

I picked up on the fourth ring; “Hello…” I didn’t know what else to say.

“Hello!” his voice boomed, unable to hide the pleasure he felt “This is Jacob, and I just wanted to hear your voice before you die, it’s over for you young man, no one messes with me and I mean no one, much less a nobody like you. I would take your life myself but you’re too inconsequential to be on that roll call I’m however sure you know pope.” He laughed and it sent shivers down my spine, that maniacal laugh. I was not tongue tied anymore but I had nothing to say so I continued listening.

“Oh by the way have you been trying to reach Yvette?” that got me bristling, and I saw red. “If you as much as pull a hair…” he didn’t let me land, I was cut short by that laugh once again and my heart sank. I wondered what they had done to that poor girl. She was not even my girlfriend in the true sense of the word yet she had done so much for me. I realized at that very moment how deeply my feelings for her ran.

“The fool is in love, I thought you did this for a living, it made me doubt the plan would work but I guess you are a bigger fool than I initially thought. Yvette works for me; she is one of my women, and yes by that I mean she is my mistress, she jumps when I say so. You thought she was in love with you? You fool, she does this with whoever I tell her to” This time my heart did not merely sink, the pit of my stomach fell out and the place it used to occupy was taken up by my heart. I couldn’t understand it, Yvette is as classy as they come, she couldn’t have pretended to care as deeply as she did, that was true care that I saw in her eyes when she looked at me, that was true love too. And apart from all of this, what about the money she had transferred to my account? What if I had absconded with it . The meeting with the minister too, how could she have organized that if she wasn’t actually highly connected. Then she came on the phone, “Faruk” I could sense a playful smile playing on her lips and “No hard feelings darling, it’s just business” I couldn’t take anymore, I hung up. I couldn’t believe it, the way she sounded, so at ease and devoid of emotion simply threw me. It was as though she had pushed a knife into my chest and then proceeded to slowly extract it, all the while smiling sweetly at me.

It didn’t make any sense to me, none of this did, why would a man go to such lengths just to get at someone who was sleeping with his mistress and his wife? If sharing his women meant so much to him, why would he still put Yvette out there and “share” her with me? Why risk such an amount of money to get back at me? I had a thousand questions, none of which I was certain would be answered.

Now I was well and truly lost, Yvette had been the one I was relying on to come up with an exit plan, a plan to remedy this situation and I only just found out that she had only been acting a script, that door was firmly shut. It occurred to me to call dad, but I wasn’t sure he could help, he had had a run in with Chief Jacob before and by all indications he had not exactly ended up with him on top.

.                         .                                        .                                         .                             .

I was truly lost. Yvette I realized meant more to me than I had ever admitted, than had ever occurred to me. She was an astute business woman and even though she never tried to control any of the business deals I had handled while she was with me, she would gently nudge me in the direction of smart business decisions and not once did any of her suggestions tank. I had therefore come to trust and respect her deeply without realizing. The money she moved to my account as part of the oil well deal has completely erased whatever distrust I may have harbored but the truth is I did not even distrust her at any point, like I said I have always lived a charmed life, people have always been willing to do things for me and I had had no bitter experiences. It therefore only felt natural that Yvette would do things for me that went beyond the ordinary and without any serious commitment for me. I guess I have always taken these things for granted; taken people for granted and rode on the goodwill of people. It has always been there and I’ve always expected it to be there and now that it was not, I was shattered with no plan in place and no idea where to go.

I flagged down a taxi and hopped in. I must have sat in the taxi for a while, completely lost in thought because the taxi suddenly screeched to a halt and I almost jumped out of my skin as I ducked. Instinct told me I was about to be shot at again but the taxi driver twisted his head around to snap at me impatiently;

“Oga which way?”

“Uhn?” I had no idea where I was headed.

“Where you dey go oga?”

“Ibadan” It was the closest city I could think of and I just felt the need to leave Lagos but that was on impulse and there was still no plan. The cabman looked at me as though I had lost my mind.

“This is Lagos.” He spoke slowly as though I were a really slow human being. I sighed, “How much will it cost to take me to Ibadan?”

“I no fit carry you go Ibadan but I fit carry you go park.”

“Take me to Ibadan, how much do you want?”

He parked properly off the road, and asked me to come down. I think he couldn’t really make me out and he was worried I was some sort of well-dressed psycho. I didn’t help matters by saying “Just keep driving”

He opened his car door, walked around to my side of the car and pulled the door open.

“Oga abeg I no want any wahala, just commot for my car”

I stepped out, I seriously needed to get a grip, needed to come up with a plan. I took several deep breaths and then lost all calm; a text came in from Pope;

“Faruk if you do not pick my next call,

There is nothing else to discuss

You are dead.”

I have sat with Pope in the same room and stared into those soulless eyes. If he said I was dead, then I was dead. I broke out in sweat; I knew all along from the way his call had been persistent that he knew something was amiss but that in itself was not a confirmation. His text was the final nail in the coffin. My palms were sweaty as I loosened a couple more buttons on my shirt.

The phone rang, it was Frances, I engaged the call, I had to keep the line free for Pope’s call. It occurred to me to call him but the truth is I was too scared and in no rush to speak with the man so I would wait for his call. The darned thing rang again, I stared at it as though it was the devil himself on the other end and the truth is Pope is the devil. He name flashed on the screen and I wiped my sweaty palms on my pant seats before taking the call.

I waited for him to speak first but he did not so I was forced to speak “Hello” it came out as a croak so I cleared my throat and tried again this time adding a “sir” for good measure;

“Hello sir…”

Chapter 44

“Hello sir…”

“Faruk, you are dead, and you know what this means.” Chief Jacob really did me in, he had done a thorough job; Pope was still speaking, “You have thirty six hours, I want my money and the proceeds you promised.” He hung up, thirty six hours, not twenty four or forty eight hours, thirty six hours. I might as well have jumped into the ocean after that call, there was no way on earth I was raising that kind of money in thirty six hours hell I couldn’t have even if he had said thirty six months. I knew for the first time the true meaning of being alone. I however acknowledged the fact that even if I had a posse of friends, they would probably be of no use at this point, still it would have been nice to have friends who would pass on the legend of Faruk James after my impending demise. Dad had made his stand clear well before this point and if it took everything he could muster to stop Chief Jacob when they had their run I was certain he wouldn’t want to do it again.

Yvette was the only person I could have counted on if I had envisaged this although I never could have envisaged this in my wildest dreams. This was supposed to be an easy business deal, easy money. The betrayal hurt and the hurt was real bad. Where could I have gone wrong with her? Yes I realized from the phone call that she had been playing a role all along but I must have meant more to her at some point than a mark. The affection she showed me during our brief “relationship” couldn’t have totally been an act, I saw more in her eyes, her actions, the way she was about me, how she loved me irrespective of all the other women, how she turned a blind eye to their presence than pretence. Then it struck me; how much of a fool I had been, it made no sense that a woman, as beautiful, sophisticated, cultured as Yvette with so much business acumen and financial savvy would for any reason be content to hang on to whatever bits of affection a man was willing to throw her way, hoping for the day the man would eventually pick her as the one. Not even if that man was the almighty Faruk, it hurt to admit this but the moment of truth was here and I had to accept it. I had to start telling myself some hard truths, I had to find a rallying point, a place to start recovering from if at all recovery was possible. I walked for a bit, I needed to clear my head, although this was impossible at the moment but I needed to put together a plan or the beginnings of one. The more I walked, the more I realized there was only one place to go. Two days ago, if I had been able to envisage this far-fetched situation, I would have been certain that Yvette would have a way out, not just per advice but also steps to take.

 “Yvette” the name kept popping up in my head, so did her face, I still found it hard to grasp, to believe she wasn’t truly in love with me. Once I had woken up to see her staring at me, I felt loved, the look in her eyes was half sad half something I couldn’t place but which I determined to be love because it left me feeling warm and happy. There was also the way she deferred to me and when necessary gently nudged me to accept her suggestions. This couldn’t have been total pretense I told myself; no one could fake such an intensely emotional look, no one. But apparently there was someone who could and her name was Yvette. As the minutes crept by, I realized how hurt I was by Yvette’s actions, and not just because I had been taken for a ride; I had to concede that this was more about how I felt about her than the money. I never really thought about how I felt about her before now. Yes I wanted her in my corner but I didn’t think she had become such an important part of my life.

The further I walked and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had little other choice than to run to dad. I called first and was relieved he had no idea what was going on. I hailed another cab once he assured me he was home, this taxi ride was without incident although I still slumped low in the back seat and kept looking over my shoulder to be sure I wasn’t being followed. Dad listened to my narrative till the end; mouth agape, he interrupted a bit at first but as the story went on he simply stared at me his shock becoming more apparent as the narrative progressed. I left nothing out except the amount involved, I couldn’t bring myself to just spit out that amount in the course of the conversation and he waited till I finally stopped speaking and hung my head between my shoulders. I

was humbled, I was weary, at any other time, I would tell myself this was temporary and I would bounce back but I couldn’t even dare think at this moment of breathing beyond tomorrow. Pope had given me a deadline, this deadline was not a timeline within which I was to refund him capital and profit, it was a timeline as to my impending and certain demise.

“How much is this we are talking about?” Dad’s mouth was finally shut, he sat forward waiting for the figure. It took a while and tons of courage to eventually spit out the figure. I thought he was going to die, he had a near seizure and I panicked.

“You are mad Faruk!” He screamed “…and dead too! What the hell were you thinking? There’s nothing like quick money young man, I kept trying to impress this on you but you wouldn’t listen! What do you expect me to do for you now?” under any other circumstances, I would have walked out on him, our relationship prior to now had depreciated to that level, but not today, I dared not walk out, I had nowhere else to go, no one else to turn to. I sat there with my head still hung between my shoulder blades. I didn’t say a word, didn’t talk back, I was at my humblest; I waited till he stopped for breath, waited till he asked again; “So what do want me to do for you at this point? Even if I closed all my accounts, found willing buyers for all my properties inclusive of shares within the next twenty four hours I couldn’t still come up with that kind of money, and even if I could, why should I ? I have worked too hard and too long to get where I am, I will not use everything I have to right a stupid wrong of yours.” He paused again; I guess he was staring at me. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked a third time through gritted teeth, I could sense the shock was being replaced by anger. I remained mute and he repeated the question when I refused to say anything- what could I have said, he yelled the same question a fourth time in frustration. “What the hell do you want from me?” I shrugged and mumbled, “I don’t know dad.”

“Get out of here! Get out of my house this minute!” I was incredulous, he was chasing me out of his house, my father did not want to have anything to do with this, it was my mess, all mine. I was truly screwed. I got out of the chair and stumbled. I righted myself and squared my shoulders as best as I could manage before proceeding to walk out of the living room. What else could I have expected I asked myself, I was almost at the gate with no idea in the world as to where I was headed when dad called me back. “Faruk! Get back here”, he was at the main entrance of the main section of the building, I didn’t need a second invitation, I spun round, shooting him a grateful look. He suddenly looked tired but nowhere as tired as I was. I was grateful just to not have to leave home. It was suddenly home to me again, I felt like a lost child dragging so much trouble back home after a wild adventure.

He took the same seat he had been seating in when I left the living room and so I took the one I had just left. He sat there for a while just staring at me, I couldn’t hold his stare so I bowed my head, unable to believe how humble I suddenly was.

“Where is your passport?” he finally asked, “At my place”, I suddenly couldn’t call my apartment home any longer. “You have a valid Visa for the UK?”

“Yes dad.”

“Good, we have to find a way to hide you while we quickly make arrangements for you to leave the country. It’s the only way for now, at least until we find a more lasting solution.” He paused and then continued “How the hell did you get mixed up with Pope Faruk? That man is a lunatic, anyone who does business in this country will tell you that for free.” It was the first time he was acknowledging that he knew who Pope was and I shot him a look of surprise. He didn’t acknowledge my surprised look. “Pope right now is the biggest problem on our hands. I am sure he already has eyes on you and he will until you either come up with the money or he kills you. We need to find a way to keep you hidden from him and then get you to the airport. I need to make some calls, excuse me.” He stepped out of the room, I wondered who he was going to call, and if he also had any shady business contacts. He eventually came back with a paper napkin that had a hurriedly scribbled address on it, below the address was a phone number. “Take a shower before you leave” he said “You look like shit. When you get to that address, you call that number, do not ask who you are speaking with, just tell him you are from me, he’ll handle the rest.” I got out of the chair and thanked him. He brushed off my thanks and said “You need to pick up your passport on the way to him.” I nodded my understanding, he continued “Faruk, do exactly as he says if you want to live.” I nodded once again and left his presence.

My passport was nowhere to be found when I finally made it to my apartment, they thought about everything didn’t they? I never stood a chance from the get go did i? Even though I knew exactly where I had left it, I searched the entire apartment; I searched until dad called me, I relayed this new development to him on the phone and waited while he processed the information. He eventually told me to stay put until I got another call from him and then he hung up. When he eventually called back, he told me to proceed to the address he had earlier given me and to only call when I was two buildings away from the address. I was to follow all instructions without deviation he reiterated; “If you have any desire to live beyond tomorrow.”

I changed cabs more than once on my way to the address dad had given me, I was tempted to call ahead and tell whoever was on the end that I was on my way but common sense and survival instinct prevailed and I followed dad’s instructions. Finally I was in the neighbourhood and as a final precaution, I alighted intending to make the rest of the journey on foot I kept staring over my shoulder and took a detour when I saw a shady looking character following me. Maybe he was just going in the same direction as I was but I was unwilling to take any chances, I followed my gut instinct and detoured, he followed, I kept glancing over my shoulder, the fellow, a really tall guy with huge biceps continued following unperturbed. I couldn’t make out his face as he had a baseball had drawn over most of his face and it was already dark. After I made a couple more turns, I became certain he was following me. I had no idea what to do and I was also uncertain of how to make it back to the address from my present location as I was not familiar with the neighbourhood. I kept walking looking for the perfect opportunity to break into a run and ditch my man Friday. The opportunity did not present itself, at least not until I got the text message. I wasn’t expecting it and it threw an already confusing situation into an even more confusing state. I had no idea what to make of this, it was too suspect considering all that I had been through in the past few hours. It was straight to the point;

“Babe I have your passport and I’ve bought tickets
I had to go through with the plan or we’d both have been
killed. I’ll explain it when I see you and you’ll understand.
I need you to get to this address as soon as possible…

Be careful babe, you’ve got eyes on you.”

It was Yvette, I didn’t think twice about going to meet her, I had a rough idea of where this new address was, I needed a cab, I ducked around the corner of the next street and crawled under the slabs of the drainage in front of the first building I saw; fortunately the drainage was dry, I was fast enough to get in there before Man Friday could turn into the street. I waited for what seemed like an eternity before I clambered out of the gutter. I made a run for the main road which fortunately was close by and hailed a cab. It was while seating in the cab and after the pounding in my ears had subsided that I began to question the sanity of my move. This woman had betrayed my once in the greatest way possible, what was to stop her from doing it again? How could I tell she wasn’t doing it again, how could I know for sure she wasn’t ushering right into the arms of Chief Jacob and his goons, maybe Pope even. I pulled out my phone and punched in her number, the phone was dead. I needed to talk to her to get assurance from her that she was on my side once again, to get an explanation for what was going on. I needed her to tell me that there was a plan B, that she was actually fooling Chief Jacob and not me. I realized that this was a farfetched hope but I still hoped nonetheless. Then I panicked at the thought of getting killed by my own stupidity. I was supposed to be getting as far away from this people as possible yet here I was getting driven voluntarily towards the very woman they had used to get me into this mess.

I almost asked the cab to turn round twice but I didn’t and when my dad called, I didn’t pick up. He kept calling and when I realized that he wasn’t going to stop calling, I sent him a text.

“Dad, not to worry, I’m sorting it out.

I’ll call you soon.”

His reply was almost instant;

“You fool, pick up the phone and do not deviate from the plan.”

I didn’t pick up, and even though something told me that I was driving towards certain death, I didn’t ask the cab to turn around

"Dining in hades" Chapter 42

NB: Chapter 1-41 is on Instagram. They are really short chapters.
Ff us on Instagram @talesofhearts

Chapter 42
Written by @majeedsalako

Jessica's phone beeped, it was a text , she read it and tensed visibly, "My husband is around" she said,

but when I made to leave she asked me to stay "He can see us" she said "it would be odd if you just took off like that." so I stayed until he came to us. Her husband was Chief Jacobs and the hostile recognition on his face was not hidden. He knew me and I felt fairly certain that he knew what I did, what my relationship was with Janet and therefore he would have an idea of what my relationship with his wife could be. She introduced us saying something about me owning the boutique where she shopped and how she was surprised to meet me here. He did not believe her and his eyes said as much. He said hello, while ignoring my outstretched hand. His eyes said it all, he knew who I was, knew my relationship with Janet and had already come to the conclusion that I had the same relationship with his wife. He was not a political God father for nothing, he was intelligent, knew when to make inferences and what inferences to make, he also knew which conclusions to come to when necessary. He would not ask me any questions and probably wouldn’t ask his wife either but this had to be the end. These people had thugs and assassins at their disposal. I wasn’t planning to die anytime soon, I also couldn’t afford to look any less handsome due to a brutal beating either. I would cut this off.

I nodded slightly and walked off. I was still at the venue, socializing with some other guests when the

text came in. He couldn’t even wait till later, something must have transpired between chief Jacob and Jessica immediately after I left them.

“Do you know who I am?
You are getting burnt
I am running you out of this town.

Two of my women?”

He had my number already, I didn’t have to ponder on it, I knew who it was. Was I scared? Not really. All I had to do was stop seeing Jessica, well Janet too, his temper would be doused soon and the only thing that would probably incense it again was seeing me with either woman. Jessica I could understand but Janet? Why would anyone take a mistress so seriously?

. . . . . . .

I hate my phone ringtone in the mornings, particularly when it wakes. And it woke me that morning, I squinted at the screen, it was dad; strange, he hardly ever called these days.

“See me in my office; NOW” he sounded upset. Well he was always upset with me whenever we speak these days but his tone this time was different. I was not really bothered, I took my time in the shower, making sure afterwards that I was properly groomed and that I was impeccably dressed, the need to impress dad has risen since I moved out of home. I got to the “Office” about two hours after I got the call. It really couldn’t be called an office; it was more of an elaborate study set apart from the main building that was his home. He kept an eye and a tight rein on his companies from here. This is where he would have completely kept control over my life if I had joined the fim. His secretary; a new one, he changed them every so often “He’s going to get rid of you once he’s bored with you.” I thought as I gave my name, it had been a while since I came here.

“I know who you are sir, he’s expecting you” she smiled brightly as she got up and walked me to the door.

“You are screwing Jacob’s wife Faruk, are you out of your mind?” No greetings, no preamble, nothing, he didn’t even wait for the secretary to shut the door behind herself.

My mouth dropped open, how could dad have found out? I wondered.

“I asked you a question Faruk. Please tell me it’s untrue.”

Under any other circumstances, I would have been tempted to point out that his question was about my soundness of mind and not about Chief Jacob’s wife being “screwed” by me , but these were not any other circumstances, this appeared larger than I had envisaged. For my dad to have heard about this in less than 12 hours, something was definitely brewing.

“It’s not dad.” I mumbled.

“It’s not what? Not true or not untrue?”

“It’s not true dad, why do you always…”

“Just shut it!” he snapped “Listen to me and for your own good, take my advice this time. Jacob is not someone you want to cross, he is a mad man.”

“Dad…”

He held up his hand as he continued “About ten years back, he took me on, I bided for a contract and almost out-bided him. In fact I did outbid him and he came to me, he didn’t beg, didn’t cajole, or even try to reason with me. He told me to pull out my bid or he would make this city too hot for me to bear.” He paused for breath “I called his bluff; I didn’t pull out, not only was the contract cancelled, it was cancelled after I had spent a considerable sum setting up its execution, I never got paid a dime, the three government parastatals we did auditing jobs for dropped our firm that year, a number of private organizations also dropped us.” He sat forward his stare intensifying as he did so, “It was a rough year, I had to move mountains to pacify him, I spoke to people, friends and foes alike, he was going to stop at nothing. I have avoided him since then, Jacob is a mad man Faruk. I cannot afford another run in with him. You do not have anything worthy of bringing down and by now I am sure he knows you are my son. I am washing my hands completely off you, I have worked too long and too hard for this…”

“Dad?” I was angry.

“Yes?” He snapped.

“This has nothing to do with you, I will handle it don’t worry.”

“You are even more of a fool than I realized, first of all you have nothing worthy of him bringing down, and when he realizes this he’ll come after me, after all you are my son and his thinking would be that everything I own will someday come to you.

“Dad” I began to speak again.

“Shut it and listen!”

I spun around and walked out. Who the hell did he think he was “…his thinking would be that everything I own will someday come to you…” Who the hell did dad think he was, what made him think my life plan was getting everything he owned someday. Having come so far in so little time without his help and having brought my bank balance to its present state, I was not going to stand and be insulted like a little boy who needed help wiping his butt. I walked away with my head held high, imagining the look of shock on dad’s face as he stared at my retreating back. I would talk to one or two people and get this sorted I was confident about that.

My phone rang, it was mum. I sighed, why did he have to involve her in this?

“Hello mum.”…