The police officer shone his torch on Ajaara….
“How long has she been here?” He asked….
“Over 8 years” Favour replied as she walked towards Ajaara stylishly pushing the girl aside.
The touts looked towards Ajaara’s direction. The girl was beside Ajaara and should the police officer move his torch a bit , he would see the suspect. I just kept praying under my breath…
“That is Ajaara, we know her very well officer, she was a street wise babe before God save her” said one of the touts. I quickly swung in to action… “Officers, we don’t have a killer in our midst, please kindly let these young ones go to bed, tomorrow is Sunday and we don’t joke with church here, we wouldn’t want them dozing during the service” I said very firmly
“Yes sir, we don’t have any strange person in our midst, if we find any of such, I will personally bring him or her to the station first thing tomorrow
morning.” Baba Agba said unknowing to him there was indeed a stranger in our midst. The police officers left banking on Baba Agba’s words… The housemates also returned to their rooms as I whispered to Ajaara to take the girl to Favour’s office. As Favour and I were going to her office to discuss with the girl, Baba Agba stopped us…“Chuks, Favour, I hope we don’t have a killer in our midst? “No… We don’t have a killer in our midst” I replied affirmatively. I didn’t see
the young girl as a killer, so there was no killer in our midst.
“Ok…” Baba Agba retired to his Room.
On entering the room, the girl was curled up on the chair as Ajaara and Gloria stood by. It was unlike Ajaara not to be having a conversation with a new person. She was the type that connected to people easily… “So Ajaara, what do you think?” I asked
“About?”
“Our new friend…”
“Don’t think she is ready to live here or be our friend, I tried sitting close to her to console her and boom she said… “Hey, please I don’t need your babysitting, besides why do you smell cheap?
What kind of perfume do you use? Please take a step backwards, your perfume is choking me!”
“That was what she said to me, when I tried reassuring her, everything would be fine!” Ajaara said
Favour and I exchanged looks…
“Is that correct?” Favour asked Gloria and the new girl… “Well, with the way she is saying it, she is painting me like I am a horrible person… I said those words but not like the way she said it” the new girl said
Favour and I were lost. The part of our brains that composed words literally shut down, but Favour recovered before I did…
“Sorry, who are you really?” Favour asked
“My name?” The girl asked dumbly
“No, my name!” Favour retorted and the girl got the message
“My name is Gambo, my father is the former Minister of Information. I am from a very rich family, I mean filthily rich. When I mean filthily rich, I mean the kind of wealth that can never finish… Do you call this place an office?, what you have here is not even as beautiful as my gateman’s room….So you guys should mind the way you speak to me, because when all of these is over, I can have you arrested and this place locked down…” The office was dead quiet, Gambo continued…
“I knew you all would eventually keep quiet when you finally know who you are dealing with… My requests are… One, get me a decent place to sleep, good food to eat and call my father to get one of his private jets to pick me up from here….That’s all…” I could see Favour’s Anger was at its peak….
“You are ….” Favour stopped herself from using the wrong words on Gambo, instead she said…
“You are going to sleep on the bare floor, you are going to eat nothing and first thing tomorrow morning, the police van will be here to pick you. You spoilt ingrate.” Favour said and stormed out of the office. Ajaara and Gloria did likewise. Fear had set in on Gambo’s face….
“Hey!” I said as I sat in front of her
“Did she mean that?” She asked
“Yes…. absolutely!” I picked up the Office land phone “Give me your father’s phone number”
“My Dad’s Number? My phone is missing, it’s on the contact list!” She said “You mean you don’t know your father’s number by heart? What about your
mother?” I asked very bewildered…
“Why would I want to stress my brain, when there is a phone that has over 125 GB to do that work for me…?” Gambo said…
I sat speechless at how a parent could have done so much injustice to this
young girl by raising her to be a spoilt brat. I moved away from her….
“It seems I was wrong, you are indeed a killer, I will call the police now!” I threatened “No please, I told you the simple truth, please save my life…” she pleaded
“Then get down from your high horse and communicate with me… We are trying to save your life here and you are giving terrible attitude… and can I
burst your bubble, I don’t know how much your father is worth, but I am sure it is not up to a quarter of the money I have in the bank that was given to me
by the devil which I had to abandon… So stop this thing you are doing…” She looked at me with fear in her eyes… “The devil gave you money? Are you a ritualist?” She asked with fear in her eyes….
“Yes…” I said as I knew I needed to tell the girl my story. She needed to see life for what it was, her view of life was very myopic thanks to her parents who made her see money or wealth as the determinant of a great life… Gambo had jumped back in fear….
“I was a ritualist….” and I narrated all my experiences at the SCA, and all that happened afterwards till I got to the point we were…It took two solid hours as I explained in details, she sat glued looking at me
for hours….Then she asked
“So you mean it was Jesus who we call Prophet Isa that saved you ?”
“Yes!” Then it dawned on me Gambo was a Muslim….
To be continued
