CRYSTAL...
Protesters filled the streets, wailing. Some stood with angered faces. Everyone had something to say about the headlines of that morning, including Crystal. The news about the secret operation wasn't so secret anymore. The whole country knew about the eighteen dead men that risked their lives to save the kidnapped girls. The nineteenth was a traitor and only the twentieth had lived.
Crystal didn't know what to think or believe. Lade had died in some faraway land and betrayed his country. Sitting at the back seat of the Maybach, she placed the cards together. She put everything Emeka had said from the start and the news of Lade's treachery in one basket. It didn't add up. Lade could kill in cold blood but he was loyal and she knew that.
She didn't want to remember what Emeka said about her past pregnancy. What's to say he didn't lie? Emeka was Lade's bestfriend but he acted like an enemy who held a personal ve
Hafiz had told a lie, dawn didn't have to reach. Lade burst into the tent I was in with Hafiz. The look on his face revealed that there was trouble at hand. The final moments was here. I noticed he had aged a lot since I had first seen him at the Jama'tu camp. Now, it was time to end it all. "Your sister has made her move. I've been on her tail. She has made contact with the Jama'tu." It took about two seconds. I watched the news dwell on Hafiz. He jumped to his feet, big eyed and ready like he had been preparing for this moment for a long time, but scared because it had come too soon. Lade moved around, grabbing bags and anything reasonable. "I didn't expect her to do it so soon, but we have to act, and fast." Hafiz joined Lade in grabbing things and I stood, watching the two men try to survive. I couldn't stop myself from worrying. What if it was a trap? Since everyone had been pret
LADE: The Jama'tu soldiers left us alone upon Shugaba's command. The pain in my chest grew as if something was being drilled into my skin. My lungs weren't strong. I felt weaker than before. It was only a matter of time. "Agent Lade Adenuga of the ICS, we meet again," Shugaba said, wearing a striking snarl. He sent his gaze to my wounded arm and flitted it back to my face. Raising the arm some minutes ago had been tasking but I had no other choice. My weapons were on the ground. His soldiers had dislodged the bullets from inside them. "I have waited for you." His brows tipped. "Really?" "You owe me, soldier. I hate loosing." I flashed a charming smile. Shugaba eyeballed me and wet his lips. His next action had caught me off guard. He had thrown his weapon to the ground and opened his arms. "I'm all yours. If you w
A year earlier... A live broadcast of the President addressing the country was about to hold. In exactly three minutes, he would be on air and I was highly expectant of what he was going to say. I was sure I wasn’t the only one waiting. Executives, governmental staff, civil workers, and even youths, waited. In short, the entire country expected the nine o’clock news on this fateful day, as we would mark it on the shelves of our history. Suited for work, I whipped up a cup of coffee and settled myself on the large office chair in my home. The morning sun’s ray slapped me in the face and I grumbled. It had robbed me of the last bits of drowsiness in my eye. I was fully awake. Annoyed, I stood to pull the blinds closed, then I reached for my radio on the table and drew it closer. I ran through channels, listening in and searching for 92.8fm, the most popular radio station. I preferred a radio. Like every other millennial, this was what we had grown up with. Here, most people associa
It was abnormal to see the streets of Ikeja, Lagos, free of cars and idle on a weekday. I had thought that I was in the wrong place, and I was hesitant to gas the Avalon. An hour’s journey had turned into a fifteen-minute drive but I took it as the heavens, giving me a chance. It was a windy morning, and the weather was reaching meat-locker standard. It also wasn’t a good day to get on Commander Young’s bad side. Driving through a highway, my eyes wandered about. I embarked on this route to work every day, but today, I was feeling nostalgic. It didn’t happen all the time. I had buried the truth about where I came from at the back of my mind. But at every point and part of the landscapes I crossed, there was a story waiting to be told. I knew the drill. I was born and bred on these streets; It was my home as a proud Lagosian. Yellow Danfo buses struggled for passengers at the curb. A ride in one of those could be the craziest thing a person experienced in their entire
"You should have seen their faces," he said while laughing. He actually laughed, Unbelievable!"It's not a joke, Emeka," I replied, not sparing him a glance as we walked down the halls. He had always had this nonchalant attitude to him and it was nerve racking sometimes.My mind was even still hovering on the fact that I might have issues with the Commander because of this guy beside me. Richard Young was strict in his dealings, never failing to spare any of his boys that defaulted and broke rules. I had a fall out with him last month for some personal reasons and another one following it up in line would just be destructive.It was unbecoming of me to keep disappointing Richard, I still had so much to pay for.
I had caught the attention of a few eyes with the show I had just displayed. The almost audible gasp of the now drenched woman had not gone unheard but thankfully the large spaces drowned out the sound –– such that, people from afar could not hear or realize what had just happened."I'm so sorry," I apologised immediately, just as she struggled to find something to clean off the drink spill on her clothes before it became permanent.My voice came out in a whisper so as not to drag back the eyes to us again but she wasn't even listening, she looked more concerned about the damp patch on the upper part of her clothes.It was the only distraction I could think of, it wasn't all that smart but at least it worked."What the hell is wrong with you!" She bawled in a harsh whisper before making an attempt to push past me. It was successful, but only because I had decided to move my body the exact same time she rudely
My breath came in pants as I crouched forward, hiding away from the now shattered glass above me. Reflexively, I shielded the lady with my body as more of its pieces began to fall unto us.A frenzied disarray of actions, building up the chaos by the minute. It was unexpected, the turnout of events that had violently jerked my attention towards the outburst. In one minute everything changed, and at this point, we could lose everything. It was almost impossible how a minute of resolute peace erupted in a series of pandemoniums, heightening swiftly by the clock. I had to buckle up and be prepared, and at the fall of the last glass piece, I expertly reached out for my gun, awaiting the next masked face.The woman behind me was trembling and the muffled
It had been ten days since the tragic event that remained packed up in our hearts and minds, refusing to let go, happened. Almost the whole of my lifetime was built upon this career path and truly, it was never even my decision from the start. I loved my job but if anyone had asked me on that fateful day ten years ago, where I saw myself in the future, the most honest answer I could have given was a thin line between dead and hopeless.He had vouchsafed me a choice when I had had none and he had stuck by me throughout, fulfilling every promise he had made to me when I was twenty-two. The countdown had started because no one was safe anymore...all our lives were in danger. There was a very slim chance that it hadn't been the Jama'atu who had manned the attack at the barracks but currently, we were running low on possible suspects.
LADE: The Jama'tu soldiers left us alone upon Shugaba's command. The pain in my chest grew as if something was being drilled into my skin. My lungs weren't strong. I felt weaker than before. It was only a matter of time. "Agent Lade Adenuga of the ICS, we meet again," Shugaba said, wearing a striking snarl. He sent his gaze to my wounded arm and flitted it back to my face. Raising the arm some minutes ago had been tasking but I had no other choice. My weapons were on the ground. His soldiers had dislodged the bullets from inside them. "I have waited for you." His brows tipped. "Really?" "You owe me, soldier. I hate loosing." I flashed a charming smile. Shugaba eyeballed me and wet his lips. His next action had caught me off guard. He had thrown his weapon to the ground and opened his arms. "I'm all yours. If you w
Hafiz had told a lie, dawn didn't have to reach. Lade burst into the tent I was in with Hafiz. The look on his face revealed that there was trouble at hand. The final moments was here. I noticed he had aged a lot since I had first seen him at the Jama'tu camp. Now, it was time to end it all. "Your sister has made her move. I've been on her tail. She has made contact with the Jama'tu." It took about two seconds. I watched the news dwell on Hafiz. He jumped to his feet, big eyed and ready like he had been preparing for this moment for a long time, but scared because it had come too soon. Lade moved around, grabbing bags and anything reasonable. "I didn't expect her to do it so soon, but we have to act, and fast." Hafiz joined Lade in grabbing things and I stood, watching the two men try to survive. I couldn't stop myself from worrying. What if it was a trap? Since everyone had been pret
CRYSTAL... Protesters filled the streets, wailing. Some stood with angered faces. Everyone had something to say about the headlines of that morning, including Crystal. The news about the secret operation wasn't so secret anymore. The whole country knew about the eighteen dead men that risked their lives to save the kidnapped girls. The nineteenth was a traitor and only the twentieth had lived. Crystal didn't know what to think or believe. Lade had died in some faraway land and betrayed his country. Sitting at the back seat of the Maybach, she placed the cards together. She put everything Emeka had said from the start and the news of Lade's treachery in one basket. It didn't add up. Lade could kill in cold blood but he was loyal and she knew that. She didn't want to remember what Emeka said about her past pregnancy. What's to say he didn't lie? Emeka was Lade's bestfriend but he acted like an enemy who held a personal ve
"The beginning?" Hafiz chuckled. I frowned at him. I couldn’t read his features, and at this point, I had no clue on where our conversation would end. Tipping a brow, I could only fold my arms. Hafiz backed me now. He took a slow turn around the tent and said, "I'm afraid you're the beginning itself." I dragged a sigh and stood to my feet after that. "If you insist on beating around the bush, I don't have time to waste." "I know who you really are, Jane." He attacked from nowhere. "I came here today to let the cat out of the bag. It's time to come clean." At once, my gaze hardened like steel. For a second there, my heart had jumped in fear. It stunned me to hear those words fall from his mouth. I couldn't have thought that anyone would find out. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but a minute ago you tagged your sister as our biggest threat, and not me."
Hafiz toppled over, completely bound in chains of laughter. Apparently the conversation that came across as dead serious to me was weirdly amusing to him. The last indirect question he had brought to the table put me in a tight spot. I had said enough, there was nothing to free me from his vocal trap.
Morning had come but even so, I sat still, staring in silence at the wall. He didn't stay anymore and maybe this would be like all the previous times. Going scarce whenever a serious conversation happened, he had told me so much but I was even yet to spill any morsel of my own secrets—secrets that could change everything. He had also said soon, I just needed to wait a little more. Things were goin
Crystal...
It was still dark, dawn was yet to arrive and the only difference was that this time, I wasn't alone in the tent. The weight of another presence tightened the air. I was calmer now, and the upset in my belly had quelled.
I probably shouldn't have been wandering outside the tent in the dead of night but maybe I had just needed to clear my head. The dilapidated bungalow that was used as an infirmary by the locals here controlled