Chika's Last Call

Chika was different; he wasn’t like the rest of us. I couldn’t control the tears dripping from my eyes that Saturday morning when I dropped the call, my heart kept pounding fast like a brigadier’s drum....

  

It was my sophomore year in college and I had two close friends, they were like my mama’s sons to me.  Our course mates called us the musketeers but I and chike were referred to as the twin evil of macro economics. I was inflation and he was unemployment. We argued a lot about academic issues but we agreed on any other areas of life. Seun was always neutral when we argued. He simply says; 

“Femi and Chika” with a calm voice , grips us both on our shoulders while trying to maintain eye contact with us simultaneously “you are right, you guys are both right”. We would stare at him for a second, just hiss and that will end the whole argument. Whenever he does it, it always worked. He called that the argument terminating trick. We shared our lives together, as though making a promise never to keep secrets from each other but we soon realized that Chika became a closed book that couldn’t be open nor read from its covers. We tried making him talk more about personal issues but he was emotionally numb. There was a time he would talk and tell us things but he just became an emotional “dead-end” after several attempts to reach out. We began to grow apart over time, I and Femi were still tight but Chika became distant and we gradually became strangers over the passage of time, especially when he decided to move to a separate apartment saying he wanted more space.

In our third year, Chika’s name was all over the department. In the first semester, he had straight As in all his course, that was when we noticed that he had only had two Bs throughout his studentship and for a moment I had this awkward feeling of joy and sadness at the same time, I couldn’t explain it. I felt that was why he kept his distance so that he could study more and maintain his impeccable grades. I and Femi were probably becoming a distraction to the poor boy after all. So as time passed the issue vanished into the rhythm of the seasons and soon we were in our final year and that was when clarity came uponto the past issue that had gone dark with time. 

On that faithful Saturday morning, I was having a shower after returning from my early morning workout. My phone began to ring but I could only hear the faint sound from the loud splashing sound of the water from the shower. As soon as I was done, I quickly went to where the phone was and picked it. There were five missed calls from an unknown number. It must be pretty urgent for the person to have kept dialling my number I thought. So I called back but the number was switched off and before I could drop it, it had switched to the voice mall so I said; 

“Whoever this is, maybe you should call back when you are back on” as I dropped the call, I had a kind of  ‘Dejavu’ a sort of feeling I was familiar with. I had that feeling when my Mum passed away five years prior but I couldn’t explain why I had the feeling nor what it meant so I forgot it and cleaned up, turned up a little music to ease up the tension. After an hour and a moment after the music stopped due to a power outage, I heard the phone ring again. I was motionless for a second because as I heard it ring, my heart stated beating fast and the same aura I had an hour before came upon me. It was very strange feeling that way about my phone ringing but I still approached the table where it was with a pseudo confidence and I discovered when I picked the phone from the table that it was the same number.

 “Hello” I said as I picked up the call, stuttering a bit, still wondering what was going on with me.

“Who is this?” the voice responded. I could hear whispers from the background but I couldn’t quite pick any word from all the rumblings.

“You called me, didn’t you?” I responded.

“NO! You called this number and we saw got your voicemail, anyways that doesn’t matter... Do you know any Mr Chika Emmanuel? I think he is a student of the university, Economics department, Judging from his ID card” 

Now my heart stated to beat faster, I was forcing my head not to go in all the wrong directions but deep down my gut I knew what could have happened and I didn’t want to believe it.

“Errm, Yes, I know him, he is my classmate. What happened to him?”

“We found the body some minutes ago; I guess he was dumped here. I’m afraid, he is dead” 

As I heard that statement, my head started to spin; I had no verbal reaction, just tears, which came out fast- so rapid. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; the phone had slipped off my hand. I lost my grip and my balance; I hit the floor in tears. I couldn’t control the tears dripping from my eyes that Saturday morning when I dropped the call, my heart kept pounding fast like a brigadier’s drum.... 

Soon I got another call, and this time, it was the police. I was invited latter that day to the station and that was when the entire picture became clear. Chika’s parent got separated around the time he stopped talking.  His mom left, abandoning him and his sister with their unemployed dad. It seemed she became frustrated being the bread winner of the house for so long. His dad wasn’t educated so he couldn’t get a real job. He eventually died while trying to do an illegal business to cater for his children. They got the money from their dad’s illegal trade and that was how he could continue school and get another apartment and somehow I guess he made up his mind no to end up like his dad but the sorrow of his loss had pierced his soul. Even though he was doing well academically, he was failing socially and emotionally; he got involved in a lot of problems. His sister latter explained how she tried to make him come back to his senses and he shut her out as well. Chika took a shot to his pelvic and one to his left arm the police never found out what really happened or who was responsible. Even though I hate the fact that he never thought that I could be there for him as a friend when he needed me the most, I still felt while he was dying and in that bush where he was dumped, he summoned the last strength in him to make that call, to say what exactly? I really can’t say. All I know is that I missed the most important call of my life, Chika’s Last call!

                                                            (THE END)

HoneyMoon Shack

Maybe it was my fault entirely from the very beginning, maybe I was selfish or maybe I just wanted that adventure more than my willingness to sacrifice my desire for hers; I can’t tell. I just hated myself for everything. They say; “the older you grow, the more you understand that relationship is more than just holding of hands “; True! But I leant that the hard way years ago.

Falling in love with my dream girl was all I had ever wished for and Debbie was more than I could wish for when I blow my birthday candles. One that very day, I went down on one knee and said:

“Life has been so beautiful for me ever since you walked into it two years ago in that Christmas party. Prior to that day, I always felt I was happy but I was wrong; loving you everyday has taken me into a realm of unsearchable happiness and joy I had never thought about. You complete me in every facet and I keep wondering what life would have been like without you. Babe, I want to wake up every day and this face will be the only expression of life I will see as the sun rises on it and exposes the immeasurable beauty God has deposited in a mortal being. The only way I can make this possible is by asking you from the depth of my soul to give up your last name and pick mine up. Deborah Awujobi, will you marry me and be the only mother of my children?” 

She was motionless and in tears all throughout my rehearsed proposal speech and she couldn’t help but say;

“Yes, a thousand times Yes, I will marry you Dan”

My face lighted up as a thunderous applaud rose in the hall where I just interrupted a dinner. I rose up and slip the silver ring I was holding into her finger and she kissed me with so much elan that I had never seen in her. 

Deborah which I often called Debbie was a sweet young lady, not has adventurous as I was but she always respected my opinion about things and I sure wasn’t in any doubt about getting married to a lady with so much humility and character and soon after that proposal, she kept to her promise and married me in from of five hundred guest including family and friends. All my family members and friends said I made a good pick; of course that was evident because her beauty was one of a kind and her character; Impeccable. 

We seldom argue about issues but one Issue was a bone of contention before we got married and that was the location for our honey moon. She wanted the usual: a hotel with luxurious stuffs and a well furnish room. I on the other hand was a bit too ambitious. I wanted my grandpa’s Shack somewhere off civilization. I felt it was going to be romantic; just me and her, no friends nor family around and no one in particular only if special services were needed. The shack was quite a distance from the city and isolated beside a lake, so I thought it was the perfect spot for our honeymoon, just like the movies. So after much persuasion, she reluctantly agreed and I won! I just wish I never won that argument. Oh! I wish...

I had the place renovated a bit, some weeks before our wedding, and immediately after the reception; we drove 50miles to our honeymoon location into a prepared home for two. My bestman, Lex, was our driver for that day and on getting to the Shack, he left us and found his way back to the city. That night we had passionate sex; something I waited for all throughout our courtship for two years. It was all that I imagined, all that I bargained for. She was finally my wife and I was too happy for words to quantify. We slept in each other’s arms through the night and I woke up with so much love vibes all over my being and quickly fixed a meal for her. She opened her eyes to a bouquet and smiled with so much adoration for me. I could tell that she felt on top of the world. I felt out of this world. 

“Last night was sensational” I said. She blushed and said;

“Naughty boy, you were a beast last night” I leered at her and she said;

“Go away joor!” and we both laughed about it. After breakfast we went for another round of vigorous sex and this time, she was voracious. After a short rest, we headed out to the lake and both sat by the water, we talked, joked about the wedding and all the dance steps we saw. We laughed, kissed, and played a little bit and before we knew it, the day was far spent. So we headed back to the Shack. 

One our way down the path that led to our temporary home, I noticed that something wasn’t right as we walked between the trees just some meters to the Shack. I paused and looked back but saw nothing. Debbie looked me in the face while holding my hand with a firm grip and said;

“Is anything the matter?” she said inquisitively 

“I have this strange feeling that we are being followed” being a little bit apprehensive she responded;

“Followed? You know we haven’t seen anyone out in this woods since we got here so I don’t think there is anyone out there, I guess”

I could sense fear in her voice so I decided to let my instinct pass and held her close while we proceeded back to the Shack. Soon the sun was setting and we both watched sitting on a wooden rocking chair with her head careful placed on my broad chest and my fingers running through her hair like a plough in a fine soil as I whispered sweet nonsense into her ears and she laughed uncontrollably to my words. Soon it was dark and we had to go to bed after we had dinner. We said goodnight, joked a bit and soon fell asleep. 

At about 1am I suddenly woke up, my eyes were heavy but still I had this weird feeling all over me that I couldn’t explain. I didn’t want to wake Debbie up so I walked to the living room and turned on the light. Everything was fine so I turned it off. I was about to head back to the bedroom when I heard a noise outside like a Old radio set trying to pick up a faint signal. I tried to turn on the light and it didn’t come up, the whole power in the building was gone. That was strange because, the generator powering the building was supposed to be up throughout the night, it was well fueled. as I was still trying to phantom what was going on, I started hearing Male voices outside the door and what appeared to be a couple of light ray in front of the building, that was when it dawned on me that we were under an attack. I ran back to the room and woke Debbie. She quickly regained consciousness and we found somewhere to hide in the Conner of the room. The building was surrounded so we couldn’t make our exit. We just remain fixed at the Conner of the room holding each other so tight. Soon they began to call out for us;

“Come out! We know you are inside, we saw you during the day”

I whispered to my wife;

“My instinct was right; I knew someone was following us” 

“They started hitting the wooding door with so much force that after about 30seconds, the door betrayed us and they were in. 

“You better come out on your own because if we fish you out, it won’t be funny”

So after listening to the threats for some minutes I whispered to my wife, 

“they probably just want money, let us just give them and I’m sure they will leave us” 

with a shaky voice she said;

“Are you sure?” I nodded in affirmation. Just as we were about to come out from hiding, they opened the door to the room and found us;

“There you are” and the rest of them came into the room like a pack of hungry predators. Before I could say a word, a tall guy among-st them stepped forward and hit me on the forehead; I remember hitting the floor and I passed out for probably some minutes; when I was becoming conscious again, I could hear screams in the dark, I couldn’t move my hand or legs, I was being held back and as the screams became louder I knew what was going on. My darling Debbie was being Raped by unknown faces. I began to shout with the little strength I had left, my heart was pounding fast in fury as I heard them take turns and ripped the love of my life apart bit by bit; her scream reduced at a point and I knew she had exhausted all her strength on the struggle with those men. I was powerless and I hated myself for that. The one I sworn to protect was being ripped apart and I was helpless.

After some minute, I guess they were all done; I could hear them say:

“That babe is sweet mehn! This chap has been having all this fun to himself? He is selfish”

One of the walked up to me, held my head with his hand and I went blank again”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ************

My head was heavy as I felt the sun ray reflect on my face signifying the dawn of the new day. I couldn’t move my body at first because it was aching all over. Adjacent were I was lying was my wife barely moving and trying to mutter some words. I soon started remembering what had happened during the night and my soul was engulfed with pain and rage all at the same time. I was angry at myself not the men that attacked us. She was right; we should have stayed in the city. I wanted something that wasn’t cliche and I got the Unusual. 

I tried to call for help some minutes later with her phone that I guess the attackers didn’t notice even though it was laying obviously on the floor. I crawled to where she was and held her by the hand and said;

“Help is on its Way” she was looking pale and dishearten. She winked and passed out.

Soon the ambulance arrived and we were taken to the hospital. I kept blaming myself that I messed it all up. My honeymoon, it was supposed to be perfect; it wasn’t meant to be this way.

Police report later revealed the attackers were people from the city. They must have being tipped by someone who still remain unknown till today and amazingly, they didn’t take anything from the shack that day; they only every from me; my wife’s bride. They ripped her apart.

Debbie almost gave up on life after the incident. She underwent several therapy seasons and medical examinations; she became suicidal and I don’t blame her. It was my entire fault; my love was the only healing she needed. For weeks after the attack, I couldn’t stand seeing her. Her presence brought memories; hurtful memories that I was trying to overcome. But amidst all, I had to forgive myself and ultimately began to process of receiving her again as she was prior that attack. It was hard and that was when I learnt to love indeed, not when roses were blue and all was well but when her tears flowed from the present into an unpleasant past and then I fully understood that love is more than just holding of hands. Love is sacrifice, and I was willing to sacrifice all for her. And that was all that mattered.

                                                            (The End)

DaHub Episode five (Finale)

Episode five (The Motive)

Bimpe, Kike and Frank were the major leads of the Police in connection to the killing of Alexander Peters on that Friday. The police had them all arrested believing that they had information that was relevant to the investigation. 

Bimpe had been under surveillance for quite a number of weeks and she had not exhibited any character that could insinuate anything suspicious, she went out and came in like any normal student for weeks not until she was spotted with a guy who apparently wasn’t a student. He was quite tall and had tattoo on him, he had a fierce look, the kind of look that spelt trouble. Not only was she with this guy but they were having an argument that felt like they had a deal that went bad so the police decided to move in the following day and bring her into custody. 

Bimpe was interrogated by Detective Maya, she accused her of being a slut and a desperate whore who would go to any length to get what she wanted, Bimpe didn’t even deny all that because she knew it was about the scandal in school which had at this time subsided but left a trail that connected it to a murder. 

“You are right about my questionable moral standards and I know I am all what you said but I am not a murderer” she said close to tears.

“What was your relationship with Alex and how did he get your nude pictures”? Detective Maya asked.

“Alex was my classmate, he somehow said he was getting revenge and that was why he uploaded my picture online. I didn’t send it to him; it was frank I sent it too. He must have stolen it from frank or that fool gave him or something. I just don’t know all I know is that, I hate him for what he did but I wouldn’t kill him. I can’t hurt a fly I swear”

“So you gave your pictures to frank who happens to be your what? Boyfriend?”

“No, it was just some silly thing I did with him while I was bored that day, nothing more”

After much questioning, detective Maya was able to deduce that Frank actually said he was going to take care of it. Joy, her roommate also confirmed the statement and she also claimed that the guy the police saw her with was just a dude from Lagos who she hung out with and who later knew about her scandal thereby leading to an argument on that day before she was arrested. Bimpe was a slut who had a motive to kill but had left everything in the hands of Frank who she believed caused all the mess in the first place. Hence the police had nothing on her.

“I just lost a best friend and now I am in custody for his murder?” said frank as he was about to be interrogated in a dark room with almost no light in it. He was arrested at almost the same time with Kike. Frank was confused because he was sure he had convinced the police that he knew nothing about the murder but his words didn’t go well with the man standing right in front of him, giving him a look that could make any grown man shit in his pants. Detective John wasn’t convinced after Bimpe’s interrogation, his conclusion was that Frank knew about the murder or was the murderer.

The detective explained to him that Bimpe’s testimony brought him into the equation; Frank on the other hand was shocked and sad because he didn’t know how much his words could come back and hunt him. The detective continued by telling him how people in the hostel validated Bimpe’s claims due to the loud argument they had over it which showed that they were not in good terms before his death. Frank then decided to calm down and started talking.

“Alex was like a brother to me, that night when I left Bimpe’s apartment I didn’t go home, I went to a friend’s place to crash. I couldn’t stand Alex because I felt my so-called best friend was a monster and he just irritated me but after some days I went home, we fought and said things we didn’t mean but I swear I didn’t kill him. He just helped me out of some deep shit I got myself into so why would I hurt a friend like that”

“Which deep shit was that” asked the detective.

Frank was a little hesitant but he told the detective everything after being threatened.

“Well sir, some guys were going to hurt me one night and it was close to the hostel that very night. We were just coming back from a bash and they double crossed us, Alex paid them off but I was the one owing these guys, it was quite a bad scene that night but I swear it had nothing to do with drugs or any of those stuffs”

“Okay, did anyone from the hostel see you guys that day?”

Frank thought for a while and responded, “I think Mike saw us, he had this crazy look but we just ignored him but I am telling you, it wasn’t those guys. They don’t even know which hostel we live in because other hostels are beside ours”

“This mike guy, who else among Alex’s friends knows him?” 

“Kike is quite close to him, Alex used to talk about his Jealousy. I guess he likes Kike, who wouldn’t, she is quite a catch”

“Sure she is” she smiled and continued “You will have to remain with us for a while until we can validate your statements”  

From the findings of the detective, Frank wasn’t much of a suspect but someone who had no clue. So it was down to Kike who they perceived was hiding some things.

She sat down in that familiar dark room and wondered what the police had on her, soon the detective walked in and sat right in front of her.

“How well do you know Alex young lady” before she could respond he showed her the video made by one of the staffs in the eatery they went to that night before Alex was killed. It contained his proposal and her acceptance. Right there she started to shake all over and the detective held her hands.

“If you want to help this guy you call your love, you need to tell us everything you know about him. We know he told you a lot and trusted you so you are a major piece in this puzzle to track down his murderer” he said with a mild voice. “So speak” he sternly said and let go of her hands waiting for her to speak.

In tears she said “I am sorry I didn’t tell you about our relationship, I was scared it would lead to more questions”

”Alright we want to know everything he told you about everyone including Bimpe and Frank”

Kike told the police that the revenge Alex was getting was based on the fact that during the party two years back, Bimpe who he asked out in their first year and got turned down, humiliated him by taking pictures of him drunk and showing it to ladies in the class so he vowed to get back at her all those years. She told the detective other things too. Also, concerning that night, when she was asked if anyone saw her with Alex she said it was Mike only. Now Mike’s name came out in two different interrogations, she then explained her relationship with Mike which validated the statement of Frank about him being spotted that night with Alex by Mike. Just when the detective was about to proceed with further questions, detective Maya came in, and whispered to detective John’s ear. He left almost immediately and when he got to the reception it was Hon James and Kemi who wanted to speak to the detective.

James had always liked Kemi who he usually referred to as first lady. Just that afternoon, while Kemi was praying for her friend, he came to her room to pay a visit which Kemi saw as a disturbance, but when he saw that she was very sad he told her that he had an information of national security in his hand and for the very first time since he had been in that hostel, he was going to be useful.

“James? Am I right?” said the detective with a rather firm look

“Yes sir, politically and socially known as Hon James of the federal republic”

Sounding impatient the detective responded “I don’t have time for your bloody jesting, why do you want to see me?”

Kemi pinched him in the back and said “James, talk joor”

He then wore a more serious look and said, “I Know the killer, I just confirmed it”. Kemi looked at him in shock.

The night Alex was murdered, James who lived alone, for obvious reasons, felt his room was hot that very night so he came out to get some fresh air.  just few feet away from his room was Mike’s room and he noticed that he wasn’t in his room because the door was locked from outside, so he just stood there in the dark and was chilling. Not quite long, he heard a sound but was unsure of what it was so he felt it was probably an animal or something that dropped but he didn’t go in yet. Few minutes later, he saw Mike enter into his room in haste but he didn’t see him because it was dark so James hid himself and about 30seconds later, Mike came out with some things in a black bag but he suspected that they were bottles because when Mike wanted to close the door, he heard the sound when the bag shook. However because James was too tired to follow him, he just entered his room and forgot about the whole night.

“So why haven’t you said anything all this while?”

“I needed to be sure so I started blackmailing him, I sent a message to him telling him that I saw him kill Alex and he responded in fear. However, he wasn’t really forth coming until I told him that I was going to tell the police then he said he wanted to negotiate”

James called Mike right in the presence of the police and he sounded scared and he admitted to killing Alex; that was enough evidence to nab him. It was as if James single handedly got the murderer. There was no doubt about the killer now, James’ proof was very Lucid and substantial so all that was needed was to arrest him.

On getting to the hostel, Mike was apprehended trying to escape in a disguise of going to his uncle’s house in Lagos for the weekend. Now why and how did he commit the crime were the questions on the minds of Frank, Kike and everyone who was caught up in the middle of the whole mess?

Mike was the son of Chibuzor Obi who was one of the staff of Zen oil, the company in which Alex’s father was an executive. He was a junior employee and was down below real relevance in that conglomerate, Zen group of companies worldwide, which had her office in Portharcourt, Nigeria and its Global Headquarters in Sydney Australia. Some years back there was an investigation carried out in the headquarters concerning some of their staff in their African branches who needed to be promoted to join the office in Sydney and when the recommendations were complete, Mr Obi was short listed but when the final list was submitted he was sidelined. He confronted one of the board members of the Nigerian office, Mr Peter who told him that he didn’t feel he was up to the task and hence replaced him with a new employee, a lady who just joined the company barely two months back. Mr Obi was heartbroken and when he kept challenging the board, he was relieved of his duties and later arrested for fraud related offences. It was more of a person beef between Mr Peters and Mr Obi and Mike knew his father was framed. Mr Obi who was terribly dejected and died in prison in just less than 3 months after he was sentenced. Mike had always wanted Mr Peters to pay but he didn’t know how until he discovered just some months back that Alex was the son of the same man that took every hope of a bright future away from their family .Coupled with this, he saw that Kike, the lady he loved was also developing interest in the son of this same wicked man, he began to nurse a terrible rage in his heart and vowed to kill Alex before his family would take something else away from him. So on that night he saw both of them kissing and knew it was either then or never so he followed him to the front of his room, hit him with the base of a Mc dowels bottle and stabbed him from behind then pushed him from the top of the building before he could react. Even if Alex had survived, he couldn’t have recognised the person who did it because it happened so fast. He carefully broke the bottles and placed them beside his body after empting the content on his lifeless body.

After Kike heard his statement, she couldn’t stand it, she passed out, and it was terribly heart breaking to think that it was the same monster that committed the crime that had been comforting her all the while. However Mike still claimed that he loved her, well, she made it clear when she woke up that she never wanted to set her eyes on him again.  Kemi, praised God for the prayers came through because from all indications, if James had not seen him that night and had not also followed up with the investigation, he would have never been caught and wrong people would have gone down because the police were almost concluding that Kike and Frank conspired to kill him. It would have destroyed Kike if the word was let out to the whole world. When Mike was asked about the writing on the wall, he denied ever writing it, he said he planned it in a way that he was never going to leave any clue before the crime so he wasn’t foolish enough to write it. Whatever it meant and who whoever wrote it became a mystery no one could crack.

After his trial, Mike was sentenced to 30years in prison having pleaded guilty. He never felt remorse for the crime he committed because he felt he only got even but he felt remorse for failing Kike, a lady he would never stop loving.

Kike and Kemi, became best of friends and Kike became more serious with her relationship with God. Frank turned a new live after that incident and also became friends with Kemi and Kike . After their graduation, some years down the line, Frank and Kemi got into a relationship and later got married. Kike got a scholarship into NYU, and it was there she met an handsome God fearing Man who she got married to, the couple now live in Toronto Canada and have two Kid. Well, Kemi and Frank have a son and they visit Kike and her hubby anytime they are in Canada holding a conference. Frank is a public speaker now and travels around the world with his wife, Kemi. Much wasn’t heard from Bimpe again after graduation and Hon James, well, I leave you to make your guess about him.

THE  END!!!.

Thanks for reading. New story loading... watch out! 

I sincerely appreciate my editor, Titilope, she is the reason why you could read this comfortably. Thank alot. also Thanks to Nami design for the art work of DaHub.