When Trouble Sleeps

by Leye Adenle

  ‘See you soon,’ he said to Shehu. A grin spread across his face.

  ‘I’ll have him back in no time,’ Sisi said, winking. With her arm on his back, she led Ojo out of the room.

  Sisi kept her hand over Ojo’s closed eyes. ‘Don’t look till you hear the door close,’ she said. She unwrapped the towel from his waist and took it with her.

  The door closed and Ojo opened his eyes. It was pitch black in the silent room. ‘Hello?’ he said. He spread his hands until he touched something cold and hard. His hands snapped back to his body. The chain rattled.

  The lights went on. Malik was standing alone by the wall on the other end of the room. Between them, long, shiny chains dangled from hooks in the ceiling. The walls were covered in padded white leather. There were no windows and the floor was tiled black and white.

  Ojo put his hands over his crotch. ‘Where are the twins?’ he asked.

  ‘There are no twins.’

  ‘What is going on?’

  ‘You are in deep trouble. Florentine is alive.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘The girl you tried to kill. She’s not dead.’

  ‘But, you said she was dead.’

  ‘I was wrong. She’s alive. And she contacted me.’

  ‘How can this be?’

  ‘It be.’

  ‘Malik, you are trying to blackmail me.’

  ‘No. And neither is she. She just wanted some money I owe her.’

  ‘Malik, are you lying to me? How did she survive?’

  ‘Some people picked her up. They took her to a place called Street Samaritans.’

  ‘A hospital?’

  ‘No. A charity. The woman who runs it, she’s the trouble you have.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because Florentine told her what you did and the woman swore to do something about it. She’s not going to go to the police. She’s going to take matters into her own hands. That’s what she promised Florentine. And now that you’re running for governor, she can really, really hurt you. Unless something is done about her.’

  ‘How can I do something about someone I don’t know? Who is she?’

  ‘Her name is Amaka. She needs to disappear. If she contacts you, do not try to negotiate. Do not meet her, do not talk to her. Any contact you have with her, she will use to harm you.’

  ‘What about Florentine?’

  ‘I will take care of her.’

  ‘Where is she?’

  ‘I don’t know yet. She won’t tell me. She’s afraid after what you did to her, but I’ll find her and I’ll take care of her. For you.’

  ‘How do I know she’s alive?’

  ‘You still have her number?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Call her.’

  43

  ‘Who invited this old baba?’ Ambrose said from his seat.

  Those who hadn’t noticed Otunba followed Ambrose’s gaze to the old man in the doorway. Two men moved their seats apart so that an additional seat could fit at the table. Otunba sat and the servant holding his chair asked if he wanted anything to drink. Otunba waved the man away.

  ‘Who is trying to kill your candidate?’ Ambrose asked and everybody laughed, including Otunba.

  ‘Don’t mind the boy,’ Otunba said. He removed a brown envelope from his pocket and pulled out two bundles of hundred-dollar bills. ‘What is happening? Your people are not yet rioting.’

  ‘Your people have to start.’

  ‘We started yesterday. It died when your people didn’t arrive.’ Otunba accepted a stack of chips.

  ‘We were there. Your boys had sophisticated weapons. If we engaged, it would have been bloody for us. Your guys would have gotten too excited.’

  The lady spoke. ‘Boys, you know the rules, no business at the table.’

  ‘No riot, no emergency security vote,’ Otunba said. ‘No emergency security vote, no money.’

  ‘You mean Abuja hasn’t sent money by now?’

  ‘Boys,’ the lady snapped.

  44

  ‘I know who the girl is,’ Ojo said. His hair left a wet path on the headrest in the back of the Range Rover as he turned towards Shehu.

  ‘Which girl?’ Shehu asked.

  ‘The girl at Eko hotel. The one that took my memory card. Iyabo.’

  Shehu leaned forward. ‘Park here,’ he said to the driver.

  The driver looked at Ojo in the mirror. Ojo nodded. The driver stopped the car on the long narrow road in the middle of the forest. The police escort also stopped, then reversed to be close to the SUV. Two officers jumped from the van with their weapons. The Harem was now out of sight beyond a bend in the road. Ojo motioned to the officers to remain where they were as he and Shehu got out. Together they walked back a distance in the sandy strips between the floundering grass. The clouds had cleared from the full moon. Under the stars, the forest grey and noisy around them, Ojo talked and Shehu listened.

  When Ojo had finished talking, Shehu pointed in the direction from which they had come. ‘This happened in there?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes. But it was an accident.’

  ‘Oh Lord.’

  ‘I didn’t mean to.’

  ‘How badly did you beat her?’

  ‘We thought she was dead.’

  ‘Oh Lord. Olabisi. Oh Lord.’

  ‘It was Malik’s idea to dump her body on the road.’

  ‘And now he just told you she’s still alive?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you believe him?’

  ‘She sent me this message.’

  Shehu took Ojo’s phone and read the message: ‘I’m sorry for what happened. Please let bygones be bygones. - Flo.’

  ‘When did she send this?’

  ‘Just now. Before we left.’

  ‘Did you talk to her?’

  ‘No. She didn’t answer my call so I sent her a message that she should call me back and she replied with this. Malik said she’s afraid.’

  ‘What is her name?’

  ‘Florentine.’

  ‘Does she always sign her name off like this when she texts you?’ Shehu looked at the message on Ojo’s phone.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And she told this Amaka lady everything?’

  ‘Yes. Malik said so.’

  ‘And now you think Amaka is Iyabo.’

  ‘Yes. Malik said she’s a lawyer. Iyabo also said she’s a lawyer. It is the same person, Shehu. It makes sense. She set me up because of Florentine. I knew there was something suspicious about the girl.’

  ‘And yet you still invited her to your hotel suite. Where is Florentine now?’

  ‘Malik said he would take care of her for me.’

  ‘Take care of her for you. Brother, you do not want anyone other than me to take care of anything or anybody for you, do you understand? Not Malik, not them,’ he pointed at the police officers, ‘not your father-in-law. Especially not your father-in-law. This doesn’t go beyond here. Tell Malik to do nothing to the girl. Let him arrange for me to meet her. Did you tell him about the hotel? About Iyabo?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Did you?’

  ‘No. I’m not stupid.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘What if they’re working together with Malik?’

  ‘Now you’re thinking.’

  ‘I think I should just tell Otunba. He can sort this thing out faster than us.’

  ‘Once you tell him, you become his slave. Is that what you want, to become his slave? I will take care of this. Call Malik now and tell him to arrange for me and Florentine to meet.’

  45

  A thin man with thick, curly hair on his exposed forearms gathered the chips on the table to himself.

  Otunba and Ambrose both got up and left the room. On the landing they waited while a servant left, then they sat in the sofa furthest from the room they’d come from.

  ‘I heard the VP came to see you,’ Ambrose said. ‘And before he left Abuja, a bullion van was seen at his house.’

&n
bsp; ‘And so?’

  ‘You said your governor has not received any emergency security vote.’

  ‘Where are the riots?’

  ‘It cannot come from our camp. It is your camp that lost a candidate and almost lost another. Did you have anything to do with that?’

  ‘Make an attempt on my own son-in-law?’

  ‘It was not an attempt on your son-in-law. He would be dead.’

  ‘They will release Douglas’s body to his family tomorrow.’

  ‘They were able to retrieve his body?’

  ‘It is a mess. What remains of it. They will take the coffin to his ancestral home at Isale Eko.’

  ‘In the heart of our grassroots base.’

  ‘Precisely.’

  ‘We don’t want any losses. Tell your boys, no killings. We don’t want Abuja to declare a state of emergency.’

  ‘And about the emergency security vote, when it comes, the governor still gets his usual two thirds.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘It is his last term. He’s working for his retirement.’

  ‘He’s greedy.’

  ‘We split the rest.’

  ‘Fair enough.’

  ‘After this Douglas thing,’ Otunba said, ‘I’m hearing that your candidate feels he has a chance.’

  ‘Who said so?’

  ‘Call him to order. Nothing has changed. Same deal as before.’

  ‘Is it true that his girlfriend’s husband was flying the plane?’ Ambrose asked.

  ‘Yes. The boy killed them all.’

  ‘What a shame.’

  ‘Yes. Anyway. It’s less than six weeks to elections. We will start campaigns after the burial. No need for any trouble after that. The security vote should have arrived by then and you would have received your share.’

  ‘Good. We have a new party member. The daughter of Ambassador Mbadiwe. Amaka. Amaka Mbadiwe. She has to be on the safe list.’

  ‘I don’t know her.’

  ‘Your son-in-law does. That is why she is on the safe list. She’s untouchable. Let him know that.’

  ‘Like I said, I don’t know her.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. She is one of ours. She is a no-go area.’

  ‘I have heard.’

  46

  Insects flew in circles round fluorescent tubes hanging in rows from the ceiling. Below, the congregation wailed and sang and clapped and jerked in holy frenzy. In front, on a raised stage covered in red carpet, the pastor, in a white suit, white shirt, white shoes and a red tie, was sweating from the hairline of his jerry-curled head as he ran from corner to corner screaming into his microphone and spraying spittle onto the faces of the most ardent followers who were kneeling at the foot of the altar.

  In the first row, swaying to the choir’s song, Area stood with his hands up, his eyes closed, and his face to the heavens as he repeated the proclamations the man of God commanded: ‘All my enemies, somersault and die.’ All around, the chorus, ‘Die, die, die,’ reverberated through the church.

  Area felt a tingle against his leg. He fetched his phone and checked the caller display, then pushed his way past the kneeling, standing, jumping worshippers in his row, and jogged down the aisle for the exit, a hundred metres away.

  Catching his breath outside the main auditorium of Faith and Fire Miracles Ministries, stars above, warm breeze blowing, he looked at the screen and saw the seconds counting.

  ‘Baba,’ he said.

  ‘Her name is Amaka.’

  ‘The girl?’

  ‘Yes. Amaka Mbadiwe. Ambassador Mbadiwe’s daughter. Do it tonight. She lives in her father’s official residence in Ikoyi. The ambassador is not around, but there will be police officers guarding the place. Take as many boys as you need. Kill everybody. Take jewellery, TVs, things like that. I’m at an important meeting. I will wait until you call me to say it has been done. OK?’

  ‘OK.’

  Otunba returned to the landing from a door by the sofa. He winced and rubbed his stomach as he closed the door behind him.

  Ambrose watched him settle back onto the sofa.

  ‘Are you alright?’ he asked.

  ‘Something is disturbing my system,’ Otunba said. ‘I think I’ve flushed it out.’

  ‘Have you?’

  ‘We shall see.’ He rubbed his stomach again. ‘We shall see.’

  Ambrose exchanged his remaining chips for cash. He’d not done well. He stood from the table and walked around shaking hands. Otunba was the last person he bade goodbye.

  ‘You’re leaving so soon?’ Otunba asked.

  ‘If we are to have a riot by tomorrow, I have to start working tonight,’ Ambrose said.

  Yellowman held the car door open for Ambrose before he walked around the car and got in next to his boss.

  ‘From now on, Amaka is your number one priority,’ Ambrose said. The car pulled out onto the road.

  ‘Didn’t you tell him she’s on the safe list?’ Yellowman asked.

  ‘I did. He said he doesn’t know who she is. He will make it look like an accident.’

  ‘You want me to bring her in?’

  ‘No. I want her to see what he’s capable of. But you must be there so that we don’t lose her. You, personally. Not anyone else. Round the clock. From this night on, her safety is your responsibility.’

  ‘What if he doesn’t make a move?’

  ‘Then we will do it for him. Just like he did with his own son-in-law.’

  47

  Amaka raised her leg from the warm soapy water and placed her heel on top of the chrome tap. She inhaled vapour from the peppermint bath oil. Her eyes tingled. She raised her hand, skimmed the surface with her palm, and watched the water lapping against her skin in the dim light of a candle burning on the lid of the toilet bowl.

  Her phone rang – the new one with her old number. She dried her hand on a towel on the rack, then leaned over the side of the bathtub. The caller display showed: Guy Collins. Her hand hovered over the device. She laid back into the water, stared at the ceiling, and let the phone continue ringing till it stopped. She became aware of her elevated breathing rate. She took deep breaths through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. She felt the vapour in her chest.

  The phone beeped twice. She stayed in the water a while then she dried her hand and picked it up. She had a new voicemail. She lay back in the water and listened to Guy’s voice.

  ‘Hi Amaka. Eyitayo said you got your phone back. Amaka, the other day, when I got back to London and I saw your message that Malik had found you, I tried to call you back. I thought I should’ve never left Lagos. All I wanted to do was to fly right back to Nigeria. And I almost did. I was going to get a ticket when I called you again, and this time a man answered. People were shouting, screaming in the background. He said they’d killed someone, and they were beating you too. I begged him to help. He said there was nothing he could do. Then, he told me it was all over and he hung up.

  ‘When he said that, it was the most awful feeling I’ve ever had. I didn’t know what to do or who to call or what to think. Mel’s father lives in Nigeria. I called her and I told her what had happened. I asked if her dad could help; if he could do something in Lagos. Call someone, go to the police, anything. All the while I thought it was too late. I thought Malik had got you.

  ‘Mel said she’d call her dad. She suggested I come over in case he needed to talk to me. I was in such a state, Amaka. I couldn’t be alone. I took a taxi to hers from the airport. We stayed up late waiting to hear back from her father and talking about what had happened. I slept on the sofa.

  ‘Amaka, I was only at Mel’s place because I’d reached out to her for help. Nothing happened between us. Nothing could have happened between us. When I thought I’d lost you, it was the most horrible feeling I’ve ever known, and it made me realise that, even though we’ve only known each other a short while, I’m in love with you. Amaka, I love you. And if you think there’s a chance that maybe you feel the same way about me, please cal
l me. If you don’t, I’ll understand. I’m just relieved you’re OK.’

  She continued to stare at the shifting patterns on the ceiling, and then slid into the bathtub, fully submerging her head in the water.

  48

  A Range Rover pulled up in front of the gate and sounded its horn. Behind it was a Mercedes saloon, and behind that, another Range Rover.

  A man in a khaki uniform opened a foot gate and shielded his eyes from the headlights. The driver honked again. The gateman walked to the SUV while behind him, holding his AK-47 high above his head, a policeman yawned and stretched in the frame of the foot gate.

  The rear window of the Mercedes rolled down. A single gunshot lit up the interior of the car and the rifle dropped from the hands of the policeman in the foot gate. He grabbed his belly, folded forward, and fell, head first onto the concrete pavement.

  ‘Put your hands down,’ Area said to the gateman, who was staring at the pistol aimed at his head. The gateman lowered his hands to his sides and stood rigid.

  Men with automatic pistols climbed out of the cars and made for the foot gate. The first four jumped over the dead officer. The last two carried the body into the compound.

  ‘Is Amaka in the house?’ Area asked the gateman. The man shook his head.

  ‘Why are you lying to me?’ Area said.

  ‘I no dey lie, sir. Na only me and the officer dey for house.’

  ‘Any other officer dey inside?’

  ‘No, sir.’

  A single shot rang from within the compound. The gateman flinched and grimaced. Area shook his head at him.

  The gates opened. Two dead bodies on top of each other in an X shape lay in front of a car covered in a tarpaulin. Area nodded to the gateman to enter the compound. The cars drove in and the men closed the gates behind them.