The Bishop. His Slut And A Third Party 6
I must have fallen asleep in the taxi because the driver shook me to wake me up when he arrived the bus station.
“Miss, wake up, we are here. Do you want me to drive into the station?”
“Yes please.”
As soon as we get to the gate, I immediately notice there are a lot of police men searching for something or someone at the station. I immediately ask the driver to stop, I observe as the police men walk around asking questions and showing people a paper which I’m pretty sure is my photograph. It’s 12midnight and police are still searching for me as if I am terrorist? What did my mother tell them? I know father is a very important man in the state, but common on! I’m only a 20yrs old young lady? How dangerous am I?
“Miss, do I drive in?”
“No.”
The driver gets suspicious and looks into the park, notices the police men, then looks back at me. “Are you running from them? Are you a criminal? ‘Cos if that’s the case, I will have to call their attention to you.”
“Please don’t, they maybe looking for a criminal, but I assure you, I’m not one.”
“Then why are you running? If you are innocent then you shouldn’t be afraid.”
“Its not that simple. Please drive away from here and I will explain.”
“Why should I trust you? Do you have a dangerous weapon on you? Did you hurt someone? Wait, that your friend you said got hurt, are you responsible. Listen, I have a sick mother whose hospital bills I am paying for and I just got married, plus my wife and I are expecting our first child. So you can see that I have my hands full already and I do not need any trouble with the law. So if you are a criminal, please get out of my cab.”
“No, it’s not like that Sir.”
“Call me Samuel.”
“Okay Samuel, please I beg you, just leave here, and I will explain, I beg you.”
“If you are innocent, why are you running?”
“Because I will be dead even before my innocence can be proven. Okay, just move away from here, I will show you something.”
“I hope I don’t regret this.”
“You won’t. I promise. Just move away from here, just a little, please.”
Samuel is now very solicitous about me but still drives past the bus station, only for a few minute, then he pulls to the side of the road. “Now, show me the proof of your innocence of leave my cab. I will hate to drop you here by this time of the night, but I don’t want any trouble, so what is it going to be?” he orders, the only proof I have is the video, I try to reach into the bag, but Samuel panics, “Hey, wait! What are you trying to get? Are you tying to hurt me? Are you getting a weapon?”
“No, I just want to get out a phone, the evidence I need to show you is in the phone and the phone is inside this bag.”
“And I should just trust you?”
Handing over the bag to him, I say, “Here, take this bag, check it, you will see a phone, bring it out and I will show you.” a part of me is screaming for me to stop. I mean, what am I doing handing over the bag that holds my life and freedom to a total stranger? I take the risk anyway, I push the bag to him. “Take it.”
“Okay fine, do it yourself. Go ahead and get whatever you want.”
I reach into the bag for father’s phone. I turn it on. This is actually the first time I am putting it on. I play the video and hand it over to Samuel to see. After he has seen the video, he hands the phone back to me and I switch it off and secure it deep inside the bag.
“I take it that you are Blessing?” he asks and I nod. “This is serious,” he says. “Why don’t you just take it to the police, this will set you free.”
“You speak as if you don’t know the the law is not always fair and just. I have to know my father is alright first, I cant do this alone, I need him.”
“And if he’s dead?”
“Then I will forever be on the run.”
“In a situation like this, how do you even consider going to a public bus station? Truth is, I heard what happened on the news, just before I picked you. I was suspicious of the blood but I never thought you are the same person they described over the radio. They described a monster, but you are so young and look so innocent, I just couldn’t comprehend.” Then he pauses and thinks deeply for a long time and then looks back at me and says, “You know, I can take you to wherever you are going, it will cost you a whole lot ‘cos it will take all night but I can do it, I used to drive at night a lot. I started smuggling goods at midnight when I was 14yrs. So it’s something I’m used to. You can`t go to the bus station, just show me the address and I will take you there. That is only if you have enough money to pay.”
“Oh thank you, thank you Sir.”
“Samuel.”
“Sorry, Samuel, thank you so much. I have enough money to pay you, that’s not a problem.”
“So, do you know where you are going to? I mean, seeing that you are a fugitive.”
“No I don’t, but I do have an address here with me.”
“Let me see it.”
I reach into my bag all excited for the first time, I got the paper Miss Christiana gave me and handed it to the driver, he looked at the paper, smiled, then looked at me and said’
“I know where this is, it will take us all night. About 7hrs. But it’s doable.”
“Okay then, let’s do it.”
“You sure you have the money?”
“Yes I do.”
“Good, you will pay 50% now and 50% when we get there.”
I reach into my bag and count the money, it’s much but it’s totally worth it. I relax as Samuel drives, by this time the radio is playing some really nice song that reminds me of Father, I can’t help but cry so bitterly. For the first time since the disaster, I feel very heart broken as the reality really sinks in, I am so sad and I’ve never felt so alone in the whole world. It’s horrible, it’s a feeling that is stronger than pain itself. I don’t even know who I am, I don’t even know if what mother said to me is really the truth, for all I know, she could have told me that long story just to hurt me and prevent me from finding my root, she knows I will live the rest of my life in torture not knowing who I really am. Why is all this happening to me? I don’t even know if Father is alive or dead.
“We have been driving for three and a half hour now, I thought you will be sleeping, but instead, you have been crying all the while. I am beginning to worry for you. What really happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then stop crying, how can I help?”
“You are helping already, you didn’t give me up to the police, and you are taking me out of town. You’ve done a lot.”
“Okay, just have faith and be optimistic’.”
Faith, that seems like the only thing I can do right now, nothing more, nothing less. By the way, I had forgotten about my own health, what did Mother mean when she said I will never know the joy of being a mother? My goodness! How wicked is that woman? So I will never have kids? Well, for some reason, I am just skeptical about it, I guess the reality of not being a mother hasn’t really sunk in yet, I will deal with that when I get to that bridge, but for now, I just want Father to be okay. I need him alive, he has to be alive, he’s all I have. I don’t even have my siblings anymore, by the time they find out I shot Father, they will hate me and want nothing to do with me. I have nobody else in this world.
I must have cried myself to sleep, I don’t know for how long but I get woken up when the driver hits the breaks forcefully. I wasn’t wearing a seat belt since I am sitting at the back seat. The force with which the brakes was slammed on caused the car sway a bit and halt so forcefully that I hit my head on the seat in front of me.
“What was that Samuel? Are you trying to kill us?” I scream in fright.
“Keep it down young lady and stay down. We are in trouble. I think the police has caught up with us.”
“What do you mean? We are many hours away from where I am being wanted, I thought we left them behind? Please don’t let them see me.”
I look ahead and I see about three men standing with very big guns. It’s dark but there are about four cars there and their headlights are on. Taking a good look we both realize that it’s no police, there are people laying on the floor, there is a bus and one of them is pointing a gun at the passenger and they are all coming out of the bus and handing over their belongings and also laying on the floor. We just drove into the scene of an on going robbery. Could my day get any worse? Who robs people at dawn? It’s past 4am already. What will I do? I clutch onto my bag pack tightly to my chest, they can’t take this bag for me, this bag is my life, I can’t let them take it.
“Samuel, they are robbers, they are armed robbers.”
“Calm down blessing, you are panicking too much.”
“Shouldn’t I? Have you forgotten what I have with me? I will die if they rob me.”
While I am busy crying in the car, I didn’t notice that one of the armed men has walked up to us, I am driven into a state of shock when he bangs on the window, yelling at us to come out of the car. Samuel and I get out of the car, he points his gun at us demanding for all we have with us. He collects all the money with Samuel, including the money I had given him a few hours ago, they take his phone too. Then the armed man walks up to me, I am still clutching my bag to my chest, he points the gun at me and asks me what I have in there, I told him I had only money and clothes. He asks that I give him the money, I take it out and hand over all the money to him. My hands are shaking, I am so frightened, but I won’t let them take the bag. He can have the money, I have Miss Christiana’s credit card and pin so loosing the cash I have here to robbers is not a big deal.
“Hey, what else do you have in that bag?”
“Nothing sir, just clothes.”
“And I’m supposed to trust you? Empty that bag. I want to see the entire content.”
“I swear, that’s all I have in here.”
“Okay, hand the bag over, Right now!” he screams at me so loud that his colleges rush up to meet us, and ask him what’s going on and that it’s time for them to leave because they have exceeded the time they planned to spend. He holds the bag and orders me to let go but I refuse to let go, by this time I am kneeling and pleading with him not to take the bag.
“This bag must be really valuable for you to hold on to it so tightly, now I am really interested in the content of that bag.” putting his gun to my head, he says, “Now let go or you die, the bag or your life.”
The feel of the gun against my forehead scares me so badly that I blank out on the scene. I am standing here in front of robbers, but in my state of shock, all I can see is the time Father got shot and he laid on the ground in a pool of his own blood. I think to myself, if this is how I am going to end? The gun pushes my head and the man yells at me again and this brings me back to reality. Before I could say anything I hear Samuel scream at the man putting the gun on my head. “Leave her alone you thief.” and then I see another armed man point a gun at Samuel. At this point I realize that I have a decision to make, it is time to let go of the bag and pray they don’t find the phone. But before I can even let go of the bag, I hear a gun shot, next thing I know, Samuel is screaming in pain. I can’t believe it, they shot Samuel. I don’t even know when I let go of the bag and run to him, he is lying face down and again there is blood everywhere, he is not talking, he is not moving, I can’t even tell if he is breathing or not, he is just so still.
“We said no killing! We agreed that unless it is really necessary or in self defense. What the fuck is wrong with you Man?” one of the robbers yells at the one that shot Samuel.
“He disrespected Capo.”
“Shut up you idiot. I’ve told you to stop sniffing crack before operations, what the hell is wrong with you? Now hurry, let’s get out of here.”
Next thing I hear is the siren. The police are close, what do I do? Samuel is not breathing, he was hit in the head, his eyes are closed.
“That’s the Siren, the police is here, let’s get out of here. But not without a hostage,” then he points the gun at me again, “hey, you, get up and come with us. Now!” he yells at me.
I’m scared but I get up and follow them. They drag me into their car and drive off. I start to cry, I’m still in shock, I can’t even speak, I can’t say a word, I can’t even ask where they are taking me to and what they intend to do with me. I cry, I pray in my heart. “Dear God! If you are up there, remember when I asked if my day could get any worse? Please I need you to understand that it was only a rhetorical question, please don’t take it personal. Help me end this suffering. Amen.”
These are the only words I could whisper, now I feel dizzy, weak. I have lost a lot of blood myself. And poor Samuel, he has a sick mother and a pregnant wife. I have caused too many people pain in just a matter of hours. I have always known I am a caused child. What will they do to me. The police is not even chasing after us. Truth is, I don’t even wish for the police to come after us, they will rescue me and that will be the end of me. How ironic, every hostage prays to be rescued by the police, well, every hostage except me. I am exhausted, very weak, I have cried any energy I had left out. I feel myself dying slowly. I can hear them deliberating on what to do with me.
“We really don’t have any use for this girl.”
“I took her just incase the police came after us. But she can service us you know, I’ve not been with a woman in a long time. When are we leaving the hide out? I need to get back to the real world.”