Blog - June 14, 2018

Episode 20: #Fiction20. The Finale

There were many things Jamila was, what she wasn’t was careless. Alhaji had money when he was alive. Lots of it. This and the heightened rivalry between him and his business partners were why his life was cut short before he could enjoy the wealth he had gathered. When he told Jamila of the stash he had away in many different accounts, she was not exactly shocked because he definitely lived the life. When he handed her the details and made her  have  access, she was overwhelmed and she knew it was a fortune she had to guard with her life. As she grew older to understand the enormity of the bequest, it became imperative to make  solid plans to get the wealth to the person(s) who would need it the most; and her sister fit this bill perfectly. This made her even more passionate about protecting her by all means especially with her pregnancy, and to get this done, she was ready to risk it all. When her plans were formed and being executed, her final card was going to be to get her sister access to the money, but not before eliminating all the obstacles on the way, which included her husband and his brother. On getting confirmation of the pregnancy, she tweaked the documents with the help of her lawyer to reflect access by her sister and her offspring, and made Samuel (Udo)a link to the lawyer,  because he had shown he could be trusted and she knew she needed one person to have the details and  be there  if things ever went awry. Now, things have gone awry. Everyone is dead.  

DOGO

It was over with Jamila and her very risky project and luckily for him, he had not been sent to the beyond. He should move on and find another project which would get him all the adrenaline rush he constantly craved ; because that was his forte. He never had any good moments when things came easy so he had discovered that the only way he could go through life was to make money through the hard way and get involved in the underworld activities. He should call his contacts and identify his next project, He totally should but  there was something he needed to unravel. Jamila never stopped telling him to spur Udo to act accordingly if anything ever happened to her, and she never for once told him what ‘acting accordingly’ meant. She would tell him :   “If I ever die, call Udo and tell him he knows what to do“. He should ignore, and move, maybe write a book, get a good life with the money he had saved somewhere from his previous projects; he could do all of these but that thought still tugged on his mind like a fly perches persistently on a wound.  What was Jamila’s end course? What secret did she have with Udo? Was there someone else involved? or wait, was there some money involved?  

UDO

There were many thoughts running through his head. He was just an average police officer who knew his  job and everyone knew he was loyal to a fault. He knew what he was getting into from the onset but nothing prepared him for this turn of events and he was beginning to become really tired of it all. It seemed like every new day came with its own death and misfortune and despite being in the line of work he was, he was getting sick and fed up. When he saw the news about Jamila’s death and got a call confirmation from Dogo, he was really devastated but somehow felt a sigh of relief; this most probably ,meant that the project was over and boy was that due! He knew what to do and he should get to it right away, he had been briefed too many times for him to forget the details and he already had a map of how to go about it. However, way the country was looking, he might not get rich anytime soon through his regular job and the extra pay Jamila gave him could not go for a long time before it would be exhausted. He was so used to getting orders and obeying them that he had gotten lost and forgotten he had personal needs too and being rich should get to him. Then the thought came through; Could this be the big break he had been waiting for? What if he found a way to divert the funds and create a cover for it? How traceable would he be? Or, he could arrange for a way to sell the child and make a case for how he was the only living member of the family, albeit distant. Hell, he could do whatever he wanted to do to get access to the money and he had very little time to make a decision. Immediate problem 1, to call the lawyer or not?

DOGO

At the thought of money being involved, Dogo’s senses came into full gear and he knew he had to double his guessing prowess, because he could not let it all go to that oversabi officer who Jamila trusted so much and always made to share secrets with, while conveniently only giving him the information for any of their targets and instructing him to gather intelligence. This was his huge opportunity to become rich, and he deserved it. He would buy the biggest houses, get himself a jet and fly the world, taking the most beautiful ladies with him. After all, he had earned the life by being such a loyal follower. These thoughts were running through his head as he was walking by the side of the road leading to a bar in a remote corner of town. He was totally engrossed in his plans and how they would pan out as soon as possible. He had conjured images of the first city he would visit with his jet; slim , fresh and soft spoken girls in tow. He didn’t see the truck which had lost its control just behind him, The last thing he heard was a bang, and a scream, then darkness.  

UDO

Udo called the doctor and made arrangements to transfer the child to his home. All the evil thoughts that clouded his reasoning earlier had gone off immediately he saw the little girl, smiling up at him with her fists tightly clenched.   Humanity won him over and he knew the decision he would go by; he called the lawyer and they arranged how the proceedings would go. He arranged to meet with the lawyer later and have a better discussion. For now, there were more important things to do, like getting lots of needed items for the baby and hiring a highly professional live-in Nanny. After making few calls and having a lengthy discussion with the doctor regarding the things he needed to do to keep the baby healthy, He walked into the ward where the baby was being tended to by the nurse on duty; a lone tear rolled down his face and he said a silent prayer to God, to help him in the journey he was embarking on. He picked her up and whispered into her tiny ears: You will be great, and successful, and you will live a life free of drama ,for your ancestors have taken the huge chunk already”. You will be called Armani, the free one.       

Comments (5)

  1. Abdulhammed

    June 14, 2018

    woow, where have i been. gat to read from begining o. i hope to get the time. weldone sis. Eid mubarak in advance

  2. Adeniran Saheed

    June 14, 2018

    Nice one there. I really enjoyed every bit of the episodes

  3. Waliyullah

    June 14, 2018

    “You will be called Armani, the free one”. This part got drops of tears of my eyes. Captivating story, beginning to the end. Big ups to the contributors and the convener. God bless you guys.

  4. Aderinsola Oyekenu

    June 14, 2018

    Okay…I don’t like this….I mean how on earth did Armani not come back to life? If you say Jamila deserved death, how did Armani who wanted above all things to hold her child in her arms?

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