CHAPTER TEN

...Worked out a plan

And it didn't take 'em long to decide

That Earl had to die

Goodbye Earl

Those black-eyed peas

They tasted all right to me Earl

You're feelin' weak

Why don't you lay down

And sleep Earl

Ain't it dark

Wrapped up in that tarp Earl?...

With a bottle of tequila in one hand and a wine glass in the other, Seun twirled around his living room, singing out loud as he listened to an old country song, sung by 'Dixie Chicks'.

"It didn't take long to decide! Samuel had to die!!" Spilling that colourless liquor from the wine glass as he spun around in joy and sang along.

"Goodbye Sam!!!!" He jiggled his shoulders, following the beats and tunes of the song.

"Na nana na na!!!"

With an image of Samuel's corps in mind and a devilish grin, he looked to the ground, "Why don't you lay down and sleeeeeeep Saaam?!"

Now that his biggest threat was gone, Seun felt more alive than he had in the last couple of months. With a thud, he made himself comfortable on his chaise lounge, happily pouring himself a glass refill of tequila. No rules about not drinking tequila in a wine glass afterall.

A gentle sigh came after taking a quick sip of the liquor, his sigh laced with a strong sense of relief.

"Ahhhh! Sorry it had to end this way for you Samuel" He said. "You can move on to the other side now, I promise to take good care of your beloved. Hehehehehe!!!!"

With Samuel out of his way, Shola would have no one else to turn to for emotional support except Seun, and he was sure of it.

"Oh it's such a shame Shola" He mocked "I know I can't replace him but I will do my best." His soliloquy could easily make anyone assume he had lost it. But of course he was mad, mad in joy and love.

"Oops! The good news has come!" He disconnected his phone from the bluetooth speaker.

"Hello sergeant Jeje!" Sergeant? Okay he wasn't mad but he was clearly getting drunk already.

Inspector Jeje was the police man Seun had told his thugs about. He had worked for Seun on numerous cases, helping him beat the law and have his way. Surely for a small fee.

"Sir we have a problem!" Jeje spoke from the crime scene

"Wait, w...w… wah… what do you mean?"

"A very big problem sir"

"I don't understand. Didn't Samuel die?" His biggest worry blinded him from other possible obstacles.

"Both of them are down! Your foolish thugs shot both brothers!"

His excitement went down by at least forty percent at that moment. "What?!!!"

"Yes!"

"Those fools!!" He was comfortable killing Samuel, but not his innocent brother. Like Samuel was guilty.

What would happen if it all points back to me and the media hears it? This is trouble.

"What do we do now sir?" The inspector was more worried about his neck than Seun.

"There is only one way." He answered. "We get rid of those thugs. I will give you the location of their money drop point and the time they will arrive. You and your fellow cops can apprehend them there" He cared more about his safety than loyalty.

"Okay sir!" The foolish police not realising at the moment that he could have easily been the one at the receiving end of the situation.

"But first, I have to pretend to gather evidence against them."

"Okay, bye officer!"

***

"We need a surgeon!!!" The nurse barged through the hallway of the city hospital, pushing Samuel on a wheeled bed.

"J… Where is… Jim" Samuel struggled to move his head

"Sir please don't talk. You are going to be fine"

"What is it!" The surgeon sprinted out of nowhere

"This man has been shot in left chest, at the level of the fourth intercostal space" She responded "His body is showing signs of hemodynamic instability, at this rate I fear we will lose him" Continually pushing the bed

"God! His pulse is super fast, we will need to carry out a cardiopulmonary bypass." He wouldn't want to risk any complications "Quickly, let's take him to the ER!"

Jimmy was in a more critical condition than Samuel. He had two bullets stuck in his back, one which hit his spinal cord and the other piercing into his abdomen from behind. His heart rate also read a very high figure, and being a child he had a slimmer chance of survival compared to Samuel.

"My babies!!!" Like a mad woman, Mrs. Akande stormed into the hospital, hands held high with her headscarf tied to her waist.

"Where are my babies?! Where are they?! Where are they?!" A heavy breath escorted every lamentation.

"Madam please calm down. Our doctors are the best in…"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" She pushed the staff

"Do you have kids?! Ehn tell me, do you?!!"

No mother could calm down after realising she could lose all that she had left in the world. The only reason why she still struggled day and night, her sleepless nights were enough to make her go haywire.

From one to another she ran to Inspector Jeje after noticing his arrival at the hospital.

"Did you catch them?!" Her eyes red and all wet from tears.

Anger and sorrow all brewing inside her made her lose complete control of herself.

Shola who brought her to the hospital could only sit on the floor, in a corner of the hospital. She had never experienced the loss of someone so close and dear to her before. She was still too young when her mother left her, she didn't even have memory of how she looked. But memories of Samuel's smile and Jimmy's wicked smirk freshly lingered in her memory. Her life was just starting to make sense to her, but fate had other ideas, was she to accept it like that? That Jimmy would die? Her love would die?

No!

No! No! No! No! No!

"Noooooooo!!!!!!!! Nooo!!!!!!" Her thoughts suddenly engulfing her as she burst into a sudden panic attack.

She squeezed herself up, pulling her legs inward as she shriveled her body, constantly repeating the same utterance while shaking her head with aggression.

"No! No! No! No!"

One of the staffs quickly came to her attention, carrying her out of the waiting room to a separate room. Her condition was probably worse than the mother of the victims.

"Officer answer me!" She held on to the collar of his uniform.

"Madam we are still in pursuit. Rest assured, they will be caught" He tried calming her down. "We have a lead on their hideout and we will surely apprehend them there."

That was probably the only good news she heard all day, but still couldn't be enough to relieve her state.

Seconds went like minutes and minutes like hours, Mrs. Akande never imagined a day like this to ever occur. After her husband's death, her boys were the only things she had left to hold on to in the world. She had no real friends at the time, no family and even her husband's relatives abandoned her completely.

"Landlord please just give me one more month to gather some money to pay you"

"Taahh!!!! Where will you get money from?" The man threw her a disgusted look.

"Before killing your husband, you did not think of the outcome?"

Mrs. Akande's expression was filled with confusion and shock as she held her mouth with a gasp.

"Do you think the rumours aren't spreading around? You used him for ritual so you can send your son to London. Useless woman!!!" He spat at her feet.

Society turned against her because of her husband's death. They blamed her for it, they insulted her. Like she was the cause of the accident. She was alone with her three years old son who was stuck on a wheelchair, like that wasn't troubling enough. Society and even her family turned their backs on her.

"Look woman! I give you only two weeks, and I don't want your money anymore. Just leave my house after that" The feral look in his eyes confirmed he meant it.

With nothing left to do, Mrs. Akande began to call some of her husband's friends for assistance. Very few of them responded to her calls. Of the ones that did, none of them agreed to help her. Until one blissful morning, she received a call.

"Am I speaking with Mrs. Bunmi Akande?"

"Yes you are"

"Our company received an application in your name for an interview, but you never showed up."

"An application?"

"Yes ma. It was your husband that filled the application. But ever since then we haven't heard from him or you"

"I called to inform you, on request, that another interview will take place in three days time"

"Whose request?" It mattered to her

"I am sorry but I can't disclose that information. Please be here in three days time, all information will be sent to you via mail… One more thing. My condolences to you, be strong. Bye!" The caller disconnected the call.

That one call was enough to change her fate. Whoever requested her call was aware of her situation and probably had some kind of connection with her husband. Even in death, he was still doing things for her, caring for her. He must have been a great person, but had to go soon.

Mrs. Akande was at that brink of losing all that she had left in the world, knowing her boys were in such a critical condition left her reminiscing about what she suffered during her husband's absence. Until…

"Call Doctor Abayomi now!!! We are losing the boy!!" A nurse ordered a call for another specialist from the receptionist.

"Losing him ke!!!" Mrs. Akande jumped from her seat. "Nurse! Nurse!"

"Madam please not now!" The nurse ignored her calls, more worried about saving Jimmy than consoling his worrying mother.

"Ehhhh!!!! Jeeeesus!!!! This is not happening"

The call for another specialist was made immediately. But was he going to make it to the hospital in time?

Slim chance

After an hour and thirty minutes into the surgery, the two doctors walked out of the operator room. One of them whispered into the ear of the other before he walked away. The looks on their faces were enough to shatter Mrs. Akande's hopes.

"Doctor" Her voice husky from all the crying

"Madam… We are sorry" He took a sigh as he looked to the ground

"Doctor say something please" Tears couldn't stop rolling out of her eyes.

"We could only save one. The younger one couldn't make it"

"Ehn!! Jimmy!!"

How would she feel? Happy that Samuel made it? Or sad that Jimmy died? What kind of emotions would she display?

She was lost, she was weak, her resolve broken. She sat on the floor and dug her fingers into her hair.

"I am sorry ma" The doctor said before walking away. Like that was going to make anything better, only bringing back her son would. Only bringing back Jimmy would.

Officer Jeje, listened to everything that was said then stepped aside to make a call.

"Sir Samuel survived but the boy died"

"What?!! Those foolish thugs!! The blood of that boy is in their hands not mine"

"Look sir. I suggest you forget this whole thing and let this Shola girl go"

"Shut up! How dare you?!" Seun snapped at him. "Listen, that boy's death can still be useful to us. Tell Mrs. Akande that…"

"Okay sir. But after this, I am not doing anything again for you regarding this case" The officer cut the call.

"Madam can I speak with you?... It's regarding the case." Jeje stood by Mrs. Akande.

With a sniff, she pulled herself together and got up. "I am listening"

"That lady that you came with, who is she to you?"

"My coworker"

"Okay. Madam, I received information that she was dating your son Samuel"

"That's not possible. Shola would have told me"

"Apparently she didn't"

"Well… It's not a problem"

"True, that is not the problem." Jeje cleared his throat. "The problem is that this girl has been involved in many death cases similar to this"

"What?!"

"Yes ma. And all of them have involved a guy that she was dating or was going out with. We suspect she has some kind of lover that is very dangerous and possessive of her"

"No no no, you are mistaken. Shola has a very simple life" Mrs. Akande knows Shola too well to just believe that.

"I understand you trust her. She is innocent, but she is dangerous to be with. It is my duty to warn you about things like this. Please don't let your son near this girl again or you might face more situations like this in the future." The officer warned, putting on his hat.

"I am sorry for your loss. I must take my leave now"

I have done my bit, it is left to you now Mr. Seun. I wonder what you wish to gain from all this.

Mrs. Akande stood and stared at the officer as he walked out of the hospital. She didn't trust what he said but then, what if he was saying the truth? Could their lives be in danger because of Shola?

"Mrs. Akande," Shola came with her eyes all swollen from crying for so long. She had probably heard the news about Jimmy. She slowly walked to Mrs. Akande seeking an embrace. She needed it, but…

"Stay away" Mrs. Akande placed her hand forward, slightly pushing Shola.

"Mrs…"

"Shola please leave!" Mrs. Akande looked away with a frown.

"But..."

"I said leave!!!!" She meant it

Mission accomplished! Inspector Jeje looked at them with the corner of his eye as he walked away.