FOUND OUT

'Don't come to my house without telling me,' Eric said, taking a space on the settee.

'Oh, stop it, Erico,' Maria said. Her voice was like a thunder in the quiet night and I had a feeling she was waiting for Eric to open his mouth. 'Do you think I wanted to come and stay in this stuffy room if my uncle was in town?'

'Don't shout in my house,' Eric retorted. 'I am a responsible person; don't make my neighbors think I am not.'

Maria laughed, waved her phone at Eric as if he was a clown whose act had backfired. 'This is not a house; this is a room. A room; a stuffy, little, poor man's room; that's all it is.'

Eric got up and walked to the edge of the bed. 'Get out of my house...my room. Get out or I will throw you out.'

'Eric,' I said. 'Take it easy. Take it easy.'

Eric turned to me, eyes blazing with naked fury. 'Stay out of this, Paul. You don't know her; she is a trouble maker. She is the devil's sister, that's who she is.'

Maria tilted her head and gave a loud, unperturbed laugh. 'You called me the devil's sister? Who are you—his brother? Who tricked me to abort our baby? You killed an innocent—'

'Shut your mouth,' Eric said, bending down to her. 'Shut it now or I will do it for you. Do you understand?'

Maria made no reply but there was no need to. A triumphant expression was on her face and she looked between Eric and me as if she had defeated both of us in an unfairly matched wrestling contest. Eric stood over her, glaring at her.

'Shut this dirty mouth or I will shut it for you,' Eric said.

Maria chuckled. 

I walked to Eric and pulled his arm. 'Let's get some fresh air. No need to wake the neighbors.'

'Stay where you are,' Eric cried. 'We are not the ones to feel uncomfortable here; if anyone is going out, she is the one. She is the intruder.' 

Maria laughed and looked at her nails.

Eric pointed his hand at her. 'If you laugh again, I will throw you out.'

I pulled him to the door. 'Let's just cool off,' I said and opened the door. We went out of the door just about the time Maria laughed again. Eric turned to go but I blocked his way.

'Let her be,' I said. 'Let's just take a walk to the beach and come back.' 

Eric turned and walked away and I followed him. I heard Maria's chuckle and she said something that I couldn't figure out, but Eric stopped and turned again. I stood in his way and caught his arm. 'Don't let her faze you,' I said. 'You are playing into her game.'

We walked to the beach without another word. A gale rose from the sea and rammed into us and I quickly buttoned my shirt to the neck. We walked toward the sea with its angry waves.

'What kind of misfortune is this?' Eric said at last. 'This is a bad omen. Of all the days of the year, this witch chose to show up today.'

'Who is she?'

Eric hissed. It sounded like the lick from a punctured tire. 'Just a girl I met when I came to Lagos. We parted ways but she keeps coming back like a poorly treated fever.'

'Is she your lover?' 

Eric turned to me. 'I said she is a girl I met and you are asking if she is my lover! She's not my lover and she will never be.' He turned to the sea. 'She lives in the illusion that there is a future between us; she has no idea she is dreaming.'

'Okay,' I said. 'Where do I sleep? And what will she eat? She looks like she can eat a lizard if you place it in front of her.'

Eric hissed again. 'Let her die for all I care.'

I smiled and looked at the sky. Billions of stars stared down on us without interest and another gale flew from the sea and harassed us. 

'So where do I sleep?' I asked again.

'What do you mean where?' 

'I mean where do I sleep?'

'We will sleep together. Where else will you sleep?'

'Three of us?' I asked.

'The three of us.' He rubbed his hands again. 'We will all sleep in the room and by 5 A.M, I will take her to the park to board the first bus leaving Lagos. That's a guarantee.'

'Tell me more about her? How did you meet?' 

'What's there to tell?' he asked and hissed. 'I don't know the devil that brought us together in the first place. She is nothing but a bundle of troubles, that's who she is. I won't be surprised if you have a fight with her before tomorrow morning.'

'Where does she stay?'

'Only God knows, but the last I knew she was in Warri. She has a master's degree but no job. She thought getting a master's will improve her chances of getting a job.'

I smiled but said nothing. A wind blew again, colder, drawing a shiver out of me. I checked my phone. 12:03 AM.

'We didn't finish discussing what we should do tomorrow before your friend came in,' I said. 'Do we have the time to go over it tomorrow before the Target arrives?'

'I told you by five A. M. Maria will be eager to leave my house,' Eric said. 'And she will never want to see me again.'

'Ok; I said. 'I think we should turn in. Tomorrow is the D Day; we need all the rest we can get.'

Eric turned and we retraced our steps back to the room. We found Maria sitting on the mattress, her back on the wall and her eyes glittering like the surface of a China plate. She held out a sheet of paper and a smile was on her face. I knew we were in trouble even before she opened her mouth to speak. 

The paper in her hand had the kidnapping plan on it.