THE POLICE CHECKPOINT

We got stuck in traffic at Oshodi. The yellow buses ran everywhere, picking and dropping passengers like a rural Indian train. Tolu blasted the horn all the way through the crawling traffic, vainly trying to keep the notorious buses from crossing our path. At last, we crossed the Oshodi Bridge, and Tolu let the horn to rest. I looked back at the trio sitting in the back seat and that was when I heard the soft snore. I looked from Maria to the others and then my eyes returned to Mr. Potter's face: his eyes were shut, and his mouth hung opened.

I looked at Eric. 

He shrugged. 'He fell asleep.'

'Is he okay?' Tolu asked. 'Why is he sleeping like a bad palm oil?'

'Maybe he is tired,' Maria said. 'Allow him to get some rest.'

'I don't think he is well,' Tolu said. 'I hope he won't die on us.'

'He is not dying on us,' Maria said, the anger very clear in her voice. 'He will not die. Nobody is dying until I collect my portion—'

'Let him sleep!' Eric shouted. He turned his face to Maria. 'Let's talk about something else.' 

I looked at Mr. Potter again. Except for the snore, he slept like a well-fed baby. I returned my face to the front and saw the sign telling us we are in Ojota. Tolu took the bridge, turning and climbing into the Lagos Ibadan Expressway. A light holdup made the cars ahead of us to crawl, forcing our speed to return to twenty kilometers per hour. The traffic was lighter in Berger and Tolu pushed the car out of Lagos, heading toward the Redemption Camp. The road was free, and the headlight spread over the road, breaking into the surrounding darkness. Mr. Potter snores did not change in rhythm.

We met another hold up about ten minutes later. Tolu veered around some of the cars in front of us and eventually got to the curb and stopped. 

'What's happening?' Eric asked from the back. 'The road should be free by this time.'

'Maybe it's an accident,' Tolu said. 'Or a checkpoint.'

'What do we do if it's a checkpoint?' Maria asked.

Tolu pushed his head out of the window, looking at adjacent car. 'What's the problem with the road?'

'It's a checkpoint,' the driver said. 'Maybe they heard something. God knows when I will get to Ibadan with this kind of traffic.'

'Thanks,' Tolu told the driver. 

 'No problem.'

Tolu returned his head into the car. 'It's confirmed; it's a checkpoint.'

My phone rang at this point, and even before I looked at the screen, I knew who was calling. I saw Mom's name on the screen, and I swiftly placed the phone in a silent mode and allowed it to ring through. Her name appeared again and lingered for seconds before going off again. 

I will call you, I texted her. In a bus, and it's noisy.

That should buy me an hour or so before she calls back. I looked at Eric. His eyes were on me, his brows screwed up. 

'What do we do?' I asked. 'Once they see us with a white man, they will get suspicious and take us in for investigation. And you know what that means.'

'Maybe we should turn back,' Maria said.

'We can't turn back now,' Eric said. 'They might suspect and come after us. Let's keep going; it's not every car they stop and search.'

Tolu looked at his back. 'There is no way to go back; everywhere is blocked.'

'Tolu,' Eric said. 'Let's go ahead. They might suspect us if we keep staying here. I am sure they can see us from their position.'

Tolu started the car and turned it into the road, and we faced the back of a Dangote's truck. Tolu moved ahead of the truck a minute later and we could see the checkpoint about twenty meters away. Six mobile policemen guarded the road, allowing the cars to go through the barricade one after the other. They had guns pointing at the approaching cars while their second hands held the torches. Two other policemen walked around the parked cars, searching the inside and the trunks of the cars.

'They are searching all the cars,' Eric said. 'Park the car and let's figure out what to do before we reach them.'

Tolu swerved off the road again and crawled toward the edge of the road. Shrill horns cried after us but Tolu kept moving until we got to the curb.

'Mad driver,' the driver of a Mercedes Benz said as he went pass us. 'Don't drink and drive.'

Tolu pushed his head out of the window. 'Guess who served me? Your mother!'

'Look,' Maria said, pointing forward. 'Look to the front.'

The headlights of the Mercedes Benz picked out one of the mobile policemen. He walked on the curb, heading toward us, his gun pointed in front of him.

'He is coming right at us,' I said. 'He has seen us.'

'Tolu, get to the front and open the hood,' Eric cried. 'And loosen the cable attached to the battery and feign the car broke down; keep his attention away from the inside of the car. Maria, follow him and keep the policeman occupied.'

Tolu opened the door and got out. He walked toward the front of the car. I heard the backdoor open, and I turned in time to see Maria getting out of the car. 

'I hope you know what you are doing?' I asked, my voice quaking and my eyes on the approaching policeman. 'They will want to know where we are taking him to.'

Eric said nothing. Tolu opened the hood and covered the coming policeman out of our view.

I cleaned the sweat off my forehead. 'I hope our plan—'

'Esprit de corps!' Maria shouted to the officer.

There was several seconds of silence. 

'May I know you?' The mobile policeman said. 

'Police Inspector Maria Williams; medical.

'Which hospital?'

'Which one? There is only one police hospital in Lagos. The one in Falomo. I just ended my shift.'

'Can I see your ID card?' the policeman said.

'It's in the car,' Maria said in sweet voice. 'Let me get it.' 

We heard her step coming back toward the car.

'This witch has killed us,' Eric whispered. 'She has killed us; they will kill us for impersonation.'

'Wait,' the policeman man said. 'Leave the ID; what happened to your car?'

Maria stopped and we heard her steps going back. 

'It's the battery,' Tolu said. 'It keeps running down and we have to wait a while before the car starts.'

 'Get an electrician,' the police man said. 'Be quick; cars don't park here.'

'Okay,' Maria said. 'Thank you.'

'When you are done, I will pass you through,' the policeman said. 

'Thank you,' Tolu said. 

'Thank you,' Maria said. 'Tolu, try it again.'

I heard Tolu fumbling with the wires in the hood and then he appeared beside the driver's door and got into the car. He started the car and the engine roared to life.

 'Thank God,' Maria said. 'Thank God. Thank God.'

'Close the hood and follow me,' the policeman shouted above the roar of the engine. 

'Okay,' Tolu said. 

'Paul,' Eric whispered from the back. 'Come to the back. Quickly!'

I rose up and move to the back, stepping on Eric's legs so I won't touch and wake Mr. Potter. Eric shifted; I leaped over his legs and sat beside him about the time the car's hood slammed home. Maria opened the passenger's front door as if she knew I won't be seating there and dropped her weight on the seat. Tolu sat behind the wheel and slammed the door shut.

'Maria,' he said, looking at her. 'You are a darling!' 

He turned the car away from the curb and into the lane. The policeman was at the checkpoint, and he waved us over as soon as he saw us. He stopped the other cars and waved us over. Tolu edged the car between the lines of drums forming the barricade and we came out of the last one with my heart beating fast.

Maria waved at the policeman, and he nodded. Tolu slammed on the gas pedal and the car surged forward. I looked back, expecting a shout for us to stop because they discovered we are phonies, but the policeman had moved to the next car. 

'Martha, you are the queen,' Tolu said. 'You are the Queen of the Jungle.'

'It's Maria, not Martha,' Maria said. 

'Sorry,' Tolu said. 'That was a confident performance. I thought we were going to sleep in jail today. That was really a great performance.'

'Thank you,' Maria said and turned around and looked at Eric. 'Thank you very much.'

Eric made no sound and Mr. Potter snores rose and fell beside him like a working refrigerator. Tolu stepped on the gas pedal, taking us closer to financial freedom.

Or so I thought.