OBSESSION (PART 6)

"Wake up you moron, get your stupid self up"- I heard in my subconscious as I stumbled in and out of consciousness. I could hear distant voices of people laughing and chattering away around me, and I could tell that one of them was Adamu, because of the tone in the voice and the Hausa diction that distinguished it, but I couldn't act on anything.

I passed out again, and the next thing I knew, “whoosh", I was drenched in water. This sent me back to life immediately, and after having passed out for hours, I felt alive again.

My hands were tied behind the chair I was seated, so were my legs. I was helpless and in an attempt to control the movement of water trickling down my face and the rays of light coming in, I turned my face sideways and noticed someone else bound to another chair across the room. There was a tape around this person's mouth.

A closer look revealed Halima, I was shocked. "Shouldn't they be working together?" I thought to myself.

Then Adamu walked up to me with another man he simply referred to as "Tiger". He held my chin up, and at that point, I could swear that he was going to kill me. He landed a slap on my cheek, which left me temporarily deaf on my left ear. I would have struggled to break free to challenge him, but asides the fact that I was tied up, the sight of him and Tiger brandishing their guns immediately calmed me down. So I did the most logical thing, I asked what I had done to warrant the ill treatment.

He smiled, turned around and walked towards the window while Tiger stood by, pointing his gun at my head. Then he shouted, as if he was hit by something, turned sharply at me, and I could see tears from his eyes. He walked back in my direction, trying hard to fight back the tears. He came close to me and asked, "How did you meet her?” pointing to Halima. I was beginning to wonder if she was the reason he was in tears, then I replied, "I met her at a party".

"What is her name?" he questioned further, I looked at him, puzzled, then answered "Halima, of course!" He slapped me again, and I was beginning to think he was having fun playing villain. Then he walked to her, hit her head with the butt of the gun, took the tape off her mouth and grabbed her by the neck. At this point, I was already getting infuriated by his violent act towards me because I didn't know why or what he was mad about. The thought of being held hostage in my house ticked me off the more, and as tried to break free of the rope tied around my hand, Tiger edged close and made the knot even tighter than before.

"Tell him who you are" Adamu yelled. "A....a...aaa..." she stuttered

"Talk, woman!"  Adamu yelled again, looking fierce. She stuttered again, and then he corked his gun and pointed it at her "Talk", he reiterated, "…before I blow your head off".

"A..aaa...Abigail Nurtey. My name is Abigail Nurtey, I'm from Ghana. I moved into Nigeria from Tema 15years ago, and I've been living by myself since then." She continued.

Then Adamu turned to me “five years ago, I met Abigail at a club in Abuja where she was a big-time prostitute. We got talking and then I decided to hire her services for the night. We went to my apartment and after we were done, I paid her and she left. I contracted her services a few more times after that night, and one day, she came into my house without an invite – she probably had the spare keys - barged into my room and found me with another prostitute who happened to be her flat-mate. She left without uttering a word, and I continued with what I was doing. Five minutes later I heard a loud bang; I looked up and noticed smoke coming from outside. I put on a pair of shorts and went out to see what had happened, my car was caught up in flames, and if not for the assistance from neighbors, my house would have been razed by the fire.  I hadn't seen her for five years until Friday, when she came around. I didn't even recognize her until I came across an old ID card of hers on the floor after she left that Friday night which had the same names she had given me years back"

My jaws dropped, as I wished the floor would open up and swallow me; I couldn't believe what I had just heard.

"I had been in a relationship with a prostitute for two years? No, no, no!" I soliloquized. Adamu cut in, and continued, "I'm not here for her, and even though I'm happy I found her - because I will make her pay for the atrocious act she committed - I actually came to Lagos because of you, as you have caused me and my family pain, tears and many sleepless nights.