[b]Episode 47
The night sky and blanketed with pearly
stars. The air blew hot, and not one cloud
threatened the ground with rain. Dayo
trudged through the quiet street on which
their house stood. Fortunately for him, the
tree on which he had flung himself was close
to the fence, and from the branches he had
made a bridge to the street below. He looked
in his pocket and saw that he had a few
notes, they would be enough to take him to
his destination. The burden of saving the
people in that house laid squarely on his
shoulders. It was his duty to help them, he
told himself.
From the street, he walked on to the road
that was very busy at that time of evening.
Dayo flagged down a taxi cab and entered.
He gave the driver the address of the house
he was going to, and gave him all the money
in his pocket.
Dayo: “Please sir, that is all I have” he said
with a note of desperation. The driver drove
to the address, and once again Dayo banged
on the gate of the house. The gate man
opened the gate and when he recognized
Dayo, he grew angry.
Gateman: “dem send you for me? Abi o ya
werey?” he asked vehemently.
Dayo: “I don’t know what your problem is
with me, but the lives of the people in this
house are at stake. I need to talk to
someone. They should leave the house this
evening” he said desperately. He felt like
shoving the man away from the gate.
Gateman: “You think say na by that ur
oyinbo? I get pikin for university, so ma
whine mi oh” he replied and banged the gate
in Dayo’s face. Dayo paced in front of the
house in confusion. He didn’t know what to
do, he thought he could meet privately with
the occupants of the house and warn them,
but this gate man was standing as a
stumbling block in his path. He thought of
going to the police but that was going to
endanger his life, if Stone found out, there
was no doubt that he would kill him.
Dayo: “What do I do God?” he asked aloud.
Back home, one of the gang members was
told to go and call Dayo for dinner. Stone
wanted them all to eat together before going
for the operation. Every night they went out
for an operation, they expected death, it was
the reason they ate. Stone’s policy was that,
after pursuing money on earth, a man was
not supposed to die on an empty stomach.
But when the gang member went to Dayo’s
bedroom, he found it empty. He checked the
adjoining bathroom, thinking he was having a
shower, but it was also empty. He rushed
downstairs in alarm, and when Stone saw his
face, he knew something had gone wrong. He
had been having a sense of foreboding since
the day dawned, but he attributed it to
anxiety before an operation. However, seeing
the face of his gang member, he knew his
feelings were spot on.
Stone: “What happened?” he asked anxiously.
“Robert, Dayo, whatever he is called, is not in
his room or anywhere in this house” he said
with a ‘I told you so’ look in his eyes.
Stone: “What!” he exclaimed and bounded up
the stairs. He bashed into Dayo’s room, and
confirmed what the other gang member had
said. His eyes went to the open window and
the branch of tree which looked pulled
towards the window, and then he knew that
Dayo had left the house through the window.
“Where would he go by this time, and
why did he leave like a thief. Has he
escaped, would he go to the police” these
were the thoughts running around in his
head. He was confused for the first time in a
long while. He could not abort the mission
because commitments have been made. He
had to hope that Dayo was not doing
anything that was jeopardizing their safety
and freedom.
Stone: “We continue the operation as before”
“We should have just killed that boy, there
was no need keeping him. If you needed a
son, you could have gotten any girl pregnant”
one of the gang members said.
Stone: “Shut up! Nobody questions my
decision, no one!” he shouted, the veins on
his neck protruding like they were going to
burst out from under the skin, “We all
concentrate on the mission, Robert is my
problem, and after the mission, I will deal
with the problem. Now, let’s have dinner” he
concluded and everyone fell silent.
They sat round the dinner table and ate their
dinner in silence. Every man praying in his
heart to come back from the operation, alive.
At the back of their minds, was also a
nagging feeling that this operation would go
wrong. The fact that Dayo had left the house
secretly was a source of worry to them.
Stone felt Dayo’s disappearance was of no
consequence to the operation because he
knew nothing about it, or did he?
He bolted out of his seat suddenly as
everything became clear in his mind’s eye.
The day they were discussing the operation,
Dayo had stumbled into the kitchen and he
had thought that he was sleepwalking, but
was he really sleep walking or eavesdropping
on their conversation. He had also been
seeing Dayo everywhere he turned, like the
boy was shadowing him.
“No! it can’t be” He screamed in his heart.
Stone: “We leave immediately, there might be
a problem, but we might be able to salvage
the situation if we hurry” he said and they
hurried into another room where they kept
their ammunitions.
Dayo was sitting on a stone slab in the
street, lurking in the corner and watching the
house, he didn’t know yet what he would do,
but he knew he would keep watch and not
allow Stone to succeed in his mission. But
due to inactivity, he dozed off, leaning his
head on his thighs. Because he was sleeping,
he did not see a car drive to the gate and
Ken come out with Cassandra. They had
gone on a date, and Ken had come to drop
Cassandra, but he was pleading with her to
let him spend the night at their place, instead
of the hotel.
Since he got back from America for his
summer break, he had not gone home, even
though his mother had been asking him to
come home, as she had missed him. He had
been staying in Oshogbo because of
Cassandra, in a hotel. Their relationship was
falling apart, and Ken was doing all he could
to hold it together. He had decided to marry
Cassandra, not just because he loved her, for
he loved her, as she was a very beautiful
young lady. But, he wanted to marry her
because of her father’s estate which had
been bequeathed to her.
Ken: “Please Cassie, I am tired of the lonely
nights in that motel. I am in Oshogbo
because of you” he said
Cassandra: “And I didn’t ask you to stay. I
came home to be with my mother, can’t you
just go to Lagos, your mother must miss
you” she said. She wanted to end the
relationship, but was afraid of hurting Ken, as
the relationship went beyond them, but to
their families.
Ken: “Just tonight, I won’t ask you for this
again”
Cassandra: “No touching, understood?” she
said and Ken nodded. The gate had the gate
opened, waiting for them to drive in, and he
hated the delay. He stamped his foot to
register his displeasure. Ken hurried
Cassandra into the car and drove into the
house.
Dayo was startled awake by the bleating of a
goat passing by with her kids. He wiped his
face and looked around him. He jumped up
from the slab when he remembered what was
on ground. He looked at his led lit wrist
watch and saw that it was almost 8pm.
Everywhere was dark and silent. He looked
towards the house and saw that it was lit,
the curtains were drawn and the occupants
of the house probably felt safe, not knowing
about the terror that was about to be visited
on them. He had barely finished the thought
when he saw a pair of headlights in the
distance. He instinctively knew that it was
Stone and his gang. There was no time, he
ran towards the house, shouting and
screaming on top of his voice.
Dayo: “They are coming! Call the police, they
are going to kill you. Somebody help!” he
screamed. All thoughts of self-preservation
had fled his mind, all he thought about was
warning the people in that house. He didn’t
need another death on his conscience. He
remembered when he was eleven, when he
met Stone for the first time. They had killed a
woman, he had for the first time, witnessed
dying.
He had reached the gate now, but the
headlights were closer and he could see the
distinct shape of Stone’s van. He banged on
the gate, but the gate man did not reply.
However, the balcony light came on, and he
saw a young lady in the balcony. He felt a
sense of déjà vu, it was his dream all over
again. He continued screaming and then he
really looked at the lady on the balcony, she
was illuminated by the balcony lights, and
she looked frantic.
“Oh my God, it is Cassandra” he thought
with panic.
Dayo: “Cassnadra, it is me Dayo, you all are
about to be killed. Call the police now, don’t
die Cassandra” he screamed, his voice
piercing the still night. Two shots rang out,
the sound ricocheted in still night, and the
bullets tore through the frail body of Dayo.
He didn’t feel the pain yet, he was still
shouting, and more shots rang out.
The pain tore through him, as he fell to the
ground. Lights went on in other houses, and
dogs began to bark. The thought that went
through Dayo’s mind as his world turned to
darkness, was that, people were aware, the
mission would be aborted.
The van turned around in a hurry and zoomed
off away from the house. But Dayo did not
see this because the blackness had already
enveloped him, and the last thing he saw
was his mother smiling down on him. It was
like she was saying, ‘Well done my boy’.
Dayo had a smile on his lips when people
came out to him.
It was like the earth was mourning the flow
of blood, as the sky opened its bowels and
poured out rain. The rain washed the blood
that flowed from Dayo’s body and soaked the
earth.
Cassandra had to fight her mother and the
gateman to come out of the compound. She
was sure she had heard correctly, the voice
that rang out in the night. It was the voice of
Robert, the one she had heard on countless
calls across the Atlantic, when they talked on
phone through the night. But the voice had
called himself Dayo, her Dayo from her
childhood. She had seen the men dressed in
black shooting at the young boy, and she had
known then, that Dayo had come back for her
and had saved her life and that of her
mother.
Cassandra: “Mother, call emergency, Dayo is
probably dying, he took the bullets that was
meant for us.” She said and pushed her
mother aside. She ran out the small gate and
rushed to Dayo. She knelt by his side and
unbuttoned his shirt as she had been taught
in her First Aid class in Red Cross society.
Then she saw the pockmark by his belly, it
was the same that her Dayo had when they
were little. She needed no other confirmation
that this was Dayo and he was also Robert.
There was no time to think of how things
had come to this, she cradled his head in her
thighs and began to coo to him.
Cassandra: “Dayo, I know you are in so much
pain right now but you have to hold on. I
have looked in every face searching for you,
and now that I have found you, I don’t want
to lose you. Please don’t die, I need you,
your mother still needs you to fulfil her
dreams. Please Dayo” she cried and began to
sing a song for him in Yoruba. She was still
singing when the ambulance came and
carried Dayo away. Halima and her daughter
followed the ambulance to the hospital. She
had heard about Dayo’s roots when he went
missing. She had also met Damilola and
known that Dayo was her friend’s son. She
felt responsible for him. She had not been a
good friend to Khadijat when she was alive,
and now she swore to be a good friend to
her in death.[/b]
Final episode coming tomorrow
