Night Runs – chapter 8 – Police

Enjoy this new short story series

Chapter 8

Police.

Nursing is such a noble profession, or at least, that was how Adio liked to imagine. The one in his car had blue scrubs on, was po-faced, serious, and cleansing her hands with sanitizers from a small bottle she returned to her pocket every now and then.

Earlier when she bent over at the passenger window to speak with Adio, her face softened into a smile before asking him to take her to the government hospital in Ikeja. She sounded pleasant.

He felt at ease with the nurse, unlike the last ride he declined after he noticed through faint streaks of night light that his youthful passenger had with him a large dog with a brindled coat and an extravagant ruff of fur around its neck and a long tail that curved like the hook of a coat hanger.

“Who the hell takes a dog for a walk in the dead of the night? It’s 1am for crying out loud! The trip fare can’t even pay for the cost of vacuuming the fur from my car seat. Nonsense! God forbid the dog decides to poo.”

“History would be made!” Don jeered.

The nurse wore afro hair with a kind of artisanal topography that invited the hand to touch. It was the kind of hair that one could sculpt, hair with a natural God-given bounce, born to be worn loud and proud.

“Is it even acceptable to wear afro hair while working on a shift  in a government hospital?” a concerned Don wondered.

“She is probably on night shift where the traffic of patients is probably a lot less than that of the afternoon shift.”

Adio looked out of his window to discern the neighborhood he picked her up from. It looked like a cluttered set of two-storey residential buildings whose beauty had faded with age. She could be living in either of those apartments where the window opens into a dark and dingy interior.

Makeshift aluminum shacks lined both sides of the street, bounded by a long stretch of open concrete drain that had wooden planks placed intermittently for walkway. Men entertained by ladies of easy virtue sat on branded plastic chairs in the dark, drinking alcohol while glowing lights from the end of dying cigarettes butts dotted every corner.

“What the hell!” Adio sighed.

The shrieking noise from his passenger’s ringtone was quickly punctuated by her voice.

“Hello dear, I just got a taxi. Thanks for everything.”

Adio promptly looked into his rear view mirror to see the smiling face of his passenger as she spoke on phone.

“No, I don’t feel the soreness anymore. You need to take things a lot easier next time. I could have sworn you took that drug again.”

Silence.

Adio listened intently. Thoughts were starting to form in his head, but for some missing details, he was beginning to doubt the nobility of his passenger. Is she a nurse or a night worker? Is her uniform for kinky sexual performances or for real as a nurse? What is with the afro?

Whichever it is, this is certainly not where she lives.”

“Yes baby. You did a good job. I feel tired already.”

Adio bobbed his head as he wheeled the car towards the intersection. He was determined to avoid traffic lights as much as possible. Driving late into the night had its rules, waiting at traffic lights in some neighborhoods was not one of them.

His car headlight beamed into adjoining buildings where a few of the ladies were standing by the road pavement with a couple of them dressed in the exact same outfit as his passenger.

“What is going on?” This time, Adio spoke out loud enough for his passenger to hear.

“When tomorrow baby, I need the money today.”

The scene outside on the street offered a more interesting view for Adio than the conversation of his passenger.

His eyes darted to the left and right and then first to his fuel gauge before it ended at the rearview mirror. His passenger had a frown on her face as she continued the conversation on the phone.

“Baby don’t send the money to my other account, please use my Sterling bank account instead. They are more reliable.”

Adio watched as two of the “nurses” on the street, that held cigarettes between their index and middle fingers, breath out thick smoke from their mouth. One even had a stethoscope hanging loosely around her neck with the diaphragm tucked between her breast.

“Baby, when are we seeing again?”

Clarity was lost on Adio as he wondered if he was in Sodom and Gomorrah or the city of aquatic splendor.

“It’s probably costume day bro.”

Just a distance ahead, he observed a police checkpoint with four policemen flagging his car down with beams from flashlights on one hand and rifles hanging on their other shoulder.

“Park! Park!! Park!!!” he could hear one of the officers demanding compliance.

With streaks of flashlights piercing through his windshield Adio killed his engine right in the middle of the road where disused tires were piled together to form the temporary road blockade. An oil lamp with dying flames that danced in the slightly windy night sat on one of the piles.

“If no be the gun.” Adio muttered, his defiance dying with his car engine.

“What is going on?” his passenger demanded.

“Oya, everibodi come down from dis moto.”

“Officer, good evening. I hail. Na we-we.”

“Come down my friend. Who you be? Identify yourself.”

“I am a citizen of Nigeria.”

“I say come down from dis moto. Who you carry?” The flashlight was now directed through the driver window into the back seat where the “Nurse” sat in silence. His charming compliments were getting him nowhere.

It was obvious that Adio was not the target of this clandestine operation because as soon as his passenger alighted from the car, the police swooped in on her.

“So na you be the leader abi.” It was more of an accusation than a question.

“Officers, what is the problem?” She covered her eyes in the inside of her arm to block the beam of light flashing into her face.

Adio turned to watch the unfolding drama. His passenger was smack in the middle of four gun wielding police men in the dead of the night, dressed in a scrub with a nursing cap perched on her head, yet she held her own. There was no hint of fear rather she looked like she was going to teach the policemen a lesson or two. But which lesson?

“I ask again, what is the problem?”

“This is a search and stop operation. Wetin you kari?” A mix match of pidgin and regular English struggled through the moustache of one of the officers. Were they drunk perhaps?

“Officers, na my passenger please.” Adio learnt a voice to calm the brewing tension. He was unsure of what was going to happen next. He certainly could avoid the drama.

One of the officers got antsy and wrestled his rifle from his shoulder, fiddling with the safety lash.“E be like say craze dey worry you.” He spoke as he corked the rifle.

“Ha! Officer Abeg! Abeg!!” Adio shouted, but the subject of concern stood right in the middle of the officers unmoved.

The officer pointed his rifle at her, Adio ducked beside his car fender, with his heart beat echoing through his mouth. “Madame talk na!” Adio screamed.

The “nurse” remained unmoved, quiet and without a hint of fear.

The other officers corked their rifles as though in a choreographed assault. Everything seemed to be happening so fast.

“E be like say, you wan die.” One of the officers spoke. But his voice had an edge to it, a hint of uncertainty, maybe even fear.

Was it fear that made them pull out their rifles? Adio didn’t have time to process it. He ducked even further when he realized that the policemen, with their rifles aimed, were bent on unleashing mayhem and their bullets into this uncooperative passenger of his.

And they pulled the rusty trigger of their rifles almost at the same time, just as Adio curled into a ball underneath his car with his two palms clamped over his ears.

Ki oju mar ri ibi. Gbogbo ara lo gun e!  I can’t translate. Lol.

But alas, there was no gunshot sound. No loud bang. No screaming. No crying. It was dead silent except for the sound of running  boots from the policemen.

They fled.

No! they absconded.

No! they bolted away.

No! they ran off.

No! They escaped.

Adio could hear a distant “Damboro ba shege!” from the fleeing uniformed men.

Silence.

More silence.

Gentle footsteps.

Then silence.

“Oga get out from under the car let’s complete this trip please.” irritation mixed with urgency oozed out from every word she spoke.

Adio’s eyes were suddenly wide open in shock as he crawled out from underneath the car, undecided and almost in slow motion, into the reproachful stare of his passenger who had now returned to the back seat drawing red lipstick across her upper lip.

She was not smiling.

 

Are you enjoying this series? Please drop a comment.

Next episode beckons, click here.

 

Related Posts

Moral Case for a Gift

Moral Case for a Gift Enjoy this new short interactive story Interactive Story – Decision

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

16 thoughts on “Night Runs – chapter 8 – Police”

  1. Sterling bank is truly reliable!!!
    Let him quickly send her the money before she transfers the aggression to Adio. Lolzzz

  2. Hmm, what do we call this NIGHT RUN episodes, “engineering stories”? Don’t know that you can write like this. More grease, more stories

  3. Nothing is more funny than seeing Don backing out whenever Adio is in trouble…….Adio it’s like being a taxi driver isn’t your calling

Leave a Reply


Discover more from Akin Akingbogun

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

error: Content is protected !!

Discover more from Akin Akingbogun

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Contact Us

Just write down some details about you and we will get back to you in a jiffy!