Night Runs – chapter 20 – The End

Chapter 20 – Final Chapter

NEWS

Adio woke up to the sound of his alarm. He stretched himself for a few seconds before lifting his back off the mattress into a sitting position. His eyes were still blurry from sleep’s cuddles and his thoughts were foggy from the dream he had just had.

In his head, Ibinabo was beside him, smiling seductively into his face like a woman who had been well-fed in bed. On the small cushion in front of him lay her lacey wedding dress and his cream-colored groom’s suit, or so he imagined.

“Nonsense people! Yeye people! Mtchew…” someone cussed and hissed from outside as she passed by their window, making sure she was heard.

It was the middle-aged woman who owned the weather-beaten kiosk that sold petty provisions outside the tenement building.

For over an hour at night, the lovers had pierced the atmosphere with sounds of pleasure which had shortened the sleep of the petty trader whose room was just after theirs.

Her voice jolted Adio from his reverie. It was then he realized he had been dreaming. The dream was similar to the epiphany he had while driving a passenger to his location a few weeks ago.

In his dream, he was, again, by the seaside with a beautiful woman in a wedding gown by his side. This time, he knew the woman – Ibinabo. They had just exchanged vows and shared an intimate kiss, the one that succeeds “You may kiss the bride.” There was a modest crowd and, once more, Baba Ramota sat among them in a colorful agbada and a cap to match.

He was clad in the same cream-colored suit, while his bride adorned the same white lacey gown that accentuated her bust.

They had ridden home in his sedan from the wedding, the plate number adorned with the inscription ‘Just Married’. But home wasn’t this room in which he lived presently; it was a small but decent and neat 2 bedroom apartment big enough to start a small family of three. There, in one of the rooms, he had made love passionately to Ibinabo as his wife and not just a temporary girlfriend as their current relationship was.

“What a dream!” he yawned with a sense of satisfaction from last night.

“Enjoy your life, Mr. Loverman,” Don’s taunting voice awoke from its slumber.

“Rubbish…” Adio scorned as he turned to gaze at sleepy Ibinabo’s half-naked body whose hair was disheveled on her pillow.

“Grudging someone who lives in your head? You must be the funniest person on earth.”

“Whatever.”

Adio snapped himself into alertness and grabbed his towel, ready to shower and brush his teeth. He had two agendas today:

1.Ride with at least three passengers during the day in order to meet up with some of Ibinabo’s financial demands. Sleeping with and eating food cooked by her came with its responsibilities.

2.Go to one of the Catholic churches downtown and confess his sin of robbery to the priest before depositing last night’s stolen money into his account. He hoped to use half of it to start a good business and donate the other half to an orphanage home. Then when he had grown the business, he would take back the capital and donate it to an IDP camp. That way, he would be free from the guilt of robbery completely.

While in the bathroom, he turned on the shower to its maximum, the noise drowning every sound from the bedroom. As such, he didn’t hear when his door wheezed open and shut.

With his head pounding and his heart still beating from the fact that he had thousands of dollars illegally obtained, sitting in a leather bag up his wardrobe, he hurried his bath, wiped the water trickles all over his skin, and dashed back into the room.

Strangely, Ibinabo was gone.

“Ibinabo!” he called as he tossed his head about.

His eyes darted to the top of his wardrobe. The bag was gone too.

Adio didn’t even wait. Armed with only the towel wrapped around his waist, his bulge protruding from behind it, he dashed out of his room down the corridor to Ibinabo’s room.

He didn’t even bother to knock; he pulled down the door handle in a panicking mode, but she wasn’t inside.

In the midst of the drama, Don crept up his head. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing, Adio? She didn’t even lock her door. What could she have been up to in such a hurry?”

Humph…humph… Adio began to pant harder and harder, running back to his room to fetch his phone.

“No way! Ibinabo, you can’t do this to me,” he panicked. “You’re too good to be sly. I’m the silly one here.” As he said this, he punched the call log on his screen to reveal her contact. He clicked the call button and waited.

It rang, but she didn’t pick.

He tried again. It returned unanswered.

At the third try, the network returned with the information, “The number you have dialed is switched off.”

“Damn you!” Adio cussed and stoned the phone on the bed. It was an impulsive action, and he was glad the gadget didn’t hit the floor, else he’d have incurred heavy repair expenses upon himself on top of this current pressure.

“What do I do now?” he pondered.

“Go now and report yourself to the police,” Don suggested. “Or you think those ladies from last night wouldn’t have reported your account on FlyRyde already?”

“Shit!” Adio cussed one more time. He threw on his clothes shabbily and scurried out, forgetting to lock his room as well.

As he walked down the corridor through the midst of other neighbors who had come out of their rooms to the brightness of the dawn, he suddenly felt fear grip his body so much that he started to feel all eyes were on him.

Soon, the whole place began to spiral down with voices jeering at him with the word, “Thief! Thief!”

“I’m not a thief. I’m not a thief,” he heard himself whisper to no one in particular.

Whether or not it was real or he was only imagining, all he wanted was to get out of the neighborhood immediately. So, once he was in his car, he fiddled with his key in the ignition, kick-started the engine and sped off into the road.

“So, where to now? The police station?” Don inquired.

“Just shut the fuck up!” Adio screamed into the thicketed atmosphere of his car. “I’m trying to think. I’m thinking. Just let me think, damn it.”

He jerked his break and halted on the road for a few seconds before wheeling into a corner. He needed to breathe. The tension was too much for him to bear and the nuts holding his brain together had begun falling off; he could even hear their tingling sounds on the floor.

“Phew! Okay, Adio,” he said to himself, “Act normal and open your app. If you see nothing scary, just go about your day like the regular taxi driver that you are, make some money today and then travel out of Lagos to observe the situation for a while.”

“You still want to do business amidst the pending danger?” a baffled Don asked. “You must be going crazy!”

“I am not normal anymore. In fact, I’m already going mad. I can’t even stay still.” His hands fidget all over the place and his lips quivered.

“Omo… Yabaleft to the rescue.”

Out of nowhere, the sky rumbled and a bolt of lightning slashed through the dark clouds. Adio peered out of his window just in time to see the first droplets of rain begin to fall. The sudden shift in weather transformed the warm air into a chilly breeze, providing instant relief from the heat and evaporating the sweat on his skin. Within moments, his restlessness subsided as the calming rain washed over the landscape.

A young girl, approximately ten years old and dressed in a school uniform, stood protectively in front of his vehicle, sheltering her younger brother from the pouring rain as they patiently waited for a bus.

Adio felt a deep sense of compassion for them and kindly invited them into his car, offering to give them a ride to school.

“My mommy told me not to talk to strangers,” said the little girl, “but I’m helpless in the rain, so I’ll accept your offer.”

Her voice was delicate, and her command of the English Language was outstanding. Adio was instantly captivated by her. Despite knowing that he was about to lose his freedom, along with his girlfriend who had made life meaningful for a brief period, and the money he had intended to use to improve his life, he resolved to carry out one final act of kindness.

***

The drive began in silence for the first two minutes except for the sound of the rain. The children’s school was a twenty-minute drive.

“Uncle, don’t you turn on your stereo while driving?” the girl punctuated the silence, bringing Adio out of his self-pity. “My daddy always does anytime we ride with him in his bus.”

“I do… I just… I’m not in the mood dear,” he replied.

“Okay, but please, can you tune into Globe FM on 103.9, Uncle?”

Adio raised an eyebrow. “Is that your favorite station?” he wondered, knowing that it was a station dedicated to news only. No child within her age range would find it appealing.

“Yes, Uncle. Yesterday, my daddy tuned in to the news of one rich uncle who had reported his missing brown leather bag of fifty thousand dollars to some bag snatchers.”

“What?” he turned swiftly behind to catch a good view of her face. The child wasn’t kidding.

“You didn’t hear the news?” she bulged her innocent eyes at him. “It was everywhere o…” Her hands spread open in the air to dramatize ‘everywhere’. “The rich uncle even promised two thousand five hundred dollars to anyone who finds the money.”

“You don’t mean it!”

“Yes. My daddy said he will be the one to find it and our lives will be better upon the reward.” She smiled and then looked out of the window. “I’m rooting for him.”

A surprised Adio returned his gaze to the road. How did he manage to be oblivious to the news? Where were his ears and attention? Even a child had heard about it. The fact that he was a regular tuner to Globe FM and he had missed the information baffled him.

Just then it struck him. Ibinabo! She must have heard about the news which was why she smartly took the bag and fled.

Damn! He was an idiot!

“Abnormal people belong to Yabaleft; Idiots belong to the zoo,” Don remarked in passing.

Adio was in no mood for Don’s taunting. He poured his attention on his thoughts and the road. Soon, he was at the entrance gate of the children at the backseat.

“Thank you, Uncle,” the girl said and waved him goodbye as she helped her little brother alight.

“Be good at school, okay?” he smiled.

They nodded.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“Itohan,” she replied. “My brother is Ehidiamen.”

They waved goodbye at one another and parted ways.

Adio chuckled for no reason in particular. He simply felt stupid. If he had known about the reward, he would have reported the bag instantly and saved himself all these madness. Besides, he wasn’t wont to stealing; his desire to live a better life had only taken hold of him, especially when he suddenly began to imagine a family with Ibinabo.

Speaking of Globe FM, he decided to tune into the frequency. But first, he reached to his phone to check his FlyRyde app.

He shut his eyes and breathed. One. Two. Three.

The app logged him in to the notification that he had been banned.

“Banned?”

“The ladies must have reported you.”

“No way! Danger! I’m a fugitive now!” Adio punched his steering.

But just as he was about to throw the phone to the opposite seat, a call came in. It was from one Mr Tunde Smart as his True Caller app revealed. The name seemed oddly familiar.

At first, he hesitated to pick the call for fear that the police might be stalking him already. But then he braced up.

“Whatever it may be, let it be,” he gave in and then received the call. “You’re on to Adio,” he revealed without hesitation, expecting the worst.

“Great! Adio!” a relaxed masculine voice replied at the other end.

The familiarity of the voice hit him, but he couldn’t decipher the speaker.

“I’m Tunde Smart, CEO of Tunde Heir Holdings,” the voice continued. “Your fiancée is here with me.”

“Fiancée?”

“Ibinabo.”

“O-k-a-y.” Adio played along.

“Thank you for helping me recover the bag. It was a withdrawal I had made from a crypto investment. I withdrew cash for a particular purpose that day without realizing I was being followed. But let’s leave the rest of the story till you come. Can we meet today? My office is Tunde Heir Holdings at Oniru.”

Was this a trap?

“Okay sir. It’s always my pleasure to be of help.” Once more, he played along, choosing to take a chance.

“If you want, I can send my driver to pick you up wherever you are. Just share your location with me online.”

Hmm… This was risky. But then even if it was a trap, he was already a fugitive. He chose again to play along. The worst that could happen was an arrest which he surely deserved.

As soon as the call ended, Adio recalled the name. Mr. Tunde Smart was the passenger he had picked up at Oniru a few weeks ago; the man who had interrogated him about his work experience.

***

An SUV arrived in front of the school gate where Adio’s car was still parked. A neatly dressed man in a t shirt and a fez cap alighted and walked up to the sedan while Adio leaned against the bonnet, watching him.

The rain had stopped but the earth was still wet.

“Good morning. You must be Adio,” the man said.

Adio nodded inquisitively.

“I’m Mr. Tunde Smart’s driver. He asked me to pick you up. Kindly come with me to the car.”

Adio followed quietly and watched as the man opened the backseat door of the SUV to reveal Ibinabo sitting pretty and beaming with smiles.

Startled, his eyes asked, “What’s going on?”

“Relax and come with us,” her eyes responded.

As soon as Adio climbed in, Ibinabo cuddled him and kissed his lips.

While the driver hovered for a few minutes at the boot, she whispered in his ears, “I saw the money and remembered the news. So, I reported it quickly before you got into trouble. I knew you stole it to better your life, but I couldn’t imagine having to visit you in jail. So I had to report you as the hero who had found the money.”

Adio’s eyes widened at her in surprise. “You did?”

“Yes. There’s been rumors since morning that two ladies had reported a FlyRyde driver as the thief. But with my actions, Mr Tunde Smart will be closing the case today.”

Adio was speechless. His eyes dampened with tears, but Ibinabo stuck out her right thumb and wiped a drop that was about to trickle.

“I love you Adio.”

“I love you too,” he replied to his amazement. In their three-day relationship, he hadn’t said this to her. But he did feel like he loved her. It only looked too sudden.

“And congratulations on your five thousand dollars reward,” she added.

Curious, he asked. “Five?” The news said two thousand five hundred dollars.

“He’s making it five, and he’s sponsoring our wedding.”

“Wedding?”

“Before nko? Yoruba demon!”

It was almost as if Adio heard Don’s sarcastic laughter.

THE END

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