Grace of Fear 3

Baaba froze. Her heart started pounding like the night before. Then a few pieces came together. The bikers must have been the robbers and they may have accidentally dropped the money.  She grabbed her phone and with her shaky hands and called Ralph but he didn't answer. He was the only one she could talk to. She rushed out of the room with the money in her bag and headed for his workshop.

   When she got to Ralph's workshop she was directed to go into the store room. "Ralph, something bad has happened. Some man got robbed and..." she blurt out as she entered but stopped when she realized he was not alone. There was a tall guy standing in front of Ralph. He turned to look at her. "A man got robbed? Where?" the tall guy asked. Baaba looked at Ralph and back to him. "Somewhere around Kaneshi School Junction, in my area." Baaba replied. "What's his name? I know some people who live there." The tall guy added. "I don't know his name but he has a daughter called Nasara. They say the robbers used a special key to open all his doors." Baaba added. The tall guy said wow and smiled. "Bikers are just strange." Baaba said grabbing Ralph's hand and sending him outside. "You heard they were bikers?" the tall guy asked. Baaba froze. She realized she had said too much. It happened a lot when she got nervous. "Ei, did I say bikers? I meant robbers." She said and faked a laugh. Ralph excused himself and went outside with Baaba.

   "Baaba what is this all about?" Ralph asked when they were alone. She hesitated for a while and finally said "it's about the armed robbery I was talking about." Ralph looked scared all of a sudden. She told him the whole story of how she picked the money. Ralph looked a little excited and scared at the same time. Just then the tall guy walked passed them. Baaba turned and watched him. He kept stealing glances at her too. It was when another guy on a bike came to him that things became clearer to her. 

 Then she saw it, the snake tattoo on the other biker's leg. Her heart missed a beat then she heard Relph's voice. "Baaba, stop looking at them. Look here." he said. She managed to do as he said. "Yo, ma guy. We dey go come." The tall biker yelled and hopped onto the back of his friend's bike. Ralph nodded and waved as they left. "Were you part of them? Ralph what is going on?" Baaba asked almost in tears. "I needed the money so we could leave this place. I had nothing to do with the shooting. The man brought his car here and his key holder had his house keys so I just made a copy. That was all. They said they'll give me 500 cedis if they got the money. The man is very rich so it's not so bad. I swear I didn't know they would shoot him." Ralph explained. He had to get her to trust him.

Baaba listened in shock with her mouth slightly open. "I think we should send the money back. I can give it to the Police." she said. "Are you mad?!" Ralph yelled. He looked around to see if anyone heard him. If the Police find out, I'll go to jail or the biker boys will kill me. Those guys are hard. Let's just take the money and go." He suggested. Baaba felt guilty. "What if the man dies? What will happen to the girl? If we tell the Police about the bikers we won't go to jail. Just say they forced you." She said. Ralph considered it for a moment and shook his head. "Look, these guys are untouchable. Even the Police are afraid. Where's the money?" He asked, looking around. When he saw that Baaba wasn't convinced he held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "If you go to the Police both of us will die." He said.



 To be continued  ...

Eli's wife 4

"Sorry my place is not as interesting as yours." Charles said to Sena handing her a glass of wine. Sena smiled. He had no idea she wasn't living in her own apartment anymore. She changed the subject quickly. Charles sat next to her and put his arm around her. Sena rested her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beat. It was beating just as fast as hers. Then Charles held her chin and raised her head. He leaned in and kissed her. Sena felt a chill. She moved closer to him. The kiss got deeper. Charles reached for the zip of Sena's dress and opened it almost halfway before she moved back. She thought about Eli and her wedding ring in her pocket. "I thought you were ready." Charles said. Sena stroked his chin. "I thought so too but maybe we are rushing this." She replied trying not to look into his eyes. Charles nodded. Sena made up an excuse and got up to leave. Charles tried to talk her into staying but he wasn't successful.

  Sena cried as she drove home. When she got to the house she noticed Eli's car was not in the garage. She looked at her watch. It was 10 past midnight. Eli was usually home before 9. As she walked into the house. She said hello to the security man and asked where Eli was. He explained to her that he left the house in a hurry 30 minutes ago. Sena found that strange. She went straight to her room, took a warm shower and tried to sleep. "What am I doing?" She asked herself.

  The next morning Sena was dashing down the stairs in order to get to work on time when she saw Eli entering the house. He looked like he hadn't slept all night. He went straight into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of beer. "Isn't it too early to be drinking?" Sena asked. "I look like shit, smell like shit and that's the first thing you ask me? What a perfect wife you are." Eli said. Sena was hurt. She turned around and left. She felt bad leaving but she didn't want to fight. At least not this early.

 Sena was just about to go out for lunch with Charles when her sister popped up into her office. Sena was not amused and it didn't look like a pleasant visit either. "I'm living with Prince Charming what do you want again?" She asked sarcastically. Enyonam didn't even smile. She just dropped a newspaper in front of Sena. Sena picked it up. She read all the top stories and found what Enyonam wanted her to read. It was a story about Eli's visits to his ex-girlfriend's place and how he spent the whole night in the hospital with her the last night. The writer was suggesting that his marriage to Sena did not make sense and that it was just a way to keep Sena's father funding the president's campaign. Sena looked down and saw the page number. "Nobody will take this guy seriously. He will sound like a desperate reporter who wants attention. He's at the bottom of page 12." She said. Enyonam leaned closer to Sena. "Fix your marriage. Keep your husband in the house. Daddy worked too hard to get us the power and recognition we have. You are going to be first Lady in some years to come and who knows, maybe your son will be president. Sena don't mess this up." Enyonam threatened in the darkest of voices. She turned around and walked out leaving Sena speechless.

 To be continued...