Oaths - Season 1 - Episode 21

Episode 6 years ago

Oaths - Season 1 - Episode 21

☆☆☆☆
Oluchiʼs jaw fell ajar, followed by Simon, followed by Boma.

Their faces all had expressions of shock as they stared intermittently at the pile, especially that of Oluchiʼs who even seemed more shocked than they were.

They kept exchanging glances between each other and facing back at me.

“What is that?” Simon asked, pointing at the polythene nylon as he moved closer to me.

I had thought he was referring to the bundles of cash and had wanted forging up something to tell them until he advanced further and bent on his knees as he inspected the nylon thoroughly.

He spilled out the content which were white T-shirts with the APC logo imprinted on them.

“Fifi, what is this?” he repeated, holding onto one of the shirts as he stared me deep in the eyes. I was unable to speak all of a sudden, searching for my lost voice.

“Can’t you talk?” he raved fiercely.
Just then, Bauchi, Mimi, Eagle and Kingsley came inside. They had been laughing on their way in but stopped abruptly at the scene they met.

I could see the obvious shock on their faces at the sight of the bundled cash, excluding Mimi who just stood rooted to her spot.

“Are you deaf?” Simon continued, sounding impatient.

For some reason, I still couldn’t find my voice. As much as I tried, the words failed me terribly.
The next thing I knew, a thunderous slap befell my cheek in a swift wooze. I almost fell from the impact if not for the wall behind me that aided my stance. Mimi screamed out loudly and ran towards me, shielding me from Simon’s view. Likewise Boma and the other guys rushed towards Simon and held him back.

“Are you crazy?!” Oluchi yelled, hitting him by the chest repeatedly.

“Tell her to talk!” he kept shouting at the top of his voice, trying to resist from their grasp.

It took a punch from Boma to his belly to calm him down, sending him to his knees as he breathed for air.

“What’s your problem?” Boma snapped angrily, about to throw another punch as Bauchi held his arm and signalled him to calm down.

I stood transfixed with my hand caressing my left cheek, still not believing what had just happened. Mimi held me by my shoulder and walked me outside as Oluchi followed behind, cursing and swearing after Simon.

A tear drop trickled down my face as we got to the backyard and settled on a bench there, with Mimi and Oluchi consoling me repeatedly over and over, even if I already told them I was fine.

“But why? Why would he slap me?” I kept soliloquizing silently to myself, expecting no answer in particular.

“Babe, take it easy, wipe your tears,” Oluchi kept comforting me.

“I don’t get it. Why should he lay his hands on me?” I kept asking, feeling my temper raging.

Just then, the door to my backyard creaked open and Boma came out, alone.

He stood at a distance at first, watching me intensely for a while before proceeding forth.

“Let me talk to her,” he said, referring to Mimi and Oluchi.

Without hesitating, they excused us quickly.
Then he sat by me.

He placed a thumb on my cheek and caressed it lightly, wiping off the teary liquid gently.

“I’m sorry about that,” he muttered soberly, looking dejected.

“But why? Why should he do that?” I kept questioning.

“He had a reason.”

“What reason? What reason enough to lay his hands on me?”

“Fifi, youʼll have to be honest with me for these questions I’m about to ask you,” he began, looking serious. I slowly nodded.

“How did you come across such huge amount of money?” he asked.

“How does that relate to the issue?”

“Answer me first!”

“It was given to me by some people.”
“What people?”

“A woman and a guy, I don’t really know much about them.”

“For what reason exactly?”

“They want me to campaign for them, even when I already said I’m not interested. Their ideal plan was for me to snitch up on you guys and pretend to be one of you, while giving them inside information at the same time,” I explained.

“How long has this been going on?”

“For a while now. Iʼve been getting threatened by them recently. Even just this afternoon, they held me at gunpoint with a pistol inside their car, offering me another sum of money which they said was from a senator to me but I refused.”

“Where did this happen? Around the school?”

“Yes, just this afternoon.” I nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It skipped my mind! I probably forgot.”

“You forgot something like that? Fifi, do you know you are toying with death?”

“I am not understanding what is happening here. What is your actual connection with these people?”

“They are our rivals,” he said, “that was why Simon did what he did immediately he saw that you had their material and logo with you. He thinks you are working for them.”

“So even if I was, the best way to settle it was to slap me?”

“Get up letʼs go inside,” he exclaimed, “You’ll have to repeat everything you just said now to them so they can know which side you stand on.”
• • •
A few moments later after I had followed Boma inside, I explained everything I knew to the hearing of everyone as they listened keenly to what I had to say, especially Simon who seemed even more interested.

“So in summary, what you mean is that you don’t know these people in question?”

“Yes, I donʼt.” I answered honestly.

He gave me an awkward look and shook his head irritably.

“Boma, Bauchi, Kingsley and Eagle, make una meet me outside,” he exclaimed and stood up. “Including you, Fifi.”

“I’m coming with you.” Oluchi interrupted.

“Stay back!” He ordered authoritatively in a commanding tone. She literally melted to his deep bass voice and uttered nothing thereafter.

I followed them outside of the compound to where the car was parked and we all took seats in it. It started with a grave silence at first until Simon looked at me awkwardly and then faced his gaze towards the guys, making eye-contact particularly at Boma, before facing me once again.

“I’m sorry.” He simply said, avoiding to make eye contact with me. I sighed and faced my gaze elsewhere. Boma patted me softly by my arm with a pleading look, as well as the other guys glared soberly too, as if asking me to reconsider.

I gave a deep sigh and looked directly at Simon.

“I forgive you.”


He twitched his head with a nod and muttered a silent “Thank you,” still avoiding eye contact with me.

“So what do we do now?” Eagle asked, sounding impatient. “If we don’t teach these guys a lesson, theyʼll come for us sooner than we expect,” he added.

“Not to mention, Fifiʼs life is also at stake here!” Bauchi chipped in.

They both seemed to be referring to Simon, who on his own part, seemed lost in thought. He heaved a sigh and cleared his throat, letting out a slight scoff.

“Let’s wait till tomorrow,” he simply said, turning to face me.

“Fifi, make sure nothing happens to that envelope and the phone pack either. Am I clear?”
I nodded.

“It would serve as our evidence against them in case of emergency cases,” he added.

Just as he was about saying something more, I received a phone call from Akosua, my sister. I picked it up and instantly regretted doing so.
The news hit me like a flash. I shivered!