Once Upon a Time in Lagos: Episode 7

 

I asked him to describe the men for me. He said he is very sure that both of them were soldiers. One was a dark-eyed thin man who always blinks his eyes each time he speaks, he says. And the other one looked even more like a soldier. He is fat and is   always speaking in pidgin English and was smiling all the time he was talking to him. He was also very sure that both of them came from the city since they did not look like the natives of his town.

I took out a piece of paper and wrote  these words in Yoruba language as if they were part of a letter:

….’Code 777. Mr. Reddington had got on to this, but he couldn’t act on it for two weeks. I’m not sure I can do any good now, especially as the Prime Minister Tafewa Balewa is uncertain about his plans. But if Mr B.  advises I will do the best I can…’

I made up this story rather neatly because I knew it will put the two men at alert. And I  wrote it to look like a loose page on a private letter. Next, I gave it to Mr. Akin and said, “Take this down to the men and tell them you found it in my bedroom. Also tell  them to return it to me if they found me.”

Mr. Akin left my room with the paper and, about four minutes later I heard the  blue Peugeot 404 saloon begin to move. And I peeped from behind the curtain in time to caught sight of the two men. Just like Mr. Akin said, one of them was slim and the other one was fat, and that was what I could make of their appearance.

Mr. Akin came back to my room and was very excited.

“Your paper really woke them up!” he said excitedly. “The skinny guy lost color immediately he read it and started cursing like bus drivers do, and the fat one whistled and looked worried. They paid for their drinks with one naira note and wouldn’t wait for their change.”

I smiled.

“I’ll need another favor from you, if you don’t mind,” I said.

“Sure,” he replied. “I’m much obliged to help.”

“Alright, here’s what I want you to do,” I began. “I want you to get into your motorcycle and go off to the nearest Police Station. Talk to the Inspector, or whoever is in charge there. Describe these two men carefully and tell him  you suspect them of being connected to the Victoria Island murder. You can even invent a story. I’m sure that these men will come back. They may not be back tonight, though, because they will follow me for as long as thirty miles along the road. So no need to worry about them tonight. So begin now to prepare your mind to be very receptive whenever they comes back any day after tonight. Something tells me they will be here by tomorrow morning. So, please tell the police to be here early  and alert.”

He set off like an obedient child who was promised some candy for good behavior, while I worked at the notes Mr. Reddington made in his diary. When he came back we dined together and I told him lots of stories about the circus in America – the name given to a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include magicians, clowns, tightrope walkers, musicians, trained animals and acrobats. I also gave him a lot of stuff about the movie business in America, and the Vietnam War, thinking all the while what easy business these were compared to the mess I was now involved in. When he went to bed I finished reading Mr. Reddington’s diary. I then smoked my Benson and Hedges cigarette in a chair till daylight, for I could not sleep.

About eight in the morning, I saw three police officers arrive at the guest house. Following Akin’s instructions, they parked their car in the garage and entered the guest house. At about fifteen  minutes later I saw from my window  the blue Peugeot 404 saloon car  coming towards the guest house. It stopped about two hundred yards from the guest house, in a shelter of four palm trees close to the guest house. I was attentive enough to notice that the occupants of the car  carefully reversed it before leaving it. Soon I heard their footsteps on the pavements outside my window.

My original plan was to stay hidden in my bedroom and see what will happen between the owners of the blue Peugeot 404 saloon car  and the police. I was highly convinced that if I could bring the local police and my dangerous pursuers together, something might happen to my advantage. But now that both the local police and my dangerous pursuers are here, I had a better idea. I scribbled a short note to Akin, thanking him for his hospitality and help. I then opened the window and dropped quietly into a garden behind the house but very close to the palm trees where my pursuers parked their car. Unobserved, I crawled down the side of the road and made a sharp turn that brought me under the palm trees where the car was parked. There stood the blue Peugeot 404 saloon car, with its key left on the ignition. I could not believe they left their keys in the car. I just wanted to take a chance and hotwire the car, which is a way of starting a car engine without a key. But everything just worked like magic for me. To me, this type of good luck is a sign that I will eventually come out of this problem alive and vindicated.

The dust on the car was proof that the drivers had had a long journey. After opening the left side door, I jumped into the car, closed the door, started the engine, and drove gently out on to the dirt road.

The dirt road dipped almost immediately and I lost sight of the guest house. However, the cool, village wind seemed to bring me the sound of angry voices, which made me realize that my pursuers will soon be on my trail.

 

 

 

END OF EPISODE 7

P.S. Stay tuned for Episode 8, which  will be published here next Sunday.