I remain as silent as possible, my breath seem heavy as my heart keeps slamming against my chest. While the stranger wander in my room, I look around the bathroom to find something that will serve as a weapon.
Carefully, I reach for the mop and pull out the stick. With my fist tightened around the stick, I pray silently as I wait for the supposed killer.
As soon as the bathroom door knob twist, I raise the mop stick waiting for the invader.
Immediately the door opens, I bring the stick down to the invaders head.
"Aye mi, Bunmi ti pa mi ooo (Bunmi has killed me)."
It take a while before I notice that I've just break a mop stick on my mom's head.
She staggers and fall on my bed while I quickly grab a towel.
"shey ko dun yin (I hope it's not painful)".
"Abi eh ma gbo Oro rirun? (What sort of question is that?)"
My mom removes her hand from her swollen head. Blood trickles down and I quickly wipe it with a tissue.
"what's wrong with you?" she asks, pressing the tissue on her head.
"Sorry I thought you were…".
"The killer?" my mom completes my sentence.
"I didn't say so…besides…"
"Besides what?"
"What are you doing at home by this time? And how did you get in??" I ask.
"firstly, you forgot to lock the door. And I came home to get my purse."
I sigh and sit beside her, "You should have called."
"If I'd call, would you come out?" My mom scoffs at my silence, "Soldier in the mud. I thought you were strong."
I look down at my feet in shame, "I was strong enough to stand up against the killer, I guess I wasn't trained enough."
My mom pulls me closer and I rest my head on her shoulder feeling her warmth, "He who leaves a fight lives to fight another day."
"Yes, I know. But being a soldier is more than that."
"Bunmi, you were my daughter before you became a cadet. Remember that I promised your dad to keep you safe."
"Yes, I thought I was going to see dad after I was stabbed."
"Olorunmaje (God forbid), You will not die before me. I have faith in God. Mi o ni foju sukun omo (I won't mourn my child's death)"
After a while of silence, my mom gets up and walk to the drawer where I keep my drugs. She swallowed two pills of acetaminophen, then she sigh in relief.
"I'm going out, come and lock the door."
As she turn to leave, I get up and change my mind. "Mummy mummy, can I come with you."
My mom smile and shrugs and a big smile forms on her face, "oya now. Get dressed."
.
.
.
As usual, mom's pharmacy is filled with loads of people coming in to buy drugs. In as much as I hate staying at her shop, it seem to be a perfect distraction and a sight of relief.
When I was little, I detest seeing sick people, but the military made me get used to it. My mom workers seem overwhelmed with customers coming in, infact, none of them have had the opportunity to sit since I came.
After a while of watching I feel reluctant to just sit and watch. Besides, my phone had just ran out of data and Instagram is beginning to bore me.
I attend to three customers who seem clueless of what to buy. I thought vitamin C tablet is white or red, not until a customer request for a pack of yellow vitamin C tablet.
"Mummy mummy, which one is yellow vitamin C?" I ask my mom who's attending to an elder customer.
"That one," she points to a small plastic container at the third row.
I hand it to the customer and another customer takes his place. A middle aged man in his forties step forward. He seem nice looking in his suit, I may not know what a sick person looks like but he surely doesn't look sick.
"Bunmi," he says as he hands a prescription note to me.
"How did you know my name?" I ask.
He smile, "Come on, everyone calls your mom mama Bunmi, I suppose you are her daughter. The both of you look alike, but you're way more prettier."
I feel a little bit uncomfortable, but I don't want to appear offensive. This is my first day at my mom's shop ever since I was dismissed.
"You saw him disappear, didn't you?"
"Who?" I ask.
"The man who stabbed you," he says as he move closer to the counter. "You knew no one will believe you, that's why you didn't tell the cops."
"Who are you?"
"I'm just a man who studies people. Bunmi, you're my recent study." He narrows his eyes, "The military suspended you, but you know it's not your fault, you did what you had to do."
"What are you talking about? I don't know you."
"But I do, and the man who stabbed you does. He's gonna stab someone else soon. What I know for sure is that you want to stop him."
"You must be kidding me, I nearly died."
He chuckles, "You and I know that you're not afraid of death, you're afraid of seeing people die when you could have done something."
I lean closer to him and shake my head. "Sir, you don't know me at all."
"Of course I don't, but there's that part of you saying yes to me. If you want to be that fighter you've always dreamt of.." He slides a card to me and place a cash beside it. ".. Reach out to me when you're ready."
He turns away and walk out of the store. I place the cash inside the drawer and my eyes meets the black card with a shield logo on it. There's no address or phone number except a barcode on the right corner.
"Shadowguard," I read out the word written on it.
"Sora fun sugar daddy o (Beware of sugar daddy), Almost all the men in Lagos are crazy, especially Yoruba men."
I scoff and hold back the laugh, my mom's warning seem hilarious. I hope she hasn't forgotten that she married a Yoruba.
"It's nothing," I say before tossing the card into the waste bin. "I'm not into elderly men."
My mom gives me a funny look before turning to her customers. I stare at the card for a while until a customer divert my attention. A teenage girl in school uniform stand in front and points to something behind me.
"Give me gold circle condom!" she says loudly without any iota of shyness.
"How many?" I ask.
"One dozen. I hope it's strong Sha. Oko broda Sikiru ki gidigan ooo (if you don't get this yourba word, you're missing a lot 😜😜)
I shake my head and give her the pack of condom. She smile and place the cash on the counter. As soon as she leaves the shop, everyone burst into laughter. That girl is so hilarious.
.
.
.
Later that night I lay on my bed thinking about the proposal. One thing is for sure, it's either that man is economical about the truth or he's honest. Come to think of it, he hasn't given me any reason to doubt him.
I stare at the business card for a while before bringing my phone to scan the barcode. As soon as my phone pictures it, the screen goes blank.
"What the hell?"
My phone screen suddenly goes on again and the Shadowguard logo appears on it.
"Welcome to Shadowguard," my phone AI speaks. "Your lift is waiting outside."
A loud horn echoes from outside, causing me to jump from my bed. I look through the window and my eyes widens in shock.
A black Ferrari car parked outside my house, the lights shin to my eyes with the Shadowguard logo shinning In the dark.
"Get into the car, and it'll drive you to your destination." My phone reads.
This seem way cooler than I imagine. Some part of me hesitate, but a large part of me seem inquisitive to know more.
I sneak out of the House and step outside. No matter what, I'm ready to know where this is all going to lead.
.