His right leg lifted off the ground, hovering over the carpet grass.
At that moment, all Jidenna wanted was to leap out from the covering of flowers like a starving lion and bite down on the vulnerable neck in the distance, tearing into it.
He wanted the man who could declare the death of his friend—someone he had been smiling at with a calm face—to die. As though it was nothing, he wanted such men dead, but—
He thought, "I will show them that if you remove 'w' from my surname, Agwu, it will turn to 'agu'.¹"
He couldn't.
Jidenna knew that he had followed the tsunami of rage, which threatened to engulf him.
If he yielded to it, it would do more harm than good; maybe something unexpected would happen.
Jidenna knew more than anyone that "he did not know how to fight."
Despite inhabiting this rugged body, with developed and trained muscles, Jidenna knew he could not win against that man in close combat.
Additionally, he winced at the thought of the awful sensation that would be generated.
He did not like pain.
The realization was like a bucket of icy water poured over his short-tempered impulse.
He squatted back down, staring at the hedge of flowers before him, an aura of gloom oozing out of him.
But even his gloomy thoughts were cut short the next moment, drawing him out of his depressed silence.
"Who dey there?²" The bald-headed boss, who he thought had gone a distance, whirled around.
His black satin T-shirt was lifted up by the whiplash. In the open field illuminated by overhead lights,
a suspicious object strapped to his waist was highlighted.
The boss's head moved from left to right, searching.
His eyes surveyed the area: the reception, the poles where the overhead lights hung,
the variety of trees in the distance,
the hedges of greenery that divided the area, and finally the lifelike topiary of a tortoise.
His arm reached for the object, pulling it out. It was—
"A gun!" Jidenna's breath hitched in his throat, his heart sped up, racing a thousand miles in fear.
His stay in the village was not in vain; he used the opportunity to catch up to date with common and popular inventions.
He had also watched some recommended P-13 movies to understand the social norms in this world.
One of the inventions he had marveled at, almost deforming the remote between his palms, was the gun.
He had watched enough movies to know its deadliness and had also seen it in the arms of patrolling police officers.
It was precisely because he knew what it was that his body trembled.
He shrunk his body, bending his back even further into the earth, as low as possible, trying to hide his towering 6'3 figure.
He took another peek at the silhouette of the man.
After retrieving the gun, the boss held it with his two hands, pointing the barrel at the floor.
With an ominous click, the boss unlocked the safety.
Taking light steps to where the noise came from.
On the other hand, from the small hole Jidenna peered from,
the boss's figure, which had always appeared average, seemed to become more intimidating.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, running down the bridge of his nose, but he did not dare clean it.
His body was as stiff as a dead rat.
Scrunch scrunch
The grasses gave way beneath his feet, but not before offering a sound in protest.
Scrunch scrunch
A black leather shoe appeared before him, inches away from his face. Light reflected off its shiny surface.
Jidenna could swear he saw his terrified face on its surface.
His heartbeat spiked.
"So close!"
He held his breath in fear, afraid that the heaviness of his breath would be heard over the cricks of the cricket hidden in the grass like him.
Just then, someone shouted, "Boss! Michael said he has gotten inside!" It was the muscular man waving his hands all the way from the building.
Like a popped balloon, all the tension vanished.
"It better be something good, if not…" The boss took another sweep of the environment,
tucked the pistol back into the confines of his belt, and smoothed his satin T-shirt.
Once it was in order, he turned around, heading back to the building.
"A total waste of time. I could have used those precious minutes for something else," the boss grumbled, moving out of Jidenna's hearing range.
It was only after some minutes had passed, confirming that the man had truly gone, did he heave a sigh.
His body relaxed into the earth like a puddle of water.
From his position, splayed out on the earth, he looked at the glittering, bright stars that dotted the night sky,
his mind too exhausted by the ordeal to make out the constellations in them.
And for the first time since he woke up, he thanked his rationality.
He might have really gone off to reincarnation if he had charged headfirst like a raging bull. He could imagine the scenario already.
As he charged straight at the bald man with bare, empty hands outstretched towards his neck, chanting "Die" inwardly.
Hearing his footsteps, the bald man would react, reaching for his pistol, turning around to face him as he drew out the gun.
The lightning overhead would willingly shed light on the object in the boss's grip for him to see.
The boss would stand still, legs apart, the gun pointed at its target before he decided to take a look to see who the foolish person was.
The corners of his lips would draw into a smile, and his mouth would part to deliver sharp arrows.
"Well, well, look what we have here." He would shake his gun, moving it properly into his line of sight.
"Jidenna, Jidenna, you're just the person I was looking for!" The boss would click his tongue as a playful glint would emerge in his eyes.
While on the other hand, Jidenna would realize what the object was,
screeching to a stop.
He would take a step backward, looking for an escape route,but his actions would only cause the boss's smile to widen.