I stepped off the bus, wondering what could be going on. I was scared and confused, and the only thing I was sure of at that instant was that I was done for. When I stepped on the hard asphalt of the road, I looked at the policeman and tried to be brave. So, I asked.
"What is going on here, officer? Why did you ask me to get off the bus?"
"You look like a scammer to me." He replied.
"And officer, with all due respect, how do scammers look like, if I may ask?"
"Can I see your ID?"
"Of course, of course. But first, I need your permission to put my hand in my pocket to get it." I spoke.
"Why do you need my permission?"
"You have already suspected me to be a scammer. No one knows what else you could be suspecting me off. Putting my hands in my pocket could give you a wrong signal that I am going for a weapon, and I do not want to be kpaied." I explained.
"You have a point. Now, get your ID." He ordered.
I reached for my wallet and brought out my ID, and handed it to him. He looked at it keenly and smiled.
"Ben Samuel Agbor Besong." He called.
"That's me."
"Personnel Officer of Satellite Link Technologies."
"That's still me. Officer, may I have my ID back? As you can see, I am not a scammer. You have kept us here for too long, and my fellow passengers are getting weary." I don't know what even gave me the courage to speak.
"Are you out of your mind?" The policeman asked. He had become angry.
"No, Sir. Why?"
"You dare interrupt police business?"
"Sir, I am sorry if I did, but as you know, that is not my intention. All I want is my ID. Give it to me, and I will be on my way." I was trying to be calm.
"Well, I will not give you back the ID. What are you going to do about it?" He taunted.
"Well, eat it." That came out before I could check myself, and it made him angrier.
"It seems you want trouble, Mr. Samuel. Now, I will give it to you. Please, accompany me to the shed. Let's go see my boss." He spoke, trying to be professional for the first time since I met him.
"How about my fellow passengers?" I asked.
"The bus can continue without you."
At this point, I knew I had talked myself into a hole in the ground. He was proposing that the bus could go without me. That meant that at that hour of the night, I would be left all by myself with some unfriendly policemen. No, I wouldn't let that happen. I had to do something. I had to be smart. So, I changed my tone immediately, smiled, and moved closer to him, speaking to him in whispers.
"Bo, see, we are all young men. No, do your man so. Ma just wash you even na nkolo. Ya man di hurry. I do not get time for waste."
"What? Are you trying to bribe me? Are you trying to bribe a policeman?" He was furious.
"Bro, no, be so, I mean. You sef you know how dis thing di happen. Alright, I know, say nkolo small. Ma wash you fap nkolo. Weti, you think?" I was speaking in Cameroonian pidgin.
"I don't need your money, and for trying to bribe a policeman, you have compounded your crimes. Now, you are under arrest." He spoke and started removing his handcuffs to put them around my wrists.
At that instant, a thousand thoughts ran through my mind. I was already a wanted man, though I had not yet been identified. Now, if I was taken into custody and further investigations commenced, one thing might lead to the other, and finally, I could be identified as the one who had caused the demise of the girl. No way!
As he was concentrating on removing the handcuffs, I shoved him so violently that he fell hard on the ground, and I took off into the darkness. Two of his colleagues saw what had happened, pulled out their guns, and fired. Since they couldn't see me, they were just firing randomly into the darkness. But to be sincere, a few of their bullets almost got me. One bullet zinged past my ear, and another one barely grazed my left shoulder. I realized that if I kept moving, I could be shot. So, I lay on the ground for a while as bullets flew past over me.
After about thirty minutes, the shooting subsided, and I got up again and started running to nowhere in particular. I was just running blindly into the darkness, my instincts for survival guiding my steps.
I must have been running now for about an hour. I was very exhausted and hungry too. All the small energy that I had gotten from eating the loaf of bread and fruit juice had been wasted, running. I needed to sit down for a while. So, I looked for a convenient place, and by the help of the moon which had just shown its face, I found a boulder with a flat top. I sat on it, breathing heavily.
I thought about the whole thing and burst into tears. How did my life become like this? I asked myself. By just one small act of reckless pleasure, I had put my whole life in jeopardy. Why could I not hold myself that night when I saw the supposedly drunk girl? Why did I have to take advantage of her? Why couldn't I practice self-control? Now, look at the domino effect, I am now on the run. The police are looking for me. I have lost my hard-earned job, lost my home, and manhandled a policeman. Of God!! Please help your son.
For almost thirty minutes, I sat on the boulder miserably. Then, I decided that crying was not going to help me. I needed to be strong and bold. So, I wiped my eyes and checked my phone. I was happy that it was still eighty per cent charged. That particular phone had a very strong battery, 6,000 milli amperes. I was about to log on to Facebook to see what was trending, but as I attempted to turn on the data, I heard the barking of dogs, police dogs close to where I was sitting. There was a manhunt for me.
I got up from the stone and made a run for it. I ran until I put a good distance between me and the dogs. Then, I sat down again to rest, and this time around, out of extreme exhaustion, I could no longer cheat nature. I inadvertently drifted off to sleep.
I must have slept for many hours because when I woke up, it was already dawn. I looked around me and noticed that I was close to a small village. I made a careful survey of my surroundings and then, against all odds, decided to go into the village. It was a risky venture because word could already have gone round that there was a wanted fugitive lurking in those parts. But I had no choice. I was hungry, tired, afraid, miserable, and badly needed a change of clothes. So, I decided that I would take my chances.
I approached the first house I saw from the back, walking carefully and cautiously until I came to the back of the kitchen. I stopped, listened, and realized that there was someone in the kitchen preparing breakfast. The delicious smell of the local delicacy made my mouth water and my stomach to grumble. I adjusted my dress and walked casually to the door of the kitchen. I saw an old woman cooking her food over a three stone fireside. She was surprised but not afraid to see me.
"Good morning, Mam." I greeted.
"Good morning, ma pikin. You di find na who?" She asked in pidgin English.
"Mama, I no di find any person. I don't even know how I find ma sef for here. Some people may catch me. I manage for run. Na so I take find myself for here." I explained.
"Do you mean you were kidnapped?" She asked in English.
"You can speak English?" I asked. I was shocked.
"Yes, for many years, I was the local headmistress of our primary school here before I retired."
"Oh! Then, that is great. Now, let me explain to you what happened. I was sitting on my own in an off license, half-asleep, minding my own business, when some armed men surrounded us. They took everyone's belongings and took everyone hostage, including me. They took us to their camp in the bush, but as a sharp guy, I waited until when they were distracted and fled. That was how I found myself here." I lied.
"You should be grateful to God. This country is becoming something else these days. Crime everywhere. Did you hear about the story of the girl who was found in the bush half naked?" She asked.
"Yes, I did. What about her?" I asked. My heart was beating fast.
Remainder:SorryAuthor and narrator: *truefriendStoryhub*
"Well, from what we heard, she was still alive when they got her to hospital. It was in the hospital that she spoke her last words before passing on."
"Oh my gosh! So, what did she say?"
"She said she was poisoned by some friends at the club. It was on her way home that she started feeling the effects of the poison. She met one man who, instead of helping her, took advantage of her. Well, she passed on before the hospital could do anything."
Fresh guilt hit me when I heard that. Poor girl!! I thought she was drunk. I didn't know that it was the effects of whatever substance that they might have put in her drink that was making her behave that way. The wisest and right thing for me to do was to have taken her to the hospital. She might have been saved. She might have been saved!! Oh God!! So, I was not the cause of her death. But who would believe me?
I wished she was still alive so that I could apologize to her, but she wasn't. What was I going to do? I was so sad and miserable by the whole thing.
The woman had finished cooking her food now, and we all moved to her little living room where her three small children were seated, waiting for breakfast to be served before going to school. They were already in their uniforms. I waited until she had served her children. They had eaten and gone to school before continuing the conversation.
"How did you know all these, Mama?" I asked.
"Know what?"
"About the girl."
"Oh! Are you still on it? Well, the girl comes from this village. She was dating someone's husband, one of the richest cocoa farmers in these parts. It is highly rumoured that it was the wife of the man who sent people to do away with her."
"Really?"
"Yes, my son."
So, though I was not altogether innocent, I had, however, been suffering for someone's crime. I badly wanted to make up to the poor, innocent girl. But now, she had passed. Since she was no longer alive, there was only one way left for me to atone for my sins.
I had to track down her killers and bring them to book.
TO BE CONTINUED…