Beauty and the best is a Nigerian other room story (+18) Part 3

And the Story continues ..

Chief K loved Precious P, if you see love as an action word. He proved that many times with the gifts and attention, often telling himself if he gets the chance to have her to himself, he would never patronize the brothel again. As Chief K leaves the officers mess on his scooter and heads straight to the brothel; thoughts flying through his head as he races over speed bumps barely losing control of his motorbike; “how can I even think of this? Precious P is my heart beat and aside from that, her mother must not know. I need this contact of Major Z when Major S leaves for the north. I Must Deliver”.

Precious P was behind the brothel washing her school uniform when she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turns only to find one of the girls walking towards her while she nonchalantly tells her “that guy is asking of you o, your lover boy” referring to Chief K. Precious P squeezes her uniform and place it by the bucket, shakes off the foam from her garment and walks to the common room where some girls where having a smoke.

Chief K reaches out to her with a bold face and immediately start the conversation; “have you seen the latest cinema in town? The movie about Shakespeare is out and I want us to see it tomorrow”. Precious P is surprised yet pleased as Chief K knows her love for literature, and he knows she has only been to the cinema twice in her life. She responds with some enthusiasm; “oh that will be great, yes I will go. Are you paying for me?” Chief K exclaims “haba, why would I ask you to come to the cinema if I won’t handle everything”. They agreed on the time to meet, 6:30pm at the jumbo cross motel as Chief K told her he had a meeting before the movie starts at 7pm. Precious P is looking forward to a memorable night the next day. She told herself she would never forget it and she never did.

6:30pm and she was standing at the reception of the Jumbo cross motel anxiously looking out for Chief K; then a voice calls her out from the staircase, “hey Precious , come here” Chief K moves into action as he beckons her to climb the stairways to the next floor heading towards a room. “What are we doing here?” Precious P asked as they stand opposite the door while Chief tries the keys. “We just have to wait for a friend and we are off to the cinema” he responds with subtle force.  They enter the room and she sits on the chair, Chief K speaks again “sit on the bed and be comfortable.” Precious P had always trusted young Chief K but something wasn’t right.

As the clock strikes 7pm, with military punctuality Major S steps into the room wearing a blue polo shirt and light brown trousers. You couldn’t tell he was an army officer apart from his stance which comes from attending military themed schools throughout his academic life.

Precious P had confusion on her face, at 16 she really didn’t know what to expect as the young Chief K also didn’t know where this would lead. Major S voices his motive “is this the girl? Are you sure she is a virgin? “. Precious P is in shock as Major S continues “give her a drink or something, she is not a baby” as if being 16 years was bad enough in this situation, Precious P’s outward appearance didn’t help matters. She had taken time to put on some make for the cinema and wear the push up bra she kept only for rare occasions, to match it all up she wore a mini shirt which she got as a gift from one of the girls at the brothel. She wasn’t a little school girl that night. She was like meat soaked in blood being dangled in the presence of a lion. Major S, the Lion.

Major S looked towards the young Chief K and with hands stretched out pointing towards the door indicating Chief K to vacate the room, he instructs “My friend, kindly excuse us”, not like there was any option for Chief K neither could he oppose. Chief K wished the earth opened up and took him or a whirlwind came and made everything go away. As he stepped out of the room towards the stairway back to the lobby, he could hear the voice of Precious P mumbling, calling his name as tears roll down her cheeks while the door made a squeaky sound as it slammed shut. Walking towards the lobby a young military officer walks towards Chief K with his right hand reaching out for a handshake, as Chief K, looking confused and responded by clinching hands with the officer in a firm handshake. “It’s nice meeting you Chief K, Major S said good things about you, I am Major Z, I believe we will be very good friends from now on”. Chief K is in limbo with a mix of emotions of betrayal and accomplishment which sends strong vibes towards his stomach making him have the need to visit the toilet. It gets worse for his conscience as Major Z taps him on the shoulder and walks up the stairs towards the room when he said “I need to join my friend with the party you have made happen for us, you are the main man”. He could hear door open as Major Z enters the room to join his comrade, he could also hear the voice of Precious P coated in tears and anguish.

It was 9am in the morning; a loud knock on the door wakes Chief K as he barely had any sleep since he got home from the jumbo Cross motel after waiting for an hour and no sign of the two majors coming out soon. He opens the door of his flat to find Precious P’s mother and three girls from the brothel acting hysterical with tears and she explodes “HAVE YOU SEEN PRECIOUS? Ewoo, my world o, my life o, please have you seen or heard from her?” Chief K realizes they have no idea she came to meet with him at the motel. She continues “dem talk say she go watch film, she never come back since yesterday o. She no dey waka bad waka oooo. Chei GOD o, helep me ooo” tears and cries kept flowing as she continues “I beg my broda, if you help me see her, I beg come tell me, abi make you help me go around this city with ya motorbike take search small I beg”. Chief K jumps into action running to dress up as the ladies waited in his living room. The irony was the sincere concern in his face which the ladies could tell, but what they didn’t know was that the reason for the confusion in his expressions was not of the same incline with theirs; it was of the fact he knew where she was last night and was wondering what must have happened to Precious P.

After moving round town for 5 hours checking everywhere except the Jumbo cross motel, Chief K made sure he lead the search party purposely discarding the opinion of one of the brothel maids to check there. “Precious no fit go that place, make we check railway and the two other cinemas and ask” was Chief K’s response when Jumbo Cross was mentioned.

In the evening Chief K and the search party escorted Precious P’s mother to the brothel. As they gathered to greet her good night and make promises of finding her daughter, she turns towards Chief K ; she started appreciating “GOD bless you my broda, may GOD lift you for helping me this far, I am so grateful for the effort” she gave Chief K a hug as she cried with tears all over his shirt while she kept calling her daughter’s name.

If Chief K had broken conscience the night before, it was nothing compared to this evening. He rushed on his motorbike and you can guess where he was headed; the Jumbo Cross motel. He runs through the reception and heads towards the stairs stumbling as he missed several steps while the receptionist beckoned on him to wait.  He goes to the room and finds no one; as he turns to head back the receptionist confronts him; “sir, the girl you came with last night might be dead o, those men that came in to meet her carried her in their car and drove off. It was when she stopped breathing then one of them called me and gave me the warning of my life. I don’t want wahala o, I don’t want army problem o. Sir, and you didn’t bring her to this place o. PLEASE”. He said pointing his finger at Chief K’s face.

Chief K felt a bit relieved as he walked out of the motel and headed towards the barracks; the feeling that the event of what happened to Precious P was still a secret gave him comfort but now he needs to know what happened to the young girl he had betrayed.

Major Z was at the officer’s mess when Chief K stormed in, “where is Major S?” he asks as he stands before Major Z who seemed less amused. “What happened to that girl? What happened to Precious P?”Chief K continued his rant; then Major Z raises his hand and wave towards a seat indicating to Chief K to sit down. “She was bleeding too much for me, Major S and I had a few rounds then the blood was just too much, the bed sheets and all; and she kept screaming your bloody name which was actually annoying. Any ways, Major S has moved to Abuja and we dumped the girl at a hospital in the next town and left some cash in her bag. We made sure someone took her in before we left.” Chief K didn’t wait for Major Z to finish his drink as he got up and rushed towards the exit to get his motorbike. There was only one hospital in the next town, and he knew the place too well. Major Z drops a parting word, “Take it easy bro; she is not important, trust me there are more important things going on; and if you play your cards well, you will be very rich.” Chief K stops a bit, nods his head in agreement and continues towards his motorbike.

The next town was a sleepy one; noise only came when the power company gives electricity; you can hear the distant sound of a generator as only two residents have one and the hospital was one of those two. The young Chief K walks in after parking his motorbike and meets a nurse half asleep. “Good evening madam, I would like to ask about a patient that came in last night;” before he could continue, she responded in her tired husky voice from being the only nurse on duty since the night before; “she has gone; she left this afternoon. Are you related to her? Because after treatment she just got up and boarded a bus to Ghana.” 

She sat up to give more info “She was raped and she kept calling one name; Are you the person?” she asked with eyes wide open. Chief K didn’t know what to expect; “ha no o, I am Rufus, and I am a friend to her mother, and we have been looking for her all morning in the city next to you.” The nurse had many questions but being a talkative prevents one from being calm she nonchalantly responds “The girl has gone’ maybe she couldn’t take the shame”.

Chief K had to spend the night in that town as it was late when he got to the hospital after leading the search party from the morning towards checking at the Jumbo Cross motel to finding out where Precious P was during his inquiry at the barracks. It was a hell of a busy day. He checked into a small vacant room for the night and suddenly he remembered Precious P had a friend in Ghana whom she exchanges letters with. The friend was older and was her school mother when she was in standard one. He now knows where she was and knows her mother would not find out and might die of a heart ache.

Around 10am Chief K heads back to the city; thinking of what to do, when to his surprise there is a road block, soldiers everywhere. Everything was stand still and he asked one of the people “what’s happening?” An old man answered “coup oh; there is a new government my son” as he passes a transistor radio detailing the broadcast. Chief K listens to the repeated announcement, the voice seemed familiar as the solider at the other end of the radio kept listing directive on the new era of the nation; then as soon as he ends his speech he concludes with “Fellow countrymen, I Major S as the new commander in chief appoints Major Z as controller of the southern administration and also vice president”.  SHOCK!!! That’s what Major Z warned about when he told him about playing his cards right and more important things. Major S had gone to Abuja as part of the plan when Major Z came into Lagos.

With his friends as the two most powerful people in the country, the rest is history, as Chief K enjoyed the benefits of being the go to man in government. No one saw Precious P again. 

To be continued ....