Chapter Six
He fished out an envelope from inside his hip pocket, and gave it to Olumide; he took it in one hand and glanced at it. It was the letter he himself wrote down for his father when he wanted to leave the village. I’m sorry dad, I can’t bear the life in the village anymore. I’m sorry dad, I can’t bear the life in this village anymore, It’s time for me to find a better place where life is more interesting, Don’t worry about me. I hope you’ll understand,
Bye,
Olumide
For a brief moment Olumide read through the letter, over and over again, before turning to the one his father wrote. It was brief.
19th July, 1969
Dear Lanre, Please I have a big problem facing me, as you must have seen in the other part of the letter, Olumide has left the house to an unknown destination, but I have a feeling he is in Lagos. There is almost nothing, I can’t do without him; he is the only one I have. I would be very happy if you can find him for me, with your rank and prestige, you will find him.
Thanks
Soji.
Olumide gave the letter back to Gbesan.
Well, tell me what happened Olumide, Gbesan said, ‘there’s not much I can say, the whole of my money has vanished overnight. Gbesan was perplexed; he hadn’t thought of this, it was worth being really sad about. That mean’t, like all other young boys in Lagos working very hard, struggling for their survival, Olumide would have to be up and doing, if he wanted to live on his own part, he didn’t stand a chance of Collecting the money he used to rent the room, and the things he brought in the room. The tragedy affected him too. How did it happen Olumide, who came in here yesterday?’
‘The money was still there yesterday evening when I left here with Elsie, we went to ‘Hotel de supreme’, I did not check whether it was there, you know I was very tired’. ‘The door was opened when you woke up?’ ‘No, that is the mistake I made, the window was opened’, I guess we’ll have to report to the police’. ‘what can I do, if they can help, he braced up and reached for his shirt, he was about to fix the last button when he suddenly remembered. It’s no use; the police will be searching for me’.
Meanwhile at the police department, the police took Mr. Ajigbotinu’s report very seriously and promised to find him {Olumide Ogunbeshin} within two weeks but Mr. Permanent Secretary of the state government’s stand was to find the boy without any publicity whatsoever, in one week. The police took it upon themselves to find the boy in the shortest time. Borrowly woke up by twelve thirty, he thought it might as well be a successful job, and an easy one if he thought of something bigger than the recent one. It was the work he did for the whole of his life. Stealing was him. He was thievery in himself. It wasn’t long before he got at a very interesting point. But he would need more men to do the job.
So he would have to contact his former colleague. He agreed to himself, that, that was another good decision making it two, in three days. The taxi borrowly boarded got trapped in go slow (traffic jam), as the cab moved slowly along with a host of all other cars, borrowly re-secured his rabbit cap smiled and held firm his bag. The car turned to Adesupo lane in a bid to find a freer way.
Borrowly was still very much indebted to his thoughts, until the sudden break of the front of 16 Bolaji street. He paid up, got out the cab, and walked briskly towards Elsie’s, one room apartment. Borowly delivered the money in whole, since it was a gift he took nothing out of it; but something not money was what borrowly was looking for, it was information about Olumide Ogunbeshin.
Elsie cared less anyway, since she had got her four hundred Pounds. She felt on top of the world. All she said was, ‘its no use asking anything about the poor boy, anyway you want to hear it so I’ll tell you, ‘He has just finished modern school. He came to Lagos a few days ago, together with his father, and I guess it’s his first visit to Lagos.
According to him he liked what he saw in Lagos, almost automatically he got tired of village life, he decided to come to live in Lagos. But his father wouldn’t allow this so he had to sneak out’.
‘Was he working before he came?’ ‘On his father’s farm’, ‘So where did the money spring up from ‘His father is a rich farmer’. ‘You know as well as I know that he can’t raise two hundred in a short time’. All right I’ll tell you, he duplicated his fathers safe’s key and easily he got what he wanted. Borrowly stood up trying to ask his last question and not putting any force on it.
He greeted her bye and told her to see him tomorrow morning, while he or she would not be at home. When he reached the door, about to go, he said casually, ‘where is this Mr. Ogunbeshin’s village?
It’s a remote area, Ipetu town his village is just the interiors of the town, a certain part many people know is the more developed part of it. He lives at about one hundred kilometers out of the major town. I wish you spend your money as usual. What he meant in essence was that she should be foolish in her spending.
Borrowly drank the last drop of his beer and placed the glass down. The time was nine p.m, the bar at Miguel international hotel which was one of the biggest in the city, was always filled with customers and this night wasn’t an exception, but borrowly amongst every other person was different. This hotel owned by Mr. Shaki was always used as a camouflage for their evil deeds. The gang of thieves that shaky led was notorious. The gang was deeply rooted in the city of Lagos. Borrowly himself was a member of the gang for five years before he left them to do his own as small timer.
Mr. Shaki had acquired great influence in the city that made it pretty difficult for the law department to round him up when he does his evil job. Borrowly knew very well that he would get the type of assistance he needed. Despite that borrowly was no more with the gang, he kept friendly atmosphere between him and Shaki.
A waiter came up to him, ‘more beer? He received no answer, borrowly was a very familiar person and respected one among the hotels staff, and they had been instructed that he should be served as an important personality. ‘May I serve you another bottle of beer sir? The waiter repeated this time a bit louder, sir?’ What was that you said? Borrowly asked. In a very polite way the waiter repeated again; ‘May I serve you another bottle, sir? ‘No, thank you’, Borrowly replied shortly, he glanced at his watch, it was running to ten pm. He stood up, the right time to talk to Shaki.
Across the bar, was a stair way lending upstairs, he followed it up, he passed several rooms and came to the door leading to shaki’s office. On the door boldly, was written in block letters ‘Strictly Business’. An important rule binding this particular door was that anyone does not go in without the permission form in side even borrowly had to obey this rule.
He knocked, a voice came from inside, ‘who is it’, ‘Borowly, open’, the door was opened by a young thin man with a scar on his cheek. Borrowly walked past him indifferently, the room was dimly lit, there were shaki’s boys in the room, they sat in a circle shaped manner playing card, the atmosphere in the room was very cloudy, there was the plain color of hemp all around. He walked past them, and knocked on shaki’s door. ‘Come in’, a voice came from inside. As he opened the door the cold breeze from the air-conditioner greeted him welcome into the massively furnished office. Behind an enormous well polished table, Shaki sat dangling in his mouth was a pipe filled with weed. There were some files on the table at the moment he was dealing with the file marked ‘finance’ he noticed that a rundown of the hotels performance in July to august, July wasn’t encouraging, august too was wasn’t any better and so this month saw them in financial instability he was checking some other papers to see why this was so, when heard the door click, he looked up, he was very surprised to see borrowly who had not up for the past six weeks.
In a very friendly manner, he welcomed borrowly into his, office and sat him down. It had become a necessity for Shaki to keep things for entertainment in his office in case he needed it. He stood up and moved to the refrigerator, he brought out two bottles of larger beer and two drinking glasses. ‘No, keep that there, would you? I’ll need something stronger, much latter’, borrowly said. Shaki was embarrassed when I’ve finished with what I came here for you’ll understand. He put the beer back in the ‘fridge’ and came back to his seat. After years of co-working with borrowly had made Shaki realize that he was a very brilliant man – in evil ways- and that at occasions like this it paid to listen, he might have come up with another big plan. He always did. Although he was actually busy, he could afford to listen to him. He looked at borrowly anxiously, borrowly started by saying: ‘tell me how would you feel now, if you laid your hands on a half a million clean Pounds’. ‘tell me borrowly when did you become a joker? Shaki requested. Borrowly ignored him, ‘the way I see it, that can be possible in two weeks’.
‘I said stop being a joker, what do you mean anyway? Ah! By the way am I a joker? Well do you know there’s any money anywhere anyway? Hmm, how do I know really? Borrowly asked himself loudly so Shaki can hear. ‘Don’t ’you agree with me Shaki, that when you think up something, you make inquiries about it, then you give it a try, it’s when you’ll get the truth’, Shaki said nothing ‘Okay listen, and listen good enough, because it’s going to do you good’. A few days ago, a girl friend of mine came to me and told me that there might be a favor I would do for her; she said a boy came to Lagos the first time she met with him at a friends house and he fell for her, he said he would come to Lagos in about two weeks, he came in two weeks.
The girl said he had a bit handful of money. ‘I’ was to help here get his money.
That was easy; ‘I’ did that for her’. Then it loomed into my mind that I could use this opportunity to get the kind of money I’d longed for, my whole life’. ‘this boys father according to my girl is a wealthy farmer, I reckon this type of people are the ones whom you don’t expect would have something but there it is they don’t expect would have something but there it is, they don’t bank their money, they stuck it in the goddamn safes’.
‘If this was anything to go by, I had to find out about what I was cooking up in my mind’. ‘I could get to the boy himself and threaten him with blackmail, his father should be after him, by that I could get information on how he got the money from the safe, but then Elsie could do me some favor, she certainly knows something’s about him. Then I decided to ask her’. ‘How well am I doing? Not badly and not very well’, replied Shaki.
‘I’ got something edible from her and very digestive too. First he is Olumide Ogunbeshin; he just concluded his modern school certificate. His first visit to Lagos convinced him that Lagos was his way. But his father was against his coming to Lagos. He sneaked out, but a pretty wise boy he is, he duplicated his father’s safe’s key, so it was a lot easy for him to bounce the Pounds’.
Mr. Ogunbeshin lives in Ipetu Town, his house is at about one hundred kilometers from the heart of the town. Hasn’t she told me everything Shaki?’ ‘Certainly she has, and I say you are a master planner, he produced a bottle of scotch, he reached out for two glasses, he brushed aside the files and poured the whisky in the glasses.
According to your prediction, I’ll need something strong myself. This is very exiting’ He handed borrowly a glass, ‘To our success’ said Shaki heartily. One more thing borrowly said, turning his glass in his hand, ‘we’ll have no party difference’. Again, Shaki was given another surprise, he hadn’t thought of this, borrowly produced the job, they’ll direct it together and he Shaki would have to use his boys, therefore it had to be equal each way.
Borrowly certainly knows what he is doing, he thought. ‘Okay, we’ll have no party difference’, Mr. Shaki agreed. ‘I suppose you’ll have to inform your boys’, ‘I’ll call back tomorrow at the same time, then we can make further plans’. They shook hands with each other. Borrowly went out of the office, passed the boys with the same indifference he had for them when he came in.
He came to the stairway leading to the bar, he was half the way when he came to a standstill, he could not believe his eyes, it was Elsie he saw, held tightly against the body of a wealthy fat man, they were going out of the bar when he spotted them, he came down the stairs and followed them, he saw them get into a Mercedes Benz (280s) the way they held themselves he knew they were drunk. He remembered on one occasion when Elsie nearly got him into trouble, she had got drunk and had gone off with a man, she had told the man recent robbery on a warehouse and had mention his (Borrowly) name as the gang leader. He had realized he couldn’t afford that now, and it was clear to him that Elsie loved his money not himself, so she had been fooling him all along.
He moved towards the road to find a taxi, he changed his mind and turned back to the hotel. He knocked the door and said, ‘Open the door’.
They recognized his voice; the door was opened by the man who opened it the first time. He met a couple of boys in shaki’s office, there’s one very important thing I’ll like to tell you, private please’. Shaki ordered the boys to get out for sometime. ‘What is it?’ Shaki asked, ones they had gone out. ‘It is about this girl Elsie, she may and she may not repeat the incident of two years ago. You remember, she was drunk and told on me to a man’. ‘Yes, I remember’, Shaki replied promptly. I saw her right now, just leaving the bar with a fat man in his Mercedes Benz’. ‘Yes, I understand Borrowly, if she does repeat it or not, she’s no more useful’. ‘That’s very correct’, sad borrowly and he left the room.
Gbesan agreed with his friend Olumide that the thief had come through the open window, and he should not report the case to the police. Gbesan told his friend that the only alternative at the present is to find a laborer job for Olumide. Olumide resented laborer jobs but Gbesan was able to convince him that if he wanted to stay in Lagos he had to do one thing or the other for his daily bread despite the problem of house rent, Olumide had to pay after the next two months. Gbesan had promised that he had a friend who’s father owned a company and could easily take Olumide as a laborer, he had rushed off in a bid to trying, if he might get the job.
On his way to the school that Tuesday morning, he stopped at Olumide’s house and gave him the address of the company. He was to get there by eight thirty. Olumide mentioned to Gbesan that he had not seen Elsie, since she had left on Monday mourning. Gbesan said; that might be the result of the shock she received on Monday morning. He said he would check her in the evening. At about five o’clock that day borrowly had gone to Miguel hotel to meet Shaki. They had finalized arrangements for the kidnapping of both Olumide Ogunbeshin and Elsie. Shaki pressed the button under his table. Jaspa came in, a broad shoulder man with a little moustache, his eyes were bloodstained red. ‘Are you ready? Shaki asked. ‘Yes sir, he replied. ‘Okay Borrowly, you can go now’.
The evening was a bit chilly, borrowly and Jaspa rode in shaki’s 404 Peugeot saloon. Borrowly swung the car Into Bolaji Street gently and kept moving at a steady pace of 30 km per hour. They were about 3 poles to number 16 when borrowly spotted Elsie at the top of the house waving down at a young man, the man was apparently going to Elsie’s house. As the young man stepped into the ground floor, Elsie went inside. Borrowly moved the car a bit nearer the building and parked opposite the road.
He told Jaspa, Elsie has gone inside with a boy I don’t know him, but let’s wait for sometime if he doesn’t come out we’ll check in’. After about fifteen minutes in the car, borrowly opened the car door, ‘let’s go’, he called at Jaspa. The two men stepped out of the car and walked briskly up the dirty stairs of 16 Bolaji street they stopped in front of the nineth (9th) room, Jaspa walked casually to the front balcony, there were many people enjoying the cool breeze of the night, some other people mostly women and children, were in the kitchen cooking.
Meanwhile, borrowly was listening through the door panel to a heated argument between the young man and Elsie, after some time, he heard Elsie said: ‘Look Gbesan what is your business here anyway’, ‘Where did you get that box’ Gbesan inquired angrily.
Borrowly straightened up, he moved up to Jaspa at the end of the corridor, the youngman is Gbesan, Shaki told you about him, ‘yes, Jaspa whispered, he must have in connection with this; let’s go’. Jaspa knocked gently on the door, there was a sudden silence in the room, there was no answer, he knocked again this time, it was no answer, he knocked again, this time it was louder. Y-yes, Elsie’s voice came unsteadily, who is that?’ she tried unsuccessfully to put some steel in her voice. Good evening miss, ‘who are you?’ ‘What do you want?’ Ah, he said casually, I just want to give you something’, he made his English sound awkward.
She opened the door gently and as she wanted to pip out of the door, Jaspa threw his right leg to the door as the door flung open Jaspa jumped inside, borrowly too followed him and closed the door behind him. She was dressed in transparent pink night dress showing her long lovely and pretty hips.
To both Borrowly and Jaspa’s surprise, Gbesan was sitting back on his knees sweat all over his face, Elsie had taken him by surprise, his hand supported his waist, blood dripped from his nose, borrowly looked surprised, Jaspa looked away. Borrowly cleared his throat, a wicked grin on his face, well there’s a short drama here, isn’t it? Or is it a boxing contest’. ‘Elsie who is this? Borrowly asked, ‘That’s Gbesan, Olumide’s friend’, Elsie replied. ‘So what’s the prize for the contest winner? ‘what contest? ‘What’s he doing here?’ I don’t know, he says he thinks that box is Olumide’s box. She pointed to a suitcase on the bed; actually it was the box that Elsie just bought some couple days ago. ‘Well isn’t he right?’
