by Adaora O
“Chi, what is it? What is wrong?”
Still in shock, Chinny did not blink as she said, “Ada, Chief Utah… Chief Utah is D… Don Kay.”
“How?” an incredulous Adaiba asked, snatching the card from Chinny. One look at the card and she exclaimed “Chimoooooo!”
But for Adaiba’s vocal intervention, the two ladies would have stood staring at Chief Utah’s gate till nightfall. “So, what do we do now? He believes he owes you for helping with his briefcase, but you were rude to him before we left the police station. You behaved rather poorly Chi,” said Adaiba. Disappointed that neither Adaiba nor Eniola’s mother picked up the leer in Don Kay’s eyes as he looked at Eniola, Chinny gave her cousin the eye and told her what she thought of Don Kay. Adaiba gawked open-nosed and open-mouthed at her cousin. She thought Chinny had allowed her unfortunate life experiences to feed her paranoia and told her so. A heated argument ensued.
“What gives you the impertinence to judge me? The fact that I confided in you?” Chinny barked.
Steam escaped through Adaiba’s ears as she fired back, “The world spills with people who have been hurt at one point or the other dear Chinetalum Ona. I also shared my confidence with you remember? But I refuse to allow them to shape or flaw my perception of any or everyone. Get your foot off the pedal because at this rate, the same qualities which draw people to you will also send them far in the opposite direction.” Stung by the words she just heard, Chinny’s smart retort stuck in her throat as she began walking towards the gate. Adaiba felt sorry at once. Her words must have hurt since her cousin was seldom speechless. She volunteered of her own free will to come on this mission and fight or not, she would see it to the end. Adaiba shrugged and followed a now sullen Chinny.
Rows of beautifully kept short trees flanked both sides of the paved walkway leading from the road all the way to the gate. As soon as Chinny stepped on the walkway, Adaiba increased her pace to meet her. Patting her softly on the shoulder, she implored, “Chi, let’s not fight. You may be right about the man being a pervert. Maybe I missed it. But at the same time, you may be terribly wrong. What if Eniola looks like his own daughter?” Chinny’s sullen face eased up a tad. She reasoned that her cousin could have a point and shrugged off her initial anger as she admitted to being more horrified knowing Don Kay was the infamous Chief Utah.
“Do you know the nasty stories going on about him?” she asked Adaiba.
“Hmmm!! Remember the speed with which the police arrived at the park? Only the rich, powerful and influential can command that kind of attention,” Adaiba added. They were puzzled that such a callous being could exude the disposition of a kind gentleman, even though the look he gave her precious little Nini still stuck out in Chinny’s mind’s eye.
They were now at the gate but hesitated to knock, wondering if he was already back or still on the way. Two unsure and terrified young ladies stood with their backs to the gate. They deliberated on whether they should both go in or if Chinny should go in first while Adaiba stayed behind as ‘insurance’. They were so deep in conversation that the soundless opening of the pedestrian gate went unnoticed. A uniformed guard with a baton in hand peered into the walkway and seeing the two ladies asked in an attempt at proper English, “Yes? What you want?” He looked like he would rather be doing whatever he was doing with the paper in his other hand than talking to two lost ladies. Chinny and Adaiba jumped at the sound of the guard’s voice. They turned to face a disgruntled middle-aged man whose countenance changed the minute he saw their faces. Elated, the guard shouted, “My friend!!”
Matching the guard’s excitement, Chinny shrieked, “Oga Rufus!!” Adaiba took one step back. She yawned and rolled her eyes skyward. Something told her she was in for another getting-to-know-you session. She decided her cousin knew at least one person in all six towns around Abotiti. With his financial obligations now sky-high – thanks to the adorable set of twins his wife birthed a year and a half ago, Rufus left Future Bright Primary School to become one of the many guards in the Utah villa. The school did not give any indication of leaning towards plans for better pay for him. The salary at the villa was good, and the work conditions were not bad either.
Thankfully, this reunion session did not stretch beyond reason as Chinny soon explained the situation to Rufus, who became instantly agitated. Although not certain if Dubem was in the villa, he told them of the various ‘happenings’ there, many of which were not pleasant. “Chief don’t know anything. He be very very good man, but you see this people,” surreptitiously pointing at the two uniformed guards manning the inner gate, each holding a two-way radio and a couple of less-obvious guards that could be spotted through the second gate, “dem wicked well well,” he continued. He told them that Chief Utah rarely stayed in town, but left the villa in the hands of the villains he called his staff. He advised the ladies to walk further down the road and flag down the chief when he passed by. A two-way-radio-holding guard walking towards them presented the stimulus they needed to draw the curtains on their quest. Thanking Rufus in a rush and thoroughly amused at his still-terrible English, Chinny pulled Adaiba along, evading the scowl of the radio-holding guard. They settled down under a big tree a good distance away to wait as Chinny thought about ways to recreate the parting impression she left with Chief Utah.
10
At 6:25 pm, not one vehicle had yet graced the road leading to Chief Utah’s villa. Adaiba sacrificed all reason and properness, as right on the dirt road, she relieved her bladder of the pressure that threatened to tear it apart. And when the mosquitoes turned up for their blood cocktail party, they decided it was time to answer Abotiti’s call.
Chinny cast a sad look at the gate, which she was certain held her brother captive as they began the long walk in search of a motorbike out of Itolo district. Drenched in depression, no words passed between the two ladies throughout the journey back home, save for when they got to Abotiti and Adaiba asked when best to repeat the journey. Now aware of her cousin’s finance-building commitments, Chinny told Adaiba that she was forever in her debt and could not ask for more. Grateful arms squeezed a reluctant frame, and each headed to their individual homes.
At exactly 8:45 pm, a distraught Dede opened the door and would have been shoved into Chinny by a more distraught Ama. Uncertain of what to presume in view of the last time Chinny left home without warning, her parents had been beside themselves with worry. When it became obvious that Ama and Dede were not about to let her brood in peace, Chinny confessed to her whereabouts. It took six clock ticks for her gaping parents to find their voices. “Chinetalum, you should have told us. It was mindless and dangerous for you to go off on your own.” Ama’s voice sounded like Dede’s former Volkswagen Beetle after taking a dip in a flooded road during the rains.
Dede added, his tone more controlled, “You know our hearts would not take it if anything happened to you. We will find Dubem but before then, please be safe, not just for you but for us. Everything will be fine.” Deep in Dede’s heart, he could not blame his daughter for trying to solve issues on her own. He thought he had failed her enough.
Narrating her previous encounter with the chief, Chinny tried to assuage her parents’ fears, adding that she did not go to the villa alone. Ama and Dede could not decide on how to receive that extra bit of information. They were only certain that if Adaiba suffered the misfortune of being salted by some of her mother’s character traits, the entire town would have all the juicy details by the morning of the next day. After their child became dry-mouthed from persuading them of the rationality of her plan, Mr and Mrs Ona decided that she may have a better approach to solving the mystery of Dubem’s disappearance. “Since that security guard knows you—”
“Rufus, Father. The guard’s name is Rufus,” Chinny corrected her father who modified his phrase at once.
“Yes, Rufus. Since Rufus knows you, if anything funny happens, we have someone to hold onto.” Not hal
f as optimistic as her husband, Ama pointed out that even if they had “someone to hold onto” as he put it, it would be after “the something funny” had already happened.
“God forbid!!” Ama’s self-reprimand was as sharp as the tip of a needle. Chinny seemed bored with her parents’ brainstorming exercise and this further reflected in the way she jumped in excitement at the sight of the new phone on the dining table. Ama joked about her father finally deciding to buy a mobile phone in his old age. As she took her mother up on her invitation to help her with dinner, Chinny laughed when she heard the details surrounding her father’s recent purchase.
“He rushed out earlier this evening like a goat in labour pains, came back with a new phone and has been reading the manual like an interesting book all evening,” Ama narrated in between chuckles. They ate their food in silence, each relieved at the baby-step progress towards finding Dubem. It had been an exhausting day and as Chinny closed her eyes in sleep, thoughts of her brother’s whereabouts plagued her tired mind. Tomorrow held new promise. Chinny decided she had taken a sufficient helping of the day’s worries.
*
It did not rain, it poured on the Onas. In addition to Dede’s creditors breathing down his neck and Ama’s failed arrangement at leasing her property to the telecommunications companies, her farm with all her growing yam seedlings was set ablaze by the vandals who demonstrated a few days ago. Hands tied and with no fall-back plans, they stood by as all their projections fell through. One would wonder at Chinny’s apparent oblivion to her family’s distress, for in her bedroom she lay poring over the eight subjects she sat for during her general certificate examinations. Unclear about the implications of or requirements for attending an oral interview, she assumed everyone invited would be tested for their competence in the subjects they sat for and thought it best to be overprepared rather than underprepared.
The days sped by and Udu town police station still offered nothing tangible regarding Dubem’s whereabouts. With Chinny’s interview with the General Certificate Examination Board due in a couple of days, she lay sprawled on her bedroom floor, her eyes narrowing at the gradient of her just-completed graph. She was certain she had not got the scale right. The door creaked open and slammed shut, indicating somebody had either come in or gone out. Chinny went to the sitting room to see who and found her mother in a chair, humming a sad tune. “Has Father gone out?” she asked.
“Yes. He went to follow up on a job he is trying to secure.” Ama feared that even if he did get the job, with the debts, children’s education and home upkeep, his ‘twig’ may give way to the sheer strain. The doorbell rang and Chinny hurried to the door, thinking Adaiba had come for some revision but was pleasantly surprised to see Kenneth. As she let him in, she could not help but notice his immaculate white cassock. Kenneth had barely sat down when he began a flurry of explanations.
“I am so sorry. I should have come earlier than now. I did not see your message about your brother when you sent it because I was in seclusion – it’s something I do occasionally in preparation for priesthood. During these times, I typically cut myself off from all outside communications. But as soon as I saw your message, I tried to call your line, but it kept disconnecting.” Chinny was somewhat amused at the panic in the voice of her stranger-turned-friend.
In one moment of distress, Chinny sent a text message to Kenneth about her brother. As far as the Onas were concerned, the entire Clarke family could not be trusted. So, talking to Ejiofor did not present itself as an option. Not that Chinny had too much confidence in Kenneth. He had an indelible history with Mr Peters that still brought bile to her mouth each time she thought of him. But there was something about Kenneth that made it utterly impossible to hate him – try as one might. It probably helped that Mr Peters’ father-figure status to Kenneth stood far away from being biological. Kenneth continued, “So, what’s up? Has he been found?” He rubbed his knees as he asked the questions. The crease on his forehead and the squint in his eyes indicated genuine concern.
“No, not yet and it has been over eight good days since anybody heard from or saw him. Chief Utah has been out of town since Tuesday and has still not returned. I am sure Rufus has grown tired of my incessant calls.” As she spoke, Chinny’s eyes brimmed with tears. Kenneth felt sorry for her. He tried to console her but within, knew that the only way to make her happy would be to find her brother. He asked her to tell him everything she knew about Dubem’s disappearance. By the time Chinny paused from talking about her childhood, education, the huge mortgage loan, family petty debts, efforts to ride the tide, theft of her mother’s fortune, their long-time neighbour’s betrayal, the fire in her mother’s yam plantation, Dubem’s charade and business venture, her trip to Item town, her encounter with Chief Utah and her plan to get the chief to release her brother, Kenneth stared, speechless. He could not fathom how she could keep a calm exterior, especially after throwing his father’s unwholesome proposal into the mix.
Appreciating her grace even more, he mused, How can such a beautifully sculpted being have these dark clouds looming over her?
After moments of staring at her in complete silence, Kenneth told Chinny that he believed everything would ultimately turn out fine for them and to lighten the dense gloom in the room, he told her a little more about himself. “My mother never recovered from the loss of my biological father. She later confessed to me that she married Mr Peters in reaction to the sudden void she felt after my father died. She left the marriage as soon as she realised she had barked up the wrong tree. Six years ago, after years of battling a stroke attack, she died.” Kenneth measured Chinny’s reception of his line of conversation and decided to go on. “When my mother passed, I was just in my third year at medical school. Thanks to her savings, my inclination towards paintings, which I sold for extra income, and Mr Peters’ almost regular and well-appreciated financial support, I finished medical school. Thankfully, there were no setbacks, so here I am, a fatherless, motherless medical doctor, torn between specialising in gynaecology or paediatrics and yes… headed towards priesthood.”
Chinny laughed and masterfully ignoring his reference to working towards priesthood, quipped that whether the babies liked it or not, he planned to handle them one way or another. “Bullseye!” Kenneth called and gestured animatedly, pointing two fingers at Chinny in excitement. He liked her wit. But when, without warning, Chinny asked why he decided to be a priest, the shutters slid over Kenneth’s eyes and he told her in a dismissive voice that he wanted to be of service to God and man. Chinny would have probed some more but sensed they had come to the end of their friendly chatter.
“Have you tried to call the security guard again today? You know, to find out if the chief is back in town?” Almost dizzy from the speed with which their conversation switched lanes, Chinny made an attempt at recovery, saying that as of the morning of the previous day, Rufus confirmed the chief’s lingering absence. Ama, who had been discreet in being a part of their conversation, came in carrying a tray to the dining area. Kenneth stood up at once to take his leave, but she stopped him.
“Please do not go. Stay and have lunch with us. Even if you are not hungry, just push the food around on your plate. It is good yam and I tell you, the sauce is tasty! Please stay.” Chinny found her mother’s attempt to recreate her first meeting with Kenneth amusing. Although Ama blamed her initial disposition towards Kenneth on Mr Peters’ offensive personality, Dede and Chinny secretly thought she had herself alone to blame for how she chose to come across, Mr Peters or not. After some subtle coercion, Kenneth sat down to a hearty meal of boiled yams and vegetable sauce and his taste buds attested to everything Ama promised it would be. No amount of dissuading stopped Kenneth from taking his plates to the kitchen for washing. He argued that not clearing up after a meal typified poor behaviour and did nothing to show good upbringing and gratitude for such a sumptuous meal. Ama decided she liked him nearly as much as she used to like Ejiof
or. What a shame he is training to become a priest, she sighed to herself.
By ten minutes to four in the evening, Kenneth announced his departure and asked Chinny to call Rufus one more time, but neither Rufus’ line nor Chief Utah’s line connected. He offered to take Chinny to Item town early the next morning, to see if by any stroke of luck the chief had returned. To avoid sending a wrong message of confrontation, Kenneth planned to park at a safe distance and if twenty minutes after she went into the villa he called her line and did not receive any response from her, he would assume the worst and alert his military friend to move his ‘boys’ in.
“If in truth, Chief Utah is holding Dubem within his property, I hope he is half the man you are compelling everyone to believe he is and that your story about schizophrenia would get him to release your brother, because only the stars know in what condition he is being kept,” said Kenneth, his voice grave as he repelled the unwelcome thought that Dubem may no longer be alive.