Point of no Return

Pandemonium

Four

Pandemonium

Although Jennifer was feeling tipsy already, she didn’t want to be the first to leave the club. Besides, Tile was still out there, whatever it was he excused himself to go and do. But what was taking him so long, she thought. He was supposed to go ease himself or something. And even if it was a phone call, ten minutes was big enough for a call. But this was forty minutes already and there was no sign of him. Ken had fallen asleep on the chair, apparently too drunk to rely upon. So she decided to take a walk and see things for herself.

She took a stroll outside the club but it was all quiet. She decided to dial Tile’s phone number. She waited but there was no answer. In fact, the network was probably not connecting. Where the heck was he that his number was not connecting?! “Well, he will be back”, she said to herself. But somehow, she felt very uneasy. She had no option but to go back into the club. As she made to go in, she saw the headlamps of a vehicle beaming up-street towards her. So she waited to see if he had come out to talk to a friend and they had decided to drive around while they did the talking. But as the vehicle passed by, she saw that it was the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. She paused and looked keenly in the van to be certain that these rough guys had not picked Tile up somehow. She saw two persons, bare-chest, sitting on the floor in the back of the pick-up van, surrounded by about four or five SARS operatives. Even under the glow of the street lamps, she was quite sure that Tile was not among the two. The van was going slowly enough for her to see clearly. She knew that the SARS people were always up to no good, so she had to be sure. She waved them down and the truck stopped and reversed to where she was standing.

“Any problem Madam?” the driver asked.

“I just wanted to be sure,” was all she said.

“Of what?” the driver said impatiently.

But the OC SARS said, “Corporal, let’s go.” And the truck pulled out and zoomed off, this time with speed. However, whether they answered her or not, she had used that small window period to take a good look at the two culprits, but Tile was not there. So she decided to go back into the club.  She went in to wait until Tile returned wherever he had gone to. She already planned to give him a double-doze of nagging when he returned.

It was around 2am when Mr. Atir and his girls rose to go. He strode confidently as if the whole world was waiting for him and came over to Jennifer’s table.

“I am leaving now. You know where to find me tomorrow, come with him so we could discuss other things,” he said. Suddenly, he turned around as if he just realized the absence of Tile then asked: “Where is your friend?”

“He is talking with a friend of his, possibly towards the mobilization for tomorrow. I saw them drive off. As a matter of fact, I am waiting for them to return so we could leave,” she lied.

“And this gentleman has been sleeping profusely,” Mr. Atir motioned to Ken.

“Don’t mind him; he has been such a naughty boy all night.”

“Then I must say you guys really enjoyed your night here with me,” Atir said and began to swagger out of the club, scratching unto his heavy beard. “See you guys tomorrow!” he called back.

As soon as Mr. Atir left, several others began to leave too. Still, there was no sign of Tile. Jennifer then shook Ken vigorously and he jerked to life. As he woke, he seemed to be witnessing what was happening around him from some vantage point on the moon.

“I can’t find Tile, not even on phone”.

“He will come back, I’m sure”, he said with a certainty that almost gave Jennifer hope, but she decided to press on.

“Then how come his phone is not connecting and he is using a new iPhone?” she asked with an edge in her voice.

“Seriously?” Ken seemed to have just returned back to earth, “That is not good news.”

Jennifer tried the phone again but she got the same results. Her frustration began to register strongly now. What had happened to Tile? Or did it mean that she did not know him at all, and he was capable of gross mischief? Where on earth had he gone to? Jennifer had been fantasizing about her first night together with Tile all evening and this sudden disappearance was never part of the plan. She had kept imagining how passionately she’d make love to Tile that it may take him a century to forget the experience. Now that she finally had him, all she needed to do was to prove to him that she was worth keeping, in every possible way. But all these thoughts gradually evaporated, leaving only a wary, wide-eyed and confused Jennifer. Where the heck was he?!

The club was now sparsely occupied. In fact, only a few guest who had not finished the dregs of their drinks still hung around; or those who were waiting for a spouse to ease themselves before they took off. The waitresses were now clearing the tables and the Disc Jockey was also packing up. Only Ken and Jennifer seemed as if they had to spend a night here. But as the minutes passed and almost all the guest had left, Jennifer could not take it anymore. She tried Tile’s number once more but it still did not connect. She grabbed Kennedy’s phone and tried dialing Tile’s number on it, but the results were no different. She decided that they step outside.

All along, Kennedy’s trepidation had been at an all-time high. In fact, since he woke up and realized that Tile had gone missing, he was no longer himself. All his efforts to stay calm still broke a few sweats on his forehead, even on this cold night. If this thing should ever boomerang, then he was solely to be blamed. A deep clout of melancholy enveloped him. But somehow, he managed to control his nerves that everything was indeed going to be alright. He followed Jennifer, carefully retracing her footprints as if the police investigation was going to begin at this point. “Why on earth would Tile go missing?” he wondered. “And on a day which everything seemed to have turned around for him. One other nagging trepidation of his was that, if Tile had really gone missing, then it meant this mega contract he was hoping to get through him with Mr. Atir would also vanish. But the more he thought of it, the more he convinced himself that Tile was a careful guy and that he was definitely going to show up.

It was when the time read 4:00am that both of them confirmed that something had gone terribly wrong. They had been sitting in Jennifer’s car waiting, but there had been no sign of Tile anywhere on the long, now deserted street. By this time, Ken began to play with the possibility that perhaps Tile had tempered with the instructions and something had gone worryingly wrong.

“What do we do now?” Jennifer asked, quite helpless.

“We should drive back to you guys’ compound. Coming into success this suddenly could make a man behave very funny. You may be surprised that he has gone to rest while we are here worrying. Let’s try the apartment,” Ken said.

That almost sounded logical enough. Then Jennifer turned the key and the car came to life.

“Not so fast, I won’t be leaving my car behind,” Ken said and alighted swiftly. He went over to his car and got in. As he started the vehicle, he murmured a small drunken prayer that they should find Tile at home. Somehow, he had given Jennifer some hope, but he was still hopeless. Nonetheless, there was no shame in finding out. He saw Jennifer pulling out onto the road ahead of him and so he followed suit.

Jennifer was now sweating, despite the cold. She felt the swell of anxiety she had never felt before. She was not been worried about Mr. Atir’s money; she could pay five million Naira even if it came to that. Her primary worry was her intended marriage to Tile. Even though she had fronted the idea, he had seemed easy with it and gone along. In fact, he had confessed for having loved her all the while; a confession that had made her aroused instantly, that she could not wait for the day to be over, when they’d finally return home to bed. She knew that their time in bed together was supposed to eliminate whatever awkwardness between them and to set a pace for a smooth sail in their relationship going forward. If she was not to marry now, then when? And if it was not Tile whom God had delivered on a platter, then who? All these went through her mind and she wondered if her village people had beaten her to the game again. Even as she had hopes of finding Tile at home, something told her she was just been emptily hopeful.

From behind, Ken noticed that she was now speeding on top gear. He engaged his gears and increased speed to catch up too. The road was clear at this time of the night and driving was smooth. On other nights, he would have been enjoying the feeling of driving without obstruction. But today, inasmuch as he loved the hitch-free driving, his heart was busy yanking upon his ribs. He kept muttering a prayer under his breath. Soon they took a turn onto the main street leading to Tile and Jennifer’s estate.

Jennifer got down and opened the gates, then went back to drive in. But Kennedy left his car outside so as to leave easily when he was through with business here. As Jennifer drove to Tile’s door, she began to second-guess herself. Anxiously, she climbed down and joined Ken who was already at Tile’s door banging. An idea struck him suddenly and he remembered the spare key Tile had given him which still lay in his pigeon hole. He went outside and fetched it. He opened the door and put on the lights. He went all the way to Tile’s bedroom. It was now Jennifer’s turn to retrace Ken’s footsteps on tippy-toes. But as they got to Tile’s bedroom, what they saw was the greatest shock both of them would receive in their lifetime.