Between the Sun

Ablaze

Ma’am Ferg ! Hold on “

Ma’am Ferg turned ,desperately praying it wasn’t Flora . Thankfully it was George .

“Georrrrrgggge “ ,she has an unusual way of calling out his name like it was some name from the locals in Yoruba ,Nigeria .

“ I thought you already learnt how to pronounce my name. Anyways,Did you tell her yet ?

“What ?”

“About the house ! “

“oh no no , I asked her to drop by at my place , I pray she listens because that woman is stubborn “

“ You don’t say . Her stubborn acts thought me a lot till this very day ,she’s tough with everything and everyone who’s important “ ,he laugh softly

“You both had a good thing going on and I can tell . For whatever reason you both ended this way ,I believe God knows best . You care about her so much ,you young ones can’t hide so much from the elders . “

“ I, I don’t understand. She’s a friend and I should care ,shouldn’t I ?

“ Oh boy ! Just let me go already. I’ve answered your question . By the way ,I see the way you look at that boy ,its true one would do anything to save that which belongs to him ,like your son “

“ My son ? You must be mistaken “ . He turned making sure no one was there to hear the nonsense Ma’am Ferg was saying . He didn’t expect her to be amongst the people that believed in the rumor of years back . Flora was standing afar off ,George became shivered in fear she heard their conversation . Ma’am Ferg noticed her tense stare that held so many questions.

“ Silly me! Forgive my old age ,I mean to say Ann’s son . Treat the boy like he was yours ,help Ann out of whatever darkness she may be in right now . I’ll leave right now ,you have other problems as it is “

George looked at Flora and thought to himself what and how to answer her obvious questions . He sure has a lot of questions to answer from Flora and he wasn’t ready to face her just yet . He walked passed her without a word and he prayed she didn’t ask any questions .

“ George ! “ ,Flora called out his name

‘oh God! What now ? ‘ he thought to himself with his fist clenched by his hip like he was squeezing out his anger . He made sure not to turn to face her do he looked ahead in the direction he was going before she called

“ Is she really worth this ? “ Flora continued

“ For all I know that innocent boy needs saving . I’d do all it takes to save him “

His words cut deep . George has never worked this hard for a patient before and now he’s giving it all and spending from their joint wallet to pay for whatever the boy needed to survive . It hurts more because she can’t help but think the rumors of many years back is true.

“Do you really need to go this far for a boy who’s not yours or is he ?

“now that’s it ,we’ve been over this years ago ! Keep your jealousy aside and let’s help Ann ,but no you just have to be selfish and heartless “,he finally turned to face her with his face burning red

“I can help Ann, all for you . But help the son you both had together, never !”

“Hes not my son! I’m tired of repeating myself! the only child I ever had was with you and he’s dead. For once in our entire lives believe me “

“I want to believe you but “

“no buts! Flora look at me “,he walked close and raised her chin “ I would never hurt you like that .After what I put Ann through ,I feel I owe her this much “

“You’re helping her but you hurt me every time you do anything for her . Promise me ,this would be the last help you’d ever offer her your help. I get hurt every time you chose her over me “

“I promise”, George responded

Flora’s eyes lit with joy .what did she just hear ?she never imagined George would take her side ever .

“Really ?”,she said and raised his right palm to the side of her face and kept still

“ I promise Flora, I’d make our marriage work. But” ,he looked down and back at her “but I can’t stop to think that Ann is in pain . Fine ,I won’t be in charge of the kid’s case but let me help a friend. Speaking of help , I need your help one more time and after that no more . Could Ann and her daughter stay… “

Flora pulled away from his hands and took some steps back ,”No ! George no ! if you won’t stop helping ,I won’t stop making life miserable for her . I’d put her in so much pain than she already is “

“ Flora wait!” His voice echoed down the hall way but She was already gone before he could say a single word .

****

Flora returned to her office enraged. No stunt she pulled ever separated them ,the more problems she caused ,the more reason she gives George a to move closer to Ann. She sat thinking for a while then stood up to fix some papers .

(Phone rings)

“what now? “,Flora immediately said as she picked up the phone

“You don’t get me to do your dirty jobs without pay . The kid is dead ,her house is down to ashes and I also made sure to deliver the letter . If you don’t pay up in in an hour ,you won’t like what’s going to happen .And besides ,your husband, Georgy-boy would definitely be interested in the news about what his wife has been up to “

“Calm ,that won’t be necessary. I’d have someone bring it but I need more time . And besides ,I might send your pay in half because the kid isn’t dead yet. You see ,Georgy-boy has been doing everything to keep him alive “

“That’s your business ,don’t try me . one hour!”

“okay !okay !!”

“Good girl. Don’t keep me waiting ,because I’d e calling George next “

(Hangs up)

“Gosh! Where do I get that much money from in an hour .George will suspect and I’m already in so much problems as it is”, she immediately dials an office number “Yes ,get me john immediately “

****

Officer Tunde was pulling up at a wine hut to get a Bottle of palm wine he desperately needed after a long day of chasing criminals to and fro the city when his radio received a message .It was rather unusual to officer Tunde to receive emergency calls at such ungodly hour of the evening ,especially not at a time he’s set to take a break. Muttering beneath his breath ,he picked up his speaker .

“ There’s a robbery attack at my neighbors” a woman said In a hurry indicating urgency “come quickly ! I think the house is on fire ! Literally ”

“Fire!”, he repeated after her in confirmation ,” Location and address of incident madam .Help is on the way “, he said speaking in trained calmness.

“second Avenue ,Ooni street “,officer Tunde said taking down notes of other information and description the woman gave.

He immediately placed the caller on hold and made a number of calls to dispatch officers and fire fighters located around the address given him by the caller .Dropping the speaker ,Tunde hits his accelerator paddle in full speed ,with blinking red lights indicating emergency to ward off other road users .

As he barreled down second avenue ,other officers had gotten there earlier. Some stationed round the house while others made a blockade preventing people around the neighborhood from going close to the scene . The house was almost burnt to ashes though the neighbors made efforts to put off the fire while they await the fire fighters. At this level, the fighter fighters could do nothing ,there was nothing left to save of that house .

“After the fire agents are done ,search the house for any evidence of robbery “ ,Officer Tunde ordered

“Sir, that’d be impossible. Those thieves made sure not to leave a trace hence they set the house ablaze “,officer 1 responded

“That’s enough reason why we need to search for evidence .There’s note to this robbery ,its not typical of those dead end criminals to set a house on fire . The victim is a single mother ,no will, no property, no money or precious item “ ,another officer added

“Good ! I need the file as regards this case by next week .You two work on it “

“yes Sir !” ,they responded simultaneously

“ any news about the owner of the house ?”

“ her neighbor confirmed she’s at the hospital “

“ alright ,get to work !”

Officer Tunde nodded and strode back to his car, exiting the scene . The crowd was ever increasing ,some took pictures of the scene, others spoke one to another .Whatever these criminals used yo start this fire had to be a sister to an atomic bomb ,the house made of wood from roof to foundation made their work much easier .The garden was the only place not burnt to ashes .The roof had already collapsed ,there was no way in or out of that house anymore .