Desperate Moves

15

I felt very bad for having to pull him out in the midst of something very important like that. I fought the urge to ask the officer to let him go and come back for his statement at a convenient time. Then I thought that since he had arrived already, no need to ask him to go and then come back on a later date. I only hoped the matter will not drag too long.

“What’s bothering you?” Sam gave me a slight nudge on the shoulder.

“Nothing.” I responded nonchalantly.

“Your face did not look like nothing was going through your mind. You look distant.”

“I was just thinking of what I’m making people go through.”

“Edi...”

“It’s ok. I’m fine.” I was not in the mood for any kind of advice.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but must have changed his mind on seeing my foul mood. I was not exactly proud of myself for making life a tad difficult for people around me.

A tad? Ok. Who was I kidding? I was literally putting all my frustrations on them, but I just couldn’t help it.

The officer once again resumed the routine of listening to stories. I was wondering if he gets entertained by them.

“Kindly state your name.”

“My name is Anaele Chibundu.”

“Occupation.” He was still doubled over on the desk writing.

“I am a teacher.”

If the circumstances had been different, we probably would have had a good laugh at that. His main occupation that we all knew was farming.

“What happened on Monday night in your lodge?”

Anaele cleared his throat loudly, swallowed hard, then set out to give a narration of what he knew.

“I was sleeping that night when I heard a gunshot. At first, I thought it was by my door until I listened again and realized it was at Edidiong’s door. I tried to peer through the window but couldn’t see anything. After a while, I heard a muffled shout, and then I heard sobs. I moved closer and pinned my ears to my window to see if I could pick out the voices. I heard them, but the voices were not familiar. I couldn’t go out even though I so badly wanted to. I think I heard one of the guys say “E be like say she don faint” before I started hearing someone moaning in pleasure. I stood rooted to the window, thinking of what to do to help her, but unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with something. I think they must have been there for about ten minutes before I saw them passing through my window. There were two of them. As soon as I heard them leave, I ran out to see if I could catch a glimpse of them, but before I got out, I could only see the retreating figure of the one at the back. So I ran back, shouting to get the attention of others in the compound. Tosin was the first to come out with a knife in his hand. He was also the first to enter Edi’s room. When I entered, I saw a wrapper covering her and Tosin now told me that he is the one that covered her with the wrapper. We immediately rushed her to the hospital on my bike.”

“You said you saw as the men left.”

“Yes, I saw as they left, then I heard the sound of a bike driving off.”

“And when you shouted, Tosin came out of his room?” he asked, writing on the big book.

“Yes, he came out from his room.” He said, nodding his head at the same time.

“Did you see the faces of the men when they passed your window?”

“No, they covered their faces with masks.” He said, shaking his head.

“Do you have interest in this lady?” His face was expressionless.

Everyone was taken aback by the question. It took a while before Anaele took it in, enough to attempt answering.

“Why do you ask?” he sounded alarmed.

“I am the one doing the questioning here, not you. So simply answer the question.”

“Edidiong is a very wonderful lady. She...”

“Skip the introduction and go straight to the point.” He snapped.

His fear was palpable at this point. He was visibly shaking. He was a very smart man and must have known that the sudden twist may land him in a tangle. If he admits to having shown interest in me, it could implicate him.

My mind was racing a mile per minute. Anything is possible. Is there no possibility that himself and Tosin may have arranged this. They were the first to arrive the scene of the incident. I quickly dismissed the thought. It was very unlikely that Anaele and Tosin would pull off something like this; they were not even close. Moreover, Solomon’s part of the story was the same with theirs. He also said he heard the motorcycle drive off.

“I had before.” He said trying to rid his face of every expression.

“Did you tell her you wanted to go out with her?”

“Yes.”

“What did she say?”

“She said she was not interested, especially as she was engaged.”

Inspector Jon turned to me and asked,

“Is that true?”

I confirmed with a slight nod of my head.

“What did you do when she said she did not want to be your girlfriend?”

“I did not do anything.” His brow was furrowed.

The officer once again turned his attention to me.

“Did you notice any change in his behavior when you turned down his advances?”

I thoughtfully shook my head from side to side.”No.”

“Did he pester you?”

“No, he did not. He only brings up the topic from time to time, most times jokingly.”

“And other times?” he asked scrunching his eyebrow.

I was thrown off balance for a while. “He would seriously ask why I have refused to consider him, even promising to stop his philandering if I accept him. I wouldn’t exactly call that pestering.”

“Alright.” He said heaving a heavy sigh and standing up straight. “We have ascertained that none of the guys in the compound are guilty. So, Mr. Tosin, you are free to go home, since your alibi panned out. But we urge every one of you to come forward with anything you know that could help us nab the criminals. Some other officers will be assigned to follow up on the investigation. We will have to visit the crime scene to check it out. We will also need to see reports from the hospital you were taken to that confirms you were raped.”

I almost shouted back at him but instead bit down hard on my lips to keep me from screaming. Would any one possibly make up a story like that? For what? Attention? Definitely not me! I would give anything to return back to my quiet and unobtrusive life.