The LONGEST WAIT

Chapter 18

Tim's Stories' THE LONGEST WAIT

CHAPTER 18

"Now what is the matter, Mia?" I asked her as soon as she got into my living room.

"It is my mum, Buchi. She is in danger. My dad wants to kill her. They had a heated argument and he beat her up so badly that I thought she would die." She was weeping.

"Why don't you go to the police?"

"Police? Go to the police? You know the answer to that. Nothing will change. They won't do anything to him."

"So, what do you want me to do? You know your dad is a dangerous man. I have to be careful. For your information, I am already beginning to be in his bad books, all thanks to your mother. So, I don't know how I can help you in this."

"Please, Mr. Buchi. You are the only one I can rely on now, please." She begged.

I was at a loss as to what to do. On the one hand, my natural chivalrous nature wanted me to help. On the other hand, I knew what helping would do to me. It would finally mean that I had declared war against Mr. Giovani. Declaring war against the latter meant declaring war against the whole organization. That would mean an open war between me and the dreaded Giovani drug cartel.

After a careful thought, I came up with an idea. I came up with a way that I could help Mia and her mum without implicating myself.

"Mia, I have an idea." I spoke.

"What is it, Buchi? Please, tell me."

"Take your mother and run. Run and never look back. That is the only way she would be safe from your dad."

"I have thought of that already, Buchi. However, my dad had already anticipated that move."

"He has?"

"Yes"

"How did you know?"

"He has frozen all my mum's accounts and taken all the physical cash she had. He has also frozen mine."

"I see. This is more serious than I think. Alright, this is what we will do, but it has to remain a top secret between us. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Buchi."

"Good, I will give you some money. You will use this money and make sure your mum disappears for a while. But never tell your father that I gave you any money. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do. Thank you, Buchi. I promise that someday, I will reward you bountifully for your kind gesture."

I went into the house and brought back ten thousand Euros in cash. I handed it to Mia, who was very grateful, and told her to be careful and to remember to keep her lips sealed. I told her to contact me albeit secretly if she needed any more help. I knew that by doing what I was doing, I was putting my life in a very big risk. I didn't even know why I was doing that. I just felt it was the right thing to do. Like Beyonce sang in one of her songs, I couldn't get how something so deadly could feel so right.

Mia collected the money, got into her expensive convertible and sped away from my house. I stood there watching her until she disappeared from view. Then, I walked back into the house and straight into the outstretched arms of Chisom who had been watching and listening to the whole thing.

"Don't worry, husband." She spoke. "You are a good man who just happens to find himself in a wrong place. It is better to do the right thing than to be right. What you have done is the right thing. No matter what happens, I will stand by you to the bitter end if it ever came to it. Giovani doesn't know with whose husband he's joking. He will have to get through me before reaching you."

"Chisom, I want you to stay away from this. This is not your fight. Let me handle it my own way."

"I am not saying I am getting into the fight. All I am saying is that you should be rest assured that you got a backup in me should things go wrong. Giovani is just beginning to understand the kind of family he is dealing with."

"It's alright, honey. Everything will be fine, trust me."

"Sure?"

"Sure."

Back in Mr. Giovani's house, Mia was trying to smuggle her mother away. Her dad had gone to the organization's headquarters. So, she had to hurry before he returned. Back in my home, Chisom and I were on the edge, jumping every time the phone rang, fearing that it would be Mr. Giovani.

What Mia, Chisom and I had failed to take into account, though we knew that was likely, was the fact that Mr. Giovani had men watching us. As soon as Mia, got her mother into her car and drove off, a car that was parked at the opposite side of the street started following them.

At first, she didn't notice. But when they got to a red light and were forced to stop and wait for the greenlight, she peered through the rearview mirror and that was when she saw him. The driver of the blue convertible about two cars behind hers looked familiar. She looked carefully and became sure that it was Carlos, one of Mr. Giovani's henchmen. She didn't wait for the greenlight. She stepped hard on the gas and accelerated the car at top speed, narrowly avoiding a collision with various cars on the other lane.

Carlos, realizing what had happened, gave chase but his attempts to catch up with Mia were futile. Mia was a good driver and she swerved into a one-way street and disappeared down the lane. Carlos tried to follow her but just at that same moment, a huge articulated truck blocked his way for almost twenty seconds. He cursed aloud as he waited for the truck to pass. By the time the truck had finished passing, Mia was nowhere to be found.

What actually happened was that Mia had already booked for a house at the end of the street. The house had a parking garage with an electronic door operated by remote control. So, as soon as she got close to the house, she slid the gate open, went inside the garage in a hurry and slid the gate lock again. In utter frustration, Carlos made a U-turn and headed for Giovani Inc. to report what had happened.

Mr. Giovani was very furious when he realized that Mia had escaped with her mother. In fact, he was more than furious. He suspected me but had no proof. So, he decided to station two men at the entrance to the one-way street in which Mia had disappeared. He also stationed two men in front of my house. I was never to know but they were there twenty-four hours every day and only left when they were relieved by two other men. He also had Mia's phone tapped. That meant, all our conversations from now on would be monitored by Mr. Giovani et al. But we didn't know about all this.

Two days later, Mia called me and said she would love to see me at her mum's hideout.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked.

"Yes, it is safe, very safe. No one knows the location."

"Neither do I. Please, send me the location via WhatsApp."

"Right away."

A few seconds letter, my phone beeped. I checked and it was the location. I linked it to the GPS of my car and got ready to go. When I came out of my house, I looked carefully around just to make sure that I wasn't being trailed. The guys on the watch didn't need to trail me. They had tapped into our phones already. So, when I received the location Mia had sent, they also received it. They went ahead of me, got to the location before me and waited for me to arrive. They called for backup, too. So, there were about eight men altogether waiting for me.

The men got there first and knocked on the door. Mia, without even checking through the peephole, opened the door confidently assuming that it was me. What she saw was a loaded gun pointed to her face.

"Move back before I shoot you." Carlos spoke.

"You dare not, you i***t. My father will have your head for this." Mia was not intimidated.

"But of course, you know your father sent us." Carlos smiled.

"Tell him I said he can go to hell."

"What?"

"Tell him I said he can climb to the top of the colosseum and jump to his death."

"Well, for sure, I will deliver your message, but not before we have dealt with that traitor. He is already on his way here and we will get him." Carlos spoke with glee.

Mia had completely forgotten about me. She had completely forgotten that I was on my way to that very place. She had been so shocked by the presence of Giovani's men that the thought of me walking into a trap completely escaped her memory.

"You will do nothing to him." That was Bianca Giovani herself talking.

"Stay away from this, Mam." Carlos said.

"I repeat, you will not harm a hair on his head without going through me."

As Giovani's men argued over what would happen to me with Bianca, Mia took advantage of the distraction and slid into an inner room and called me. I picked immediately but it was too late. I was already in the compound.

"Turn around, Buchi. It's a trap. Turn around and run for your life." She shouted over the phone.

"Desperately, I slowed down and tried to turn around, but it was too late. One of Giovani's men was smarter than me. He blocked the way and pointed the gun at me. I thought of running him over but realized that it would be dangerous. He would shoot and kill me before I managed to do that. I got out my phone and called Chisom. Luckily for me, she picked immediately.

"Where are you Chisom?" I asked in a hurried tone.

"I am home, sweetheart. What is the matter? Are you alright?"

"Please, get out of the house immediately. Don't take anything with you. There is no time. Take just our documents and all the money you can lay hands on, plus our credit cards. Get into the car and go to the Nigerian Embassy. Do this immediately."

"What is going on honey? Are you alright? You sound scared."

"There is no time for explanations. Just do as I say."

The Giovani guy outside my car had gotten impatient with me and fired a single shot in the air. Chisom heard the sound of the gunfire on phone and screamed. The call dropped immediately. I got out of the car and raised my hands as sign to surrender. I was roughly pushed into the house and tied hands and feet. Mia and Bianca sat at the other end of the living room. They both looked defiant and were demanding to see Mr. Giovani immediately. I looked around and did a quick count. I realized that there were eight men altogether in the room and they were all armed.

My mind flashed back to the numerous movies I had watched about the Italian Mafia. Now, I was in a real-life movie with real life members of the Mafia or guys worse than them. There seemed to be no hope for escape. Carlos took out his phone and dialed Mr. Giovani's number.

"Good day, boss." He spoke. "We got him."

TO BE CONTINUED...