The LONGEST WAIT

Chapter 7

Tim's Stories' THE LONGEST WAIT

CHAPTER 7

The next night we went to a strip club. It was a local strip club in the outskirts of the city where our base was. One of Benin's most prominent exports is cotton, and it was cotton season. That was the period when a lot of cotton farmers made money. So, they always looked for a place to relax at the end of the day. The strip club was a favourite. Because it is a predominantly Moslem country, it was done hiddenly. Only a few people knew that stripping actually took place there.

Dressed like the locals in order to blend, Xavier and I and a few of his men sat at the back of the place. Except for me, the rest of them were smoking and drinking alcohol. I just sat there and watched the naked girls do their erotic and romantic dancing. It reminded me of how long I had been without having s*x. I had been so busy with looking for my wife that I had forgotten about some bodily pleasures.

"Mr. Buchi." That was Xavier.

"Yes."

"You want a girl tonight?"

"No."

"Why? You have been working too hard. You need a little pleasure to calm down your nerves."

"I am sorry. I can't. At least not a p********e or a stripper."

"D'accord, je connait." He replied in French. "You are a focused and disciplined man. I wish I had someone like you working for me on a full-time basis. When you finally find votre femme and liberate her. Can you come work pour moi?" Xavier asked in his French-tinted English.

"I would have loved to, Mr. Xavier. But working with you means I have to live in Benin. You know I can't do that. I live in Nigeria. Also, I don't want to go back to the life of carrying guns again for a living."

"But you are good at it."

"I know. Do you have a wife and children, Mr. Xavier."

"Je suis un garcon. Mais, I am not married yet."

"So, you have a son. Okay, when you marry, you will understand what I am talking about."

One of the dancing girls came close to me and tried to give me a lap dance but I rebuffed her.

"What is wrong with you, Buchi." Xavier asked.

"Nothing, I don't just want any distractions."

"Alright, if you say so. Anyway, I didn't bring us here to see nude girls. There is someone I have to meet. I don't know why he is taking too long but I am sure he will show up soon. I want him to help us get into Niger." Xavier explained.

"Can't we do it by ourselves?"

"No, the country is awash with all sorts of Jihadists, ranging from Boko Haram to Isis in West Africa. Those guys are deadly. I don't want us to get involved with them."

"Alright, I understand."

Just at that moment a muscular, average height man approached our table and got a seat for himself. He whispered something in Xavier's ears and the latter asked him to calm down. He was surely concerned about my presence. They talked for about thirty minutes in French and then the man got up and left. When he had gone Xavier turned to me and said:

"We have the all clear. We move this weekend. Djimon, the man who just left has created a safe passage for us. So, we have to take advantage of it. Be on your guard, Buchi. You are about to engage in the most dangerous part of your journey."

It was weekend now. We were all ready and we took the necessary weapons and ammunition that we would need on the way and some food too. Most borders between African countries are porous. Hence, we were going to take a bush path that would let us into Niger without being detected by the border guards. Djimon had arranged for someone to get us as soon as we got into the country. Djimon's person was supposed to get us at the border at the cover of darkness and provide us a place where we would stay the night.

Djimon ran a local militia in Niger. Their aim was to counteract the activities of Isis in West Africa and Boko Haram. Several times, the Boko boys had attacked them, but they had always been able to fight them off. The Boko boys had no timetable for an attack. They attacked whenever they wished to and unfortunately and coincidentally for us, on the night we arrived the border village in Niger, after haven made a successful crossing with the help of Djimon's man, his men were attacked.

We had arrived safely, had our late dinner and gone to sleep safely. Then around 5:00 AM though it was still very dark, we were awakened by the sounds of gunshots. The attackers had come. They weren't just shooting; they were also burning houses. We sprang into action immediately and returned fire. We were quick to retaliate because we had been trained for that kind of eventuality.

With my AK 47, I opened fire on an adversary who had been hiding behind a tent, hoping to ambush Djimon's men. He did a little dance of death and stayed still. I ran forward and hid behind a tree. It was a timely move too because as soon as I moved to the tree, there was a huge explosion at where I had just left. It was an incendiary device and the light it produced, helped me to locate three enemies that were coming my way. I opened fire immediately before they could make any move.

I changed my location and looked around me. That was when I saw Xavier. He was shooting seriously and sending many enemy combatants to the world of no return. Djimon's men weren't idle either. They were giving the enemy a hard time but many of them too had been killed.

"Xavier!!" I called. He turned around and looked at me. "Are you alright?"

"Oui." He replied over the noise of gunfire and explosives exploding every few minutes. "Et vous?"

"I am doing great."

Just then, I saw an enemy combatant coming behind Xavier. He was trying to sneak up on him and plant a bullet into him.

"Xavier!!!!" I shouted urgently.

The enemy combatant who had just come behind him was going to shoot him, but his gun clicked and jammed. Xavier raised his gun and tried to gun him down, but he was out of bullets too.

"Lie on the ground, Xavier, lie down so that I can take him out." I shouted.

Xavier was positioned between me and the enemy. I couldn't shoot him without catching Xavier in the crossfire. That was why I was asking him to lie down so that I could have a clean shot. But we were too late, the guy threw down his empty gun, removed a well sharpened knife and rushed at Xavier. Twice he swiped the knife and Xavier managed to avoid the knife just by share luck.

The guy realized that Xavier wasn't good at knife fighting, became overconfident and let down his guard. That was his mistake. He rushed head on at Xavier, and Xavier, trying to step back from the knife wielding guy, tripped on a stone that was lying on the ground and fell, exposing the knife man. That was my cue. I now had the space for my clean shot. I raised my gun and planted two bullets in him. He dropped and died. I rushed forward to meet Xavier.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yes, I am."

At that moment, we heard the leader of the attackers ordering his guys to retreat. They had been overpowered and it was dangerous for them to linger around for much longer. They got into their jeeps and fled. As they fled, Djimon's men fired at them and got some. When they were out of sight, Djimon's men stopped shooting and together, we started assessing our loses. A quick estimate proved that there were about thirty bodies lying on the ground. About ten of them were Djimon's men.

Djimon looked sad as we got the men ready for burial. They were all Muslims and had to be buried within twenty four hours. They were all buried in one mass grave. As for the enemy combatants, they weren't given any proper burial. They deserved none. Their bodies were all burnt, and their skulls hung on poles to serve as a deterrent to their peers.

It had been a week now and one day, Xavier walked up to me and told me that arrangements have been made for me to move into Libya. However, he sadly informed me that his journey had ended. He said he wasn't going into Libya with me. The best he could do was to smuggle me into Libya and from there, I will be on my own. I thanked him earnestly and told him that if I ever got to see him again, I would reward him bountifully.

Two days later, I was taken to Libya via a smuggler's route.

"I wish you luck on the rest of your journey." Xavier spoke.

"Thank you, Xavier."

"I wish you find your beautiful wife, what's her name again?"

"Chisom."

"Yeah. I wish you find Chisom and take her back with you to Nigeria."

"I wish so too, my friend."

"You will find your wife, inshallah."

"Amen."

"Ahmed will lead you on your quest from now on."

Ahmed was a guy they had contacted to take me into Libya. He was a nice guy, handsome and heavily bearded. However, there was a look in his eyes I didn't like. Unlike the trust I had had for first Xavier and then, Djimon, I didn't know why but I found myself not being able to trust Ahmed. I hated the look in his eyes. I felt like he was hiding something, and that I was going to be unsafe with him.

However, there was nothing I could do. I had to take my chances. There was no one else to go with me. Libya was a dangerous territory. It was rife with combatants and many different militia groups. In fact, there was a civil war going on that started after the death of their former leader, Col. Gadhafi. It was a very dangerous country to go into undocumented and looking for a missing person.

Another disadvantage I had was that with my skin colour, I stood out easily. My skin colour made me conspicuous. Libyans were generally fair skinned. I was a Sub-Saharan. Therefore, unlike in Benin and Niger, it would be difficult for me to blend which had been my previous advantage. I decided to leave everything in the hands of God.

At the border, Xavier, Djimon and a few of their men stood and waved me goodbye. They wished they could come with me, but they couldn't. From that moment on I was on my own. A sudden surge of mixed emotions suddenly overwhelmed me. I was grateful to Djimon and Xavier for selflessly helping me and even losing their own men in the process. I was excited that finally I had come to Libya, a place that I had last seen my wife, Chisom. That meant I was now close to her, God willing. I was also afraid at what the future held.

I got in behind Ahmed on his horse and we started riding into the distance. I turned to look around and Xavier, Djimon and the other men still stood there, waving goodbye. They all looked sad. Their faces were grave and their eyes solemn. I prayed to God that I should meet my wife in Libya. I was afraid that she might have already crossed the Mediterranean. I also prayed to God to keep me safe from Ahmed. That was because I didn't trust him, and my instincts warned me that he was taking me into danger.

TO BE CONTINUED...