No Drink

The Chase

After eating, they paid for the food and left. They talked loudly as they walked along the road. They trekked down to where the First Bank was located.

"So where's this MaxChef road?" Jack asked.

"Across," Samuel answered.

"It's been a while since I ate Suya", Kenneth said, spotting the suya stand across the road. Suya was meat barbecued over a large fire in the open.

" What money do you want to use and eat suya?"Jack queried.

They started to argue again. Samuel just stood there, arms akimbo and watched them.

"It looks like I'm surrounded by two idiots. How can they be arguing in a place like this? Bayelsa boys ehn!" Samuel muttered to himself.

The arguing duo were from Bayelsa state, while Samuel was from Delta state.

Samuel was a fair-complexioned boy of average height. He had little brown eyes, a pointed nose and thin red eyes. He normally called himself "killer looks".

Jack, who was the oldest amongst the three, was a dark, short boy. Not exactly one you'd call handsome, but he wasn't ugly either.

He had bow legs, a muscular stature, a serious face, though when he smiled he had dimples that were very pretty.

Kenneth was the tallest and the ugliest amongst the three. He had bulgy eyes and a round flat nose. He was dark complexioned and hairy.

"Hey! Shut up you two!" Samuel said, ending the argument.

They crossed over to the side of the road. The place was busy. Taxi drivers ran in and out of the street and into the road.

People displayed their wares for sale even at that time of the night. Young girls who worked as prostitutes stood along the road.

A young girl of about nineteen beckoned Samuel to come over but he ignored her.

She was a pretty dark complexioned girl with bulgy eyes which were covered by heavy red eye-shadow and long thick lashes.

She had a pointed nose and full lips which were smeared with dark red lip gloss.

Her face was heavily made-up and she put on a short red gown and red heels. Her ears were adorned with big round earrings and she put on a black waist-length wig.

"See that fine girl dey call you Samuel", Jack said.

"I been see am. Make we dey go" Samuel said as he turned to go. Jack ran back to where the girl was and tried to exchange pleasantries when he was dragged by the collar aggressively by Samuel. She winked at Samuel but he pretended not to notice.

"Jack! What was the meaning of that?" Kenneth asked, feeling embarrassed.

"I just wanted to ask her name and phone number," Jack replied.

"p********e who's looking for money you're here killing yourself. Meanwhile, na 400 remain, oh!" Samuel said angrily.

"That kind of sophisticated p********e will not even collect anything less than 5000 naira sef" Kenneth added.

"Person wey dey call Samuel already. Tell me she no know say we no get money?" Jack asked no one in particular.

***********

"Chinonye!" Kunle called.

"Yes Uncle Kunle! What's the matter?" Chinonye answered.

"Did you search my bag?"

"No. Why are you asking?"

"There was this bottle. Don't worry" he replied and stalked out.

Chinonye was puzzled. She wondered what was wrong with her uncle. Kunle could be weird at times, but this was quite different.

Kunle was a handsome twenty-four-year old. He was tall, dark complexioned and a bit hairy. He had dark brown eyes, pink lips and the prettiest smile. His dimples and gaped teeth were what drew all the girls' attention to him.

He and his brother Akin, had left their home in one of the villages of Ondo state for Port Harcourt to look for a means of livelihood. After his brother got married to Nkechi, he decided to leave for Bayelsa.

That was how he met Queen, Esther, Samuel, Jack and Kenneth. He moved in with the guys and they turned out to be good friends.

**********************

"Could this be the street?" Kenneth asked.

"Yes" the man who directed them answered.

They walked into the street looking for the compound labelled 'number twelve'.

"I think that is it," Samuel declared.

"See that person over there. That looks like Kunle. Kunle! Kunle!" Jack called.

Kunle, on seeing them, collected the two bottles which were in his bag and ran into the house.

Jack, Kenneth and Samuel gave him a hot chase. He ran through the back door and entered into the apartment of the white neighbours.

*******************

"Chelsea!"

"Yes Mom!"

"Where are you taking those clothes to?" her mom asked.

.

"To do the laundry" she replied.

Chelsea handed over the clothes to Chinonye who was already standing by the door waiting for the clothes. The door unexpectedly opened and Kunle ran in, followed by Jack, Kenneth and Samuel.

"What was that?" Chelsea asked.

They were all dumbfounded as they watched them run in and out of the house.

"Chainoy what's wrong with your uncle and who are those?" Chelsea inquired.

"I can't tell what's wrong and who those are" Chinonye answered, still looking dumbfounded.

"Kunle is up to something bad. I don't feel good about this. I need to call my husband." Nkechi said decisively.

"And I'll call the cops" Chelsea's Mom said.

"No!" Chinonye, Chelsea and Nkechi chorused.

"Why shouldn't I?" The woman asked, still looking confused.

"You'll end up putting him in a lot of trouble. As of now, we have no idea what's going on." Chelsea took her time to explain.

************************

They jumped over the fence and ran into the road.

"Samuel, you guys should continue. I don tire", Jack said as he stooped low.

"Meaning what? Get up from there, Joor!" Samuel said as he helped him up.

"I don tire oh!" Jack said, sitting down.

"Kunle is getting away. Quick! Get up!" Kenneth said as he and Samuel helped Jack up.

**************

"Where is he?" Nkechi's husband, Akin, asked.

"He ran out of the house with three guys calling his name and chasing after him", Nkechi answered.

"When did he come back?" Akin asked again.

"By one O'clock this afternoon," Chinonye answered.

"Something fishy is going on here. I insist we should call the police." Chelsea's Mum said again.

"No!" Everyone chorused.

"Where are his bags?" Akin asked.

"In the room," Chinonye answered.

"Bring them here" he ordered.

Chinonye quickly obeyed and ran into the house to get the bags.

*****************************

Kunle ran across the road and the three of them tried to follow suit. A car honked and blared loudly, causing them to run back. Running back into a strange street, they found themselves being chased by a stray dog.

What's at our backs?" Jack asked fearfully.

"Our backs?" Kenneth re-echoed.

They turned back to see a giant black dog pursuing them. Jack ran into a nearby bush and the dog ran after him.

"Where's Jack?" Kenneth asked, turning around.

"Jack! Jack!" Samuel and Kenneth called out for him.

Jack, on hearing his name, called out for help. He continued to run around in circles until they came to meet him. Tired and dizzy, he fell as the dog advanced on him. Just as the dog was about to pounce on him, a stone hit it on its head. It remained frozen to the spot for about a minute or two before it finally collapsed.

"Pheww!" Jack heaved a sigh of relief.

"We've lost Kunle" Samuel said, not giving Jack any chance to talk further.

They walked back out onto the road. Meanwhile, Kunle, who thought he had lost them, sat down by the road trying to catch his breath.

"Kunle! Kunle! If I get hold of that guy I'm gonna kill him with my bare hands", Jack swore.

"Let us hear something" Samuel muttered.

Turning to look at him, Jack asked"Did you say something?" but all he got was a silent reply.

*******************

At the house, Chinonye walked into the apartment of the white neighbours where her dad, mum and neighbours waited for her to come in with Kunle's bag.

"Here's the bag" Chinonye declared as she stepped into the room.

"Search the contents of the bag!" Chelsea's mom called.

"Empty it", Nkechi added. They both kept shouting orders till Akin was aggravated.

"Enough! Will you guys just let me do what I want to do?" Akin shouted back at the two women.

"Okay" they said, raising their hands in defeat and surrendered almost simultaneously.

Chinonye was instructed to begin emptying the contents of the bag, which she began to do. Bringing out the contents, which ranged from clothes to sanitary wares, every one looked on as if she were unravelling the packaging of some mystery treasure.

****************************************

"That looks like Kunle" Samuel said, pointing towards a guy who sat behind them. Kenneth suggested that they should sneak up on him from behind, but before he could complete his sentence, Jack had already startled Kunle by calling out his name and running after him, causing Kunle to flee to safety.

Completely annoyed, Samuel turned on Jack. "How could you be such a fool? We had almost gotten Kunle and now you've startled him. Now we'll have to continue this wild goose chase. If I wasn't so busy trying to get Kunle and that bottle, I would have given you the beating of your life right here and now."

“I’m sorry” Jack apologized. “Let’s go get him. He’s getting away.”

Kunle, who had seen them from across the road, ran into a hotel just beside the bank.

“Where did he go?” Jack asked.

They looked around for a while, confused about the sudden disappearance of Kunle. “How could he disappear just like that”, Jack wondered.

Still looking around, Samuel caught a glimpse of someone running up the stairs of another hotel across the road. “That’s Kunle,” Samuel shouted, pointing at the running figure.

“Quick, let’s get him.” Kenneth said as they crossed the road and chased after him.

Kunle turned around to see them crossing the road, coming after him. Stranded, he looked to his left and right. They were already climbing the stairs. He stayed rooted to the spot.

Feeling joyous and triumphant, Jack rejoiced in his heart. There was nowhere for Kunle to run to. He moved towards him, making his way through the crowd. He stretched out his hands to reach for Kunle but stopped. Kunle jumped.

Closing his eyes, Kunle decided it was his only way out. He had noticed Jack running in front of others quickly making his way towards him with a big smile on his face. He said a very short prayer “God save me” and then, he jumped.

He landed in the middle of a pool party. Girls shrieked in horror as he clambered out. He looked up and saw Jack, Kenneth and Samuel looking down, a combination of hatred, wonder and horror written on their faces. He curved his lips, a sly smile making its way across his face. Then he disappeared again.

Clearly shocked at Kunle’s guts, the threesome looked on with hatred and wonder. Then he smiled up at them, probably satisfied with the look of surprise on their faces. They made towards him but decided not to jump down but follow the stairs through which they had come up.

As they turned to go, Kenneth bumped into a waiter carrying hot tea for the pool party guests. In pain, he yelped and bumped into Jack, who bumped into Samuel and the three of them fell backwards into the pool.

“Oh my God!” the waiter cried from the top of the stairs. “I’m sorry!”

The waiter offered them a new set of clothes because they were dripping wet. They quickly put on the clothes, thanked the lady, and made for the road again.

“Where did he go?” Samuel asked.

“No idea”, Kenneth replied.

They began asking people around. “Please excuse me Sir.” Kenneth said as he approached one elderly man.

“Did you see a boy about this tall?” he asked, using his hand as a measurement to show Kunle’s height. He got no reply but was completely snubbed and ignored by the old man.

Jack tried asking another woman, who just replied by shrugging her shoulders. Undeterred, Samuel approached another elderly lady.

“Good evening Ma. Please did you happen to see a dark young man wearing a striped black and white shirt about this tall?”

The woman looked at him with suspecting eyes before answering him.

“Yes! He ran into Max Chef hotel”

Samuel thanked the woman and quickly signalled the boys to follow him, with him thinking,

“What’s it with Kunle and hotels tonight?”