THE WATERS BETWEEN US
1004 Words
Makoko looked like it was floating on its own heartbeat.
The entire settlement swayed gently as the narrow boat cut through the brown water, the wooden stilts creaking under the weight of homes and the lives lived in them.
Cooking smoke curled into the air from open fires balanced on planks.
Children darted across narrow walkways with the agility of cats, laughing as they chased each other between clusters of women gutting fish.
They watched me.
Not with open hostility, but with that cautious, measuring look people get when they’re deciding whether to help you or sell you out.
I kept my head high, though the air here was heavy — sticky with humidity, thick with the smell of fish, oil, and something faintly metallic beneath it.
Femi’s absence was a weight I tried to ignore. I’d told myself I didn’t need him for this. That Titi was my responsibility, and my instincts were enough. But the truth was gnawing: part of me wished he was here anyway.
---
The man found me before I found him.
Tall, wearing a faded Arsenal jersey, eyes quick and restless.
“You’re looking for someone,” he said, not asking.
I kept my tone even. “Maybe.”
“I know where she is.” He jerked his chin toward a narrow walkway between two leaning shacks.
“She’s safe. I’ll take you.”
Every instinct screamed trap. But every beat of my heart screamed Titi.
I followed.
We moved through a labyrinth of planks and ladders, the sound of water lapping against stilts below. He led me to a shack with peeling blue paint.
“Inside,” he said.
The door slammed behind me. A shadow shifted in the corner. Another man.
“Phone,” he demanded.
I didn’t move.
The first one stepped closer. “You want the girl, you give us what you have.”
“Not happening.”
The second man reached for my bag — and that’s when I moved.
My elbow drove into his ribs, my knee into his thigh. He stumbled back, cursing.
I bolted for the side door, slipping into a half-collapsed fishing shack that leaned toward the water.
---
Meeting Amaka
“You’re faster than you look,” a voice said.
I turned. She was leaning against the frame like she’d been there all along.
Tall, striking, dressed in black that made her skin glow like polished bronze.
Her smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Amaka,” I said, the name tasting sharp.
“You’ve heard of me.”
“You’ve been making it impossible not to.”
She stepped closer, her gaze sweeping over me like she was cataloguing every flaw. “I can see why he likes you. Pretty. Stubborn. Dangerous in all the wrong ways.”
“Femi?” I asked, my voice flat.
Her smile deepened. “Oh, he didn’t tell you how we met? How many jobs we ran together before you even knew his name?”
Lies. Or maybe not. That was the problem.
She circled me slowly. “Men like him… they know how to make you feel safe. Until you realize you’ve been standing in the open all along.”
“What do you want?” I asked.
“To watch you figure it out.”
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Finding Titi
A muffled sound came from the shack next door — a soft, desperate whimper.
I didn’t wait for permission. I shoved past Amaka, the walkway shuddering under my steps.
Inside, Titi sat tied to a chair, gagged, her eyes wide and wet.
“Titi,” I breathed, moving to untie her.
The first rope came loose — and then a hand clamped down on my shoulder.
One of the men from earlier. The other blocked the doorway.
“Bad move,” he growled.
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The Fight
The first swing came fast, but I ducked, slamming my fist into his side. The second man lunged, grabbing my arm.
Pain shot up to my shoulder, but I twisted, driving my heel into his knee.
I was still outnumbered, and they were bigger.
Then the door burst open.
Femi.
He moved like a storm, taking the first man down with a punch that cracked against bone. The second tried to reach for a knife, but Femi was faster — disarming him and sending him sprawling.
We worked together without speaking — me cutting the last rope around Titi’s wrists, him watching the door.
---
The Escape
We half-carried, half-dragged Titi down the walkway to a waiting boat.
Gunfire cracked behind us, splinters of wood exploding around my feet.
“Go!” Femi barked, shoving me into the boat before leaping in after us.
The motor sputtered to life, and we sped into the maze of waterways.
Shouts echoed, the sound bouncing off the stilted homes.
Bullets hissed into the water. I crouched low, shielding Titi with my body.
We weaved left, right, ducking under low bridges, skimming so close to the stilts that my fingertips brushed them.
When we finally burst into open water, I realized my hands were shaking.
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Safe, But Not Settled
At the safe house, Titi collapsed onto the couch. She was pale, trembling, but alive.
I wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “You’re safe now.”
She gave me a small, shaky smile.
Femi stood in the corner, watching us. His shirt was torn at the shoulder, a smear of blood along his jaw.
“You shouldn’t have come alone,” he said quietly.
I didn’t answer.
He stepped closer. “Ada—”
“Not now,” I said, the words coming softer this time. “Not yet.”
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The Hook
When Femi left the room to make a call, Titi caught my hand.
“There’s something you need to know,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Before they moved me here… I heard Amaka talking to someone. She said his name.”
“Whose name?”
Titi’s grip tightened. “Your father’s.”
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