Love above contract

Chapter 4: The robbery

HENRY POV

I woke up at nightfall at around 9pm due to some movement in the compound. Turns out, I had slept off while thinking about my life. Yeah, I had slept outside because I had nowhere else to go, and no one was willing to accommodate me. It's one of the struggles some people pass through, so I'm not the first.

A very bright light was suddenly pointed at my face, and I had to look away as my eyes couldn't adjust to the bright light on time.

“Who is this?” A thick voice asked from the darkness.

I couldn't see his face because of the light pointed directly at me. I had to use my palm to cover my eyes a bit so as to avoid my eyes getting damaged by the rays. Before long, I was surrounded by up to six men, and that was when I understood what was happening.

These men were armed robbers.

One of them pulled out his gun, and pressed it against my head. They immediately told me to keep my mouth shut and not to scream. I held my mouth tightly with my palm so as not to scream. I didn't really understand what was going on. How did I get myself into this?

“So, you are the security man in charge of this lodge right?” The guy which I presume is their leader said, pushing my head slightly with his gun.

“Security? No oo, I am just a student please.” I replied, nearly peeing on my pants.

“Hahaha, do you really expect us to believe that lie?” The boss replied.

“I'm not lying please, I can show you my identification card if you want.” I replied, scared of looking at his face to avoid being shot for knowing their identity.

“How many rooms are there in this lodge?” The boss asked in almost a whisper.

“48” I replied quickly.

He nodded his head and turned to the guys with him. With a head movement, he signalled for them to move in and begin a robbing spree. Room after room, I could hear screams of students. The entire place was in commotion.

The remaining five men went into each room, robbing each and every individual they could find. They spared no one. After a while, they came to where I was kneeling with a great deal of loot, and dropped it down beside me.

The man who I believed was their boss asked me to drop my phone into the bag, but I denied having my phone with me. Risky move!

They didn't bother asking questions, they went straight to throwing me a quick punch right across the face. The boss yelled at me, telling me to drop my phone, or he will make sure I forfeit the right to live.

I stood my ground that I did not have my phone on me. They rough handled me, and searched me for the phone. According to them, if they catch me with a phone, I'm going to leave this world.

They searched and searched for some minutes but couldn't find anything. Truth is, I had placed my phone in my boxers before sleeping that night because of this particular fear of mine. I can't be crying for house rent and still be crying over my phone.

There were still some wails coming from inside the lodge but no one dared to step out. They began to search my bags and stuff but couldn't find anything valuable, so they ended up beating me. After they had beaten me to their heart content, they criticized me for being lazy and not having anything on me.

They advised me to get a job and find something meaningful to do with my life, telling me that the next time they come to rob the lodge, I should have had something valuable for them to take. If I didn't, I wouldn't like what they would do to me.

Why would they be coming back?

I thought what I was experiencing was the worst thing that could happen to a man until I saw a guy walk into the compound with a headset. I have never seen him before, I don't think he lives here. He was so distracted by the music he was listening to that he didn't realize that the lodge was being robbed until it was already too late.

Two men surrounded him from behind, and before he could process what was happening, they asked him to lie on the cold ground. He had no choice but to lie down, while they searched the bag he carried along with his pockets.

They found a laptop, two expensive phones, the headset he wore, and some chargers he used to charge those things. You should have seen how happy they were with their find, and I could tell because they were dancing slightly and chanting happily.

The boss ordered the guys to bring everyone out of the lodge. For the first time, I could look at their faces. Turns out, they were masked. The men brought as many people as they could find, and they played music for us, forcing us to dance and shake our waist to show them that we were not angry.

After that, they took the loot and left. Everyone started crying. A lot of them were wailing on how the armed robbers took the last cup of garri (cassava flakes) that they were saving to eat the next morning. It was here that I began to hear a lot of stories about people's lives.

People are really passing through a lot. Those robbers are heartless. People are complaining that they barely have enough to eat, and you are coming to take the little one that they have. At one point, some people began to point accusing fingers at me, accusing me of bringing and assisting the robbers to rob them because they refused to help me.

I was shocked!

It made me wonder if it wasn't me and them that the robbers made to dance to show we weren't angry. The main question should be why they didn't lock their doors.

While others lamented their fate, the guy that walked in on the robbers stood in the distance, staring into the void speechless. Turns out, he wasn't a member of the lodge. He had come to spend the night with his girlfriend, not knowing he was gladly walking over to where he was to be robbed.

If you think about it, it's kind of funny. Leaving the comfort of your abode to go get robbed in where you went to commit f*********n. I guess the punishment for his sins came early.

After about thirty minutes of complaining, everyone began to retire back to their rooms. The guy in question remained stuck in the motionless position he had taken, even to the point of ignoring his girlfriend. What made it worse was the fact that she was trying to use a sweet voice to comfort him, and make him follow her to her room to spend the night.

You should have seen how he was staring at her. One would think that he had the intention of grabbing her and unleashing all the anger he was feeling at that moment. After a few minutes of their silent drama, he pushed her away from him and walked away, mummuring to himself.

Leave the woman and face your studies!

These students never learn.

No one bothered calling the police because we all knew it was a waste of time. How can we rely on a police force that sometimes locks their station around 6pm because of security reasons?

If the people meant to protect us are scared of the very people we want them to protect us from, what can the common man do?

After everyone had settled in their rooms, and after I had confirmed that the coast was clear, I brought out my phone and the piece of paper I had kept in my pocket, and saved her number.

I was scared to call because I didn't want to be robbed a second time, so I messaged her instead while keeping an eye out for any funny movements.

“Hi, I am the guy you had a conversation with earlier today. I want to let you know that I have agreed to the deal you proposed. When can we meet again? I would love to know all that it entails.” I sent the message after going over it more than three times.

I had to accept her offer even if it meant going against Jake because I don't think I have another choice. I can't stay here waiting for any armed robber swinging by to come say hello.

Turns out, she was online at that exact moment. She read my message but didn't reply. I was anxious, I thought she had abandoned the proposed deal, and probably got someone else, until I received a message from her.

“I knew you would come to your senses. Poor people don't really have any choice to make. Take it to heart that I have a few rules though. Even at that, I need you to understand that you must be willing to do everything I ask you to do, no matter how crazy it might sound. Here's the contract file, it's legal binding and contains a few things I'd have you do to and for me.”

She sent a PDF file alongside the message to me.

A contract file?

I thought this was a regular student-to-student deal?

My heart beat increased as I downloaded the file.

I wonder what disgusting things she would have me do.

TBC