Tarasha - Season 1 - Episode 42

Episode 5 years ago

Tarasha - Season 1 - Episode 42

**1.55pm

‘Hmmm…’ Henry kept shouting out words
which were inaudible as he struggled on the
seat he was tied to. His chair and Tarasha’s
were placed backing each other. She was also
tied in the same manner. Each legs tied to
corresponding leg of the chair and both hands
tied together at the back of the chair and their
mouths covered with a large plaster.

‘Ooh shut up you idiot!’ One of their abductors
barged into the room angrily and smacked
Henry on the face.


‘Leave him alone’ another one said as he came in bare chested with a red jersey hanging
around his neck. ‘Let him scream all he can
now, he might not have the opportunity to
scream again until his next life’

The first guy hissed and turned towards the
main entrance followed closely by the second
who hurriedly put on his shirt. Soon they were
out of the compound, the sound of the gate
closing could be heard.

Henry became calm all of a sudden, his mind
was full of sadness, for Evelyn and his parents.
Evelyn was just an innocent girl whom he put
into trouble. His parents also depended on
him as their only source of joy and proof of
their parenthood. He could not think of what
would happen if he was killed, his parents
could die just from the shock of the news.
He struggled fruitlessly again to set himself
free, shaking the chair vigorously, his head hit
Evelyn’s. She gave a soft groan, the only sound
that she made after several hours that they
had been tied.


**2.00pm
Tarasha could still feel the steel on her wrist,
now she could sense that it was time to use it.
She used the rope tied on the wrist to push it
down and it cut her jacket and fell in between
her palms, causing a small cut on her middle
finger. She took a hold of the knife’s handle
and carefully moved it up and down the rope,
slicing it slowly. Her hands got free in a
minute.

She stretched her fingers before removing the
covering on her mouth. The heavy breath she
let out after got Henry’s attention, he
suspected that her mouth was free and made
some noise to alert her in case it really was.
She looked at him but ignored and continued
to cut the rope off her leg. After the rope was
off, she got up and stretched her legs. Henry
noise was louder as he was fully aware that
she was now free.


She hid back her knife before she walked to
him and took off the covering on his lips, then
she bent down to loose the ropes on his legs.
‘How did you loose your ropes?’ Henry asked
impatiently without waiting for Evelyn to finish
setting him free.

‘They didn’t tie it as tight as yours is.’ She said after setting him free totally.

Henry got up and stretched his body tiredly.
He looked straight into her eyes but she
turned away and walked towards the window
to peep.


‘Thank God’ Henry said. Tarasha stood
suddenly still. Henry did not notice and he
continued. ‘Thank God, I’m sure he’ll still get
us out of here alive.’ He turned to look at
Evelyn as she wasn’t responding to him
Their eyes met. Henry had never seen such
fury like he did on anyone’s eyes. He couldn’t
explain it but he knew there was a kind of
dangerous anger in her. Then he remembered
that he had just given “God” the credit.
Tarasha suddenly remembered the reason for
all the knifes in her pockets. This could just be
the right time to drain out life from his body,
she thought.


Mallam Jefa carefully arranged his the seats in
his joint. Very soon, several of his customers
would begin to troop in to fill their bellies. He
deals in toasted bread, tea, noodles, roasted
cow skin (ponmo), “suya” and assorted drinks.
Jefa was well loved and patronised around the
area. Many atimes, his customers would not
leave after filling themselves but would stay
and have fun as it would turn to a large
gathering. Jefa always had to send most of
them away when they began to lit their
cigarettes or drink alcohol heavily to avoid
violence and destruction of property.


Mallam Jefa whose real name was Jeffery was
not an Hausa man nor does he dress like one,
he only earned the nick as a result of his job,
height and popularity among young men of
the Hausa tribe.

Merely looking at Mallam Jefa’s face, one who
conclude that he was in his early fifties or
close to sixties as wrinkles and spots had
begun to show on his face. But it was not to be
so, Mallam Jefa was just in his early thirties, a
young man who looked so aged and troubled
because of problems and several misfortunes
that had befallen him in the past.


Very jovial and kind he was to everyone but a
closer look at him would reveal his sorrowful
mind. One who’s heart wasn’t at peace, one
who only tried to feign happiness even though
he never was.


As Jefa opened the window, he could see two
of his customers stroll out of their compound
which was just about three metres from his
joint. He knew they were coming to him as
they turned to his direction. He quickly
cleaned two seats for them and returned to
his stand room where he attends to
customers.


‘Mallam Jefa’ one of the guys hailed, putting
up his hands as they strolled into the neatly
made wooden building.


‘Hey!’ Jefa hailed back. ‘Welcome my guys’

‘Thank you’ the first guy said as they took their seats. The other guys just continued to puff his cigarette in silence.

‘What do you want me to offer you?’ Jefa
asked.

The guys whispered to themselves. ‘What do
we take?’

‘I’ll go with moi moi and bread first, then a
bottle of beer later” the cigarette puffing guy
spoke.

‘You want to stay here and drink?’ The other
guy asked in low tones. ‘You know we’ve got to watch over those “dogs” back there’
‘I know’ came the reply in a harsh tone.
‘There’s no problem, they can never get away
with those ropes used to tie them’
‘What of if Afo comes?’
‘Afo would return by three thirty and this is
just two pm’ he said after glancing at his
wristwatch. ‘We still have a lot of time’
‘You guys are selling dogs now?’ Jefa asked
innocently as he served their order.
‘No, we’re just keeping them for someone’ the first guy replied with a smile.
‘Okay now’ Jefa smiled back.
Several customers trooped in one after the
other and Jefa soon got busy. His first two
customers did not stay as long as expected,
they paid him and walked away by exactly two
thirty pm.


02.30pm
Tarasha motioned slowly to Henry, her hand
slowly finding its way into the pockets where
she hid the knifes. Henry stood still, puzzled
as she approached him. The look in her eyes
was unexplainable as well as the atmosphere
around. Just two steps away from him, the
gate clanged and she stopped. She removed
her hand from the pocket and turned back.

Their abductors were returning.
Tarasha’s strange mood suddenly returned to
normal. Her eyes blinked severally as she let
out a deep breath, an unusual calmness
overwhelmed her .



Henry quickly walked to the window, he
opened the curtain and peeped, two of the
guys were returning inside. He motioned back
to Tarasha and grabbed her right hand. ‘We
have to get out of here’ he said and dragged
her along with him. They walked further into
the other rooms in the house, all the rooms
were dark except one that was brightened a
little by a dim torchlight. Henry picked up the
torch and pointed it round the room, looking
for something to use for their defence.
The main entrance door creaked open. The
smile on the guys’ faces changed into a deep
frown immediately as they saw that their
captives had gotten loose already.


‘D--n!’ The first guy cursed under his breath
and brought out his gun. The other man
followed suit.


‘I believe they are still around, we didn’t stay
long at Mallam Jefa’s.’ The second put in.
‘Afo would kill us if they escape’ the first guy
whispered. He bent down to pick something, a
wristwatch. ‘They went this way’ he said,
pointing towards the direction their captives
took.


‘The backyard door is closed’ the other added
softly. ‘So, they must be in the house’ he
brought out a phone and turned on the
flashlight. He returned it into his pocket to
hide the light, planning to bring it out when
it’s necessary.


The guys proceeded in slow steps in the same
direction their captives took.


Tarasha sat at the corner of the room, looking
pale like an helpless person. Henry felt the
need and the responsibility to protect her. He
already found a rod, with the help of the dim
torchlight, a huge long one whose proper use
was to close tightly the door at the back.


He positioned himself behind the wall by the
entrance of the room, planning to take by
surprise anyone that enters first.



The room was silent so the slow steps and
breathings from the guys could be heard softly
by Henry as they approached the room.



Henry raised up the rod in anticipation as
someone got behind the door and touched the
handle. The person paused, Henry paused too
and strained his ear to listen. ‘You… backyard’
was all he heard. There was another pause
again, footsteps could be heard walking fast
away from the door. Then the handle was
turned and the door opened.



The first thing that entered was the ray of light
from the flashlight, then the person’s right leg
and the whole body. Henry landed the rod on
the back of the man’s head and he went down
immediately, his gun falling away, blood began
to ooze out of his head. Henry quickly
dropped the rod and picked the gun. He
checked if it was loaded and gave a brief smile
before bending to search the man’s body. He
found a phone. He squatted and began to type
into it.


‘I’ve been kidnapped, report to the police and
let them locate this phone number, that’s
where I’m kept. Henry’ Henry quickly sent a
text to his boss, Sylvester.





Sylvester hurried into the police station with
the security guard running after him.


‘Hello officers’ Sylvester greeted as he got to
the reception stand. The officers who
recognised him saluted back and gave him
attention. ‘I heard you brought in one of my
new workers to your station today’
‘When exactly?’ One of the officers asked with
a frown.


‘Few hours ago, between ten am and twelve
noon’ Sylvester replied looking to the security
man for confirmation.


‘Yes’ the shivering security man replied.
‘Sir, are you sure it’s our station? We’ve not
brought anyone in today’


Sylvester turned to the guard. ‘Please explain
everything to them, the same way you
explained to him’


The guard began his explanation in details of
how the officers parked beside the
corporation and one of them approached him
and asked him questions and how they also
took Sylvester when he drove out of the gate.
‘And they said it’s Division A?’ An officer
interrupted.

‘Yes’
‘Nobody has been brought in here today and
none of our officers have gone out to make an
arrest along your direction today’ the officer
spoke after checking through the records in a
book.


‘Are you sure of what you’re saying?’ Sylvester asked the guard again.


‘Yes’
‘Why didn’t you tell me early ?’
‘I couldn’t get to you, so I told the secretary’
the guard replied.

‘You told Bola?’
‘Yes’
‘But she never told me anything’ Sylvester said and turned back to the officers. ‘Please can I see any of your senior officers?’
‘Let’s check is anyone is available first’ one of the officers said and walked away from the
reception.

‘Have you called the person who was arrested
on phone?’ Another officer asked.
‘Yes, his line is switched off. That’s what’s
making me alarmed, I believe I’m the first
person he’ll call if he gets into any trouble’
‘Hmm… But you’re the Boss of the Security
cameras corporation. Have you checked the
tapes?’


‘There’s no record. I’m suspecting that he has been kidnapped by the same people who have been hacking our security, I only want to
confirm if he’s here first before I make a
report’

‘Okay’
Sylvester’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He
brought it out and checked. It was a text
message.



2.30pm
In a large uncompleted building, an
abandoned one. Boys could be seen sitting on
the window edges, smoking Indian hemp and
drinking. Another guy was parading the
compound with a cigarette in his mouth.

A policeman stood right in front of the
compound’s gate. He looked around the
environment to see if anyone was watching
him before opening the gate slowly and
walking in.

‘Hey you!’ The parading guy was the first to
accost him. The other guys also jumped down
from the windows, alert. ‘What do you want?’
‘Your boss, Afo is waiting for me’ the
policeman replied.

‘Okay’ the parading guy nodded and signaled
to the other guys while the policeman
proceeded to the building. One of the guys led
the policeman to their boss.

Afo was seated on a set of neatly arranged six
inches blocks. A half unclad lady was seated on
his laps.

Afo noticed the policeman’s entrance and
engaged the girl in a kiss before dropping her
off his laps. He then smacked her on the
butt0ckz playfully before asking her to excuse
them.

The policeman turned to look at the girl
walking away and she eyed him mockingly. He
turned again to look at Afo who’s body was
thrice of the girl’s He shook his head in pity
for the lady, wondering how bad she would
scream when Big Afo starts banging her
mercilessly.


‘Miko’ Afo hailed, extending a handshake to his guest.

‘Afo’ Miko replied unenthusiastically, still
looking at the girl who was walking slowly
away, rolling her butt0ckz in the process.
‘Miko!’ Afo hailed again and tapped his guest
playfully on the shoulder. ‘Do you want me to
arrange an “opeke” like this for you”
‘No’ Miko shook his head in disagreement. ‘I
don’t need that’


‘Well, that’s your problem’ Afo brought out a cigarette and his lighter. ‘Why have you come
here in your uniform today?’

‘There was no time for me to change before
coming, I had to come like this’
‘Okay, so what have you come here for?’
‘What have I come here for?’ The officer asked with a look of surprise on his face. ‘Didn’t we
have an agreement?’
‘What agreement?’ Afo asked, blowing some
smoke into the air.

‘Come on Afo. Didn’t I release a car and some
uniforms to you today?’

‘Oh! That?’ Afo feigned surprise.

‘Yes, I’ve come to get it. That’s our agreement’

‘Ermm… It’s true. That’s our agreement, but…’

‘But what?’ Miko was getting impatient.
‘I still want to use it’

‘No, I have to leave here with everything now’
Miko disagreed boldly.

‘Calm down Miko, I’ll triple your money’
‘It’s not about money, I’ll get into trouble if I
don’t return with them this evening’
‘Then don’t return at all’ Afo said coldly.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Go somewhere else’
‘No, I can’t ‘
‘You can’

‘No, the police would find me anywhere I run
to hide’ Miko retorted.

‘I know somewhere where they won’t find you,

I can help you get there’
‘I’m not…’ Miko couldn’t complete his
statement as a bullet sank into the back of his
head.


‘Take out the idiot’ Afo commanded the same
guy who shot from the back.

Afo took in another large amount of smoke as
turned back. He picked out his phone and
dialed a number. ‘Mr. Dare’
‘Afo’ Dare answered from the other end.
‘How far? Hope you’ll keep to time, we are
expecting you by 4pm like you said’
‘No, I’m sorry’ Dare sounded down. ‘My Dad just called me, he wants me to meet with him
after work immediately’
‘It’s okay, so should we still wait for you?’
‘No please, drop the both of them’
‘Alright’
‘You can do that immediately, make sure that
their death is slow and painful, especially for
the man. And do make sure that their bodies
are never found’


‘Okay, I will ensure that’ the call ended. Afo
dipped the phone back into his pocket and
finished the stick of cigarette before
proceeding out of the uncompleted building.


‘Come, let’s get out of here’ Henry motioned
Evelyn who was already coming towards him.
They locked hands and crossed over the dead
body at the entrance of the room. They began
to head back in direction of the main door,
Henry leading the way and guiding her with his
gun.


‘I can’t find them anywhere.’ Henry and Evelyn paused as they got to the first room where
they were tied before. The man who had gone
to check the backyard was returning through
the entrance.


Henry cocked his gun, he made Evelyn to hide
behind his body and got set to take down the
approaching enemy. The door opened and the
guy came in unsuspecting, a bullet entered
into his chest immediately.


Henry jumped up and rejoiced with Tarasha as
the second enemy fell flat. ‘Let’s get out of
here now’ he said to Tarasha who was looking
indifferent.


They opened the door and began to run to the
gate. The gate creaked, Evelyn and Henry
paused in fear. Then the gate began to open
slowly, a car was behind. Their fears were
confirmed, Afo and his other men had
returned.
….