Tarasha - Season 4 - Episode 44

Episode 4 years ago

Tarasha - Season 4 - Episode 44

The atmosphere changed immediately. She climbed down the bed and walked to the water dispenser to take a cup of water. Dave sat up and stared at her while she gulped it down.
She covered herself with a towel before she began to talk. ‘Samantha Osman was here once,’ she began with a shocker.
‘Huh? Where?’ his eyes widened at her as he sat at the edge of the bed and placed his feet on the floor, using the sheets to cover his nakedness.
‘In this house,’ she replied.
Dave’s face was full of surprise, it looked like he couldn’t take it. He had thought she was going to talk about meeting Samantha in the hospital or something regarding the assasin that had happened in the hospital after she brought Stephanie George and the old couples there.
‘She had a gunshot wound I treated,’ Jumoke continued. ‘I met her needing help, outside the gate after the hospital incident, that night you promised to come late but later sent a message at midnight and…’

‘How did you know it was her?’ Dave cut in.
‘She told me…’

‘She introduced herself as Samantha Osman?’
‘No, she told me she recognized me from the hospital, that she was the one who brought in Stephanie George.’

Dave stared at her thinly for a while, still with doubts in his heart.

‘How did she make her way here?’
‘I don’t know, I found her outside. I saw her car by the fence and thought it was yours but as I got closer, I saw a girl on the floor by the fence side, looking lifeless, I thought she was dumped there and decided to help when I discovered she was still breathing.’

Dave took another pause to assimilate the information. He remembered that day vividly. It was the night the NIS Chairman called him and asked for him to be at the NIS office in Abuja before dawn. He wondered what could have happened if he did not heed the man’s call that night. Would that have been the end of Samantha Osman? Could he have arrested her that night?
‘So you helped her with a bullet would?’ he asked in a surprise tone.
‘Yes, I did.’
‘How can you? A bullet wound? Without involving the police?’ he reprimanded in a loud voice.

She widened her eyes in surprise at his words and the rage she could see on his face. She was dumbstruck. How can he who comes to her severally with such wounds to treat blame her for treating another person who needed help?
‘But how was I supposed to know she was Samantha Osman?’
‘You are a nurse, ain’t you? I shouldn’t be the one to educate you on the ethics of your job. You don’t treat a bullet wound without getting a go ahead from the police.’
‘Stop talking to me like a kid Dave,’ she flared up. ‘She would have died that day if I didn’t help her.’

‘Are you listening to yourself? You helped a criminal!’
‘Yes, I’ve treated another male criminal with bullet wounds on more than one occasion!’ she shouted back at him.
‘Huh? Another criminal?’ he reduced his voice and narrowed his eyes.
‘Yes Dave, I always treat you when you come to me without involving the police. On the first day we met, I helped you and you didn’t die because I didn’t wait for the police.’
‘But I’m not a criminal.’ he said in low tones, almost whispering.
‘How was I supposed to know that the girl was Samantha Osman, a criminal? All I know is that I couldn’t have watched her die to start regretting later that I could have saved a life.’
Dave was quiet for some seconds. He had no right to blame her. She had been carrying out the illegal act with him before and he never complained until she helped someone else.
‘I’m sorry,’ he apologized with a sorry look. He picked his shorts on the floor beside the bed and got up to put it on. ‘I’m sorry for talking to you that way,’ he apologized again, now leaning against the drawer beside the bed. ‘It’s just that thinking of all the damage Samantha Osman has caused, she doesn’t really deserve any help…’
‘Who made you a judge?’ she cut in.
There was total silence for some seconds.
‘I know I’m not supposed to judge, but then…’ Dave was short of words to explain himself. He just couldn’t get over the fact that he missed an opportunity to have met directly with Samantha Osman.
‘She didn’t look like a bad person to me,’: Jumoke continued to speak with a blank expression on her face. ‘She looked harmless and dangerous.’

‘Don’t say that,’ Dave cautioned. For a second, he wondered if Jumoke really knew what she was talking about. Stephanie George had also said the same thing about Samantha. ‘Most criminals are like that, they look like they can’t hurt a fly but they’re so deadly.’
‘You seem to know a lot about criminals,’ she gave him a suspicious look.
‘Yes, I told you I’m a journalist and that I major in exposing top criminal cases. I sure know a lot about criminals.’
She sighed. ‘She warned me not to mention my experience with her to anyone.’
‘Did she call you after that day?’
‘No, she dropped a note saying I should erase her completely from my mind.’
‘And you’ve not heard from her since then?’
There was a brief silence. Jumoke seemed to be thinking on the possible dangers of what she was doing.
‘I’m scared Dave,’ she said in a weak voice. ‘She looked harmless but I’m scared of her warning and all I hear about her.’
‘Hey! You don’t need to be, she’s not everywhere.’ Dave encouraged. He walked to where she was standing against the wall and wrapped his hands around her shoulders. ‘Think about it, she’s not God, she can’t be everywhere, there’s no way she’s going to know you told me except you tell someone else.’
‘But… But you’re a journalist, what if she finds out through what you report or write about her?’
‘I’m not a fool, Jummy, I know how to play my games.’
‘I’m scared,’ she repeated shakily.
He pulled her with him to the bed and sat her down. He sat beside her and faced her.
‘Look here, one of the things criminals used in covering their trails is making empty threats to victims which will never make the victims open their mouths. What you know might just be the only thing that can bring her down.’
‘But I don’t know anything about her, I only met her once.’

‘Just tell me everything surrounding your meeting with her, you don’t know what I can be able to deduce from what you tell me.’
She took in a long breath. Dave sq££zed her palms in his to encourage her.
‘I’m only going to talk because I want you to get done with her case and be here with me, not because I want her caught.’ she said in a warning tone.
‘Just talk dear,’ he urged.
‘She sent me money after some days.’
‘What?’ Dave’s eyes widened.
‘I didn’t ask her for money,’ Jumoke quickly added.
‘Of course, I know you didn’t ask her.’ he said and placed a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner, encouraging her to continue talking.


‘A text message came in after the alert saying it was a refund for the expenses I made and my clothes which she took with her.’
‘Do you still have the text message?’
‘I deleted it, she included it in the message that I shouldn’t keep it.’
‘Oops!’ Dave ran his fingers into his hair.
‘But there was no number, I checked.’
‘Okay, she must have protected the source of the message.’ Dave said. He stared at her with an encouraging look for her to continue.
‘That’s all, I never heard from her again.’
There was a long silence. Dave pondered on the information he had gotten deeply. There were two things he needed to know now; the sender of the money into Jumoke’s bank account and how Samantha had found her way to Jumoke. He feared in his mind that it had been through him. Maybe Samantha knew him somehow. He couldn’t ascertain but he knew it was a dangerous situation if it was true.
‘So, the only thing I need from you now is the date you got the money and your bank account details.’ he said to Jumoke.
Her eyes widened in fear. She tried to talk but he placed a finger on her lips. ‘Shhh… Don’t be afraid, no one will know about you.’


*
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Thursday Morning
6.03am
Cole woke up to a text message notification on his phone. He smiled as he reached out for it, thinking about his last night out with Patricia. The text message was from Tarasha. It read;
‘Can you suggest a good barbing saloon for me? I need to use one before my flight to the East today .’

He quickly rolled out of the bed and began to think. Tarasha had passed two messages in one – she wanted him to suggest a good barbing saloon and also informed him that she was traveling to the East. He had no idea what she was going to do there but he knew there was going to be work to do, both for him and for her.
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