Tarasha - Season 4 - Episode 57

Episode 4 years ago

Tarasha - Season 4 - Episode 57

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Dave inhaled the cold air in the ward deeply as he opened his eyes. He looked to his left and saw a man putting on the SSS top seated by his side. With the inscription on the shirt, Dave could tell that the man was a very senior official of the service.

‘You’re awake,’ the man said and got up from his seat to move closer.
‘Yea, Good morning sir,’ Dave said and managed to seat up. He felt pains at his back as he rested it against the headboard. He was without a shirt because of the plastered wound behind him. He also had a plaster on the left side of the head. Luckily for him, the bullet that got into his body narrowly missed the bone at the shoulder plate, making his injury less severe.
‘Good morning Agent. I’m Godwin Anyim, assistant director of the State Security Service in Anambra state.’
‘Oh!’ Dave smiled and raised his hand to make a salute.

The man smiled back briefly and then put on a serious face, ‘Agent, why didn’t you reach us early last night to provide support for you?’

Dave sighed. ‘I never knew I was going to need support, it came unexpectedly.’
‘But you should have reported to the SSS office first when you got into Anambra.’
‘Sir, I don’t work for the SSS, I work with the SSS. My direct Agency doesn’t have an office here, so I’m not obligated to report to any other organization.’

The man was silent for a minute. ‘So under whose covering were you working in this state?’

‘I got direct permission from the NIS Chairman,’ Dave replied.

The man chuckled. ‘Talking about the chairman, he called this morning and asked that you reach him as soon as you wake up.’ the man said and turned back to take Dave’s phone. ‘Here’s your phone, you also have a couple of missed calls.’

Dave collected the phone and unlocked it, he opened his call records and found the names of those that tried to reach him – Lizzy, Daniel and Inspector Dakolo. He exited and quickly searched for the chairman’s number.
He took in a deep breath before dialing the number. He knew he was in trouble with the chairman already. There were only two options; either he was suspended for a week or two or asked to withdraw from the case totally. He had only gotten permission for interviews and was supposed to have called to inform the head office immediately the game changed.

‘Dave,’ the chairman’s voice sounded through the phone’s speaker.
‘Good morning sir.’ Dave replied.
‘Dave, what happened to you?’
‘Sir, it came suddenly. I…I didn’t…I never expected to meet her here,’ Dave stammered.
‘And why didn’t you reach the office before taking any action?’
‘It was too sudden sir, I acted proactively.’
There was a few seconds silence. ‘You also never wrote in your reports that you were tracing Samantha through her credit card.’
‘Yes sir, I wasn’t sure if she was that person, I needed to make confirmation and that is what I was trying to do when…’
‘Shut up Dave!’ The man slammed. ‘Don’t you know who you’re talking to?’
Dave remained silent. He folded his lips in as his eyes met with Godwin’s.
‘Don’t ever take me for a fool and tell me stupid stories, is that clear?’
‘Yes sir, I’m sorry sir.’

There was another brief silence.
‘When are you going to be discharged from the hospital?’ the chairman asked.
‘I don’t know yet sir, I’ve not seen the doctors this morning.’
‘You should find out and book the next flight available to Abuja as soon as possible. You can continue with your treatment here.’
‘I’m sorry sir… But don’t you think I need to still do some work here before returning?’
The Chairman was silent for a moment. Dave was afraid he had made the man angrier.
‘If you have to do that, ll send Daniel to you, he’ll take the next available flight there. Do make sure you don’t do anything till he comes.’


‘Okay sir,’ Dave replied and gave a sigh of relief. He never thought the man would agree for him to stay and continue on the case.
‘Be careful Dave, be very careful Dave’ the man said in a tone which depicted more of threatening than warning.
‘Phew!’ Dave forced out a breath from his mouth as he dropped the phone. He closed his eyes, partly in frustration. Making any of his team members join him was something he dreaded. It meant he wouldn’t be able to cover his activities from the corrupt chairman and the police anymore but it was a better option than the case been withdrawn totally from him.
He stared at the SSS man’s face for a while. The man was back on his seat and scrolling through his phone without paying any attention to him. Dave opened his call records again and dialed Lizzy’s number first. She picked the call at a ring and he apologized for not having the time to call her the previous night.
‘Come on, hope you’re fine.’ she replied to his apologies.
‘Yes, I’m trying. I got a bullet beside my shoulder though.’
‘Aww! Sorry about that,’ Lizzy expressed her concern in a sad tone.
‘Thanks Lizzy, so how are you?’
‘I’m doing good. How long will you be in the hospital?’
‘I don’t know how long they plan to keep me, but I don’t want to stay here till tomorrow.’
‘Dave, please take care of yourself.’ she said in a pleading tone.
‘Don’t worry about me Liz, I’ll call you again soon.’
He ended the call and dialed Inspector Dakolo’s number. As usual the Inspector was requesting if he had any information contrary to what the news had reported that morning, not knowing that he was a part of those who made the news. He replied with a negative answer to the Inspector’s disappointment.


______
‘I don’t know what you would like to eat, I’m going to get food from the eatery along this street,’ Tarasha said to the man who was still seated in the same spot she left him in the living room.
The man turned to look at her where she stood behind the chair. He suddenly remembered that he didn’t know the exact location he was. He had been indoor since the day before and had not seen outside the place.
‘Where are we?’ he asked and waited for a reply but she gave no answer.. ‘Are we still in Anambra?’ he pressed on.
‘Yes.’
He got up slowly and sat on the sofa. ‘I have a time table at home which the maids use in preparing my meals, I don’t really choose what I like to eat, so I can’t tell you what to get for me.’


‘Well, I got some groceries from the store yesterday but your breakfast might come late if we have to follow your timetable this morning.’ she said. She hoped he would not insist on following the time table because she wasn’t ready to cook. She had learnt how to prepare some Nigerian dishes from Aisha and Tomi but didn’t like to prepare them herself even though she enjoyed eating.
‘I don’t even remember what’s on the timetable for today, you can get me anything to eat, I’m really hungry.’ the man replied.
‘Okay, I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.’ she said and walked away.
He drifted back to the realm of thoughts as she left him alone. He considered her offer again. Was it really the opportunity he had to finally right his wrongs? He asked himself. And what if his wrongs could not be righted? But it was still an opportunity to help the nation like she had put it, and it could just be his last opportunity to do something good for his people.

*
*
NIS Office, Abuja.
Lizzy was already preparing to leave her office when Victor’s call came in. She wondered if he was also in Anambra with his boss or if he was still in town. She didn’t hear from him the last night and even in the early hours of the morning which was unusual. She sat back and relaxed in her seat to answer the call.
‘Good morning Victor, how are you today?’
‘I’m fine, how about you?’
‘I’m fine too, hope you slept well?’
‘Yes, I did. Did you?’
‘I did too. So are you at work already?’
‘Yes, I am and I’m even preparing to go for a delivery now.’
‘Oh! Okay. I’ll call you later then.’
‘Okay, bye.’
‘I love you Pat.’
‘I love you too,’ she replied, shaking her head in disgust.
She hissed and tossed the phone into the bag after the call ended. She then rose from the table and adjusted her skirt.
‘One of those old men, right?’ one of her office mates hinted, talking about her conversation.


‘No, an annoying young man actually.’
‘Which case is that?’ the office mate asked.
‘It’s an old case,’ Lizzy answered reluctantly. She picked up her bag and hurried towards the door. ‘I’ll see you guys tomorrow,’ she said, her shoes making noise as the soles came in contact with the ground.
*
*
The door to Cole’s room opened just as he ended the call. He sat at the edge of the bed facing the door directly. As expected, Tomi was the one who entered without knocking.
‘So that’s the girl right, Pat?’ she stood at the door with her hands on her waist. She was putting on an apron and had just finished from the kitchen.
Cole knew instantly that she had listened to his conversation on phone but still decided to feign ignorance. ‘Which girl are you talking about?’

‘The one you just spoke to on phone,’ she replied and folded her arms across her chest.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he replied with a hiss.
‘I heard all you said on phone, stop lying to me.’

‘You shouldn’t be going around listening to other people’s conversation, don’t you have work to do?’ Cole slammed, trying to turn the tables.
‘Just shut up, I came to tell you breakfast was ready. You should be ashamed of yourself, always jumping around from one girl to another.’

Cole stared at her face for a moment and then burst into hysterical laughter. She stared at him thinly, wondering what the cause of his sudden madness was.
‘Girl, I believe you know I’m well aware of the many guys that have entered you back and front. And you know we don’t hide things from each other, I’ve heard stories on how you ride for several hours tirelessly. You shouldn’t be the one educating me in sticking to one girl, after you’ve been la!d by every man that knows how to talk. Now stop acting like I’m the only one who has access to what you have there,’ he said with an evil smile, pointing with a finger to her chest and down to her privates.


She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Her face clearly showed her embarrassment and anger. She turned and stormed out of the room without saying any other thing.
He laughed to himself after she walked away. He stopped laughing when a thought flashed through his mind. He decided it was time he had to stop eating her food. With the way things were, she was likely to poison him as soon as she gets the right opportunity.


________
10:45am
Udoka Estate, Anambra.
‘I brought you some clothes from the mall,’ Tarasha said as she walked into the room unannounced.