'Shatap!' the leader commanded, but to no avail. Then he raised his gun again and shot a woman who was screaming the loudest. The bullet went through her forehead and came out the other end, the woman collapsed onto her side, her mouth and eyes still wide open in an unfinished scream.
This shut the people up as many started to sob inside.
'Idiat! All these book people, they want to show say them read big big book, I go show you say I hold big big gun! If anybody open their mouth for there again una go answer to my gun!' He turned to his men. 'Mo una ransack the other bags!'
Lastborn was still gripped tightly by fear. He had wet himself again when the man had been shot. In his mind, he was screaming to run. You have to get out of here or you will die!
He glanced at Eniiyi. The girl looked frozen as her eyes stared wide and unseeing into the distance.
He reached for his bag which had been tossed near him. Okay, he knew what to do. He took several dee
08:26 pm, September 15,Nsukka, Enugu State.China Okenwa was a busy woman. Sometimes she herself thought it was a miracle she had time at all to take motherly care of Kanayo.She glanced at the back seat where the said baby was strapped into his baby car seat. He had his little pudgy hands fisted and was staring right back at her, his large, black eyes innocent and expressive.'Come on, smile,' she said to him while she herself broke into one. The baby continued to stare blankly at her.She turned back to the steering wheel. 'Of course, you idiot, he can't understand you.'Back to her thoughts. Okay, she herself admitted she was getting too busy for her own good nowadays. Her main occupation was lecturing; she lectured in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.She also managed a large poultry, a branch of Okenwa Farm, owned by her and her husband. It included a poultry,
She almost died with relief when on reaching the front she saw the boy still on his feet, albeit the bonnet of her car was less than two centimeters away from his body.'Oh my God, why did you do that, kid? Do you have a death wish or what? If you want to die, why choose me? Are you . . .'She trailed off, opening and closing her mouth like a tilapia out of water on seeing the boy's face.Tears made fresh tracks down his cheeks and they kept flowing without pause. He had such a look of pain, despair and horror on his face that China's heart pulled. Had she hit him after all? But then . . .?Then she noticed he kept pointing to the side of the road, opening and shutting his mouth, trying to form words but his vocal cords refused to make any connection to his brain.She moved closer to him. 'Son, are you okay?'He started to shake his head and then finally said, 'No!' 'Why? Wha—?''My sister!' he shouted, still pointing to the side of the road. 'She's unconscious. Please, help her! She's
She almost died with relief when on reaching the front she saw the boy still on his feet, albeit the bonnet of her car was less than two centimeters away from his body.'Oh my God, why did you do that, kid? Do you have a death wish or what? If you want to die, why choose me? Are you . . .'She trailed off, opening and closing her mouth like a tilapia out of water on seeing the boy's face.Tears made fresh tracks down his cheeks and they kept flowing without pause. He had such a look of pain, despair and horror on his face that China's heart pulled. Had she hit him after all? But then . . .?Then she noticed he kept pointing to the side of the road, opening and shutting his mouth, trying to form words but his vocal cords refused to make any connection to his brain.She moved closer to him. 'Son, are you okay?'He started to shake his head and then finally said, 'No!''Why? Wha—?''My sister!' he shouted, still pointing to the side of the
07:31 am, September 18,Nsukka, Enugu State.Everywhere was so bright. She was surrounded by glary, white light. It seemed to envelope her vision. Some people in white were moving around in the background. Her forehead creased slightly, where was she? Was she in heaven? And if she was, did that mean she was already dead?If this was heaven it was disappointing. Apart from the people in white, everything else was plain. The room was now less bright and was sparsely furnished with contraptions with trailing cords and ugly displays.And then there was the pain, it was all over her body. Even her throat was raw and her mouth dry. Why was she in heaven?Her eyelids started to feel weighted and she felt exhausted all of a sudden. She wanted to keep her eyes open and fully access her surroundings but her body had different thoughts. She wondered where her mommy was in all this. She really missed seeing her.A dwarf in dark clothing started to
02:32 pm, September 19.'You're almost fully recovered now, Enyi, you just have to spend one more day here to fully recover and you'll be discharged by the weekend.' The doctor straightened up from examining her eyes and turned off the beam of the light.Eniiyi smiled at him and shook her head. 'It is Eniiyi, not Enyi, sir.'The doctor laughed at this. 'Of course, Enyi.'She puckered her lips and frowned at him not finding it funny.'Kedu?' the doctor asked, confused as to why she was angry.The girl remained silent, her frown deepening.'Okay, okay, I'm sorry, Eniiyi.''Better,' said Eniiyi. She now smiled at him and pushed herself up on the hospital bed. 'When are they coming?' she asked the question that had been on the tip of her tongue since she'd been told Lastborn and the woman who helped them were around.'They are just outside, I'll tell them that they can see you now.'Eniiyi smiled again, exc
'Good afternoon,' the male officer said as he stepped in.Eniiyi looked up at the female officer expectantly. She had come in the morning but with a different partner. Had they found her parents already?'I'm Detective Oji Omenka, I'm assigned to your case along with Detective Egwu.' He pointed to the woman police.'My case? Why do I have a case? Some people already came in the morning to ask me—' Eniiyi started to say.'Your cousin here told us about what happened on your way here and the pictures you took. We are trying to—''Good God, Menk, try to be nice. She's just a child and you sound like you're grilling her.' The woman chided her partner then turned to the girl.Eniiyi tried to remember what she had called her name earlier in the day. Was it Ebibo? Melimo? She couldn't even remember, but she remembered that it sounded strange to her ears.'Yes, we came earlier in the day to get your statement on what happened to you and L
'I . . .''Eniiyi, now! Please, say yes! You'll totally love it. I've been to her house before and it's really big and nice.' He stressed heavily on the 'really' as though to underline his point.'Please, please, okay? You're not going to like that hospital place; it's boring and smells like a hospital a little.''Okay, okay. I'd love to, ma. Thank you,' Eniiyi agreed.'Yes!' hollered Lastborn.'You're screaming,' the girl snapped.'That's good. Now all I have to do is apply for your custody, I hope it goes alright.''What if it doesn't?' Eniiyi asked. 'I don't wanna stay in a hospital house, too.''It should, I hope, since it's temporary custody.''Why does it sound so hard?' Eniiyi asked. 'How does it work, anyways?''After I fill the form, I have to give good reasons why I think you should stay with me and then they'll do research on me to find out how responsible I am and my capability to take care of you. Th
11:46 am, September 20,Tokyo, Japan.'I wish I could speak more than three languages,' Mide suddenly said.'Shh, what did you say?' Eartha whispered, not taking her eyes away from the screen.'I wish I could speak more languages,' Mide reiterated, rolling his eyes. 'I wasn't being loud now.''You were,' Eartha argued, still not taking her eyes away from the big screen. Then she leaned against her husband's arm and continued to watch the subtitled movie.That they had been able to take time off work to come to the movies was a miracle in its self and she wished to savour every moment, like fine wine, to the last drop. She couldn't even remember the last time they'd gone out together like this. Maybe during their courtship.If they hadn't been moved they probably wouldn't have had time to come here. Their host company had had their residence moved to a new location today and they had had the day off.Okamoto, a bus