The other side of me 4

 

Nifemi tapped away on his keyboard. He was programming a racing game he named “Street race”. The name sounded lame but he loved it. Working was better than looking at the lady opposite him. She was near, yet so far away. Everything was different now, worse than it was when she was still secretive. She had built a brick wall since the morning after her birthday. What bothered him the most was he felt like she cast a spell on him. He couldn’t get her off his mind. He had seen a calmer version of her, a more reserved version of her. But she had pushed him away. It was almost like she was another person that morning. They had had a great time on her birthday but she didn’t want to talk about it, or talk about anything other than work.

 All he could think of was her laughter, her voice. Her smile whenever something of interest came her way. He could remember the kisses they shared, her long slender legs round him. He could still taste her. He could still feel her body cuddled to him. When he closed his eyes, he saw her beautiful face. She had broken down his defenses and then pushed him away. He only knew one thing, he needed her. He always had. He had finally accepted he had feelings for her, no longer denying himself the truth. All he had to do was figure out how to get her. She had left an imprint on him that even Raven couldn’t. Raven. His ex now, he remembered the conversation he had had with her that day after he left Sara’s house. He had gone to see her, not before heading home to freshen up. He felt he hadn’t handled that properly, but he would this weekend. 

“Nifemi, where were you last night? I called more than once and you didn’t pick up your phone. I was worried,” Raven had said, the minute she opened her door for him.

“I’m sorry, I got a bit carried away,” he had responded.

“You didn’t answer my question, where were you?” Raven demanded.

“I went out okay, I went out with someone.”

“Who?”

“It was Sara’s birthday and I took her out.”

“What? You even have the nerve to tell me you took that ashawo out. How dare you, Nifemi?”

“Firstly, Sara isn’t a prostitute. Stop using that word to describe her. Secondly don’t use that tone on me. Ever since you knew Sara, you’ve always hated her.”

“Because she looks like a whore and someone who would steal my boyfriend. Looks like she already did, right?”

Nifemi remained mute, this wasn’t going how he expected it to go. How had he expected it to go anyway? How was telling your girlfriend you spent the night with a girl she had always been insecure of supposed to go?

“You can’t say anything because it’s true,” Raven raged.

“I’m sorry Raven, I didn’t plan to fall in love with her, it just happened.” 

Nifemi was really sorry, Raven was cool, possessive, yes, but she loved him in her own way. He just wasn’t in love with her. He never actually was. He had met Raven through his sister, Chika. It was good at first, he liked having her around. He liked her. She was always there for him but he always thought something was missing. They had started growing apart at some point, but he tried to make it work. Then Sara came into the picture and there was that spark he had never felt with Raven. The mystery, the beauty, everything about Sara had pulled him in like a magnet.

“You didn’t plan to fall in love with her? Are you listening to yourself Nifemi?”

“Raven, you and I know that we were having issues before this—"

“Because we were having issues you decided to try your luck with that, that thing. Just say you wanted to get some and I’ll understand.”

“Raven, Sara is a respectable woman. It’s not her fault that she came along at this point in time. It’s not her fault that I fell in—"

“Get out Nifemi, I don’t want to listen to this crap anymore or see your face.”

“Raven—”

“I said, GET OUT!”

Rejected by two women in one day, Nifemi had left Raven's that day not sure of himself and feeling totally lost. His sister had called him to rant about her friend, as expected, but there was nothing he could do about it. Raven was better off without him.

Five days later and he still felt lost. The week had gone by like a blir. If only Sara would talk to him. He stopped typing and looked at her. He had waited too long, he wasn’t going to let her stay inside her shell one more day. He checked his watch, it was about 5:30pm. He’d have to talk to her before she went home. He added a few lines to his programming before he packed up and went to Sara's desk. She was also packing up to leave. Her wig was long and black today. She wore a pair of jeans and a black Ralph Lauren polo and a pair of purple sketchers. Her eyes were the same shade of purple. Her lips were purple too. He remembered how natural she had looked that Sunday morning with her gold dyed her and brown eyes. He yearned to see that side of her again.

“Hi Sara,” he said.

“Hi,” she simply said, without raising her head.

“Sara we need to talk… about us.”

“There is no us, Nifemi, let this go.” Her head still bowed.

His patience was running out. He didn’t know how much longer he could stay calm.

“Okay Sara, there is no us, may I at least offer you a ride home?”

“Listen Nifemi—”

“No, you listen Sara,” Nifemi cut her off, his tone was as calm as it could be. “I have let you do whatever you want with me. I let you be when it looked like you were a loner. I let you creep into my life when you said you needed a friend. I let you kiss me, though I kissed back. I let you build your wall again after we both know we had a great time on your birthday. I let you do whatever you wanted and I’m done. This time you’re gonna let me do what I want and what I want is to take you home and have a reasonable conversation with you as adults and figure out what this thing between us is. Do you understand?” 

Sara blinked, “fine, you’re taking me home which is awesome cos I won’t have to pay for an Uber. And please, we’re just talking, don’t get any corky ideas.”

She picked up her bag and went past him. He sighed and followed her to the parking lot. They got into his car and he drove out of Planotech. She didn’t say anything to him and he was comfortable with the silence, for now.

                                                               

                                                                                                    ***

Obi followed the black Toyota from a distance in the highlander. He was with two of his boys and they had guns, in case the bitch tried anything funny. He’d get rid of the guy she was with and drag her by her hair if he had to. He had waited too long for this. He had spotted her a week ago in a restaurant with the same guy she was with now. He hadn’t recognized her at first. Her hair was different, her skin looked different, she was a beauty to behold. It was her beauty that had entranced him. He watched her lustfully, wanting very much to feast on her. The black dress she wore hugged her body, the red heels made him imagine her walking on his back, then her eyes had given her away. Though they were purple, he would never forget those eyes that stared at him like she could kill him, years ago. She had danced with the man and laughed all through. Then they had left, oblivious of him following behind. He had found out where she lived and followed her to work, bidding his time. It was time to get her now, even though she was with someone. He could almost taste victory, almost.

                                                                                                   ***

“That highlander,” Nifemi mused, looking at the rearview mirror.

“What?” Sara asked. That was the first word she had uttered since she got into the car.

“It’s probably nothing but I think that black highlander has been following us. All the way from Ikoyi, even on the bridge. Maintaining a certain distance.”

Kosarachi tensed, yeah, Kosarachi had taken over at the moment even though she looked like Sara. Of course she had thought about Nifemi all week, both as Sara and Kosarachi. They both liked him. Sara wanting just the fun of it, the revelry, Kosarachi seemed to want more which could have been scarier. She wondered why Kosarachi seemed stronger than Sara at this moment. Sara had always been stronger. What had changed? She looked into the mirror and spotted the highlander Nifemi talked about.

 “Are you sure Nifemi?”

“Yes, I am, but it’s probably—”

“Pull over.”

“Excuse me?”

“Pull over now Nifemi, if you’re right and they’re tailing us, they’ll stop when we do.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. That totally makes sense.”

 He found a spot to park his car on the busy road. They both watched the mirror, waiting for the highlander to stop or keep moving. Hoping it would keep moving. Their hopes shattered as soon as it stopped, a few feet away from them.

“Oh dear God, oh God they’ve found me. Oh shit, oh shit,” Kosarachi was fidgeting. When last had she called God?

“What are you talking about Sara, who’s found you?” Nifemi was perplexed.

“Yes, Sara, I need Sara now, I need her strength now, where is she? Where the hell is she?” Kosarachi was talking to herself but out loud.

Nifemi was confused, what was going on? Why was she talking about herself in the third person and in that way?

“Sara, breathe, breathe and talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

“A lot is going on and the less you know, the better for you. I have to go to them. Ask them what they want.”

She opened the door and got out. Nifemi thought for a moment before following her. She had almost gotten halfway to the highlander before he blocked her.

“Sara are you crazy? I saw you scared for the first time. I saw you fidget just because you thought some people had found you and you want to meet with them. What could they possibly want? If we have to do anything then we run. I’m not letting you go anywhere near that highlander.”

“That’s all I’ve done my entire life, run, camouflage, hide. I’m tired of it. I’m so tired.”

“Okay, we’ll figure it out.”

“There is no “we” in this Nifemi. It’s me and you should leave now to protect yourself.

“Sara—”

“Stop calling me Sara,” she yelled.

“Kosarachi, is this really you?” a voice said very close to them.

The voice had changed a bit but she knew who owned it, she had hated hearing it. It sent chills down her spine. She had hoped she would be wrong and the highlander wasn’t after her. So much for hopes and wishful thinking. She and Nifemi had been lost in their argument and hadn’t notice him creep up on them. They both looked at the stranger.

“Sorry, you got the wrong person, her name is Sara,” Nifemi said to the stranger.

He laughed wickedly, not paying attention to Nifemi, “you’ve grown and you’ve changed.” He looked at her lustfully, “I’m sure you’ll make a delicious snack for the boss alive rather than dead.”

“Watch it, I don’t know who you are but don’t speak to her that way,” Nifemi said, putting himself between Kosarachi and the stranger.

“Tell your boyfriend to behave, Kosarachi,” the man said icily.

“Nifemi, please, just stop, stop talking and let me handle this,” Kosarachi said, standing beside Nifemi now.

She looked at the stranger and quickly added, “he’s not my boyfriend. He’s nobody. What do you want Obi?” 

Nifemi looked at her, very surprised. She did know who the man was. She looked at him then and he recognized who he saw, the girl he had met that morning after her birthday.

Obi laughed, “the boss wants his money. You know, the money you took when you left. You of all people should know he’s not very good at forgiving. He also wants you, dead or alive. I’m sure you’d prefer to be alive so just walk quietly to that highlander with me and maybe I’ll let your boyfriend live.”

“She’s not going anywhere with—”

Nifemi didn’t finish his sentence because Obi showed him the gun tucked at his side.

“Woah, woah, there’s no need for the gun, Obi. I’ll go with you and you’ll let him go, as you’ve said. Okay, I’ll go with you.” Kosarachi raised her hands up in surrender.

She turned to Nifemi and pleaded, “you have to go now, forget you ever met me. Promise me you’ll do that?”

Nifemi stared at her. Was she crazy? He would never forget her and there was no way he was letting her out of his sight. Even if he had to fight. He scanned the environment and it seemed the universe was working in his favor. Scratch that, God must have heard the prayer he said just now. He noticed a short metal rod lying carelessly at the side of the road. It was only in his line of vision. All he had to do was turn around and pretend he was leaving. Who just leaves such a thing on the road? God bless that soul anyway.

“Okay”, he turned around to leave. She and Obi were about to make their way to the highlander when he turned back around and hit Obi as hard as he could with the metal rod on the back of his head. Nifemi took the gun from his side as soon as Obi hit the ground, writhing.  Every other thing seemed to happen in a flash. Nifemi shouted at Kosarachi, “get to the car, now!” She ran, not questioning him. He followed her closely and didn’t have time to notice if people saw what had happened or if Obi had backup in the highlander, they had to get out of there now.

They got into the car and Kosarachi screamed, “drive, drive now!”

Nifemi put his gear on drive and stepped on the throttle. They sped away just as some guys came out of the highlander to help Obi. He could almost feel like he was in a Fast and Furious movie. He kept driving fast, fortunately the traffic wasn’t such that he couldn’t move.

“This might be a good time for you to start talking Sara, or is it Kosarachi. I’m just confused right now,” Nifemi said as he drove. 

“It’s a long story,” Kosarachi said, “Obi works for my uncle Chike who’s a drug dealer. I used to work for him as a kid.”

“Work for him as in?”

“Work for him as in, he used me to move drugs in Onitsha and around Anambra. It was either that or no food, shelter or school. The police hardly suspect a young teenage girl wearing a school uniform. I did this for two years until I got tired, stole his money and ran away. Not before I took a pound of his flesh.”

“Woah, are you serious?”

“Yes. I am. Where are we going to?”

“I don’t know yet, we have to lose the highlander first which I think we have, then we go to the police.”

Kosarachi scoffed, “not the police. If I know Chike well, he probably has eyes everywhere now. He had the police in Onitsha under his fingernails. I have to lay low a bit. I have to disappear”

“We, Sara, we.”

“You don’t understand Nifemi, I’ve run from Chike my whole life. That man used me to push drugs and then molested me—"

“He did what?” Nifemi’s hands tensed on the steering wheel.

“It doesn’t matter what he did. The point is, he’s very dangerous.”

“That bastard, if I get my hands on him, I’ll—”

“You’ll do nothing Nifemi. Don’t be a freaking hero. You don’t know me or the other things I’ve done to survive. You don’t know Chike or what he’s capable of. I can’t let you risk your life like you already did, hitting Obi on the head. You can’t do that again. You can’t.”

“So you told a few lies to stay alive. You stole. What else Sara? Maybe you should tell me who you really are, cos you’re not going to get rid of me that easily. I’m not going anywhere.”

Kosarachi sighed, the man was so stubborn. She couldn’t argue with him at the moment. “Okay then, for starters,” she said, looking at him driving. He locked eyes with her before she continued, “my real name is Kosarachi Maria Igwe.”