Rachael (5)

Toyosi was worried. Eric had barged into her house demanding to see Rachael but she told him that Rachael had not come by her house at all. The call from Marian had made her more nervous. Where could Rachael be? It was unusual for her to disappear without her letting someone know of her whereabouts. Toyosi was more worried that Rachael and Eric must have gotten into a fight because Eric's face was not a friendly one when he came to the house. Rachael didn't hold her cell phone and so no one could reach her. The last time she saw Eric's face like that was when she saw him beat up a young man on the street. She had since then known that Eric was a dangerous guy but Rachael was too blind to see the signs. She tossed from side to side on her willing sleep to come but she could not shake the feeling that Rachael was in some big trouble and more scary was that she felt strongly that Rachael was alone.

Marian had called everyone she could call that could tell her about the whereabout of her daughter but no one seemed to know. People had help comb the streets looking for Rachael but no one had seen her except in the early hours of the morning when she cleaned the shop and opened it up for business. Marian had called her Pastor who had advised that she get the police involved. Marian had her own troubles in life but she greatly feared that Rachael was living the same life she did. She sat down exhausted mentally and physically. Pastor promised to alert church folks so they can be on the look out for Rachael.

Marian's mind journeyed back to when she first discovered she was pregnant. She was so afraid of telling her father that she ran out of the house. She knew that her father was literally going to kill her. He barely had enough for both of them and now she was going to add another child into the already tight corner. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She had no idea where she was going to but she kept running. Then a car pulled up in front of her. It was an elderly man with a cream coloured senegalese outfit. He bent his neck so he could see her through the passenger's window. His smile calmed her down but she was nervous at the same time. "Where are you going young lady?" He asked."I don't know where yet but I just want to get out of here as fast as possible." The man opened the door and she slid in. He drove off and then she dozed off.

A knock woke her from her reverie and she stood quickly to open the door. Standing at the door was a young man. He really hadn't changed much. Still rugged in his look and stern. What was he doing in her house? She then realized that her mouth had been opened for some time. She hadn't seen him in 17 years and there he was standing in front of her out of no where. "David." She let out his name with a deep breath. "Hello, Marian. Long time, no see". The father of her child had come to her house. Things couldn't get more strange.

Rachael (4)

She woke up with a splitting headache. As she struggled to make out where she was, she could hear the sounds of birds. She raised herself up and sat up. The room was basically bare but neat. It was painted in sky blue and there was a table and chair opposite the bed with a small book shelf hanging on the wall with unevenly arranged books. The bed was quite soft and she knew she must have slept for a very long time. Where was this place? She stood up from the bed and tried opening the door. It was not locked. She saw that the passage was long with two doors on each side. She saw that the passage had a door at the end which was opened and she walked towards the opened door. It led to a small garden. She met Emmanuel seated on a wooden chair reading a book. It was quite dark but the security lights were on. The lights gave the beautiful flowers planted in the garden  a warm feel and made the garden more beautiful.


Had she been kidnapped? What was this man's interest in her that made him bring her into his home? She had so many questions to ask him. She moved to where he was seated and asked, "Why did you bring me here?". He looked up from his book and smiled. "Thank goodness, you decided to wake up. This is my house and I thought it was the safest place for you to lay low from whatever or whoever you are running from." "You are alone?" She asked with disbelief. A man his age ought to be married. "It depends on how you look at it. The fact that there are no visible people here now doesn't mean I am alone." He drew a chair to his side and tapped on it indicating she should sit, "Well, care to tell me what happened that made you start running like someone competing for a medal?" She sat and narrated the whole story to him. She felt weird and comfortable at the same time. Here she was in the middle of nowhere talking to a complete stranger. After narrating, she felt the urge to ask "How do you know my mother?" She hadn't forgotten about his admitting to knowing her mother. Strangely, she had never met him before, neither had he come to visit nor did she remember her mother mentioning him to her.

"Well, we should be talking about your safety first but I will tell you that your mother and I go a long way back. But it can be dated to when you were born. Your mother needed my help and I was there to assist. You look a lot like her. She speaks to me everyday about you. I know she cares about you a lot but you really don't care much". Rachael turned away from him and was quiet for awhile wondering how much her mother had told this strange man about her. She bet her mother told him how nasty she was and disobedient, complacent, unchristian and selfish. "My mother and I don't get along well because she always insists on my doing things her way. I am tired of being treated like a child." The man looked at her and smiled. "Then stop acting like one Rachael. You seem to think the world must revolve around you all the time. As much as you are looking out for your own interest doesn't mean your mother isn't. You just fail to see..." He looked up and looked back at her. "Rachael, God is also looking out for your own interest too. You are too self absorbed that you interpret the love others have for you as them being over bearing. Life is beyond the now dear Rachael. You know, your mother had you at eighteen?"

Rachael looked at him and it was as if the man was staring at her soul. She felt too open and she didn't like that at all. "I figured that out already. But that doesn't mean I will get pregnant at my age. I am doing all that is necessary to avoid that. I just don't want her judging me all the time. I am a woman already. I can make my own decisions." She suddenly felt exhausted talking with this man. It was like he was draining her. She felt a sharp pain below her abdomen. The running must be the cause of the pain. Emmanuel smiled. "Well, dear woman who can make decisions, this is where one of your wise decisions has brought you. Plus, you have made the same mistake your mother made. You are pregnant at eighteen." Rachael held her stomach, "What! How dare you insinuate such a thing! I have been very careful. Don't say such ever again. Are you a doctor? How can you conclude without necessary tests?" She was so angry now that she stood up. The man's calmness unnerved her. "You can call me a doctor, I won't deny it. You have been asleep for over six hours. I have helped quite a number of women who were somehow in your situation. Lets just say I know these things." Just then, Rachael remembered that her period was late by three weeks. She sat down slowly on the seat, her hand still clutching her stomach and her mouth open staring blankly at the fence. She was going to be a mother to the child of a killer who was out to kill her too.

Rachael... The story continues...(3)

She kept running and was so scared to look back. She had just witnessed a murder carried out by her boyfriend. She couldn't go home because that would be the first place they would look for her. All she wanted was to get far away from there and blot out every memory of what had just happened. She look the next turn by the left. It was quite a lonely road with bungalows separated by trees and small fences. She only saw a man jogging with his dog. She wondered if people stayed in the area. It was way too quiet.  She really hadn't come to this path before. She couldn't think clearly. She just kept running.

Eric sat down watching the lifeless body on his carpet. He was to pick Rachael up from Toyosi's house. What was wrong with that girl? She was full of surprises and had not envisioned that she would surprise him today of all the days for surprises. The room was quiet and he could read the minds of the boys. They wanted to know what he would do next. The option was to get Rachael to be quiet. Well, he could threaten her or he could kill her too. Threatening seemed like the best option but he didn't know if he could trust that she would keep quiet. His boys were watching him. He could not afford to show weakness. He had to do something. He had to make sure Rachael kept quiet. He walked out of the room. The boys began to wrap the dead body with a blanket.

A car pulled over and stopped her dead in her tracks. She was panting. She was afraid that Eric had caught up with her. As the door opened, she took to her heels again but the voice stopped her "Wait. Don't run. I want to help you". It sounded like an elderly man. She felt she knew the voice but she couldn't place where she had heard it from. She turned gently. There was something about him that caused her to feel more at ease. His face had a soft smile that just made her believe that everything was just ok. She heaved a sigh of relief but the comfort she felt just staring at the man made her uncomfortable. He looked like he was in his sixties but he stood so tall and attractively handsome. He wore a cream coloured senegalsese outfit that gave him more height. She shook her head out of her reverie when she remembered that Eric was after her. "I don't know you sir." She said glancing back and forth to watch if someone was on her tail.

"Rachael, I know you very much. In fact, I know you are running from someone and you need help. We need to go now". People spoke of angels but she usually laughed it off but as she looked at this man, she felt as though her guardian angel had appeared in the flesh. "Please sir, take me far from here, I am desperate. I don't know if I can trust you but right now, I seem not to have a choice..." She walked briskly to the car and opened the passenger's door and entered. The man slided in too and put on the ignition. As they drove off, she then realised that the man had called her by her name. "How do you know my name. We have never met." She asked though looking at the side mirrors to ensure there was no car following behind. "I know your mother and she is a good friend of mine. My name is Emmanuel." He knew her mother? That was just what she needed, A man to take her straight to her mother's fury. However, she feared for her mother. If Eric was as vicious as she had just witnessed, her mother would be in danger too. She and her mother had their problems but she would die if anything happened to her. "Don't worry, your mother will be fine." Emmanuel said with a smile. Now, this man began to scare her.

He could read her mind or was this man just weird? She was silent. Her heart was still racing. She stifled a yawn. She suddenly began to feel dizzy. Everything became hazy. "Please stop the car."But before she could hear a response, all she could see was blackness. Emmanuel accelerated. His work had only just begun.