TRAPPED...Part 20.

I banged repeatedly on my door. Nkechi opened the door, alarmed. I quickly entered the living room, bolting the door behind me.

"Stella, wetin happen?"

I walked straight into the bedroom. Vicky was sleeping on the bed. I stood in front of the mirror and sighed deeply. My lipstick was gone and my hair, dishevelled. I closed my eyes in a bid to shut out the memories of that afternoon. Nkechi's voice startled me.

"Stella, what is wrong?"

She was standing at the door, arms akimbo with a worried look on her face.

I looked persistently at her trying to find my voice. Tears welled up in my eyes. She came and hugged me. I sobbed freely on her shoulders.

"AK is a bloody rapist!" It came from somewhere deep and dark, with so much venom.

"What?!" Nkechi pulled away in shock, looking at me disbelievingly.

I merely shook my head. 

"He almost raped me today. I was lucky to have escaped." By the time I finished narrating to her what transpired, she was fuming.

"You would have grabbed his testicles with your hands and crushed them! Bloody idiot!" I sank into the bed, lost in thoughts.

"The way he went about it, he must have done it to many unsuspecting girls before."

"Why are no girls coming forward to make reports? Eh? Why is he still leading the choir every Sunday with a heart as black as the Devil's?"she asked, looking at me.

I gave her a blank stare. 

I finally spoke up. "Fear and shame. His victims would be too afraid and too ashamed to come forward. As he held me down, I felt powerless and subhuman. The society sees the rape victim as weak. As if she brought it upon herself. Yet, her only 'crime' was to trust an animal. Most rapists are people we trust. Boyfriends. Uncles. Fathers. Some stranger we helped. And to think this was someone I was already falling in love with..." My voice trailed off. My eyes were moist again. Nkechi hugged me.

"Nkay, I am tired," I said, amidst tears. "I am tired of loving and getting my heart broken. I am tired of men and their wahala."

"Babe, don't worry, inugo? Don't allow your bad experiences discourage you from loving again. God will send you a good man. The man of your dreams."

"When?" I asked her. "When I am old with grey hairs?"

She smiled. "Relax joor! You will meet your man soon. Very soon."

I tried to smile. She quickly changed the topic.

"You said Dan's wedding is on Saturday. Will you be going?"

I let out a sigh. "I have not made up my mind yet."

She looked at me suspiciously. "Do you still have feelings for him?"

"I think so," I said, looking away. Vicky stirred in her sleep. "But it does not matter anymore. He will be getting married in six days." I stared blankly into space.

"Did you let him know of your feelings for him?"

"There was no need. He already had a girl he was planning to marry. I even encouraged him to  go ahead with the engagement."

Nkechi shook her head in disbelief. "You mean you literarily pushed your man into the arms of another woman? Eh? Now, he is about marrying her and here you are, roasting with your feelings. Babe, you don fall my hand finish." She gave a prolonged hiss.

"It was not exactly like that. He was already dating Bola before we reunited. And there were other issues..." I stopped myself. I was yet to tell Nkechi my HIV status.

"Whatever!" she dismissed me with a wave of the hand. "It is not compulsory to go for the wedding. If you don't feel up to it, don't go."

"Dan has been a wonderful friend. He gave me the invitation personally. I think I owe it to him to attend." I heard my phone ring.

I gazed at the screen for some time, trying to decide whether to pick the call or not. The ringing stopped. Seconds later, it started ringing again.

"Who is it?"Nkechi asked.

"Bola. Dan's fiancee."I said, still undecided.

"Why is she calling?"

"There is only one way to find out." I picked the call.

"Hello, Stella. How are you?" I sensed anxiety in her voice.

"I am good." I was in no mood for chit chat.

"I was calling to know if Dan slept over at your place."

I did not know what to make of the question. I sat up straight and swallowed hard. Nkechi gave me a queried look.

"No. He has not visited me in weeks. Why were you asking?"

I could hear her sigh at her end. 

"He did not come home yesterday. And his line has not been going through. He was on call at the hospital on Friday night and one of his colleague saw him leave for home on Saturday morning. I have not seen him since and we had many places to go that yesterday..."

"Have you called Old Major? Maybe he went home to see his father..." I scratched my head in deep thought.

"Hmmm. He was the first person I called. He said he has not seen him. He said Dan promised to come by later that evening to see him."

"That is quite unlike Dan. He usually calls if there were change of plans..."

She cut in quickly. "Do you know anywhere else he might be? Old friends? Colleagues?" She sounded jittery.

I thought hard. Only Ugo, Tolu's husband came to mind. But Dan has not talked about him in ages. And I did not have his contact.

"No,"I said. She gave another deflated sigh. 

"Bola, Dan is a responsible man. I am sure he will come back home." I tried to sound reassuring.

"Ok, ok. Bye." The was a click from her end as the line went dead.

"What was that about?" Nkechi asked. 

Vicky had opened her eyes and taken her right thumb into her mouth, sucking noisily. I gave her a soft slap on the back and she quickly removed it. She stopped short of crying. I stroked her braids with my left hand and quickly scrolled my phone's address book for Dan's number. I dialed. Not reachable.

"Dan. He did not return home yesterday. His line has not been going through. He is not at his father's. She was calling to know if he was here."

Nkechi shook her head. "Men!" she said. "Maybe he went somewhere to clear his head. Wedding preparations can be so stressful. Or maybe he went to have 'the last supper' with any of his girlfriends." She laughed mischievously. 

"Dan is not like that, joor!" I said, smiling. "If he had any girlfriend, that would be me." I rolled my eyes. Nkechi rocked back and forth in laughter.

"Little wonder Bola called you. Madam girlfriend!" I glared at her in feigned annoyance.

For the next one hour, I sat patiently on the bed, dialing Dan's number repeatedly. Same response. Not reachable. I later rose and went to the kitchen to prepare lunch, taking my phone with me. As I set Vicky's food on the dining table, I dialed the number again. Surprisingly, it rang. "Nkechi, it is ringing!" I shouted. Nkechi ran into the living room, Vicky in tow. I listened with bated breath as it continued ringing. At the end, it stopped. No one picked. 

I dialed again and put the phone on loudspeaker. It rang and rang. No one picked. I dialed for the third time and was shocked. The line has been switched off. I dialed again. Same response. Switched off.

"Something is wrong," I said, worried.

"Maybe someone stole his phone," Nkechi said.

"What if something has happened to him? What if he had an accident?" I was pacing the room trying to rid myself of the negative 'what if' scenarios playing out in my head. I called Bola to inform her of the recent development. We agreed to meet at Old Major's place in an hour.

I took the longer route to Old Major's house. I went through Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, where Dan worked. I searched the road for any car wreckage and scrutinised any black Toyota Corolla I saw. I asked the bus driver if he knew of any accident that happened on that road. He shook his head and gave me a strange look. At the gate, Abdul noticed my worried expression.

"Have you seen Dan?" I asked him, as he opened the gate.

"No Mah," he replied. "Oga Major has been worried. Walahi!"

Bola was seated in the living room when I entered. Old Major was on the long sofa and smiled weakly on seeing me.

"Bola said you told her the phone rang." He sounded worried.

I hugged him and sat beside him. "Papa relax. Dan will come home. Maybe his phone was stolen." I tried to sound positive. 

I chatted with Bola briefly about the wedding preparations and took the opportunity to ask Old Major about Dan's mother.

"Ah, Olamma." He closed his eyes for a moment, scratching his head.

"She was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. We got married two months before the war broke out. She was a good woman. Very good." 

He continued. "But she usually had these terrible mood swings. At some points, she will be withdrawn, losing interest in everything. She would occasionally lash out at me in anger. I understood it was her moods. Most of the time, however, she was kind and very caring. She had a very good sense of humor." Bola and I listened intently.

"Some people said she was possessed by the Ogbanje spirit. I never believed any of those rubbish stories. One day, I think Dan was five years old at that time, I came back from the shop and met the whole house locked. My children were outside at the verandah, still in their school uniforms. They had not seen their mother. I opened the door to behold the shock of my life. Olamma's body was hanging lifeless from the ceiling fan. On the table was a piece of paper with one word on it. Goodbye. Till today, I cannot understand why she did it."

The room was silent. I shook my head sadly and wondered what could make someone take her own life. We listened to the chiming of the clock, our anxiety rising with each passing minute. We waited for our phones to ring. No calls came. We listened for the swinging of the gates and Dan's car driving in. We heard nothing. I dialed Dan's number from time to time, but it was still switched off. By 10.15pm, my phone rang. Everyone sat up. I looked at the screen and gave a disappointed sigh. It was Nkechi asking me if Dan had returned and if I was coming back that night. I answered in the negative. 

By midnight, we were pacing the living room, worried sick. Our anxiety had given way to worry. Our worries had matured into fear. Our eyes confirmed what our minds have been struggling to accept. Dan was missing.

© Kelvin Alaneme, 2015.

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