The Adjacent: Episode 2

Nikky was trying hard to sleep but the sleep wasn’t coming through. Yemi wasn’t home yet, it truly bothered her. It was a few minutes after midnight. It was totally cool that Yemi’s room in the hostel is the most conducive in the whole university.

With Yemi being a brute short cultist, a lot of people found it very disturbing that a beautiful student like Nikky could date an ugly short boy such as Yemi. Nikky loved a man in control, a man who wielded power, he had his own entourage with him round the clock, Yemi had always been seen as a dangerous boy. He was always on the squad who went to fight; he knew how to handle a gun. He was a genius at the disruption of activities; harassing members of other cults was his favorite hobby. Irrespective of the amount of opposition he had, Yemi would never stand down. He would rant like a typical Yoruba boy, and fight tooth and nail. If you defeat Yemi in a fight, all hell will be let loose, if Yemi defeats you, it’s a different ball game entirely.

Yemi was nothing short of trouble promoter; the love story of Yemi & Nikky started at a restaurant when some boys from other cult were harassing her over her refusal to date one of their members. The usual gimmick of intimidating people into dating them wasn’t working on Nikky. That particular day’s attempt was way off; it had turned intoa screaming match. Being a strong willed person, Nikky refused to be ordered into anything just because they look and portrayed dangerous.

They were yelling at each other in the fast food, Nikky wouldn’t back down despite the fact she knew they were cult boys. Yemi was turned on by her aggressiveness, her stubbornness and her guts never to be forced into any situation. Yemi was eating with his entourage, some tables away from where the boys were harassing Nikky. He had been eavesdropping all the while,he then asked his entourage to follow him.

Yemi walked briskly over to Nikky’s table, Nikky was also with a friend who was scared out of her mind, she was mute throughout the whole event. Yemi got to the table and tapped the guy who looked like the head of the sting operation on the shoulder, he looked back. Fully aware of how the events of that day could end. The guy kept mute, and listened to what Yemi had to say.

Yemi put in a simple gesture what he wanted them to do, the cult boys disturbing Nikky understood the situation which is simply put in a proverb that says “He who fights and leaves lives to fight another day”. Yemi pointed to the door, making a hand gesture for them to simply run along. The guy behind the leader of the sting operation who was a newcomer in the school’s cult arena tried to pull out a gun from the waist of his jeans against Yemi but the leader felt the movement of his boy’s hand behind, stopped him and they all moved out of the fast food shamefully with their tails between their legs.

Nikky knew who Yemi was, everyone in school knew who the Devil in the school was…simply put…Yemi Blacky

That was how it started; it moved away from the story of how a revered cultist fell in love a tall sexy half-caste hot chic. They became an item; they seemed so happy together in what looked like a classic case of Beauty and the Beast. Yemi was strikingly ugly while Nikky was unbelievably beautiful;

Students spent time trying to understand how Yemi and Nikky could ever date. Yemi’s face was like that of a lion, very brute looking and intimidating despite his lack of a tall frame.

Plainly put, there was nothing good about Yemi, he had axed people who opposed him in school, he goes to other campuses to execute people for his cult, a formidable hitman Yemi is. He performs the harshest initiation ceremony for new recruits for his cult.

People could just never see any good in Yemi, this was something only Nikky could.

Nikky brought herself back into reality as her blackberry phone started beeping; she heard the sound of a new bbm message. She was praying and hoping that it was a message from Yemi. She grabbed the phone on the reading table, threw herself on the bed, she had only her bra and pant on, they had scheduled a romantic night, Yemi should have been home since 7:30. She scrolled to her bbm and found out it was some broadcast message from one of her classmate. She cleared the chat and proceeded to delete the person off her phone.

As she was done with her phone, she heard footsteps on her floor, and then a knock of the door, Yemi had codes he used to knock that would alert Nikky of any looming danger. If he knocks 3 times hard consecutively then a soft one, then it means there is danger. She knew the drill, get the gun from WC in the bathroom. The no-harm knock was just simple calm knock twice on the door.

Yemi’s knock that night was calm, Nikky rushed to the door, she opened the door, Yemi came in, he was looking tired and smelt badly of petrol, he was also carrying a little bag. Yemi dropped the cross-bag , took everything off all his clothes and walked naked into the shower to freshen up.

Yemi never hid anything away from Nikky, she knew he was one of the most dangerous guys in school; the title gave him reverence and also made him a handful load of enemies as well..

Nikky guessed it was a gun inside, usually that’s about the only thing Yemi carries in his bag. She opened the bag to find loads of cash in it. Nikky wasn’t new to money, she had seen such heavy cash before but it was from her father’s room. Nikky scanned the bag and guessed the cash in the bag would have been about 1.5 million to 2million Naira. She was indifferent about it; she just wanted to know how he got the money.

Yemi came out of the shower, still looking tired, the first thing Nikky wanted to do was nag him about forgetting about their romantic night but she opted for how he got that kind of money. Yemi wasn’t a thief, he didn’t steal, she was aware that if he was into any such practice she would have noticed it.

He wanted to sleep but the sight of her in just her underwear was turning him on. They had sex like rabbits in as much as one of them was in the mood, the both of them were. Nobody dared to interrupt them. She was under the silky sheets when he came to her, she was smelling fresh and very edible. He snuck up to her to sniff her neck, planting a nice trail of kissing from her neck to her lips. He was running his hands on her belly, gently trying to take off the straps of the red lacy bra when she stopped him in a gentle and firm way; she asked him “Where did you get the money?”

No man ever likes to be interrupted when he’s trying to get his groove on, and at this point, Yemi had to give her answers.

Yemi replied in calm voice “Are you saying I’m not old enough to have that kind of money”

Yemi thought to himself, how fearful he was to everyone, yet Nikky could talk to him anyhow in the bedroom. How Ironic.

Nikky laughed hysterically, looking into his ugly face but all she could see was kindness, she continued

“Why are you answering my question with a question?” She continued

“I am serious about this, you need to tell me”

“Remember Tosin, my cousin, he told me about this cool business, he wanted boys with balls for a business transaction, so he asked me” Yemi answered

Nikky replied sarcastically “That information was very helpful only that you didn’t tell me what the business transaction was about”

Yemi smiled “We went to vandalize some NNPC pipeline, stole petrol and delivered it to one Chief like that”

Nikky was not sure of how to reply him; she was still processing the information that Yemi had a new department in his terror kingdom.

She replied “Well, I don’t know how to respond to this just yet.”

She turned away from him and backed him, slept off. He knew he wasn’t getting any tonight, so he dipped his hands into his boxers, gave himself handjob, and slept off after.

Nikky woke him with a blow-job in the early hours of the morning, he thought he was dreaming until he woke up and saw Nikky sucking his dick and balls like her life depended on it.

His dick was starting to jerk uncontrollably in Nikky’s mouth; he began rubbing her hair with his hand, pushing her head down into his dick. All the pressure of the world was on his dick, he was about to pump his load into her mouth, when she stopped, she knew he was cumming; he was trying to enjoy his orgasm when she stopped abruptly.

Yemi was about to lose his mind when she sat straight and told him that she would like to join him in  his new hobby of stealing Petrol from the NNPC pipeline.

What? Yemi said silently, angry that he lost the excitement of an orgasm. She broke out into laughter but Yemi was still keeping a straight face with a boner.

She resumed back to the head and that’s how their business relationship started.

They made loads of money together, beyond school, they graduated from school, served the government in NYSC,  still did their business.

A couple of years down the line, Yemi got killed by a JTF raid when they were stealing the fuel, from there on, She inherited the business, the boys still agreed to work with her if she would keep the bargain Yemi had with them.

Nikky was sitting at the open view of Marquee at the rooftop of the Mega plaza, enjoying the scenery of the Victoria Island, waiting on her meeting with Lana.

This was their first official meeting after their little chat in front of Rehab the other night.

Lana will be shocked when she tells me what exactly she’s hoping to offer him.

Lana walked into Marquee, through the bar into door to open loft. Nikky was wearing jeans with buttoned down shirt leaving 2 buttons at the top open, revealing over cream looking boobs cleavage. Her boobs looked enticing, Lana told himself.

Nikky stood up to welcome Lana,

“Good Evening Lana “Nikky started

Lana looked into the Victoria Island skyline, it was few minutes after 6, the sun was about retreating for the day. He smiled to himself and sat down.

“Good evening Nikky “ Lana replied

After their brief encounter at the club, Nikky had asked him to drop her at Eko Hotel, they didn’t speak much inside the car, rather they exchanged phone numbers and Nikky fixed this evening’s meeting.

Lana been a womanizer that he is, couldn’t help but look at her. He was even imagining unwrapping the twins and holding them, imagining how red her nipples would be.

Nikky cleared her throat, the little noise brought Lana back to reality. She continued

“I need to apologize to you”

Lana was a bit confused as to why she was apologizing to him.

“Apologize for what exactly?” Lana replied adjusting his sitting position, crossing his legs over eachotherr.

“The information I gave you about Alhaji Hassim isn’t all correct” She responded

Lana adjusted himself into his seat, ready to find out which information was true and which wasn’t. Everything he had dreamt about for a couple of years seem to be coming through. One of the outputs of this meeting he was expecting was when he would meet the man behind the myth.

Nikky continued, “Alhaji Hassim wants to see you but then, so does he want to see another 15 upcoming oil bunkers”

Lana was lost; he thought this was the opportunity he had been looking for.

“So, what is the purpose of this meeting then, I dint know am been interviewed with others” Lana inquired impatiently

Nikky replied, “Have you heard of Rooney?”

Lana replied “Obviously you are not referring to the footballer, I’m not sure I have”

Nikky laughed and replied “Definitely not the footballer, Rooney is the nickname of Alhaji’s boys, looks like a black Rooney, a very successful bunker. He has been snapped up by JTF but Alhaji has arranged for him to be assasinated while in custody.”

Lana replied “Still don’t understand why you need me in this state of things, if Alhaji wants to replace Rooney, he will choose one person so, it’s either me or you”

Nikky replied “That’s the tricky part, he wants to recruit 2 people instead of the usual one, he’s got something up his sleeves.”

Lana replied, “Okay, so why do you want me?”

Nikky replied “I like your greed, heard you lifted about 8 trucks some nights ago which is way off your normal limit”

Lana replied, “How did you know that”

Nikky replied, “I am with Alhaji Hassim, we know about everything, we’ve got people everywhere. If Alhaji says you wouldn’t sell your loot, no one will buy from you.

The good thing is Alhaji likes small startups like yours; you’re full of potential and willing to do whatever it takes to make it work out.

He has sent me to scout for him a couple of times, he sends Karim on most of his evil espionages”

Lana was a little bit offended when Nikky called his business small time, he supplied petrol to Petrol stations, he’s got people at NNPC on his payroll. But he couldn’t get too mad at Nikky for calling his business small time because rumor has it that Alhaji Hassim supplies some African countries from his loot.

Nikky continued “I have been monitoring your business, it’s quite impressive what you’ve done with it but the problem is about your partners.”

Lana inquired “What about them?”

Nikky took a sip of her drink, crossed her left leg over her right, and continued “Kelechi and Chike have been in talks with Karim”

Lana got irritated and felt betrayed because they were partners, if not for anything. They should be strong, be together, and not hope to expand the business without him.

They share the money equally, he was pissed about been left out for the meeting with Karim.

He replied “What the Heck?”

“We talk about everything,” he continued

Nikky interrupted him, with a stern look, and said “Moving on, the worst part of it is that they need to get rid of you, they seem to think you’re the weakest of the group”

“The situation now is that we need to move quickly over them and become the new recruits of Alhaji.” She concluded.

“We need to become the only competition” Nikky gave a subtle hint that Kelechi and Seyi needed to be executed.

Lana swallowed hard, he was a playboy, loved life but he wasn’t sure he wanted to add murder to the list of horrible things he had done.

Chike checked himself out of the hospital, went home, took a long bath and stared blankly at the TV which was tuned to CNN.

He was totally lost in thought, this wasn’t the first time people had tried to kill him, neither will it be the last but what he couldn’t get off his mind was who it is this time around.

He had issues with some soldiers who went rogue during peace-keeping, he asked them to be dismissed and disgraced publicly but they knew better than to try to assassinate him. He had rumors that they had become Soldiers of Fortune.

The assignment file he was given had been stained with blood as he tried to retrieve it before FRSC/Police came in to confiscate the car.

They wanted to blame him for the accident until they saw the guys on the floor with guns and masks on their faces.

Chike got off the couch, slipped into his casual shoe and headed out to JTF office to see the commanding officer, Colonel Weyinmi.

—

Colonel Weyinmi is of average height, a little bit thick in stature; he cut his professional teeth with Internal Affairs in Darfur. He has been sent into some of the most troublesome terror areas, and had been able to calm the area; he was a first class soldier during his days of battle, now the head of special division with the JTF. He was also redrafted from the Army just as Chike was.

Like every successful leader, he had trustworthy lieutenants, the Colonel trusted his people and when the new assignment of JTF came up, there was only one credible soldier in mind, Chike Onihevo.

Colonel was just getting back to the JTF office after a joint session with the President and some of his cabinet staff. The President wanted to know what the decisive step is been taken about reducing the scourge to the barest minimum.

The President had complained long about the Alhaji Hassim myth. He asked Colonel Weyinmi quite sternly if was true that the man existed.

Colonel Weyinmi admitted there might be some form of truth in the myth but they needed more time to go over all the angles as well as initiate a fresh investigation.

Colonel Weyinmi knew for sure that the Villain Alhaji Hassim existed but that wasn’t gonna come out of his mouth to the president.

He was walking down to his office, in the crowded office space of the JTF, he saw some officers debating about the Boko Haram charade and thought to himself, I have a brilliant way for eliminating them.

He couldn’t disclose to them because he had his own priorities as well.

Femi and Chuks were already waiting for the Colonel in his office. He came in and silently ignored their greeting.

Moving into the item of the day, he began “The President wants something solid about Alhaji Hassim”

He made his way to his seat at the other side of the crowded table top and rested his hands firmly on the table.

Femi gave an idea, and replied “We can look into files, the JTF had previously about him. There is a possibility we might find something interesting”

Colonel fired back “Might?? I don’t like might; I want something more constructive, something more concrete. I think we need to open up a fresh file and stop looking into some corrupt file. I have told the President that this whole JTF has been sabotaged. I don’t think any information here is going to help anybody. I can safely tell you that one.”

Chike joined the conversation as he strolled into the Colonel’s office; he gave a salute to the Colonel while Femi and Chuks rose up and gives him a salute as well. He nodded to their gesture.

He wasn’t interested in subordinate protocol; he continued “I agree with the Colonel, we need to start our own investigation because I can’t think of how I would be attacked by some form of exotic militia with Sniper rifle as well”

Colonel asked Chike “How do we proceed?”

Chike continued “The file you asked them to deliver to me, there is a Lana Reis in there, we should tail him for a while, study his movement, look into his setup, we should have something from there”

Colonel replied to Chike “Thank you, Captain Obvious”

Femi and Chuks wanted to laugh but they couldn’t, the Colonel was a dry humor specialist.

Colonel continued “I need you to be more than investigative, you need to super on this one”

“I have another meeting with the President in a few weeks, we need to have something a lot more concrete, we have excelled in other regions of the Africa, we need to put in all we’ve got into this “

Colonel said.

Chike settled into the couch behind the 2 visitors chair in front of the Colonel’s table.

“You all have a flight to Lagos by 4pm, transport will pick you up at the airport, settle in and start monitoring Lana Reis, he might be our only hope for getting the fresh investigation up.” Colonel concluded.

—

Emmanuel was an assassin; he was fat and super sloppy. He wasn’t your regular assassin, not the one with the different types of guns as toys, he was an accident expert. His works were always untraceable. He looks so disgusting and ugly, also a loud mouth.

One of his finest works was when he killed a politician by mixing up his tablets with a cyanide pill, clean and smooth execution and with Nigeria, that autopsy isn’t legalized. No one will be able to find out how he died, some will feel the politician had epilepsy as he foamed to death.

He was also rumored to have killed a man by infiltrating his home as a cleaner and neatly strangling life out of him with the tube of the drip attached to his body.

The tales of how he kills is the silent corridors of people who need his services.

Nikky was dialing Emmanuel’s number, he was highly needed in this new assignment, foul play shouldn’t be assumed in the murder of Femi and Chuks. Lana mustn’t be suspected despite how impossible it was.

Emmanuel was having his lunch at White House in Sabo, battling with a bowl of assorted meat with a small amount of Pounded yam in another container.

He was talking while eating, people were greeting him. It was Thursday afternoon; he was dressed in expensive light blue Ankara material. The Assorted meat almost stained his cloth as he tried to pick a call.

He dug his other hand into the chest pocket of the attire, his phone was blaring Wande Coal’s Ghana freestyle.

Emmanuel couldn’t identify the caller ID. He put it back on the table muttering silent insults at people hiding their number to make calls, he alone was sitting at a table due to his body mass.

The Phone started ringing again for the second time, which he picked, he heard

“Hello Emmanuel” He immediately identified NIkky’s voice.

He replied, “Long time, anything for the boys?

—