Sacred Oaths

EPISODE 11: ONE STEP AHEAD.

#SACRED_OATHS

Author: Samuel Frederick

Episode 11: ONE STEP AHEAD.

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Gradually, seconds ticked to minutes, and minutes turned to hours, and—at long last—four o'clock came to my utmost relief. Mimi advised me to go ten minutes after the appointed time, just in case Boma also had something planned against me.

"Remember, if he tries anything stupid or you notice something fishy, don't hesitate to call me. I'll know what to do." Mimi said as I stepped out of the house.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Wish me luck!" I said, and we both hugged each other like blood sisters before I left.

In no time at all, I arrived at the popular Paloma district. It wasn't as fancy as I had hoped it would be, but it was quite remarkable. I took a table and ordered for a chilled bottle of Amstel Malta, frantically looking around and squinting my eyes from time to time in search of Boma, but to my dismay, he was nowhere in sight. I dialled my number again and it repeated the same thing, switched off. So I had no option but to wait.

Five minutes passed, and I was waiting. Ten minutes passed, and I was busy waiting. Fifteen minutes passed, and I was still waiting. I had been served by the waitress who took my order, finished the drink and even paid for it and gave her a tip, but Boma still hadn't turned up for our appointment.

Extremely fed up, I got up and I was about to leave when this slim, light-skinned lady walked up to me, smiling.

"I have paid." I said to her, mistaking her for one of the members of staff.

"Do I look like someone who works here to you?" She laughed. "Sit down."

"Excuse me?"

"Sit down." She repeated, and I sat back on the chair as instructed, albeit with some hesitation.

Then she sat too, and placed her bag on the table, as she crossed her legs.

Even though she was bossy and rude with the way she'd asked me to sit, I acknowledged her, since she looked quite older than me.

"Straight to business," she started speaking, keeping a straight face, "let me start by saying I'm Monica. Monica Thompson. And you are?"

"Fifi."

"Your full name please, if you don't mind."

"Fifi Whoanana."

"Oh! You are Ghanaian? I thought as much. That explains why you have this long curly afro. Is this your natural hair?" She asked, and I nodded, wondering why she was delaying me with her rather baseless interrogation.

"It looks cute. It's the exact look we need for a model." She said, touching my hair very gently, making me cringe. "And I'm thinking you can play that role well, Fifi. I've been watching you for a while from the corner where I was sitting. You have the body and the face, and your charisma compliments those wonderful attributes with sheer perfection. Let me recruit you."

"Thank you, but I'm not interested." I said and stood up right away to leave.

"You haven't even heard about the price."

I pretended not to hear her and continued walking away.

"Fifi!" Monica called out to me. "See this!"

Boiling with annoyance, I turned around sharply, only to see Monica drawing my phone out of her bag.

"Will you come now?"

I was petrified. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"How did you get that? It's mine!" I said, walking back to her. "That's my phone!"

"Sit down first." She smirked, knowing she'd gotten my attention. I sat back and watched with keen interest, particularly at my phone.

"First of all," Monica began, "I want you to know that everything I just said was a test. That's not even why I'm here. I only wanted to-"

"How did you get my phone? Give it back!" I interrupted, snatching my phone back from her.

"Well, let's just say I am well connected." She said, beaming a smile to me.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Okay, fine. I saw you cleaning that guy's wounds outside of the hall yesterday after the fight occurred. He seemed to be so free and relaxed around you that I started to see you both as lovers from where I sat. Is he your…"

"No!" I cut in quickly. "He's not my boyfriend. Just a friend."

"Are you sure?"

"What does that even mean?"

"Sorry, don't mind the question. So, as I was saying, after you left him and went back inside, he also left the hotel. I was passing by and somehow, I saw your phone right there under the chair you had sat upon. I picked it up and clicked it and your image appeared as the wallpaper, and that was how I knew that it's yours." She explained.

"It all makes sense now. But when I called later with my friend's phone, a man picked up instead. It was a man's voice I heard. Who was that?"

"Oh, that should be Big Tiny. He was the one I left it with when I went to ease myself."

"Big Tiny, is that someone's real name?" I laughed, amused.

"It's his nickname actually. He's tall and very slim, so we call him Big Tiny. But the bottom line is, we still haven't discussed what I actually came here for."

"I thought you wanted to recruit me as a model or something?" I asked, confused.

"No, that's not why I am here; I've already said that. Fifi, I need your help. We need you to help us."

"We?" I raised an eyebrow. "We, as in? Help you, how? I don't understand."

"Do you know the kind of people you move with—those guys? They are horrible people. Cultists. Murderers!"

"You mean Boma, Kingsley and Simon?"

"Yes, those three especially, they are the brain behind the group. If I were you, I would back off from them."

"But why? They don't seem to be bad in any way. They're all peaceful people, and I..."

"Will they tell you if they are?" She cut me off, and continued: "I work for a certain Senator whose name or identity I can't really disclose at the moment. We have an upcoming election and your friends are our only threat. It seems our rival party has been sponsoring them because they know that if your school votes for us with the number of students you have there, we are surely going to win. So, they're doing all they can to stop our progress, but we are always one step ahead of them. As it is, I'm afraid this is where your help comes in."

"Really? How? What do I do?"

"We want you to join our team. We have trailed and watched you for a while, and it seems like that Boma guy actually likes you. We could use that as an advantage, don't you think?"

"No, thank you. I don't want to be involved in any of this." I said and stood up, disgusted by her silly trickery.

"Fifi, the money involved is huge. You won't be disappointed."

"I said I'm not interested. Thank you." I said with finality and turned around to leave.

"Think about it, Fifi!" She called out to me. "We have our eyes on you. Always!"

Rolling my eyes, I hissed and made my way out of the restaurant.

The good part about this entire thing was that, I had everything that transpired between us, all recorded on Mimi's phone as planned.

"So she thinks she's one step ahead of everyone?" I mused to myself and scoffed. "She obviously hasn't met me yet. One step ahead my foot!!!"