Chapter 1

"Let's get out of here!" Ebaneck said, trying to shout above the music. It was a Petit Pays song. Asanga loved Petit Pays so she ignored what he said and pulled him closer so that they could dance some more. The club was full as usual because it was Saturday. Asanga loved dancing. Her bust pressed against Ebaneck's chest she said:

"Let's dance till they stop playing Petit Pays"

Ebaneck made a face that said he disagreed. "It is already 2 AM; you know you need to rest in order to be ready for service tomorrow right?"

Asanga smiled broadly showing an excellent set of white teeth and nodded but continued dancing. Her teeth were one of her strong points of beauty. She had a narrow head with broad eyes, a pointed nose, and well-formed lips, which she had generously covered with lipstick. She was wearing a shiny black blouse and black skintight jeans and high heel boots.

She was thirty-eight and unmarried and she was not looking to marry anymore. There had been a time when she had been interested in marriage. Back when she was still unemployed when she roamed the streets of Yaoundé looking for a job. She had graduated from UB with a degree in marketing having a second-class upper with a G.P.A of 3.59.

She was twenty-three when she graduated. She went immediately to Douala to see if she could get a job from one of the firms there. Willing to do whatever it took to land a high-paying job. That was where she met Thom the mulatto. Thom had all types of promises and plans to employ her but he had to sleep with her first. She had no problem with that as long as he could get her a good job.

When she told Thom that she had missed her period, she never saw him again. It seemed as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth. All his phone numbers stopped working. The baby was a girl that looked exactly like her. Asanga adored the child and abandoned Douala for Eyangnchang to stay with her grandmother in order to nurse the baby. She named her Emily.

When Emily was two, Asanga convinced her grandmother to stay with her while she made her way to the city. This time she came to Yaounde, saying that Douala had a lot of bad luck. However, her luck did not immediately change. She was determined not to get pregnant again so she got the implant in her arm.

Her looks always got men interested in her and after a year, she ran into Ejobi, an old classmate who told her about a party to launch a new product by his company. Ejobi said they had invited top officials of several companies and he thought it would be a good idea if Asanga came to the party.

It was at that party that she met Ebaneck. Ebaneck was the managing director of one of the mineral water Departments. He was forty-six and married with three kids. It was Ebaneck that got her the job as a marketer at one of the largest companies in Cameroon, Super Water. It was a subsidiary of a French company and Asanga's salary was just slightly over half a million francs.

Of course, the job did not come until Ebaneck slept with her and she had remained his unattached partner, meaning she was free to see whoever she wanted but never to refuse to have sex with him when he wanted. His wife was abroad so Asanga feared no evil from her.

Within three years that she started work, she bought a plot of land at Odza and built a three-bedroom flat. The next year she took Emily from her grandmother and brought her to live with her in Yaounde. She soon realized she could not have Emily with her and still see men as much as she liked so she moved Emily from the day school she was in – Morris International College to a boarding school – Baptist High School in Afanayor.

Ebaneck was a great guy. His square head and chiseled jaw made him one of the most handsome men Asanga had ever seen. He was heavily built, with about 85kg of pure muscle. She loved the hardness of his body. There were times she just lay with him on the bed to caress his six-pack.

Asanga would have loved to marry him if he was not already married. He had even suggested it a few times but her church background would not let her. She always said she could not bring herself happiness by causing another woman pain, so the most she could do was to share him with her while she was away.

As Asanga turned from twenty-something to thirty-something, she slowly let go of the idea of marriage and focused more on raising Emily and having a good life. Emily was now fifteen and becoming a woman herself. Asanga had tried everything to shield her away from her numerous male friends but Ebaneck was an exception. Emily had also taken to him and she was always excited when she heard that Uncle Ebaneck was coming to the house.

The DJ finally switched from Petit Pays to Koffi Olomide. Ebaneck looked at her to see if she would stop dancing. When she did not, he said

"Can we please get out of here?"

"Alright, let me get my jacket" she moved away from him and went to pick up the jacket from the couch. She looked at her watch, a small-faced Rolex she had bought in Dubai when she was on leave there. The hands of the watch said 3:35.

*

Outside, the air was cold. Ebaneck put his arm around her as they walked to her car. It was a red Nissan Qashqai. She pressed a button on the remote to unlock the car while they were still a short distance away.

"Will you drive or should I?" Ebaneck asked

Asanga did not answer but stretched out her hand so he could take the key. She hated driving when she was tired. The car had automatic transmission but she still preferred Ebaneck. Like herself, he had downed a good number of glasses of whiskey but she was sure he could handle it.

"Your place or mine?" Ebaneck asked as they got into the car

"Mine, I would like to be at the church tomorrow," Asanga said and stifled a yawn. "I would not have enough clothes at your place"

"When does the service start?"

"Nine, it's the second service. The first is too early for me. Even the one at nine…I will probably make it there by ten"

Ebaneck turned the key and the car came to life. The street was empty so he quickly reversed the car out of the parking space and sped away toward Odza. Asanga touched the screen of the car's music player and a Charlotte Dipanda song came on. She put the volume on low and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth that came from the car seat.

Ebaneck was tipsy but not beyond what he could handle. He made the car speed and swerve as he made it move on the rough tarmac.

"Take it easy, sir," Asanga said, her voice laden with sleep. She knew Ebaneck was a good driver but she said it anyway just to tease him. They got to the road that leads from Olezoa to Mvan. It was a straight stretch of road and the tarmac was not as rough as the other parts. The whole city of Yaounde was asleep except for a few cars, mostly taxis that moved around.

Ebaneck put the car in gear four and pressed the accelerator. The car lurched forward like a jet preparing for take-off. Asanga felt the increase in speed and opened her eyes to check whether Ebaneck was still awake.

"The engine is in excellent state," Ebaneck said

"Yeah, I just tuned it a few days ago. I hate when my car has the slightest problem" Asanga replied

Ebaneck chuckled. "How long have you had this car?"

"Five years I think. Why do you ask?"

"You should be thinking of getting a more recent model or a different car altogether."

"You think this is America?" Asanga asked playfully "I don't have money"

Ebaneck laughed aloud. "I can never understand women. How much money are you supposed to have before you admit you have money?"

Asanga shrugged and slumped lower in her seat. "I don't have the money"

"Even with this new appointment of yours? The regional head of Super Water's marketing department?"

Asanga burst into laughter. Ebaneck looked at her and burst out laughing as well.

Suddenly the headlights of the car caught someone dressed in a white flowing gown standing in the middle of the road.

"Watch out!" Asanga screamed. Ebaneck's foot pressed the brakes and he spun the steering wheel to the right in a bid to avoid hitting whoever it was that was crazy enough to stand in the middle of the road at such a late hour. He was too slow. The car was at such a high speed that it could not miss the person in white. It knocked the person down and ran over them before Ebaneck could finally bring it to a halt.

They both turned and looked through the rear windscreen. The person lay on the ground. Asanga could already see blood.

"Do you think…?" Asanga wanted to ask if the person was dead but could not bring herself to say the words. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would explode.

"Stay here let me go and check" Ebaneck managed to speak. He realized his throat and lips were dry. His hands were trembling but he managed to open the car door and step out. He looked up and down the road. There was no one in sight. He walked quickly towards the body. Asanga got out of the car and followed with dread.

The person was a woman, and she was not wearing a flowing gown, it was a white bedsheet, which was now splattered with her blood.

"Oh God!" Asanga said repeatedly with tears streaming from her eyes. She had never been near a corpse. She had never seen so much blood in one place. She had never…

Her stomach churned and she felt a wave of nausea hit her. She turned to the nearby grass and threw everything out. Ebaneck winced as he looked at the woman's face and realized blood and torn flesh had totally marred it.

"Bloody hell," he said under his breath. He cast a glance at Asanga. She had stopped vomiting and was trying to regain her breath.

"Come on let's go before someone finds us here," Ebaneck said, walking over to where she was and grabbing her hand.

"What? We can't just leave her here," Asanga said wiping her lips with the back of her hand.

"Come on let's get out of here. Unless you want to spend the rest of your life in prison"

"Oh God," she followed Ebaneck to the car but before they could reach it, the woman moved and stretched out a mangled hand towards them.

"Priscilla! Priscilla"

Asanga froze in her tracks as she heard her name. The woman's voice was cracked and pained, probably from a crushed lung or voice box or both but Asanga was sure the woman had called her name. She turned to go back but Ebaneck pulled her hand.

"Let's go. Come on," he cried

"But she called my name." Asanga protested trying to pull her hand away and go back to the woman's aid.

"What? No, she did not, come on" Ebaneck said and pulled her to the car.

The engine roared to life immediately after Ebaneck turned the key. Asanga felt a lump stuck in her throat as the car drove away. She was looking at the woman through the rear windscreen.

"Priscilla, Priscilla!"