Chapter 35

The D.P.O. turned to look at the Corporal now who was still in the cells' corridor then he called aloud: "Corporal!"

"Yes sir!" Answered the Corporal, returning to the counter.

"You can release all of them on a bail of five thousand naira each but the manager's bail should be times ten of that." Said the D.P.O.

"Yes sir!"

"Erm... there's a lady I saw among them... she's on low cut and her hair is dyed gold, bring her to my office immediately."

"Yes sir!"

The D.P.O. nodded, pulled the hem of his uniform shirt down to adjust it over his still-growing paunch then without another word, he returned to his office, anticipating the arrival of the stripper he had noticed. He liked women with large behinds and he wanted to have his fun for free and probably release this particular one without bail because her only means of bail would be by giving him a quickie in his office.

Three minutes later, there was a knock on his door and the Corporal led Doris into the D.P.O.'s office.

"Here she is sir." Said the Corporal.

"Alright, you can go." The D.P.O said as his eyes began to lustfully admire Doris' body. After the Corporal left, the D.P.O began with a leering smile. "Beautiful girl... what's your name?"

"Doris, sir." She politely answered.

"Come, let me show you something." He told her, pointing down at his body. "I saw you and I said to myself: and this girl is very beautiful o... She's not supposed to be here at all. So, with my very good heart, I have decided to help you out. Come on, come and see what I've for you." He urged her and when she hesitantly approached him, she realized that his uniform pants was unbuttoned and unzipped and his stubby erect dick with a condom already worn on it and it was already twitching for some attention and putting on a look of dread, Doris slowly began to shake her head in refusal.

"What?" The D.P.O. asked now.

"I can't do what you want me to do sir." She answered.

"Why not? Why are you acting like a child? I thought you are already a pro in this business."

Doris who had imitated Violet by refusing to sleep with the patrons pleaded now: "Sir please, I beg of you. I can't do it. Give me any other work. If you want me to clean your office or sweep the entire police station, I'll do so sir, but not this one that you are asking of me. I simply can't sir."

"Ahan..." A displeased smile creased the D.P.O.'s face now. "Are you not an ashewo? Why are you forming Virgin Mary in my office? You have been sleeping around with different men since and now that it has gotten to my turn to eat the national cake, you are telling me that you will sweep the whole Police station instead. What kind of nonsense is this? Did I tell you that we don't have a cleaner?"

"Sir, please try and understand. I'm a stripper and not a prostitute. Sleeping with men is a thing of the past!"

"Oh, you want to retire?! You want to retire now that it's my turn ko?! And besides, what's the difference between a stripper and a prostitute?! Are they not the same thing? Is it not the same profession?! My friend, it's like you want to be unfortunate ko? You want to spend the rest of your life in jail, ko?! If you know what is good for you, just come and sit down on it so that you can leave this police station, if not, I'll make sure you rot here. You should be even happy that I selected you out of so many beautiful girls out there and here you are forming."

"Sir, please, sir..." Doris briefly bent her knees. "I can't do it, sir, I just can't do it."

"It's like you don't realize who you are saying no to." The D.P.O. angrily said, rising out of his chair then walking around his desk to seize her by the arm. "After you are done satisfying me, if you still want to sweep the whole Police station, that's your business but sai na ci abunnan yau! (I must eat this thing today!)"

"Ka yi hakuri don Allah... (Please sir, I'm begging you with God.) Please don't do this sir." Doris pleaded and tried to resist as the D.P.O. continued to hold on to his extra-large uniform pants with one hand while he dragged her to an old couch after locking the door. 

Forcing her to sit down on the couch since he knew that his big stomach would pose a problem of penetrating her in missionary style, he forcefully took off her costume, got down on his knees in front of her, dragged her buttocks to the edge of the couch, spread her legs far apart, and penetrated her while she wept and continued to plead but all her pleas fell on deaf ears as the fat man focused on sating his immediate sexual needs.

                                                                                 ★★★

By the time Stephen finished eating and consuming sixty percent of the bread and all of the sardine, the rain was already pouring heavily outside and from the breeze that kept flowing into his apartment, he could tell that it was a cold downpour. Feeling full and satisfied even though he still craved well-cooked food, he got up with his empty plate and empty tin of sardine placed in it and walked into the kitchen. When he got to the kitchen, he tossed the empty tin of sardine into the wastebasket which was almost full with junk food containers and wraps, then he placed the plate in the sink.

As he was about to walk out of the kitchen, he noticed that rainwater was pouring in through the small kitchen window and was beginning to create a dirty mess on the floor. He strode to the window and was about sliding it shut when he noticed someone sitting outside in the rain. Who the hell in his or her right senses would sit in a rain this cold? 

He asked himself and when he craned his neck forward to take a closer look with several droplets of cold water splashing on his face, he was shocked when he realized that it was no other person but Violet! She was still here?! He couldn't believe his eyes. It was almost an hour now since he kicked her out of his apartment and he had thought that she had left a long time ago! 

He took a look at her again and realized that she was seated on an abandoned empty crate of soda under one of the trees bordering the front of his block and the branches did little to prevent the rain from thrashing her with the willing help of the wild wind who directed the cold downpour towards her without pity. She was completely drenched and she had her arms wrapped around her body as she helplessly trembled from the cold.

Sliding the window shut, Stephen hurried out of the kitchen into the living room and yanked the front door open. "Hey!" He called as he stood under the protection of the eaves to prevent the rain from reaching him. But from her lack of response, he assumed that she obviously didn't hear him because of the noisy wind and rain. 

"HEY!" He called now in a louder voice and she slowly turned her head to fix a glare at him as her lips which had almost gone pale from the cold quivered. Rainwater cascaded down her face and dripped from her chin onto her laps and she looked like she might die if she stayed out in the weather any longer.

"Why the hell are you sitting out there?!" He asked but she shot him a death stare but said nothing. Stephen sighed now at her stubbornness. "Just come in!" He involuntarily told her. 

He wasn't raised to turn a blind eye to people in need, especially a lady in distress even though he wanted nothing to do with this particular one. When she still ignored him and continued to shiver in the rain, he sighed in frustration and stated: "Violet, don't make me look bad by letting people see you sitting in the rain, come in already!" 

When she still refused to move a muscle, he angrily told now: "If you don’t come in right now, you are going to freeze to death in this cold rain!" When she still refused to budge, he hissed in impatience. Why was this girl so stubborn?! Why was she bent on making him seem like the bad guy?! If she wanted to freeze so bad, she should have gone somewhere else not sitting in front of his block trying to freeze herself to death! He wouldn't be held responsible if anything should happen to her! 

But he tried again, in an angrier tone this time. "Hey, come in now before I change my mind!" He said firmly now but yet, she ignored him. "I'm not going to ask you again, Violet, you're beginning to piss me off! Get out of that rain now! Stop trying to make me look bad before my neighbours! If you're suicidal, at least don't die in the barrack and especially in front of my block, you can go die somewhere else! People saw us together last night, you know?! I won't take the fall for nothing I know about because of your bull-headed attitude and your stupid pride!"

His words seemed to hit a cord now. "Leave me alone and go to hell! I'm doing just fine right where you put me!" She spat, finally speaking.

Frustrated and upset now, he ordered: "Get your ass in here now, Violet, or else!" 

"Or else what?!" She gave him a defiant look now under her brows as if daring him.

"Ki bar yi kamar mayya! (Stop acting like a witch!)" Stephen hissed. "This rain is increasing and there you are freezing your brains out, you had better get your puny ass in here or-" He paused, having not decided what to do with her yet.

"I'm fine where I'm!" She remained adamant much to his chagrin.

"That's it!" He finally said and stalked into the rain barefooted towards her.

                                                                                ★★★

Stephen approached Violet, and despite her protests and resistance, he effortlessly lifted her up in his arms, carried her into the living room and set her down on her feet.

She fixed a cold look at him now. "You are so used to coercion, aren't you?"

"At least I got your stubborn ass out of the rain!" He said.

"Why the sudden change of mind when you were the one who kicked me out in the first place?!" She spat. "You need to pick a side if you want to be mean or nice to me, pick!"

"You are supposed to go home and not hang around the front of my apartment like some helpless raccoon!" He said, "And I want my shirt back!" He pointed at the wet shirt she had on, walked into the room and returned with a camouflage singlet and a pair of neat boxers, handed it to her then he went into a kitchen to get a mop. 

When he returned to the living room, she had her naked back turned towards the direction of the kitchen as she put on the singlet having put on the boxers already. Then she turned to him and tossed the wet t-shirt against his chest. He gave her a mean look now. 

"Well, you can have it now!" She said.

"You do have your way of saying thank you, don't you?" He gave her a hard look.

"Thank you." She reluctantly said as she sat down on the couch, still shivering a bit.

"Could you put on a bra or something? Your nipples are pointing all over the place!" He almost cried out.

"Well, it's not my fault, it's the cold!" She defended. "And try not to concentrate on them too or they'll never go down."

He ignored her and mopped the floor then suggested to her when he saw that she had wrapped her arm around herself again. "You should go make yourself some hot tea to help with the cold."

"Where I come from, a gentleman would know that he's supposed to do that for his guest." She retorted.

"One, I'm not a gentleman. Two, you are not my guest, so get your wet ass into the kitchen and fix yourself some hot beverage!" He ordered.

She pouted now and glared at him. Why was he so deliberately mean to her?! If anything, he should be treating her like a queen to make up for raping her. She hesitantly got up and walked into the kitchen. A few minutes later, she returned with a cup of tea and sat down. Taking a slice of bread out of its nylon, she folded it in two, dipped it into the tea and began to eat.

He stared at her in disgust now. "You dip your bread in your tea?"

She paid him no mind but continued eating and he said: "You really should learn some eating etiquette."

"Don't talk to me like I'm some soldier, Stephen, I'm a civilian and I enjoy my bread and tea better this way!"

"Yeah, and a bloody civilian at that!"

She ignored him and said now, "So, are you going to help me? It's obvious that I am stuck here until things return to normal."

"What do you mean?"

"Can I put up with you for like a month?" She asked.

He scoffed now. "You are kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not." She said in a sober tone. "I'm serious. I don't have any money on me and I don't think the club will be open in the next few weeks to come which means that I cannot reach any of my stuff or money."

"And you want me to let you stay here with me?"

"Apparently."

"No!"

"What?!"

"The answer is no!"

"What do you mean by no?! You owe me a lot, Stephen! I can't believe that you are turning me down when you are the last person that I can run to for help!"

"Is this about the rape incident again?" He gave her a mean look.

"You owe me!" She raised her voice.

"How long are you going to keep blackmailing me with that?!"

"Well, you'll never hear the ends of it if you don't give in to my demands! Your friends said you were ready to atone for the past and that I could have anything I wanted!"

"Well, I was expecting you would ask for money, not trying to manipulate my life to suit you."

"Right now, I don't need money, Stephen, what I need right now is a roof over my head! So, are you going to help me or not?!"