The Drive

Joe puts on gloves and scattered the bed she made thoroughly. It looked like she wawiths dragged while sleeping. He left all the doors opened. He did backup of all her contacts to her mail and the important files that was on her laptop that they could need. He gave her a new SIM card and his other phone. They had to leave her phone to make her abduction look real.

Ceci called Rose, her best friend that lives at Ibafo, a town in Ogun state around Lagos. She told her she would be coming to stay with her for a while.

"Wow, Ceci, come right away! I've missed you a lot and we've both been busy with work all these days. And don't worry about your step mom, it's high time she learnt the lesson of her life", Rose said over the phone.

Rose and Ceci were roommates and course mates while in the university. It was only work that got them separated but despite that they were far from each other, they still talk and chat every passing day. She was the only one Ceci could confide in and  saw as a sister she never had.

Ceci packed a few clothes and other things she could need in her bag and most importantly, her diary. She applied some makeup and brushed her hair.

Joe checked the time and it was already 5:40pm.

 "You should get going now so, you'll get there before it's dark".

 "Let me stay a little longer. I want to at least spend some time with you. We'll only be talking on the phone for the next few days", she complained.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You should really go now", he stated.

He removed her arms from his neck and scanned the room to be sure everything is well set as a crime scene.

"I understand how hard it is for you, Joe. And I'll give you enough time to recover your memories but I've always loved you every second since the past years till now", Ceci said.

He paused like he wanted to say something then, looked away.

"You're right, Lagos traffic can be so annoying. I'm ready", Ceci said.

"I'll drop you off at the park and get ready for the date, um, outing. I don't know the right word to use for that", he rolled his eyes and Ceci laughed.

"Well, I think date is the right word. Your girlfriend in anticipation", they both laughed.

"So tell me how many girls have you played?", She asked and realised that's not the right question to ask.

He was silent. Ceci felt she overstepped her boundary.

"I mean, back then, you used to have all the girls swarming all around you", she stuttered.

Joe laughed and said, "And do you know got me into trouble in London?".

"Really? What happened?".

Joe opened the door and directed her towards his car. She was surprised to see the car he pointed to, it was a Land Cruiser Prado.

"Is it for you? Like you own it yourself and it's not for your guardian?", Ceci asked.

He nodded.

She gasped and hopped in.

"Wow, how were you able to afford this?", She asked.

"I worked while I was studying  in the UK" she mouthed a wow. "My guardian isn't really a monster he seems to be, he treated me like his own. He doesn't have a child so, he directed all the affection on me", he started the car and zoomed off.

"He did try. No wonder you couldn't resist him when he said you should follow his path".

"I did, at least, I tried. I let him know then that if I worked there in UK I'll be able to pay for all the things he has done for me but he made it clear that when he said I'll pay for it that it doesn't mean paying with money. It meant taking over his business".

"He's been a good Dad though, and a very good man in the society", he continued.

"Good man? By killing innocent people?", She asked looking surprised.

"He doesn't kill innocent people. And he makes donations for churches, mosques and orphanage homes that the so called innocent people can't even do", Joe said.

"So, he thinks he can please God by helping churches with his blood money?", Ceci said.

"You know he only kills politicians", he paused for a while and looked at her. "Yours is a very rare case and he made sure he knew you deserved to die before ordering me here".

She laughed hysterically and said, "So, I deserve to die?".

"No, I didn't mean it that way and he didn't know. He believed what he was told.  Your step mum swore on her life that you wanted to kill her and her son. She said you've tried to poison her and when it didn't work, you went diabolical. She said you've strangled and chased her in her dreams".

"And you believed that?", Ceci asked.

"Of course, I didn't, that's why I was very patient and monitored all your movements for the past five days".

"Oh God, you've been monitoring me and I didn't know?".

"You should be thankful that we even accepted the deal from her. She would have gone to another person that might've hurt you by now since you wouldn't have known that someone wants you dead".

"Yeah, it's true".

"If Dad knows he would try all his possible best to fight for you", Joe said.

"You're planning on telling him? I thought we were going to take him down with her!", She screamed out.

"Cecilia, calm down, just let me explain this"

"There's nothing left to explain. It's been long since we got separated and I shouldn't have expected you to be the guy I knew seven years ago".

"You don't expect me to take down someone who was there for me when no one was. He cared for me even more than my real parents could have and what he's doing is right. He only clears out the evil men in Nigerian politics. These men kill Nigerians each day of their lives by stealing what's meant for the masses. Do you know how many children that are out there suffering? Look at those kids that should be resting in their homes after school stress, risking their lives to make sales in the traffic?", he pointed at the children selling stuffs .

"Bread Agege wa o"

"Cold drink wa o"

He whined down the glass of the car to explain it to her.

"Fine Aunty, there's cold drink o, uncle help me buy o", one of the kids shouted as he was running to keep track with the vehicle. Joe searched his pocket for money and gave it to the boy.

"Thank you very much sir, a whole 2k for me?", he said as he stuffed the two thousand naira notes into his pocket.

"God bless you Sir", he said and ran off to another vehicle to sell his stuffs.

"Look at how grateful he was for that little amount of money", he looked at her.

"Dad has taught me to help kids like that. As I am now, there are two children that I sponsor their education. And you think the killing of those monsters is a sin?".

She shook her head thoughtfully. "You're right but killing of people is wrong".

"Do you want to let him know about you?", Joe asked.

She nodded.

He exhaled sharply and remembered he didn't have her contact yet.

"I don't think I have that number; I just got it registered and activated for days like this. Please copy it to my phone", he extended his phone to her. She typed her number and gave the phone back.

"Thank you very much, Joe", she said gratefully.

"For what? I'm very sure you must've saved my ass a lot of time back then. I guess it's a payback time", said Joe.

She smiled.

"Yeah, I've saved your ass million times. I still have lots of things to remind you of after we've cleaned all these mess", she said.

"I'll really be very pleased to hear them", he smiled.

Cecilia looked at how his lips curved and the dimples that reflected from his cheek. She realised how much she has missed his smile and his handsome face.

"Thank you for everything, Joe, for coming back and saving my life today". She took his other hand that he wasn't using to control the steering from his lap. "And this time, I'll never ever let you go again for anything even if it claims my life", she said in her mind.

She thought he would remove his hand from hers again but thankfully, he didn't. Instead he looked at her in the eyes and smiled.

They got to the park and bid each other goodbye.

"I'll put my phone in airplane mode when I meet your step mom. I'll call you when we're done and give you the details".

"Alright", said Ceci.

"Yeah, take care", said Joe.