I AM SOKOTO

He sat up straight,his back resting against the wall, he wasn’t tired but he wanted her to believe so. He didn’t want her to stay till night. But he knew her,she’ll find a way to make sure she sleeps over. He knew her tricks and she knew his too. They’v been at it for a while now. After a year of dating,she still does not know where he stays.
Most of their meetings had been in several hotels. She wiLl get there to find that a room had been booked and instructions given on the bed. She followed them strictly. She knew better not to. He’ll come and they would make love,but he’l leave very early morning and return in the afternoon. One day she noticed that most hotels they lodged in was always close to a mosque. But her hunch shrugged it away&she took it to be nothing. She kept asking what he did for a living and he always answered “I work in the government”. Not that she believed him though, she felt it safe not to be too inquisitive. Though she snooped around to find out if he really worked for or in the government she couldn’t find anything tangible. She dropped it.
They had been in Yola together during the Christmas period. On the 27th they traveled by air to Kano to see some of his relatives. At least that was what he said. They were going to see his relatives. When they got there she was surprised he took her to another Hotel. She got angry. She didn’t want to follow him. How could he? Not when she was glad she’ll finally meet some members of his family. All along as she asked him questions in the cab he didn’t say a word. Wait!Can she call it a cab? It wasn’t a cab, it was a Benz. A posh Benz Compressor. But there were expensive cars around Kano being used as cabs anyway… She shrugged it off again.
When they got to the hotel he ran a hot shower and when he was done he came out with the towel tied around his waist. He was in looking at her through the mirror with the corner of his eyes and laughing to himself at the gimpy face she made sitting on the bed. He used one of his arab cologne and turned to her. “Go shower quickly or I’d leave you behind and you will never meet my siblings” he said. “Siblings” she said, almost screaming all the excitement of the world bursting forth from her stomach. She started jumping on the bed dancing. He stood for a while backing the mirror and facing her. The happiness in her face. She undress quickly and rushed into the bathroom. He could hear her singing. That always turned him on. Her voice. He felt a swollen bulge in his crouch. He walked swiftly to his small bag pack and brought out a condom,wore it,went to the intercom telephone dialed room 507 and spoke into the phone “I’d be in the bathroom.change my things don’t touch hers. Be 20 minutes late”. He dropped the receiver and went into the bathroom, she was almost done. But when she saw him naked,his hugeness in her face she mellowed. He kissed her with hunger and passion. Crashing her back against the shower cubicle. She wrapped her legs around his waist while he was thrusting deep. They kept going in that pace for about two minutes, then she turned her buttocks in between his thighs,he continued for like forever until she thought she heard the door locked. She stopped abruptly but he acted as if he didn’t hear a thing, in fact he continued,racy. She broke free away from him and went to the room. She didn’t see anyone, nothing changed. By the time they were done and she came into the room she was tired. Her legs were shaking so he carried her to rest on the bed. She dozed off. He wore his white Danshiki and left the room. Disconnected the intercom by removing the wire that was connected to the plug and left the room.
When she woke up it was 7 pm. She was hungry. There was no light in the room. She managed to turn on the switch by tracing it on the wall above her head on the bed. The room was perfect, nothing had changed, except that he was not there. She tried opening the door, using the intercom. She knew what he had done. She was furious. She screamed,kicked,cried and finally fell asleep again. When he walked in around 12.40 she heard footsteps. She knew he was the one so she took the lamp holder on the drawer beside the bed. She wanted to kill him. How could he send her to sleep? When the door opened it was rounds of bullet being shot from gun machine she heard. Her heart pulsed, she crouched behind the door. They didn’t switch on the light,they just kept firing at every direction. For another two minutes then it was over. They were gone. She stayed there another three minute before she could muscle herself to move. She peered slowly from behind the door.
The hall way was silent. Nobody was insight. She became even more frightened. Are there no other customers here? How come no one is here to help. She moved out. Still no one. To the elevator but it was not working. She wanted to go down the stairs but she was scared. What if they were on the staircase? The shooters. She stepped back. Just as she stepped back into their gun ridden room she heard someone called her from the adjacent room, she looked behind and saw him standing by the door way. Tears began to roll down her eyes,she ran into his arms. shivering. She went into convulsion and passed out. They carried her,into the car and they zoomed off. Off to Mujilah barracks. In Musa two bedroom flat. He coudn’t make the flight tomorrow morning. He didn’t have the time to waste. So they drove. From 4 am to 6pm in the car. She at the back seat in the KIA jeep. When he noticed she was shaking and talking. This was around 2pm,he ordered the driver to pack. He went to the back seat and untied her hands and made her head fall on his laps. They kept driving. Destination was Bauchi.
He dropped her off at her house in Abuja on the 6th of Januray. She kept expecting him to call. But he didn’t. She had told him in Bauchi that some people in government. Some corrupt people were trying to kill him. That’s why they coundn’t see his “siblings” again in Kano. She didn’t hear from him anymore until when she saw the news and his picture as the man wanted for the Christmas day bombing in Madallah. Fear gripped her. Her aunty noticed. She quickly re-arranged her countenance. When she got into the room that night she couldn’t sleep. She kept crying. “The bastard didn’t work for the government” she kept repeating to herself. She was still crying when her aunty opened the door. She quickly sank her face into the bed. She came to her. “What is wrong with you Jemilah?Re u Pregnant?” She shook her head in disapproval. “Then what is it” she asked again. Then she lifted her face to her aunt’s “That man they showed on tv. That Boko Haram man, I saw him some days back. He helped me with transport fare” she lied. Her aunty comforted her till she fell asleep.
Some days later she saw on the news that the captured Boko Haram member who was responsible for the christmas day bombing in Madallah has escaped. Her heart froze. She knew he was going to come to her. When her aunty walked into the sitting room and saw what she was watching, she turned the television off. There was a 50million naira bounty on his head. Her Aunty was worried. “Should we go to the police tomorrow”. Again she shook her head in disapproval. They went to sleep. At midnight she heard a noise creaking around her window. She was almost by the window when he jumped in. She wanted to scream but he covered her mouth. “I was framed” he kept repeating it. “Remember they tried to kill us at the hotel? It was them.” “Who?” She asked, he looked at her for a moment walked her to the bed where they sat, he continued “you can’t understand,iv not gotten to the root of the matter yet”. They talked for a while, till they both fell asleep. When she woke up he was gone. She felt happy a bit. She loved him. She was running late for work. When she got out of the bathroom and towering herself in front of the standing mirror she remembered their last time together. Suddenly, her eyes caught a white envelope by her drawer. When she picked it up, she found out it was just a white paper. She unfolded it. It read “Maybe I was framed, maybe I wasn’t. But Friday21st they will heat my side of the story. The world will be shocked. I AM SOKOTO”.

I’m sorry for any typographical and grammatical errors you might find here. I didn’t have time to edit. The story stayed to much inmy head. Just wanted to get it out.Thanks for reading. Someday I hope to make short films out of all these that I write.

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