Thirty-two: Jide

                                    

                                          
"Jide.", he smiled, "Isn't it nice to see you again."
                          
I scoffed.
                          
"Don't be like that.", he chuckled as he turned and began walking in the direction opposite me.
                          
My hands itched to hold the gun I brought with me but I had to hold back. I needed to see what his move was.
                          
He eventually led me to a room where he locked the door after I had gone in.
                          
"Do you remember when we were first separated. I made you a promise."
                          
I folded my arms across my chest. I knew what he was talking about.
                          
"Of course, you had to fulfill it in style."
                          
"I haven't changed much, have I? I relished in every bit of suffering you went through and I was glad to see it. Of course, it wouldn't have been possible without... someone like you, a traitor."
                          
"The earlier you treat me as someone who's not your traitor, the better for you. I never intended for it to start this way."
                          
He smiled.
                          
"But you had to start a war between us, didn't you."
                          
I was beginning to get irritated again.
                          
"You're a psychopath. You never change."
                          
"Tell me something I don't know."
                          
I was starting to grow impatient but I kept trying to hold back.
                          
"Oh, and speaking of which. Don't you think there's someone you need to explain things to?"
                          
I frowned.
                          
What was this?
                          
He simply walked behind me and only then did I turn and notice someone seated on a chair. I moved closer till I was facing the person and something stirred deep in the pits of my stomach when I realized it was Miriam. Hands and legs tied and mouth gagged.
                          
The words that would've come out of my mouth were muffled by a cascade of emotion. I couldn't move.
                          
"Now, now, Don't just stand there... or at all."
                          
Before I could gather up what was happening, I heard a loud gunshot and in the next moment, I was on the floor. Fresh pain has seared its way into my legs that were throbbing with hurt.
                          
I could see the fear in Miriam's eyes as I screamed.
                          
"There are things you should know Jide. One of which is that you can't joke with me."
                          
I stamped his foot on my side. I was lucky it wasn't my stomach.
                          
He held the back of my collar tightly that he was almost strangling me. Then he raised my face to look at Miriam.
                          
"You're going to have a terribly slow death. But..."
                          
He held the collar tightly.
                          
"Some things need to be said first."
                          
Miriam had been looking at me. That look in her eyes like the day she left the brothel.
                          
"Jide was not always a defender of justice and life. It's something he wouldn't tell anybody because he knew how heinous his past was. The thing is that you can hardly hide the truth, no matter how hard you try. Isn't it?"
                          
I didn't answer, my mind was on Miriam, she was not ready to hear everything. This was what I had been preventing her from knowing. I wanted it to be sealed up and buried.
                          
"I bet he didn't tell you that. He was a real killer back then, a criminal. And of course, one never to be trusted, even by his own partner in crime."
                          
He brought my head to the floor with a heavy thud sound and I felt a new kind of pain on my forehead, I was sure I was bruised. He pressed my head to the floor
                          
"Tell her the truth, Jide. You were once like me, you cared about only making money and a clean name for yourself. You only joined the police force to clear your name and not because you care about lives because you don't care about anybody."
                          
He put his knee on my side and put a lot of pressure on it. I groaned loudly with the explosion of pain.
                          
"And as for you Jide. It's good you learn that what goes around comes around. And I'll tell you this, Jamilah had a hand in all of this. She made it all came to life. Unfortunately, I had to shut her up because sooner or later, she would spill. So I silenced her. I heard that there's a chance that she might be alive but there's always enough time to worry about her later."
                          
The shock was too much. Jamilah knew about everything, all along? And she sided with Gabriel?
                          
"Surprised? Ha, you should be. How did you think I was watching you? How did you think messages were sent to this whore's phone?"
                          
I was almost out of breath. So, that was how those messages appeared on her phone and... I... my instincts told me she was innocent but... I didn't choose to stick with them.
                          
But then... Jamilah... How could she?
                          
"Despicable.", he spat.
                          
I tried to focus on my surroundings, ignoring the pain in my head, leg and side.
                          
"I should shoot both your legs first but... I think this will do. You'll lose blood trying to do much."
                          
He stopped pressing my head to the floor and kicked my body and it moved by a little distance.
                          
"There was something I wanted to do when you were here anyway."
                          
He moved to Miriam and put the gun an inch close to her head. I could see Miriam freezing already and I closed my eyes and opened them. I tried to get up but stopped short when I realized that if he saw me standing then he would likely shoot her on the spot.
                          
So, this is what it came to.
                          
"You know, with Jamilah giving me information, everything was not always certain. She did tell me that you brought some random person into your house but... What she didn't tell me was the ties you had with the girl."
                          
He smiled sadistically.
                          
"Be honest, she is important to you, isn't she? There is something about her that you want."
                          
I let out a shaky breath.
                          
"Well, for starters. Yes, she was important,  important to help me gather information on you. I didn't realize it earlier but you were the one who engaged Dave in the money laundering in the first place and worked hand-in-hand with the owner of the brothel Miriam came from to take girls into prostitution. She was my path to one of the biggest criminals. But now, she isn't so important, is she?"
                          
He gave me a cold look of incredulity and the fear in Miriam's eyes intensified.
                          
"It doesn't matter now, does it?"
                          
He cocked the gun and placed it near her head again. She closed her eyes tightly as Gabriel started pulling the trigger.
                          
Then there was the sound of a gunshot and a muffled scream followed.
                          

~~~
                          


                          
Author's note: Okay, I've edited the chapter. I'll see you next weekend with the next chapter or, if possible, within the week 😁
                          
Ciao ❤️