Ayanate was relieved that her friends had finally arrived. It was always good to be around people who could see because it kept one from being scared of the unknown.
Earlier, she had no worries about her mother going to work today, but she began second-guessing herself when she started having the feeling that someone was in the house with her.
It was just this kind of creepy feeling you get, like unseen eyes were watching you or a strange spirit or ghost was standing with you.
It was ridiculous, she knew, but it felt so real that at some point she wondered if someone unwelcome was inside the house.
That was why she rushed up to the front doors and checked if she had locked them even though she never left them unlocked.
Each time she felt someone's presence silently coming behind her, she was always right about it, because when she voiced out, she would discover it was her mother or brother who secretly came behind her to see if she could be able to detect their presence.
And each time she did, it never ceased to amaze them.
334
They would laugh in amazement and ask how she sensed their presence even as she couldn't see them.
She always answered truthfully. It was no special gift or vision.
Sometimes, the fragrance of their body spray, body cream and cologne gave them away. Sometimes, they were not silent enough—the sound of their breath or tiptoes gave them away. The rest of the time it was the other four senses at work when it detected the body heat of the person close.
And that was what happened today. She didn't perceive any fragrance except her own and the aroma of what she was baking, but there was no mistaking that feeling she got that someone was with her in the kitchen.
To make matters worse and even creepier, as she got close to the presence, thinking that maybe her mother or brother who had the house keys must have secretly slipped up on her, she felt the figure immediately move away. No matter what and how she tried, she couldn't capture it.
She started getting afraid but she tried hard not to show it. Fear could be a big leverage and weapon your enemy might have over you, and so, she decided not to give into fear.
That was how she resolved to remain strong and bold until her friends arrived. She heaved a sigh of relief, from the depths of her heart.
No one could harm her now that more people would be staying with her in the apartment.
It didn't occur to her that the presence could have harmed her and fled away if that was its intention.
335
As she went to the entrance to welcome her friends, Savior immediately scrambled to a hiding place in a little corner that was between the stairs and hallway. It was far away from the seeing eyes of her friends, but it was also a strategic position that could allow him to see and monitor them.
The three visitors entered the living room, sat down on the couches, and made themselves at home, chatting and laughing.
Savior then observed the visitors. Two girls and a boy.
He recognized one of the girls and the boy. His eyes widened, for these people were members of Alpha Shadows. Apparently, Stone wasn’t the only one who had funny ideas about this same innocent girl called Ayanate.
This wasn't looking good at all. These types weren't the kind to just make friends. There would always be strings attached and they would be the only beneficiaries.
Although it didn't appear like that to Ayanate, Savior knew that these friends were here to take advantage of her blindness and family's financial buoyancy to extort from her. Ayanate's life could be in danger!
He also had no doubt that they were the one who initiated the meeting in her house. And the clueless Ayanate, who was eager to make new friends, readily accepted, not knowing what she was getting herself into.
To confirm his suspicion, Savior noted how they were looking around with so much lust, their eyes full of evil intentions as though they couldn't wait to start stealing things.
336
The other girl who was not a member of Alpha Shadows kept talking on and on like a fast moving train that could not stop due to a failed brake. Ayanate, who couldn't keep up with her, just kept quiet and let her rant.
To think that it was just this morning that she was bragging about her friends to her mother.
"Don't worry about anything, Mum. They are just good people who don't think it’s a big deal having a blind person as their friend…"
Savior remembered what she said verbatim.
Now that he thought about it carefully, he wondered about the point she was trying to make with that last part of her statement.
Was she facing some form of discrimination in school because of her condition? Why did she say those words with so much conviction?
There was no time to start going into all that. He would go home and carefully analyze the things she had said later. It was time to concentrate on the now.
He listened to their conversation. They were currently chatting and laughing about their names.
"So, I think I'm the only one who has the nicest name among all of us. Joy is such a beautiful name, don't you agree?"
"Never!" said Ayanate. "That name is too popular. Many girls these days bear that name and I don't like popular names. It takes away the vibe and juice."
337
"I agree with you," the boy said. "Especially as there are some ethnic groups that don't know how to pronounce that name accurately because of their accents."
Everyone laughed as the guy continued. "Especially your mother's tribe that pronounces 'Joy' as 'Yoy'. They literally pronounce every word that starts with 'j' as 'y'."
That statement was comically directed to Ayanate who flushed in embarrassment. Everyone, including Savior, doubled up in laughter.
Ayanate picked up one of the pillows on the couch and, aiming for the direction of the guy's voice, she stoned him with it. "That is stereotyping. My mother and a lot of indigines of Akwa-Ibom do not pronounce words like that."
"Ouch! Of course, of course, I was just trying to support the fact that Yoy, uh, Joy is a popular and an archaic name. I mean that's why you're not pronouncing vibe as fibe, juice as yuice. That's my good girl!"
"That's not funny, and no one said the name is archaic. I was just saying that the name is too popular."
"Yes nau, it’s still the same thing that you and I are saying. Na English language dey confuse us," he finished off in the Nigerian pidgin English.
Ayanate returned with a rebuttal.
338
"Talking about names, what about your own? The first time you told me that your name was Maro, I thought you meant marrow as in bone marrow."
Joy and the other girl, who was Maro's girlfriend and also a member of Alpha Shadows, giggled.
"Not until you finally explained that it was your dialect name, 'Oghenemaro' which translates to, 'God is mighty'
in English."
Savior knew Maro and his girlfriend. They were from the same tribe, Urhobo to be precise, in Warri local government, Delta state.
Ayanate turned to the other girl. Savior closed his eyes and continued listening, but he knew what was coming next.
"And when you told me that your name was Karo, I thought it was the Caro of Caroline. I never knew it was another dialect name, Oghenekaro, which means..."
"So, Maro and I have unique names, right?" Karo interrupted excitedly, smiling.
"Warri no dey carry last," Maro quipped, obviously proud of his roots.
"On the contrary, I think they are the weirdest names I've ever heard."
339
The argument became heated again for several minutes before Ayanate abruptly brought the banter to a halt by inviting everyone to the dining table.
She led the way as others got up and walked behind her.
Savior watched as Maro and his girlfriend who were bringing up the rear discreetly leaned into each other and whispered a few words to each other.
Joy, the talkative of the group, was about turning around but noticed and began kissing each other fully on the lips to confuse her of their true intentions just in case she had seen them from her side eye, whispering to each other.
"Hey, you love birds should stop kissing each other in public," said Joy. Savior had secretly nicknamed her Basket-mouth because she could not seem to keep her mouth shut for more than a minute and she was the loudest among all of them.
Since their arrival, she had commented on everything her eyes were set upon. She had even bragged about how her parents could afford a lot of things she saw inside and around the apartment building. She also spoke of how her parents frequently traveled outside the country and how their three houses which were located in Nigeria, America and France were a lot more bigger and sophisticated than the apartment buildings in this estate.
She also tried to start talking about the prices of the things she saw but the already uncomfortable Ayanate would not let her carry on.
340
Savior didn't know Joy personally, but he knew her kind and he knew that she was lying. A quick background check would expose her true personality and would show that she was from a poor family that was hardly getting by each day.
It was her kind that came to the university and started claiming what they were not just because they wanted to belong.
It was unfortunate because these people were the same people that their parents worked night and day, selling any little thing of value they had to train them. That after graduating with a good result, they’d get a white-collar job, train nine or eleven more younger siblings and ultimately alleviate the family from poverty.
The popular saying, 'Show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are', just didn't apply in any way to Ayanate and the trio. Sooner or later, Savior hoped, she would realize this and do something about it.
What Savior didn't know is that she was already having regrets.
"This is not the public. This is our friend's house," Maro said, unlocking his lips from his girlfriend's.
"Then stop kissing in someone's house," Joy retorted.
"I'm so sorry, ladies. I love Maro so much. You girls wouldn't understand yet. Just wait until you have your own boyfriends. I'm sure you will do even worse," Karo said.
Joy giggled like a fool while Ayanate looked uncomfortable.
341
Everyone settled at the dining table and enjoyed their snacks with a bottle of soda. They praised Ayanate for her handiwork. Joy commented with the flair of a spoiled brat that she could never enter the kitchen to do anything because her family had several chefs and house helps that did all those things.
When they finished eating, Joy apologized to everyone and lied about going home to prepare for a party that she would later be attending that evening with other rich kids in a five-star hotel.
Savior guessed that she was probably one of those people that was popularly known in Nigeria as 'runs girl'.
If so, then she was definitely going to prepare for a party alright, just not the one she spoke about.
They were all relieved to let her go.
A few minutes after her departure, Karo suggested that Ayanate take them upstairs to her room and show them her collections.
Her request sounded innocent enough but every molecule in Savior's body screamed their disapproval. Ayanate, who didn't know what was afoot, accepted and led the way as everyone went upstairs.
Now seething with rage at Karo and Maro, Savior retreated deeper into the corner as they passed by without noticing him.
It pained him that they were out of his line of sight and he couldn't monitor them anymore, but there was nothing he could do about it.
342
However, there was one other thing that he could do and it made him smile that he had prepared ahead for this contingency as well.
He had planted a small device at the hem of Ayanate's dress during the time he and she were alone in the kitchen, a bug that would enable him to listen to all their conversations crystal clear. At least, if he couldn't see them, he would listen to them.
And God help anyone who tried to harm Ayanate. Savior swore to shred the person limb by limb.
After talking for a while, Karo took permission with some flimsy excuses, telling Ayanate that she and her boyfriend needed to step out a little to take a private phone call.
From the hesitation in her voice, Savior knew that she was uncomfortable to let them leave her side. She obviously didn't trust them. She was just answering them politely so as to not give away her distrust, and risk hurting her new 'friends'.
Don't worry, baby. I'm here and I will help you monitor those fools.
He called them all sorts of unmentionable foul names in his mind.
Maro and Karo thanked her and promised that they would be back in five minutes or less, depending on the outcome of the call.
He watched how the two criminals stepped out of the room, and immediately began their hideous operation.
343
They started by opening the doors of the other rooms. They tried to open the door to the room that he suspected belonged to her brother but it was locked.
They tried another door which was the guest room, but there was nothing for them to take.
However, they opened the third and last room and struck oil. It was the Master's bedroom and they couldn't believe their luck.
Smiling, eyes bright with greed, they tiptoed inside the room and quietly locked the door behind them.
They stepped out a few minutes later, different from the way they were when they entered the master bedroom.
Savior could notice the difference. Karo's handbag looked heavier and Maro's bulging pockets dangled with the sound of all sorts of jewelry.
This ongoing operation was not authorized by Alpha Shadows, he knew. The only explanation to this whole thing was that these people were going against the syndicate rules by doing their own freelancing. There would definitely be hell to pay.
But he was even more angry that these people had penetrated their way into her life in the disguise of a friend just to take advantage of her condition in the most gruesome manner.
Such heartless creatures did not deserve to be alive, he told himself.
344
And he would personally see to ridding the world of their kind.
The criminals returned to Ayanate and dutifully apologized for any inconveniences. After a few more awkward conversations, they stood up and told her that it was time to leave. They thanked her for her time, generosity and hospitality as she saw them off to the balcony.
Savior also made his way out of the house and out of the estate after giving Ayanate a long look of concern.
---
Maro was in his one-room apartment that was off campus with his girlfriend, celebrating their new wealth.
They had stolen a lot of cash and jewelry from the master bedroom of Ayanate’s house.
As they celebrated, they were too distracted to hear the sound of someone unlocking the door and casually but purposefully stepping inside.
Savior listened as they talked about their fortune and how they would extort more from their blind friend.
They shamelessly prayed to come across more blind people from financially buoyant families to extort from them as well.
345
Unable to endure and listen to more atrocities coming from their mouths in the form of prayers, Savior, who had been leaning against the door with his arms and legs crossed, straightened and spoke up.
"Well, that prayer will never be answered because this is the last time that you would ever steal from a blind person or any other person for that matter."
The two criminals sharply looked up, shocked almost to the point of heart attack. When they saw and recognized who it was that had just happened upon their secret celebration, their shock and fear increased and doubled up like leavened dough. They realized that they had just been nabbed red-handed, especially by their own boss.
They started to plead for mercy, promising that they would stay away from the girl and never do it again.
"Of course, you will never do it again, after I've sent you two to hell where you belong."
They continued begging and crying, but their crocodile tears irritated him the most.
"Give me your gun!" Savior demanded forcefully.
Maro's eyes widened, so did his girlfriend's, for they knew what he wanted to do.
With the look of resignation, Maro got up from the kneeling position that he and his girlfriend had earlier dropped into while begging for their lives, and went towards his gun cabinet that contained just one illegal firearm.
346
However, instead of handing over the pistol to Savior, Maro carried out one last desperate attempt to save his life.
In one swift move, he clicked on the safety, spun around and pulled the trigger towards Savior's direction. Savior had expected this response and ducked just in time as a bullet slammed the wall where his head had been.
Because the .83 pistol was equipped with silencer, no one heard the gunshot being fired, and so, no one would come for the rescue of the students. Realizing this, Maro began firing wildly like a crazed man as he chased after Savior around the small confinement.
Karo scrambled to safety to avoid being hit by a stray bullet.
Saviour released a string of expletives from his lips as he ducked several times in different directions.
All of a sudden, Savior could no longer hear the sounds of the bullets as they slammed against the wall, all he could hear was the click click click sound that was coming from Maro's gun.
Finally, he had run out of amo. Saviour smirked, seeing an opening that he had been hoping for.
Maro realized in stark horror that his rounds had just finished without accomplishing his motive. Not knowing what he planned to achieve with an attempt that would be fertile, he rushed back towards his gun cabinet to reload.
Savior got up from his crouched position and smirked wider at the sheer foolishness of what the boy was trying to do. Did he think that Savior would sit down quietly like an obedient toddler and watch him while he reloaded?
347
"Go to hell, you son of a…" He unholstered his .83 which was similar to the illegal one in Maro's possession and double tapped him on his forehead. Maro's brain exploded. Blood and tissue scattered everywhere.
Savior pivoted, dragged a wailing and struggling Karo out and shot her at the side of her head.
Sweet. Now, the crime scene looked like the girl killed her boyfriend and committed suicide.
Other students would speculate that she had done it after having a heated lovers quarrel.
The police, after carrying out a grilling investigation, would eventually come to such a conclusion as well. And so would the media, the society, and ultimately, Ayanate.
Straightening, he packed up all the stolen accessories and made his way back to Destiny estate twice in one day.
He worked his way into the house and returned all the accessories to their previous positions.
Now it was time to go home and rest for the day. Time to make proper plans to return into Ayanate’s life.
Hopefully, this time around, he will make things better and do what he couldn't do five years ago.
348