𝓜𝔂 𝓫𝓪𝓫𝔂, 𝓶𝔂 𝔀𝓲𝓯𝓮

9# ENROUTE

THE KHALIL RESIDENCE,
ASOKORO.
DECEMBER, 2020.

The ride to the governor's house was long, but interesting.....for Jamilah at least, Bola had fallen asleep hours before.

Jamilah couldn't help her curiousity, her eyes were glued to the window, watching the tress fly past and the road continue in a never ending path.

After they'd driven for close to an hour, she started to feel her head throb, memories surging foward but never really staying long enough for her to grasp the complete picture.

By now, she could tell that her head would throb when somewhere was familiar to her.

It meant she'd been near the area before. And from the intensity of the ache in her head, she'd been there quite a lot of times.

The sun was already out by the time they reached the city, an half hour past noon.

The contrast in scenery fascinated Jamilah. Where there had been trees and grasses when she looked outside the windows, a few villages and rural towns, there were now large buildings, towering over everything else.

The roads, muddy and having portholes before had become smooth, easy to navigate.

Everywhere looked beautiful, from the malls, to the restaurants to the houses, to the people.

Jamilah could feel a dull throb in her head, the image a bit much to take in.

Bola, next to her, remained in her state of slumber. She released a few snores in between, to which Jamilah could swear the driver had snickered.

Of course when she looked at him, he was the picture of perfect professionalism, with his eyes facing forward and his hands on the steering wheel.

Jamilah turned to look outside again, thankful for the tinted glasses that kept the sun, which looked quite merciless, away from her.

Lost in the scenery, she too, soon fell asleep.

It was Bola who woke her up a hour and half later.

Jamilah cracked her eyes open slowly, stifling back a yawn in the process.

The minute her thoughts booted and the reality of her situation came to her, she looked outside the window.

The first thought she had was, 'this house is way too big'.

Bola, who glanced at the shocked expression on the girl's face giggled a little.

"It's not the governor's house. We're at a guest house".

Jamilah's expression was one of relief.

"The governor has a meeting to attend. He said he'll come get us in the evening".

Again, Jamilah just nodded, taking in her surroundings.

Her headaches were like a litmus test for her, when he encountered something familiar, her head throbbed.

Jamilah was sure she'd never been to the guest house.

Two of the soldiers, hefty and armed, led the way into the guesthouse.

The interior was grand, and if not that Jamilah still felt sleepy, she'd have taken in the sight in full detail.

But all that she could think of in that moment was the bed, and if it'd be soft.

Bola however, scanned the room greedily, her eyes raking along the lofty ceilings, across the furnished lobby and back again.

She tried so hard, she really did, to stop herself from seeming like she had never seen such luxury in her life, like she'd been in a rural area for most of her life.

She'd been, of course......but she didn't need anyone else knowing that.

It was only when she saw the receptionist throw her a dirty look that Bola stopped her analysis, making sure to throw a glare, twice as deadly as the one she received, to the woman.

The man who'd escorted them approached, apparently, having finalized their booking.

"Come with me" His gruff voice said as he passed by them, going ahead of them towards a pathway.

Jamilah felt drowsy the whole while, barely able to register where it was she was going, but still managing to trudge along silently.

Bola, of course, continued her inspection. More subtly this time, however.

"We're here", the man said, hiding a smile at how uninterested Jamilah's sleepy eyes looked.

He knew the girl, not personally, but just as much as everyone else had known her before she'd been reported dead.

He'd been there when the horrible reality of her parents had come to light, and watched in shock as the girl everyone had presumed dead walked into the room.

It took every ounce of professionalism for him to remain stoic and military escort-like, and an extra bit of said professionalism not to blast a hole in her parent's heads as they fumbled to justify themselves.

His hand had tightened against his rifle however,  inching for the trigger before he'd calmed himself down.

"Thank you", Bola said, jerking him out of his thoughts.

"You're welcome" He answered her, fighting back another smile at the lady that looked like she would fall on her face any second.

"You should let her get some sleep", he said, retreating slowly as both women entered the room.

Bola, walking and Jamilah, stumbling.

He smiled again and took out his phone.

The light from his phone illuminated his face as he opened his messaging app.

The chat on top had the man grinning from ear to ear.

'So, you finally remember you have my number huh?', He thought as he opened the message.

"How's she doing? Did she get settled in already?"

'Two sentences'.

Adam smiled.

Coming from a man that wouldn't speak, much less type out a full sentence in conversation,.... ever, two sentences was plenty enough to tell him all he needed to know.

The man smiled, glancing back at the door the women had only moments ago, gone through, then back to his phone to reply.

"She's fine. Looks cute when she's about to fall asleep too". He typed, adding a cute little wink at the end of the sentence that he knew would cause the man reading it to harden his jaw the slightest bit in annoyance.

Man, did he love messing with Jamil Khalil or what?!

*******
I know this chapter is short, but I needed to give y'all something.

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27th May 2021.