RIGHT ON TIME

chapter 23

At 7 a.m. that day, news about the armed robbery attack the previous night had spread around the estate like wildfire. 

The police had been called in to secure the estate and investigate the attack. 

Everywhere was tight. No one moved in or out of the estate without a lot of questioning, and a proper stop and search by the police. 

All the security men were sacked on the spot by the estate management with a lawsuit threat hanging over their agency, attributing the fault of the attack to their complacency. 

The media had already received the news of the armed robbery. Reporters and the media camera crew were among the early birds that cramped at the gate of the estate to have firsthand access to the crime scene. However, the police didn't grant them access for security reasons.

The reporters raked and gleaned snips and bits of exclusive information that they could scavenge. They made a prompt public announcement on the state of affairs and the eye-witness accounts just in time for their morning headlines. 

They also reported about the two dead criminals, but left out the mystery about their gunshot wound. Actually, they left it out because the police didn't tell them. 

The police had intentionally kept the information about the killer from the media and the public with the justification of not instilling fear or panic to the masses. People already had enough headaches with Alpha Shadows. There was no need to add one more, at least not yet. This was a dirty linen they'd better keep away from the public eye.

The families that resided in the houses that were attacked received visitors from the houses that were not attacked.

Before Righteous left for work that morning, she and her daughter also visited their neighbors who were victims, to console them for their losses. 

Three of the victims' were some of Righteous' close friends. Righteous and her daughter visited one of them whose name was Helen. The other two were part of the six women that had rushed their husbands to the hospital to be treated for the gunshot injuries they'd sustained. 

Helen collapsed into tears upon seeing her friend and her daughter. She had explained to them how the hooded criminals stole her box of gold jewelry which was a gift from her husband. It was worth three million naira.

"And that was not all they took," Helen resumed after her visitors finished consoling her for the loss of her jewelry. "They also took the money I made from yesterday's business, which was over 4.5 million." 

Helen was a business woman who owned a big boutique store that sold varieties of Brazilian hair, expensive foreign clothes, shoes and handbags. 

"My workers and I closed at the normal time and as usual, I brought the money home, you know, to be deposited to the bank first thing this morning." Helen was the old school business type. These days, a lot of banks, including the one that Helen was partnering with had upgraded their services to make transactions much easier, and these included allowing for the bank designated workers to go to big enterprises with a bullion van and collect their money to save them the trip of coming to deposit it themselves in the bank. But for reasons that were best known to her, Helen loved going to the bank by herself to deposit her money. 

"You see, that was my plan before those evil doers, children of the South, came and turned it upside down. And I was planning to travel to Dubai and Italy to restock in two weeks' time, but with this recent development, I don't know what to do now." 

The woman kept whining like that for over fifteen minutes, while her two visitors occasionally interrupted her with their consoling words. Righteous abruptly stood up, when she glanced at her wristwatch and discovered that they'd spent overtime here, and announced, with a brief apology, that it was time for her and her daughter to leave. 

All Helen could think of offering them was, "So soon? I was actually beginning to enjoy your company."

Righteous knew that if she allowed her, the woman would talk for a whole day without getting tired. And she couldn't, in all good conscience, allow that. "Yes, so soon, but don't worry because me and my daughter will check up on you when I return from work in the evening." 

"Okay, but, let your daughter stay with me, small na?" 

Ayanate could see the hopeful look of anticipation in the woman's eyes, but everything inside of Ayanate was protesting against the woman's request. She definitely didn't want to sit down and listen to a woman who was twice her age whining all day. Never! No, no, no!

Her mother must have somehow picked up on her inner protests because she apologized and told Helen that Ayanate had a lot of work to attend to and she would be attending online lectures in a couple hours.

Seriously not wanting them to go just yet, with the look of resignation, Helen saw them off to her front door, talking in the Nigerian broken English as she did. "Oya na, we go see for evening be that, shebi?"

"Ehnn, we go try come," Righteous replied in kind over her shoulders, now taking her daughter by the hand and leading her out the door. 

Helen received a kind hug from both mother and daughter before they waved each other goodbye.

"Even though my friend was oblivious, I noticed that look of protest in your facial expression, and that was why I made up all those bunch of excuses for you. Even though it wasn't all true, they weren't all lies either," Righteous remarked on their way home when they were well out of anyone's earshot. 

Smiling in gratitude, Ayanate opened her mouth to speak but her mother beat her to the punch. 

"You can thank me later. Let's hurry up. I'm almost running late for work." 

Both mother and daughter got back home, silently thanking God that their house was preserved from the armed robbery attack. 

Before leaving for work that morning, Righteous and the other occupants of the estate had called for the services of the workers that would come and fix their fire and security alarms and fire escape outlet. 

Righteous suddenly didn't want to go to work as she was shaken up with the recent events and overcome with negative thoughts of what could happen to her daughter if she left her alone. Yes, their house had been exempted, but what if it hadn't? What if, what if, what if? 

But Ayanate wouldn't have any of it as she immediately sent her mother out the door, assuring her for the umpteenth time that she was fine and she would be alright.