Hard Man

36

"Stop tugging me around like I'm a toy."
    —General Babalola

"You're so lucky to have him, Des."
    — Winnie

The door opened, and the Boss waltzed into the room, their face drawn with stress. Ali jumped from his seat, nervous at the distress in the boss's eyes. Soya and Chi were beside him.

"The General has Benson," the boss said. "I was on the phone with him when the General got to him. We have to move fast."

Ali nodded, even though his heart was lodged in his throat. He was afraid the Boss would see the truth in his eyes and kill him like a common street ram. "What do you want me to do?"

"For now, you have to go ahead with the plan," the Boss said. "The President expects the next name crossed off the list today, and you must do so. Whose name is it?"

"Minister Bello," Ali replied. "I trailed him for a while yesterday, so I know his movements today. He's always surrounded, but I'll get it done."

"You have to." The Boss strained, their eyes wide with apprehension. "Onana trusted me to resurrect his legacy; I can't afford to fail." It felt like they were soliloquizing, so Ali kept his head lowered. "We need the President on our side, or he will bring us down, so we must do this for him."

"If we need to get the General for the transplant," Ali ventured. "Then why are you afraid he'll come after us? We should—" Ali's mouth snapped shut when the boss struck him across the face so hard he tasted blood.

"It is wisdom to be afraid of the General; don't say it like I'm weak for doing so!" The boss growled. "And we want the General to come to us, not come after us! If he comes to us, it's on our terms; if he comes after us, it's on his terms. We cannot stand him, so we need leverage."

"The girl," Soya said, and the boss nodded.

"Yes. The girl. We need the girl, and we need her now. We only have one opportunity to come for her, so we must use it well because if we fail, the General will kill us all."

Encouraged by the fact that the Boss paid him a modicum of attention, Soya stood at attention. "What should we do?"

"Call me Toye," the boss said. "And where's that stupid assistant of mine? Dudu!"

The door opened, and the assistant rushed in. Ali pitied her because she always looked like she was about to cry. While they were only subjected to the Boss a few hours each day, the assistant had to be with her all the time. Ali wondered what sort of miserable life she led. He was still thinking about this when the Boss slapped the assistant across the cheek.

"Aren't you supposed to be in these meetings when we have them? Why are you so useless?"

"I'm sorry, Boss, I—"

"Save it." She raised a finger. "Call Toye. I need to see her now."

***

The MG dropped tiredly on the chair in the dining room while the General took the chair across from him. Mohammed hurried into the kitchen to see Adeiza bent over the stove.

"Adeiza."

Adeiza jumped. "Good morning, sir."

"Is breakfast ready?" Mohammed asked urgently. "The General and MG are at the dining table."

Adeiza's eyes widened. "It'll be ready in five minutes."

"Faster," Mohammed said and walked out.

He was exhausted, but he dared not sit down. As if reading his thoughts, the MG slid a glance at him. "Are you just going to stand over there?"