THE WITNESS

Chapter 4

Ben's journey home usually consisted of going to the bar close to his place before going home. But now he had changed his routine because of the incident. He walked home silently praying there was no police on the way. And thankfully, there was no police. There was no one. Which was strange because that place was a very lively place even a that late time.

Since he was on his way home he decided to check for his missing wallet. He knew that if he didn't find it that meant that the police had it or the gang members even. Then he would be in big trouble. Unfortunately for him, he didn't find it at the scene of the incident. Which confirmed his fears. He thought of who between the two devils had his property. He then remembered that the police had contacted him earlier. They had it because that was the only way they could have gotten his cell number.

He wanted to evade them but that wasn't possible now. He had to meet with them and solve this his problem. He continued on his way home. He got home to find someone unexpected and partially unwanted at that time. He found Adriana sitted at his door. What she was doing there and what she wanted there he wondered. How she even got his address was the most puzzling thing to him.
He sighed exasperatedly as he remembered, his ' stupid friend ', Malik said he gave her his details. Should he send her back, he wondered. But he decided to be polite.

He walked up to her and she stood up when she saw him come.
"hi", he said,
"hi",she said back,
"what are you doing out here in the cold?",
"I was waiting for you to come",
Why?
"did you wait long?",
"I have not been here long",
He looked at her and saw that she was shivering slightly,she must had been there long.
So he thought it right to invite her in,

"do you want to come in?",
"yes if you don't mind",
Do I mind?, yes I do.
"No I don't", he told her, come on in",
They both walked in, with her behind him. When they got in, he put on the lights.
"nice house", she complimented when the room had been lightened by the lights,
Ben himself didn't think his house was all that, but he accepted the compliment,
"thank you",he said, then offered her a seat.

***
Samuel and Jane had been waiting for Olu to return but he hadn't and they were getting impatient. Samuel called out his name but there was no reply. He knocked on the door but Olu didn't come out. He then broke down the door. When they had gotten in, they found the place empty. His things were still there to signify that someone lived there and someone was just there. But the occupant wasn't there.

Samuel and Jane checked the rooms but he wasn't there either. In the last room they checked, they saw that the window was left open. Samuel went over to the window and saw Olu running away;he seemed to be limping. Samuel called out to him, he stopped and looked back then continued running. Samuel and Jane then ran downstairs and started running after him.

Jane went to the car while Samuel kept up the chase. Samuel pursued him to the main road. Olu stopped at the edge of the road looked behind him and saw that he was still being pursued. He looked at the road; vehicle were coming and going at unbelievable speeds, he looked back at his pursuer, then crossed the road. He succeeded in the road then saw a bus stopping to pick and drop some passengers.

Seeing that Olu had crossed the road, Samuel increased his speed but couldn't make it because of the speeding vehicles. He looked ahead and saw that Olu had entered a bus and the bus continued on its routine trip. Then Jane came with the car, and he got in and started following the bus. The bus was like two vehicles ahead of them. It had become one when the traffic sign showed a red light. The bus beat the red light but Samuel and Jane couldn't. While still waiting for the light to turn to green, the bus had gone far way. They had lost it.

***
Ben and Adriana got to talk a lot. They got to catch up on a lot of things. Their conversation went from their college days to any random things they could think of. Then Adriana recalled that she saw someone strange earlier and decided to tell him. When she told him he almost jumped out of his skin.
"when was this?", he asked,
"I cant recall",she told him,

Ben thought that now that there was someone watching him, he and especially the people around weren't safe. He needed keep his loved ones safe. While still deep in thought, Adriana called him.
"I think I have to go now",she told him, but he didn't hear her, so she shook him.
"what?",he asked,
"it's late, I need to head home",
"Okay let me see you off",

He walked her outside and felt it wasn't enough, so he said,
"maybe I should take you home",
She understood that what she told him had him worried, but to lighten up the mood she said,
"aww! You are worried about me? You don't have to be",
"I am not.....well maybe I am",
"you're worried?",
"yes",he said,

He didn't anticipate the next thing she asked cause he answered before realising the question.
"do you like me?",
"yes",he replied then,"what no no!",
She giggled,
"I already know you liked me",she told him,
"and you're Okay with it?",
She nodded,
"in fact I like you too",
He didn't get what she said, he was still trying to understand when he saw something; someone in his peripheral vision looking at them. He didn't look at the person.

Then a cab passed by. he hailed it down and ushered Adriana in. He said bye to her promising to call her. She said goodbye and the cab went away. He turned to the direction he saw the person, he wasn't there. He wondered if it was just his imagination. He pushed the thought aside, and went into his apartment locking the door twice behind him.

***
The gang members were gathered on how to save themselves from the predicament that they were in. Though they were all involved in the beating of the victim, they weren't all the ones that killed him. The oath they all made - never desert anybody in the group - made it their problem.
James and Matthew were arguing about approaching Ben before their leader came in.

"what is all the fuss about?", he asked them,
They didn't say anything but glared at each other. He ignored them and changed the conversation to a more pressing matter.
"where is Marcus?",he asked,"he isn't back yet? ",
They shook their heads,
"he isn't back yet from....",
"I am here",Marcus said as he just joined them,
"just coming from there?",

"yes",he replied,
"anything that can be of help to us?",
"nothing significant. Just that he lives alone. No one comes to visit and he has a girlfriend - that is what I think - who came to see him",
"no friends? ",
"according to his neighbours he has one but he visits once in a while",
"that's useful information",their leader remarked,
"how is that useful?", James asked,

"we can use his girlfriend against him",Matthew said,
"All that is left is for someone to approach him",the leader said looking at his boys,
No one volunteered to do the task, so he decided to pick a person himself.
He picked James, which got him protestation from James.
"then you Marcus",
He protested also,
Still arguing about who to go, Matthew rose his hands and said he would do the task,

Just then Olu walked in, limping. They looked at him surprised at the condition he was in.
"what happened to you?",James asked him,
"the police happened",
The police approaching them will really complicate matters for them. As matters were, it was already complicated.