Deadly as trust

Ten: Jide

My phone rang again for the umpteenth time. I was so close to throwing it at the wall. My head was throbbing.

Just after the call ended without being unattended, another one came in. I groaned and picked the phone.

"What is it?!"

Whoever was calling had better have a good reason.

"Jide, it's me, Miriam. I need your help, I'll explain later. Please just meet me around the brothel."

Miriam?

"Alright I'm coming."

"Please hurry."

She hung up immediately after that and I grabbed my car keys and a pair of sandals and rushed to my car.

What was all this about?

She normally wouldn't call. It had to be serious. I paused before going back to take something I hadn't used in a while, my handgun. I had to be ready for whatever it was.

The drive to the brothel was fast with my trying to calm my headache. That would teach me not to get drunk. I called Miriam again but she didn't pick. I tried again multiple times but she still didn't pick. I figured out something was going on. I parked the car at a distance from the brothel and left the car.

My greatest friend at that moment was the darkness, I used it to my advantage. As I got closer to the brothel I began to hear heavy footsteps, I paused at a dark corner and watched as two men in black held somebody kicking and fighting. She made no noises so I knew her mouth had been muffled.

Miriam.

I traced them to the direction they were headed and saw a car waiting nearby. It had to be now. I brought out the handgun and got ready to fire. I aimed carefully at leg of one of them... then pulled the trigger.

The silencer on the gun blocked out any sound and I watched as the one I shot fell and shouted, holding his leg. Consequently, they let go of Miriam and she fell to the floor. The other one tried to grab her again but she swung her leg and hit him square at his jewels. I winced, ouch.

He held his crotch in pain giving her time to run. She ran across the street, to the side closer to the brothel and towards me. That was my cue. I followed her till I got close enough to grab her and move her closer to the darkness.

I muffled the scream she almost let out with my hand as she struggled to break free from my hold.

"Shhhh. Miriam it's me."

She paused and stopped resisting my hold but she was still sobbing adding tears to her already tear-stained face.

"It's alright, I'm here now. It's okay.", I tried consoling her.

~~~

"He was there.", she said.

She had stopped sobbing but she hugged her legs to her chest as she sat on the couch — my couch. Jamilah was probably sleeping, it was very late after all.

"Who?"

"Him, the man who tried to kill me. He was there."

I didn't say anything.

"He... He had his men hold my hands and legs and... and stuff my mouth to muffle any sounds. He was trying to kill me. Majoress knew, she knew."

I rubbed her back. I noticed she was still wearing the T-shirt and jeans I bought her then.

"I overheard them talking about getting rid of me. Then I had to call. Then you showed up."

She looked at me and I returned it.

"Again."

We didn't break eye contact for a while before she looked away.

"Thank you but, I don't have anywhere to stay."

"What about your parents and the rest of your family?"

Why did she not go back to them before if she hated prostitution so much.

"That's something I don't talk about. Maybe I'll explain it later. Just know that as of today, I remain a homeless person."

"You can stay here till we find a place for you to stay.", it was out before I could stop it.

Wonderful.

"First of all who is 'we'?"

"The police force of course, you need our help. You need protection definitely and a place to stay and I can provide you with both if you promise to stay here Miriam. I need your cooperation to keep your whereabouts a secret. Nobody has to know you're here."

She nodded and breathed a 'thank you'.

I should have just filled Jamilah in on what was going on.

"Alright, I'll get you a blanket. You'll sleep here in the sitting room tonight but as of tomorrow you'll be sharing a room with someone here. She's asleep now so you can't meet her till tomorrow."

She looked at me. "Here? Tonight? Alone?"

Oh, here we go again. She was probably still scared.

"Fine, I'll be here with you. Just go upstairs to my room, take a shower and I'll give you something to sleep in. You come back downstairs and sleep. Okay?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, let's go."

I stood and offered my hand which she took and we made our way upstairs. When I got to my door, I stopped in front of it. She looked at me, maybe expecting me to change my mind, I thought a little.

I'd never taken anybody to my room and only Jamilah had come here. Nobody besides me had used my shower. What was going on?

I let out a breath. I was only helping. Yeah, that was it.

I opened the door and let her inside.

"That's my bathroom, feel free to use the soap but please nothing else and do not rub the soap on your body. Just make the lather on your palms and rub it on your body."

I couldn't be judged. I had this thing about the things that touched my body. They touch only my body, nobody else's.

She didn't care though, she thanked me and moved into the bathroom, locking the door after her. She seemed to trust that I wouldn't take advantage of her. Luckily for her, I wasn't planning to either.

I moved to my closet and looked for something that would be able to fit her. I ended up picking a pair of boxers I hadn't used and one of my biggest T-shirts and laid them for her on the bed together with a blanket.

I left the room to give her some privacy and when she came out, I went in and had my own shower, choosing to ignore her exposed laps.

By the time I was done she was waiting for me in front of my door. So she was scared of watching TV alone too.

I didn't say anything though. We just went to the sitting room where she laid on one couch and I laid on the other with an extra blanket covering me.

She didn't take long to sleep, I however stayed up longer, trying to figure out what was going to happen next.