Safe

Fifteen

Breakfast was a shushed affair one Saturday morning a few weeks later. Nike and Lola were sat at the table eating quietly, well trying to eat. Nike was wolfing down her oatmeal and humming to herself as she focused on her phone while Lola on the other side of the table, was glaring at her so hard that it was surprising her eyes hadn't burned a hole in her sister's head. Of course, oblivious to her sister's ire, Nike continued humming, making more noise than Lola could take at that time of the morning.
"Can you shut up!" She exclaimed suddenly. Nike looked up in surprise at her sister and shook her head.
"No. I will not shut up. It's not my fault you decided to drink a bar dry last night."
Lola groaned at her raised voice and rested her head against the table.
"Please, stop shouting."
"I'm not shouting, you're just hungover."
"You don't think I know that!" Lola snapped. "Look, just be quiet till the painkillers kick in okay."
Nike rolled her eyes and finished her food quietly before moving to the living room making sure she slammed the cabinet door as she did. Her sister's pained grunt gave her joy as she sat and put in her ear pods.
With no one else but the two of them in the house, silence reigned and it was the perfect atmosphere to doze off on the couch in.
She was startled awake a while later by her phone vibrating angrily from it's place where it was wedged between her thigh and the couch. Still groggy from sleep, she swiped and put the phone to her ear.
"Hey, I need your help." Came Hannah's fluty voice through the phone line.
"Help with what?" Nike groaned. "I was taking a nap!"
"At eleven in the morning? That just proves you have nothing better to do so come and help me!"
"Okay, fine! What's it this time?"
She moved around a bit then answered. "I'm taking Hameed on a picnic this evening and I need to get everything together in time which sucks because I haven't bought anything yet."
"I'm sure you can prep for a picnic by yourself. You don't need me please." Nike begged ready to sink back into the couch.
"Get your ass up and meet me at ShopRite in twenty minutes. And don't be late or I promise I'll wring your head off!"
Then she hung up leaving Nike to gather her wits and shrug into a T-shirt and jeans before leaving the house. Lola had probably gone back to bed and their parents were out of town leaving her to her own devices.
She met her friend at the store less than fifteen minutes later, early enough that she'd never have to find out if Hannah would carry out her threat and together they scoured the store for biscuits, candy and bottles of sweet, non alcoholic wine.
Hannah had given up alcohol a while ago and while Nike didn't say anything, she noticed that her friend was more careful with her speech, doing away with her heavy cursing and adopting a look that could wither the freshest garden in bloom instead.
They loaded the goodies into Hannah's car and went to her house with Nike driving behind her all the way.
They'd gone overboard with their shopping and had bought things they definitely wouldn't need for the outing but would still find love in the arms of the junkie best friends. Quickly, they got to work making sandwiches and setting the snacks into different disposable containers then packed everything up in time for Hameed to pick Hannah up.
Since her friend was still getting ready when her boyfriend arrived, Nike had no choice but to open the door.
Hammed smiled as he saw her and greeted her enthusiastically.
"Nike! It's good to see you. I haven't seen you in a while."
"Right. We're busy people I guess." She replied following him as he took a seat at the dining table.
"Hannah's getting ready, she just needs a few more minutes."
"Of course, I'm happy to wait." He smiled. "How did your search go? Did you find anything you like?" He asked, ever his cheerful self and Nike shushed him quickly looking over his shoulder to make sure Hannah hadn't come into the room.
"No, not yet but remember it's a secret."
"Oh! You haven't told your friend yet?"
"No, not yet. I want to be sure." She answered and he smiled at her again waving his hand through the air in a leisurely manner.
"I'm sure you'll sort it out. Remember, you can ask me if you need help."
"Of course, thank you Hameed."
That were interrupted by Hannah coming into the room dressed in a relaxed pants and shirt set. The red fabric stood out nicely against her skin and she beamed when she saw her boyfriend and came to kiss his head tenderly.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I lost track of time."
He assured her there was no problem and all three of them set out together. Hameed put the large picnic basket into the backseat where a rolled up mat was waiting while Nike stuffed a bag with some of the junk food they'd bought. She waved goodbye to them as she drove home hoping they had a great time together. She knew she had to get home and finish her lesson plan for the week before she could do anything remotely fun but she appreciated the fact that it took her mind off of the ongoing investigation.
She'd hoped they'd find nothing, hit a dead end and be forced to close the case but unfortunately, she'd had no such luck. She'd received a summon to the police station asking her to come as soon as possible to identify a suspect. That had surprised her. She didn't expect that they would make any progress so soon after her interview but they must have been closer than she thought and after the initial surprise, she'd been seized by terror when she realized they could have found TJ.
He was the only good thing about that experience for her and she swore that she would do anything to protect him even if he'd been arrested. She'd tell them she didn't remember or that he wasn't the one; whatever she could do to save him from a fate only meant for the worst of people, she would do.
Absently, she drove all the way home and started on her work at the desk in her room, away from her sister who was clearly feeling better judging by how loudly she was chatting on the phone.
Methodically, she set about her task and finished it very quickly having barely paid attention. After, she took her favourite pillow outside with her to sit in the hammock her brother had strung up in the backyard. In the quiet of the quickly waning day, she fell asleep, the sun in her face and the rustle of palm fronds above her.
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         Everything that could go wrong, went wrong on Monday. Nike had been so anxious for the day that she'd been unable to close her eyes all night so that by morning she was tired and irritable. With all the enthusiasm of a storm cloud, she started getting ready for the day.
The first sign of an awry day came when in her rush to reach her ringing phone, she'd snagged the belt loop of her dress on the bathroom door. The resulting rip had startled her and was enough to take her attention away from her phone long enough to examine the damage to her new dress. It had come apart, luckily at the seam but the size of the rip had brought tears to her eyes.
Angrily, she stripped and started hunting for another outfit which turned out to be more difficult than she expected. Because she was the sort of person that prepared outfits for the entire week, everything that caught her eye was already penciled in for a particular day and event, a routine that she was hesitant to interrupt. Eventually, she settled for a plain black skirt and the first acceptable looking shirt she could find and breezed out the door past her mother who was sitting at the table.
"Won't you have breakfast?" She called after her leaving her no choice but to backtrack and apologize hastily.
"I'm sorry mummy but I don't have time. I'm late already!"
"Okay, bye then." Her mother intoned and as an afterthought added, "be careful!"
Her irritation began to subside as she joined the easy morning traffic and she began to regreet not stopping to eat some food. She'd been in a hurry to beat the traffic and it wasn't even bad at all. As she relaxed and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, she remembered her phone had been ringing nonstop and she dug into her bag to find it.
Of course it wasn't there. She'd left it on her bed in her haste to leave the house.
If she were a different person she'd have sworn. Instead, she leaned back and seethed, not even realizing she'd pressed on the horn until the sound startled her.
"Crap! Really Nike?" She asked herself aloud.
She debated turning around and going to get the phone but she knew she didn't have time. It was seven thirty already and she liked to be at work at least ten minutes before eight. If she went back home, she certainly wouldn't make it back till after eight which sucked because she needed her phone for her appointment with the police that afternoon.
Recovering from her annoyance, she told herself she'd go back to get it before going to her appointment. It would take more time than she'd intended but she had no choice.
She made it to work a few minutes early, which gave her time to collect herself and have some yoghurt she'd gotten from the tuck shop to satisfy her hunger. On the assembly ground, she slipped into an empty spot beside Tina, a quiet wiry woman that taught further mathematics and nudged her in greeting.
Tina turned to her with a welcoming smile and said, "hey! I like your shirt!"
Nike humphed and rolled her eyes.
"Please don't mock me."
Tina laughed. "Why? It's not what you wanted to wear?"
"No, my dress ripped." Nike muttered darkly which made Tina snicker as she tried to hide her laughter.
"No! How did that happen?"
"I was in a rush and caught my dress on the door handle."
"Ah, the classic enemity between clothes and door handles." Tina laughed.
"Don't laugh at my misfortune."
"I'm sorry." She acquiesced. "You look great though." She smiled and her manner made Nike feel better even though it didn't last long. She was so tense during class that her students who were usually overjoyed to see her were subdued the whole morning. No one stepped out of line or made jokes like they normally would which made Nike sad that she'd ruined their morning alongside hers.
The children didn't know what was wrong with their teacher but they figured like every other human being, she was having a bad day so they behaved and tried to cheer her up. She was normally very fun to talk to and she always had something to give the class like little candy pieces or something so it made them sad to see her so unusually angry.
Immediately after her third class of the day, Nike rushed away from school and to her house where she picked up her phone before driving to the police station.
One of the detectives in charge of the investigation, a small, portly middle aged man was waiting outside the building for her when she arrived and he led her inside talking animatedly about their progress and telling her they had made arrests.
"Thank you for making time to come." The second detective said to her she entered his office.
"Anything to help." She answered with a strained smile.
"Going by the information you gave us and our own investigation, we were able to make some arrests and we hope you'll be able to help us clarify the suspects."
Nike swallowed tightly and nodded as she followed both men down a long corridor to a small room that had one glass wall leading into anothet room. She knew it was where the suspects would be shown, she knew that much from movies and TV.
"Um officer? What happens if one of the suspects is actually who we're looking for?"
The smaller man smiles a hopeful smile at her and said, "we'll finally have the whole gang and the case can proceed to court. With the kind of evidence we have against these guys, it's going to be straightforward. No judge is going to give them less than fifteen years."
Nike almost choked at that.
"Fifteen years?"
"That'd be kind. These guys are a huge nuisance to us law enforcement." The second detective says hotly.
"Wow. That's something." I murmur.
The sound of a door opening distracted them from their conversation and Nike looked up to see some men file into the room and line up along the wall.
"Um, they can't see me right?"
"No. It's one way glass, don't worry." One of the detectives reassures her.
"Okay then."
"So do you know any of these men?" She heard a detective ask and for the first time, she looked at all the faces staring back at her. Red hot, visceral pain rushed through her as she found herself looking at TJ, seemingly staring into his eyes. She faltered and stumbled for a moment which made the men in the room reach out to grab her.
"Are you alright?" One asked in alarm.
"Yes. Just felt dizzy." She mumbled and braced herself against the wall.
"I'm okay." She said again to reassure when she saw the small glance the men exchanged.
She knew they must think she was unhinged, with the way she'd broken down during the questioning sessions and she didn't blame them even she thought she was unhinged.
Quickly organising herself, she looked at all the other men and opened her mouth to speak as she recognized another one of them. It was the bastard with the gun, the one that had touched her. He was standing next to another tall, rugged looking man, looking blankly at the wall in front of him. She felt anger well up inside her and she almost pointed him out before she even realized it but she knew if she gave him away, she'd have to give her friend away too. She couldn't do that, he didn't deserve to go to jail. Sure he'd gotten tangled up in illegal activities but she knew him. He wouldn't do any of the things he was accused of, not unless he was forced anyway.
She knew he was kind and peaceful, he wasn't a criminal and she wouldn't let them treat him like one.
"Miss Makinde? Do you recognize anyone?" She was prompted again. This time she shook her head.
"No. I don't."
"Are you sure?" The other detective asked. "Our investigation was thorough. It has to be one of these guys."
"I'm sorry but I don't recognize any of these men. I remember all their faces and these aren't any of them."
The men convened to whisper between themselves for a moment and Nike found herself wringing her hands as she waited, desperately hoping the men wouldn't ask her anymore questions or suspect that she was lying.
"We'll have to look further into things but thank you for your time. I'm sorry to have wasted your afternoon." The taller of the two men offered.
"Oh no. Anything to help."
"Thank you for coming."
They shook hands and Nike left the room ahead of them struggling not to take one last glimpse at the men on the other side of the glass wall.
Outside the police station in her car, Nike turned on the air conditioner and tried to relax as the cold air blasted her face. It was nearly impossible to relax and she realized with much discomfort that her hands were shaking as she tried to start the car.
She fumbled her keys and they dropped to the floor of the car. With a swear word slipping past her lips, she felt around for it and grasped when her fingers finally found it. She'd started the car and checked to make sure she looked acceptable in the mirror and was about to drive out when her phone started ringing. The sound startled her and she wondered warily if more bad news was coming.
She shook the thought out of her head and answered the phone.
"Hey sis! I have news!" Lola's voice came through the speakers.
Who doesn't? Nike thought darkly.
"Um.. news? What news?"
"Tobi asked if... Wait, are you okay?"
"What? Yes, of course."
"Are you sure? You sound weird." Lola answered and Nike winced at the concern in her voice.
"I'm fine. Just in need of a good nap. What was the news?"
The matter forgotten, Lola brightened up again and began chattering.
"Tobi's regiment is having a retirement party for one of their bosses and he wants us to come with him!"
"Us? What do I have to do with this?"
"Well, he thought you'd like to see how things are done on their side."
Nike rolled her eyes, "it's a dinner party not a parade. Besides, I don't want to be a third wheel."
"You won't be! I'm sure you'll find someone to talk to very quickly."
"You want me to tag along with the hope that someone will want to talk to me?" She asked.
"Oh come on! Don't be such a downer. We'll talk about it at home okay, bye!"
And she was gone even before Nike could tell her there was nothing to talk about. With a sigh, she decided to go home instead of going back to work. She didn't have any more classes so she could say she had an emergency and get the afternoon off, which was exactly what she did.
•
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     Hello lovely readers! I hope you're all in good health and enjoying yourselves. There are currently more of you than I expected to have by now so thank you for reading my book 🙏. This chapter came late because writing is honestly harder than it looks and I wanted to do something I'd at least be proud of with this story. For now this is all unedited and the facts might not always check out but all that will be fixed when it's done. Please leave a comment and tell me how we're feeling about this chapter.
Any predictions about Nike and the mess she's getting herself into? Maybe some about Hannah and her boo? Let me know ❤️