Vagrants

Chapter 14

Preparing to land. Preparing to land. Dear passengers, make sure your seatbelts are...

I woke up to find myself asleep on Damba's chest.

"I...Sorry." I raised my head.

He chuckled. "No, it's fine."

My gaze turned to the magazine he was reading.

I read aloud. "Lawal and sons."

"Hmm." He nodded.

"Isn't this that famous company in Lagos. I heard they have about 3 branches abroad."

"Hmm." Damba's eyes told me something so I dared to ask.

"Do you know something about the company?"

"Yes."

"What...?"

"When the time is right, I'll tell you."

I understood. "Okay."

*

We landed at the Nnamdi azikiwe international airport in Abuja. We deplaned and picked our luggage from the carousel in the Baggage claim section.

When we got outside, I was expecting to be welcomed by Damba's family but no one was there. Not even a taxi driver with a sign having our names on it. At least, that would have meant that Damba's family was waiting for him.

Damba and I stood outside for almost 20 minutes, trying to hail a cab. Most of these drivers outside have been booked, waiting for other passengers with their names on cardboard.

We finally managed to get a cab and Damba helped me quickly get in before other unclaimed passengers like us got into the cab.

"Where are you going?” The driver asked.

"New castle hotel." Damba replied.

I was dumbfounded. "Ehn?"

"What?"

I gestured with my hand for him to repeat it. "What did you say?"

"New castle hotel."

"Ho- what? You must be kidding."

"No, I'm not." He shook his head.

"I thought we were going to see your parents ni sha." I hissed. "Driver stop the car!"

So my mother was right.

"Keep driving." Damba said calmly and held my hands. "Didn't you know I was on a call earlier?"

"Ehn, what did that have to do with...?"

"Calm down." He sighed. "They're not in town."

"All of them?" I scoffed. "When did you start lying to me Damba?"

"I'm not lying. I only care about one family member and that's who I was taking you to."

"And the person is not in town?"

"Yes." He nodded.

I looked into his eyes and for some reason I believed him and hoped I was right in believing him and not my mother.

I sighed. "Okay sha."

Damba laughed. "You this girl. I didn't know you can shout oh."

Then, I started feeling uneasy again. I didn't know how I was able to shout like that but I knew that the brain won't care how your heart felt, once it senses danger, it would panic. And I felt insecure when I realized we were going to an hotel.

"You scared me." I looked out of the window.