Mania

  

 A year ago, On Valentine's day. Femi stalked back and forth. He sighed and then backtracked. He slid his hand into his pocket, the street was less busy, this evening. Femi just wanted to go home, he was waiting for a cab to hail, so he could go to his quiet cul-de-sac, his quiet empty bungalow, switch on the light ,make hot black tea, sip it while watching TV and then slip into bed when he was done.  He watched as two motorcycles sped past. A couple walked past him ,holding hands,the lady laughed hysterically as they walked away. Femi turned around, through the transparent window, he could see the brightly lit restaurant, the couple sitting next to the window were kissing passionately. Because it was Valentine day ,public display of affection has not been an unusual thing since the day before. Femi sighed ,he rolled his eyes and turned around. He closed his  eyes and prayed that a cab would come by. 

 Sola,slim ,tall, light skinned, long legs and a beautiful walked out of the restaurant. She was a quite busy bachelorette,who lived alone in a slum-push neighborhood, one of those neighborhoods in which one side was slum-like and the other side not. Sola does not live on the slum-like side. She lives alone in a grey bungalow with two rooms. She works as a administrative- secretary in a very big PR firm. Sola came to get a bite for dinner,because she was too tired to cook. Sola walked over to the side of the road just beside Femi,to wait for a cab.  

"Good evening" Sola muttered to Femi, to be polite. Femi nodded. 

Last two years,Femi had a relationship,it ended because she cheated with his friend, Goke was not really a close friend, but they once lived in the same room back in university. Goke was once his neighbor. She shouldn't have done that, Chizor shouldn't have. This made him lock up his heart to women, and to abhor the female sex to some extent. He still loves his younger sister and mother dearly. But he doesn't want to love romantically, neither does he want a relationship. 

Sola and Femi, stood by the toad quietly for about twenty minutes, neither saying a word to each other. Which was normal for two strangers waiting for a cab on the streets of Lagos. Finally, a hello cab pulled to a stop right in front of them.

"Where you people dey go", The driver said in pidgin english.

"Boye " Femi said.

"Alalu" Sola said.

They both told their destinations to the drivers simultaneously. 

"E wolé" ,the driver told them in Yoruba to get in. They both got in. Femi first then Sola. Sola closed the car door with a bang, the driver ignited the engine and the engine revved to life, it was a very disturbing noise. The revving sounded like ,eggs cracking, metallic eggs. Anyway the car went into motion. Femi leaned backwards on the car seat to ease his back. Sola looked out the window. Femi rose. Sola checked her messages on Facebook. Femi closed his eyes to think. Sola arranged her hair then leaned her heads  towards the driver seat.

"You people be  girlfriend and boyfriend?"  The driver said above the noise of the night traffic.

"No" ,Femi replied in a voice that was rather too cold for the question. Sola said nothing she just ,looked around the car , and then at her feet. Then she felt that she was stepping on something, she raised her left foot ,a used really stretched out condom. What kind of person engages in sex in a cab like this?  Valentine days… Sola looked to her right at Femi ,who was quiet but didn't seem to be in the cab or this world with the way he was still. Sola could make out his eye blinking occasionally in the cab's darkness. She studied him, lean body,broad shoulders, high hair, an almost pointed nose,or was she seeing wrong. 

Would Femi be a kind of person who had sex in cabs like this? She wondered. 

Femi felt ,Sola staring at him, 

"Hey" Sola said to him then she smiled, the kind of smile people smile to strangers when they are trying to be nice.

"Hi" Femi thought her smile was nice.

"I am Sola"

"I am Femi"

"Sola Doyle"

"Femi Akinola", Femi said and cleared his throat quite loudly out of nervosity. He could tell she wanted a conversation, but he wasn't up for that. But it would seem rude not to start one ,she looked nice and kind too. Kind people have a way they appear. 

" so you are going home? "

"Yes …"

"Why are you alone today is February 14. Or are you going home to boo?"

"Frankly ,I don't have a boo" ,Sola drew an invincible quote sign in the air, when she said boo. 

"Wow…",Femi wanted to ask why but he didn't want to seem like a pryer. 

" why are you alone ", Sola said and then placed the stray single long braid behind her ear," today is February 14"

"Because I am not in a relationship, I have not been in one since 2015,that was two years ago"

 Sola was surprised, Femi looked handsome enough but not drop dead handsome but he was handsome enough to attract any girl at all.

"Wow...Why?" Sola asked, "oh..sorry for asking", Sola wished she could take the 

" Why" back, now she she was a nosy person. 

"It's okay", Femi shrugged," I had a heart shredding experience, she cheated with a friend and all…"

"Aw, I am so sorry," Sola said sincerely. Last two months she broke up with Adam because he was always on his phone when she was around him. It was like he was cheating on her with his stupid phone. She wondered what being cheated on with a human would feel like since she was so angry at him. 

"So what happened why don't you have a boo",Femi drew his own air quote sign. 

"Well, I broke up last two months, was cheating with his phone", Lola chuckles, Femi does too ,he understood  " I figured that I am young and I should focus on my dreams,so I am not actively seeking, I am almost twenty three years old, I graduated with a Bsc in Business Administration from the university of Lagos last year…" 

"How come I don't know you, I was in the university of Lagos too ,in the same department!" Femi chips in excitedly. 

"Wow really?" Sola replied with equal enthusiasm.

"Yes!", then the two started talking about the nostalgic days in the university of Lagos, major events, annoying lecturers, difficult exams, unforgettable funny moments during lectures ,annoying course mates. Then they moved on and talked about each other's life experiences, until Sola got to her destination. 

" I have to go now." She said with a smile, took up her bag and got out of the car. Femi watched as she did with a smile on his face. 

That night, when Femi got home, his night went as planned, he made hot black tea with sugar,sipped it  as he watched TV. Then he went to bed,but he didn't sleep immediately, he couldn't sleep,he found himself thinking about Sola ,it was like a magical occurrence.. 

It was the same for Sola ,she thought about Femi and his deep handsome laugh. 

The next day,Femi could not stop thinking about her,it got worse. He couldn't do anything without reminiscing how soft and feminine her voice was ,and her laugh,it was like glass music to his ears. Femi grabbed his smartphone after breakfast, it was Saturday so he didn't have to  go work in the small plastic compound he worked as a general manager. He was free of dealing with the annoying staff.

Femi searched on Facebook for her. Sola Doyle ,he typed in. She was at the top of the page. He clicked on her profile briskly. A sudden flow of happiness rushed through his body.  He clicked on her profile picture, she looked so pretty, she was the photogenic type, although he knew she was really pretty. 

She was in a blue  gown with a red collar and a red high heel.  Femi decided to check her timeline, but he considered it a dally. So he sent her a message; hi it's me ,Femi Akintola the guy you met yesterday in the cab, who was in the department as you back in the university. 

When Sola got home, she sank into her bed after removing her jacket ,her shirt,skirt and heels. She slept in just her bra and panties. Being an administrative secretary was stressful. The next day she woke up late, and decided to practice baking with her YouTube classes when she saw Femi's message. She smiled widely when she saw it, and then started typing immediately, Oh,hi I remember you talking to you was fun. 

 The two started ,talking from then on. Became friends, their company was not too far from each other. They ate lunch together, took the same cab home everyday. Sola fell deeply in love ,and so did Femi. Two months later, they became a couple. Even though it was so hard for Femi ,he was scared and he didn't want his heart to go through the shredding machine. But he took the courage and asked her to be his girlfriend. 

Two months later, Sola invited Femi to her house. She was excited, she was baking some pink romantic cupcakes for him when she heard a knock on the door ,it was just 11 O'Clock, two hours before Femi would arrive. She hoped he wasn't the one at the door as she strode to the door to open it, Femi treated her like a royalty any time she went over to his house,she wanted to do the same for him this first time. However it was her colleague, Hassan. 

"Hi,Hassan" 

"Hi,Sola I came to get my flash drive I forgot it with you" 

"Oh…., I totally forgot, come in let me get it"

Sola gave him the flash drive, but Hassan was not ready to live. He stayed back. Sola and Hassan talked while she baked ,cooked ,mixed drinks, until she was done. She gave him a plate of spaghetti, when she was done, Sola had to leave Hassan in the kitchen because she had to take a shower and get dressed, she also hoped he would leave soon. She reached for the knot at her back to untie her apron, while she watched Hassan eat. The knot didn't budge, she had tied it a little too tight. 

"Let me help you", Hassan stood in front of her and then reached for her back to untie the knot,so that it looked like they were hugging. Sola felt uncomfortable,but she didn't say a thing she just wanted to get out of the apron and her sweaty clothes.

Femi walked into the kitchen," what's going on here?", he asked quite loudly. 

Hassan and Sola jumped apart, startled. Hassan left abruptly,he didn't want to get punched by an angry jealous lover. 

"It is not what you think", Sola said , he was trying to lose the knot of my apron. 

" really? " Femi was so angry that it was difficult to talk. He knew it ,he knew women were nothing but traitors, liars and cheaters. He shouldn't have trusted or loved Sola. 

"I loved you" ,he said ,huskily and slowly. 

"It is not what you think," Sola said agitatedly. 

"Don't tell me what to think, I am no fool",Femi grabbed at her  neck. He couldn't control himself, the wrath was now controlling him ,it was like he was outside of himself. He pinned her to the wall ,and then strangled her ,while Sola tried to explain that she loved him and she would never cheat on him, Femi didn't stop until she died. Then he let go, Sola's lifeless body slumped to the floor. Femi was so scared,he finally came back to his senses. He paced back and forth ,panicking. Then he had an idea, he stayed until it was night, ate the food,and dished  it in two different plates so it would be like they both ate. He made her lifeless body wear the sundress she laid on the bed. Then he carried her into his car and then drove away to a undeveloped land with lot of bushes and shrubs, at first he tossed her into the bushes , but then he realized she would be found. He was so scared and confused. So he took a shovel from a nearby construction site, he butchered her lifeless body with the shovel,until she was nothing but arms, leg head, mid body,stomach, chest. Then he buried her. He scraped off the blood from the sand,rinsed the shovel with the borehole tap at the construction site. He drove back to her house took a stop for some seconds, then he drove home to his quiet cul-de-sac where there were only seven houses,and everyone minded their business. 

Sola was declared missing two days later, Femi told the police they went out together at night that day after eating and dropped her at her house. With no proof the case was dismissed. But a hashtag, #findSholaDoyle  spearheaded by Femi trended for four months. Femi buried his guilt and moved on to his normal life with no romanticism. 

That was last year, today September 15 ,2018, Femi is panicking, in his office. He is almost close to crazy. He received a call yesterday,from an unknown number, when he picked it up. It was a thick scary voice," I know you killed her" the voice said and hung up. There is only one person he killed in his lifetime and it was Sola. Now  Femi is scared, scared for his life and freedom. He doesn't know what to do ,but he surely needs to run away. He heard a knock, it must be his annoying secretary. "Go away !" He yelled. After closing hours, Femi drives home in his new grey Toyota. He walked into his home, grabbed a white duffel bag he owned , put in three jeans trousers, his shirts, underwear, his tooth brush, toothpaste, his documents including his passport.  He will leave tomorrow. He walked out into his living room,so he could grab a bottle of water from the fridge, and then he saw it, a squarish piece of cardboard, YOU KILLED SOLA, boldly written on it. Femi began to sweat profusely. He was tasty but he forgot about the water ,so he rushed into the living room, grabbed his white duffel bag and ran into the car barefoot. He even forgot to lock up his house ,he just wanted to run away ,away from the past and his sins. He stopped at a gas station bought ten liters of fuel ,and then continued the drive. He will go to his hometown, stay there for a while, lie to his company that he is sick and then come back. That was when he received a call. An unknown number,he picked  up the call. 

"Wow, so where are you running to? Anyway I just reported it to the police. Now you are no longer running away from me ,but the police. Plus I showed them the evidence ,I saw you carrying Sola away from her home that night,and I took a picture of you. And you are so cruel ,even the police couldn't finish watching the video of you butchering Sola's lifeless body with a shovel." 

Femi dropped his phone, he was shocked.  By now ,he was already on the outskirts of the city. And it was getting dark. He drove into a trailer park. He will spend the night there. Just then,his phone rang again. 

"Hello" Femi said, scared. 

"Hello ,it is me,your new friend. I hope you run well ,because you might be sentenced to death"

"Please who are you?"

"Well let's just say ,I was really in love with Sola,but she broke up with me , so I became a stalker ,because she didn't want to come back so I just started sitting in front of her house in the dark enjoying the view of her house and her coming back home. You can call me a friendly stalker"

"Adam?" 

Adam already hung up but he was standing right in front of him,right in front of his car. In the dark. Femi couldn't make out his face or features. But he knew he was the one.  Femi quickly ignited the engine and reversed out of the park speedily. Femi kept driving till he was on a lonely road out of Lagos. When he was in Ibadan, he drove to a stop by the road side so he could sleep ,but his thoughts won't let him. So he switched on the radio. 

Away from Politics . The young Lady' , Sola Doyle whose unknown whereabouts sparked a lot of internet protests,most particularly from her so-called boyfriend, Femi Akintola has been confirmed dead by Lagos State Police Command, after an evidence from an undisclosed source was found, a picture in which Femi Akintola was carrying her body out of her home and a video in which he was seen cutting her body to pieces. Her family and the police have  proposed a sum of five million naira to anyone who finds him as he has absconded.

Femi was shaking as the newscaster's gentle voice read the news. He wasn't surprised, Sola's family was rich and now they know he killed her. They must be really disappointed, Sola didn't introduce him to them ,but they met after she died when they were both searching for her, the Doyles oblivious to the fact that she was dead.  He switched off the radio and then adjusted his seat so he could sleep. But he couldn't sleep for long ,he had a dream in which he was in the gallows and he was hung to death. He also had a dream ,it must be more of a reincarnation of events. In the dream , he Strangulated Sola ,while she pleaded for his mercy. He woke up with a start. He ignited the engine and started driving. He had to run,run for his life. He had to leave this country. 

By 7:30 ,the next day, Femi was already in Ekiti.  He would leave Ekiti for Abuja tomorrow and from Abuja he would leave to somewhere like Uganda or Botswana somewhere no one would think to find him.  He parked his car by the roadside. From his duffel bag sitting shotgun with him ,he took a black hoodie he owned,wore it and wore the hood. He also wore his sunglasses that he usually kept in his car. He walked into a restaurant with a TV displaying a cocoa beverage Ad.  Then he sat. 

"What do you want to order Sir?", the waitress  asked. 

" just give me food….amala  anything … "

"OK ,I will give you amala"  the waitress walked away and returned two minutes ,with a tray ,in the tray was a plate of amala and a plate of beans soup and a bowl of clean water to rinse his hands she set the food on the table, Femi rinsed his hands and then sunk his hands into the brown mound of amala. 

Just then his face flashed on the TV ,if you find him call the number, 08133234567 to claim your five million naira.

Femi became tense, he removed his fingers from the sticky mound and walked out back into his car and then sped off.  His hands were sweaty on the wheel ,his heart was beating really fast,he needed to think fast and act fast. His phone started ringing again, he picked it up  from the dashboard,his phone's battery was low. He swiped on the green telephone icon to receive the call.

"Hello,listen. Why don't we bargain? I pay you off to leave me alone or something"

"Can you listen to yourself ,you killed the woman I loved and you are asking me to leave you alone. I might actually just kill you myself.." I am coming for you. Femi wasn't really focused on driving ,he collided with a small lorry coming ahead. It was a small crash, but it caused quite a havoc. Femi hit his head on the steering wheel with force, and then he passed out.

Femi woke up with a start, he examined his surroundings ,a hospital with white walls. He sat up abruptly and his head hurt. A nurse came in,

"How did I get here? I need to leave right now" Femi said to the nurse almost deliriously. 

"You would leave once the doctor says you should. The nurse said camly. 

Then she walked out. Then she stopped. He could see her legs in white espadrille like flat shoes through the gap below the closed door. A masculine pair of legs in leather shoes  joined hers. He could hear them whispering, he removed the drip from his vein ,blood sipped out, Femi compressed it with his other thumb. He slinked to the door and listened to them.

"Are you sure he is the one, Nurse Stella", that was the masculine voice.

" Yes Doctor I am very sure,I hope the announcements will be made on TV again.

"We can't let him go Stella. Prepare something soporific and inject him with it"

"Okay Sir" 

Femi turned around abruptly,he looked around the neat room then at  the bed with ,God's Love Private Clinic printed on it. He thought of what to do.  His head ached a lot as he paced around. He had no way out than the door and the narrow  window. The door was locked. So he broke the door with the drip stand and ran out. When he was out of the clinic, he stood by the road side,oblivious of what to do next. He didn't know where his car ,bag or phone was. And he couldn't go back to the hospital.  Femi kept walking and walking until he got to a very busy street. He stood by the side of the road ,he found an open space with lot of cars,some were wrecked,most had their bonnets opened,some had tyres missing,one was lying on its roof with it tyres gone. A man in shorts black with engine oil sat beside a car with its bonnet open, on a bench eating bread and drinking from a  water sachet. The man , nodded at Femi in greeting, Femi nodded at him too and sat on a bench just beside a white lorry with two tyres missing. Femi's stomach ached with hunger as he sat silently but he had no money and he couldn't ask the man , he didn't even look like someone who could help.

Soon Ajani left the mechanic yard. He left the hungry looking man there ,he didn't try to tell him to go away ,because it would be cruel. He was obviously a homeless man looking for somewhere to lay his head. Although he looked strangely familiar,maybe he had seen him walking around the street before.

Femi watched as the man walked out into the streets,grateful that the man didn't question him. Femi layed on the bench. He must find a way to hide ,he couldn't be caught. His life would totally end, a part of his life ended when he killed Sola ,when his anger killed Sola. Femu  drifted asleep ,he dreamt of Sola laughing and baking in his kitchen. Her light skin stained with flour. He missed her baked goodies. Baking was Sola's stress relief. 

Femi felt a touch on his arms ,he jerked awake, above him stood a tall man in a blue T-shirt and black jeans ,with a sinister smile on his face. 

"Adam?" Femi said rising up. 

"How did you find me?" 

"I am a friendly stalker "

"You are crazy"

"You are equally crazy. You killed your girlfriend and butchered her with a shovel"

"I was scared,I was angry. It wasn't I who did that. I miss Sola more than anything in this world" 

"You are crazy, what it is called again, Bipolar?"

"I don't believe in those "

"Well I guess you killed her out of sheer wickedness. And even if you went to court. And claimed bipolarity ,nobody would believe you, Nigerians don't even believe in bipolarity or physiological disorders"

"How did you find me Adam?"

Adam chuckled, he slid his hand into his pocket. 

"Why did you wait for a year before exposing me?"

"Because I wanted to watch your sad little life, plus it was fun making you think you were safe and you could put the past behind"

"Are you going to take me to the police?"

"No..I am going to kill you!!" Adam swiftly, punched Femi in the face. 

There was only one thing to do ,it was to run away ,run far away ,Adam was filled with rage, he was determined to kill Femi ,it was his own way to avenge Sola's death.  Femi held his bleeding face as he is ran away and Adam chased after him ,through the streets,the night market, a group of men watching a football match on public TV,through a quiet neighborhood, until they got to an uncompleted building. Femi leaned against the wall panting as Femi approached him ,with a pocket knife in hand.  Adam made to pierce Femi ,but Femi ducked, punched Adam in the balls and then took the knife away from Adam and stabbed Adam repeatedly at the spot where he thought his spinal cord should be. He stopped only when he got tired and sank to the ground and then passed out . The next early morning when the sun was about to rise, Femi woke up ,flies were everywhere all over Adam. It was only then he realized what he had done,he burst into tears and  ran out ,his hoodie was stained with blood but he walked on. He was nothing, no one in two days. He was just a murderer, someone destined for the gallows ,someone whose life worths five million. He had been a murderer for a year but, he wasn't leaving in the reality he just wanted to forget. Sometimes he pretended he never met Sola ,but now ,it feels like it was yesterday he killed her with his own hands. He sank to the dusty ground and cried. Onlookers and passersby figured he was a mad man so they just went about their business and walked on. Only one onlooker was watching him intently,and that was Mama Rufus ,who had a provision shop,she called the police, she needed the money.

When the police officers came by ,Femi was already gone. He had walked until it was evening and found himself in a remote village. He was tired and hungry. He knocked on the first hut ,he saw, an  old jolly woman opened the door. He explained to her that he was lost and needed assistance, the woman readily opened the door for him as he walked in,little did he know the woman would recognize him and he would kill her and he would be on the run again. 

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