*FRIENDLY ENEMIES* *Episode 15 -18

[Edoman]

*FRIENDLY ENEMIES*

*Episode 15 & 16*

Samantha ran as fast as her legs could carry her, she was conscious of the fact that her mother may come searching for her the minute she discovers that she was missing and so she kept watching her back. In her anxiety, she almost ran into a bike man who was coming at top speed.

Okadaman: ”Madam, dey look your front if you dey waka for road now. Na for this recession you want put me for trouble? E no go work for you o”. He said as he drove away.

She ignored him and continued to walk on. She tried to stop some cars that drove past her but none agreed to stop.
She was still thinking of what to do
when a man stopped beside her.
Without saying a word to him, she
jumped into his car and ordered him to  drive.

Mama Samantha came back from the bathroom to discover that her daughter was missing. She threw away the bucket she had in her hands and ran to the reception.

Mama samantha: “Did you see my daughter walk out?” She asked anxiously.
Receptionist: “Calm down, madam. Who is your daughter?”
Mama Samantha: “Samantha, tall dark, slim. Just forget”. 

She ran out of the reception to the security post leaving the receptionist bewildered.
At the security post, the security men
informed her that they had seen someone who matched her description walk out in a hurry but they didn’t suspect that she was a patient because she didn’t have drips on. “That was my daughter o, I guess she is reacting to the strong drugs and injections she has been receiving ever since she had that accident. Please, you have to help me search for her before she harms anybody “.
The chief security assigned two of his junior officers to follow her and search for Samantha.

When Eno was sure that nobody was
eavesdropping on her conversation, she gently closed the door behind her and continued to talk to her mother on phone.

Eno: “Ehen, mum. It's about this fake
pregnancy thing o”.
Mama Eno: “What do you mean by that? Have you not been sleeping with your husband? You should be pregnant by now, that will take care of it”.
Eno: “That monster has never touched me ever since we got married!”
Mama Eno: “That is because you are not playing your cards well. Anyway, if he won’t get you pregnant, get someone else to do it”.
Eno: “What? Are you saying I should
cheat on my husband?”
Mama Eno: “Which husband are you
talking about again?  I thought you said you are as good as a widow?”
Eno: “But mum. You know what? I will
be with you in few hours time. We can’t discuss this on phone”.

Samantha and the man who picked her drove in silence for some minutes before he broke the silence.
“So, what’s your name and which way are you going?”
She ignored him and continued to stare far away towards the side mirror.
“Hey pretty, talk to me. I don’t mind
taking you to my crib if you are
homeless, we could make do with some smooching and pounding tonight, you know”, he winked at her and let his hand run through her thighs but she threw his hands off her.
“Hey, I don’t bite okay. Just tell me your name and your price, I want a slice of you”. He said.
Samantha became angry and she lost her  temper.

Samantha: “Can you just face your front and mind your driving? Must you talk? You men are all the same; opportunistic flirts, that’s what you all are. All men flirt, the ones
who claim they don’t say that because they haven’t gotten the perfect opportunity to do so. You want a slice because you gave me a ride, as if I am bread. Mtcheww”.

The man was flaggerbasted and lost his voice. “You don’t have to go all
philosophical, you know. We could be
intimate …”

Samantha: “Get your filthy hands off me”.

She brought out the knife she had
hidden beneath the veil. “Listen, I am
going on a murder mission and if you
ain’t careful, you will be my first victim”.
The trick worked or so it appeared and the man kept quiet and drove in silence.
When he got close to an army check
point, he stopped the car and ordered
her out. “Get out of my car before I tell the military men there that you have a dangerous weapon on you?” He barked.
Samantha: “You can’t do this.  I thought you are willing to drive me to wherever I want to go …”
“You think you are the only one who is full of surprises?  Get out, you bitch!” He opened the door and pulled her out and sped away.
Samantha stood at the same point
where the man dropped her for some
minutes. She was lost and didn’t know what to do. She was in Bwari and her destination for the vengeance she was seeking was Garki, where Dozie and Eno lived. She couldn’t walk it and she had no
money to pay a cab. She was still
contemplating what to do when a
soldier man sighted her and began to
run towards her. “Hey, stop there. Na all these women wey dey cover body bomb places be that. Why you stand like that?”

Samantha took two steps backward and was about to run away when the
soldiers’ voice froze her. “If you move I shoot”, he threatened as he drew near her.

Eno dressed in a plain blue Jean trousers and t-shirt walked up to the sitting room where her husband was watching TV.
“Hi, erm .. I wanna pay my mum a visit and I need you to drive me there or give me the key to your car so I can drive myself there”.

She waited for some minutes and when he didn’t reply, she repeated the same question. Again he ignored.
“I am talking to you, Dozie. Just say
something, this silence is choking me”.
He ignored her, got up, picked his phone and car key and made for the door but she ran to the door and barricaded him.

Dozie: “And what is the meaning of this?“
Eno: “The meaning of this is that you are not being fair to me as your wife”.
Dozie: “Step out of the door, I am going out”.
Eno: “And where are you going to that we can’t go together?”
Dozie: “You really wanna know where I am going to? Fine, I’ll tell you. I am going to apologize to Samantha, the woman I truly love”. The woman that will be mother of my Children. Samantha, the lady I will love so much, the one that when she is pregnant for me, I will rub and kiss her belly and listen as my baby kicks and whispers my name in her womb. Don’t you think it’s cute and
adorable doing that to Samantha?”
Eno: “You will do no such thing. Over my dead body will I watch you go to that husband snatcher and perform such functions”.
Dozie: “Now you are beginning to push me to the wall. You won’t like my reactions if you don’t stay out of my track. I promise you that I shall marry Samantha and bring her to live in this house. Her place is in my bedroom, beside me on the bed. Now move before I descend on you”.
Eno: “You are going nowhere, touch me and see if this will not be the end of your mother’s political career”. She remained rooted at the door with her hands akimbo.

*FRIENDLY ENEMIES*
*Episode 16*

Samantha turned and began to run but the soldier man caught up with her.

Samantha: “Leave me, alone. I haven’t done anything wrong”, she kicked and scratched at the soldier who held her tight.

The soldier surprised at her confidence twisted her arm and brought her to face with him. “Do you know that I can punish the life out of you? What stupid confidence have you like this?”

Samantha: “You cannot punish me, I am a law abiding citizen of this country and I know my rights. I will not take any sort of harassment from a military man”.
Soldier: “You dey craze? Which kind yeye harassment you dey talk of? I say make you stop, you no gree you start to dey run and you say I dey harass you? No be only criminals and suicide bombers dey run when them see soldiers?”
Samantha: “I had to run because I felt intimidated by you running towards me, it is not every woman who is covering her body with a veil that is a suicide bomber”. 

While she was talking, other soldiers surrounded them and Samantha
found herself in their middle.
Superior soldier: “Why are you exchanging words with an ordinary civilian? When did that one start?” Soldier: “Sorry, sir” “My friend go down and start to dey do frog jump for there”, he shouted at Samantha who obeyed immediately.
Surrounded by the military men, she
began to do as they said. Suddenly she felt her head spinning and the head rotating on its axis. She tried to maintain balance but she lost balance and fell down to the surprise of the soldiers.
Soldier: “So, after all the English you were speaking, you don’t even have stamina”.
He mocked.
Soldier: “Oga, no mind her. Na pretend she dey pretend, we know her type. Allow her make she lie down for there if she tire, she go stand up. Na trick she dey use to escape the frog jump. In fact, make we find cold water pour her for
body so that she go wake up”.
“No, I think she looks sick. What is this on her hand as if she was just
discharged from the hospital? Attend to her and revive her and allow her go, I don’t want the media to get wind of this and interpret it in a different way to Nigerians”.

Mama Samantha and the security men drove around searching for Samantha all to no avail. Tired, she thought of making a U-turn after the check point ahead of them when she sighted soldiers making frantic effort at waking up somebody who was on the floor. Some civilians were trying to come close to see the situation of things but the soldiers were chasing them away. The security man in the car with her interrupted her thoughts. 

Security man: “Madam, no mind all these soldier people. Some of them wicked no be small. Maybe dem don over punish person na im the person faint for their hand”.
Mama Samantha: “You may be right but I am sure they won’t just go about punishing people like that. Maybe the person is a suspect or something”.
Security: “You no need commit any crime o, even though na mistake you do, them go punish you. Na so one day me and my friend dey travel, one girl come forget dey make call before you know, na so them stop us begin give us frog jump do o. After that one, them collect the girl big
Samsung phone pieces am for ground.
The girl look for tears that day she no
see. Who know how many sugar
daddies she don commot with just to
buy that phone”.

Mama Samantha: “Your friend was
wrong. There is always a notice that we shouldn’t make or receive phone calls when we are at their check points. You know these people are suffering night and day away from their friends and families and even enduring cold and sleepless nights just for us to sleep and snore in peace, some of them even get
killed in the course of their duty. We
should help ourselves by cooperating
with them”.
Security: “I don hear, madam”.
When they drove near, they saw that it was Samantha sitting in the middle of the soldiers who were fanning her. Her mother ran close and hugged her. “Oh thank you, Lord. Look what you have brought upon yourself”. She began to shed tears.
“Madam, who are you and what are you doing here?” the soldier asked.
Mama Samantha: “Sorry, sir. She is my daughter, I mean I am her biological mother. She was on hospital admission and she ran away when I went out of the room. I am sorry for all the troubles that she may have caused you”.
Soldier: “Madam, you should always be around your patients to ensure that they do not do anything stupid”.
Mama Samantha thanked them and the hospital’s security helped her carry Samantha to the car and they drove back to the hospital.

Eno entered her mother’s house with
tears in her eyes. She was sad and was determined to make Dozie and Samantha pay for all the tears that they had caused her to shed.
Her mother came down stairs when she heard her daughter sniffing. “What is it again this time around? Ever since you got married to the man of your choice, I have never had a moment of serenity in this house. Ah, is this what mothers who give their daughter’s hand in marriage go through or is my own case different?”.
Eno: “Is it not that stupid Dozie that is
making me go crazy with his wicked
behaviour? Can you imagine that he
pushed me out of the door and walked out?”
Mama Eno: “What! Has it gotten to that? What did you do to him? The next thing that stupid boy will do is to start hitting you and I will make sure he regrets the day he was born if he tries that with you.”
Eno: “Yes, simply because I asked him to drive me here or give me his car key to bring myself here. He even has the guts to tell me that he is going to see that stupid good for nothing Samantha, even kiss her pregnant tummy if she conceives. I am sure the girl is sleeping with him and that is why he has never touched me ever since we got married”.
Mama Eno: “Hmmn, it’s time we show that girl who we are. I heard she was involved in an accident, so that has not taught her to stay away from your husband?
Eno: “God, I just wish she died in that
accident. I even suspect that she and
Dozie have started talking again, I see him making calls with his phone
constantly and smiling these days. That girl is the reason my husband has never touched me, now his mother said she is coming to visit us tomorrow and she will be expecting my stomach to have swelled. What do I tell her?”
Mama Eno: “We will put Samantha where she belongs but first thing first. You will have to feign pregnancy for her tomorrow”.
Eno: “How do I achieve that? I hope I
won’t get caught?”
Mama Eno: “I am still talking, you just
listen attentively. You know how
actresses feign pregnancies by stuffing things under their dress to make their stomach appear big right? That is what you will do. If you do not know how to do it, ask google or download videos to that effect on
YouTube. When she comes tomorrow, you must pretend to be sick and must remain in bed till she leaves. You can even induce vomiting so that it can appear real. Then come here and meet me either later today or any day you can, we shall go and see someone who has
the solution to all your problems, he will also help us take care of  that distraction called Samantha”.

Dozie heard from their close mutual
friend, that Samantha had been
discharged from the hospital, he drove to a gift shop in town and bought assorted gifts for her. He was bent on apologizing and winning back her love. He also had a special handmade card customized in her name and also bought a giant teddy upon which he had ‘I will always love you, Samantha’ inscribed. His booth filled with the gifts he bought for
her, he drove albeit reluctantly to her
house. When he got there, the security man led him in. Few minutes later, flower in hand, he was standing nervously on the door, knocking and anticipating with his heart beating fast.

Samantha: “Who is at the door? Come in, the door is opened”.

When he heard her voice, memories of all the good times they had shared
together before Eno seduced him
flashed through his head.................


Eno's mother ???ah, feign pregnancy, ask google.....download videos on youtube, hian! You and your daughter will soon be put to shame.. Samantha and Dozie on my mind...? uhhhhh......what next?

To be continued