Wedding Ops (Fiction Micro-series) Entry 5

Mayokun drove up the shady drive-in. Upfront, there was a road block made up of three large cubes of grey concrete with chalked-in graffiti.

“Park here,” Flavian said. She pulled over a few feet from the blockade. Two uniformed men stood beside a small grey kiosk on the other side, guns hanging from their shoulders.

Their heels knocked and their hands went up in salute when they saw Flavian .

“We walk from here,”He said to Mayokun as his hand shot up in response.

“You should have told me,”She murmured,”I’d have dressed more appropriately.”

“It's a relatively informal location. No pressure.”

“Right.”She murmured tucking her blouse into her jeans and trying to keep up with him.

Soon they came to the front of a house. It was a two-story building with earth tones and wood trimmings. A water fountain was set in the compound next to a wild garden. There was no water in the fountain but somewhere, she could smell damp grass.

They climbed up a few stairs to the front door—twin wooden doors that brought back memories she had pushed into the rearmost parts of her mind. Now she lightly grazed over the memories in her mind. It brought a taste to her mouth. A salty taste that she found hard to swallow. She cleared her throat, exhaled and looked over Flavian’s shoulder at the door. He had a key in the lock. He flushed the handle and the door opened.

“I thought you’d use some face-recognition technology or something,”She whispered,”Well, that was disappointing.”

Flavian ignored her.

The reception area was a dimly-lit large space with a courtyard in the middle. There was no furniture in sight. The floor was grey terrazo and in the center of the floor where they stood was the coat of arms—the horses held up a shield, standing on a lush green tuft, on top of the shield an eagle stood proudly looking into the distance.

Flavian walked to a door on the far right side of the hall and held it open for her, “Please.”

It was a stairwell painted with cream gloss.

“I guess an elevator is out of the question.”She murmured.

They took the stairs up.

“I think I’m dead.”Mayokun panted has she held on to the wooden banister on the fourth floor.

“Mental note: Fitness. Zero.”

“Four is usually my limit. I'm a stallion on two,”She wheezed.

His expression had grown more serious since they drove through the gates but now his eyes glimmered lightly from amusement.

“Come on. A few more flights.”He said, bounding off the stairs.

They made it to the sixth floor and walked along a narrow corridor girded on both sides by offices.

He knocked on the door at the end of the hall.

“Enter.”

“Agent.”A man sitting behind a small desk acknowledged Flavian. His glasses sat on the tip of his long nose. His perfectly round head was shaved clean and shone healthily even in the dull light. He wore a shirt and a skinny knotted tie.

“Who is this?”The man nodded towards Mayokun.

“My Uber,”Flavian responded as he walked towards the inner office.

“Beg your pardon. Agent. Your lack of protocol can endanger us all. Who should we expect next? Your laundry man?”

“Buzz me in, Olu.”

“Well, I need to check her in properly—”

“Olu,”A voice came from somewhere in front of the ranting secretary.

“Madam?”

“Get her a visitor’s badge— ” He quickly picked up a receiver and listened to the rest of his instructions.

“Ma.”He responded over and over.

“Ms. Lawson will see you, first,”Olu said grudgingly to Flavian when he hung up.

A loud buzzing sound echoed and the door popped open off the locks.

Olu handed Mayokun a badge. He was tall and lanky and the helm of his trousers seemed to run away from his ankles. They flapped as he went back to his seat.

Mayokun sat in the leather arm chair. Two large metal cabinets flagged the man on both sides. He stared into a computer screen. Next to the computer screen was a telephone, a strange machine, a stapler, a box of loose memo sheets, a mug and a small cup of paper clips.

The phone rang.

“Ma,” He said at the end of the call.

“You may go in,”He said to Mayokun still sulking.

Mayokun walked into the office. The only light in the room came from a projector. There were photos on the wall—a satellite image of something she couldn’t make out and the silhouette of a man.

Mayokun strained her eyes in the dark. Ms. Lawal was a short woman, with a tight pony tail.

The image of a man appeared on the screen, he was dressed in black native, safari style. His fleshy neck piled on the collar of the shirt. “That’s your target. Morris King,” She was saying, barely noticing Mayokun, “Don’t get excited, it’s an alias.”She said drily, “His real name is Makinde Lawson.”

”Business man. Dabbles here and there. He made a fortune during the military era from pharmaceuticals, oil and timber. He currently sponsors seasonal small cell groups which cause unrest during elections. Off-season, he sponsors a small insurgent group called the Alakia boys. Alakia has recently been absorbed by the Walata group.”

Walata.

Mayokun gasped.

“Should I be here?” Mayokun whispered to no one.

Ms Lawal continued speaking, “Walata is planning an attack. We do not know where,” She paused, then picked up pace like she was suddenly in a hurry, “Arial surveillance is completely ineffective as they have moved locations to the caves within the Jambila region, shrouded in thickets of vegetation. King is a paranoid man. He uses an old Samsung B319 cell phone. He keeps the names of the key persons on the phone. In notes.”

”B319 kwa,”Mayokun chuckled.

“Do you have some insight?” Ms Lawal asked, her eyes pierced in the dark.

Mayokun shook her head.

“We need that phone. It never leaves his front pocket. I need it to be as natural, hiccup, blood, and drama-free as possible.”

“If there’s a pocket involved, we will have it. I’ve seen Ms. Ladiran work. She doesn’t miss a beat.”

“Good. Target is in South Africa for a wedding. His niece’s. Ms. Ladiran you will find your way to South Africa, expenses, extraction are all on you for now, to avoid any suspicion. When you are successful you will be reimbursed. Understood?”

“Ah!”Mayokun exclaimed, “On me, how?”

Flavian shot her a look. “Understood.”She said, “But first I need one thing from you. Call it my sign-up bonus.”

“What?”Ms Lawson crossed her arms.

“I need a partner.”

“Right?” Flavian said.

“ Agent—“Ms Lawal started.

“ Not Flavian. My real partner. My cousin, Fali. She is being held for ransom by someone.”

”That’s not a problem, Ms. Ladiran,”She said, “You’ll have your partner. However, we would appreciate discretion. The circle is us three. No more.”

“That will be all,”Ms Lawal said abruptly, walking out of the light of the projector into the darkness and out a back door.

Her voice called out, “Training starts 4AM.”

The door shut behind her.

“Training ke?”Mayokun looked at Flavian.

“This is going to be fun.”

She could hear the mirth in his voice.

To be continued (tomorrow)

Wedding Ops (Fiction Micro-series) Entry 4

Stunting

Hospitals are not as frightening as people say, not unless you are going to the ICU. Mayokun took the stairs up to the fourth floor of St. Barth’s hospital. No matter how many times she visited, there was no getting accustomed to these cold, concrete slabs of stairs. She held on to the concrete stair-banister, panting, as she pulled herself to the landing.

“God”, She wheezed, “I hate this place.”

The air carried the smell of cheap antiseptic and freshly prepared pharmaceuticals. She could taste the bitterness of the chalky-white pills at the back of her tongue. She gagged, then took a deep breath.

“Ok, I can do this”, She muttered to herself.

She started down the hallway and kept to the right, following directions to the ICU. Nurses walked by in a hurry, technicians in white lab coats breezed by. Prospective patients and family members holding yellow slips of paper, looking frazzled and tired dotted the hallway. The hallway opened up into a small, sunny alcove with a desk pushed against its back wall.

It wasn’t Bimpe behind the desk.

The new receptionist eyed her and nodded at the visitors’ register. Mayokun picked the pen. The page was full, so she turned it over. The page wasn’t ruled. The receptionist waved her question away.

“Just sign here. Name here,”The woman spat out orders, ”Check-in time: four-thirty.”

Mayokun obeyed, writing slowly. Her eyes took in the worn surface of the desk, the edges were chipped, baring new, but dirtied wood underneath.

“Where’s Bimpe?”Mayokun asked.

“She’s sick.”

“Is Doctor Awe around?”

“I don't know,”the lipgloss on the woman’s lips shone too much.

Mayokun began to make her way to the ward. Her steps slowed into a drag.

“I can do this.”

She took another step. “Nope. I can’t.” She leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. She had only ever made it to see Mumie once. That day, Mumie was asleep, her pretty face was now thinned out, her eyes were sunken, her lips, slack and her face was without animation—there was no stern look, no teasing smirk, no eyes rolling to heaven to thank God. There was no voice asking Mayokun to find a husband, or arguing about politics or asking about Aso-ebi. When Mumie did wake up, her voice was different, it was hoarse and tired, all it talked about were the witches in the ward. At some point, she screamed that they were trying to take her somewhere and that the room was moving. She wasn’t the same Mumie that was admitted a month ago. Fali was the one who sat with her and told her the witches would be burned with fire if they touched her and then read her the psalms until the drugs for the pain lulled her to sleep.

Dr. Awe had requested a CT scan and the results had come back inconclusive. There was an inflammation on her pancreas.

The biopsy was going to cost at least seven hundred thousand.

Inconclusive. What does that even mean? After collecting three-fifty thousand.

She buried her face in her hands.

Her phone beeped. It was a message from Akeem.

💬Akeem: This watch won’t move.

💬Mayokun: Why?

💬Akeem: It’s engraved. No one wants that. Can’t sell it.

💬Mayokun: Just polish it and reengrave with something else.

💬Akeem: Can’t do it.

💬Mayokun: How much is it worth?

💬Akeem: It’s a Breitling. Go figure.

💬Akeem: Come pick it up. I don’t want trouble.

💬Mayokun: Since when?

💬Akeem: .

She hissed out loud.

Akeem had once sold certain undeclared paraphernalia from a foreign heist involving marked gold bars, though this was in the good days when he was full of vigor and making a name for himself and not creating senseless stories on Instagram wearing Gucci suits that matched his carpet.

An engraved watch didn’t seem like an awful big deal.

“Not my day,” She muttered and headed back to the receptionist with the glossy lips.

Sign out time: 4:47pm.

***

The hospital had a canteen behind its admin block. It was a white building with a blue roof, and sparse grass in its front yard. Mayokun stepped into the fluorescent-lit room. Instantly she was engulfed by the bustle of the busy canteen—the sound of metal clinking plates, voices shouting their orders, dragging of metal pots, and the opening of soft drinks, the clink-clank of corks hitting the cement. Mayokun joined the order line.“White rice, stew and beef”, She said when she finally got to the front of the bright red coca-cola counter.

“Add egg,”She said.

The server was a short boy with a mohawk cut, Malik, he was called.

“Sister May, you never pay the other time o.”He balanced two eggs bathed in red stew on his long serving spoon.

“Don’t worry,”She winked at him, “I go sort am. And extra for you.”

“Sister Mayo!” He cheered.

“Mali—ki Berry.”

They laughed. He dropped one of the eggs on her plate and handed the food to her.

Mayokun settled in the back of the restaurant, keeping her head low and staring into her phone. There had to be a big job that she could do— to get Fali back, to get the biopsy done. They usually made double when they went out together. If she was flying solo she needed something big. Really big. The big fish—that was what Fali called it—that glorious job after which they would never have to work again.

Her spoon sliced the egg in two, exposing the delicate orange in the center, she spooned it into her mouth hurriedly. She scrolled through Instagram. Nothing.

#Savethedate#Lagosweddings She typed. Her screen filled up with photos of happy, grinning couples. Nothing looked like the big fish.

She reached into her back pocket and turned on Fali’s phone, maybe her feed was more glitzy.

She had turned off Fali’s phone because Dare wouldn’t stop calling.

155 missed calls. 125 from Dare. She rolled her eyes.

300 messages. She pushed her lunch away. Where was his wife in all of this?

Fali’s phone beeped.

Uber notification.

A pickup request.

4.996 star rating. What sort of passenger has a 4.996 rating?

Tap to accept.The screen read.

She tapped the screen, had Malik pack her lunch and went off to pick Fali’s passenger.

“Better be the big fish,” She mumbled, “or at least a good tipper.”

***

Mayokun pulled off the side of the road in front of the shopping complex. It was an old deserted building with ripped bills and posters dangling off its walls. She leaned forward staring out of the front windows for her passenger.

Her phone started to vibrate. It was probably the passenger.

“Hello,”She said,”I’m right outside the building—”

“Mayokun, I have been trying to reach Fali for a while. Where is she?” It was Dare’s voice.

“She’s…out of town.”

“She didn’t tell me. That’s unlike her. Where?

“She went to see her dad’s relatives in Iwo.”

“That’s odd.

“Bet it is” She said drily.“How’s your wife?”

Dare cleared his throat.“Is Mumie out of the hospital?”

“Hey.Hey .Hey. Let me stop you there, oga. How many peoples’ mother is she? Please do not call my mother Mumie, mommy, mom, mama…nothing. You are not—”

She jumped at the loud rasping on the back window, a man stood there.

He tugged on the handle and the faded gold handle came off in his hand. He lifted it to his face and threw it over his shoulder. The passenger door swung open and he dove in.

“Go! Go!” He yelled, the door slammed.

Mayo’s phone flew in the air. Her foot hit the accelerator. A car honked, someone one yelled curses.

“Olorib—” a blaring horn buried his voice.

She threw the car back on the road and pushed the accelerator all the way to the floor.

The man beside her looked in the rear-view mirror and then over his shoulder.

He glanced at her. Mayokun’s eyes were on the road.

“Whao!It’s you?”

Mayokun looked at him.

It was Flavor!

“What are you doing here?”

“I ordered an über.”He shrugged. He looked back again, as she sped down Ademola Adetokunbo.

“Head to the mainland.”

“I have to change the address.”

“I’ll do it.”

He pulled his jacket around, tugging on his lapels, he tilted his head till his neck creaked, grabbed the phone and typed a new adress into Fali’s phone.

He looked over his shoulder again,

“Are you in trouble?” She glanced at him.

“Always,” His lips raised to the right, in a boyish smile.

She kept her eyes on the road.

“This is the third time we’re meeting you know?”He said.

“Who's counting?”

“Well, clearly I am,”His tone slightly embarrassed.

“Last time you were working, the time before that too. Are weddings your thing? You work mostly at weddings? Like a vendor of some sort?”

She glanced at the map and changed lanes.

“Well, I see you're working today,”She threw him a glance,“Where’s your wife?”

“You and this wife!” He chuckled.“Why do you care so much about my wife?”

“Err…because you have one and I impersonated her once.”

“I impersonated Ben Bruce once you know. Completely off topic. You were saying.”

He annoyed her. It was simple. How in the world did he just appear from thin air? He was everywhere. He and his eyes, and that smell. Suddenly an image shot into Mayokun’s left field of vision. A sedan was headed straight at them, she swerved right and righted the wheel. The car swung into the street after them, full throttle, filling up the space between them and the first car. Mayokun threw the gear to four and pushed the accelerator further to the floor until she felt the grooves of the pedal sting her bare foot.

She glanced in the mirror just as the passenger in the car leaned out. He held something in his hand.

Wait—

“Is that a…”

“Yup. Gun!”

She threw the gear down to three and swung into a street, cutting in front of a car. Horns honked. Yells.

She dodged a car, blaring her horn and she drove down the mellow Ikoyi street. She maneuvered through the quiet residential streets and swerved in after a car which was turning into an apartment complex building. The gates closed behind them.

“What the—“Mayokun yelled,“Who are you? Why are there men with guns after you? Are they trying to kidnap you?”

“Well, Uber is probably going to think you kidnapped me. This isn’t my destination.”He pointed to their blinking car location on the phone screen, “You are pretty far off the route. Just saying.”

“What…?”She glanced at it and back at him, “Tell me right now! What is this that just happened?”

“I was checking out some real estate in the area.” He shrugged, “The deal went sour.”

“There was a gun,”She realized she was still winded, her heart still thumping fast while he sat there, cool as the kdk fan in her apartment and unbothered in his stupid blazer.

She stared at him in silence, then took a deep breath.

”You are trouble. In every sense of the word,”She said, “I can’t do this. I have deadlines—”

“Right,” He cut in,”Let’s lay low for sometime and then drive to the mainland once the sun sets. Then I’ll be out of your hair and you’ll get a 5-star rating. Sound good?”

She gaped at him.

“We could even make something of it, like—,”

“No.”She snapped, slamming back against her chair, arms folded in front of her.

“Ok. Just a suggestion.”

They sat in silence for a long time, and when it was dark they headed for the mainland without turning the headlamps on.

“You know I have a job for someone with your skill set. Plus your driving is really good. You shook those guys off, sharp thinking turning into the apartment complex.”

“You need a driver who dodges bullets?”

“The other skill.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She kept her eyes on the road. She could feel his eyes boring through her.

“I have a wedding coming up, it’s in South Africa. The job will be there.”

“Look Flavor, I can’t help you. Don’t know what your talking about. I am an Uber driver and a budding wedding photographer.”

“No doubt.”

She took the exit to Anthony village.

“Plus you don’t even know me. Or who I am, where I am from—”

“Mayokun Cynthia Ladiran. Attended Newland Montessori. Father deceased just after kindergarten. Wrote JAMB 6 times. Bought results before a 7th attempt. Mother hospitalized. Cousin, business partner and flat-mate Falilat Ajayi-Lawal who is dating a very married man with a very pregnant wife.”

Her eyes, wide, she turned slowly to look at him, “Who are you?” Now as she stared at him his smile looked sinister.

She cursed, “You’ve been following me all this time…” She continued,“At the weddings…Now this uber ride…Are you Kayo’s guy? Did Otunba send you too? Who sent you? Where is Fali?” Her voice had risen with hysteria.“How do you know all that stuff about me. I swear if you touch me—” She pulled over swiftly at the gate of the destination.

“You would do well in theatre,”He said drily, “Look, I’m not from Otunba. I am not friends with any of your friends. I’m one of the good guys and we would like you to work with us.”

She stared at him, searching his face. Skeptical, ready to whack him out of the car if he tried any thing odd.

“It’s a short-term project.” He continued, “You’ll never have to see me again…if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t want to.” She said quickly.

She looked at him. She wasn’t sure about working with him. “Ok so you know all these things about me,”She said slowly, “What type of job is this?”

“An extraction.”

“Of?”

“An item. Tiny item,”He pressed his forefinger and thumb together, “Teeny.”

“How much?”

“Five,” He said.

“Five thousand?”

That would pay for mom’s drugs, definitely not the Biopsy. Blood work. Some. She needed much more than that for Fali…

“Million.”He corrected.

She blinked and recovered, “I’ll take ten.”

He laughed.

“Five point five,”He bargained.

“Eight,”She shot back.

“Six”

“Eight”

“That’s a lot.”

“Find someone else.”

”I can talk to my superiors…but I’m not promising anything.”

“I never penned you for a thief, Flavor.”Mayokun chuckled,

“I’m not a thief. And it’s Flavian.”

“Whatever makes you sleep at night, hun,” She shrugged. Hun? Why did she say that? She kept her eyes on the gate, “So who is our boss?” She added quickly.

Flavian reached over , she could smell him. Spicy citrusy woody. Musky. She caught her breath as he leaned closer to her, his face closing in on hers. He leaned past her and pressed on the steering wheel, the hoot from the horn was squeaky. The gate began to open.

“The Defense Intel. Bureau of the Republic of Nigeria.”

In front of them unraveled a long drive-in shaded by tall trees that all but blocked out the sun.

“Welcome to the Secret Service. Ms. Ladiran.”

To be continued…

Wedding Ops (Fiction Micro series) Entry 2

​​Yawa

“I still stand by it that Wiz Kid is not dating her!” Mayokun said, as Fali pulled over along the side of the unpainted outer wall of their apartment building. Mr. Kazeem, their landlord had started charging a parking fee within his walls and collected all keys to the gate— it was a flimsy black gate which hung nonchalantly between two unpainted posts, its weathered metal blistered orange with rust bubbles and wounds. Mayokun searched her purse for her keys to the pedestrian gate.

​​"He is!”Fali chuckled, “We can’t all be wrong. What’s the big deal if he is?”

​​“Publicity stunt aye. These celebrities have y’all on puppet strings,”Mayokun hissed, her keys jingled as she fetched it out.

​​Falilat playfully scrunched her nose,“Shut up. What do you know sef?” She turned off the ignition, leaned over and grabbed her heels beside Mayokun’s feet, pushed against her door and got out, sticking out her tongue into the car, “We like the publicity stunt like that. Leave us. I hope they have babies.” She quipped.

​​Mayo chuckled and pushed against her door, but it didn’t budge. She threw her shoulder into it, it squeaked and opened up. She stepped out barefoot onto the warm tar, and her toes curled in response to the hard asphalt.

​​"Baby ko. The baby go resemble—” She froze. 

​​A man was holding Fali around the neck in a headlock close to his face. He was a few inches taller than Fali and his skin a shade lighter than her dark skin. The skin on his face was colored unevenly and his hair needed a trim—or at least a comb. The man had an object to Fali’s head.  

​​Mayo’s mind reeled as she stared at the dull, gray metal pressed against her cousin’s ear.

​​Gun. Gun. Gun…

​​“Where’s the money?” The man asked.

​​“Calm down, oga,” Mayokun slowly held her hands up, she took one step away from the car towards the front. Then another. Her bare feet scraped against the floor and the trumpet style of her skirt kept her knees closer than she’d have liked. 

​​”Don’t move. I’ll finish her.”

​​”Ok. Just wait. Relax.” 

​​She took another step around the car and paused at the bonnet of the car. Fali’s eyes were wide and stared out of sharp whites. She whimpered as the man pressed the gun harder to her earlobe.

​​“Let her go. I’ll give you whatever we have. We have 6 tablets, 4 phones,” Fali’s slender arms hung helplessly at her side. “Please…”She whimpered.

​​Something moved in the corner of Mayokun’s eye. It was then she noticed the car parked behind theirs.

​​A figure stepped out of the passenger’s seat. He was tall, slightly hunched and wore black native buba and sokoto. His gait was relaxed and his movement almost sluggish, like he had all day.

​​Kayo.

​​"Kayo, na your guy be dis? This is your person?”Mayokun hissed and dropped her hands to her hips.

​​"Cynthia” He smiled at Mayokun.

​​“Where’s Otunba’s money?” His raspy drawl grated her ears, then he made a sucking noise, as he turn over a sweet in his mouth. He was never without a hard candy. 

​​"Kayo, we are working on it. I promise you—”

​​She caught the reflection of the  neighbor’s flourescent light on a gun in his left hand. His arms hung loosely at his sides from his hunched shoulders, giving him semblance to a vulture. He stood there turning the sweet over in his mouth again, on occasion, again making the sucking noise.

​​“Look. Once my mother is discharged”, Mayokun continued, “I’ll have more liquidity, I promise. We are doing everything. Fali is even an Uber driver in the evenings. Though she has a 2 star rating but still…”

​​”Not the time…”Falilat glanced at her stiffly,”I don’t want to die. Please take my car! Take everything.”

​​Kayo looked at the rear of the old 1993 Camry, his eyes traveled languidly along the body of Fali’s car.  “This car should be incinerated.”

​​For a brief moment, Fali looked hurt. 

​​“I've given you enough time. However, Otunba is willing to make a deal,” Kayo paused.

​​“He thinks you aren’t bad looking. “ He looked thoughtfully at Mayokun and shrugged. He has a suite at Maritime. When you are ready say the word.”

​​Mayokun rolled her eyes,“That’s disgusting—“

​​“Ahah,” He held up his gun, “Calm yourself. He said to me, ‘by any means necessary, I want the girl. But of her own volition.’” 

​​“There’s no way I’m sleeping with some old baba because I took 6 thousand dollars. Kpere. Abeg no.”

​​“You’ll come around.”

​​He snapped his fingers.

​​"No please” Falilat yelled, her eyes squeezed shut like she expected the worst.

​​"You have 48 hours. Do your magic. Call me when you get the money.”

​​“No!”Fali screamed as the man dragged her backwards towards their SUV, the gun was pressed deep in her side now. He threw her in the backseat.

​​“No!” Mayokun whispered,”Wait, Kayo.”  She wobbled in the long train of her dress.

​​“That’s what you say every time, Cynthia.” His back to her, his drawl sounded far away. 

​​“Time’s up, my dear.”

​​They got into the car, the driver made a quick Y-turn. Someone held Fali down at the back, her screams were muffled and Mayokun could see her struggling.

​​“No! Please.” She stumbled forward and broke into a stiff run after the car. The tail lights sped away from her. She stopped, her knees weak under her. She sank unto the warm asphalt. 

To be continued (tomorrow)…