Everything will change,
Nobody stays the same,
Nobody here's perfect,
Oh, but everyone's to be blamed.
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Lies...
They have so much power over the human mind.
Especially ones told in defense.
Although it is an illusion, it sits in the mind, and creates a strong conviction that blocks the subconscious like a clot, hindering the truth from surfacing.
Albeit, Chimdi knew that everything she told herself about Farouq and his reasons for doing what he did, were all lies. Still she waited.
Hanging on a half baked hope. Hoping that her lies would one day turn to the truth. Hoping that he wasn't as bad as his actions had portrayed him to be.
However, as the truth surfaced, she knew it was over and that it was high time she faced reality.
But, why couldn't she face reality? Why couldn't she let go of that half baked hope, that false hope in form of a loose thread, which she so helplessly clung to.
She couldn't entertain the idea. Refused to accept such knowledge.
'Farouq could be a lot of things, but not a predator' was all her mind could think of.
Even as she let her legs lead the way to wherever it was taking her to. As far as, it was far away from her friends and their pitting looks.
She couldn't even let her imagination treat her to a mental picture of what TJ's face would look like. She didn't want to think about him. Him and his lost but concerned look. Him being calm about everything was what irked and assured her at the same time.
Refusing to think of him and any of her friends at the moment, she let her mind wander to the one person that really needed to be thought of at that moment... Farouq.
She let her mind play back reels of the lean and tall black boy Antni had first introduced to her. He'd been a free spirit. Always laughing and smiling. Always throwing out compliments, flirtatiously or not.
She thought of his stories of growing up in a humble background, thought of his love for his grandma and how he'd wished to give her the best.
Now that Farouq Waziri, she thought, wasn't capable of stooping so disgustingly low. He wasn't capable of being a predator.
Once upon a time, he'd had dreams of making it big, of creating opportunities for his juniors. He'd talked about making the entertainment world a safe haven. How could he be the breathing danger that would now terrorise everyone?
It didn't make sense to Chimdi. He could be anything. A selfish bastard? A lying asshole? But he would never be a predator.
But they don't come with a name tag.
She shook off such thought.
And as her feet led her to the Beach's parking space, away from everyone one, her eyes caught hold of an odd sight.
She stumbled, hands rubbing her face to ensure she wasn't seeing things, same time her phone rang. A look at it revealed it was Lara, probably calling to check up on her. She rejected the call. That would be enough to let the other girl know that she wasn't in the mood.
And as she drew closer, really drew closer, she found that the odd sight was struggling with the security officials.
"I'm here in peace!" He screamed, struggling with the hefty men. "Damnit! Do I look like a terrorist! Let me go!"
Chimdi stilled. She wasn't seeing things, that was definitely his voice. And as his eyes collided with hers, she saw him visibly relax, before turning to the hefty men.
"See that girl over there? She's a friend." He declared, motioning to where she stood, frozen and all. "Dee, tell them." He slurred.
It really is him.
Hastening her step, Chimdi found herself making to where he was.
"Farouq?" Her voice came out in a whisper.
The lean boy smiled, eyes bloodshot and tired as he went slack in the arms of the hefty men.
"Told ya," he slurred again, while she narrowed her eyes at his state.
"Do you know him?" One of the hefty men, the one with the least scariest face asked.
She swallowed, whilst nodding. "Yes, he's a friend."
With heart beating rapidly, she stumbled to catch the staggering boy as they let him go.
She knew it wouldn't take time till they alerted Adaeze and Omoshola, her hosts.
"Told them I knew you were here." Chimdi heard the boy let out in slurred words as she let him down on the white beach sand.
This time, she took a good look at him. He was nothing like the boy who'd grabbed her hand and had spoken to her few days ago. The boy before her was lost and was drowning in sorrow.
And if she could recall accurately, Farouq Waziri didn't do alcohol. He'd rather get high than get shit faced drunk and that was why she asked.
"Are you high?"
The lean boy snorted, before sitting up. His bloodshot eyes which was meant to scare Chimdi, doing the exact opposite.
"High?" He scoffed, unshed tears filling his eyes. "I'm down here Dee." He slurred, hands going low that he almost tumbled over. "So down here."
Chimdi sighed, before steading him. "What happened Farouq?" Why are you here?
"Didn't do it I swear Dee." His slurry words came out as he sniffed. "Didn't do it. Promise."
And that moment, Chimdi didn't know she'd been holding on to her breath that long. She'd never craved relief that much.
Fighting a smile, she turned to the intoxicated boy. "What happened?"
He let out a relieved sigh, as if, he too was relieved she believed him and wasn't sending him away.
Sitting up, he wiped his nose with the back of his hand, eyes, almost sober.
"She's after me," he began, confusing Chimdi some more.
"Come again Farouq. Who's after you?"
He sniffed again and instead of giving Chimdi the answers she sort, he said. "Dee I'm sorry. I just wanted to give Mama a good life. I just wanted mama to be happy. And she'd promised just that if I did it. Can't I be selfish for once? Can't I afford such opportunities Dee?"
The words he uttered were enough to obnubilate her.
She was struggling to make sense of everything he spouted, while trying hard to swim out of the pool of confusion he'd dumped her into.
"Farouq," she said softly, as she watched the once bright and glossy skinned boy, now almost frail, wither before her. "Calm down, okay. What happened? Tell me, who's after you?"
His once bright eyes stared at her in uncertainty and fear. "Mama has gone Dee." He said instead. "She's left me."
"Why? Is she after you? Where did she go to?"
There was a second of silence, that almost stretched into eternity. "She's dead Dee." He dropped like a bomb. "She's dead... And all I'd done. All that I've worked for is now in vain Dee."
He stared at her, as if ready let out all that he'd been holding back.
His proud shoulders now slouching as his head, met them halfway. He sat, looking like the exact antithesis of the Farouq Waziri she knew and that alone had a sick feeling knotting her insides.
What in the world have they done to you?
"That day I saw you at the mall made it one month since I returned to Nigeria after Mama passed." He began, the hurt in his eyes, sliced through Chimdi's heart.
She'd been so fond of his Mama, even without meeting the woman as Farouq had endlessly talked about her at every little opportunity he got.
"What happened to her?"
Farouq gave her a sad smile. "She got too old Dee. Her body couldn't help it." As the words left his lips, string of tears followed suit.
Chimdi offered him a small smile, while fighting the urge to take his shaking hands. "I'm sorry."
He nodded. "I'd looked for a way to speak to you. I knew it was probably too late. Fuck, my excuses were going to be useless, but I needed to apologise for a lot of things Dee," he avoided her eyes in shame. "Then I'd found you and you know how that went."
Chimdi's face remained neutral as she stared at him.
"And then she found out I'd gone to see you after warning me not to. But I had to Dee, even you deserve to know what's happening-"
"Who Farouq? Tell me who's after-"
Chimdi's words were cut off by the blaring of her ringing tone.
Cursing, she glared at the screen to see TJ's name. She sighed, it was about a matter of time before they find her.
She rejected the call, before facing a now nervous Farouq.
"Sorry," she murmured. "My friends are trying to find me- what the hell!"
She let out, just as a black car came speeding across the sandy driveway, causing both she and Farouq to get to their feet.
Chimdi glared at the vehicle which had taken an abrupt stop just few feet from where they stood. "Who let a psycho drive around!"
A large man came jumping off the passenger seat, together with another from the backseat.
She felt Farouq tense beside her as he took a frightened step back.
"They found me." The scared boy whispered, more to himself.
Chimdi looked at Farouq who was taking small steps away, before breaking into a run same time the huge men went after him.
Before she could get herself to shout for the boy to run for safety, they'd caught Farouq and with the same trifling speed they'd come, the driver as if on standby zoomed to were they stood holding a helplessly struggling Farouq.
Frozen and horrified, Chimdi watched as Farouq got thrown into the car, same time the car zoomed off with a frightening speed, sputtering beach sand as it went.
She screamed.
"What happened!?" She recognized TJ's anxious voice as she stared at the trail the car had left.
"Farouq..." Was all she said, feeling her eyes well up with tears. "They took him. They took Farouq!"
"Farouq was here? Farouq Waziri?" Jiki asked, as he came to stand before her.
Behind him were Nene and Elo.
"Yes. He was here... We were just talking before they came and took him."
Nene paled. "You talked to him?"
But she wasn't about to give them a detailed narrative of what happened. Time waited for no one.
"Get the car!" She ordered, looking around. "I need the car key. Jiki, TJ."
The skinny girl's hands shook as she shouted out orders that no one carried out.
She was still in a daze.
She couldn't believe what had happened before her eyes seconds ago. The scared look on Farouq's face floating in her memory.
Shaking her head to rid herself of the memory, she glared at her friends.
"I need the car key! For the love of God, who has it?!"
Wasting time would only put the boy at risk.
In a blink of an eye, a car zoomed up before her, same time her friends began cussing out whoever it was.
"Get in!" Omoshola ordered impatiently as he rolled down the glass window of the car.
Momentarily stunned speechless, she stared at the boy as if in a daze. "Huh?"
"Don't you want to save your friend Chimdi? Get in!" The boy impatiently ordered again.
And as if his words had some spell in them, she broke out of her daze as she made to the passenger seat.
He zoomed off as soon as she was securely strapped to the seat belt.
"They won't be far ahead." He assured Chimdi. "There's a ten minutes mild traffic on the road, that'll give us an advantage."
"How did you know Farouq was here?" A voice asked from the back seat, startling both Chimdi and Omoshola.
"What the hell!" Chimdi screamed, as she turned to find Jiki and TJ glaring daggers at her. "What are you both doing in here?"
"If you were too careless to notice us get into the car with you, I wonder how you're going to save that asshole." Jiki grumbled, securing his seatbelt.
She rolled her eyes. "If you're here to talk me out of saving him, you better jump off the car now Jiki."
"Nobody is trying to talk you out of saving him Dee." TJ reasoned. "He's simply concerned we're not following due protocols."
Omoshola spared them a glance before facing the road. "Speaking of protocols, they've been duly observed. Ada was just about to call the police before I drove off-"
That moment his cellphone phone rang, connecting it with the car's speaker with Chimdi's help, he received the call.
"Hey babe!" Adaeze's voice filled the car. "Done speaking with the police. They're on it."
Everybody in the car let out a relieved sigh. "Great. Thank you babe. Hold on babe, we'll be back soon."
"Sure. Is Chimdi there?" The small girl's voice asked.
"Hi," Chimdi answered guiltily. "I'm sorry I reduced your birthday party to some search party. Promise I'll make it up to you once this is over-"
"Nonsense!" The girl cut Chimdi off. "It wasn't your fault. If the security was tighter, they wouldn't have found him. Y'all go save him safely, we'll help from over here."
"Thank you Ada. I really appreciate."
"It's the least I can do. Y'all stay safe."
Once the call ended, silence serenaded the warm car.
"How did you know Farouq was here?" Chimdi asked Omoshola.
"The security guards reported that someone was trying to force his way into the party and that moment we were trying to find you." He replied, still manning the vehicle. "Not long after the report was made, another came in that said someone was taken forcefully. Ada and I went to check out the security footages while your friends continued to search for you."
"Oh." Chimdi couldn't help but utter.
The boy continued. "I take it you two were discussing something important from the look of the security footage."
Chimdi let out a sigh as her mind wandered off to Farouq's words. "Yes."
"You spoke to him alone Dee?" TJ almost shouted. "After all he did last time?"
She let out another sigh, already at her wit's end with the two of them. "Not you too TJ."
"Last time?" Jiki's confused voice asked.  "You've met before today?"
"Yes!" Chimdi snapped. "Can you two try to be reasonable for the main time?"
It was TJ who scoffed this time. "Reasonable? Says the girl who's on a blind search to save some sick bastard even after all he'd done to you!"
"He didn't do it TJ!"
"Wow, enlighten me." He let out a humourless laugh from the back seat. "Is that what he came to tell you? And even if he did, do you believe him?"
"I..." Chimdi didn't know how to explain things to him. She herself couldn't get the whole story as she didn't get the chance to.
And as for believing him, she did have several reasons to doubt him. But his eyes reassured her.
Some said the eyes were windows to one's soul and Farouq's weren't only windows the moment she'd set her eyes on him a while ago, they'd opened doors that had bared him -spirit and soul- to her.
Sighing for the thousandth time, she looked out the window. They were caught in a small traffic and that made her impatience to rise up a notch.
She turned to TJ and Jiki who had taken to fuming since she chose to ignore them.
"Look, can y'all trust me on this? Farouq might or might not be telling me the truth but it's okay, I want to give him the benefit of doubt." Cars began to freely move again. "I wouldn't be at peace if I just sit back and let him be in danger. Just because he's a public enemy at the moment doesn't make him less of a human."
TJ groaned out in frustration. "That's why we've alerted the police. Won't their involvement be enough Dee? I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to be saved, all I'm trying to point out is that he doesn't deserve you risking your life for him."
Chimdi swallowed as nervousness began to kick in. "Can... Can we not think about the flip side of this whole thing and be positive TJ?"
"Fine." Her boyfriend conceded begrudgingly. "We'd do everything within our capability but any little sign of danger and we'll back off. Okay?"
She managed a small smile as she stared at them. However Jiki refused to utter a single word. "Sure-"
"That's the car!" Omoshola blurted out, his free hand pointing at the now busy road.
Everyone in the car became alert while Chimdi squinted her eyes at the Sea of moving vehicles.
"Looks like it." She finally said after observing the black car Omoshola tried to discreetly tail.
"How are we sure it's the car?" Jiki finally spoke up, leaning close to the front seats as he too stared at the suspected car.
"Quickly Chimdi! Call Ada." Omoshola ordered. "Tell her to check the footage for the car's plate number."
"Sure." Chimdi replied, same time she got to work, dialing her host's number.
Few minutes and detailed confirmations later, they were certain and full in tracing the car.
"Can you speed up a little Omoshola!" Chimdi groaned impatiently for the nth time since they began trailing the car.
"I can't." Was his peeved response.
"If he's to up his pace Dee, we'll be discovered." Jiki supplied, equally irritated. "Unless you want our asses bursted, can you stop disturbing him?"
A nervous and impatient wreck, Chimdi settled back on the seat, trying to rid herself of Farouq's voice and what he'd revealed to her.
"And then she found out I've gone to see you after warning me not to..."
Who could it be? She wondered, coming short on lists if suspects.
"She's after me..."
Her phone began to ring, startling her back into reality.
A look at the caller ID had her groaning before realization dawned on her.
Antni...?
After few seconds of completely ignoring the call, her cellphone began ringing again.
"Aren't you going to get the call Dee?" TJ asked.
She shook her head, filling dread wash her entire being as she hoped that her speculation won't turn into real fact.
Putting her phone on silent because of its incessant ringing, she turned her focus back to the road which revealed that they were now on some remote and rarely inhabited area.
The car they were trailing a good feet ahead of them. And just as fear was about to kick in again, the car drove into a fenced uncompleted building, disappearing from their sight.
Omoshola slowed down, before parking the car, causing silence to serenade them once more.
"Since we've found the place why don't we retreat and let the police handle everything. We've done our part carefully and thankfully we've come out unscathed." Jiki supplied, staring at Chimdi's uncertain face.
"But Farouq..." The skinny girl whispered. "We're not sure he's okay. We should at least make sure he is."
"Chimdi," Omoshola called, facing her. "Jiki's right. We've done our part. It's now up to the police to handle the rest with the information we'll give them."
"Damn right," Jiki muttered, as he looked around before tapping on his cellphone. "Here doesn't even have a fucking address."
Ignoring him, Chimdi turned to a silent TJ, hope in her eyes.
TJ shook his head. "Babe, we agreed that once we notice any sign of danger, we have our que to leave."
"Guys... We're not being attacked and no one has noticed us yet." She pleaded. "We are not in danger!"
They stared at her in utter disbelief. "You think we're not in danger?" TJ asked helplessly. "Look around us, this area alone spells danger. Unless you want them pointing guns at our head for you to believe we're really in danger, I suggest we drive the fuck out of-"
A crashing sound had them screaming as shards of glasses filled the small space, causing all of them to duck. While Jiki and TJ let out an ear splitting scream.
Daring her luck, Chimdi raised her head to see what was happening.
And as she did, she found herself swallowing in utter fear as her eyes took in what has before her.
TJ had spoken too soon, she realized as she saw two huge familiar figures stalk towards them, with guns in their hands, no doubt aiming for their heads.
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