Previous Day
It was time to run again, at least that never failed him.
Tunde sat in a dark empty corner of his house lit only by the light of his phone.
His head rested on his folded arms propped up by his knees pulled tight to his head
"I'm finished"
The words dropped like stones.
Tears fell—quiet, steady—carving down his face like they'd been waiting.
Ping! a notification popped up
Tunde's heart dented.
He clutched the front of his shirt—tight—like he could hold his chest together with his fists.
"Why me?"
"Why can't I just be happy for once"
His voice cracked
"I just wan enjoy small, is that too much to ask?"
Ping! Another one haunted his phone and thoughts.
He didn't look
He couldn't
He wasn't ready to accept it, not again. Not this old way of living
He just wanted to disappear.
Then—his phone began to ring.
His breathe caught. The sound was too sharp for the empty house.
He glanced at the screen.
A puzzled look creased his face.
Unknown number.
With a reluctant sigh he picked up the call while it was still on the floor, he still refused to hold his phone.
"Hello?"
A voice, frantic.
"Hello! Hello! Is this Mr. Tunde? This is an emergency—please, listen carefully!"
Tunde gulped.
"Yes, my name is Tunde; what is going on?"
"Your mother is currently in the ICU, sir, and she is in dire need of medical attention. However we are unable to operate on her without payment."
Tunde's eyebrows furrowed, his voice rising in confusion and rage. His hands shook as he clutched his phone from the ground
"What do you mean she's in dire need?! She was fine this morning!"
"You people don do something abi? So I go pay again—na scam! You bastard thief"
"Mr Tunde I would advise you to be careful with thse kind of allegations." The doctor said with a calm voice and weight of compassion that Tunde was not ready to believe.
"She's currently seizing again, and the tumour's pressing against the brainstem. We can't proceed without the next dose of immunotherapy. It's… expensive. You were briefed."
Tunde gritted his teeth, preventing the waves of frustration from flooding his mind.
Tunde felt is skull splitting into two—two choices, both drenched in blood.
Either way, someone was going to die.
Today or Tomorrow.
Current Day
The ten attackers smiled. Dressed in black shirts and jeans, they watched with satisfaction. Their leader, a bald, dark, muscular man, smirked from ear to ear.
It seemed they had gotten Tunde; his screams grew louder and more unbearable. Even the attackers began to look at their leader with confusion, waiting for him to stop it.
"Boss man, shey e never do? Oga talk say we go sell him body parts," one subordinate leaned on his boss's right shoulder, questioning the prolonged torture.
Their leader kept mute, his smile contorted into a frown, and he started to stroke his beard.
"Something no make sense. Make una five go inside."
The men immediately went inside the house, finding the door already unlocked.
A minute later, they shouted, "Ahh! Oga! Tunde no dey here o!"
However, they discovered his phone was replaying a screaming video on loop.
Breathing heavily, almost to the point of fainting, Tunde leaned against the white wall outside his house, droplets of sweat populating his beard.
"Fuck that was close! I don almost die because of smoke! Shet," he coughed, "Una no fit catch me off guard. I no go pay anything today walai !"
The coast seemed clear. The street he was in was dusty, untarred, and uneven. The houses on either side were far less luxurious than his own. He looked at them with disgust.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw some men in all black, about seven meters diagonally to his right.
"Which kind wahala be this today, not again! Shey na only me dey owe money!" he thought to himself while dusting off his blue jeans. His slightly torched hoodie barely defended against the dry cold weather
He picked up something from the ground with his left hand and adjusted his hoodie to stay inconspicuous. He had to move forward, near the three men in black, before the others could come from behind.
"Heyyyss Stop there!" the men in front immediately caught on to him already.
"Fuck!" Tunde halted, his head bent as if anchored to the ground, his eyes shaking in their sockets.
He saw their shadows looming closer, revealing muscular figures armed with cutlasses.
"How far! You sabi the guy wey dey this house! We dey find am," the dark man at shoulder length barked, pointing at Tunde's house.
Without hesitation, Tunde flung the sand he had picked up into their eyes. As they coughed and stumbled, blinded, he dashed off.
"Who be this bastard! Come back here!" they quickly recovered and began to chase him, the sound of stones crunching breaking the usual Sunday silence.
Fatigued and without a clear plan, Tunde was determined to jump off a nearby bridge and escape through the water.
Approaching a T-junction, he saw out of left the corner of his eye the men he had left at his house.
He ran right past them . At first, they didn't recognize him, but then the men with sand in their eyes shouted.
"Na Tunde be that! Turn back! Turn back!"
Panicking, Tunde immediately turned right. The sudden movement broke his hoodie's zip, and the cold wind blew into it, revealing his soaked white t-shirt.
Breathing heavily, he was already at his limit. Each thrust of his legs felt like they were tied to 10 kg dumbbells
In the distance, he saw a familiar figure emerging from a red Camry on the right side of the isolated road. It was his friend Ebuka, wearing a green shirt and black trousers. His fair complexion made him stick out like a sore thumb.
Tunde wanted to call out to him, but his attackers were already hot on his tail. Deciding to ignore his friend, he focused on the bridge ahead.
Unfortunately, his friend recognized him.
"Tunde! How far na! Ah," Ebuka called out, but as he noticed Tunde's predicament, he pretended not to see him, casting a horrified side glance.
Tunde ignored him and rushed past.
A few moments later, he heard his friend scream in agony.
Tunde's heart dropped.
His attackers began to hack his friend alive.
"Oh so you sabi this debtor! We go sell you too!" Tunde heard them bark as he tried to look back at the horror
Ebuka's blood filled under his car, with his bloodied head resting on it's side.
Tunde couldn't stop running, he ran even faster.
He began to cry, salty tears dropped into his dry mouth.
"Ah ah whyyy. WHY WHY! "