ON THE RUN (EPISODE 19)

The old saying was experimented, and certainly cleared the air off all doubt. His teeth was truly sharper than knife. Sanmi severed the rope and now, the General’s hands gained liberty. He quickly reached for Sanmi’s bundled hands and set them loosed too. Now, they were ready for action. What was the plan?

“Sir, these people aren't as strong as you think they are. Without the guns in their hands, they are nothing. Absolutely powerless.” Sanmi muttered to the General, who stood at akimbo.

He nodded in affirmation, enjoying every detail.

“The idea now is to get those two...” Sanmi pointed to the door. “...inside here and get their guns. And if possible send them quietly on an errand to hell.”

The General chuckled and covered his mouth almost immediately. “You are very smart. Very very smart and brave.” He patted Sanmi by the shoulder. “So how are we going to get them in and how do we know their plans as they come in?”

“Sir, it’s very simple. We will divide their attention, and by so doing we would take them one on one.”

“I still don’t get that. Explain.”

“Ok sir. You will take a seat here with your hands behind, pretending like they are tied.” Sanmi and the General moved to an edge in the room. “And I will sit over there, then I would raise an alarm, which I’m sure they will hearken to.”

The General propped his back against the wall, folded his arms and revealed a smile.

“As soon as they come in, you will distract the other guy by doing anything that will catch his attention.”

“Anything like what?”

“Just anything to get the other fool’s attention.”

“Ok.”

“Yes sir.”

He seemed bathed in fear as he looked more like a scared gazelle. The General reluctantly glued his behind on the ground, staring at Sanmi who walked gallantly to another edge of the hut to sit. The squeaky sound from the door caught their gazes. Someone was at the door, about to come in. This troubled the General, afraid that things may turn out negative and may even launch them to their early grave.

The door opened. Gazes clash. The rebel walked in with his gun in his hands, finger on trigger. He inched towards Sanmi who sat innocent like an hungry beggar, but his attention was immediately seized as the General gave a loud cough.

“General is cough why?” The Rebel let out his unrefined English.

He coughed again and again, and the other rebel rushed in to intervene. The rebel that appeared walked to the General and noticed the blue piece of ropes on the ground. He walked to the spot where the ropes laid, squatted to examine the fact behind what crept into his mulish mind.

“Ali, what’s that?” The rebel, the one before Sanmi, asked in their native language.

To answer his question, the squatting rebel raised the ropes in the air for him to see. Sanmi squeezed his face to a frown, looked at the rope and then sent his focus to the General. While his heart throbbed, the General squinted at Sanmi, then nodded discreetly to signal a quick attack on the rebels.

The position of the captives’ hands, stuck behind their back, clouded their minds with doubts. And before they could realize they weren't bound, Sanmi and the General pounced on them like a dog on a piece meat. Sanmi picked on the first, yanking off his rifle from him, and adding jabs to his face. The General had a tough one with the other. The rebel was quite too resilient for him to handle. The General seemed to have lost the fight, so he employed the only weapon he could handle perfectly well, his teeth. He drilled them into his neck. The rebel cried aloud, and like a flash, he lifted the General and slammed his back to the ground. His breathing ceased. Now, it was over for him, he thought as the rebel reached for his gun on the floor and pointed it at him. The scene caught Sanmi’s attention. And with force, rushing toward the rebel who was about to pull the trigger, he swung the butt of the rifle to his head.

Thud! The rebel dropped to the ground.

Sanmi pulled the General up to his feet. “Sir, we have to get out of here now!”

“Okay okay.” The General affirmed, then they scuttled to the door.

Pow! Sanmi dropped to the ground.

****************************************

He wished nobody saw him. The case would have been a different one if another person, not Captain Dogo’s wife, saw him. Captain Dogo’s wife was one hell of a person that broadcast the whole event, both the fact and fallacy, of the officer’s quarters in the barracks. Dede prayed in his heart, and with a fake smile on his face, he walked to meet her.

“Good morning ma.”

“Ahn ahn, Dede are you coming from this morning?” She smiled.

“I went to buy something in town.” He walked along side her, walking to the barrack.

“Was that not your madam’s friend that dropped you off?”

“Make I help you carry the nylon.” Dede reached for the nylon Captain Dogo’s wife held, just to douse the nosy question.

She sent the nylon to her right hand, away from Dede’s reach. “Leave it and answer me first. Was that not your madam’s friend?”

“Yes.”

“So how come she...”

Dede interjected. “My oga madam send me and I dey rush. Make I hurry go now.” Dede ran through the barracks gate, leaving Captain Dogo’s wife meters away.

Now he could see the house from afar. He mumbled a little prayer to God that Salewa should still be in bed. And almost immediately his phone rang. That almost popped out his heart, until he brought it out of his pocket and realized it was his mother.