Episode 8
The excitement had already cleared away the
little effect alcohol had on him. “I see she
fainted, but she will be okay. What really
happened Michael?” Dr. Chris asked without
formerly greeting him. “I was driving along
Stream Street when I saw her walking
sluggishly, and before I could say „Jack
Robinson,‟ she slumped to the ground. So I
quickly rushed her here,” quickly said the
young man. “Oh, you don‟t even know her?”
“No, Chris.”
“Well, she is not in any serious condition, but
it is important we contact any of her family
members, they deserve to be alerted. Just
hang around for now let me go inside and
make sure she is alright.” Dr. Chris pointed to
the nearest empty long seat meant for visitors
as he spoke. Fifteen minutes later, the doctor
came out. “We have revived her,” he said as
he led Michael into his office. “Her name is
Brenda Davis. Emotional breakdown is always
sad news. Obviously, heartbreak, I guess. She
asked that her friend be contacted. This is her
cell phone number.” He handed Michael a
piece of paper as he sat down on his rather
large seat. “She also asked to see the Good
Samaritan who brought her here.” “That‟s
alright. I will make the call and then we can
go in and see her.” Michael reached for his
cell phone and quickly dialed the number on
the piece of paper. After informing Jane of
Brenda‟s condition, and giving her the
hospital‟s address, he said, “Let‟s go and see
the patient.”
Taken over by impatience and concern,
Michael had not been able to take a closer
look at the girl he had rescued. As he entered
the hospital room and saw her sitting on the
bed, he knew instantly that he had found the
girl of his dreams. Physically, she was
everything that he had dreamed of, the smile,
the posture, the gentleness that seemed to be
her real nature. She looked very vulnerable
and there was a sudden urge within him to
protect her. She was beautiful, and more
importantly likeable. He became more
concerned to know what happened to her.
What went so wrong that she even lost
consciousness? Maybe he could help her.
“This is Mr. Black. He is the good man that
brought you here when you fainted at Stream
Street,” introduced Dr. Chris. “Hello,” Michael
quickly greeted. “I can see that you are much
stronger and brighter.”
“I am really fine now, oh, I am sorry for the
inconvenience that I have caused you this
evening. Thank you very much for the help.
You don‟t know how grateful I am,” Brenda
said. “I am actually glad that I was there to
help you.” “I didn‟t know what really
happened; I just got dizzy and couldn‟t
control myself any longer” “It is alright. I
thank God that you are fine now. I have called
your friend. She should be here anytime from
now.” “Oh, thank you, Mr. Black. I can‟t thank
you enough.” She was trying so hard not to
show her sadness. She couldn‟t still believe
that Adam had really left her. What was she
going to do with her life once she left the
hospital? “Please call me Michael.” Before she
could reply, Jane stormed into the room and
went straight to hugging her. Brenda held
unto her like she was the only precious thing
on earth. Michael was quick to notice the
steady stream of tears running down her
cheeks.
This girl is depressed, he thought. I wonder
why someone would hurt her; she doesn‟t look
like she can hurt anyone. “What happened?”
Jane asked her. Seeing that Brenda wasn‟t
ready to talk about her problems in front of a
stranger, Michael quickly cut in, “I‟d better be
leaving. Can I have your contact? I will like to
be sure that you are alright.” “Oh yes, emm…
Jane, this is Mr.…this is Michael, he brought
me to the hospital and also notified you,”
Brenda said. “Thank you, sir, I am really
grateful.” “It‟s okay.” He collected the piece of
paper Brenda handed him. “And you don‟t
have to worry about the medical bills; I have
already taken care of that.” Both girls were
touched by his kindness. And Brenda said,
“You shouldn‟t have bothered, you have
already done so much for me.”
“No problem at all.” He was already walking
towards the door. “This is my complimentary
card.”
Episode 9
He handed it to Jane. “You girls should take
care of yourselves. I will keep in touch.” He
bade them farewell and walked out of the
room. He looked forward to seeing Brenda
again. * * * Lupe Prison was situated at an
isolated area of town. It had a very large
compound with a great wall. People dreaded
being associated with Lupe Prison, not just
because of the general impression most
people had about prisons, but because of
harsh stories told about this particular prison.
The death rate for inmates in this prison was
very high mainly due to the harsh conditions
inmates faced; here the convicts really paid
the prize for the crimes they committed.
Most prisoners who successfully completed
their tenure in this prison always prayed that
nothing ever took them back there. This was
where Nimrod James had been for the past
four years. A five-feet-nine-inches-tall fellow
with muscular physique and mean-looking
eyes, Nimrod hated this prison with all his
might. He couldn‟t wait to be free once again;
to have the freedom to do whatever he liked
whenever he wanted. His body system had
never adjusted to the life in the prison despite
having stayed there for four years. He
couldn‟t stop praying to God, if there was one,
that time should fly so that he would be free
once again. Here he was treated like shit by
the prison warders. He was made to eat
rubbish and subjected to hard labor every day.
Every little offence one did always resulted in
severe punishment here. Suffering that could
never be compared to the offence. “Nimrod
James!” “Who the hell wants to know?” “Your
god in here!” Now what?
He was chained before stepping out of his
small cell when it was unlocked, but before he
could react, a baton came crashing down on
his head. “What the f***?” “That?” screamed
Curtis, the prison guard on duty. “That
doesn‟t even compare to what you have just
done! Now move it!” And he was pushed
forward, jeers ringing out from the other cells
as the stoic guards fell in step behind him.
Everyone knew about his exploits in Lupe, but
then nobody liked getting into trouble when
Curtis was on duty! The group stopped before
another cell and Nimrod flinched. The prisoner
within had cowered to the far corner of the
small room when he saw them and Nimrod
knew he had every reason to be afraid, yet he
still tried to wriggle his way out of the trouble
he now knew he was in. “So what have I done
now?”
Another baton crashed into his back and he
doubled over. “Is he the one?” Curtis asked the
terrified man inside and thought he saw a
flicker of a nod. That was all he needed.
“C‟mon James…you‟ve got a date with the
sun!” “But – But I didn‟t do nothing wrong!”
he tried again. “You fag…!” shouted Curtis,
kicking him with vehemence. “No one is your
girl in here!” “Wait till I‟m through with this,
Sean…,” snarled his victim as he was being
pushed away. “Wait till I get my hands on you
after this…!” And the young man inside the
cell cringed back the more. “You‟ll do no such
thing, homo!” bellowed a second guard. “Your
new cellmate will be Sean and a camera will
be fixed on you from now on 24/7!” “What?”
Daylight almost blinded him when he was
pushed out into the open and he tried to
shield his eyes with his chained hands.
The interior was always dimly lit and his
discomfort was a direct result of this. A
terrible push saw him crashing to the ground
and the guards on duty all around him erupted
in laughter. “Hey…What – What the hell you
doing, man?” he asked Curtis as the no-
nonsense warder proceeded to rip his
standard issue prison clothes apart with a
razorblade. “What the hell you think you‟re
doing?” “Putting you back in line, big boy!
Now, get up!”
Nimrod Effiong Bassey James had to spend
his remaining free time that day under the
sweltering heat of the angry sun with nothing
on and in the glaring presence of everyone
he‟d come to hate in Lupe Prison.
Episode 10
CHAPTER 3
MICHAEL GETS INTERESTED
JANE came home early from work and met
Brenda watching television in the sitting room.
Her roommate still looked unkempt and was
obviously not concentrating on the program
going on. She was absent-minded and
oblivious of her immediate environment. This
had been her condition since she came back
from the hospital five days ago. Jane knew
that there was very little she could do to bring
her friend out of her depression, but at least
she was going to try her best. “I came back
early so that the two of us can go out
together. We can visit a fast food or any other
interesting place,” she gently said after
dropping her bag and sitting beside her friend.
Brenda slowly looked at her. “Welcome home,
but I don‟t want to go anywhere,” she said. “I
hope you don‟t mind. I just want to stay at
home, that‟s all.” “But you have barely
stepped outside since you came back from the
hospital. Why don‟t you take some time out?
It could change your mood, you know.”
“I am worthless; I am just a piece of rag.
What do I need to change my mood for? So
that another man will see me, convince me
that I am his all and all only for me to be
dumped like a piece of rag? No, I just want to
be left alone.” Brenda‟s situation was getting
out of hand and Jane was beginning to think
that she won‟t be able to handle her this time.
She‟d witnessed two of Brenda‟s previous
broken relationships, and sadly, unlike her,
Brenda had always had plenty of male
admirers but somehow seemed to always fall
for the wrong set of guys. Jane had been
brokenhearted before but the relationship had
not been as deep and intense like all of
Brenda‟s three broken relationships and she
had found it easy to get over it.
Right now, she was in a serious relationship
with her wedding date just by the corner. “Oh,
c‟mon Honey,” she tried to soot; placing a
hand on her friend‟s left shoulder. “You‟ll get
over it…he‟s not even as cool as Benjamin!”
“Yeah, Benjamin,” the other girl remembered.
Her first serious love. “Yeah…that one was
sure cute…and treated me like an angel!” “You
two had a very rosy relationship,” her friend
chipped in, trying to strengthen her ploy. “So
rosy that I found myself unconsciously getting
envious of you!” And they both laughed at this
silly incident in their past. “It was that bad…,”
remembered Brenda. You almost hated me for
no reason!” “‟Cuz not…,” defended Jane. “I
just wanted the marriage to happen.” “But it
never did….”
And Jane sighed. Another mood swing was
about to envelope her friend. Barely eight
months into the relationship, Brenda had
discovered that Benjamin had gotten another
girl pregnant. Without any remorse, Benjamin
had accepted responsibility for the baby,
shoving Brenda away as if she never really
mattered.
Jane had been there for her and made sure
that she didn‟t allow the breakup to
discourage her, and luckily enough, Brenda
was strong and gradually got over Benjamin.
But the scar still remained, despite her
promising herself to be more careful with
men. A promise she quickly failed to keep for
herself, really. His name was Derek Hunter and
he had come into Brenda‟s life four months
later. An improved version of Benjamin, Derek
was intelligent, smart and handsome.
He was also very judicious and with little
stress, he was able to convince Brenda to fall
in love. Brenda was proud of Derek; he was a
very confident man and made Brenda feel
secured. Brenda trusted him and relied so
much on his sense of judgment. He helped
Brenda in living an organized life especially as
regards her school activities. The relationship
lasted only seventeen months. Derek worked
with an oil company and was sent for three
months training at a far away city. After a
month, he stopped calling Brenda and his
number was not available. No effort in trying
to reach him worked, but she found out from
his work place that he was perfectly alright.
Therefore, she decided to wait for him to come
back despite her worries. And after three
months, Derek had called her to tell her he
would be back in a week‟s time, without
bothering to explain anything. Fair enough, he
came back as soon as the three months was
up, but sadly, he had turned into a different
person! He stopped calling, claiming to be
very busy and asked Brenda not to come
around unless he asked her to do so. He never
did. “What‟re you thinking, girl?” Jane
suddenly asked her, trying so hard to think up
another tactic to get her friend out of the
house. “Derek?” “Oh, him….” “Do you know I
decided to pay him a surprise visit when he
came back after those three months?”
“Brenda, don‟t do this to yourself,”
admonished Jane.
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