On a rainy night at the mansion, everywhere was serious and tense, except for the wind howling in the dark, the heavy breeze slamming and opening the unlocked windows that the maids hadn't closed.
Standing here and there in the meeting room with our clothes soaked from the mission we just arrived from thirty minutes ago, we were all with dejected faces. We were wearing leather outfits with boots and bandanas tied round on our heads as it was our costumes.
Henry angrily slapped the table in front of him and shook his head at Bisola who stood in front of him with her head bowed. "How could you let that happen? I know you to be an expert, Bisola, what happened?"
Bisola opened and closed her mouth to say something but no words came out. What was she to say in this situation? She had no excuse. I squeezed her shoulder as my way of letting her know I was there for her. She looked back at me, gave me a brief tight smile, closed her eyes and turned to Henry who was agitated about what Bisola had confessed.
"Henry..." Bella started but Henry's forehand raised was all it took to shut her up.
"Have you seen little Bella this evening since we got back?"
"No, but..."
"Now go." It was an order.
Reluctantly, Bella pushed herself away from the wall and exited the room.
"I'm sorry," Bisola said.
"That wouldn't solve this." Henry kept shaking his head. "Tell me, Bisola, are you okay?"
"Yes.."
"Then why the hell did you let that happen? Why didn't you attack him?"
"He pinned me to the ground. I couldn't move," Bisola explained for the third time.
"I still don't get it. Why you?"
While we had been in a fight with other gangs over an issue which Babatunde_one of the members _brought to Henry to fight for him, something unexpected happened. It had been a street fight that had quickly gotten the attention of the police in no time. The police did their usual announcement, telling us to freeze and put our hands up in the air, but we being gangsters didn't comply, instead, we attacked, and even our enemies had to fight the police for their safety. Along the line, Bisola had been pinned down with her face pressed on the ground by a cop who was about to handcuff her.
Anyway, while I was dodging flying bullets for my life, I saw how she was trying to free herself under the weight of the cop. Cleverly enough, I made my way tip-toeing behind the cop before I used the bottom of my Colt Single Action Army to pistol-whip his head, knocking him out. Immediately the man fell off her, I saw that Bisola's face wasn't masked anymore. The terrifying look she gave me as I lifted her made it dawn on me that the cop lying unconsciously on the ground had seen her face.
Hastily, I pulled down the ski mask to her face and led the way to evade the bullets that hit Seun on his shoulder as he was coming our way. Five people died. Twelve people were injured. Bisola's face was revealed.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry won't solve this. He saw your face. That's risky. And that's a lead for their investigation, trust me!" Henry yelled.
"Well, I think you should be happy she wasn't caught. If Tosin hadn't..." Nafisat was instantly interrupted.
"Speaking of you!" Henry pointed at me and my heart started beating rapidly as I frowned, "Why didn't you just shoot the cop instead? Because that would have saved us the stress we are having now, Tosin. I thought you had gotten over that! I have noticed you hesitating whenever you are to shoot. Tsk, tsk, tsk," he shook his head again, "I pity you because at times you only have two options, which are: to kill or to be killed. And if I were you, I wouldn't think twice before I know what to do. The earlier you start doing the reasonable things, the better for you."
I clenched my jaws and gave Henry a disgusting look. I hated him that night.
"We are slacking! We are becoming careless!" Jasper's sweet voice became dangerous suddenly. It was the first time he had spoken since we got back. "Five people died? That's so unlike us! Are we being careless or what?" He stood up and kicked his seat.
"Calm down, Jasper," Abbey said.
"Calm down? Why on earth will I calm down when we just lost five members and Bisola got careless or whatever...!" Jasper shouted.
"Y'all don't have to get mad at her for a single mistake or make it sound like she wasn't an expert! It was a mistake..." Toyin interjected.
"A single mistake that will jeopardise our lives!" Jasper snapped and face Toyin who was a few feet away from him
"That's so unlike her, Jasper! She didn't cause the death of those five! She was almost caught, remember? Don't you even care how she is feeling about it too? Because all you do now is yell and yell because you are angry. We are also not happy here! We are all drenched in the rain for another person's battle... "
"Correction, one person's battle is our battle," Jasper said with a stern voice, his eyes roaming Toyin's.
"I know! Don't blame one unnecessarily. Mistakes happen and one goes weak. We are humans, not robots!" Toyin gave a long hiss.
Jasper clenched his haws, looked away from Toyin and left the room.
"We vibe together in this group, but that shouldn't create room for disrespecting your boss. Toyin, you shouldn't have talked in that manner to Jasper."
"Alright, boss." Toyin folded her arms.
"That aside, I have a brief information to pass to you all which is the reinvestigation of Joe."
"Joe?" Rotimi came forward whereas others shared a look, even Bisola widened her eyes.
"Yes, Joe." Henry scratched his head. "I need a hot bath." He stood up and put his hand on his hips as he narrated what I had thought about Joe's death to Jasper and how Jasper had told him which he thought was a good idea. "I don't think we are going to get more information on it but we will give it a try again and I need y'all opinions on it, alright?"
"Alright," we all answered.
The thunder struck harder and louder this time and instantly the power went out. This earned some of us groaning and murmuring.
"No, murmuring, please. The generator will be on soon. The meeting is over so you can all go."
"Seriously, Henry?" one asked.
"In the dark?" another asked. A male to be precise.
I frowned my face as I thought Henry snickered.
Some seconds later the lights came on and I saw Bisola rubbing one side of her bruised face. "I will do something to correct this," Bisola firmly said. She mustered up the courage and walked towards him, looking straight into Henry's eyeballs. "I have never let this happen to me and I expected you to be lenient with me..."
"Lenient? Lenient my foot..." Henry frowned and shook his head.
"If you say so." One tear slipped down Bisola's cheek and another followed instantly. "I have a way to mend it."
"Bisola, don't think I'm being mean here. What happened could destroy your image. They will be after you. I only care about you and..."
"I know you do, Henry. I know. I have an idea on how to go about it."
"What?" Nafisat asked, taking off her leather jacket.
"My ideas, my way. Not everyone's. Just give me some days..."
"Days?" Henry sighed.
"Just a few days to be exact. And thank you for reinvestigating Joe's case"
"That was Tosin's idea."
Bisola nodded and departed the room.
Henry dropped his head, saying, "She is mad at me. I'm just trying to..." he looked up to the ceiling. "Good night, pals."
His last sentence got us to make use of the door one after the other without a word.
_____________
Here in Bisola's room, Toyin and I had decided to check on Bisola before we left for our room just to see what she was up to. As we sat down without a word, Bisola paced in front of us.
"What are you up to, Bisola?" Toyin asked.
"That Henry was mean! He had the gut to accuse me..." I spoke out the thoughts that had been on my mind without thinking.
"He was right, you know? You hesitate..."
I glared at Toyin, "Well I don't wanna kill. I never like doing so," I brought down my voice. "He's just so bossy and unfair!"
"Nah, I don't think so. He's bossy because he is the boss. You and I know he barely bosses anyone, Tosin. You just don't like him. He was even nice enough to tuck you in bed on Saturday night when you passed out. Perfectly tucked you in," Toyin emphasised.
I shot my eyes out. "You've gotta be kidding me. Did I puke?" That must have been embarrassing. "How did I pass out? Did I blabber my mouth?"
Toyin hissed. "Now you care. I was even wondering why you didn't ask the next morning. Thought you remembered it all. And I don't know if you blabbered anything to him. Also, I don't think you puked on him either. God, it's been four days and you are just asking me? You didn't even get the tattoos. That was how wasted you were!"
Shit! I didn't feel anything strange occurred the next day. "The next day I woke up, I saw that I was tucked in bed and thought it was one of you two who put me in bed. I can't remember anything. How did he get into my room?"
"That's because right now you are tired and you will remember soon. Two, he called me and I told him you have your keys in your purse. It was with you throughout the night. Be thankful to him for being nice."
I ignored Toyin. "You made Jasper walk away. You yelled at him." I changed the topic.
"That's because he got incensed. Besides, I can't place anyone above you guys. I had to talk."
"Why are you interested in Joe's case all of a sudden? You didn't talk to me about it," Bisola finally spoke.
"I never intended to actually. Jasper and I were just talking and we found ourselves talking about him and I thought it was best to look into it again. You deserve to know what went wrong."
"Why do you want it reinvestigated?"
I looked about, wondering if I had done something wrong. "I think he deserved justice, Bisola. I'm sorry if that..."
Bisola broke into tears, coming to sit between Toyin and me. "Thank you."
I gathered her in my arms and said nothing. I didn't know what to say. I felt she was still in love with Joe in the grave. He still had a special place in her heart.
After she stopped sobbing for a few minutes, she began undressing, then rummaged into her wardrobe and brought out a nightie.
"What's your plan? Does it involve us? We have to do something to help," Toyin said.
Bisola threw her nightie on the bed. "I have to bribe him."
"Bribe him? Bribe a cop? Do you know what you are saying at all?"
"She certainly doesn't know what came out of her mouth," I said. "In what way, huh?"
"Easy but hard."
Toyin and I shared a glance.
"Sleep with him. You know what I mean?"
"You've got to be joking," Toyin chuckled.
"No, I'm not," she replied with a firm voice.
"Don't you worry about your reputation? Your dad is a famous journalist that people pay attention to for crying out loud! Are you insane?" I asked worriedly. "Dear, think otherwise.
"That's what I have to do. Sleep with him and shut him up."
"Why not eliminate him instead," Toyin queried.
"Jesus Christ!" I muttered as I closed my eyes.
"Nope. I will sleep with him and perhaps it can be a useful blackmail to defame his reputation. Obliterating him will be too easy. I wanna play." Bisola went to the bathroom, leaving Toyin and me dumbfounded.
One minute she was crying and the next she was acting like nothing was wrong. What is she becoming? I thought, resting my chin on my clasped fingers.