📖 Chapter Eight:
[The Poisoned Truth]
The group arrived at Baba Osie's compound just after sunset. The air was thick with tension. Nkemdilim clutched the veil. Amaka scanned the shadows. Dimeji kept his hand near his holster.
Baba Osie opened the door slowly. His eyes were tired. Haunted.
Baba Osie:
"I didn't want to do it. I swear."
Amaka:
"Do what?"
Baba Osie:
"Poison Nkemdilim. But it wasn't my idea. A man.his name is Adeyemi. He said he had a job for me. Promised to help me. Pay my daughter's kidney transplant, wipe my debts. Give me a new life.
But only if I agreed. Said he work's for someone rich and powerful. And they wanted Nkemdilim gone. Deleted.threatened to end me and my daughter if I refused.
Nkemdilim:
"So you agreed?"
Baba Osie:
"I cooked the food. But Ejiro ate it by mistake. I tried to stop it. I swear."
Ejiro stepped forward, arms folded, eyes blazing.
Ejiro (in pidgin):
"So na me chop poison wey no dey meant for me? Baba, you wan kill person wey dey innocent? Na thunder go remix your destiny!"
Baba Osie (pleading):
"I didn't know she'd eat it. I was desperate."
Dimeji:
"We'll help you. Pay your debts. Cover your daughter's fees. But you need to talk. Everything."
Baba Osie nodded. He began to speak.
💥 (The Ambush)
Just then—gunshots tore through the compound.
Wood splintered. Glass shattered. A group of masked thugs stormed in, rifles raised.
Thug Leader:
"Osie talks, Osie dies."
They opened fire.
Baba Osie fell. Blood bloomed across his chest.
Ejiro (screaming):
"Nooooo! Baba! You never even finish story!"
Dimeji returned fire. Amaka dragged Ejiro behind a cabinet. Nkemdilim activated the veil—it shimmered, deflecting a bullet mid-air.
The thugs retreated. Silence returned. But Baba Osie was gone.
💔 Aftermath & Betrayal
Minutes had gone by when the police arrived, accompanied with an abundance and a rescue team. But it was too Late. The thugs was no where to be found. And poor baba osie. Gone. The crowd outside the apartment grew. Many. Terrified. Some perplexed.
Ejiro sat on the floor, trembling. A bottle of hot wine in her hand. She took a long swig.as she ponders. "Who could have done this"?.
Ejiro (drunk, muttering):
"Love na scam. Men na virus. I tell my boyfriend say we dey go Benin, e say 'safe journey'—na spy e be!"
Amaka:
"Wait. You told him?"
Ejiro (blinking):
"Na casual gist o. I no know say the guy dey work for devil."
Dimeji:
"That's how they knew. He's the leak."
Nkemdilim (softly):
"Ejiro… I'm sorry."
Ejiro (snorting):
"Sorry no dey cure heartbreak. I go block am, delete am, and if I see am for dream, I go slap am spiritually."
The group chuckled. Even in pain, Ejiro's fire burned bright.
Ejiro (raising bottle):
"To heartbreak. To poison. To fake love and real bullets."
Nkemdilim (smiling):
"To surviving it all."