The next few days passed quickly.
Mike settled into a routine—school in the morning, lesson planning in the afternoon, and quiet evenings at the corpers' lodge.
Life wasn't easy, but it was manageable.
Until that evening.
It was around 7 p.m. when Mike stepped out to get some groceries from a nearby shop. The sky was already dim, and the streetlights flickered weakly along the road.
As he walked, lost in thought, his eyes caught someone ahead of him.
A lady.
Walking briskly.
Something about her made him slow down.
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
That walk…
It looked familiar.
His heartbeat picked up.
"No… it can't be," he whispered.
But the more he looked, the more certain he became.
It was her.
Aisha.
From back home.
She had been his junior in school—quiet, reserved, always keeping to herself.
What was she doing here?
In Ibadan?
Without thinking, Mike called out:
"Aisha!"
No response.
She kept walking.
Maybe she didn't hear him.
He raised his voice.
"Aisha!"
Still nothing.
Now curiosity had taken over completely.
There was no way she didn't recognize his voice.
Or… did she?
Mike increased his pace slightly, trying to close the distance between them.
But she didn't slow down.
If anything, she seemed to walk faster.
A strange feeling crept into his chest.
Confusion.
And something else…
Unease.
She turned into a compound ahead and disappeared inside.
Mike stopped at the gate.
His heart was beating faster now.
Something didn't feel right.
He looked around briefly. The street was quiet. A few people passed by without paying attention to him.
He faced the compound again.
Should he go in?
It wasn't his business.
He could just turn back and go home.
But his curiosity refused to let him.
"What if it's really her?" he thought.
After a few seconds of hesitation…
Mike stepped inside.
And unknowingly…
He walked straight into trouble.