OBLIVIOUS TARGET



By Femi Abulude

Anytime I think about this story I am about to recount, I always shudder, at the same time I give thanks to God. My escape from an imminent agonizing death was not by my power or might, it was by divine intervention.

When I was a struggling bachelor and a cub reporter in a pioneer soft sell magazine in Lagos. I rented a two room apartment at Ketu. Our landlord who had three wives was staying in the same house with us then.

One queer thing I noticed about this man was that he did not have a separate room of his own. If he came back from work, he would retire to his sitting room. He slept in any of the rooms of his three wives. My own apartment was sandwiched between the sitting room and three of his own rooms.

Out of these three wives, the last one, who obviously was older than the one in the middle, was the trouble causer of the house. This childless woman was always quarrelling. Her bone of contention with the one in the middle was that the husband did not tell her that he had two wives during their courtship. It had then become a morning ritual to witness the thorough bashing of this errant woman by the husband.

Due to the unpredictable nature of my job, I always left home late in the morning and returned very late in the evening. Because of this, I always witnessed this early morning show of shame. While the man was slapping, kicking and whipping this lady, other wives and neighbours would be making half – hearted attempt at separating the warring duo. I would make sure I separated them and piloted the man to his sitting room. Funny enough, he had never refused this gesture, though grudgingly, he would follow me.

One thing led to another, and this troublesome wife packed out of the house. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

There was this elderly man called Mr. Aderoju in the house. He was a respectable gentleman, married and had two of his younger brothers staying with him. One evening, the younger of these boys was arrested for wandering by the police. It was an eye witness who knew him that came to report to his brother.

When I got back home that night, Mr. Aderoju knocked on my door and said he had been waiting for me. He narrated the arrest of his brother to me. I calmed him down and promised to follow him to the station the following day as it was late.

We got to the station; I requested to see the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the station. I introduced myself to him and explained our mission. He asked if we were sure that the boy was in his station. Mr. Aderoju answered in affirmative. He gave his name and description. Few minutes later, the young boy was brought to us. He narrated how he was abducted along with others despite the fact that he produced his identity card of the plastic company he was working for. The DPO apologized on behalf of his overzealous boys and released the boy to us.

Mr. Aderoju was full of appreciation. He said “Brother Journalist”, (That was what they called me in that house) “I don’t know how I could express my appreciation. I know you are a very nice person, but what you have done this morning beat my imagination. Just keep on with your good behavior. God will always be your guide”.

I thanked him and told him that it was my pleasure. When we got home, he invited me to his room and closed the door. “What does this man want again?” I thought. He started explaining in whisper how the landlord had put me on surveillance. He said, the man had been suspecting me of having illicit love affairs with his last wife. I did not know how I screamed out. “The troublesome woman?” He answered in affirmative.

He said the man held his suspicion on the boasting of his wife that she was the one that assisted me to purchase my newly bought video set at a cheaper rate from her sister in Idumota market. (This my video set was the first in the whole neighbourhood then). Mr. Aderoju said it was because of this that the landlord sent the woman away. His advice was that I should go and meet the landlord and explain my own side of the story, I should say he was the one who told me.

I could not go to work again on that day. I was waiting for the landlord to come back from work. When he eventually came, I told him that I wanted to have a discussion with him. He said I should wait till the following morning.

When I got to his sitting room the following morning, I met him and his elder brother who used to collect the house rent. He must have sent for him because he was not staying in our house. I greeted them and he motioned me to a seat. At this juncture, Mr. Aderoju too entered the room. I told him what I heard, leaving out the source of the information. I bought out the receipt of the video set, video cassette rewinder and the chromed – iron stand I bought on the same day from a departmental store in Oyingbo market.

He collected the receipts from me perused them and handed them over to his brother, his brother glanced through and handed them to Mr. Aderoju. He read through them too and returned them to me.

It was the elder brother that first spoke. He said they were already preparing my eviction papers as my rent would due in few months time. He said with the receipts and my rebuttal, they would give me benefit of doubt, but still keep me on surveillance.

The landlord said he liked me a lot. He confessed that many at times when I separated him and his wife, he would feel like pouncing on me too, but he would not have the courage to do so. He also confessed his love for this woman. He said he did not send her away as some people believed. He said he only relocated her. He warned me that if there was anything between us, I should put a stop to it otherwise I would regret it. He also threatened that he had instructed some boys in the area where the woman was relocated to deal with me if they sighted me with her.

The elder brother concluded that probably the lady was just boasting in order to make her husband jealous and danced to her tunes.

I thanked all of them and prayed for their children. I later on went to Mr. Aderoju and expressed my appreciation and thanked his wife most especially for advising him to inform me. There and then, I made up my mind to vacate the house, therefore when my rent expired. I packed out willingly.