C8 Chapter Eight

As they put me inside the cell, I kept thinking about who could have been behind my arrest.

Who did I offend?

What had I done to deserve this?

At first, I thought about Ngozi.

“Could it be Ngozi?”

I quickly dismissed the thought.

Yes, Ngozi might be desperate to get my man, but surely, it couldn't have reached this level. It couldn't have reached the point where she would accuse me of something I knew nothing about and have me arrested.

I didn't think Ngozi could do something like that.

But if it wasn't her, then who?

And why was I arrested?

To make matters worse, they refused to let me make any phone call. Nobody knew where I was. Nobody knew that I had been arrested.

“God, what could this be?”

It was just me and my God.

I cried.

I wept.

I prayed.

“God, please intervene. You are the only One who knows that I am here. You are the only One who knows what is happening to me. Please help me, Father.”

Then another thought came to my mind.

“Could this be kidnapping?”

But I quickly shook my head.

“This is a police station. It cannot be kidnapping.”

Yet, the way they were treating me made it feel like one.

How could they arrest someone and prevent her from contacting anybody? Nobody knew where I was. Nobody knew what had happened to me.

Who had ordered them not to release me?

Who had ordered them not to allow me to contact anyone?

“God.”

I sat there crying and talking to myself.

Then I heard footsteps approaching.

At first, I heard a woman's voice asking,

“Where is she?”

I became confused.

“Who are they asking for?”

Could it be me?

No.

It couldn't be me.

Nobody knew I was here. Nobody saw the police arrest me.

“Maybe they are asking for someone else,” I told myself.

But a few seconds later, the footsteps came closer and closer to my cell.

Immediately, I froze.

My heart began beating faster.

“Who could this be?”

I became frightened.

“What if they have sent someone to harm me? What if the person who arranged my arrest has sent someone to hurt me?”

I started whispering prayers.

“God, I am in Your hands. I commit my life into Your hands. Please, don't let anything happen to me.”

I remembered the way the policemen had treated me when they arrested me. They pushed me into the vehicle and spoke to me as though I were a criminal they had known for years.

Now someone was coming toward my cell.

Could they be coming to beat me?

Could the person behind my arrest have sent them?

I didn't know what to think.

The footsteps came closer.

Then I saw her.

Ngozi.

For a moment, I felt relieved.

At least, someone who knew me had come.

But that relief disappeared almost immediately.

“How did she know I was here?”

“How did Ngozi find out that I had been arrested?”

“Was she the one behind all this?”

She came closer to my cell.

At first, she acted as though she genuinely cared.

“Oh, my sister Chinyere! What happened? How did you get here?”

She looked at me with fake concern.

“Wait a minute. Why did they arrest you? Did you steal? Did you snatch somebody's husband? Or what could be the reason an angel like Chinyere ended up in police custody?”

I stared at her.

I didn't even know what to say.

Then suddenly, she started laughing.

“Oh, I can see you're missing those beautiful clothes Ebere used to buy for you.”

She laughed again.

“Maybe since you can't get them anymore, and you can't enjoy all those things Ebere used to give you, you decided to steal so you could buy them for yourself, right?”

She burst into laughter.

I became furious.

“Ngozi, get out of here!”

She laughed.

“You know you can't do anything.”

I shouted again.

“Ngozi, just get out of here!”

She stepped closer to the cell.

“Look at you. You are inside a cell. What can you do?”

She paused.

“Or do you want to fight me?”

She laughed again.

“If you try anything, remember that money can speak. I have money now. I can pay some of the inmates here, and they will come and deal with you.”

I stared at her in disbelief.

“So you don't talk. In fact, if you are wise, you should kneel down and beg me. Who knows? Maybe I might help you and get you released.”

For a moment, I was speechless.

Then I shook my head.

“No.”

I knew one thing for sure.

My God would never disappoint me.

I would not allow myself to be humiliated by Ngozi.

“I would rather remain in this cell than kneel down and beg you to release me.”

Ngozi smiled.

“Oh, you still have your pride?”

“Get out of here!”

She shrugged.

“Fine. Enjoy yourself. Stay there.”

She turned around and walked away, swaggering as though she owned the whole world.

The moment she left, I broke down.

I cried bitterly.

“God, why am I being humiliated like this? What is my offense? Why am I facing all this? What have I done to deserve this?”

I folded my head between my knees and cried.

After some time, I heard another commotion coming from the direction of the counter.

I lifted my head.

“Who could that be?”

For a moment, I thought maybe someone had come for me.

Then I quickly dismissed the thought.

“Nobody knows I'm here apart from Ngozi, and Ngozi can never help me.”

I reminded myself that this was a police station. People came there every day for different reasons.

“Why should I keep assuming that everyone who comes here has come for me?”

I tried to ignore the noise.

But curiosity got the better of me.

I moved closer to the iron bars of my cell and pressed my ear against them.

Then I heard a voice.

A familiar voice.

I froze.

“Is that Precious?”

My heart jumped.

“Could it really be Precious?”

I began whispering another prayer.

“God, please let it be her. Please let me not be imagining things again. Let it really be Precious.”

Then I heard a policeman shouting,

“Will you stop recording?”

Immediately, I heard Precious's voice.

“No! I will not stop. I am already live on Facebook. People are watching you!”

“This is injustice!” she shouted.

“How can you arrest somebody without allowing her to contact anyone? What is her offense? Did she kill somebody? Did she steal? Did she commit any crime that warrants this treatment?”

The policeman shouted again.

“I said stop recording!”

“No, I won't!” Precious replied.

“I am live already. People are watching you. Let the whole world see how unjustly you are treating people. How can you arrest a student without allowing her to contact anybody?”

“Oya, stop it!” the policeman shouted. “Go and see your friend. Just go and see your friend and stop the recording immediately.”

After that, I couldn't hear Precious anymore.

A few seconds later, I saw Precious, Skyla, and Blessing standing in front of my cell.

A huge wave of relief washed over me.

I rushed toward them, but I couldn't come out of the cell, and they couldn't come inside.

They reached through the bars and held my hands.

I started crying again.

I couldn't even speak properly because tears had filled my eyes.

“Babe, what happened?” Precious asked. “How did you end up here?”

“I don't know,” I said through my tears. “I really don't know.”

I explained everything that had happened.

“I was going home after school. When I reached the junction and was waiting to get a taxi, a police vehicle came. They arrested me and said I threatened a student.”

They all looked at me.

“Did you threaten anyone?” Skyla asked.

“No. I never threatened anybody. I didn't quarrel with anyone.”

I shook my head.

“I don't even know what I did to deserve this.”

“To make matters worse, they refused to let me make any call. They said they were only following instructions.”

Precious suddenly became thoughtful.

“Wait a minute.”

She looked at the others.

“Could this be Ngozi's work?”

I stared at her.

“What do you mean?”

“Could it be because we threatened Ngozi?”

I became confused.

“What did you people do?”

Precious sighed.

“After we spoke with you at school, we were very angry. We couldn't just let everything go. So we went to Ngozi.”

Blessing nodded.

“We warned her to stay away from Ebere. We told her that what she was doing to you was wrong.”

“We told her she had no right to do this to you,” Skyla added.

I suddenly understood.

“So this is it.”

Everything became clear.

“Ngozi must have assumed that I sent you to threaten her.”

I shook my head.

“So that is why she had me arrested.”

I looked around the cell.

“And that must be how she found out I was here before anyone else knew.”

I couldn't believe how far things had gone.

“So Ngozi can really go this far? She can actually have me arrested and make sure nobody is allowed to contact me?”

I was beginning to understand just how dangerous the situation had become.

Precious looked at me.

“Babe, what do we do now?”

She paused.

“Give us your father's number. Let us call him.”

The moment she mentioned my father, I froze.

Deep down, I knew what would happen if my father heard everything.

Ebere would not go scot-free.

I knew my father.

But even after everything Ebere had done to me, I still couldn't bear the thought of seeing him seriously hurt because of me.

I became confused.

I didn't know what decision to make.

My father was the only person who could come and get me out immediately, but involving him could change everything.

I looked at my friends and remained silent, wondering what I should do.

To be continued.