Extra Chapters from The Capt series✔️

Chapter 1: The Gust of Wind

Folakemi

"Kelvin, nothing is going to happen to our daughter, " I insisted.

I had to insist otherwise, the fear he had was going to creep slowly into my heart. Truthfully, it already was. I couldn't stand seeing him this bothered and this was not the first day. This wasn't our first time having this conversation and it was only now that I was starting to understand why he was scared and angry.

"Upon what assurance do you stand? It's like you have no idea how scary, dangerous, and deadly that man truly looks. When I went to the local casino with the sack of money, I saw a few other men, ten times the body size of the loan shark himself. They were seated around him on a wooden table. There were so many fumes, the smell of tobacco, and substances I couldn't even identify. Those men didn't even look like humans literally and you dared to approach such a man for what? Your reason is not even justifiable."

I swallowed hard. Tears were at the bridge of my eyes, ready to fall. Guilt crept in like poison and attacked me defenseless. I had done the worst thing.

"We've paid the money as a refund. This is the assurance I stand upon."

"YOU STILL DO NOT GET MY—"

"Okay. Okay. Don't yell at me. At least not when Cassandra is present. She's little and should not be hearing our loud voices."

Before he could utter another word or even complete the sentence I had interrupted him from finishing, I walked out of the room to fetch Cassie. When I found her in her room, playing with her toys, I heaved a little sigh of relief, thankful that she hadn't heard our argument.

But when my eyes came in contact with her cheerful and ever curious ones, my heart sank. The realization of what I done pelted on my mind like a stone. It was a deal. I had a deal with the loan shark. A fair one. And the loan shark seemed like a person who would only reveal his bad side if the other party did not keep to their part of the agreement.

But only now had I began to imagine what would have happened if Kelvin was unable to return the money. I had put my daughter out there to suffer whatever punishment the loan shark had in store for her to be subjected to and from the rumors, I had overheard, a few folks had made mention of slavery as the price that any human collateral agreed upon in a contract with the loan shark would have to pay.

Slavery was a million times worse than many people thought it was. Someone had once told me of mothers who had to watch their children get eaten by alligators and how bizarre the lynching of African-American slaves truly was.

I had heard of all these things and yet...

And yet...

I didn't mind. I never considered the possibility of things going downhill because, in actuality, it wasn't as though, we were financially buoyant. That my husband was able to pay all the money back was a miracle but yet, I dared to act as though, we had the means to pay back without having to toil or sweat.

I had blindly and comfortably sacrificed one child to please the other. I suddenly couldn't look at Cassie's eyes anymore. I was even more ashamed of the fact that it took Kelvin's immense anger for my eyes to be opened to the gravity of my acts. I couldn't realize it for myself.

I was a danger to myself and everyone around me and I lived in such an injurious ignorance every single day. A bloody disgrace I was.

I mustered up the tiny courage in me to look at Cassandra's face and that was because I already made my presence known and she was curious as to why.

"Here. This is five hundred Naira altogether. I need you to help me get to the mart at the end of the street to buy me a detergent. It shouldn't take you less than fifteen minutes. You don't have to worry about motorbikes or cars. The road is free. You can do this errand for me right?"