I See Fire

40 | Cabin in the Woods

"Where is he?" The leader of the squad marches into the forest to check without waiting for them to follow him.

"We don't know sir."

"He must've jumped out when we went to eat."

Which was an hour ago. They'd eaten massively and drunk themselves to a stupor in celebration for getting rewarded half a million soon. They'd forgotten he was still alive, just injured.

"I don't care!" He barks at his men "Spread out and find him.

They each turn on their torches and begin to dive deeper into the forest. Grass continued to get squished under mighty boots of greedy men who couldn't care less about finding him living or dead.

The cold chill of the night made them shiver in their black short sleeved, cotton uniforms as an owl hooted right above a tree that was so tall. A swift movement caught an officers eye but he wasn't sure he saw anything or was imagining things so he moved forward with his peers.

The clocks ticked forward as the night got darker the further they went away from civilization. There were no lights except lights from their torches.

They notice a flicker of light from a small square in the distance and one of the officers shouts "look". The men join him hurriedly and  tip toed out of the forest to the small mud house.

Two men went to the window where the light came from and their leader with another officer to the door. They watched a man put a wet clothe on Farouk's forehead. He was old and the boy was immobile so they felt they had a chance.

They signaled to those at the door to knock and before they could say anything a smoke filled the house, reaching out to them and soon, their eyes closed.

One by one, they woke up in the house tied together in two's with a tight rope to one of the others sleeves. All fell to his mercy in fear as they began to beg except the leader who sighed, shaking his head.

He looked at old man sitting on a chair and greeted him.

"You must be the smartest." The old man compliments, pointing at their leader "I shall speak to you alone."

"Thank you." The leader said "I'm officer Dauda by name. We're on the search for a criminal."

"You call yourself an officer and you tried to break into my home."

"It wasn't our intention."

"I saw you before you came. You tried to examine the terrain."

"We were only being cautious."

"Tell me who you're looking for. You can go once I understand what is happening here."

"The boy you're taking care of is a criminal." His eyes flicker between man and boy "... who has stolen from his father and we've been asked to bring him back so he can face consequences."

"Is that so?" The old man scratched his bald head and adjusted his bleached out shirt, looking at the mans face for any sign of lies.

"Yes." He smiles a bit "I didn't get your name before."

"Just call me papa."

"Ok papa. Will you let us go now?" he asked, getting excited.

"I have to verify first." Papa states slowly.

"O...k." Officer Dauda watches the man.

Papa walks to the bed and touches Farouk's forehead and removes his hand instantly "He's having a fever."

"We'll help him in Abuja."

"I'll only give him to you once I heal him."

"What are you helping him?"

"Everyone deserves a second chance."

"But they give us the chance to prove them wrong a second time."

Papa hisses, shaking his head as he squeezes the same clothe they watched him put on his head before, repeat the process a couple of times before opening some small pots in the corner of the room and pours some of the contents into a cup which he feeds to Farouk.

He drops the cup and touches Farouk's chest and nods proudly as if he just successfully performed a brain surgery. Farouk opens his eyes almost immediately, coughing.

Papa goes back to sit on his seat with crosses legs, looking at Farouk as he says "Did you steal from your father?"

Farouk doesn't notice the policemen at first when he answers "Yes." But he'd already said it as soon as he regretted its escape.

"They're here for you unfortunately my boy."

"Please don't let them take me." Farouk pleads as Papa untied their hands, each standing up and closing in on the bed.

"My intuition is great but it failed me with you."

"I'm actually a good person!"

As soon as Papa untied them all, they charged for the bed with their cuffs. One was used for his two hands and the other, for his feet.

The struggle isn't for long. Papa feels bad but also believes in justice so he allows them to take his guest away. He gives them a parting gift that they throw in the middle of the forest.

Farouk sleeps for all of the ride to Abuja. He still felt a bit woozy but mostly agitated and distressed.

He wasn't thinking properly but he knew something terribly wrong has happened. He couldn't remember anything and he couldn't help it to be ok with that.

He felt a loss and he knew who it was but suddenly it was a missing part of him but he wasn't about to remember how it happened.

In the evening he's driven to a police station where he's kept in a dirty cell alone. He was neither spoken to or fed. They awaited a response from his father who was unfortunately not in Abuja.

"You're not going home till you've learnt your lesson." A policeman stands by the gate, holding the bars.

He's tired at first but suddenly he gets up quickly and rushes to the man "Please help me." He whispers "I have small change that I know will not help me in this place."

The man looks behind him and sees his colleagues talking at the entrance so he squeezes closer to the gate, so much it's crushing his chest.

"What do you want?"

"Please call my father and give me the phone."

The man wastes a little time pretending to think before taking out his Nokia torchlight and slips it into Farouk's sweaty palms.

The man walks away in fear, forgetting to give him rules on time to return the device or how many calls he could make.

Only two dials before Alhaji Abdullah answered gruffly "Who's this?"

He closes his eyes as embarrassment washes over him when he speaks "Daddy, it's Farouk."

He hears the disgusted grunt in the background and he wonders what his father meant by that.

"Just..." he pauses "... this conversation is for when I get back to Abuja."

Farouk blinked. His father, Alhaji Abdullah hung up on him. Who was to he to blame though? He stole—that wasn't an offense taken lightly anywhere especially since it's money.

Counting once, counting twice and even three times but he didn't feel anything for his fathers words.

The man returns for his phone later and with it, he took the last of Farouk's money he was to use to for fuel that day he and Aisha were trying to leave Keffi.

He was guilty, yes but Aisha left a gaping hole bleeding out his life source so nothing could ever mean anything to him as much as her.

Walking as a zombie, moving barely with less life everyday but he continues to miss her and her very last breath.
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-Aisha SafiyanuXO💚