The Silence Within

Chapter 3

They ran their curious eyes over them with an irritated look. The lady radiated wealth. From the way she sat, to the way she talked and moved her body, she was someone who knew nothing but money. Her English sounded so different with an accent that was a mixture of Nigerian and something else. She had a flawless skin, the type that had been pampered by lots of expensive treatments but at the moment, the pampered skin had fingernails mark, the aftermath of a brawl with the older woman beside her.

Her feminine perfume, a mixture of flowers, wafted across the air of the stuffy police station. There was something he disliked about her. The arrogance she displayed and sharpness of her tongue. It showed she was disrespectful. He won't blame her. She seemed to be from a very affluent home. Most of those children are spoilt and disrespectful. He crunched his flat nose in disgust. He hated them. They knew nothing about poverty or what it means not to have something and she was a perfect example. Fola sighed hard as he watched the young lady shout at the inspector whose fury was evident on his face.

He shifted his gaze to the older woman with a swollen eye. The poor woman had messed with the wrong lady. The woman winced each time she kept the iced water on the black eye. The spoilt brat had hit her hard on the face when the woman hit her.

"She be ajebo" Fola said to his partner, Daniel, as he accessed the young lady who had caused nothing but nuisance in the police station for the past few minutes she had been there.

"But hin be like say she dey sharp. She no be mumu" Daniel replied as he wrote on the paper he had laid out in front of him.

"See how she dey shout for oga. She clean sha. The babe fine. She dey rich"

"Na slay mama na" His eyes lingered on her. She wore high waist denim shorts and white off shoulder. Her white sneakers, hair and makeup justified his thinking "See how she dey now and the man" the second constable nodded his head with pity at the man. "How woman go beat old woman so te hin give am black eye?"

"Young lady!" The inspector shouted authoritatively unable to hold in his anger.

"Lola!" she corrected ferociously. "My name is Lola! Aralola!"

"Do I look like I care? Be careful of what you spew because I won't hesitate to put you behind bars" he threatened.

"Behind bars?" she sneered with an arrogant look. A smirk painted her face with an evil glint in her eyes "You should be the careful one. Lay a hand on me and you will lose your job as a policeman" her voice grew calm.

"Please, put her behind bars! Look at what she had done to me. She hit me!" The woman shouted, pleadingly.

"Will you shut up?" Lola barked. "Look at me. I am also a mess" She pointed at her look. Her hair had become a tangle mess. There was fingernails mark on her neck and her makeup was anything near perfect because of sweat.

"This is my final warning to you, young lady" the inspector warned.

The inspector was a stout man with a belly bigger than that of a nine month old pregnant woman. He had little tribal marks on his cheeks and in an unkempt uniform.

"Hold back your warning. It is doing nothing but just adding to my fury. I want her behind bars!" she shouted frustrated. "She hit my baby and I with her filthy car. She beat me with her filthy hands. Look at me! I am a mess"

"Will you stop shouting?" the woman next to her shouted. She flinched at the sudden pain that shot through her when she shouted. "You are giving me a headache!"

"The black eye is not enough. You want the left eye to be the same right?"

Over the past few minutes they had been in the police station, there had been nothing but argument and nuisance. The two defendants had done nothing but shout and argue. The inspector had tried calming them down but nothing lessened the rage and resentment they had against one another.