Consequences

Chapter 3

The images were blurry, and I couldn't make out the two figures that were arguing with each other. But I definitely knew it was a man and a woman. The argument between them was so intense. I could only hear the man tell the woman 'No' repeatedly. What were they arguing about?

Soon though, I heard a gunshot. The man fell to the floor clutching a bag. The woman quickly dropped the gun beside the man and left.

Then a sudden knock on my room door woke me up. It was past 1 am. The knock interrupted my dreams. I used the sheets to cover my head and prayed silently.
Who could come knocking on my door at this hour, and what did they want?

I kept still, while silently praying to God to protect me, from whoever it was that was knocking. After a few minutes of tirelessly knocking, whoever it was stopped knocking and left. I got out of  the bed and went to the window and looked outside.

It was dark outside and the front gate was closed; presumably locked. This was comforting. But that knock got me agitated and worried. What was going on in the hotel, and why did someone see it fit to knock on my door at that hour? I went back to bed and waited till morning.

When morning came I took my shower and then dressed up and went down to the reception. It was close to 9 am. As I was walking down the stairs I heard Nneka the receptionist, talking over the phone and stopped.

"Ha, baby, come see wetin I dey see for work." She was talking to someone, who probably was a friend.

"As he see am naim he give am name o. He say she be Sunshine. Baby, you dey feel me? I weak when he call am dat name o."

Sunshine. It was already garnering hatred for me. I listened as the receptionist kept talking.

"Eeh? Me wey I complete both for chest and back. Wetin she get past me, she wey be JJC for dis hotel? Abi she wan chance me?" The receptionist kept on talking for a few more minutes before she hang up.

I slowly walked down the steps and when she saw me, she smiled.

"Good morning madame, how was your night, did you sleep well?"  I looked curiously at her, thinking at how she could possibly change from being hostile to being kind in a matter of seconds.

"Did anything happen last night?" To this, she looked away, pretending to be busy. When she turned and faced me again, she had that smear look on her face.

"It was as if somebody knocked on my door."
"Ah, madame, nothing happened. In fact, it seems strange that somebody should knock on your door at that hour."

Just then, the front door of the hotel opened, and the manager came in. Seeing me, he smiled.

"Sunshine, how are you this morning?"
"I'm okay, Sir."

"I can see that myself, that's good. So that means we are taking good care of you?" I smiled at him as he asked that question. I didn't reply immediately and thought it would be a good idea, to make him know what the receptionist had said.

"I'm okay, except, I'm having a little competition so early." I replied, moving my head to indicate who the competition was.
"Nneka? So you are giving problem to the sunlight, the original sunlight that is shining in this hotel?" Nneka didn't say anything, but just looked on.

"Sorry, my dear, please forgive her. I will deal with her myself."
" That's alright." I left them and went up, but as I was going, I heard them talking.
"Nneka, don't drive my customers away by treating them bad."
"Oga Chuks I just dey respect you o."
"Nneka, what are you talking about?"
"So you look me finish dey call another woman Sunshine for my present?"
"This hotel is mine, so I can do whatever I like. And besides you are working for me so face your work, is that clear?"
"Okay, sha, I don't hear."
"I hope it is clear?" There was a brief silence before Nneka started talking again.
"Forget, now be your fault sha, na condition make crayfish bend."
"And just what do you mean by that?" The receptionist kept quiet and didn't say a word.

"Now, this is a very serious warning I am giving you. The next time you treat my customers like that, I will sack you."

I can imagine how she must have felt hearing those words. I slowly walked up to my room and was about to open the door, when I heard the receptionist say something that shocked me.

"Na so some people come carry dat other woman, wetin be her name sef, Kemi, commot go kill am..."
"And how do you know Kemi was killed, and can you prove that she was actually killed?"
"Nooo, me I don't know anything o. I dey my own, jeje."
"But you just said she was killed."  The receptionist kept quiet again.
"You dis girl, one day na your mouth go kill you. Come on, get back to work before I get very, very angry with you."

I quietly opened the door of my room and went in and closed it. The name Kemi came to my mind again. Could it be Kemi my friend, she was referring to? If it was so, then perhaps my stopping at this hotel to relax myself before leaving Lagos wasn't a coincidence.

This hotel may probably have the answer to whatever it was that really happened. I sat down on the bed and started thinking of the events of the past twenty-four hours. Deep in thought, I hardly heard the knock on my door.

"Sunshine?" It was Chuks the hotel manager. Now what does he want again? I asked myself, reluctantly getting up from my bed. I opened the door a little without allowing him in.

"Sunshine, sorry to disturb you, have you eaten?" I stared in amazement at him and the attention he was giving me. It was quite unlike anything I had ever seen.

"No, I haven't." I replied
"Well, get ready and come downstairs, and let's have breakfast."
"Okay." I closed the door quickly and started putting my things in order, and kept the bag with the money under the bed. I then went to check the window to see if it was locked. As I stood by the window and looked down, I felt a sudden urge to leave the hotel immediately.

This was quite strange as I had wanted to fully relax myself before deciding on a destination to go to. The thought bothered me so much, I left the window. But just as I was about to turn and leave the window, I was attracted to a car entering the gate of the hotel.

It was a dark blue Toyota Corolla with the words Police written on the bonnet and on the side doors. As the car crossed the gate and stopped, four men in mufti dresses came down.

The moment I saw them come down, I stepped aside and used the curtains to cover the window. I then peeped from a corner of the window by using my hand to open a small part of the curtain.

They were looking around the parking lot, looking at the cars that were parked. As they approached my SUV, they stopped. I could see them talking to each other, nodding and smiling. My heart was beating fast as I didn't know what they were talking about.

Then I heard another knock on my door again that startled me. I quickly moved away from the window and adjusted myself.

"I'm coming Oga Chucks." I took one look at the room to see if I had kept everything in order. Taking my purse I went to the door and opened only to see that it was Nneka, the receptionist.