Henry Chukwuemeka Onyema is a Lagos- based historian, teacher and writer. Email: mazihenry007@ gmail.com
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A Good Man Becomes Bad
Detective-Superintendent James Sopuru was an honest cop and you. As you and I know, honesty is an abomination in Giberia, especially among our police. James had no truck with suspects and bent colleagues and superiors. Unsurprisingly, he suffered the consequences of his choices. Delayed promotions; postings to dangerous or extremely remote posts; at times, delayed entitlements, and threats from peeved underworld figures were all part of the unpleasant package.
James survived them all. He strived hard on his meagre salary to keep his family of a wife and two sons going. But his lady, Fidelia, was getting increasingly frustrated. She wanted the goodies her husband’s colleagues’ wives were enjoying. She was tired of her man’s jalopy, a secondhand Toyota Crown. For God’s sake, his mates, many who did not hold a candle to him, academically or professionally, were buying jeeps and even Lamborghinis from the sweet proceeds of corruption. But her fool of a husband would not budge on his principles, despite her nagging, entreaties, counsel and other devices, including silent treatment.
James was hurt. He loved Fidelia deeply. He wondered why she had changed when all through their lives together she had seen him live by the code of integrity. At night, doubt tore him apart. Was his wife scared that at thirty-seven, and he at forty-one, they were condemned to a life of hand-to-mouth, thanks to their inflation-ravaged salaries as a teacher and a policeman? Surely Fidelia and the boys did not come into a world different from that of their contemporaries. But could he live with himself if he resorted to unwholesome practices to make them happy?
Fidelia hit him hard on a sore spot. She locked up her legs, and nothing James said or did could make her unlock them.
"When you start acting like a man, you can come and collect a manís prize," she said coldly one harmattan night when konji nearly made her man cry.
James did not know what to do. Almost all his loved ones took sides with Fidelia. ‘‘My son, don’t expect your wife to be happy in hell when you refuse to take her to heaven," his mother advised.
Fidelia rubbed excruciating salt on his wounds by turning her back on all his romantic gestures on Valentine’s Day. Since our society says it is unmanly for a man to cry, James went to a bar, got drunk and slept there till early morning when he staggered home to prepare for work at Lagona City Division - A Central Police Station where he was a senior investigator in the Intelligence and Investigations Unit. Now the commander assigned him to a fraud case involving a female suspect called Blessing Ewena. He was to interrogate her.
At twenty-eight, Blessing was a chubby beauty with big, inviting eyes, flawless chocolate-brown complexion and legs that could make a seasoned pastor conclude that Genesis was the last book in the Bible. One of the reasons Chief Superintendent Olatunde, the Unit Commander, assigned him her interrogation was because of the detective’s track record. He had once built up an iron-clad case against a former Miss Giberia who had landed in the police net for her involvement in a vice ring perpetrated under the cover of hosting beauty pageants and related events.
Unfortunately, the iron was smashed and shattered when James’ report reached higher powers. The former queen was freed. Unverified but highly credible sources reported that the sinfully climbable valley between her ripe breasts, which James had refused to climb although she made it accessible to him, was happily mounted by his bosses. This in addition to generous bank alerts from her backers.
James sighed after studying the case file. He took a deep breath and for a fleeting moment wondered if he was up to the task as he studied Blessing’s photograph attached to the file. For a moment his mind weaved to the home-front. Fidelia filled his head. Damnit, he almost burst out aloud. You are a cop, the best interrogator in the Unit. Go and do your job, he chided himself silently.
He glanced again at Blessing’s picture. Lust tugged at the edge of his mind. With a brutal effort, he yanked off its hands. She does not come close to the really hot women I have interrogated in the past, he reminded himself. But that was when Fidelia willingly, even eagerly, made you forget their charms in her own accommodating charm at night, a naughty voice whispered in his left ear.
"Go to hell," he said firmly and headed for the interrogation room.
James sat opposite the suspect in the clean, functionally furnished Unit’s interrogation room. Some months ago he had insisted on having a new ceiling fan being installed and having the desk and chairs made reasonably comfortable. ‘‘It softens up the suspect psychologically," he had argued with his conservative bosses.
He personally unlocked Blessing’s handcuffs.
Arenít you taking a risk, Officer? Before that hulk outside comes to your rescue, I may take you down.íí The smile on her lips was impish. James smiled back.
"You will die first," he replied pleasantly. He offered her a cigarette from the packet he usually carried on him in the line of duty, although he did not smoke. Blessing declined.
Both of them faced each other across the desk. James resisted the urge to be taken in by her girl-next-door looks. Experience had taught him that underworld females with such aura were the most intelligent and, at times, utterly ruthless. But his eyes could not deny themselves a peek at her chest area. Her simple blue cotton dress only amplified the unconscious arrogant thrust of her breasts as she moved. They were not the textbook mountains the average Giberian male favoured, but they were good enough to feast on.
Damn! He swore noiselessly.
Blessing was impressed by his calm, clean-shaven, rugged face; his expressive night-black eyes; his trim build; his well-ironed clothes.
"Okay, Miss Ewena, shall we begin?"
Sure, Superintendent James."
It was a testimony to James’ self-discipline and training that only the flicker of his eyebrows showed his surprise. He wore or carried nothing to identify him. His I.D. was concealed in his inner jacket pocket and he had not shown it to her.
"Who told you my name?"
"Your reputation precedes you, Super. The officer, who cannot be seduced, bought or intimidated. Oh, yes, you are well known." Her warmth filled the room.
James breathed deeply. Deliberately ignoring the glow her words brought to his mind, he became professional again with an effort. For the next one hour and thirty minutes, he came at her from different angles, resorting to different tactics. When you would expect him to be cold and frosty he became friendly and patient. A lesser man would have been angered by Blessing’s parrying, but James was apparently unbothered. He knew he was facing a smooth operator. You do not become a major pivot in a fraud ring that netted in a cool twenty million dollars monthly without developing piano-wire nerves. He fought down the surges of his fertile imagination as he studied her during the question-and-answer session. This bitch was all woman, he concluded. A toughie endowed with all of Eve’s charms.
Finally he came to her side, sat on the desk beside her chair and looked into her eyes. Blessing gazed back calmly.
"Miss Ewena."
"Call me Blessing, please. We have been here for more than an hour, so cut the formality. I will call you James or is Jim okay?"
James could not help smiling. She smiled back. At that moment he wished she was not a criminal.
"Okay. But unless you answer my questions, informality will do you no good. You arenít being cooperative."
Blessing made no reply.
"We will go over it again."
"My answers will not change."
"Then my boys and girls will take over." His mild tone sharply contradicted the sudden gimlet quality in his eyes. Blessing knew he was not kidding.
"You dare not," she said softly. So softly that James knew she was frightened by the prospect of third-degree from the dreaded ëspecial squadí of the Unit.
"Besides, it is illegal. I can deny anything I say under duress."
"I am sure you can. But we will take our chances. So will you cooperate?"
Blessing looked at him directly.
"If I come clean, I wonít last the night here. You know that. The big boys I represent will not spare me."
James’ critical eyes saw nothing but unalloyed honesty in her eyes and words. An invisible fist hit him in the pit of the stomach. He was no stranger to the sleaze in the system; the deadly power of the big-time fraudsters who had friends in very high places. Suddenly an ugly thought crossed his mind: - was this a charade? Assigning Blessing’s interrogation to him as a smokescreen while the real thing went on?
Before he could gather his thoughts, Blessing stood up and put her hands on his shoulders. He never saw the kiss coming. He just felt her warm, moist lips on his, and to his shock, his mouth opened. He lifted his arms but sudden, strong desire paralysed his efforts to push her away. Instead he got to his feet and pulled her to him. She moaned in his mouth. His loins surged hungrily against her thighs. His hands began a journey of mercy towards her swollen breasts.
"Nooo!" He could not tell whether the scream was from his mouth or in his head, but it was enough to break the surge of passion between them.
Blessing remained still, her big eyes darkened by unspoken promise, her nipples straining against her dress.
"You are a bitch," said the detective coldly.
"I want it, James. I could see it in your eyes." The sultriness in her voice would have aroused an eunuch.
James gasped deeply. He was about to order her to sit down but Blessing quietly resumed her seat without being told. She held out her hands without demur for the handcuffs. When he finished locking them, she looked at him soulfully. The officer’s eyes were twin fires of hell in response. But she was not fazed.
"My life is in your hands, James. Help me and you get whatever you want."
James gave her a long, icy look, and then pressed the button under his desk to summon the guard.
He did not sleep a wink that night. Unlike before,. Fidelia’s open contempt did not touch him one bit. He ignored the mess she served him as supper and spent the whole night in the sitting-room in thought, a can of Star beer in his hand. By 3a.m. he made his decision.
His next meeting with Blessing was at 11a.m. This time, the interrogation took a different shape. Blessing saw the hardness in his eyes, obeyed his command to shut up and listened keenly as he outlined his plan in a low voice. He had not switched on the expertly concealed micro tape recorder he carried for recording the interrogation.
When she finished, Blessing’s eyes shone with admiration.
"You called me a bitch yesterday, James. You are a bastard, do you know?"
"I guess I am." James did not feel proud of himself as he uttered those words.
Blessing’s eyes softened.
"Why are you helping me, Superintendent? You could go to jail or worse."
James could not totally erase the bitterness from his voice when he replied after what seemed like ten years. He told her about Fidelia. To his amazement, Blessing s eyes radiated genuine compassion.
"So thatís why I am destroying all I have stood for all these years." His broad shoulders sagged and he suddenly looked ten years older as he slumped against his chair. A long silence filled the room. Then Blessing spoke abruptly.
"Please remove my handcuffs."
He looked up with a wry smile.
"Those who donít learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The cuffs stay on."
Blessing’s impish smile belied her words.
"I won't make love to you if that is what you are scared of. I just want to hug you. To thank you; to say sorry for your hurt; to show you I appreciate the staggering decision you have made." She meant every word and James knew that. He also knew he should not listen to her, but he realised he was too far gone. He unlocked her handcuffs. As soon as she stood up, he rammed his lips onto hers. Blessingís half-hearted struggle ceased as his blaze ignited hers. She raised her arms to enable him to quickly pull off her dress. The sex on the desk, then on the floor, was wild and furious. All through the gyrations they rammed their lips in each otherís mouths to avoid screaming or ecstatic moaning. But the tremors of passion, the volcanic thrusts, and the orgasmic explosions, could not be denied. The confluence that filled their beings afterwards was unutterable bliss.
Blessing smiled continually in her cell that night.
It was the most daring thing James had ever done in his life. But he successfully ensured Blessing’s escape from custody. He disappeared barely four hours after Blessing’s escape. By prearrangement, the lovers were reunited in Takoradi, Ghana, three days later. The chieftains of the fraud ring were delighted to get their point-woman back in good health as well as her helper, who gave details of police plans and procedures against their operations. A deep sigh escaped their lips collectively when they heard his story.
"We must be cursed on this continent," the boss of the gang said plaintively. "Otherwise how do we allow good men like this go bad?"
James could not believe his ears, but he kept quiet.
The boss gave him proof of a coded Cayman Islands account that had been opened for him with the sum of five million dollars. He also handed him a hefty cash sum of four million local Giberian currency. Seeing the cop’s skepticism, he called for the necessary equipment and satisfied the officer‘s fear about its genuineness. James was grateful. He opened his mouth but the boss beat him to it.
"Yes, Fidelia and the children." His eyes hardened.
"We will take care of them. In any way you want. But on two conditions."
"First - You don’t sell us out. Second, you don’t break Blessing’s heart. You see, she is a real blessing to us and we want her happy."
James paused. A pang of sorrow hit him as he realized his twelve years with Fidelia was over. But had it been a marriage towards the end? He sighed. He could blame Fidelia all he wanted, but truth b told, ‘breaking up is never easy’ as the great pop group, Abba, sang years ago. He looked up into the shining eyes of Blessing and smiled at the promise in them. The criminals clapped as they kissed.
