Mr Alagbaye stood there, lost in thought as a huge man in tattered shirt and soiled pants barked at him. He was not sure what made the man so angry or what even made him step out of his crooked bus too but he knew for certain that he was in the wrong. His entire consciousness was focused on what he would do to get his money from Idris. The huge man eventually communicated a blow to his cheeks and it drifted him back to this reality plane - one where pain was a common factor - as he squeaked in pain.

The man would have continued the fist strikes if some other drivers had not intervened immediately. Mr Alagbaye simply got up and walked to his bus. Apparently, the poor driver had grazed the side of the huge man's bus while lost in his thought. As Mr Alagbaye slammed the door of the crooked bus, he vowed he was going to make Idris redeem his money - be it by reason or brute force. The former which had already proved futile. If only Mr Alagbaye knew what Idris had in store for him, he would take his life into consideration. The driver snapped out of his thoughts again and noticed the bus before him had not moved an inch. Out of rage, he blared his horn continuously and noisily. Just then, someone flung open the passenger's seat of his bus and stepped in.

Meanwhile, Idris had laid out his plan with Sunny. While Mr Alagbaye would be taking his usual route to return home after the day's work, he would surely get stuck in the compulsory traffic that holds close to the market everyday. That would be their opportunity. Idris himself was no rookie when it came to taking lives. He had taken five of them himself, both for money and otherwise but he preferred letting others get their fingers soiled. Therefore, as he sat far off and watched Sunny slither through the traffic, he celebrated inwardly for winning another witty game of life. All Sunny would do was get into Mr Alagbaye's bus and ask for a free ride after promising to catch up with an errand later. However, before they could go far, he will stab the old, poor driver and leave him to bleed out and die, right there in the traffic. It was as simple as that, in and out.

Idris sat there in the dust, distanced from the traffic and getting impatient. Sunny should be coming out with a bloodied knife and a devilish smile to indicated that the job was well executed. However, there was no sign of him and as Idris stretched his neck to gather what little information he could with his eyes, he noticed there was commotion in the traffic. Could it be that someone has seen Mr Alagbaye's dead body? But then, Sunny should be there to give him the good news. He decided to go into the traffic and see for himself and if the job hadn't been done, he would do it himself. Afterall, if you want something done perfectly, do it yourself.

On getting to Mr Alagbaye's bus, Idris realised the man was still seated in his crooked bus, looking tensed. The back door which was always left ajar was also closed but Idris' desperation to end the man's life deprived him of his ability to suspect foul play. So as he walked towards the bus, he gripped his penknife tightly - a weapon he always went around with in the event that he encounters a problem that needed immediate solution - and though he had taken lives before, he never really got used to it. His breathing became slow and heavy as he approached the bus but he had already made up his mind. He'd make it quick to spare the poor driver the pain and agony.

However, the moment he flung the door open and hopped into the bus, mighty hands from the back caught his neck with a tight, little towel and strangled him. He threw a tantrum immediately and continuously plunged his knife backwards in an attempt to kill his attacker, fighting with all the strength in his body and refusing to die. Mr Alagbaye in his terrified state, knew that he had to do something or else, Idris would eventually overpower his attacker and kill them both so he reached under his sit and pulled out a fat short stick with which he slammed into Idris' temple. The blow stole the young man's consciousness with sharp effect. However, his strangler wasn't done as he wrapped the towel more around his wrist and twisted it hard as Idris' neck snapped faintly. His head relaxed.

Mr Alagbaye flashed his eyes in shock as if to say it was no longer necessary but the man at the back told him to drive if he didn't want to get caught. That was when the poor driver noticed the traffic before him had been dispersed and the cars behind blared noisily. After a long drive of forty five minutes, Mr Alagbaye's bus screeched to a halt in front of a little bungalow that had an uncompleted building behind it which was surrounded by overgrown grass. The man at the back opened the door, jumped out and carried Idris' corpse with him. When he got to the door of the bungalow, he knocked thrice in a rhythmic pattern. Someone opened the door and took the body from Idris' killer as he whispered a few words and walked back to Mr Alagbaye who waited in the bus.

“ So when I go see my money”, Mr Alagbaye asked

“ The ritual go take one week”, Sunny replied.

#Fiction