Salomon paused, as if to go on would be just too painful. He continued to rock back and forth, back and forth, the harsh sun overhead forcing the sweat to drip down his face, but he didn’t seem to notice.
The day she told him about James Floode, he had returned early from work. The madam didn’t need him for the rest of the day, so he went to his two-room tenement house and turned on the TV. Usually Koko was home from work earlier than he was, but today she didn’t return till after nightfall, and he had started to worry. He saw that something was wrong the moment she entered. She looked distracted, and she went into the bedroom without a word. When he followed her he found her lying in bed, her eyes closed. When he asked her what was wrong, and if they were not going to eat, she threw off the sheets and started raging at him. It was as if she had been waiting to do this for a very long time.
— You this man, why don’t you leave me alone? Don’t you know where the kitchen is? Or don’t you have hands?
— She had never behaved that way before, and I thought it was the pregnancy, so I said nothing. I just turned to go back to the living room, but then, as I turned, she made that sucking noise through her teeth and said, Mumu. I couldn’t believe my ears. I asked her, What did you call me?
— Mumu. Fool. Mugu. You heard me right. And I want to tell you, I am moving out tomorrow. No more marriage.
— Koko, have you been drinking? Is it me you are calling a fool?
— Yes. All this while I have just been pretending with you. And this pregnancy that you think is yours, it is not. It is the Oga’s pregnancy.
— I don’t understand.
— What is there to understand? Me and the Oga, we are in love. He is getting a divorce from his wife, and he is going to marry me. He will take me to London with him when his contract finishes.
Salomon didn’t know what happened; he said he saw himself standing over her, his fist raised. He must have hit her, but she didn’t cry, in fact her eyes were glowing with triumph, and she was still hissing at him. She said if he touched her again, he would not only lose his job, but she would make sure the Oga had him arrested. Slowly he lowered his hand. He went out to a nearby bar and he drank till closing time, and when he came back she wasn’t there — she had packed a bag and left.
— The next morning I decided to go meet the madam and tell her what had happened. She was very friendly, unlike the other oyinbo women I had worked with, who only shout orders at you. I remember, the day she arrived, I had picked her up from the airport, and she told me how tough it was getting through customs, and how they asked her to open all her bags, and how they had put their hands all over her things, including her underwear, a few of her things had been confiscated for further examination. She said to me in her soft English voice, I’m sure I’ll never see them again. Will I, do you think? She was like that when we drove around, asking questions, leaning forward in the back seat and talking to me.
— At the house I was told by the guards at the gate that Madam wasn’t at home, and I decided to check the European Club, even though it was I who always took her there. When I found her, she seemed very sad, and I knew she was dealing with the same problem as myself. But later, at my uncle’s motel, I realized she didn’t know it was Koko her husband was leaving her for.
He stopped his narration suddenly and stared past me at the sun that seemed to be hanging on the edge of the sky, all orange and red and purple, as if it were only a hand span away.
— Reporter—
— Call me Rufus.
— You know why I am telling you all this, Rufus? It is because some of us might not live to see another sunset like this one.
— Everything will be fine. You’re doing the right thing by talking to me.
— You must write it down exactly as I say, because I am the only one who knows everything that happened. I had a hand in the kidnapping, at first, but later I took care of her very well, otherwise. . she wouldn’t be alive right now.
— What happened after you left her at your uncle’s motel for the night?
— It is a long story. .
— I’m listening.
— I went back to my room, but I couldn’t rest. My mind was still worried. Later, when my neighbor Bassey came back, we sat down to drink and when he asked me where Koko was, I told him everything. When I left him, he went and told his friend Jamabo, a police officer, and it was Jamabo who came up with the kidnapping idea. Late that night they came knocking on my door. I listened as they laid out the plan. Jamabo said as a police officer he had seen many cases of kidnapping and it is like plucking money off a money tree — that was how he put it. And when I asked, What if we get caught? He said there was no danger of that: usually the police stay out of it, leaving the oil company to handle things its own way, which is what it prefers. But what of the woman? I said. She has done nothing wrong, will she be all right? Jamabo said nothing would happen to her. She would remain in the hotel room, we’d treat her well, and we’d let her go as soon as we had the money. It wouldn’t take more than two days in all. He said technically it wasn’t even kidnapping; I’d just be collecting payment for all the pain these people caused me, a refund for all my investment in Koko. And that was what convinced me. The Oga had insulted me badly, he’d taken away my pride, my dignity, my manhood, and all the time I was serving him honestly, diligently. I trusted him. And another point, the money wasn’t even coming out of his pocket: the oil company always pays the ransom, and Bassey said that if you thought about it carefully, you’d realize that the money came from our oil, so we would be getting back what was ours in the first place. Well, I started to really think. This was the chance of a lifetime. And, like Jamabo said, it wasn’t a real kidnapping. So we all agreed. We were going to ask for one million dollars. Over three hundred thousand each. We would be rich. With that kind of money I could get out of the country and no one would ever find me.
And so, their plan carefully prepared, the three went to the motel early the next morning. Isabel looked surprised to see not just Salomon but also two other men with him, one carrying a duffel bag, but she let them in and turned to Salomon for explanation. Salomon just stood there, unable to speak, unable to look her directly in the eye. But when Bassey pushed him aside impatiently to face her, Salomon found his voice.
— I will tell her.
He took her into the next room and told her the two men outside would stay with her until her husband paid ransom for her. He said if her husband cooperated, she would be free in a day or two. Slowly she sat down on the bed, shaking her head.
— No, Salomon, you’re doing the wrong thing. Listen, they’ll catch you and you’ll go to prison — do you want that? I know you’re doing this because of your fiancée, but this is wrong.
He turned and left the room, locking the door behind him, but Jamabo went in again and inspected the windows, making sure they were all firmly secured. The men stayed in the living room all day, playing cards, and when night finally fell, Salomon checked on her once more to make sure she was okay — there was a fridge in the bedroom, with water and fruit and bread in it — and then he left. However, a big shock awaited him when he got home and turned on the TV.
— The first thing I saw on the screen was the madam’s face, she was missing, and then my own face, the last person she was seen with when leaving the European Club in her car. And I remembered I had left the car at the motel, and I began to worry. What if somebody stumbled upon it, my uncle or one of his workers?