For three weeks, the routine they'd figured out, worked smoothly. Jim would come back from the hospital at 4:30 or 5:00pm to take over caring for the kids, by this time, Mercy would have finished cooking dinner, then depending on her timetable, she would leave immediately Jim walked in or twenty minutes later. It was a smooth operation and Mercy was glad that Jim's kids were to some degree, self-sufficient, it made the job easier. Jim had even figured out time for Mercy to visit her mom, on one Saturday in two weeks, her mother was delighted with this arrangement.
It was a Tuesday in the fourth week of her stay in Jim's house, she was in the third pavilion, casually called 'Pav 3' in the University of Calabar campus. Mercy's wristwatch read 7:45pm and their second lecturer for the evening was yet to arrive.
The noise that permeated the building was deafening, everybody seemed to be having a conversation which generally sounded like a drone. Once in a while, some one's voice would rise higher than the noise but only in exclamation or hysterical laughter. Mercy wondered how noisy the pavilion got during the day when more students were present, probably a roar, she silently decided.
The pavilion was a very large hall with a small stage usually and constantly used for lectures, especially the 'GSS' courses, meaning general courses that are compulsory for all students and courses that involved more than one department...a vocational course, Mercy was having one of those.
The pavilion was also known for instigating struggles among the students, everybody wanted a front row seat, though to get the second or third row was still acceptable, from the fourth row backwards was mostly regarded as not having attended that lecture because hearing the lecturer from that point was difficult. The public address systems sometimes used were never good ones, the lecturers voice came out blurry.
Mercy had rushed to the pavilion after her first lecture and had secured a space in the third row of benches directly facing the stage. The few, men and women, who were lucky to get seats in the first three rows also took it upon themselves to occupy the benches with books, bags or folders, claiming that their friends who were, actually, yet to arrive had arrived but left to do something vague, therefore the books, bags or folder on that space. It was an annoying practice among the students and sometimes it caused violent ruckuses but, in such situations, Mercy would quietly go for the nearest empty space.
Mercy became bored with waiting and with the boredom came a slight feeling of uneasiness. She couldn't understand why she was getting the uneasy feeling, but it grew gradually till she became pressed. Maybe it wasn't really uneasiness, she thought to herself, she just had to find a way and a place to ease her bladder.
Mercy turned to her friend who was in deep conversation with another colleague, "Iseone," she called with a small tap on her shoulder.
"Yes?" Iseone answered immediately and faced Mercy with a smile.
"Could you watch my seat for a minute, I have to go pee," Mercy asked with an apologetic smile and at the same time fishing for a piece of tissue from her purse.
"No problem, but hurry back," she replied. Mercy nodded gratefully and quickened her movements.
"Thanks."
The slim moon outside the pavilion was lovely and the air was cool on Mercy's skin, it felt refreshing compared to the air inside the pavilion; it probably wasn't air anymore, Mercy thought with a shudder of disgust, with all those bodies in there, exchanging carbon dioxide mingled with body odour and different fragrances, she took another deep breath of the cool fresh air.
Mercy had to decide, quickly, where to ease her full bladder, the ideal place would have been the pavilion's toilet but at this time of the night it would be locked. Students could be unsavory at times with the toilets, so the janitors kept it locked when they closed from work, even pavilion three was also supposed to be locked but the class representatives with a note from the Dean of studies got permission for the late use of the place, Mercy decided the easiest thing to do was to use the bushes behind the pavilion.
Moving left from the single entrance of the pavilion, she walked along the lengthy wall of the huge hall and branched left, almost pulling down her pants trousers, she realized that the bush there would still expose her naked arse as she handled her business, so she moved deeper, went left again, this time she was really behind the building and the bushes here were higher and the place stank of stale urine, she hadn't been the only one with the idea of urinating here.
Just as she was about to pull her panties, she noticed three retreating figures on her left, she hoped they hadn't noticed her, though if they had, Mercy thought wryly, she wouldn't have been able to hold in the urine anymore. She cleaned up herself and as she was arranging her clothing, she glanced at the three figures again, they hadn't retreated very far, they stood by the pavilion's back gate which was permanently locked and the fluorescent light from the pavilion reflected on them, but their faces remained shadowed.
Mercy realized there was a woman among the three silhouettes and her figure nagged her memory, but she couldn't recall the face that went with that peculiar figure. She waited a minute more, not minding the suffocating urine stench, she tried to stimulate her memory by staring fixedly at the female's figure but still couldn't remember, it was as if that particular memory was shrouded in darkness. The uneasiness which had been surpassed by the need for a perfect cover to urinate, came back forcefully.
Finally, the stench of the urine and the chest tightening uneasiness drove Mercy from the back of the pavilion. She couldn't explain the surging uneasiness she was feeling, so instead of going back to her seat when she re-entered the pavilion, she transverse the hall, weaving through the bodies of fellow students and climbing over desks to get to the permanently locked pavilion's back gate.
The mysterious three were still there, they all had on baseball caps, so their faces were still shadowed from where Mercy stood slightly above them. As less obtrusive as possible, she leaned casually on the last rod of the gate, managing to stay hidden by the wall. Mercy felt instantly stupid as she stood there, what did she think she was doing, she silently asked herself. If someone were to ask her why she was standing there, what would be her answer?
The noise from the pavilion increased, it whirled about her like the turmoil she was having with her thoughts. As she was just about to give up her ridiculous pursuit, she heard a snatch of their conversation, the female had raised her voice in anger, it wasn't a voice she recognized, Mercy's interest was fueled, still.
"Do you think this is a joke? I've waited for years for this!" the female voice snapped angrily. Waited for what, Mercy thought as she strained to listen for more information to make sense of the situation.
"I'm just saying, what if the man suddenly changes his routine?" a deeper voice replied, equally angry.
"Besides, I might be occupied next tomorrow," another male voice added. Mercy pondered silently on their conversation, their voices had decreased again, she couldn't really get what they were saying, until another angry explosion from one of the guys.
"How long have you trailed this guy? You can't be telling us how to do our job." a male voice exploded angrily again.
"Like I said before, Jim Craig doesn't change his routine!" the lady screamed. Mercy's heart stopped when she heard Jim's name, it couldn't be, it could be another Jim Craig, she thought hopefully, but if not, what did these nefarious beings want with Jim?
The answer came in another explosive anger from the guy. "The cost for renting a gun with scope and silencer is very high lady, we are being charged by the hour, so if we are going to do this, it has to be tomorrow and that's final," he exclaimed.
A gun? Mercy thought fearfully, with scope and silencer. She'd watched many movies and knew what scopes and silencers were used for. What did Jim do to this people, or particularly, this woman? Could she have been responsible for his wife's death? Mercy's mind was reeling from the shock of discovering a plan to kill her boss. What was she to do? She didn't even know the people responsible for...another outburst interrupted her thoughts.
"The bank's building is better!" a male voice exclaimed forcefully.
"The bank's doors closes on the dot of four and by then the building is cleared of all customers. You stupid man, how do you want to pass through the electronic doors of the bank with a gun?"
" We'll pay someone or threaten them, if need be," was the confident reply.
"Don't you use your heads?" the female voice screamed angrily, "Too many witnesses, but the church beside it opens by three-thirty for evening services, the pastor's office is upstairs, but he doesn't get there until four-thirty. Listen to me, Craig will leave his office either on the dot of four or a few minutes after, you need to be there before four pm, set up and wait. Get a head shot and be out during the pandemonium," she concluded her angry directive.
"Where is our money?"
Mercy didn't hear the reply for that question, but the last thing she heard before her lecturer walked into the pavilion, causing a sudden hush in the noise level, was, "If you fail me, I know where you live," the female voice said in a very steely tone, it sent a shiver down Mercy's spine. Who was she to Jim? What had Jim done to deserve death? Where his kids in danger? Could she go to the police, or should she tell Jim herself? How would she describe her chanced encounter with the killers because of an uneasy feeling she had developed after easing her bladder? Was this why she'd been uneasy, was this providence? Mercy did not hear anything her lecture said, she didn't take any notes, her hands were shaking violently, from disbelief, fear and indecision.
To Be Continued
By Emem Bassey