BANKS, COPS AND ROBBERS 4

Hello!

It's been quite a while. I'm really sorry for the long hiatus. Between work and my laziness when it comes to writing (Lol), I haven't been able to write much for a while.
Special apologies to Ms Collette who has made me feel like I'm writing something actually worth reading.

This is the fourth installment of Banks, Cops and Robbers; a short story which I hope will eventually be one in a collection of short stories.

If you haven't been following, I have put all the previous parts together here:
http://bit.ly/1pLG9A9

For those who have been following, you'll notice a change to the format of the story. I fell in love with George R.R Martin's Point of View (POV) characterization in his "A Song of Ice and Fire" books and I have attempted to employ the same method here. Unlike GRRM who named each chapter after the POV character, I have headlined each character's POV with a phrase which I believe appropriately captures what that particular segment of the story is about. While this is the first post with headlined POV's, I have integrated it into previous installments which have been put together at the link provided above.

Hopefully, the complete work will be up on Okada Books soon. You can get the Okada Books App on the Google Play Store or visit www.okadabooks.com

So please, read, enjoy leave comments and share with your friends

Send me an email at jamesikuku@gmail.com or follow me onTwitter @jamesikuku

And don't forget, Warri no dey carry last!



BANKS, COPS AND ROBBERS 4

***ON THE FLOOR EVERY ONE! THIS IS A ROBBERY!!! ***

Johnny stepped over the pile of rubble that was the door of the branch into the banking hall. Everyone in the hall were already lying face down with their hands over their head. This was going to be an easy one.

Dare had been to the bank the day before to get a layout of the place. The branch manager’s office was the last door on the left. Johnny made straight for it.

Emeka had already pressed the emergency panic button which was linked to an alarm in the closest Police Station located about four kilometers away from the branch when the young man with the automatic rifle walked into his office. He had heard the explosion and knew they had gotten into the branch by using some sort of explosive. Now he could hear a female voice issuing instructions to the staff and customers in the banking hall.

“….lie on the floor with your hands behind your head. Do not look up and keep your mouths shut…”

“…key to the vault…” It took Emeka a few seconds to realize that the man in his office was talking to him.

He was in a daze. He wasn’t really afraid even. All he could think about was how this was going to affect his career. He was thinking of the suspicions of him being an accomplice, the investigations, the psychological torture and uncertainty of the next few months of his life.

“Where is the key to the vault?” the young man asked again. “It’s in the upper drawer of my desk”, Emeka answered.

“Toss it to me”. Emeka did as he was asked and the young man snatched the key from the air.

“We know you’ve contacted the police”, he said with a smile on his way out of the office, “But don’t worry. We’ll be gone long before they get here”. “And please remain in your office, if you’d be so kind”, he added.


***NO HEROES HERE TODAY MA’AM***

John Akporoghene saw the man who had gone into the manager’s office walk out. He signaled to the lady who was with them and she joined him as they both headed towards what John guessed was the vault. About three minutes later, another explosion rocked the building. Somebody screamed in the banking hall and the man who stood sentry over repeated the warning to keep their mouths shut.

John realized his hands were shaking. He hadn't seen the robbers harm anybody yet, but from the gunshots he had heard when he was in the manager’s office, he was sure they had most likely killed a few people. He tried to calm his thoughts but the fear he felt was making that impossible. And the day had been going so well. And then out of nowhere comes this madness.

After what seemed like an eternity, John heard the man and the lady who had gone to the vault returning. He tried looking up without raising his head and saw that they were both dragging a couple of black bags; kind of like the type you took out trash in. She had four and he had five. They both had their weapons slung across their backs.

He quickly looked down when the woman started to look his way. He wasn't planning on getting shot in a robbery. It wasn't on his list of things to do before he turned forty.  The man headed for the door while the lady stopped just beside John. For a moment, he thought she had seen him looking at them but she just looked around the room and then headed for the door. She stopped at the door and said, “I hope no one plans on being a hero here today? If any one does, I have just the thing for them”. She laughed as if to a private joke only her understood and continued, “It was nice doing business with you ladies and gentlemen. Have a nice day and please do not move for the next thirty minutes. I’m sure by then the cops will be here”.

A few moments later John heard three piercing whistles. He guessed it was some kind of signal. A while after that, he heard more shots being fired and the sound of tires spinning on gravel. It occurred to him that he still had not heard any sirens but then it had been barely fifteen minutes from when he heard the first shots go off.

***BACKUP? ***

Andrew Okulobia was panting so hard he thought his heart was going to burst. There had been more gunshots after he had vaulted over the rear fence of the branch followed a while later by an explosion. As he ran, he saw other people running for cover too all around the branch.

The Police Station was four kilometers away and he had to get there very quickly. He was sure the branch manager had activated the silent alarm in his office already, but it wouldn't do to have his people come into a dangerous situation blindly. He had an idea of the number of people involved and what type of weapons they had and he had to get that information to his colleagues as soon as possible.

He looked around and saw a man trying to start up a motorcycle.

“Sir, I need you to take me to the Police Station right now”, he said walking up to the man.

“Ok”, the man said. Andrew could see it in his eyes. The fear and the fact that he wanted to get as far away from the gunshots as possible. He knew the only reason the man had agreed was because of his uniform.

Four minutes later, they were at the Station.

Andrew was surprised to see that all the vehicles were still parked and he didn’t see any squad preparing for an operation. Maybe the branch manager had not been able to activate the silent alarm.

He headed straight for the Divisional Head’s office and was even more surprised to see he was having lunch. He was having his usual pounded yam and vegetable soup with bush meat.

“Ah! Andrew!” he bellowed as Andrew stepped into the office, “Come chop” (Please join me).

“Thank you sir”, Andrew answered.

Divisional Police Officer Akoji Abutu was six feet five inches tall and built like an NFL Quarterback.  One look at him and you could tell he had been an athlete when he was younger but he had let himself go over the years. He now had a gut that folded over his belt whenever he had to tuck his shirt into his trousers. He was almost always eating and his capacity for beer and Nkwobi consumption was legendary.

Add to his size a voice that would put any parade ground sergeant to shame and you had one very intimidating, larger than life personality. On some days, his voice could be heard all around the office complex when he was screaming at an officer who had done something wrong or laughing at a joke someone told (most of the time though, he was laughing at his own jokes but none of the officers had ever worked up the nerve to tell him that they were not particularly funny).

“Are you not supposed to be on duty at the bank? What are you doing back here?” he asked Andrew.

Andrew quickly told him what had happened and asked if the silent alarm at the branch had been activated. By the time Andrew finished, Akoji had pushed his food aside and washed his hands.

When Andrew asked about the silent alarm, he slowly sat up in his chair and leaned forward with his elbows on his desk.

“Andrew, you know say e get something wen I dey always tell you for this Station”, he began (Andrew, you know there’s something I always say to you). “You suppose don know how things be for this country but you go wan dey form champion every time” (You should know how things are in this country, yet you always insist on being a hero).

Andrew could not believe what he was hearing. He had always been a lone figure in the fight for truth and best practices on the job. Many a time, he had been bullied into compromise by his superiors but those had not been situations where people were being killed and several other lives were at stake. The alarm had actually been activated and nothing was being done about it.

“Oga (Boss)”, he said struggling to keep the anger he felt under control. “I saw them shoot a man in cold blood and they had killed several others before that. If we no do anything, dem fit kill everybody when dey that bank today (If we don’t do anything, they may very well kill every single person in that bank today).

“So you want make we go so that them go kill us join (So you want us to go there and get killed too)?” Akoji threw back at him. “We no dey go that bank today. If you wan form superman, only you fit go back there (We are not going to that bank. If you want to be a hero, you can go back alone). And what makes you think they’ll still be there when we get there? If they are as professional as you say they are, then they are most likely done with the operation and well on their way. What those people need now are ambulances and body bags. Not policemen”

Andrew felt like pulling out his sidearm and shooting his Divisional Head between the eyes. This was an outrage! How could he call himself a law enforcement officer and sit back and do nothing while innocent people were slaughtered like animals?

Andrew pushed back his chair, got up and walked out of the office. He knew it was going to be his word against the whole Station if he decided to report what had just happened. Akoji had all the officers under his thumb and they would back him up when push came to shove.

As Andrew walked out of that office, he knew his time with the Station was done. He was going to get a transfer.



TO BE CONTINUED