The boy blinked, then did as he was told, slowly, one knee after the other. His casual arrogance was wavering in the air around him. Ahmed found himself looking forward to smashing it into indecipherable pieces. He untied the drawstring of his trousers and walked toward the bowing hunger in Seun’s face, and just like that, the peeling began.
Saturday, 10:33 AM
Ahmed was asleep again when the phone rang. He fumbled for it and it danced through his fingers, his vision blurred, the ringtone stopping. Seun slid an arm across his chest and laughed, his voice drunk with satisfaction. Ahmed pressed the buttons on the side of his phone to decline the call, not bothering to look at the screen, then tossed it aside.
“Want to go again?” Seun asked.
What Ahmed wanted to do was to shower. There were too many bodies sticking to him. Seun reached down and Ahmed pushed his wrist away.
“Maybe another time,” he said, swinging his legs off the bed. There was a brief knock on the door, and it opened to show Ruqaiyyah’s face.
“Your driver is here, Ahmed.”
“Thanks, love.”
She nodded and left, and he pulled on his trousers while Seun watched, pouting.
“Seriously, you can’t spare another fifteen minutes?”
Ahmed picked up his caftan but didn’t bother putting it on.
“Come onnnnnn…” Seun rolled on his back and looked up, his voice whiney and dragging.
“Don’t sulk,” Ahmed snapped. “You sound like a little bitch.”
“What?”
Ahmed paused at the door, ignoring the look on Seun’s face. “I had fun. Take care.” He closed the door behind him, and just like that, everything beyond it, both past and present, was gone. The sheer curtains were still floating throughout the house; he drifted through them and out the front door, entering the back seat of the car.
“Good morning,” Thursday said.
Ahmed grunted in reply as the engine started and the car pulled out of the compound. “Any updates?” he asked, not wanting to look at his phone just yet.
Thursday clicked his tongue. “A few.” His voice was tight and it should have been a warning, but Ahmed was distracted. They were headed back to Ahmed’s house, and he thought of Machi as he stared out of the window.
“Is the girl still asleep?”
“I took her home.”
Ahmed frowned and looked at Thursday in the rearview mirror. “You did what?”
“I said, I took her home.”
“When did I tell you to do that?” He met Thursday’s eye and got a twisted half smile back.
“You didn’t tell me anything. She woke up, she wanted to go home, I took her home. Or were you planning on keeping her locked up in your house?”
Blood heated Ahmed’s face. “Of course not. I just wanted to talk to her.”
Thursday’s mouth tightened. “Look, boss, there was no need. It’s better that you leave the girl alone, no matter what that your friend said.”
“I wasn’t trying to—”
“Ahmed.” A moment of silence held in the glass of the mirror as the road went by. “She’s not your business. Leave it alone.”
Ahmed bit the inside of his cheek and looked out of the window. “What else?” he asked, his voice tight.
“We might have a bigger problem.” Thursday was cautious…he was never cautious, not with Ahmed, not after all this time and the things they had done together. Ahmed felt foreboding creep across the back of his neck like a glob of saliva crawling sideways.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” He closed his eyes briefly. “How big?”
Thursday tilted his head from side to side and made a vague but ominous sound. “Possibly monumental.”
Ahmed pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. The air-conditioning was pouring over his bare chest. “Okay, tell me.”
“The client Kalu attacked—”
“I told them to refund his booking payment and give him the next few parties for free. That wasn’t enough?”
“It was Okinosho.”
The foreboding on Ahmed’s neck stabbed into his spine. “No fucking way.”
Thursday sighed. “I know.”
“That’s impossible. He’s a high-alert client. I would have been informed immediately.”
“Emmanuel was afraid to tell you. He thought he could resolve it himself and it wouldn’t have to leave the room.”
